#which tries to avoid talking about clark's feelings about his heritage as much as possible
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Another dilemma with centering stories around the idea of Superman-as-immigrant is that while Superman is certainly an immigrant, and there is a substantial body of older Superman stories (mostly from 1958–1986) that present his homeworld and its culture as generally noble (and frequently Jewish-coded), it has become very common since the 1986 reboot for Superman media to treat Kryptonian culture as either decadent and corrupt (as in most of the post-Crisis comics) or actively invasive and evil (as in MAN OF STEEL or MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN).
In these stories, Superman has avoided this decadence or evil mostly by virtue of having been raised by white Americans in Kansas, and his nobility lies in his express rejection of his evil/corrupt heritage in favor of (white) American culture. These are intrinsically anti-immigrant narratives (and sometimes antisemitic as well), regardless of how much feel-good gloss the story may attempt to apply to it.
The first season of the current SUPERMAN AND LOIS TV show, for instance, plays out an alarmingly literal "Great Replacement" plot in which Superman's half-brother Tal-Rho attempts to carry out a genocidal scheme devised by Superman's eugenicist mother to resurrect Kryptonians in the bodies of living humans, while MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN presents Kryptonians as brutal invaders who have attempted to militarily conquer the Earth more than once. Neither of these series departs from the general details of Superman's origin, but they assert unequivocally that Superman being an immigrant from Krypton is of moral value only because it gives him super-powers that enable him to defend the American Way from others of his kind, and to uphold white culture in ways other Kryptonians do not or would not.
#comics#superman#it would of course be possible for superman to have#a complex relationship with kryptonian culture#but the modern stories have been very reluctant to do that#this is a major flaw of superman and lois#which tries to avoid talking about clark's feelings about his heritage as much as possible#in ways that don't seem realistic#(that show also suggests that clark and lois's sons are weirdly incurious#about the fact that their father is literally from another planet)#as for MAWS#i find its depiction of kryptonians as invaders and superman as a weapon disturbing#for these reasons#and because it's an homage to the iron giant#a movie i strongly dislike
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Alien Detected
“How does it work?” Kara asks.
“It's just a simple skin test.” Lena states proudly, smiling at the blonde reporter she has come to care for. “Let me show you what a negative response looks like.” With that she places her thumb onto the device and waits a couple of seconds for the flashing green light to appear.
“ See?” Kara nods along to Lena's words nervously. “Great, now you try.”
The blonde stares blankly the CEO for a few seconds, her mouth moving to form words that never make it off of her tongue as she glances down at the device held out to her.
“But won't a device like this-” Kara stumbles over her words. “-doesn't it go against everything America is supposed to stand for?”
“Such as?” Lena perches on the edge of her desk, device placed delicately on the desk so she is able to cross her arms defensively over her chest.
“Freedom against persecution, oppression. America has always been a country full of immigrants.” Kara chuckles nervously.
“It's also always been a country of humans.”
“It's just – don't you think this device will force aliens back into the very shadows the president is trying to shine a light on?”
“If aliens want to be citizens, that's now their right but if humans want to know which of their fellow citizens aren't actually one of them then that's their right too.” Lena looks into Kara's eyes defensively until Kara backs down from the mini stand-off they seem to be caught in and looks away. “I'm a businesswoman. L-Corp is in the business of making money and this device is gonna make us a fortune but unlike my brother I'm gonna do it for the good of the world.”
Lena smiles wearily at Kara as she finishes her speech, turning to sit down back behind her desk so she has a physical barrier between herself and the reporter to help regain her footing after being challenged in a way that made her feel as though her motivations could possibly ever be anything other than good and pure.
“So?” She picks up the device and holds it out to Kara, who looks rather shaken.
“I-um. I don't know-” Kara stutters out, trying and failing to come up with a reasonable excuse to not have to touch that damn device that could give away her true heritage. A few more stutters leave her mouth as her mind goes blank of any reasonable excuse she could make so her hand slowly begins to make its way toward the small silver device.
She feels as though she is moving in slow motion as she wills someone to interrupt the moment to get her out of there. Her hand hovers over the sensor for a second and she takes a deep breath before she takes the plunge and presses her thumb gently down.
Lena watches inquisitively as the reporter before her begins to stutter and look around nervously. She understands that she may have made her slightly uncomfortable but nothing that should reduce her to the stumbling mess she has become. She is just about to ask her if she is alright when Kara's hand reaches out to the alien detection device and a thumb is pressing down onto it.
It flashes white three times as it analyses the data before turning red. Lena's eyes flick up to Kara's face as she processes the information but the blonde isn't looking back, she's staring at the device as she pulls her hand away from it slowly.
“You're an alien.” Lena states, standing up from her chair and stepping around the desk to stand before her friend.
“I- yeah.”
The CEO tries her best to catch the reporter's eyes but her gaze is fixed firmly on the ground.
“That's why you don't like my device isn't it? You don't want anyone to find out.”
Kara finally looks up and tentatively meets the emerald gaze of the woman before her. “Nobody can find out Lena, please.” She can feel her eyes well up her lips begin to purse up into a pout as she holds her tears at bay. Alex is going to kill her when she finds out that |Lena knows she isn't human.
Lena frowns as Kara's words. “Of course I'm not going to tell anyone and I'm not judging you Kara. I never would and I would have hoped that you'd know that.”
“I'm sorry Lena, It's not you. I know you wouldn't judge me but this isn't something that I tell people.”
Lena doesn't think that she has ever seen Kara look so small; her head turned down toward the floor, her arms crossed tightly across her body and her eyes flickering around the room, unwilling to hold her gaze for more than a few seconds at a time,
“I'm not mad Kara, I promise.”
“Really?”
“How about we go and sit down and talk about this?” Lena steps closer to the Kara, her heels easily making her just as tall as her. She lifts Kara's chin until their eyes meet. “I just want to understand.”
Kara finds herself nodding before she has even thought about it. She knows hat she should get out of there quick sharp but can't help but feel a weight lifted off of her chest now that Lena somewhat knows her truth. She watches as the CEO makes a quick call to Jess, requesting her to reschedule all of her meetings for the rest of the day before flashing her a small smile and gently taking her hand in her own and directing her towards the white couch on the far side of the room.
Lena doesn't let go of Kara's hand as when they sit, she holds it gently on her lap with both hands. “How about we start with the basics?” She waits for Kara to nod before she continues. “How long have you been on Earth?”
Kara clears her throat. “I've been here since I was thirteen. The Danvers adopted me right away.”
“You took their name then?”
“I did.” Lena waits for her to elaborate but she doesn't but doesn't want to push her too hard either.
“Do you like it here?”
“When I first got here I hated it, I never thought that I would be at home here and I still don't a lot of the time but I've found that it's the people that make me feel at home, not the planet.”
“Does that mean that there are more of your people here?” Lena's eyes brighten at the thought of finding out new information on an entire race.
“No.”
“No-one at all?” Lena's voice is soft, caring.
“No-one I want to talk about.” Kara states softly.
“We don't have to talk about them then. What planet are you from?”
“I-” She stammers. She can't actually tell Lena where she is from, she would know about her identity. “I can't tell you.”
“You can't? Why?” Her brows furrow in confusion.
Kara meets her eyes pleadingly. “I really can't tell you anything like that, I'm sorry.”
“You're acting weird about this, what's stopping you? Is someone threatening you?” Lena takes one of her hands away from Kara's and uses it to push some of her golden locks back behind her ear so she can look into the cerulean eyes more clearly. She can't push the worried frown from her face as she waits for the answer.
“I don't really know how to explain this without telling you a lot of things that I have been sworn to secrecy over by the government.”
“The government knows that you're an alien?” Lena leans back into the couch, still clutching at Kara's hand as she tries to make sense of what little information she I getting from Kara. She finds rest bite from her overworked brain in taking in the face of the reporter; the shape of her face, her beautiful golden hair, her beautiful blue eyes and perfect pink lips, the little scar above her brow that looks almost exactly like the one- “Supergirl?”
Kara flinches and pulls her hand away from Lena's as she stands up, ready to bolt.
“Don't leave Kara, please.” Lena follows Kara as she begins to walk to the door and grasps her arm to stop her. “It's true isn't it?”
Kara doesn't answer, just brings a hand up over her face and lets out a muffled sob.
“Oh, Kara. I'm not going to tell anyone, you're still my friend.” Lena gently turns her around to face her and captures her in a tight hug. “Thank you for all the times you've saved me.”
Kara squeezes Lena back with as much force as she dares to without hurting her. “Nobody is meant to know, it can put you in danger and I don't want you to get hurt.” Kara sobs into Lena's shoulder.
“If I'm going to be in danger then I'm glad I've got you, you've kept me safe since the moment I stepped foot in National City and don't think for a second that I'm going to let you avoid me now that I know, especially now that I'm aware of what is hiding beneath those cardigans.” Lena brings her hands up to Kara's muscles and gives them a strong squeeze making Kara let out a choked giggle and pulls back to look into Lena's eyes.
“I've only ever told one friend who I really am and now he doesn't see me as Kara the same way he used to, he looks at me and sees Supergirl. I don't want that to happen again, Supergirl is what I do but Kara is who I am.” Kara wipes away her tears and looks meaningfully into Lena's eyes.
“I think I understand.”
“Can we start over?”
“Of course.” Lena takes a step back away from Kara and pats the non-existent wrinkles out of her shirt.
Kara takes a deep breath before offering her hand to Lena. “Hi, my name is Kara Zor-El and I'm an alien from Krypton.”
“Well hello there Ms. Zor-El, I'm Lena Luthor and I'm a human from Earth.” They smile at each other broadly, giggling at themselves. “I promise I will always see you Kara, even when other people won't.”
“Thank you, Lena. Really, it means a lot.”
“No, thank you.” Kara tilts her head in confusion in similar fashion to that in which a golden retriever puppy would. “You could have lied about who you are, where you are from, but instead you trusted me with your secret even though we have only been friends for a few short weeks, it's been a long time since anyone has trusted me like this.”
“Well, your device kinda took away a lot of my choice but I do trust you Lena, I understand that you are just trying to escape your brother's legacy and make a name for yourself. I knew it from the second I came in your office with Clark Kent and I haven't stopped believing since. In fact, I probably understand better than anybody what it's like being trapped in the shadows of your family.”
“You truly are one of a kind Kara.” Kara blushes at the compliment, making Lena smile. “Now, how about we pick this conversation up again after we go try than new Italian place down the street? On me of course. I think that it will do us both some good to have a little while to think through everything. ”
“Just when I think that you can't get any more perfect Lena Luthor, you surprise me. Plus, now that you know my secret I don't have to restrain myself during our lunch dates and can eat as much as my heart desires and this one is on me because I can't expect you to pay for how much food I'm about to order, heavy conversions make me hungry.”
“When aren't you hungry darling?”
“When I'm asleep.” Lena's laugh ricochets around the office as she grabs her coat and they make their way out.
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The Soulmate AU [2]
Maribat by @ozmav
I didn't get much into the first part about their relationship (of the couple and with other people), so here's a post about it.
DAMIAN:
At 8, Damian, influenced by Marinette, manages to escape from the League to Batfam.
Not before stopping by to finally meet the girl in person. Of course.
Marinette's parents are relieved to know her little girl's soulmate, but also in a panic, as he has no shame in talking about his life with the League of Assassins.
"I don't want to be secret between us, since one day Marinette and I are getting married."
They accept. Bad. But they accept and try to be understanding.
He spends a week living with the Dupain-Cheng before deciding it was time to meet his father.
Marinette is sad. One week was too little and she wanted him safe by her side, not in a place where she could do nothing to help.
She attaches a discreet bracelet to the boy's wrist, claiming to be a lucky charm,and shows an equal resting on her pale wrist.
They say goodbye.
When Damian arrives in Gotham and meets Bruce, the man seems not at all surprised to learn that he had a son and that this son was coming to stay.
(The League and Talia had gone looking for Damian in Gotham, but were unable to find him.)
"Typical. She thinks she can predict my movements. I'm much smarter than that.” Damian snorts contemptuously and Mari laughs softly beside him.
She was by his side the whole trip. Only disappearing when she slept.
His relationship with Bruce and his brothers had a rocky beginning.
Damian was very closed and volatile.
Shoot first, ask questions later.
But our strawberry shortcake aka Marinette, with Alfred's help (even though the man didn't know he was helping her) managed to soften him enough to make things work.
Jonathan and Damian meet for the first time on duty.
Batman and Robin on patrol when Superman appears with Superboy and is dislike at first glance.
What changes after they meet again at school and Jonathan remembers Damian through Adrien's memories.
Best Friends Distributing Chaos Through Metropolis ™
He lives in Gotham with his father and siblings until he is 15, when he decides that living away from his soulmate is no longer working and signs up for an exchange in Paris.
MARINETTE:
Despite having a soulmate trained to be a assassin, she lived a normal, sweet childhood.
She had classmates, but also had her best friends: Kim and Sabrina.
Mari also becomes friends with Adrien at six.
The two know each other thanks to a visit from the Agreste family to the Dupain-Cheng bakery.
It is instant friendship! And families encourage both.
(Gabriel more for not wanting Adrien too close to Chloe).
Because soulmates are rare, she has been harassed by people (other children and adults)
Which didn't last long, because it was no wonder, she was Damian Al-Ghul Wayne's soulmate.
Marinette never depended on Damian for dangerous skills.
Things like steal, act, observe and gymnastics.
She was a very observant child, able to understand things that not even her parents were capable of before she pointed out the evidence.
She still wants to be a designer, this time with Gabriel's support.
But there was also a part (she didn't know if it was because of Damian) that simply wanted to fight off the Paris criminals.
The relationship with her parents is the best. They don't hide anything from each other because trust is a serious thing in this family.
When Damian goes to Paris and they meet in person for the first time, she makes a point of feeding him sweets, since his diet in the League was very strict.
She introduced Damian to Sabrina, Adrien and Kim at a picnic with the families.
(To Adrien's soulmate too and it was a mess)
At 9, she convinces Emilie that Adrien would learn much more from studying at a school like her.
They go to school together and she teaches Adrien some ways to fight that her parents wouldn't approve of, but she knew would be useful in the future.
Mari is fucking smart.
She and Adrien are fucking scary together.
Chloe avoids them even if Sabrina is their friend.
Everyone thinks she and Adrien are soulmates (except Sabrina and Kim, who had already met Damian).
At thirteen, on the first day of school a drunk man broke into the school assaulting one of the teachers who tried to kindly ask him to leave...
That day was marked "Never mess with Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
JONATHAN:
He lived part of his childhood living on his grandparents' farm.
He always knew who his father and mother were, so being half alien wasn't something he didn't know about.
No one really believed that he had a soulmate (even if his eyes proved otherwise) because of his alien heritage.
He learned Kryptonian as he grew older.
As well as his powers and abilities.
After his parents decide to stop hiding, they move to Metropolis and Jon starts studying at a private school.
The signs of his soulmate only became evident after Jonathan recognized the face and model names on billboards.
And he had never been interested in modeling or the fashion world.
Then came the dreams.
Dreams of photo shoot, a green-eyed blonde woman and a stern-looking skinny man. Both French.
The first thought had been that he was going crazy.
The second, that he was developing a new power.
This continued until the "Swap" and he understood what was going on.
He and Adrien become best friends (first).
His classmates liked to tease him that Jonathan spent so much time “talking to himself”
His parents found the boy's innocent joy so cute.
He “introduces” Adrien to his parents and the boy blushes with Lois's attention.
Clark too, since please, it was Superman there.
Romantic feelings only come at 10 (for both), but they only start dating at 13.
Damian is his best friend, since he understands his situation very well.
He is the one who puts the idea in Damian's mind to take the exchange in Paris.
Convince the parents is a little harder than Bruce Wayne, but he manages.
Imagine the disaster that will be Paris in the hands of these four.
ADRIEN:
Having met Marinette much earlier than in canon and becoming her best friend, he has a drastic change of character here.
Although his pacifist side remains firm, it is not as strong as in canon.
Jonathan's bonus for being his soul mate as well, as it directly affects his behavior.
Influenced by Marinette, he is not taken in by Chloe's crazy and childish ideas
He even tries to help the girl, knowing that her bad behavior was more to draw attention, since her parents were far from exemplary parents, but she runs away from him as soon as she finds out that he is friends with Mari.
He makes other friends, but none compare to Marinette, Jonathan and Damian.
Learning to fight and growing a backbone was something he enjoyed, but baking was his passion.
Mr. Dupain really wanted to be able to adopt the boy.
He cried when he could see Jonathan for the first time.
When his mother dies in a car accident, he is 12 years old.
Adrien goes into shock.
He didn't eat, didn't talk, didn't sleep.
Jonathan was panicking that they were in distant countries, different continents.
Adrien did not react.
It went on like this until Marinette decided that was enough of it and broke into the Agreste mansion, sparing not even a glance at Gabriel.
Adrien was forced to shower, put on clean clothes, comb the hair, eat, brush the teeth and cry.
Yes, forced to cry.
Marinette knew that in order for him to get out of the nest of dark thoughts (which Jonathan had warned her), he needed to vent all that was trapped.
The day had been long, the night even more so.
It took months, but he managed to return to normal gradually. With the help of his friends, Adrien was able to suffer his grief in the least painful way possible.
When Gabriel decides it's best for Adrien to be home schooled again and fill the boy's schedule with photo essays, Marinette gets angry.
Or maybe it was Damian. Or both together. Anyway,
When Gabriel decides to be a dick, Marinette threatens to report the man to the police for child exploitation.
He tries to dissuade Marinette by threatening her back, but Adrien supports her and confronts his father.
OTHER THINGS:
Because of Adrien's “rebellion”, Gabriel decides to do nothing at the moment, but devises plans to change that.
What he doesn't know is that Marinette, with Damian's help, Jonathan, her parents, is two steps ahead of him. Waiting for his first slip.
Damian does not introduce Marinette to Batfam, he avoids, but the girl insists until one day she introduces herself and he just stands by his arms crossed and annoyed.
Jason and Marinette become best friends for Damian's chagrin and Bruce's happiness.
(Jason was having a hard time... and Marinette was being the light at the end of the tunnel for Bruce.)
The first time they make the "Swap" at Wayne Mansion, everyone is horrified to watch Damian spin happily around the kitchen, all smiles, while decorating Batfam-themed cupcakes.
Timothy had recorded and sent it to all family friends.
When Gabriel tries to force Adrien to do a late-night photo shoot on a school day, Jonathan curses the man with all the low vocabulary he has learned living on the farm.
His parents are not proud to find the boy at 3am cursing loudly in the kitchen, but understand his frustration.
Adrien is the one who anchors Jonathan's powers, so he doesn't lose too much control.
Alya and Lila will die a slow and painful death in this au.
And I say that not for Damian but for Tikki.
I will make one for the kwamis and soon I will post the fanfiction!
[tag list]
@sassydepression @emjrabbitwolf @actual-disaster-human @mystery-5-5 @thequestionablyhuman @alexresides @officiallyathiana @interobanginyourmom @2sunchild2 @vixen-uchiha @timetomakeanewwish @ranger-gothamite @thanks-captain-obvious @wargraymon0709 @krispydefendorpolice @chocolatecatstheron @kazjaurelia @lysslovsanime @fandomkitty8 @g-arya @zerotosiki @bananaapplewaffle @graduatedmelon @schrodingers25 @queencommonsense @mindfulmagics @michellemagic @kceedraws @littleblue5mcdork @be-happy-every-day-please @razzledazzle247
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