#Superman is thankful that Lex now has less things to hurt him with | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nieladasdenani · 3 years

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supercorp promt lena going over all the times kara/supergirl saved her life and how many ways shed be dead without her and realizing all the times kara/supergirl stood up for her/defended her in public and private and how she would have been treated like a luthor and put in jail without her help and just coming to the realization that kara didnt use her like she said she did because kara would not do all that if she had been using her and just all around having a big impact realization about it

Hello and thank you, Anon! This will be a challenge because I have seen very little of the show since season 3 and none of the last season whatsoever. All my knowledge comes from Tumblr posts. And because I have strong opinions of how the reveal was handled by both canon and part of fandom. So I hope it still meets your expectations.

You can read it in AO3 if you rather.

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Lena’s hand trembles as she reaches for the bottle, so she clenches it in a tight fist and tries to take a deep breath to calm her mounting anxiety, though it doesn’t seem to have any effect. A sense of paranoia has her focusing her attention on the office door, expecting to hear the thunderous sound of trained boots rushing to get her, but nothing meets her ears. She sighs and tries to breathe deeper again. Then chances a look over her left shoulder at the balcony door, wide open, like a dare... or an invitation. If she turns completely, she’d be facing her desk, and on top of it lays Myriad, inactive. She knows she should have gone to Lex’s lair, where Hope in Eve’s body awaits to complete the mission. Would she be worried Lena hasn’t arrived? Confused?

“But, Miss Luthor, I am not your friend.” Lena scoffs at the memory and snatches the bottle and a glass.

“Neither was the person whose face you’re wearing, so I guess the integration was flawless.”

She drains the first glass of whiskey entirely in the first gulp and sits heavily on her pristine white couch. Mistake. There, on the floor, is the framed, cracked picture showing her smiling face, impossibly close to Kara’s own radiant expression. A stark difference to the one she was wearing when Lena left her in an iced kryptonite cell, inside her piece of home away from home: terrified, devastated. Some call it karma... Others call it revenge.

“Lena, please.”

Lena sighs again and closes her eyes after pouring a second glass, that she holds loosely in her right hand. Both her elbows rest on her knees, and her head hangs low. Was Kara scared for National City, the world? Or was she afraid Lena’s trap would kill her?

“Are you going to kill me now?”

Was she scared of Lena or for Lena? No doubt the DEO has a dark, hidden dungeon waiting just for her, where they can lock her in isolation, like her demented brother was before he escaped and wrecked havoc. Before she killed him... Of course Kara would be fine. Lena made sure the trap was safe. That the kryptonite was non-lethal. She made sure of it. It’s still an alien radioactive substance, though. No, no, she made sure. She studied Lex’s journals exhaustively. She’s working for good.

“I’m not a villain. You shouldn’t have treated me like one.”

So why does it feel like she’s doing something wrong? Non Nocere was conceived to remove one of humanity’s biggest flaws, to remove one of the primary reasons for suffering. She’s doing it for the greater good. She’s doing a good thing. So, why is she here and not finishing it up? Maybe because deep down she knows that, no matter how good her intentions, this is not the way, deceiving everyone to achieve her goal.-Using Kara. -Like she used me! -Did she? -Yes! She lied for years! -Do you realize you’re trying to convince yourself of this?

Lena’s whole head hurts from how hard she’s clenching her jaw. Kara lied for years. A Super and a Luthor. She must have been using her, why else would she have lied for so long? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, and all that. The Luthor way. Making sure Lena walked the line. Saving your life, protecting you. Enough! Lena shakes her head again, harder, to silence the voice inside. It works, so she closes her eyes and sighs.

Then images start flashing: A helicopter spinning out of control towards the ground. The pilot unconscious, limp next to her. Bracing for a certain death that never comes.

“You’re safe now.”

Feeling suddenly sick. Knowing too late that something’s wrong with the coffee. Someone has posioned her and succeded at it. She clinging to consciousness, barely, dreaming of Kara saving her. Taking her in her arms and flying her up to safety.

“You were flying, and you were carrying me.”

Lena determined to protect Kara as they both face Mercy inside L Corp. They somehow managed to avoid the rain of bullets from the intruders and are now trapped in the labs with the armed enemy. But Lena’s armed too. She’l protect Kara, who seems eager to leave, which confuses Lena, she’s seen Kara square up to people before, especially to stand up for Lena. But she let’s her leave, she’ll be safer anyway. And then Supergirl is there, neutralizing Mercy in the blink of an eye.

“The Luthor name doesn’t deserve Lena.”

A half machine half man monstrosity trying to storm her newly rebranded company. She, braving an attempt at defense. An enormous metallic representation of said rebranding flying towards her, promising a sure, painful and fast death. She, bracing for the impact that never comes. Looking through her hands to see the Girl of Steel stumbling from the force of protecting Lena from it.

“Get out of here.”

She confronting Edge, who poisoned children in an attempt at getting back to Lena. She almost going through with killing him. Instead getting knocked out and strapped onto a doomed plane. Not only is she going to die, all her work to be good would be erased, her reputation. But, once more, it doesn’t come.

“No, I’m not going to drop you!”

Kara, sweet and dorky, suddenly stony facing Detective Sawyer, who’s come to take Lena into custody. Conviction in her blue eyes, sure of Lena’s innocence. Willing to face off with her sister’s girlfriend over it. Lena shocked at the protective display.

“Hold on, Maggie. Slow down. Just, let her explain.”

Supergirl trying to warn her of her mother’s terrorist endeavors. Not as in warning Lena to stir clear of it. Not as in warning her that she’s being watched. But as if to telling her to be careful, that she may be in danger. As if telling her Supergirl herself will protect her, if she’d let her.

“Be your own hero.”

She deliberatedly jumping off a cliff, after facing off with a terrorist organization. Pushing the buttom on the watch Kara gave her, to protect her, alway. With not a trace of doubt in her system that Kara would come to her rescue. Feeling the power of the lasers coming out of Kara’s eyes.

“What was that?”

Lena falling from her office balcony, thinking of her fear of heights, her fear of flying. Thinking of Kara listening to her falling to her death after a couple of her mother’s goons accidentally toppled her. Clutching to Kara’s voice as the last thing she hears. Until arms of steel catch her and making it feel like falling onto a cloud. Freezing breath rushing past her face, and still feeling warm.

“Dropped something?”

“I was having coffee with Kara Danvers.”

Lena, flanked by the Danvers Sisters coming into a dream realm to confront Sam’s demons. A monster wearing Sam’s face attacking them, lifting Lena by the neck, threateing to break it.

“Let her go! Take me, take me instead, please!”

Being kidnapped onto an alien ship. And invader alien ship. Almost forced to get married, to Kara’s boyfriend, no less. Getting rescued by Supergirl. Joining forces with her mom, who had previously joined forces with Supergirl, both putting their difference aside to save Lena. Creating a device that would eradicate the invading threat, but that included Kara’s love. Kara, devastated, but reassuring Lena that it was not her fault, that she did what she had to.

“Lena, you helped Supergirl save the world.”

Kidnapped by her mother, after being framed. Used to get to Lex’s arsenal of anti-alien weaponry. Supergirl crashing the site, knowingly risking her safety with Lilian, Metallo and Cyborg Superman surrounded by weapons designed to defeat a Kryptonian. Supergirl on her knees, in pain. Warning them of the risk of Metallo’s unstable kryptonite’s core. A potential explosion that could kill her. And still staying to carry Lena out of there, just in the nick of time.

“Kara Danvers believes in you.”

“You’re good, Lena.”

“So, my office is overflown with flowers.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

“I’ve never had friends like you.”

“I trust you.”

“Supergirl might have saved me. But you, Kara Danvers, you are my hero.”

Lena’s gasping, just now realizes she’s crying. What have I done? But there’s no time to think about it further. A crash coming from her balcony captures her attention, and she stands, drink still in hand, tears still rolling down her face. Supergirl struggles to keep upright: she’s pale, panting. Her eyes, as wild as her hair, searching her surroundings, until they find Lena. And it’s palpable how the relief fills Kara. Her shoulders sag and her eyes close.

“Lena.”

But Lena has not gotten over Supergirl, Kara’s state. And then she sees her hands. There’s blood and bruises there. There’s blood on Kara’s hands. Lena can’t take her eyes of the damaged limbs. She takes a couple of steps towards the hero.

“You’re bleeding.”

Kara seems to not have heard her. She looks at Myriad and lingers there. As if she’s trying to see through it. But can’t. She’s helping herself stay standing by bracing one shoulder on the balcony door. Turns to Lena again.

“Please, Lena. Don’t do this. Please.”

“Kara, you’re bleeding.”

“If you do this, Lena, if you do this there’s no going back.”

“Why are you bleeding?”

“Not like, for humanity. We’d be able to fix that. We’ve done it before. With Myriad. But for you, Lena. You’ll be devastated when your anger subsides.”

“Kara.”

“Please, Lena, you’ve worked so hard to leave your family’s bad name behind. It’ll be so much harder to come back if you do this.”

“Kara, stop.”

“No, no. You gotta listen. You can’t do this! It will hurt you!”

“Kara. You are bleeding!”

“What?” And finally, she looks down. At her hands. “Oh.”

Lena closes the distance between them. Takes Kara’s hands in hers. Inspects the damage. Her mind racing to understand what she’s seeing. Kara is Supergirl, she should not be bleeding. Now Lena can see that Kara is also shivering. From exertion or cold, Lena isn’t sure. Both, maybe. She’s still catching her breath.

“You punched your way out.” She says this and looks up at Kara’s face, she knows her eyes are wide with shock and her mouth is, too. A little. Lilian would be appalled. “Kara, why? The trap would have turned off in a couple of hours. I would never...”

“I know. I know but... it was so tight in there.”

“Tight?”

“The space was so small.”

“Oh. Oh! You’re... Are you claustrophobic?” Oh, no. No.

Kara shrugs, looks sideways at the desk. At Myriad. But she’s not trying to contain Lena, to restrain her. She’s not rushing to take Myriad, either. She’s trusting Lena to do listen, to do what’s right.

“Why? Kara why didn’t you... I didn’t know. I didn’t know if I would have. I would’ve not put you in there,”

“We both did things. Lena, I promise. I’ve only lied about my secret identity. And I know there’s no excuse, but I have plenty. And I’ll tell you all of them when you’re ready to hear them. But, please, you have to believe me: I never lied about us. I swear I was not using you. You must believe me, Lena, please!”

“I think I do, now. I’m... I’m still hurt and angry. But, I know. I realize you didn’t need to work so hard on protecting me. From experience, I know that masks fall faster than that. I was just... Hearing i from Lex, while I killed him was overpowering.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I gave him the chance to take that away from us. I’m sorry that yet again I was robbed of the opportunity to tell someone I love. And that it gave him such a way to hurt you. I’m sorry that it made you feel used and unloved. I love you Lena. I love you.”

Lena’s vision is blurry with tears. And it gets worse when Kara’s words paint a smile on Lena’s face. At some point she has dragged Kara to the couch, have them both sat down, and she’s yet to let go of the hero’s bruised hands.

“You do?”

“I do. Of course I do. I love you. I’d say it as much as you’d need.”

“Hold on.”

Lena stands despite Kara’s throughly confused expression. She raches for the first aid kit in the bathroom and sits back next to Kara. Starts tending to the wonds, a little worried that hey don’t seem to be healing by themselves. But not wanting to draw attention to it. Kara watches her work in silence, with the occasional flinch or hiss of pain.

“You may want to reconsider your offer. I don’t think I’ll ever tired of you saying it.”

Kara looks lost for a second, until her face clears of all confusion. She smiles.

“I don’t have a problem with that.”

“I’m going to have to work on myself and my issues, though. Before we can really start to explore our relationship. In whichever form you’re willing to have it.”

“I’ll have to work on my issues, too. And we’ll work together on our relationship. I’ll have whatever you’rewilling to give me.”

And Lena almost says I’ll give you everything out loud. She finishes up tending to Kara’s wounds. And sighs.

“When should I expect the DEO to come and get me?” Kara frowns at her.

“Why would they come and get you?”

“I imagine Alex wants my head after wha I did?”

“Ales doesn’t know.” But Lena’s is too shocked to respond. “We’ll go and stop everything about the Non Nocere project. You’ll get Hope out of Eve, and we’ll deliver her to the authorities. Then we’ll all work together to stop Leviathan. Then, maybe after we worked through our stuff anough, we can tell the story as a funny story.”

“There’s not one funny thing about what’s happened.” Lena deadpans, because...

“I’m sure I can make it funny. I’m charming like that.” And Lena loves her cocky side. Lena loves all of her sides, she’s come to realize.

“Yes, you’re hilarious.”

Kara’s phone goes off before she can sass back and Lena can hear Alex voice through the speaker.

“Kara, finally. I was getting worried I couldn’t reach you or Lena.”

“We’re ok.” She says while holding her eyes to Lena’s. “I told her.” There’s a sigh on the other end of the call. Not dissapointed, nor angry. Just a sigh.

“Ok. I know you’ve wanted to tell her for a while. And I know you feel like your secret affects more than just you, Kara. But it’s ultimately yours to share. We’ve all have done it for you enough times. I also know you’re worried about the DEO trapping Lena with the excuse of confidentiality. But I promise you I won’t let that happen. How did she take it?”

“Well... I mean, she’s hurt. And I think we’re goin to have to work that out. But...” She let’s the sentence hang for a second, looking at Lena, who nods. “But, we’ll be all right.”

“I know you guys will. Now, enough sentimentality. What about the plan?”

“We found Eve, we’re about to intercept her and bringing her into cosudy. Then we can start working on the rest of the bad guys.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you guys soon. Would you need back-up?”

“No, we’ve got it.” She ends the call and stands, walking towards the balcony. Lena stays put, an eyebrow lifting in amussement.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To get Eve? Hope? Both?”

“We’re not flying, Kara. You can barely walk.” She can see Kara about to argue, so she activates the portal and gestures to it, expectantly. “Shall we?”

“Show-off.” Kara grumbles as she walks through it and Lena and her laugh follow her. Yes, they’ll be all right.

#Supercorp #Supercorp prompt #Supercorp fic #Anonymous

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ectonurites · 3 years

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so i read the big long young just us kon vs yja conner post. (amazing analysis btw) but i have another question about your thoughts on superboy as a character. So in the dc animated universe (that's over now but whatever) there's the Reign of the Supermen movie, and in that one Kon learns that Lex is his dad very very very early on. And since you said that you think Conner learning about Lex early was the biggest thing that changed it, I was wondering if you have thoughts on DCAU Superboy?

awh thank you! i am so pleasantly surprised people actually read that

[link if u are only seeing this post and want to read the other one]

BUT AH YES THAT BOI i very nearly included a section on this version of him in the other post but decided not to just because it was. already nearly 6k words. however im glad you asked this because I DO have thoughts on him (sorry no pictures this time just words):

My ultimate thought regarding him is: the Reign of the Supermen movie managed to create a Superboy that the Lex reveal wasn’t anywhere near as big a deal for, compared to his other versions. Which I personally think was really cool to see!

This reveal having a smaller impact allowed him to maintain what was basically his 90′s comic characterization even after it, instead of going deep into broody tt 2003 territory or being anything like cartoon yj Conner.

Though, that now raises the question of why it has such a lesser impact

In this setting, he already had an association with Luthor from basically the moment he’s in the movie. Here, he is LexCorp’s Superman, rather than him partnering with Tana’s news station like in the comic (because they chose to understandably omit Tana. Also, trying to adapt the actual role Lex had in the comic version of this whole event would be a mess especially because this was during that era where Lex had like... faked his death, was pretending to be his own illegitimate son, had long hair, and was dating Supergirl? it was very weird, and understandably a movie adaptation wouldn’t wanna touch any of that with a 10ft pole. In general the Reign of the Supemen movie changed SO MUCH from the original comic, but I think did a pretty good job of integrating a lot of the spirit of the story into something new. I haven’t rewatched it since reading the comic though, so I might be looking through memory-fogged rose-tinted glasses, but I plan on doing so soon and will prob talk about it).

Anyways, even before the actual reveal that Lex was also one of his DNA dads, Lex is out here acting like he’s Conner’s stage dad and... is literally in charge of him. Thus, even though obviously Lex still isn’t a great guy in this universe, it has nowhere near the same impact as finding out ‘renowned supervillain, that I have seen heroes go up against time and time again, is my dad!’ It’s more like finding out ‘oh my weird controlling boss is actually my dad?’ Still weird, still a lot to deal with, and he still gets sulky for a bit after finding out, but it’s way less drastic.

Not sure if I’m going to be able to articulate this next point well, but there’s another thing I think that kinda factors into it too. In my other post I had talked specifically about how not only the timing of finding this out was relevant, but also how the level of confidence Kon had in who he was as a person at the time mattered.

In the comics, when Superboy found out, he had been very confident in himself and been an established hero for years and thus learning this new information made him (to some extent at least) feel like his whole life had been a lie, and he now felt he was a danger because of how evil Lex is known to be. [Also of note: not only was he worried about hurting his team, but this happened after the point where he’d started living with the Kents. He had a lot of anxiety around thinking Clark wouldn’t trust him to live with his parents if he knew, and fear that he might hurt them.]

In the Young Justice cartoon, when Superboy found out, he had confidence in his abilities as I said before, but he still didn’t really know who he was. He still never got to experience trying to be Superman like he had expressed always wanting to, because he was brought into a world that already had a Superman. So this revelation is just adding onto a pile of confusion. [And I believe (I haven’t watched season one of yj in a while so this might not be correct) that at the point he finds out, Lex was already a known adversary of heroes & The Team themselves. So the fact that someone they were actively going up against had a connection to him (and was manipulating him through the patches) was a point of concern.]

Then we look at movie Superboy. He’s cocky and pretty confident in himself and his abilities, and was getting to shoot his shot at filling that Superman role right away, just like his comic counterpart. But he doesn’t go years believing a lie about himself, since he finds out about the Luthor connection so early. At the time of the reveal he also doesn’t have the same connections to other people (either the Teen Titans & The Kents like the comics or The Team in the cartoon), meaning he’s not going to angst over being a potential danger to all of them.

Also... he finds it out while he’s still actively working under Lex. In the comics, he finds out from an email he and Tim get while they’re at Titans Tower. In the cartoon Lex baits him to meet somewhere alone to tell him, before demonstrating he has a code word that effects him. In the movie, Lex brings him down to the very lab he was cloned in while lecturing him, because he works for Lex, and the reveal happens because of one of the scientists. It’s just such a wildly different circumstance for the reveal to happen under, because movie Superboy doesn’t see Lex through the same “only exists to me as a villain” lens his comic & cartoon counterparts do.... he’s basically just his overbearing boss at the time.

Like yes this is where the seams start to unravel, because Superboy then realizes ‘oh god Lex was bringing me down there to kill me then just decided against it’, but he’s going through an entirely different struggle with that than what his other counterparts had going on. Also by having this reveal happen in the middle of the movie like, before the final battle and everything, he doesn’t really have time to dwell on all of this. He’s gotta go stop Cyborg Superman with the others he doesn’t have time to go ‘angst angst angst’ about it for long!!

This also means that by the time he met Superman, Superboy already knew about the Lex connection. In both the comics and the yj cartoon, Clark and Conner met and knew each other (not necessarily in a close way in the yj cartoon BUT regardless) before Conner found this out. Meaning it was something that he kept a secret from Clark for a period of time, as it ate away at him. But here, since he finds out before Clark is even active and alive again, it’s not something he ever needs to hide! Like he deadass tells Lois about it the first time he sees her after he found out.

SO to summarize, the Lex reveal is way less drastic for this version of Conner because:

Superboy and Lex had a completely different dynamic at the time of the reveal than any other versions

Superboy in this setting didn’t have as many connections to others/wasn’t on a team at the time he found out, meaning there were less people he’d be concerned about putting in danger

Superboy never felt the need to keep this a secret from anyone for any extended period of time

Honestly I would have loved to see more things with this Superboy because it puts him in this unique position of having already faced this big challenge (dealing with Lex being a DNA dad) but not letting it bring him too deep into the angst, he’s not hiding it from anyone, he can just kinda... exist as himself! But noooo Apokolips War had to. Do that. that whole thing.

#conner kent #superboy #Anonymous #sam writes

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kimberly-spirits13 · 4 years

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Brainwashed HC (Request)

Dick:

· For most of these you went missing during a mission or something

· This time it was no different

· You guys were on a mission overseas and you were lost

· Robin was freaking out the entire time once you didn’t show

· Like it was to the point where he started yelling at none other than Wally at one point

· Bruce was so concerned that he actually called for a full, world- wide League search

· Yeah that was intense

· Everyone was really upset about it since you were one of the wicked smart and super nice teammates

· Like everyone’s best friend kinda thing

· When you two finally were fighting, it was like two minds vs each other

· You guys knew each other’s weaknesses but he didn’t want to use them on you

· You were brainwashed by a branch of the League of Assassins however so you really couldn’t care less

· It wasn’t until his mask tore off some that you snapped out of it before killing him

· When he saw the chance, he knocked you out with knock out gas if you didn’t already pass out

· He was in the med bay for a while and you were in rehabilitation

· The League was keeping very close tabs on you including sending you to Canary

· They were finally convinced that you were fine in the sense of “unbrainwashed” and you got to go back to the team and Robin

· Lots of make-up time

· He was really understanding but you felt terrible

· In your mind it was because of your own stupidity and carelessness on a mission and weak will power during your time near the League of Assassins that you almost killed Dick

· You wouldn’t say anything about the late nights and nightmares until he started getting suspicious of the bags under your eyes and jitteriness

· He confronted you about it when one night on a hunch, he snuck out into the kitchen where you were and confronted you

· Sleeps with you now

Conner:

· Kidnapped by Lex

· There was speculation and everyone really thought that he did it, but there wasn’t really any evidence

· You were missing for 5 months being brainwashed by the best scientists from all over the nation

· That was the worst thing to ever happen to you and you’d seen your entire team die

· He finally found you and dropped all precautions, running to you to try and hug you

· Haha

· *A mistake was made*

· You took out the kryptonite real quick

· Like girl took that out faster than Flash could run three feet

· He was floored, very literally actually

· You had high-powered kryptonite brass spiked knuckles and used them to their demise

· You were about to blow the final punch when you stopped, giving someone that had just turned up a chance to tase you

· You woke up a few days later after a surgery that would take the chip out of you that was controlling you

· There were scans to make sure nothing else was implanted into you

· You actually seriously felt like the worst human on the planet and you had fought Joker before

· That was saying a lot

· Conner was very sympathetic actually and you were afraid that he’d not trust you anymore

· He understood what it was like to be controlled against his own will

· Gave you the biggest hug the first time you walked out of the med bay

· You could not breathe

· You don’t seriously remember much if you were brainwashed by Lex

· Probably so that you couldn’t do anything about it

· You do remember however, seeing Conner almost beaten to death and lemme say, that is not a good image to have burned into your mind every time you close your eyes or give him a small glance

· You seriously would not train with him for the longest time after that

· The next time you saw Luthor, you wanted to cry but instead had to be held back so you didn’t literally kill him

· *Side note* I find it ridiculous that he has been seen by so many witnesses fighting Superman and being on the wrong side of the law and still isn’t incarcerated for life

· When you finally did train with him, he pulled you aside and you watched movies and chilled for the rest of the day since he knew that was draining

Tim:

· Kidnapped by the Injustice League

· Joker was heavily involved, but the rest of the crew didn’t want him turning you into a mini him because that wasn’t any fun

· You actually are very thankful they weren’t cool with that even if they tortured you

· Tim got even less sleep and would often just wake up on the floor or somewhere

· Bruce went batdad insane and raised hell to find you so Timmy would go to sleep

· Finally, were reunited on a covert- opps mission cause those never go as planned

· He was almost in tears tbh

· Probably cried on the way home

· It was of course kind of hard to beat him but you knew his weak points and how to manipulate that sleep deprived Robin

· Once you snapped out of it, Joker was the one to try and finish you off

· Both of you were in the med bay for a few days

· I think he would be so relieved the first few weeks or maybe months he wouldn’t leave you for a minute

· If you guys weren’t attached at the hip before, you were now

· He wanted to make sure that you felt safe

· I kind of think that there might be the slight chance he would be a bit distant sometimes depending on how deep your manipulation went

· Snapped out of it once he started hearing you screaming at night upon waking up

· He would come into your bedroom to see you just pale, shaking, and usually in the corner of your room huddled

· Protective mode would just spark up immediately

· He’d sit with you for as long as needed and then either take you to his room or stay in your room

· You could not look him in the eyes for a few days which hurt both of you but it was understandable on all levels

Bart:

· Kidnapped by the Reach walking to the Zeta tubes one day after school

· Bart was worried when you never came home and didn’t pick up the phone

· Eventually days turned into weeks and upon fighting one of the Reach soldiers or henchmen, it was subtly dropped that you were taken captive

· He honestly hoped that it was for hostage and not anything else

· Poor boi had soooo much anxiety and his energy level dropped

· Then you fought him

· He rushed to you and you suddenly just dropped kicked him

· Could not believe he’d see the day you’d ever try and kill him

· You had the look of fury but also regret like you were fighting yourself the entire time

· You had a knife to his throat when suddenly panic came over you

· It was like voices screaming in your head and the area around was spinning

· You dropped the knife and stammered away, collapsing a few seconds later

· As much as he had been so eager to get you home, he didn’t really trust you fully again for a time

· He had seen what happened with the Reach in the future and didn’t want you a part of it

· Eventually you confronted him in tears over it and said that he was from the future, he should know if you went rouge later

· He felt horrible and tried to make it up to you in every way known to man

· You accepted it but were in a state of complete inner turmoil for the longest time

· Anxiety, panic attacks, probably slight or noticeable depression for everyone

· That crap was traumatic

· You weren’t cool around as many people as you used to be

· It was understandable and the road to recovery was long

Okay, I really loved this request cause it was a real think about it kind of thing. Like not really in a hard way, just kind of, these are the advantages that this person would have over one of the characters since they’d know their weaknesses and how to handle them. Anyways, I hope you guys are doing great, I have a few things coming your way that aren’t just requests. Oh, I think I do plan on writing at least The Summer Solstice Museum and then maybe later the Rouge Goddess one or both at the same time it just depends on work this summer. I hope you guys have a great week and are doing good and staying safe!

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currentfandomkick · 4 years

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Marinette did not sign up for this part 7

So i kind of live, and this continues on.

first part here previous part here ao3 here

Stephanie twitched when she finished comparing financial resources needed to handle a covert operation, butterfly garden underground, AND manage to keep it secret from the rest of Paris. Cass checked her numbers and it became very apparent that only—and she stressed the only—someone insanely wealthy and is a recluse could be Hawkmoth. And in Paris, that meant one man—Gabriel Agreste.

Cass was the one to narrow it down to him, and Steph argued with her about it being impossible as “He’s been akumatized!” Honestly, Cass was acting like the Ladyblogger who published one of her early ‘could be Hawkmoth’ theories with Gabriel Agreste as a option with “probably had Mayura as Hawkmoth in her place” argument. It was retracted, and there was a apology put up for it that included: this list was not intended to be serious guys—I put multiple known akuma victims here and ways they could have been Hawkmoth no matter how public the akumatazation was. Did not expect this one to be taken so seriously, my sincerest apologies to M. Agreste and Mm. Sancoeur.”

Steph could smell the ‘I was forced to do this’ off the apology, and did her best not to agree with Cass that it was forced as then Cass would argue it was a serious accusation put in mixed with less serious ones to get people thinking. To get Ladyblog followers to take notes and pass it to Ladybug and Chat Noir for further investigation. Which, would be a good way to contact the heroes. Except…

“She interviews the Miraculous team on a bi-weekly basis Cass, she’d have plenty of opportunities to tell them her theories.”

Cass crossed her arms. While they might heavily disagree on this aspect of who Hawkmoth and Mayura are, there is another aspect that is held in contention between the two of them…

“Plus, Hawkmoth and Mayura are totally a couple, and everyone knows Gabriel Agreste is too hung up on his wife’s disappearance to consider moving on, let alone do it.”

“Professionals.”

Stephanie rolled her eyes. Cass is good at body language. There is no doubt about her being better than most. However—Hawkmoth is an egomaniac. Egomaniacs don’t give up when their goal is in reach for a henchman getting ill or injured. Not unless said hench is, well, romantically involved with them. She knew from watching Gotham’s underbelly for years—their romantic relationship had to be rock solid for it to even be considered. Married or may-as-well-be.

“He’s ended how many battles early for her? Totally bordering on, if not actually, married.”

Stephanie paused when two girls joined them, the ladyblogger herself with a too big grin, and soup girl if Cass wasn’t mistaken.

“Hawkmoth and Mayura relationship debate?” The blogger grinned.

Stephanie nodded, as yes, and this is serious. “Cass is convinced they’re just professionals with standards.”

Soup girl groaned. “Not this again!”

“Girl, I told you, I’m not the only one who thinks they’re a couple, and serious.”

Stephanie grinned as Cass huffed. A vote for Team Hawkyura!

“I told you, Hawkmoth is too obsessed with the miraculous to be capable of human emotions, and Mayura is too smart to fall for him. He’s probably paying her a lot or cancelling out a debt for her to work for him how she is,” Soup girl reasoned.

Stephanie shook her head while Cass rose victoriously, scooting a bit closer to her fellow ‘stop shipping the villains’ teammate. Which is ridiculous—it isn’t shipping if it isn’t even subtext at this point.

“No, no,” the blogger leaned forward, settled into their table on Stephanie’s side. “That means the relationship would have to be healthy, and its perfect possible for it to extremely unhealthy and for Mayura to be in a bad relationship with someone who isn’t wroth her time. Why else would she keep using a broken miraculous that’s making her sick?”

Stephanie nodded at the blogger’s side. “And abusive relationships can happen to anyone. Back in our home city,” Steph gestured between herself and Cass. “A top psychologist went villain because she was manipulated into thinking the guy just needed her love to fix him and fell into a life of crime and wanted to stay by the guy’s side regardless of how many times he hurt her.”

Cass nodded at that, frowning at that. She wasn’t there for Harley Quinn, henchman of Joker. Stephanie was. She did see the aftermath and bits of Harley’s (ongoing) recovery.

Soup girl shook her head. “Its not that, everyone knows the Peacock is emotions so she would know he’s toying with her. She would know she deserves better. She’s staying because of finances or blackmail or maybe even being able to fix something that’s unfixable.”

Cass hummed in agreement. “Needs to survive.”

Soup girl nodded. “There’s no motivator more powerful than that.”

“Um, love,” Stephanie supplied. She may not be the best at all its forms, but loving gotham’s citizens enough to want to save them was part of what drove her to become Spoiler in the first place. Spite too, but that didn’t seem like the best thing to mention at the time.

“Exactly,” the blogger passed Stephanie one of her cookies. “Love makes people do crazy things, or did you forget Hercules.”

Soup girl looked exhausted at that, pinching her brow. “We agreed never to bring Disney logic into these arguments.”

“The quote is true—People do crazy things when they’re in love. And Mayura is in love with Hawkmoth, and he’s in love with her.”

Soup girl rolled her eyes. “Then you’d have to give up the Gabriel and Natalie theory for good. He’s still in love with his wife, and he treats Natalie more like a tablet than a person. No way that’s how he’d treat someone he’s in love with.”

“Are we forgetting how he treats you and Adrien?”

Stephanie and Cass exchanged a look. Stephanie focused on soup girl then. Really looked at her. Tired, twitchy, all signs of needing and not getting a good night’s rest.

“Okay, he goes way overboard with supervising and has control issues, I’m not saying he doesn’t, ever. But he doesn’t let me take commissions unless my grades are up there, hires tutors for me and Adrien regularly, and he’s let up on controlling who Adrien can be safely friendly with to avoid crazy fans ever since I joined.”

“You joined, therefore are something he can control, and are therefore not going to endanger Adrien or Gabriel since it would hurt your career,” the blogger explained.

“Sounds like Hawkmoth,” Stephanie added absently, then froze as Cass grinned at her. back track time, ASAP. “But it can’t be since the guy was akumatized.”

Soup girl looked relieved at what Stephanie said. Though, thinks weren’t looking up much on that front. She might have Batgirl pay the man a visit… after hacking the girl’s schedule and Adrien’s and seeing how much this man really was trying to control them both.

Cass raised an eyebrow at her.

“Thank you—can you get Alya off that train too?”

The blogger leveled Stephanie a look that reminded her too much of Lois Lane that time she tried to interview the Batfam on Gotham crime rates and the effectiveness of vigilantes in a city that was entrenched in corruption and if it was better to just gut the Gotham justice system and start anew with different training and such, to prevent villain strength and intensity escalation. In short—she scared Stephanie. Just a little.

“I think maybe Lois Lane could, but I doubt it.”

“Lois Lane is the hero the world is not good enough for and her word is worth more than all of Metropolis.”

“Not that hard to achieve,” Stephanie said without thinking. There is a lot of property damage there after all, they just have a more white collar-exclusive criminal element. Plus, Lex keeps his bigger projects in other places that are harder for Superman to find.

Soup girl snorted at that.

The blogger took offense.

Stephanie would say all-in-all, not her worst time out on a mission doing detective work in broad daylight.

Marinette was quick to transform into Multimouse and meet up with Rena in the Lourve. It wasn’t the first time either—Alix’s dad took to helping her translate Gaurdian since she hadn’t learned it all before Fu died. Besides her, he was the only one who could read the spell book… though that reduced the miraculous grimoire to nothing but the potions. It held the history of the kwami, how to summon and bind them, and even how to craft weapons for them. It included instructions on how to become a Guardian and what was required of her the sole guardian, and how the Order operated with mentions of ways it could be reformed should it ever vanish.

It was the closest thing Marinette had to a mentor on how to re-build the Order and choose members, and how to make the best choices as Guardian. It even listed allied organizations and how much stock should be put into trusting them.

But right now, she wasn’t there as Ladybug to go over another passage or talk about possible meaning and philosophies (did they really mean her job is to kill to protect the miraculous, or like, be that ready to ensure they remained safe?) or the whole “is the soul splitting a metaphor or actual magic” (magic). No, she was there as Multimouse, with Rena Rouge, as representatives of the Miraculous Team to meet up with the Amazonian Historian sent by The Former Ladybug, Hippolyta.

“Greetings Alwphekion,” the woman nodded at Rena. “Muidion,” she acknowledged Multimouse. “I am Vupyte of Themyscira, and our leading historian on the miraculous. How may I be of assistance, young Champions?”

Multimouse stepped forward, forgetting she wasn’t Ladybug at the moment. This question had been burning in her mind since she was told of the missing pair. “Could you tell us how the ladybug and black cat miraculous would interact with the main five if it wasn’t for Hawkmoth?”

Rena glanced at Multimouse, knowing that something was off. It was possible Marinette may be more involved intellectually than she’d been letting on… though given her unofficial spy-work, it was possible that Marinette was Ladybug’s first choice in help… which lead to questions Rena had to keep silent… until Hawkmoth was defeated.

“Ah, that is both simple and complex. If you wouldn’t mind,” Vupyte gestured for the pair to sit with her. “I was expecting something like that to come from Alwphekion, not you Muidion.”

Multimouse would have been flustered a few years ago. Hell, even a few month ago, before Fu was compromised, she would have panicked a bit. But right now?

“Ladybug tasked me to get any information to help her rebuild the Order. I won’t fail her.” She couldn’t fail the kwami. Especially Tikki who never gave up on her, even when Marinette was ready to throw in the towel a hundred times over and give her miraculous to Alya—the brave one she once had to mimic to handle being Ladybug.

“Ah.” Vupyte leaned back. “No wonder there’s such a storm in your eyes.”

Multimouse didn’t know how to handle that, so she brushed it aside.

Rena put a hand on her knee and squeezed.

Multimouse was glad she wasn’t alone in this.

“That story goes back far beyond when my people interacted with the miraculous. Perhaps I could have a figure you trust help me digitize my research on the history in full for your Ladybug?”

Multimouse nodded. That… “Director Kubdel was vetted by Ladybug previously for his discretion and understanding of how sensitive the miraculous and miraculous matters are.”

Vupyte agreed to use the man at a later date. “For now, I can give you an overview of how the work together.”

“That would be sufficient.” Multimouse did her best to copy M. Agreste’s professional affect. To hide how out of her depths she was at the moment.

Vupyte grinned. “First off, The Savior, your Ladybug, has the role of creation. Her role in the group is to guide them to growth, to safety. She is your strategist in battle and the team’s healer. You know this already. She is the only one able to undo the Destroyer—your Chat Noir’s—abilities. However, she can only undo his damage so long as she believes it needs her intervention. Should she find his judgement—and his punishments for those violating the contract between those under the Miraculous’ protection, the Order, Champion and Kwami—be just, she cannot undo what he did.”

Multimouse felt her heart seize. Plagg mentioned the Atlantians tried to convince a Fox into destroying a rival kingdom, a kingdom that was not doing as the Atlantians’ claimed. When the Fox refused… Plagg never said what happened after that.

She knew only a third of the Atlantian’s survived the sinking from what they’d released to the public about their history.

“A ladybug is given all the creative force that exists between her and her black cat, while the cat is given all the ability to detect danger. Half of each of their souls are swapped to ensure this ability switch remains, and that their bond is unbreakable so long as they are called on as Champions. The cat protects her from harm, and she supplies him with what is needed. They are only ever called on in times of absolute crisis—when the Contract is violated, or when the world’s balance is nearing a breaking point.”

Rena was too still by Multimouse, piecing things together. Multimouse hoped she didn’t pass this on to the others… not until Marinette was certain they were safe to remain in the Order and that they want to be in it—that they don’t feel obligated to out of duty but truly want to protect the kwami. Even if it means never being a hero again.

“The turtle shields them both—the Cat in battle and the ladybug when healing. They can even bring forth another weapon, though what it is, there is no record that we have found reliable.”

Multimouse raised an eyebrow.

“Shelter?”

The Amazonian shook her head. “No Muidion, something else entirely… the incomplete records I found mentioned people being pulled to the turtle, feeling absolute safety and complete trust in them no matter what happened around them. What causes this, is unknown.”

Multimouse felt the need to roll her eyes. she was fairly certain it was a cross between ‘must parent them all’ and the turtle’s capacity to ensure nothing broke Shelter. Possibly making it opaque, or something else. She’d ask Wayzz when Nino was asleep.

“Often the turtle focuses on getting civilians out of the area to safety. They are often aided by the Peacock, who creates a creature from a single emotion and ties it to an object, to direct its actions. The turtle protects those in danger with their shelter while the peacock’s creation and the peacock keep enemy combatants busy.

“The butterfly may check for spies among their ranks, potential traitors too by their emotions but that is often another’s role. They often connect members across distances with those outside of their ranks, acting as a diplomat and choosing new members. At times, they might even make use of their full ability and create a champion of their own, granting them the power to make an army to help the cat while following the ladybug’s plan, or to test a possible candidate’s worth by seeing what they do when given power, and how it is used while having the failsafe of taking it away again.

“The bee tends to fight beside the Cat, at times ordering the butterfly’s champion should their connection fail, and is ready to take down said champion should they betray the group with a single sting. The bee answers to the ladybug and cat alone—following the pair’s vision and ensuring it is executed whenever one or both of the pair is absent.

“Then there is the fox, like you Alwphekion. I assume you have grown fond of your ally,” Vupyte gestured to Rena’s flute. “They let you craft any illusion you want. But I doubt you were told of the true power of the fox.”

Multimouse shifted at that. “The Gaurdian was young when their temple was destroyed. I doubt they hid it intentionally.”

Vupyte paused at that. “I did not mean it like that Muidion, simply that the Fox is given little emphansis by the Order to the point it was given a dishonorable title for their champions to inherit, the Deceiver,” Vupyte spat the title like sour milk. “Alwphekion is the one who sees all in their truth, through every lie one has spoken or believed. A fox is not a crafter of fallacy, merely presenting what one feels or desires. Their greatest gift is in their true voice, the one that none can lie or withhold information upon being addressed by it.”

Rena leaned forward, focusing on Vupyte. “How?”

Vupyte sighed. “The records of that were destroyed in Alexandria’s flames. It is a power a fox can only use with great conviction and motivation. Until then, they can only sense deceptions in shades while the truth rings of their own melody according to legend.”

Rena stared at her lap.

Multimouse put a hand on her arm. “We’ll figure it out.”

Rena leaned into the touch then, sighing. “I have a question of my own, if you don’t mind.”

“Certainly I do not,” Vupyte assured. “I am here to help the Miraculous Champions however I am allowed by you. I owe your predecessors more than I could ever repay.”

Rena nodded at that. “What are the chances a butterfly user could make themself a champion?”

Vupyte opened and closed her mouth, lips pressing and pursing until she found words to her liking. “It is not impossible for them to do so. They would have to drop their transformation to do so, which would prevent proper guidance, and would need to give themself a very limited power.”

Rena took a deep breath.

Multimouse took a sharp intake. That changed the rules. A lot.

“So, hypotethetically, if one’s power could only affect a specified amount of things at a time, say, put into a given space and then whatever new thing was put in was then ejected from said space,” Rena continued, “would that be a feasible power for a butterfly’s champion to use without a butterfly guiding them?”

Multimouse felt her stomach drop at Vupyte’s hesitance.

“That is… rather specific.” Vupyte pondered it for a moment more. “While I can’t be certain of the logisitics, it is one of the safest abilities to give in those circumstances. Tight limitations, a weak ability that lacks army-growing capacity, so no need to use the butterfly champion to connect their chosen champion to their subjects, and it is straight forward so no need for an explanation, or perhaps the lack of one would make their reaction to discovering this limit more genuine.”

Multimouse felt sick.

Things aligned quickly in her head. Finances. Schedules. Timing. Targets of preference—teens at Dupont where Adrien goes and is able to talk about his day to either Natalie or Gorilla, who would report it back to him. Even Adrien’s concerns for them—weaknesses, insecurities, fears…

It made too much sense.

Multimouse stood up. “I have to go, excuse me.”

Rena gawked at her. “Wait, Mul—”

Multimouse ran out quickly, running to an alley to detransform and get Tikki to get her head on straight as Marinette spiraled.

Gabriel Agreste couldn’t be Hawkmoth.

He couldn’t be.

Outside the alley, Tim, Cass and Stephanie froze as the girl Tim was convinced was Ladybug appeared. She was in a grey suit before.

Rena looked back at Vupyte, hoping her girl got the air she needed. She knew Marinette would come around eventually, but for now…

“One moment.”

Alya sent off a quick text to Aurore. The girl was good at keeping Marinette distracted, out of a spiral, and helping her process.

Aurore confirmed she found Marinette in an alley bordering on a panic attack and was taking her home.

Rena sighed in relief.

“Okay, now that that’s settled, there’s something you didn’t spill.”

Vupyte smiled at Rena. “You are a clever Alwphekion.”

Rena raised an eyebrow.

Vupyte sighed. “A ladybug and black cat take the longest to mature in their team. It is no fault of their own; a side effect of half of their being being doubled and the other being taken. Of the two, Ladybug requires the longest time to come into her own as a strategist and healer.”

Rena snorted at that. “Have you seen Ladybug?”

Vupyte sucked in her breath through her teeth. “I have.”

Rena watched her more intensely then.

“She is not even out of her training suit, while the rest of yours have become personalized, implying that you are not being overtaken by your role. That you have blended with your kwami and role, rather than be consumed by it.”

Rena froze at that.

“What do you mean be consumed by it.” it didn’t come out like a question, it fell out like doubt defending fear.

“Ladybugs fill in any holes in their group. Right now you are missing two, and one is injured,” Vupyte noted.

Rena filled in the blanks. “Until we get a Butterfly and fix the Peacock, Ladybug isn’t really Ladybug, is she?”

Vupyte sighed. “She is a child trying to run a home alone until they are both present as allies.”

Rena frowned at that. “Then why isn’t Chat affected?”

Vupyte looked far older then. “Have you not noticed that he can only extend and shorten his staff?”

Rena opened her mouth, only for no words to come out.

“He should be able to turn his weapon into whatever hand-held weapon he desires at that moment to protect your team. He cannot fulfill his role as Judge and Protector proper. He may be his own person within his transformation and within the team, but he lack his full range. Ladybug has her full range of abilities, but lacks her individuality as a Ladybug proper. Her team is incomplete, so she must continue to cover and cover and cover until it is complete with all five of her strongest allies at her side. Until then, whoever is under the mask will give and give and give until there is nothing left.”

Rena swallowed thickly. “How do I stop that?”

Vupyte leveled Rena with a few words. “Find Hawkmoth and Mayura, take their miraculous, and once the miraculous is fixed, hand them to worthy champions—ones who are strong judges of others for the butterfly, and of who is in need for the peacock.”

Rena felt her mind waver to Rose for the peacock—the girl who fought for everyone. She was blanking on a butterfly though—a strong judge of character was hard to think of as a core characteristic of someone she knew she could trust.

“You have one in mind,” Vupyte said quietly. “Good. You will have to find another for the other, or an ally of yours must find candidates. The sooner this is determined, the sooner your Ladybug will come into her own. The only other way… would be dangerous.”

Rena nodded. She texted Chat and Carapace to meet her to talk about what she learned. They’d protect Ladybug. Their Leader. Paris’ Savior. And their friend.

Aurore is many things. Miss Sting is a necessity to keep Paris safe. Aurore of the weather girl duo on KIDZ+. Miss Mandeliev’s favorite to call on for environmental studies and among Bustier’s favorite to read a well researched report. She is also one of poor Marinette’s longest standing friends, and one of the only people who can catch her mid attack and get her to pull out of and process her spiral without setting off a different bout of anxiety.

Which is why she captured the akuma in a jar, hid it in her backpack until Chat or LAdybug could handle it, and nabbed her friend in the first place when Alya messaged her. She is not on the best of terms with the reporter (she might be holding a grudge over Lady Wifi calling her a hack and may have gone on a spree fact checking the Ladyblog in the early days and found holes on a Certain Person who has been since excommunicated by the students of Dupont and left the school in disgrace within a less than a week of attending). Especially since she insisted on being Mairnette’s best friend when Marinette has her already. honestly, the other never has been the best at seeing the obvious…

Like the fact that Marinette’s anxiety up ticked with Ladybug’s issues. Or that around the time Chat Noir took on being Mr. Bug, Marinette was injured. OR that Chat hangs around Marinette a lot when Marinette is around an attack, even covering for her.

Aurore dealth in meteorology and environmental sciences. She dealth with public appearances, PR, and being a child star. It is not her place to point out that Marinette is clearly (a) Chat and Ladybug’s confidant somehow, (b) a member of the team (c) Ladybug or some combination thereof. She didn’t want to make a call, she didn’t have evidence to back it up, and she didn’t run on intuition like Alya.

Aurore is a Bee, and they operate best within rules.

Ladybug made not looking into identities a rule. One she’s certain Rena has been ignoring… but Miss Sting follows Ladybug’s word to the letter. She has not looked into anyone’s identity and actively ignored any possible relveations in favor of working on her civilian life and focusing on capturing akuma before someone becomes akumatized, and bringing her catches to Ladybug or Chat for purification or destruction respectfully. Depending on how schedules lined up for patrols.

Now, Aurore is content listening to Marinette ramble about baking soda and baking powder with buttermilk on her latest recipe and how that connects to their chemistry homework (as they were both smart enough to dodge the math that goes into physics, unlike Adrien or Nino and Rose who were naïve enough to take music theory).

That doesn’t stop her from seeing faint movement on their school roof in reflections.

Ladybug may not have made it a rule to protect Marinette. Chat may not have stated such either, but his actions told her it was a priority. And her duties as Marinette’s longest unstrained friendship demanded she monitor the situation.

Once Marinette went down for snacks, aurore snuck into her friend’s bathroom and transformed to send a single message” I think Chat’s princess has a stalker now. Keep an eye on repeats in her environment.”

Pegasus was furious when he saw the message. Cowboy was hacking camera in the area as they spoke with the other members of the team.

Rena paled and Carapace looked oddly dangerous in that moment.

Chat Noir and Ryuuko were the most deadly of the group… Chat’s suit almost… moving, but it had to be a trick of the light. Ryuuko had the same look Rena did when Carapace did something particularly dangerous—like refuse to flee before his time ran out and somehow stayed transformed beyond the standard five minutes after using shelter through sheer force of will alone.

Ryuuko turned to Chat with a most Peculiar shade of anger. “I will be shadowing her.”

It was not a question, but a demand.

“Shouldn’t we check with Ladybug?” Pegasus asked while continuing to check camera. Nothing. Nothing at all.

This must have been what was setting his friend on edge these last few days. Someone stalking her, but just out of a camera’s reach. Professional…

Pegasus desperately hoped it was some paparazzi after Marinette the Designer’s secret identity, or even MDC. Anything but someone going after her for something… something he wouldn’t let cross his mind.

Chat shot him one look that obliterated the option entirely. Pegasus may not know who his comrades are outside of the mask, but he’d be a fool not to remember that Marinette was a spy on Gabriel Agreste. That she was in constant danger as a civilian.

Was it Hawkmoth?

Mayura?

Someone they hired?

He didn’t know, and he needed to. Needed to protect his friend.

She believed in him when he wasn’t sure of himself. She argued against his worst insecurities (nuisance, annoyance, best left forgotten) and proved she likes Max for Max. For his rambles, for his excitement and passion and his own brand of sass to their friends.

King Monkey appeared with a rare serious expression. He didn’t know of Marinette’s involvement at all—only Chat, Ladybug, Alya and himself did—but King must know Marinette. Because that look on his face reminded Max of a friend he’d seen punch someone a little too hard for their hand to keep Max safe from a pair ready to hurt him for his mumbling as a child.

“Whoever is doing this,” King Monkey stated with an eerily calm. “I’m calling the right to make their life a bit too chaotic.”

“Get in line,” Rena growled, her flute ready at a moment’s notice.

Elsewhere three gothamites were passed out in the same room. They decided to take a break and watch a movie together.

They had no idea the Very Displeased eldest of the batchildren had entered the room and forced them each in a separate bed, or that he allowed a certain “demon spawn” to add a variety of traps that, while they all knew how to escape at this point, were still ass to get out of and made it clear they were in hot water.

Jason hoped things worked out for the best… after his screw up, he figured Dickie and Demon Spawn should at least have a fighting chance. Or at least Nightwing would have a better chance at convincing the Justice League and the Miraculous Team they meant no harm.

He hopes.

---

hope you enjoyed!

BTW we have fanart by @thegreysman!!! here which tumblr is rudely not letting me show off.

@heldtogetherbysafetypins @laurcad123 @raisuke06 @chaosace@jeminiikrystal @toodaloo-kangaroo @kris-pines04 @bisha43rbs @izang

#marinette did not sign up for this #part 7 #maribat #bio!dad bruce #long post #my fic #my writing #can't tag #bio!dad bruce wayne #anyone know how to add a readmore?

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watchtower-feed · 4 years

Text

Losing My Mind (Part 3)

SSA Main ✧ Luthor ✧ 1 ✧ 2 ✧ 3 ✧

The air moves and both Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian appear beside you.

You watch Lex’s eyes widen and turn from one alien to another. Once they’ve entered his mind, his eyes start closing. You lean down and whisper, “A courtesy, my soulmate.”

You stay close to Lex, laying his head on your lap while Miss Martian lies near you, her eyes glowing an effervescent light green and Martian Manhunter holds her hand. You panic when Lex’s brows crease and his eyelids flutter.

“It’ll be okay,” Martian Manhunater’s deep voice echoes in the near-empty dome of the lab. Everyone had been cuffed and escorted out. It’s just the four of you in the middle and Batman and Green Arrow on the side keeping watch.

“Miss Martian is the best telepath I know. She won’t hurt him.”

You purse your lips and your hand on Lex’s shoulder cups around his skin, pulling him a little closer. “How do I know his memories of the links are the only thing you’ll take?”

Martian Manhunter’s face doesn’t know how to show emotion. So he tips his head to the side. “You came to us for help because you trust us.”

“No,” you answer in reflex and blush in shame. You turn away from him to look at Lex. You want to say that you asked for their help because they’re the only ones that would help. You couldn’t even count on the Fate sisters so who else was left but the enemies of your soulmate?

When Miss Martian starts blinking and moving, Martian Manhunter gently helps her situp and the other heroes start walking toward the center. You check on Lex and find his features calm and his breathing even.

“He’ll be… asleep for a while…” Miss Martian’s voice is ragged. She grunts and takes a long breath before she speaks again. “Batman--” he’s already handing her a piece of paper and pen. She slowly scribbles down a list. After she’s done she hands it to you.

“We need to destroy all physical evidence that might trigger his memories. Can you please write down any locations that might not be there?”

“What do you mean they might not be there?” Batman asks.

Miss Martian frowns, “My powers are strong but some human minds have their own kind of strength. Especially for someone like Luthor. It was like… a filing cabinet?” she turns to Martian Manhunter, unsure, before she looks back at Batman. “Everything was well-organized and easy to find, and all in one place.”

Batman turns to you, “Like a trap.”

You glare at him and cower a little closer over Lex.

“If it is, she’s not involved,” Martian Manhunter interjects and then turns to you, “I’ve read your mind. Batman asked me to.”

Batman grunts, making Green Arrow smirk.

“This is Luthor we’re talking about, Batman. He’s probably had this as a contingency plan years ago when my unc-- I mean Martian Manhunter joined the League.”

Batman turns to you and you wait for another accusation. But he nods toward the list you forgot you’re holding. You look at it and carefully read each location. Safehouses. Lairs. Secret meeting spots. Deposit boxes. Storage containers. You’ve been to most of them but there are some missing. Locations only you would know. You write down the dorms and apartments Lex went to in college, his foster house in Metropolis, and just in case, you write down the location of the Luthor farmhouse.

“They’re not secret locations but these would be the last places Lex would go to and his enemies would expect the same.” But Lex is smarter than his enemies, you wanted to add. But you still needed their help. You still needed them to make sure Lex forgets everything.

✧ ✧ ✧

You’re standing in front of the big tree on Luthor’s farm and holding the piece of paper with a list. You’re scrunching the paper in your hand. Every location has been crossed off except this one.

Except for the ones you listed down, every single location had endless records and evidence of Lex’s research on the links. As well as copies and backups of each one.

But you’re disappointed because there’s not a single written record about you. Not a single file that acknowledged your existence. Your name wasn’t even written down on a loose piece of paper tucked haphazardly between pages or thrown in a trash bin or shredded.

Lex had erased every single trace of your existence in his life. He had been prepared to lose you completely. No. Get rid of you.

Flash taps you on the shoulder. “Looks like no one’s been here since the fire took down the farmhouse. Where to next?”

You keep your back to him but your voice breaks when you answer, “This is the last one.”

Flash quickly tenses and turns to Batman and Green Arrow for help. It’s Miss Martian who approaches you. “Y/N,” she holds your shoulders and tries to look you in the eye with a half-lidded gaze. “If you want, I could also--”

You quickly shake your head and bite your lips to keep the tears from falling.

No. You want to remember. Despite everything-- Despite the man he’s become, you still want him in your memories.

✧ ✧ ✧

You stayed in Gotham for a couple of weeks, against your will but you were ready to do anything to get Batman off your back. He wanted to keep an eye on you, to make sure this wasn’t all part of an elaborate move against the League.

While Superman continued to monitor Lex in Metropolis, you weren’t allowed anywhere near the city nor Lex. But you had no desire to be.

The Lex you saw on the news wasn’t the one you know anymore. He wasn’t the child you grew up with, the teenager you fell in love with, nor the man you devoted your life to. Because that is what you did. Your whole life has revolved around him and now he’s gone.

Finally, it’s time to start your own life. After Gotham, you move back to Star City to be with your family and be reacquainted with the life you could have had. You suddenly don’t need to keep running and hiding anymore.

Not even Batman could keep an eye in Star City 24/7. But a month later, Green Arrow stops by your house to check on you. It is his city after all.

“You can tell Batman I’m still being a good girl and to the League, thank you again for your help.”

Green Arrow laughs. “I’m not here because Batman told me to.”

You raise your eyebrow and try to suppress the smirk playing on your lips, “So you heroes just do monthly checkups on every citizen you’ve saved--”

“--and worked with,” he finishes with a gleaming smile. While Batman had intimidation going for him, Green Arrow uses his charms to lower his enemy’s guard. Lex didn’t particularly applaud the cunning in it. But he did make note of it.

So you keep your mouth closed but give him a small smile. Both of you wait a while.

When the silence suddenly gets too awkward, Green Arrow coughs, “Well I should get going then-- Oh!” he fishes out an envelope from inside his jacket and hands it to you.

It’s an invitation to Oliver Queen’s mayoral campaign tomorrow night at the Star City Plaza Hotel.

“He’s one of the good guys.”

You’re too baffled by the sudden situation that you keep staring at the invitation. “Well if he has the League backing him, he can’t lose,” you say mindlessly.

“Actually,” Green Arrow chuckles. “It’s just me… on the down-low.” Of course. If vigilantes started publicly endorsing politicians, they’d lose the people. You nod.

It takes you the whole day to decide whether or not you should go. There are still so many things you had to do to get your new life started. But that also meant that you aren’t particularly busy. Suddenly not having a life’s mission is enough to make you go to a mayoral campaign of all things.

It’s actually not so bad. Good guy or not, Oliver Queen knows how to throw parties for his people. His people being the upper class. You see a few big names show up, all smiling for the camera while they shake hands with the new potential mayor of Star City. All for show.

You find yourself spending most of the night at a table near the stairs, deflecting conversations of who you are, and who they are. Is this the life Lex wanted? To be among these kinds of people?

No, he wouldn’t. He cares less for these social gatherings than politics itself. You snicker silently as you think about how Lex would show up only if he had to be on stage and then leave the rest of the night to his secretary.

You’re picturing this in your head that you almost don’t get surprised to see him across the room shaking hands with a stiff Oliver Queen. But then you remember you’re no longer linked and he’s no longer your soulmate. So why is he suddenly here?

He catches you staring at him. You watch him turn back to Oliver Queen and mindlessly excuses himself but the mayoral candidate holds Lex’s hand in his grip and seems unwilling to let his company go.

You quickly take this opportunity to slip away and blend into a small crowd headed down the stairs toward the lobby. You wait until they reach the bottom steps before you break off toward a deserted hallway. You lean against the wall and try to catch your breath. If written words on a piece paper could potentially unravel everything Miss Martian erased, then you had to get out of here.

“Leaving so soon?”

It’s as if destiny still has strings on you.

You turn around. Slowly. You try to smile. You try to keep your feet planted on the floor and your hands behind you. “Not really my scene.”

Lex raises his eyebrow and places his hands in his pockets. “So you’re here for work then. Star City Sentinel?” he asks, “or Gotham Gazette?”

He thinks you’re a reporter but that’s not right. He’s not one to seek reporters. He runs away from them.

“Uhh, no,” you answer. “I’m-- filling in for a friend.”

“A friend, huh?” He raises his eyebrows in amusement. “Anyone, I know?”

You suddenly don’t like this. You don’t know what this Luthor is thinking. You narrow your eyes at him and push yourself off the wall, about to walk off. “Probably not. I don’t even know who you are.”

He laughs, “Really, Y/N?” It makes you stop. “Was that the best you’ve got? Everyone on this planet with access to TV and the internet knows who I am. I thought you might have been able to play this little game a while longer.”

You turn to him then, standing too close and within his reach. Your eyes are wide and he stares back at you with a calm exterior.

"Did you really think it would be so easy?"

You couldn’t move. Your words come out like a whisper with only disbelief pushing them out. "H-how?"

He hums. "You're not the only one who's employed a mindreader.”

His hand reaches out to hold yours. He turns it around in his hold, seeing and feeling your skin touching his. Then he squeezes it. He points his head to the exit and you follow him while he brushes his thumb on the back of your hand. At this point, you’ll follow him to the ends of the earth.

You almost hear Oliver Queen yelling after you as you get in the passenger seat of the town car. Almost.

Lex drives and there’s only silence inside. Your hands are on your lap and they’re shaking. Now that you’ve had time to think, you don’t know what to think. “Lex,” you mutter, “Please. Explain what’s happening.” You slowly turn to him but he keeps his eyes on the road. “If you remember, then why-- why aren’t you angry?”

Lex finally turns to you. He can’t help the smirk that lifts the corners of his lips and the mischief curling his eyebrows down. “Aren’t I?”

You don’t reply to him. Your eyes hold his gaze until the playfulness finally disappears from his features. He briefly closes his eyes and sighs.

“I knew our memories would be erased once we meet,” he starts and you hold your breath, “And when I succeed in taking control of the memory link, any lingering feelings would've been obliterated as well.”

Your lips quiver as you listen and your words come out a whisper, “Isn’t that what you wanted--”

“But I found,” he interrupts, “Over the years, I found that there was one memory I couldn’t forget."

Your eyes widen because it suddenly feels as if time had stopped.

"Which... which one?"

He suddenly smiles sheepishly and his voice goes lower, "The ceasefire."

You remember it so clearly. The rarest of days when Lex suddenly appeared in front of you, distraught, angry, annoyed, and just as surprised to see you as he was to find himself under a big tree, on a hill, in an orchard in Florence.

"Where am I?"

At first, you pondered about ignoring him but then you realized that would make him harder to tolerate and you don’t know how long he’s going to be staying.

"Italy," you answered nonchalantly.

He whipped his head around, as if not taking your word for it. Then he turned to you and raised one of his eyebrows, "What are you--"

"I needed a break,” you interrupted. You stretched your arms and then sat down on the blanket you had just laid before Lex arrived. “I found out a while ago that immersing myself in a familiar environment keeps me from wandering into your memories."

This happened during the third year of your decades-long game of cat and mouse. You were still testing out the possibilities and limitations of the links. But Lex, at the time, was still rejecting it completely.

You watched him close his eyes and you can tell he was willing himself to disappear. But to no success. "Ugh!"

You snickered. "You look like you could use a break, too. Tough day at the evil lair?" you teased but he doesn’t turn to you. He rubbed his palms down his face in aggravation. You rolled your eyes at him, "Since you're stuck here, we might as well be civil."

"You could walk away," he snapped at you with a fake smile.

"No way! I was here first!” You sounded like a child and Lex almost laughed. Instead, he managed to contain it to a small smirk but it was enough to embarrass you. “Whatever,” you grumbled and leaned back with your arms supporting you. “I'm not leaving this spot."

Lex scowled and rolled his eyes. He tried to look for the nearest town or guesthouse. But there were only acres of trees on the horizon. He grimaced because it reminded him of the farm. "What's so special about it?"

You were surprised to hear his questions. Was he actually trying to be civil? You tried your best not to sneak a look at him and kept your gaze up.

"It's nice to see the light trying to pass through the leaves. When the wind comes, the leaves and branches rustle so the specs of light look like they're dancing."

Lex was looking at you while you talked and he saw them dance on the contours of your face, making you smile. Again, it reminded him of the farm.

He finally sighed and unbuttoned his suit jacket. He draped it over your shoulders and then lied down on the blanket with his head resting on your lap. He felt you tense up.

"I need a break,” he declared with his eyes closed.

Slowly, your body relaxed and you sat up so your fingers could run through his hair.

"Is this an intermission?" you tease softly.

"Hmm,” he frowns. “Call it a ceasefire. Your vocabulary hasn't gotten any better. You must be wasting your time in college instead of studying."

You glared at him. But then you saw the small smirk that played on his lips and it reminds you of his room in Metropolis.

You leaned down to hover above his head. Your shadow forced him to open his eyes and look at you.

"I miss you, Lex."

A strong gust of wind swayed the leaves to reach for the sky, and the light was dancing wildly behind your head. Without thinking, Lex's hand reached up to pull you down for your lips to be reunited.

The two of you have been quiet for a long time. You’ve been wringing your wrist with your fingers trying to figure what to say next. But Lex knows it has to be him that speaks first.

“I believed destiny made a mistake linking you to me.”

It’s not what you expect and your heart hurts a little to hear it. But you’ve always known that.

“Then,” he pauses. His mouth closes and opens a few times before he could finally continue. “You proved me wrong.”

Your hands stop.

“While I cowered away and tried to ignore our link--”

You look at him to make sure he’s not lying to you.

Lex is staring straight at the road but there’s a hint of excitement in his eyes. “You adapted!” he said proudly, almost breathless. “You lived in my memories for days at a time and fit into the background as if you were actually there.”

He turns to you suddenly, eyes wide and mouth grinning, “For god’s sakes, Y/N, you found out Batman’s link and planted the information in my head, making me believe I was the one who discovered it.” He scoffs, “And then had me ask Scarecrow create a fear toxin that only worked in his dreams. Tell me-- Why?”

His excitement is contagious. You found yourself leaning a little closer and wanting to tell him everything. “I knew it would make his soulmate visit the black market for blockers. I needed her to get the League’s help.” He laughs. “How-- how did you know I planted the information?”

“I found out when we finally met. When the link cleared my head of memories of you.”

Your own excitement takes a sudden dip. What you did was wrong. You knew it was before you even started it. But Lex had been making more progress in his plans and you were still figuring out how to get the League to trust you.

It was pure coincidence that you found Batman’s link as if destiny has been pushing you down this road the whole time. It was your roommate’s sister. She visited and you overheard them talking about the links. She was talking about her neighbor in Central City who had the strangest sleeping schedule and often called out Bruce Wayne’s name in her sleep. “Imagine having a subconscious link with Bruce Wayne? I’d die every night catching him with a different supermodel in a wet dream.”

You knew who Bruce Wayne was. Having existed in Lex’s memories, you knew the identity of every single hero and villain, even in other galaxies. Truly, something was helping you pave the path to your success.

Lex reaches out to hold your hand, stealing you from your thoughts. His voice comes softer now but you could still hear the mirth in it, “You uncovered my plans and used it against me. Erasing my memories and planting fake ones about a happy childhood where my parents lived until I finished college-- Only you would've come up with something twisted and wrapped it in a bow.”

You suddenly have the urge to pull your hand back. Instead, you pinch him. He flinches but keeps smiling.

"I was impressed. The things you could do. The lengths you went through--"

"For you," you answer in a whisper. You squeeze his hand and you speak a little louder. "It was all for you."

His smile softens and there’s no longer excitement or mirth there. Just affection. "Yes. For me."

He lifts your hand to his lips and kisses it. "Forgive me, Y/N. Perhaps destiny has truly blessed me."

END.

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happymeishappylife · 4 years

Text

DC CW Shows

I finally caught up on all the DC Universe shows. Quite an accomplishment for me considering I was 2 seasons behind. It feels good to finally get caught up to speed, but some of them are starting to feel like chores getting through them, rather than fun entertainment. A concern that gets amplified by the fact that the producers want to add on 2 more shows to the line up. So I felt like it was a good idea to breakdown my thoughts on each of the shows and what I liked/didn’t like. Plus then I will break down my thoughts on Crisis, because I have a lot of them. I’ll also rank these as I go as far as which ones I liked best, beginning with least to best. So let’s begin:

#7 - The Flash

I used to love this show so much. The first two seasons were a lot of fun and I loved all the characters so much. Thanks to the writing though, I can’t honestly say I don’t like this show much at all anymore and that’s kinda sad. Part of the reason is it became soooo angsty. Like the reason The Flash was great, was it was the antithesis to the angst on Arrow which made it so refreshing to watch. Now it’s like everyone must suffer some sort of pain over the tiniest things or worse, they become entrapped in characters and situations like its been haunting them for years when it only got introduced a couple episodes ago. At this point the only characters I care about are Caitlyn/Frost, Joe and Cecile West, Wally (when he’s on, which is like never), and Ralph. And that’s painful that Hartley won’t be returning to fill that role anymore because he was the only one who still could joke and laugh around like old Team Flash.

Season 5: Overall season 5 had a pretty solid storyline despite some of the angsty writing. After a while though I got pretty sick of fighting Chicada over and over again, especially Grace’s version. My one big pet peeve with it though was the relationship of Nora to Barry and Iris. I’m sorry. I can’t honestly picture any 20-30 something meeting their adult daughter and automatically assuming the role of an actual parent and treating her like a preteen. That always felt super weird and uncomfortable. Not to mention it happened almost automatically with little to no hang ups on ‘is this really our kid? Should we trust her?’ Plus then it created angst between Barry and Iris which I’m really over at this point in the series because their relationship was never my favorite to begin with.

Season 6: A hot mess. Granted, because of Crisis and Covid-19, the season probably didn’t get a fair chance to play out to it’s full potential. But cutting the season into two arcs didn’t do it any justice. Especially because instead of having character growth, I felt like a lot of the characters regressed. Take Barry for instance. The whole first part of the season is him prepping/training the team to take over for him after Crisis since he believes he is going to die. Only when he doesn’t, he assumes the role of leader still without actually leading. He stops telling his team members key details and putting aside the fact he killed the speed force, he stopped being a hero. The whole fight scene with Mirror-Iris, was so bizarre to watch. Yes, Barry would never hurt the real Iris, but she’s not and instead he just stands there and gets stabbed over and over, crying at the end that she’s not there. It’s really hard to watch.

#6 - Arrow

Arrow used to be in my top 3 slots as last I left it. The storylines were still on point. But leading up to Crisis and the show ending, there were some things that worked for me and some that didn’t. Still, kudos to the team for standing their ground and saying that we’ve told all we can tell, let’s put this show to bed and give it a close it deserves. It made the ending super emotional, but at the same time satisfying despite, Oliver’s death in the universe. My only complaint is the fact that the producers can’t put it fully to bed and now want to reboot Arrow all over again with Mia and the canaries. Don’t get me wrong watching strong women take more of the leading roles is awesome, but not to tell and retell the same storylines.

Season 7: The first half of the season when Oliver was in Iron Heights was not my favorite. Mainly because as it continues to develop it was like all the reasons he got put in Iron Heights to begin with no longer mattered. Diaz is still on the lose, he’s still playing his games in prison, and really what was the point? Now the second half of the season where we focus on his rehabilitation into society and working with the SCPD to track and take down his sister Emiko, was actually good. Too bad it got horribly overshadowed by a time travel flash-forward storyline to introduce and make us care about Mia.

Season 8: Obviously this season was the closeout season and the season leading up to Crisis. But I liked the way they treated it. They gave cameo spots and guest starring spots to former faces like Thea (she’s still freaking awesome), Tommy, Moira, and even Merlyn came back. My only complaint was that all of sudden we did have another time travel situation on our hands to meet our future kids. Thankfully I felt Arrow overall took that development better than the Flash, which since that was only a couple episodes and not a season, says something about the writing. Plus the post-Crisis pilot for the Green Arrow and Canaries felt a little out of place given everything that happened and a little insulting.

#5 - Supergirl

There’s parts of Supergirl I still absolutely love to pieces and the writing that are still doing it the justice that started the show by telling storylines of not only heroism, but commentary on today’s events to help push for progress. I love the whole cast of characters and think the acting has been great. My only complaint is with Season 5 and the fact that the show is beginning to find its tipping point of being less than stellar. I mean, I still enjoy it, but it’s beginning to show its where and tear so I’m worried what’s going to happen as it continues forward. Especially as it gets hyperfixated on Lex Luthor, who don’t get me wrong is a fabulous villain, but isn’t that Superman’s arch nemesis, not Supergirl’s?

Season 4: What a great commentary to tell throughout the season that parallels the feelings and conversations being had about immigration in our own world. I thought the idea of the Alien Amnesty Act squaring off against Ben Lockwood and his Agents of Liberty was not only great commentary but great story telling. I also loved that we got to introduce Nia Nall into the series because she’s fantastic and has become one of my favorite characters. I even love the twist reveal of how Ben Lockwood isn’t the enemy, it’s really Lex Luthor and his communist Supergirl clone. Plus Jon Crier plays an amazing Lex Luthor.

Season 5: Don’t get me wrong, the stakes and the storylines with Leviathan and Obsidian North, I do think are important and worth telling, but they detracted from the main storyline that developed at the end of last season which was Lena and Kara’s new relationship. Yes, it was still hit on and explored, but by far that was the storyline I was interested in seeing the most, not Ramah Khan or Virtual Reality horror stories. Also, while I like Lex, thanks to his antics during Crisis, the second half of the season felt hijacked and became this witch hunt. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait to see what he and Lillian are doing, but I wish it played out more in the shadows and less of the actual screen time. I’m also glad Lena is back on Kara’s side again. But Brainy better not be dead! He’s one of my favorites even if his motives during this season were hard to watch.

#4 - Batwoman

I actually really, really, really liked Batwoman’s first season. Getting to know the badass that is Kate Kane and watch the horror’s of Gotham play out week to week was such a refreshing change of pace. After all, The Flash and Supergirl are undeniably heroes and must carry those burdens(?) as they fight for truth and justice. And Oliver was a vigilante, but while he took down drug lords, weapons dealers, etc. the stakes of being a vigilante in Star City is nothing compared to wearing the cape in Gotham. I loved the cast and seeing the stories play out of their past and how they connect to each other and also how some of them discover who Batwoman is, was fantastic. Even as creepy as Alice is, I enjoyed seeing the performance of the completely unhinged and psychotic villain take the stage to play out her twisted fantasies. I also appreciate the openness that Kate brought to being an out and proud lesbian, even revealing her super identity to a teenager to prove that it does get better and lesbians can be awesome is super freaking powerful. I even like that with the shortened season, it didn’t feel like we got robbed of an awesome storyline, but now we get to why this ranks fourth on my list instead of higher: Ruby Rose left the show and we get a whole new Batwoman. I get that this is out of the hands of the producers and the writers and I am super sad to see her go. But its hard not to feel like we lost a whole season of introduction and development to just reset and begin again. I’m not sure how they will handle it, but I do hope that a lot of the cast stays and stays in their roles. Especially Luke and Mary who are a great team. Mary is also like my all time, instant-favorite character because not only is she super wicked smart, but she has so much humanity in her so I hope she still continues on the show.

#3 - Stargirl

Yes, yes, this show is still airing which is why I can’t speak to the overall season arc in finality yet, but I absolutely have been loving this first season. Again, what a refreshing new reality to step into and what a great new storyline to pursue. This rag-tag group of teenagers becoming the new Justice Society of America is a fun telling and already, the stakes of the Injustice Society are so high! Like I was expecting that it was going to be like the other shows where slowly by slowly we meet all the bad guys in different seasons, but instead it feels a little flipped since we don’t have all our new heroes on the stage yet. Still I love Courtney and her relationship with Pat as she discovers these secrets of his past and their new home of Blue Valley. I love her recruiting reasoning to bring Yolanda and Rick into this crazy plan and even her acceptance of Beth becoming the new Doctor Midnight. Plus, the show keeps surprising me because on one hand, giving these teenagers these powers to help them redeem their self esteem is a great storyline, which is why I was expecting them to force us to like Cindy since the beginning of that episode was leading up to maybe becoming friends with her, but no. Turns out she is the super bitch and super villain of the show and that’s kinda awesome. Also I like how because their teenagers, their secret identities aren’t really that secret, which makes it’s kinda fun, but also dangerous. We’ll see how the last 3 episodes play out, but I can’t wait.

#2 - Black Lightening

Talk about real gritty, dark, and powerful storytelling. I enjoyed the first season, but these last two have been a real punch in the gut in good ways and the writers have been outdoing themselves to provide heartfelt, real, honest emotions and discussions to the world of superheroes, compared to the other shows. And it’s hard, but the gruesome nature of the show also highlights some of the real struggles going on in the Freeland Community which of course highlights the issues in our own world around the Black Community. The whole spinal chord ripping scene will haunt me forever and not only because they keep replaying it, but because of how insane that was. The cast is also great and I love that at the end of Season 3, it’s not just a family of super heroes, but a group of powerful metas squaring off against the government and the most dangerous threat of all so far: Gravedigger. Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.

Season 2: Now that the whole family knows the stakes of what they have gotten themselves into with Tobias and revealing the girls have power, I love the way we got introduced to the ASA and the pod kids as a menial threat while still struggling to take down the perceived ‘bigger threat’ that is Tobias. Jennifer also having trouble coming to terms with her powers and how to use them I think was a great way to explore that not everyone wants to be a superhero, especially in antithesis to Nyssa who is a full on badass as Thunder and Blackbird. Watching Khalil’s story in this go from obedient lap dog to a runaway and finally a victim of Tobias’ violence was hard, but I felt was justified throughout and made him that character you want to root for, even when not everything he’s done has been great.

Season 3: What a harsh turn of direction. A full on occupation of Freeland, house arrest, killings on the street, and an underground railroad of metas or suspected metas completely changed the tune of this show. Watching each of the Peirces struggle to find out who the ASA is, what their doing, if their actions are justified and if the Marcovian threat was real was really fascinating to watch. The showdown with the Marcovians too with a whole team behind them was also a nice change of pace, even if their mission didn’t end the way they expected. I think the amplified stakes though of what happened and what’s to come will continue to develop into an incredible show, minus one now big problem I have, but I will detail that out below when we talk about Crisis.

#1 - Legends of Tomorrow

You can fight me, but Legends of Tomorrow is the best goddamn shown on this network for one simple fact: They don’t take themselves seriously. There is no real angst and because of that it makes the adventures so fun and so hilarious that its such a great break from all of the other shows. Plus, because they keep swapping new and old cast members into the show, it always feels new. Kinda that Doctor Who spirit, which I love. That and because there are hardly any rules to a time travelling group of heroes who don’t really want to be heroes, you get ridiculously themed episodes like Bollywood Musical or TV Crossovers. It is what makes the show a total blast.

Season 4: As the team gears up to track down magical creatures throughout history, you get the introduction of permanent team member, John Constantine who I freaking love for his cool, aloof character and yet sarcastic and sassy contrast to the sunshine and bro-squad that is Ray and Nate. I also love that the season not only was about capturing these magical creatures, but fully rehabilitating Norah Dhark into a good guy now accidentally turned fairy godmother. To be honest, I definitely did not see that one coming. I like that fighting the demon lord also helped transition the show from Season 4 to 5 to fight hell spawn creatures. Quite a leap from the original Legends concept, but again that’s what makes this show so fresh.

Season 5: Part of the other fun of Legends is getting to see old characters get reinvented. I loved the storyline with Charlie and her reveal to be Clothos, one of the 3 fate sisters and the reason the ancient loom got destroyed. I also loved Tala Ashe’s portrayal of Zari in a different timeline because the difference between tech-geek, super smart Zari and social influencer extraordinaire Zari were well done. Plus we got another awesome bro-squad member in Behrad who I hope sticks around for a while. The only bummer was saying goodbye to Ray Palmer. Ray has been one of my favorite characters in the Arrow-verse and seeing his exit was sad and partly because I think it could have been handled better. Like don’t get me wrong, seeing him have to get approval from Damian Dhark to marry Nora was entertaining and I’m glad he isn’t dead like Dr. Stein or Leonard Snart, but I just feel like the exit was a bit rushed. The good news is, it opens the door for Ray to return and I hope we get to seem in the future.

Alright...... To end this long spiel, let’s talk about Crisis on Infinite Earths and what that now means for all these shows. Because unfortunately.... it can’t be ignored. And I’m sorry to sound pessimistic, but to be honest, Crisis wasn’t my favorite story and was too hyped for the end result.

The only show who came out better for Crisis, in my opinion, was Arrow. Mainly because the story of Oliver’s last sacrifice to reboot the universe was the only one that made complete sense and doesn’t complicate the show after it happens. Granted it could be because it was used as the show’s exit, but still. I used to love crossover episodes and getting the whole team together, but now because there is soooo much going on in each show and such a large cast, these big multi-night and multi-universe shows just feel scattered because you are constantly hopping around and between each of the characters and all the individual storylines don’t matter. Like remember when Barry and Oliver would actually talk about what they were up against? Miss that. That and Oliver, Barry, and Kara stole the show even when it was other shows turn to shine. Like Kate was hardly in it, even in her own episode and the Legends weren’t in it at all. It was just Sara and Ray which was disappointing because as Crisis was their season opener, you missed a real chance to have the Legends save the day. Don’t get my wrong, there were some great moments during crisis and I liked the nod to past versions of the DC characters, including Brandon Routh getting to play Superman again, but overall it just made chaos for things that don’t make sense post-crisis.

Like yay, all our favorite heroes are in one place and created the justice league to help each other, but once Crisis is over, nope sorry, no one can be bothered to borrow a hero friend. Like that makes sense for some shows, Batwoman for instance isn’t that close to everyone and her storyline is so rooted in her own family drama, that ignoring the other supers made sense. The Flash’s stakes weren’t high enough to involve anyone else, so fine. And Legends of course travel through time and so aren’t around, fine. But Supergirl’s takedown of a longstanding secret group of people capable of bending Earth’s elements to create catastrophic events, isn’t enough to at least reach out to Cisco or Luke for help tracking them? That seems underwhelming. Plus where are the aliens in all the other cities now? Or the metas in National City? That’s a pet peeve, but more so because of the biggest twist in Crisis:

Pulling Black Lightening into the Arrowverse. Like the shows writers and producers, I think Black Lightening works better outside the Arrowverse which was the intent and goal from the get go. Pulling Jefferson Pierce’s family and world into the same Earth as all the other shows, no longer makes the shows storytelling as strong and maybe it was because this was a last minute decision, but there is just no justification post Crisis as to why they had to come in. I mean, The Flash and Black Lightening have metas related issues, you would think that alone would be a prime source of teaming up. Especially when Cisco goes out on a worldwide quest to document metas, you’re telling me skipped over Freeland? And where’s our favorite Kyrptonian to fight for truth, justice, and the American way as Freeland is being occupied by the ASA? Oh, what too busy going after Lex Luthor? Sorry, I’m not buying that Kara Danvers ignores racial injustice. Like I get that maybe it was a way to be able to use Black Lightening later in cross-over events, but the fallout from bringing them in this season with everything going on is a huge mistake in my opinion. And heck, having shows exist outside each other is probably a good thing. Too many and these crossover events don’t feel fun anymore, they just feel chaotic. I think I’m with the Legends on this one: the crossovers aren’t worth it anymore.

#cw dc universe #thoughts #reactions #legends of tomorrow #black lightening #stargirl #batwoman #supergirl #arrow #the flash #crisis on infinite earths

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iggy-of-fans · 5 years

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Daminette AU idea part 5

Firstly, I have no idea how to tag properly, so if I missed you or the tag didn't work properly, I'm really sorry. Secondly, I'm so sorry this took so long, my day got busy and I've never been good in fight scenes, but there's no way I'm not writing one because that's what you deserve! And lastly, after this I think there should only be a couple more parts. So here's to part 5 of 7!

When it Rains

From the start the heroes knew they were at a disadvantage. The League of Shadows members were all trained to escape and bond, Bane alone would take several people to take down. Scarecrow was already starting to release his fear toxin, making it near impossible for some heroes to get within fighting distance of him. The robots are immune to heat vision and ice breath. On top of everything it seems Luther found out about the message Max and Nino sent and is keeping them behind in his tower. Their plan goes out the window quickly. The Assassins hold a grudge and they focus and flush out the batfam, forcing Robin to abandon Guardian Angel early in the fight. Red Robin went back to the cave to get a few vials of nerve toxin to subdue Bane and hopefully some of the others. As it stands, they don't have much that will hold the highly trained assassins anyways, Wonder Woman's rope being one of the few things forces her to leave active battle for prison guard duty. Nightwing watches as Beast Boy, who was left alone by Raven falls to the fear Toxin and some robots.

"second chance". Nightwing jumps from the building he's taken vantage from, pulling Beast Boy out of the way of wave of Robots. Beastboy is barely lucid anymore, fear toxin coursing through every corner of his mind. Nightwing comms Oracle to send someone for rounding up those too badly hurt or incapable of continuing battle. He goes back to scanning the battle "what am I missing? I see everyone…. Except Robin….. And… Raven?" he sees a flash of navy Cape and sees Raven crouching on the far side of an alley, watching a fight within… "what is she doing?"

Now Raven had just wanted to give Robin a chance to grow up a little bit. For him to come into himself and be a little more open about himself with others. She missed her window it seemed, when the Parisian whore worked her way into the picture. Did Robin not realize she was only using him? Who the hell would believe that story? Besides, Raven could sense that she was impure. Tainted by the blonde wanting his classmate back. Being magical had its advantages, as she thought back to the Gala. She'd been hurt that Robin had brushed her off so casually, his eyes never straying from the temptress. Raven had been so patient, waiting for her opening, making sure to always be "less annoying than the banshees he deals with at school", always there for him when he was around. She knew she just had foster that bit of "I don't dislike you" into an "I love you". She'd been close, she knew. She also knew that it was a risk going up to him in the gala. She'd dressed to the nines in a long white dress that brought out her hair and eye colour, put the slightest touch makeup to make her less pale. Only for him to not ever look at her. She'd been furious. And when the alert came and everyone scrambled to get changed, she just magiced her usual fight clothes on in a corner. So she knew that Robin had the black cat ring that the Parisians wanted. And she made it easy on the teens, sending the message to Luther that he'd been betrayed and that Robin had the cat ring and the whore had the earnings and to separate the two of them. She'd get the ring herself, and the girl would be easy to overrun from there. So when the battle started she simply walked away in the chaos, biding her time until Robin was completely isolated. The Parisian had said he would include her in his wish, to end up with Robin as hers. It was a win/win in her eyes. So when Robin's katana got knocked away, she grabbed it and ran towards the whore, knowing that a confused Robin was taking off after her as well.

Nightwing watched, horrified as Raven plunged his brother's katana through Guardian Angel's back, disappearing quickly for GA to turn around to the wide, terrified eyes of Robin. No! Robin ran to her, crying out, and just held her, trying to explain even as her life faded with nothing but hurt and betrayal in her eyes. Raven swooped in a second later, ripping the earnings from her and running towards the back of the siege, where the two teens waited. "second chance" Nightwing barely managed to choke out.

The battle was not in their favour thus far. Superman couldn't get a handle on the robots. These were obviously specifically created to counter his son, cousin and himself. How had Lex managed that? If that wasn't enough, Superboy had been hit with the fear toxin. And while it didn't affect them as strongly, his son was now shooting blind, and Superman could see the Flash working his way through the throngs, trying to get the heroes out of the way of the rogue laser beams. His son would surely be traumatized from the amount of casualties he was witnessing. With Wonder Woman guarding prisoners, Nightwing for some reason staying above the fight, only intervening when things get a little too close, and Red Robin doing calculations on the side, only occasionally swinging his staff to intercept and Raven being no where in immediate sight, and several people being taken out by fear toxins or Bane… things were definitely not in their favour. He decided to take his son down to metabolize the toxin without further injuring anyone, and then landed and did some floor work, taking out soldiers and assassins. It was only because he'd decided to land that he saw Raven going for Guardian Angel with a Katana. He shot forward immediately, intercepting the sword and knocking her out. Guardian Angel looked back, shock evident on her face as she looked at a hero she had trusted. "Thank God! I didn't think I'd reach her in time!" Nightwing called, landing beside them. Guardian Angel made an OH face. Before frowning. "Why would she turn on us? Or go for me?" she asked. "She has a crush on Robin" Nightwing shrugged. Starfire had filled him in during one of their chats. Guardian Angel frowned and looked sad, but Robin snorted and glared. "She's known me for years. Why go after me when I'm taken?"

"She was biding her time, letting you" grow up"" Nightwing said.

"I was never going to change unless I had a reason to."

The comms cracked to life, "I'm sorry Guardian Angel. The Miraculous you entrusted to me is gone" Wonder Woman stated. While they were distracted, the Assassins had over powered her, taking the earings.

"Dammit! Nightwing, we need a second chance!"

"I can't! I have to refuel!"

"Damn! Okay… Think, what do we have that can end this quickly? Red Robin, Oracle, what will take out the robots? Heat doesn't work, neither does crushing them"

"We've been analyzing them, they're ridiculously easy to kill with some water in the right pocket. They're just difficult to reach." Red Robin stated. He'd joined the fray for real, moving his staff much faster than ever before, able to deflect bullets.

"Okay, I have something for that. Nightwing, refuel and get ready just in case. Red Robin, I need to do something for me too. Here's the plan everybody" Guardian Angel would let them feel like their victory was close. But this was far from over.

Adrien smirked in victory when the familiar earnings landed in his hand. Halfway there. Half the heroes were taken out of the fight, and those still standing were weakened and injured. He admitted, it had been a clever trick to switch Miraculi. But he hadn't seen the new costume and immediately knew she was faking somehow. It took a while to find out that the real Ladybug miraculous was with Wonder Woman. But the assassins had of course reported a bright red thing flashing around her once in a while. Maybe if she'd been transformed she would've been unstoppable. But she wasn't and Ladybug had miscalculated. And now he held half of the answer to all his problems in his hands. He looked over to his left, where Marinette stood as always at his side. She smiled brilliantly at him, eyes bright. "I'll hold you in my arms by tonight, Princess" he whispered to her, wanting so badly to cup her cheek, but knowing his hand would go right through her. He hated Ladybug with a passion. He considered transforming and joining the fray, but he had an insider that knew where the black cat was and would be bringing it to him soon enough. Really, Ladybug should know that he knows her best. Her silly tricks don't work on him. Finally he heard over the comms from Bane.

"I have Robin." Excellent.

"Bring me the ring!" he barked at Bane.

"He doesn't have one" ugh, incompetent baffoon!

"Just bring all of him, I'll carve it out of his flesh if I have to!"

The end is finally here. He would get his wish and bring his love back to life and make the world perfect, just for them.

Cliffhanger?

As Guardian Angel issued orders, the heroes that were left scrambled around. She certainly had a presence to her. A comm was snatched from Scarecrow, who'd finally been taken down by the Flash, who was able to metabolize the toxin quickly enough to not be affected. And then the plan came to life.

Alya watched as Robin was carried over, kicking and screaming still to Adrien and herself. When he stood in front of the shorter blonde teen he spat in his eyes and kicked up into his face before Bane retrained him more completely.

"It's too bad I promised that chick she could have you. Once my wish is complete, people like you will be absolutely useless" Adrien stated. The world would be perfect for his Princess. Alya smirked as she started taking off layers of costume to see where the ring was, starting with his gloves. She admitted, she was enjoying this part. She knew that Adrien would wish Nino to be her perfect boyfriend, but Nino had betrayed them today, and she was allowed to look, right? When the left glove came she saw it and grabbed for it.

"Cataclysm" Robin muttered, making it impossible to take off without disintegrating.

"Che, using my own old trick? How pathetic. You know I only have to wait five minutes before I can take it off anyways" Adrien scoffed. Robin smirked.

"Except my time limit is much longer than five minutes, you Rapist scum" Robin growled out. Adrien scowled, but Marinette put her hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly.

"He isn't more powerful than you my love. He's bluffing" her voice whispered to him. He nodded and smirked.

"Well, we'll see about that, won't we? I just have to wait out your transformation. Let's go, we'll take him with us and kill him on the way" Adrien ordered. Robin became slightly paler, his smirk fell and he glared.

"Coward" he spat.

"I'm taking what's rightfully mine and making the world a better place. No need to make it perfect for everyone. Don't worry, you'll have your pretty Raven girlfriend. In hell" he said, walking towards a helicopter, away from the carnage behind him. As he was walking he was hit from the side by a baton, breaking his rib cage and throwing him into the side of a building. When he didn't get up, Alya rushed to his side, checking on him. He would never fully recover from that hit. His head was bleeding profusely, his side looked slightly caved in, and his arm was awkwardly bent.

"Let's see how much you like drowning, with no help in sight" Guardian Angel whispered, "Water Dragon."

Her form disappeared and the street started flooding, short-circuiting the robots, washing away the rest of the toxin and cleaning the streets from blood. Alya scrambled to keep afloat, barely holding Adrien up with her. The flood didn't get high, nor did it last long, but it was enough to make her tired. When the water receded, Bane was captured in Wonder Woman's lasso, the assassins captured and surrounded by Superman, boy and girl. Scarecrow was knocked out and tied up by Batman. The robots all dead. Alya made to grab the Miraculous to transform, only for her hand to fall through smoke. Robin landed beside Guardian Angel, pushing down the hood of his costume and revealing the orange ears of the fox miraculous. Red Robin landed beside him, two black triangles barely showing in his dark hair. Guardian Angel picked held up her hand and Tikki flew from inside the building that Adrien was knocked into with the earnings in hand.

"It's over Alya. You need to learn that consequences really do exist" Guardian Angel said. The police GCP decided that moment to swarm the street , piling the criminals into reinforced vehicles.

To be Continued….

PS: I know I'm late posting this, but I realized late that I really don't know the Justice League nearly as well as I wish I did. I also readily admit that I downloaded the Justice League soundtrack to write this (it did work in my favour a bit).

Happy Monday!

@thatrandomfandomsgirl @lunar-wolf-warrior @zazzlejazzle @zebrabaker @constancestruggle @unabashedbookworm @ginamarie1512 @mindfulmagics @bitterheart12224 @captainmac6 @blue-peach14 @enduskdragon @multishipper1needshalp @abrx2002 @bookreader20003 @mooshoon @artxyra @spicybelladonna @northernbluetongue @kuroko26 @mystery-5-5 @2sunchild2 @iwantswifttoblessmysoul @zelladane @ellerahs @thedarkwhiteangel @resignedcatservant @scribblinggraveyard @alexzandria-747 @nyctamaximoff @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @sapphiraazure2708 @tinybrie @dudet

@throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen

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murdershegoat · 5 years

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bygones

[on ao3]

"I know you’ve been coming here most nights,” Lena says, her tone clipped. “You trip the secret alarm every time and it’s really fucking annoying.”

She stands on the porch of a quaint log cabin, arms crossed against her chest. Kara hovers in front of her, her suit gleaming slightly against the darkness of the thick wood behind her. Lena had come here to escape all reminders of Kara. Finding a place with no reminders of Kara Danvers had proven difficult. This was the best she could do, and it was far from perfect. Kara being there wouldn’t really help with that. She lowers herself slowly to the ground, landing with a small ‘thud’. In the porch light, Lena can see the pain on her face. Lena imagines the same pain is reflected on hers.

“How did you know where I was?”

“I’ve been flying across America trying to find your heartbeat,” she admits. “It took me a few weeks.”

“I don’t want to see you,” Lena says, jutting out her jaw and desperately willing herself not to burst into tears at the thought of Kara flying around the United States of America just to find her. “You know I don’t want you here.”

“Do I know that, though?” Kara says, the hurt in her voice cutting straight through Lena. “You left without a word. I told you that I was-- I told you who I was and you just, you left. You disappeared, without telling anybody. I thought you were--”

“Oh, don’t pretend you care about me now, Kara,” Lena spits back.

“I do care about you, so much--”

“You made me look like a fool. Everybody knows, every single one of our friends, and I was left in the dark like a child. I mean, god, even my brother knew!”

“I didn’t tell Lex!”

“You think I care?? The point is you didn’t tell me, Kara! What is it, I couldn’t be trusted? Have I not proven myself enough yet?”

“Did you ever stop to think that this was never about you??” Kara bursts, finally raising her voice. “Maybe I liked having someone in my life who didn’t know I was some alien freak from another planet?”

“Save the sob story,” Lena says. “I don’t feel sorry for the superhero with a heart of gold and supportive friends and family and an entire world bowing at her feet.”

“Grow up, Lena,” Kara says. “I’m tired, I’m so tired of this.”

“Goodnight, Supergirl,” Lena says. She turns around and goes inside, locking the door behind her.

But she doesn’t leave.

Like she has done every night for the past month, Kara stays the night and she feels her heart ache as she listens to Lena cry.

///

It takes another couple of weeks for Lena to surface again. It’s a particularly rough night; wind tears through the trees, cold and harsh against the cabin. Lena’s in a thick cardigan, a blanket around her shoulders. She drops a blanket on the porch.

“I don’t get cold,” Kara says quietly with a smile.

“What?” Lena yells out over the gale.

“I said thank you,” Kara calls back, and Lena heads back inside.

The blanket is the itchiest blanket Kara has ever used. She knows Lena gave it to her on purpose.

She still wears it all night, and leaves it folded neatly on the porch in the morning.

///

Kara’s running late, not that Lena’s paying attention or anything. But it’s almost 3am and maybe she’s a little scared--

Kara lands in front of the porch, and Lena sighs with relief.

“Long night?” Lena calls out, and it almost feels normal, Kara being Supergirl and Lena being holed up here away from the outside world and the two of them spending their nights together like this.

“A bad one,” Kara says, her voice breaking. As she steps into the light, Lena can see her tear-stained cheeks, the slump in her shoulders, the dried blood flecked across her chest.

“What hap--” she decides maybe she doesn’t want the gruesome details. So she settles on, “are you okay?”

“I’m feeling a bit better now,” Kara says with a small smile. Lena ignores the way it makes her stomach feel heavy and squirmish inside her. Instead, she moves over so there’s enough room for Kara on the bench. Kara sighs as she sits, resting her head on the wall behind her and closing her eyes.

“Kara?” Lena says. Kara cracks one eye open and looks at her wearily.

“Yeah, Lena?”

“I think I’m ready.”

“For?”

“I want to know why you didn’t tell me you were Supergirl.”

Kara sits up straight, rubbing her eyes.

“Now?”

“No time like the present,” Lena shrugs.

“I guess… I guess I liked that you only knew Kara Danvers. Don’t get me wrong, I love being Supergirl, but…” She pauses and sighs. “I don’t know how to phrase what I’m thinking.”

“Take your time. We have all night. And tomorrow night. And the night after that--”

“I get it,” Kara says, chuckling. “Okay. Uh, Supergirl is supposed to be this beacon of goodness and hope, and I get to do so much good being her. But I’m also constantly terrified. I’ve got so much power inside me and I know what that power can do if I let my anger take over. It’s happened before - too many times - and I’ve hurt so many people I love. And they forgave me, thank god they forgave me, but Supergirl started to feel less and less good. She’s done too much damage and even if nobody else sees it, I feel it. And you, you only saw Kara and you saw the goodness in me without my emblem on my chest and it just felt… gosh, it felt so great. It’s probably just my own insecurities, but I always feel like Alex and Eliza look at me like I’m still a pre-pubescent refugee. And whenever they’d look at me with pity or whatever it made me so hyper-aware that I’d always be this lost kid in their eyes. But when I was with you, I didn’t have the responsibility of Supergirl or the baggage of Kara Zor-El and I could just… be.”

“Who the hell is Kara Zor-El?” Lena asks, and Kara bursts out laughing.

“Zor-El is my Kryptonian last name. Actually, it’s also my father’s first name.” Kara scrunches her nose. “Now that I think about it, the Kryptonian naming system is patriarchal as hell.”

“I mean, Earth’s is just as bad,” Lena smiles. She hesitates before adding, “do you remember much about Krypton.”

“I remember my father. His office had this smell, the closest thing to it I can find on earth is mahogany. I remember I walked into one of my college professor’s offices and he had this huge desk and it made me burst into tears as soon as it hit my nose. I remember when Kal-El, Superman, was born and all the adults in my family thought I’d be jealous of him but I remember being too obsessed with him to feel anything other than love. I remember the way my mom would try to be angry with me when she was holding back laughter, this weird wobble in her voice. I, uh, I remember seeing it explode. I’d never seen anything as bright in my life, it burned my eyes and it made my pod heat up and I thought I was gonna suffocate.”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.”

Kara smiles sadly. “That’s why I like being Kara Danvers. Kara Danvers isn’t one of the last of her kind, she doesn’t think about her family dying all the time. Kara Danvers doesn’t have as many reasons to be sad. And she has you.”

“Kara?”

“Yeah, Lena?”

“I’m sorry for reacting the way I did.”

Kara turns so she’s totally facing Lena. She puts a hand on her knee.

“You have nothing to apologise for. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you and I’m sorry it made you feel like I didn’t trust you. I trust you more than anyone else. You’re my best friend, you’re--” she stops just for a moment. “You’re so extraordinary.”

“So that’s it,” Lena says. “Enough apologising. No more.”

Kara holds out her hand, ready for Lena to shake it.

“Bygones?” she jokes.

Lena pushes her hand aside, and leans forward. She kisses Kara slowly, softly, as though maybe she didn’t mean to do it. But Kara kisses her back, every inch of her body crying out finally!

All too soon, Lena pulls away, the promise of their future lying in the silence between them.

“Bygones,” she agrees. “Now. Will you fly me home?”

#supercorp #kara danvers #lena luthor #supergirl #supercorp fanfiction

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ty-talks-comics · 4 years

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Best of DC: Week of January 1st, 2019

Best of this Week: The Flash #85 - Joshua Williamson, Christian Duce, Luis Guerrero and Steve Wands

Amidst everything going on in the DC Universe right now from Year of the Villain to the end of Doomsday Clock, there’s been a lot of really underrated books that DC’s been publishing and Flash Definitely falls into that category for me. Of course, Flash is no low-tier character, but as it stands, there’s not a big conversation surrounding Joshua Williamson’s run with the character like there is for the up and down runs of Batman and Superman, but there should be!

Joshua Williamson and his revolving art team of Christian Duce, Scott Kolins, Rafa Sandoval and Carmine di Giandomenico have pulled off some of the most consistently fantastic Flash storytelling in recent years. From the Speed Force Storm to Flash’s “Final Showdown” with Captain Cold and finally here with Rogues’ Reign, these stories have only seen Flash become an even better character with depth after he’s been tested over and over with insurmountable odds and overpowered enemies while still being riddled with doubt.

This issue of Flash acts as the penultimate issue to the Rogues’ Reign storyline and sees us learning a bit more about some of the Rogues as individuals while at the same time, breaking them apart even further. This book is less centered on the various speedsters, but more around their lack of control over their powers and Flash continuing his rivalry with King Cold to the bitterest end.

The book begins with four panels of King Cold, Leonard Snart, monologuing to himself. We get a great big focus of the Symbol of Doom in the sky as Snart says that it’s the end of the world, but at least he’s going out like a winner, unlike his loser of a father. One of the many defining characteristics of Cold up to this point and in other stories has been his hatred of his father and his aversion to become anything like him. However, he’s become nothing more than a self-fulfilling prophecy because his life is nothing more than misery because of the sacrifices he made to get to where he is.

Cold helped Luthor’s ascension and the rise of Doom by accepting Luthor’s Gift and allowing himself and his Rogues to become ultra powered, but in doing so, has alienated himself from his friends and family now that they all have what they want. Duce frames all of this excellently by first placing Cold in shadow before he looks at his glasses, as if reminiscing about his old life before putting them on and looking towards his death at the end of the world.

Soon after, we cut to Kid Flash and Avery receiving training from two unlikely sources; Heatwave and Weather Wizard. Though they were seen as reporting in to King Cold a few issues ago, it was brief and mostly to air some small grievances that they had with the way that Cold was running things. Here, we get the reveal that they’d been working with Golden Glider since she broke off from her brother and Mirror Master under their noses. In a brilliant double page spread by Duce and Guererro, we see that they’ve been helping the speedsters keep their speed under control.

It’s a pretty warmhearted scene followed by more where Gold Glider comforts Flash about their presence. Williamson makes Heatwave and Weather Wizard come off as two men that have suffered hardships in their lives, leading them to the life of crime, but still managing to have hearts. Glider tells Flash how Weather Wizard wanted to escape the life of crime that his family was involved in when he was a kid, but never could which lead to him hurting people he loved. Heatwave suffers similarly from his pyromania being the reason his parents died, but it’s painted more as him having a sickness he can’t control. Glider tells Flash that they want to stop Cold so that things can go back to the way that they were.

Duce draws these scenes with a surprising intimacy. Amidst all of the intense action, Duce draws Heatwave with a sense of pride as he watches Kid Flash control his speed better, Weather Wizard stare in his lonesome because of everything going on and shows the kids eating with their teachers after a long day. On top of all of this, Flash has a nice scene where Golden Glider teaches him how to ice skate after he asks her to get back into what was one her hobby. Guererro colors all of these scenes with warm tones, even in the ice which is primarily blue and white. Flash and Glider’s colors give off something of a happy feeling.

One of the recurring themes of this run has been relating to the Rogues in meaningful ways and Williamson does an excellent job here of contrasting all of them to an amazing degree.

After Flash makes a bad joke to Golden Glider, causing her to become morose, Weather Wizard steps in and tells them that they’ve found where Mirror Master has been hiding and the entire crew go to find the last two pieces of his great mirror. Kid Flash asks Golden Glider if she used to date him and she confirms this, stating that she didn’t know why, but that she knew all of his tricks.

Mirror Master has always been one of the Rogues of lesser renown because well… he's an idiot. Only in the sense that he's never used his powers to a degree where people needed to be afraid of him, but thanks to his upgrade they need to. In actuality, his access to an entire Mirror Dimension makes him one of the most dangerous people in the DC Universe as a potential spy or thief because A LOT OF SURFACES REFLECT. Flash and the other Rogues learn this the hard way when Mirror Master springs a trap on them, revealing that he knew that Glider and the others betrayed Cold.

When the Rogues and Speedsters finally encountered Mirror Master, he looks absolutely devious with a wide grin and his wide grin as they did everything they could to stop him. Duce’s poses were dynamic and captured how intense the fight was, the furious facial expressions were very well done and crystalline backgrounds were beautiful. Guerrero’s colors stood out in how distinct each of them were. Mirror Master’s glossy white clashed with the other characters, especially Flash’s vibrant reds and Weather Wizard’s dark greens. By easily besting all of them, he showed just how dangerous he could be.

He teleports them all to the King and Snart notes how disappointed he is and how the Rogues could have ruled the world together. This causes Glider to snap at him, saying that he never told the Rogues what that would entail - the end of the world under Luthor. At this point Captain Cold is so far gone that he just doesn't care anymore and Williamson has been leading him down this path since the beginning.

In Rogues Reloaded, Cold had the idea for the Rogues to get one more heist over on The Flash before retiring completely and that was foiled with all of the Rogues being defeated. In Welcome to Iron Heights, Snart decided he'd run an operation from prison but Barry Allen and his former ally, Godspeed foiled that plan too. Because Cold had murdered another inmate to throw off the scent, this led to a fist fight between Cold and Flash which saw Cold's defeat and transfer to Belle Reve Penitentiary. Obviously the defeat had an adverse effect on Cold because he was so sure that he would overcome, but didn’t. He lost again.

Captain Cold has always been one to hold family in high regard since he's never quite had a functioning one side from the Rogues, so his time on the Suicide Squad was devastating to him. I mentioned in past Flash reviews that watching teammates die mission after mission must have done something to his psyche and Lex Luthor took advantage of that when offering him and his actual friends a way to win against The Flash. All of that led to this.

King Cold, feeling betrayed and pissed off, freezes his former friends and sister, leaving only The Flash to fight him one on one again. In their last fight, Cold wanted it to be one on one without any powers, but he lost that fight because of Flash’s iron will. As he removes his cold weather clothes, he reveals that Luthor’s Gift wasn’t just improved gear, but it was a supercharge of power implanted into him. Their final face off will be hand to hand with powers.

This final shot is absolutely poster worthy. Duce conveys the rage emanating from both of them with jaws wide as if they were yelling at each other. Fists are cocked back, ready to pummel their opponent into the ground, especially Cold as he has frozen his arms up to the elbow for maximum impact. What makes this even better is the Symbol of Doom hanging over them in the background like a terrible omen. Guerrero manages o make so many colors fit together in a brilliant display. Flash and his signature red and bright yellow makes him look heroic, the underdog in a fight shrouded in dark greens and cold greys. Cold is paler, his normally blonde hair turned completely white and his arms as blue as his cold blood.

I absolutely loved this.

Duce and Guerrero killed the art in this issue. On the scale of Flash artists for me, Duce is high up there. They manage to blend high intensity action with nice character moments to get the reader invested in character’s emotional states through visuals. Guerrero accentuates this by coloring scenes so that they fit each individual mood and can blend these all together when there’s a clash of ideology or character. Of course, Steve Wands is the glue that holds all of this together his letters are perfectly placed, distinct for each character and give every situation the proper weight to individual lines.

The Flash is an underrated hit that everyone should be reading, especially in regards to the Flash/Captain Cold saga. Their rivalry has been a grand center point on the level of Batman and Bane’s right now or Superman and good storytelling (zing!) I can only wonder where things go from here and what will happen to Captain Cold after this because this is probably the highest he’s ever flown, so how will he fall?

#the flash #barry allen #captain cold #leonard snart #golden glider #year of the villain #dc comics #comics #joshua williamson #christian duce #luis guerrero

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jeekyl · 4 years

Text

???

es I’ve seen comments on youtube that said “ you can’t understand Legends of Tomorrow without watching Arrow and The Flash”. I don’t agree, but those people do have a point. I can understand the Legends story without watching any other arrowverse show, but it give some perspective, and since the crossover exist it does give even more perspective in which it doesn’t matter.

I wanted to made a post comparing the Legends and the flash because both can travel through time, saying both contradict each other because both universe are different.

No, after watching “ crisis in the infinite earth” i realize how wrong i was. The Arrow is the first to introduce everyone else, beside Supergirl. Because they exist in the same earth. Does that mean anythings ? no. Could Sara grow as a character in the shadow of Oliver ? no, but he is a reminder that they have been thought hell and back, and nothing can compare or change that. Why Oliver can’t be brought back to life ? Because - for me - he have lived the best and the worst while Barry and Sara and Ray are on their journey to get their, if they ever. Meaning, Olivier want to die.

Crisis in the infinite earth show that Oliver wanted to get peace, he got everything and he is tired. he want to be a hero, someone to be remember, because in the end he is human, - which brought the conversation between him and Kara saying that he was a vigilante, and then he had to deal with meta-human and he has to draw the line for alien. In the end he allow all of them to live, to the point that he even like Kara. Because being a hero mean saving everyone. That’s why he is the center of the arrowverse for me. A human amongst meta and alien. He pushed Kara away because she is an alien but Kara saved him, because she doesn’t care who you are as long as you don’t hurt other people. In Crisis in the infinite earth, i learn, without watching every arrowverse show, that everyone have a destiny. For Flash i got it pretty early, like s1 early, because the flash was going to disappear in the crisis -s1-, supposedly because of Eobard, which is a pain in his ass, Iris was suppose to die - s3 - , which he was able to change thanks to HG, defeat Deveo even when all hope was lost -s4-. I mean he keep fighting against people who outsmart him everytime and when Oliver died, he is suppose to be the leader, and he became it, in some way. Everything that happen was because he was kind of aware of the future, and he showed it to Oliver, who then made a deal to save him and Kara, because they have power.

So my question remain why “ arrowverse” beside the homage to The green arrow.

Because what makes the world is humanity. Which is now in the hand of Choi, which is the one who created the ring that hold Flash’s suit, in the future.

This crossover change things, it change that now we don’t wonder “ how “ or “ why” it happen, but when. Since we’ve saw that the crisis came early.

As for Sara, damn, Sara, she isn’t like barry, and in some way i consider along with the flash, the legends to be the resumé of the multiverse. Alien, meta, thief, assassins? all of them is part of the waverider, and they save the universe, beside Nate, who is in my opinion an arrogant asshole. He is fun, but annoying. Like dude is full in love with Amaya, to even screw up the timeline for 2 years/2 season, and in a whole 3 weeks fall in love with Zari. Like dude, seriously. Ray is scared of telling him he is going to leave the WR , that even Gideon try to push him into telling Nate that he is leaving, because he know Nate is going to be an idiotic whiner about it. and threw a fit, which dude did.

But Sara is a Oliver but more relax, less dark, unlike Barry who is turning a bit more dark but have people to keep him in check. Why i think Legend’s of tomorrow should be the the new “ arrowverse “ because each member, or at least most of them have seen, fight and overcome what other never did or barely did. Fighting themselves ? not their evil doppelgänger, themselves, done. Defeating a speedster that didn’t bother them beside crossover ? Done. Fighting demon who want to take over the world? done, and that include ,Savage “destroyer of world”. Whatever the flash, arrows, supergirl have fight, the legends have done it. Why is Mick, Ray or Sara are so calm ? they have seen worst, a big beebo on the street, at some point they were beebo, like Oliver have seen worst. Being the Paragon of destiny ? dude, Sara was the one who deactivated the lance of destiny. Lance, like her name, the things that can rewrite the whole world. If Oliver’s fate was to die to save the universe, Sara’s fate is to maintain it, to make sure it won’t be destroy, or rewrite, something Sara learned many time with her travel, you can’t mess with the timeline, you can’t change things just because you can and because things get hard, you can messed up, but you can’t keep doing the same mistakes. The next in line to keep the world and the universe safe is Sara.

The paragon is exactly what every single one of them have done, have inspire, have brought to their city.

Barry does everything out of love, even changing his future, he barely care what could happen, unlike Sara who does that a lot, thanks to Zari she get that some things can be change as long as it doesn’t impact history or the timeline, But Barry won’t care about anything else if it mean saving someone he love.

Kara is to lost hope but to have people who remind her why she is supergirl, a sign of hope, and it annoy me to no end that she has to be remind of that.

Kate is courage because she doesn’t have any power but fight and will stand for what is right.

J’onn is Honor because he is a fighter who fight with his heart and won’t give up because he made a promise.

Choi who want to live for his family, which isn’t purely human but to be ready to give his life so people he love will live.

And Lex who is the “truth”, in the crisis i realize that he is an asshole but what he hate, and never lied about it , is what many people in the multiverse have said, meta and alien - mostly supergirl/superman are gods and unstoppable. And if they turn wrong it could bring more pain then anything else, he basically act because of jealousy but in the end, he is not entirely wrong. The red kryptoniten myriad is the proof of that. ( on an en related note, on Doctor Who, Martha jones with Harriet Jones said that “ when you leave, when you are not there who’s left fighting ? who is there to defend the earth. Someone has to.” It’s not out of a bad feeling but out of fear. Not an excuse for Lex but a common ground on people who let what they doesn’t know, get, or have overwhelm them to the point to making things worst.

Those people that nothing can bring together are being together because of their choice. To do what is right, except Lex but even shady he is insane enough to see the truth. If he erased all the super, he would get what he want but he would be quickly bored, and the world in danger.

So that left me with one question. After a dude basically calling himself destiny, what is left ?

#legends of tomorrow #the flash #supergirl #arrow #superman #multiverse

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msephy · 4 years

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Upbringing chap 9/13

The story is done! I’ll post the rest of the chapters one by one in the next few days :)

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8

Cross-posted to AO3

Earth 53 - Jason Todd

They arrived too late. When Batman and Jason did eventually find the cache where the League of Shadows had settled while in Gotham, not too far from Talia’s sighting, it was empty. It would even have been hard to find traces of their passages if not for Batman’s top-notch technology – and a few things Jason had in his gear that came from having a timeline slightly ahead in time.

Bruce didn’t swear, but the set of his shoulders spoke volumes.

“Robin,” he called in the com. “Open up a map with all known League hideouts.”

“Can you send that to the Batmobile?” Jason asked suddenly. “Our worlds aren’t that different. Maybe there are a few I know that you don’t.”

“Too risky.”

“You mean that we have too many places to check as it is,” Jason translated. “Except most of those will be pointless, because Ra’s probably knows you know about them.”

Bruce pursed his lips. Jason shrugged. “It’s worth a try?”

“Fine. Robin, prepare and send the data. ETA, seven minutes.”

He fired his line without any wasted words. Jason followed, heading back to the Batmobile, frowning slightly. Bruce retreated in himself when he was hurt, or worried. That made him look cold, but it was just a defense mechanism. How had Jason not noticed before?

Because this younger Bruce was easier to read? Or because he was less emotionally involved himself.

They didn’t talk, not to slow down, and landed each on a side of the car. Jason slipped in it and absentmindedly glanced at the time. They did take seven minutes to reach it.

“Robin, status.”

“Hang on. Here, did you get it?”

The batmobile’s built-in computer opened into a world map where several dots appeared.

“Yes,” Bruce confirmed while Jason tried to zoom in.

That thing wasn’t up to his standards of technology, but he still managed after a while.

“How do we select a destination?” Jason asked.

“Didn’t you want to add your own?”

“I don’t have a computer in my brain. Talking it out would help.”

Though Jason had a bad feeling about this one. If he was right… Bruce started talking about the closest pits but they both knew Ra’s wouldn’t take Damian there: the ones around Gotham were the ones where the Bat would have the most control. Yet if his body was deteriorating quickly, Bruce thought out loud, he might not have the luxury of a choice.

Then Dick interrupted through the com. “I just received a signal from a plane. Small one, privately owned. It’s already far from the coast, heading East.”

“Can you track it?” Bruce asked.

“No, it only latest thirteen seconds; not long enough for me to use it to hack my way in. Sorry.”

“It’s enough, though,” Jason said. “They’re leaving the continent for sure, and if they are willing to take the time to cross the Atlantic, then I know where they’re going.”

“You’re thinking about their headquarters in Bhutan?”

“No,” Jason shook his head. “The place you’re referring to is their training grounds. They have many more hideouts in the mountains, especially in Tibet.”

Jason could head Bruce frown. “Just drive. We need the plane in any case.”

Thankfully, Bruce didn’t protest, starting the car and accelerating. They’d reached the highway when he talked again. “Tell me more about this place.”

“There is not much to say. The infrastructure is big enough to host Ra’s usually guard of followers and private enough that they won’t be distracted by the League’s internal politics.”

“And you know about it, because…?”

“The League had reasons to trust me the way they don’t trust you. I’m carrying guns, what did you expect?”

Bruce’s disapproval transpired through his every pores. Jason couldn’t care less, especially not when it gave them invaluable intel.

“Are you sure they’re there?”

“Of course no, I’m not sure,” Jason spat. “And you know it. But Talia should find a way to communicate with us again, given the chance. If we’re close enough to act, then we’ll be able to strike. They won’t expect us to know the layout of the place, or even where it is situated at all.”

“Don’t rely on your knowledge of this place in another world too much.”

“Any better ideas?”

Bruce, of course, didn’t answer. The trip continued in silence. Why was Jason even worried? He barely knew the brat. Besides, he’d really brought that on himself, running away like this.

But Damian was a Robin, even if he didn’t bear the name in this world. And a kid, of course.

Then an icon blinked on the monitor, indicating someone was trying to reach Batman – and that that someone was Superman. Bruce took the communication.

“Superman,” Bruce greeted in Batman’s voice. “I’m in the Batmobile with Jason Todd, we’re listening.”

“Hello, Batman, Mr Todd. I have good news. We have found some promising information about the multiverse, from one of Green Lantern’s contacts. We found a Dr Lrvnjrnz who might be able to help us. He’s willing to come on Earth to discuss it further.”

“We don’t have the time for this shit right now,” Jason said without hesitating. “It will have to wait.”

Bruce glanced at him briefly, before concentrating on the road again. For the first time since Jason arrived, he saw his shoulder relax, just so slightly.

“Agreed,” Bruce said. “We’re busy with an emergency, Kal, I’ll call you back.”

“I’m not sure Dr Lrvnjrnz will still be available.” Superman’s tone was interrogative.

Surely, Bruce would be able to save Damian without him. And people on his side were likely not looking to bring him back.

Somehow, it was the easiest decision Jason had ever made.

“It doesn’t matter,” Jason said. “We’ll call you back when we have time, Superman.”

And he cut the communication.

###

Earth 1 – Jason Wayne

Was everyone on this Earth old, stern and marked by pain? Jason wondered, when he saw the face of Kal El appear on the Batcomputer’s monitor. Maybe it was just age. Maybe it was just Kal. He’s always been quite apt at putting on the façade of the Man of Steel. Probably a good skill to cultivate, when one faced Lex Luthor regularly.

But still.

“From our readings, it appears an anomaly occurred three days ago. A rift. We couldn’t trace the origin, it might have nothing to do with either of the worlds involved.”

“You mean like that time with Prime.”

“Something like that, though of a much lower order of magnitude. I’ve scanned the area, I see no trace of foreign particles, except in the Cave.”

“That would be me,” Jason mused. Kal looked at him for the first time since the conversation started, and he smiled his most Lutherian smile. “Hello, Kal El, nice meeting another version of you. My apologies if I don’t follow multiverse etiquette, it’s my first encounter with it, I’m afraid.”

Kal nodded. “Nice to meet you too, Mr Wayne.”

Jason grimaced; he even saw Bruce wince. “Jason, please. There is no need to be formal. I’m glad to hear you detected the cause, but does this lack of details mean we won’t be able to reproduce the effects?”

“It won’t be needed,” Kal reassured him. “Inverting the two of you would require a comprehension of the multiverse that we don’t have, but opening a portal to another Earth should be doable.”

Jason let out a breath. He was going to see his little brother again, and his two nephews from hell. He hadn’t intended to stay even if there hadn’t been a way: he would have found one. But still, it was nice to hear that would happen sooner rather than later.

“Thank you, Kal El. That’s a relief.”

“It’s still a delicate operation, not something we can do every day without causing further instabilities. Especially since we aren’t sure of the cause in the first place.”

“I’m bringing Jason back,” Bruce said, his tone definitive. There was no asking to which Jason he referred. He wasn’t about to leave his adoptive son in another world, however welcoming it might be.

“Two openings should be enough for our system to support. But we can’t make it portable.”

“We can’t leave from the Watchtower, we’d end up in space,” Jason commented.

“No, indeed,” Kal agreed. “We’ll have to move the necessary machinery to our headquarters on Earth. As some of it is delicate, it won’t be ready until tomorrow.”

“That’s a date,” Jason commented absentmindedly, before noticing the absolute shock on Kal’s face. He laughed. “Just an expression, Superman, except if you actually are interested?”

“I’ll have to decline. Batman, Mr… Jason. I’ll keep you updated on the move.”

“Thank you, Kal,” Bruce said, nodding at him.

Kal nodded back then cut the communication. Jason turned to Bruce. “Anything I can help with in the meantime? I’ll need distraction from the wait.”

“You’ve been helping already”, Bruce answered.

“Handling your files is something I can do in my sleep. And it’s probably best if I don’t get too involved in your nightly activities, at least, I shouldn’t go out in person too often. Though accompanying Dick was… interesting.”

“You ran into trouble?”

“You know we didn’t. Nightwing is amazing, as you already know, but it has to be noted.”

Bruce didn’t quite smile, but Jason could see the warmth in the way his shoulders relaxed, his head almost nodding in approbation. His cowl did make it harder to read his expressions, though.

Jason frowned. “You’re not coming in the gear, by the way, are you? We won’t want to Batmen crossing paths, or even just criminal thinking you’re my brother and attack you because of something he did.”

The card which hung above their heads was kind of hard to miss. They also had a Joker around. Maybe he wasn’t as possessive and manipulative in this world than in his? Or maybe this Bruce had been caught in the clown’s parody of a courtship. Either way, he didn’t want them to cross paths.

Bruce’s frown was visible despite his mask.

Jason snorted.

“You can take gear if you insist. But, really, you could just wear jeans and a t-shirt and nobody is going to recognize you. You’re ten years older than Bruce, even if you weren’t a good actor.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“The hell you are. It’s my world we’re going to, and it will be my rules.”

Jason smiled to soften the blow, but his tone was adamant. Bruce grumped, which meant he didn’t want to agree out loud but still would go along.

“Any idea on how to find your Jason Todd when we’re there?” Jason asked. “I mean, if he contacted my brother it will be easy, but otherwise?”

“He’s not the most subtle person,” Bruce sighed. “If he doesn’t actively try to stay hidden, he shouldn’t be hard to pinpoint. There are good chances he went straight to the Cave, though. Despite our differences, he would have known contacting your brother was his best chance of finding his way back.”

That was the most words Jason had heard him say, and he didn’t miss the tension in the last sentence. “You think he might not want to come back?”

Bruce pointedly didn’t answer, removing his cowl to sit at the computer instead. Which was an answer per se. Though, well; a supervillain. Jason would always remember the face of the local Alfred when he’d opened the door to see him standing there.

He shuddered.

Then he pulled through it and joined Bruce, standing at his right hand. “Care to hear about what my Gotham is like? I was up to date with the latest criminal developments when I got here.”

Bruce didn’t answer for a long while, typing in the document he’d opened. Then, finally, he closed it and opened a new, blank page – then nodded, one.

#byme #my fics #jason wayne #upbringing #jason todd #bruce wayne #batfamily

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tessatechaitea · 4 years

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Superman: Year One: Book Three

Here's the back cover instead because I misread it as "We serve one purpose: Jesus," and I was ready to accept that.

Due to the amount of lava and debris, I would have gone with "sharts."

Superman saves Lois Lane from dying under the ocean which probably means she's going to reward him with her big city sexual prowess. But before Superman can accept his reward for being a nice guy, he has to defeat a troop of Navy SEALS who have come to capture him. So everybody's looking for Superman now because he showed off a few too many times while training in the Navy and his commanding officer became jealous that the mermaids let Clark fuck them. So Superman's big enemies are the god Poseidon and the American military, both because Lori Lemaris chose to fuck Superman instead of them. You might think I'm concentrating too much on Superman fucking the women he saved, and people being upset that they didn't get to fuck those women. If you are thinking that, it's probably because you haven't actually read Frank Miller's Superman: Year One. You'd totally understand that it's not me who is obsessed with Superman getting laid for fighting for truth, justice, and the American Way (honorably discharged version). It's apparently the entire theme of Frank Miller's Superman story. I just realized that I was going to make a Batman sucking Superman dick's joke based on the cover but then I didn't scan the cover. Oh well! Lesson learned! Any time somebody says, "Lesson learned," you should immediately ask them, "Oh? What was that then?" I bet most of the time, they won't be able to explain how they learned anything. The good thing about the cover of Book Three is that it was drawn by Frank Miller. And no matter what you think of Frank Miller's art, you have to agree (or at least better agree or we're going to have a problem) that it's better than John Romita Jr's art and better than Frank Miller's writing. After beating up the Navy SEALS and rescuing Lois Lane, Clark Kent winds up graduating from college and interning at the Daily Planet. Don't ask me what happened to Lori Lemaris and Atlantis! I guess it was such a terrible break-up that even Frank Miller doesn't want to write about it.

You can tell how dumb a person is by how much they defend Trump and blame the mainstream media. The fucking mainstream media bends over backwards not to point out just how fucking ignorant Trump is about everything!

Stepping away from the comic itself for a moment, here's what John Romita Jr had to say about this comic book after it was announced amidst a lot of "eye-rolls and groans" at San Diego Comic-Con. "The cynics that don't like my artwork or Frank's work were everywhere on the social media. Now we'll see what they have to say, because this is damn fresh, and I'm really proud of it." Well, I didn't have anything to say about it before reading it. I even bought it mostly knowing that I wasn't going to enjoy it even though I always hope that I enjoy everything I purchase as entertainment! Why else would I bother if not to hopefully be surprised and elated? Well, let me tell you, I was not surprised nor elated. Superman in the Navy might be fresh but it's also pretty fucking stupid. The whole idea was that Superman would join the Navy so he could see the world? But then he spends his entire time training in California where he learns he doesn't want to kill people after battling pirates in the Pacific waters off of the coast of California? Also he fucks mermaids during that time because why the fuck not? Now imagine reading all of that while looking at John Romita Jr's terrible facial expressions. The announcement of this comic book with this creative team should have garnered a lot more than groans and eye-rolls. There should have been jerking off motions as well. Working at the Daily Planet with Lois Lane (who, if you remember from the part where I said she wants to fuck him, wants to fuck him), Clark Kent realizes he needs a disguise. So Frank Miller makes sure to explain how the hat and glasses work as a disguise. The hat "changes his silhouette" and the glasses are just "the geek factor" he needs. The whole "dress to unimpress" angle is the disguise. Fucking bullshit. We all know that the glasses and the outfit are the least part of the disguise. He needs to discuss how he changes his posture, how he acts clumsy, how he puts on the air of naive farm boy, how he's terrible at pleasing a woman in bed. These are all aspects that work to make it unbelievable that he could be Superman. Christopher Reeves in Superman nails all of these aspects and I wish writers would be more upfront about how Clark Kent's disguise is less about the accouterments and more about the act Clark puts on. Superman begins deciding how to fight crime now that he's come to Metropolis. And his logic goes like this: "What do criminals want? Money! Where is the money? Banks!" And just like that, he becomes the protector of corporate America! He even thinks, "Never mind the third rate muggers and street swindlers." No wonder Batman doesn't respect this asshole! A third rate mugger killed Batman's parents and Superman is all, "Bah, they're harmless! Better get the guys going after the money that's insured!" Fuck this Superman! Next Superman goes after street level drug makers. That's better, I guess, but couldn't he go after the pharmaceutical industry itself?

What the fuck is "factory brand duct tape"? Having managed a warehouse on the Netscape campus back in the 90s, I'd say they should be wrapped in shrink wrap.

This morning, I discovered Carrot Cake flavored Oreos. It was nice living without diabetes but I must say goodbye to those years now. Later, Superman stops a man from abusing his wife and kids. I don't find out if she thanks him with her sex. But from what the previous chapters of this story have taught me, she did. After that, Superman frees some hostages from a hostage situation that was set-up by Lex Luthor so he could meet Superman. Lex manipulates Superman into working for him to stop Batman. Why does Lex care about Gotham and Batman? I don't know! I don't even really know how Lex manipulates Superman! And I don't think it's because I'm too stupid to follow the story. I'm pretty sure I'm smart enough to understand a comic book! But this comic book feels like a bunch of pages are missing. Hell, Superman's first words to Lex Luthor upon meeting him for the first time are "You're a damned liar!" What did he lie about? When did he ever say anything to Superman? What the fuck is going on?! Over in Gotham, Batman uses a gun. Okay. Whatever. Let's wrap this shit up.

Here's a terrible picture of Superman since I can't write about a story I can't follow.

The gist of the rest of the story is that Lex Luthor is tired of Batman and Superman foiling his crimes. So he decides to convince Superman that Batman is a jerk. After they get done killing each other, Lex Luthor will profit. Not that he isn't profiting already. But he'll profit more, I guess? Superman lands in Gotham to speak with Batman and Batman instantly tries to kill him. Oh yeah, Frank Miller totally understands these characters. Batman wants justice but is willing to kill Superman because Superman wants to talk to him. And Superman goes around doing good while constantly thinking, "I'll show them!" and "I could kill these guys!" and "Which other woman should I save so I can fuck her?" Batman tries all kinds of violence on Superman while telling Superman smarts are what counts. If only he'd use some and realize he can't hurt this guy. This might be the dumbest version of Batman I've ever seen. Eventually Wonder Woman arrives to point out to these two blockheads that maybe they should stop fighting and work together to make the world a better place. Batman is all, "Well, I can't hurt him anyway so I guess I'll work with him." And Superman is all, "How is she stronger than me? She doesn't need rescuing from anybody. Has she ever gotten laid?!" The issue basically ends with Wonder Woman telling Superman that she's ready to fuck him after he goes into space to learn to fuck (by fighting Brainiac?) and Batman telling Luthor he hopes he gets raped in prison. So exactly the way I'd expect a Frank Miller Superman comic book to end.

I wish I were right popular in high school.

Superman: Year One: Book Three Rating: What I learned from this comic book is that every woman in the DCU wants to fuck Superman and every man in the DCU is jealous of all the women Superman gets to fuck. What I also learned is that I should have read this series before purchasing Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child. I'd still like to know what happened between Clark and Lori. I guess he just left her the same way he left Lana and the same way he left Wonder Woman (who he fell in love with immediately, I guess?).

#Superman #Year One #John Romita Jr #Frank Miller #DC Black Label #DC Comics

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ruffiorocks · 5 years

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James Olsen and Why he is a terrible character. (Anti James, in case it isn't clear).

So I've been thinking a lot about James Olsen and the reasons why I don't like him that have nothing to do with him getting in the way of Supercorp.

The truth is I haven't liked James Olsen since the first episode. He isn't James Olsen to me. I know I know they changed up the character and people often do this. But James Olsen is a canon and iconic nerd with a camera. To be honest if I didn't know who the characters were already I'd have clocked Winn as James, Winn is more James Olsen than this James is.

I disliked him almost immediately, he was basically there for a fresh start but he also took it upon himself to keep an eye on Kara. I didn't like the fact that he knew Kara's secret, something she should have control over. Imagine if she had just out right told Winn who Clark was? (OK,she and James kind of did by accident while arguing but that's beside the point).

James also instantly started flirting with Kara, probably not what Clark had in mind. Isn't there a bro code? No sisters or only living relatives?

James and Winn both acted all put out when they realized that they both knew Kara’s secret, ‘you told him?!’ Well actually Kara told Winn, she didnt tell James. Neither one has the right to feel indignant here. Kara is allowed more than one person in the know and more than one friend.

James and Winn started a pointless rivalry over who was going to get with Kara, instead of just being the friends she needed. They both even said that Kara wouldn't be into Adam since she wasn't into either one of them!!

James didn't believe that Kara could deal with issues on her own. He told her that even Clark couldn't beat Reactron, therefore there is no way Kara could. He immediately called Clark when she was fighting him, granted he was worried, but it wasnt his place to decide Kara wasn't capable. Especially when it turns out she was capable.

Then Lucy turned up, Kara discovers this by walking in on her and James. James it turns out hadn’t exactly fully broken up with Lucy. She spent time on her career while he neglected her in favor of being up Superman’s ass. She was understandably upset about this. But he decides they should give it another try! He completely forgets that he had been leading Kara on from the moment he set eyes on her. Now his ‘sort of ex’ turns up and Kara is a distant memory. Or is she? James decides that he is still going to give Kara longing looks, which isnt fair on either Kara or Lucy. Granted he doesn't want to take Lucy to game night, but he does and he spends time bonding with Lucy right in front of Kara, no regard for her feelings, and he gives her longing looks all night.

James then starts neglecting Lucy in favor of running to Supergirls side whenever she needs him. Once again doing the same thing he did that caused Lucy to leave the first time. This eventually causes Lucy to leave again, and i dont blame her. Thankfully she doesnt hate Kara for it.

I think General Lane had it right ‘You’re a glorified paparazzi’ yes, he is. That is James’s strength and he should have stuck to it. ‘You surround yourself with special people but that doesnt make YOU special’. Yes, right again General lane. James does do this, he is always surrounded by Superheroes and seems to leech off of their fame.

Remember how into Kara James was? Up until he realized that she in fact not perfect! After the Red K incident, Kara went to see James and apologize and he didnt want anything to do with her. He realized she had faults, and women apparently cant have these, so he basically gets her to leave. Ill give him kudos for not getting with her when she came onto him at the club though.

When Barry Allen turned up James was once again instantly jealous, even though he was the one who had basically rejected Kara. Kara wasn’t even into Barry, she was just excited to have a new friend with Super powers. ‘Jealousy! Thy name is Olsen’ Yes Winn, you are absolutely right! She is allowed friends James!

Season 2 James isnt much better, he has less redeeming qualities. He is instantly jealous of Mon El. He tells Kara that Mon El isnt a hero, like he gets to make that decision. He basically decides to become a hero because everyone else around him was one, Clark and Kara were super heroes, Alex and Lucy worked for the DEO, Jonn was part of the DEO and has powers, Winn even got brought in to work for the DEO, oh and Mon El was instantly welcomed to be a hero and be at the DEO. I see James becoming a ‘hero’ because he was simply feeling left out. At one point he just turns up at the DEO to see Winn. How is he getting past security? Even Jonn tells him to leave and go back to being a photographer.

James talks Winn into basically stealing materials from the DEO to make him a suit, then he gets all pissed at Winn because Winn is taking his time and he does actually have a job! He doesn't want James to get hurt with an uncompleted suit, but no, James is so demanding and yells at Winn! So desperate to be relevant.

He does in fact nearly get himself killed and Kara is understandably pissed! Yes its not up to Kara who gets to be a hero, James uses Mon El as an example here, The difference is though that Mon El had super powers and James had a tin suit and a black belt. James uses the fact that he ‘has a black belt’ as justification for him being a hero. Sorry, but who doesn't have a back belt now? James doesnt even train, he just gets his suit and jumps straight in. Even Kara and Alex had to train! Remember how cocky Kara was and Alex kicked her ass? Alex wasnt even allowed out in the field until months of training! (Her words) But James apparently can just jump in with no issue. I really dont get why Alex didnt put a stop to this.

Anyone who says ‘well Batman, Green Arrow, White Canary etc’ can do it. Yeah but Batman was was trained by the League of Assassins, same as Sara. Oh and Oliver Queen trained and survived for years on a desert Island. He trains every day honing his skills. Do we ever see James train at all?

Then we have James being instantly against Lena. No evidence against her, just her name and the fact that she is related to Lex. He is so prejudice against her, he even vows to prove to Kara that she is guilty, even though she isnt and he doesnt get to prove this.

James is left in charge of Cat Co? Such a dumb story line, What does a photo journalist know about running a multi media empire? Honestly Kara as Cat’s assistant would know more about it that James!

When Lena saves Cat Co, James is surprised she turns up and is staying there. What did he think was going to happen? She would pay millions of dollars for a company and not care about what was going on? ‘Thanks for saving us, i was thinking of setting up weekly meetings and carrying on running Cat Co the way i want to’. Yeah, Lena kind of shot that down didn't she?! ‘Ill be here everyday’ ‘We dont even have an office for you?’ Well she is entitled to your office now James, but she didn't take it did she?. Yes Lena set up meetings without telling James, which she probably shouldn't have, but maybe she wanted to see what was going on without his influence? Even whens she asked why Kara kept running off on the first day James was rude to her and said ‘She’s a reporter its what she does!’.

Then suddenly we have an awkward flirtation. We have that awkward kiss, then James and his creepy hand on Lena’s bare shoulder. Even she looks uncomfortable and squirms out of his grasp. He looks surprised and a little miffed she isnt allowing this. She calls Kara and James ex and he allows her to believe that, this simply isnt true. They had one date at Kara’s loft, then Mon El turned up and Kara forgot she ever liked James.

James had the gall to tell Lena he knew her better than her own best friend does! I mean What the actual f**k?!! Lena steps down when she is under suspicion, somethng James cant bring himself to do later when he is involved with he COL.

James reveals himself as Guardian, no regard for how this will effect Lena in anyway as his boss and girlfriend. He has zero respect for her as his boss. She tells him to stay the hell away from the Children of Liberty and to do the interview with Ben Lockwood. He completely disregards her and goes off to meet with some random member of an Anti Alien Nazi group. he even told her that her opinion didnt matter. No, sorry James but yes it does! If i was Lena id have sacked his ass!

Lena still saves his ass from going to prison for a long time, all the while he insists he can handle it on his own, how? I want to know how he thought he could do that? In fact he doesn't actually do anything to fix the issue. He then throws it in Lena’s face when she tells him not to go back out as Guardian because he will be arrested. Something he doesn't care about because he is so desperate to be relevant and involved. He throws the fact she worries to much and he sorted the DA problem out, forcing her to be like ‘For Gods sake! I did that you moron!’ (i know she didnt say this). He even has the gall to be pissed she saved his ass and he isnt in prison. She tells him she loves him and throws it in her face!

He decided the Children of Liberty decided to be given a voice for some bizarre reason?! He actually thought that by listening to them he could get to know them and change the minds. What a pig headed and dumb thing to think! Good intentions or not that was incredibly nieve and stupid.

He nearly killed Kara by blowing her up, something that could have been avoided altogether if he had just listened to everyone around him and stopped being friends with COL. But no, he knew best?

Lately, he told Lena he supported her, but he clearly didn't since he looked awkward as hell when he was sat up in bed with her asleep beside him. She gave him opportunity to tell her how he felt but instead of talking to her, he placated her and went back to bed with her!

Last episode, he told Lena their relationship was basically over if she went ahead and took the government contact. Simply because he didn't agree he was willing to end them. It's not like she was about to so something evil! But she has to live up to his impossible standards. The poor girl can't win. I'd of ended it with him to. Again, James's opinion on these things aren't really relevant, he can disagree yes, he can have an opinion. But anything he says doesn't matter, he isn't part of the DEO, he isn't a member of the government. He isn't even Guardian anymore because he's not allowed to be. All he is is a CEO of a magazine. He doesn't get a say. This is very like when he gave up on Kara for a while when she suddenly had faults and she wasn't what he envisioned. Same as Lucy, she doesn't give him the power and eveything he wants and suddenly it's over.

James should have continued to be a photographer and stuck to that. He's at his best when taking pictures. He believes he deserves to be a hero, it's 'his calling'. No it isn't, do you think it would be his 'calling' if he wasnt associated with actual heroes? Of course not. All I see a jealous, immature guy who sees those around him being heroes and being relevant to the defence of the world and he feels the need to be part of it. He could have been a different type of hero with his camera. Once he got some authority he suddenly became even more arrogant and had a sense of self entitliment. He dated his boss and suddenly thought he didn't have to listen to her. He could act on his own accord. Not one thought to what Cat Co's CEO'S affiliation with an Anti Alien Terrorist Group would do his girlfriends reputation. Poor Lena who has gone out of her way to distance herself from anti alien sentiment, James used her company for his own self gain. Then he got pissed at her when she tried to protect him, all the while thinking of him, maybe she was thinking of protecting her company to. He doesn't think of her even once. He actually pushes her so far she had to pull rank on him. Something he still had the arrogance to ignore. It's all about James and what James wants.

James is a fool who thinks he should be a hero. He wants women to be exactly what he expects them to be. If they do things he doesn't approve of he suddenly loses interest .

James should either leave, go back to Metropolis or go back to being the photographer he should be.

FYI, James does have good qualities, but they doesn't outweigh his bad ones.

#lena luthor #supergirl #kara danvers #anti james olsen #anti guardiancorp

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graaaaceeliz · 5 years

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BruceBat and Clark-man

I put up (finally) a second chapter of my fic where Bruce and Clark have made a Thing out of their resemblances to Batman and Superman. I'm linking chapter one, but it isn't entirely necessary to read it to understand the principle behind chapter two.

Chapter Two: Where have all the good men gone? (<1500 words)

Days like this were the best, thought Bruce. He’d never admit to that aloud, nobody wants to tempt the fates, but it was true. His children filled the home with noise and joy (and arguments and temper, but who was he to complain?) and Alfred’s eyes glimmered with theirs, whilst Bruce laughed more than he had since he was a troubled teenager with an adrenaline issue and the absolute chaos of Tony and Lex as his brothers. The rift between Lex and Clark saddened him, because they should have all been together, united against threats to Earth. They had plenty of those. But he was a united front with LexCorp most of the time, and people knew that Batman and Superman had as close a shield-bond as had existed. The Bats themselves were a clan, a colony, symbols of the end for evil and of hope for good. He couldn’t have ever dreamed this.

Clark nudged his shoulder into his. “Good day, huh? And I am coming with you to the dance tonight. I don’t want to go home just yet,” he trailed off slightly as his eyes glazed over. “B, I will be right back.” Bruce sighed. He truly sympathised with families linked to the emergency services. Alfred’s friend had called from England last night, and they’d sat around the kitchen table with the phone on loudspeaker as she talked about the mountains and the sea and the surprisingly good winter, which had led onto the topic of emergency responses and various light tales of their exploits. Bruce had missed her, actually, because she’d been around a lot when he was a kid (hardly any older than Tony, she’d introduced him as her baby brother in New York a few times in clubs) but he had only seen her three times since he became Batman. Jason’s funeral, when he came back to life, and seven months ago when she finally got out of MI-whatever. He didn’t know. Wasn’t sure he wanted to – she was quite possibly an assassin.

A sudden swish of the air to his left indicated Clark’s return. He seemed a bit flustered, collar crumpled and hair tossed by the impossible speeds he achieved when it was necessary. Bruce turned to him, wondering vaguely what that had been about. He hadn’t been gone long enough to have saved the planet, barely long enough to save a kitten. Bruce was well aware of how long it could take to save a world. It usually involved violence, subterfuge, and injuries. And payouts. And payoffs. Besides the point. Clark gradually quietened under Bruce’s steady patient gaze, as everyone eventually did. It was so human, for Clark to be soothed by his trusted brother, for Bruce to feel the urge to punch whatever upset Clark so. They were neither of them human as most imagined them to be. Grudges could be held for eternity.

“I went to a group of firefighters. There was a big fire a couple of days ago, remember I told you about it? The one in Boston that they told to me leave to them and go save those boys in the cave in Madagascar. That one. Well, they called for me, because they wanted to show me the exhibition they made. It’s about us, Bruce. The League, other known heroes, the Avengers too. And ordinary people. Doctors, nurses, grandparents, big sisters, teachers. Local heroes. And – Bruce, the exhibition is as large as the one we’re going to tonight at the Gallery. Heroes. Ordinary, brilliant humans, who save people.”

Bruce grunted into the warm evening light, keeping a close eye on the wrestling match between Damian and Tim that was getting dangerously close to his prize roses. He looked out to the pale blue sky, “You cried.”

“....Yeah. I couldn’t help it.”

“Quick back.”

Clark smiled slightly. “I want to show you,” he murmured, “it’s so full of wonderful people.”

Bruce quirked a smile. That would be good. Perhaps he should suggest that as the next exhibit in the Gallery or maybe the Precinct – local heroes. Hopefully it would boost the city’s morale without the necessity of drugs or alcohol. He’d make sure Jim got recognised. But going with Clark to this special one also sounded good. “Tomorrow.”

Clark smiled.

*~°~*~°~*

“Mr Wayne! Over here! Is this your friend? A reporter! Oh my!”

Hello, I’m Clark. A smile as innocent as a child’s. Hello Clark. I’m Bruce.

“Hello, Pietr. Bruce and I would like to talk to the curator of the museum, so we’ll have to talk at a later date.”

Sorry, but Superman and I have things to do, Señor Domingo. Adiós. What kind of a name is Lord Sunday? A stupid one.

“Well handled, Clark.”

“Eh. I hate the act you put on, so I’m trying to avoid it. Is that the curator?”

“Hm.”

Clark, that’s him, isn’t it? Yeah. Oh good, we can all go home soon. Shut up, I’m sarcastic all the time. A Hm can be sarcastic.

“Excuse me, Mr Hammerstein! Excuse me, ma’am, sir, excuse us, thanks. Mr Hammerstein, Mr Wayne and I- oh for goodness’ sake. Bruce! Come on, I need to interview some visiting rich folk and if you take all night I won’t get it done. Thank you. Anyways, Mr Hammerstein, we have an exhibit idea...”

*~°~*~°~*

“Please, call me Brucie.”

“Okay, Brucie. Now, we all saw the last time you pretended to be Batman. Tonight I heard that you have a friend who looks like Superman – oh, the crowd are excited tonight!”

“Haha, it seems so. Clark and myself do bear a resemblance to the famous heroes, yes. It gets pointed out to us periodically.”

We’re supposed to be undercover! We’re in our suits! What, so we pretend to be Brucie and Clark in our actual suits in an attempt to infiltrate Lex’s party?? That’s insane, Clark, absolutely insane. What – well, yeah, it might work... Lex won’t call us out on it, no.

“I have heard that at one of Lex Luthor’s famed Metropolis Galas you did an act?”

“Well, not an act, no. I had had rather a lot to drink, shall we say, but I was dressed up as Batman.”

“And yourself, Mr Kent is it? Yes – you make a strikingly good Superman. I’ve heard that you’re known in your office at Perry White’s Metropolis ‘paper for your impressions. Any chance the pair of you would do an act for us tonight?”

We have to go along with it just pretend, Clark, call it an act and just pretend like I do with Brucie, won’t be easy but you have to try Clark we have to try

“I’m afraid Brucie and I would rather not. However, we would like to talk some about our new venture, the Gotham branch of which is named: Where have all the good men gone? As you may recognise, we’ve taken the name from Bonnie Tyler’s song I Need a Hero. We’re aiming to put together an exhibition here in Gotham about our unrecognised street-level heroes. My nomination is the guy who does late night door duties on the hotel building I have often stayed at not far from here. He prevents people accessing the tower when they don’t have appropriate ID, opens the foyer to those waiting for taxis home, and has interrupted no less than five incidents in the last six months at the cost of his health. So here’s to you, doorman.”

There will always be hope as long as one man or child or woman is willing to stand up painpainpain and say no there will always be hope and that’s why I do this I am bringing hope despite blood and I refuse to give up and you are hope you embody it we are hope so don’t give up ignore the pain we get up it hurts so much but we get up

“My personal nominee is Jim Gordon. He’s always been supportive of my family and myself, has dedicated his life to cleaning up the police force and has really given hope to the youth of Gotham. The nomination process will be described in an interview tomorrow night, which will also be published in local papers. We would love for you all to nominate an unrecognised person who you see as a hero. Of course, our costumed vigilantes each get a photo in the exhibit, so there’s no need to nominate them unless you have a particular inspiring story.”

“All proceeds will go to soup kitchens and hostels, to help people get off the streets. Next month we hope to launch the Metropolis branch of the campaign, named in honour of our own superhero: Where are all the gods? It will run off exactly the same principle, with people nominating personal heroes. The Waynes and myself hope to establish skills centres in both of our cities to help people get off the streets and into jobs, and to teach transferable skills to as many people as possible. But please, please partake in this I Need a Hero campaign. The more we raise, the more people we can help.”

“Certainly the most admirable project I have had the joy of hearing about in several years. Well, folks, remember what these two have said to us tonight. Thank you both for agreeing to this conversation.”

“It’s been a real pleasure.”

#almost forgot to post this #batfam fanfiction #Bruce & Clark #superbros #fanfic #bruce wayne #clark kent #Secret identities are hidden in plain sight #They do impressions of themselves #that's the fic

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firstpuffin · 5 years

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The decent into villainy experienced by Lex Luthor (Smallville)

As much as I wish the characters would just progress, would stop lingering on their feelings from 6 seasons ago, would freakin’ move on!; the Smallville television did do some things well. Now I believe I have been pretty open about my feelings for the current DC television shows, although I think I have only name dropped The Flash and Supergirl, and they do more bad things than good but Smallville was likely the reason why they were possible.

Beginning in 2001 Smallville really was a product of its times; overly dramatic, cheesy as all hell and very much predictable. Every time that a character needs to lie, or are faced with a truth they are going to have to deny, they step around the other person and face the camera. It might be that the only characters who can honestly face lying (ironically) are the bad guys. For those who may not know (although unlikely if you are reading this) Smallville follows the young Clark Kent from high school to his life at the Daily Planet, and while they could do things better, it’s generally better than the current stuff. As mentioned it is very cheesy and there are some massive problems with it, like why does Clark never even attempt to hide his identity even when breaking into a highly secure facility, why does he never get found out despite this and why does he never freakin’ learn?

Seriously, Clark is the same dickbag as Superman was in his early comics: judgemental, quick to accuse and shamefully unapologetic. Seriously, it’s as though knowing that one day he would become Superman let the writers put a stick up his arse. Still, it’s largely endearing when it isn’t happening too frequently, which actually makes him a good, flawed character. If stalled and undeveloped.

But one character that is very well developed, if occasionally inconsistent, is Lex Luthor. I should mention that I am currently rewatching Smallville and am six seasons in and by this point the only two characters who have actually grown are Lana Lang and Lex (I believe there is a fan theory about the number of L’s in the Superman lore). Lionel Luthor (Lex’s dad) does undergo change, but the reasons why are kind of unclear and may be supernatural in nature (see what I did there? *wink wink*), so I don’t consider that genuine growth.

Lana however, while refusing to give up on her feelings for Clark (for six! seasons!) does actually develop. She goes from this shallow (teen-movie-levels-of-generic) cheerleader, to a business owner, to Lex’s fiancé (can’t remember if they marry or not). Now “Lex’s fiancé” may not seem to be much of a character beyond that of a job listing, but with it comes certain requirements; she becomes, for a lack of a better word, darker and more determined. Lana steps up to the level needed to reign in Lex. Or she tries to, but that doesn’t matter; she blackmails and she shoots people (or attempts to). This may not seem like “growth”, but it absolutely is. She steps up to what (she thinks) is required of her. Even if that is in a “bad” direction.

But Lex has even more development. Like wow. He starts of as well-intentioned young man, eager to make up for his father’s sins and to ingratiate himself into the community, to fluidly and most importantly relatably becoming a monster. Lex Luthor is the hero of the story, as long as by “hero” you mean the one who has to deal with adversity; largely undeserved adversity at that.

See, Lex doesn’t start off as a bad guy and while it might be more interesting to see him develop Lexcorp from the ground up, we get the still entertaining tale of the bald rich brat of the asshole who did develop Lexcorp and raised Lex to be just as much of an asshole. This developed a sliver of ice in the heart of the boy which would gradually spread thanks to the actions of his peers. And the best part is, he didn’t deserve this. Lex Luthor genuinely tried his best to be a good business-man, fighting to protect people’s jobs and trying to spoil his friends and really going out of his way to help people.

Like seriously, while Clark Kent (aka freakin’ Superman!) saves his friends, and admittedly his other schoolmates, knowing that he can’t get hurt, Lex Luthor puts his business and future on the line to help people. There is one episode where he tries an experimental and very possibly lethal antidote on himself rather than risk the lives of others. He tries his utmost to earn the respect and acceptance of Clark’s dad, Jonathan, who starts off by loathing Lex. He doesn’t even know the man, just his father, and immediately rejects him.

Lex’s actor, Michael Rosenbaum, does an amazing job at showing the pain that comes with each and every rejection and more importantly, gives the impression that Lex could very easily have been a good man. Lex, with all of his resources, could have done more good than Clark if not for Jonathan Kent who very clearly pushes him down a darker path. Of course we can’t entirely blame Jonathan, and heaven knows he has reason to want to distance himself from the Luthors, but in the early seasons it can be very clearly seen that he is a large part of Lex’s eventual downfall.

All in all the dated nature of the show, with limited special effects and cheesy writing, makes a more compelling and even more believable and engaging show than the current Arrowverse. The characters are more compelling, the action more believable despite (or maybe because) of the limited effects and far, far less contrivances in the plots. Again, it has flaws: it’s very 2000’s, the seasons as wholes tend to be lacking in an overarching story (which may only be a personal preference) and most of the characters just don’t grow.

But it’s still damn fun.

#first puffin #smallville #dc comics #dc television universe #arrowverse #superhero #superman #lex luthor #alexander luthor #clark kent #jonathan kent #rise and fall #thosetagswilldofornow

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