lifeforms - Tumblr blog

[lifeforms]

When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder. If I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument. I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.

— Mary Oliver, from “When Death Comes” in "New and Selected Poems (Beacon Press, 1992)

[lifeforms]

i know that in their five minutes of "clark and lana go to college" the show only had her studying astronomy because she had Just Seen Aliens [that she knew were aliens] [that's a whole other issue we're handling a LITTLE differently here. but i digress] but i actually don't hate it for her. it would be a healthier way to engage with the [gestures vaguely] trauma. and she might be a big reader / token "let me write your english papers" girl in high school, but she would absolutely feel like most kinds of liberal arts majors were wastes of time (sorry) (i don't know why i'm apologizing; i was one of you) (though to be fair, it's more that she doesn't think higher education is worth the money to study something you don't need degrees for). i like that most comics that have included her since have made her Science Girl. i like even more that they have used it to both pit her against lex and show that she will outsmart him at every turn 💜

[lifeforms]

I have only two emotions, careful fear and dead devotion.

[lifeforms]

[this is just a note to myself to make a post about all of the PHYSICAL trauma lana endures, and how it definitely has consequences that we definitely are not going to ignore] (aka our girl just got her leg crushed AGAIN)

[lifeforms]

lana missing all the bodyswapping drama in the prom episode because she was standing outside the gym for two hours psyching herself up to go inside... accidentally realistic portrayal of high school, i must say

[lifeforms]

predictable result, depressing little chart

[lifeforms]

cold open ever... she's here 😭 reunited with my beautiful wife 😭 (this is ALSO the margot kidder cameo episode, so x2)

[lifeforms]

they truly dress lana in like, solid pink throughout almost all of s3 only to switch it up in the last two episodes before she leaves town... that's a wrap on lana: act one [of three] 🥺

[lifeforms]

what are you the patron saint of? the patron saint of creation.

patron saint of explosions. patron saint of More. patron saint of something new entirely, something unfamiliar, something you can't recognize. was frankenstein's monster an abomination or had his like just never been seen before? you're the patron saint of all those new, beautiful things. you're the patron saint of the monsters, too.

[lifeforms]

Uh Oh: The Third Person Omniscient Narrator Of Your Life Just Started Repeating The Opening Paragraphs Verbatim

[lifeforms]

i'm trying to think up a proper au for lana that is 'real life'/not comics-adjacent, but it is so funny trying to decide which elements of her story are amenable to change/deletion. because if i DON'T delete a bunch, then it's just like. take her out of the sci-fi and she is just straight up the unluckiest girl who has ever lived

[lifeforms]

ʺ  LANA LANG   ︰   𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑  𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐒 .

𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙴𝚁  𝟶𝟶𝟷    :    𝐓𝐇𝐄    𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄.    

NAME  :  xiulan lang. her middle name is too incongruous with her vibe. even though i literally gave it to her and now will not change it.

EYE COLOR  :   hazel. heavy on the green.

HAIR STYLE  /  COLOR  :  dark brown. mostly straight (has just enough natural Inclination To Wave to behave if it's supposed to be doing something else). usually on the longer side of medium, i guess. if it's ever substantially shorter you SHOULD be concerned. she is easy that way.

HEIGHT  :   about 5'3" / 160 cm.

CLOTHING STYLE  :  something you'd probably hear advertised on a podcast as 'smart'. she is not a flashy dresser. but as an adult she also definitely knows a dry cleaner, and that frightens me a little bit.

BEST PHYSICAL FEATURE  : personally i am crazy about her little eye teeth that like to peek out of her mouth like vampire fangs. but that's just my own correct opinion. you can't really go wrong with this one 🥺  

𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙴𝚁  𝟶𝟶𝟸    :    𝐓𝐇𝐄    𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄.    

FEARS  :  she truly has done so, so much for the Abandonment Issues industry. basically everything is tied to that in one way or another.  

GUILTY PLEASURE  : you'd think i'd say some kind of fancy coffee but she doesn't... drink coffee...

BIGGEST PET PEEVE  : don't lie to her. and if you have to lie to her, at least be good at it. she will do the same  

AMBITIONS FOR THE FUTURE  :  her brain is not really well-suited to that kind of thought. she's just trying to minimize harm all the time. and it works for her

𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙴𝚁  𝟶𝟶𝟹    :    𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒.

FIRST THOUGHTS WAKING UP  :  usually she initially thinks she is somewhere in The Past. there is a depressing monologue about that

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT MOST  : i don't think there is any one thing, mercifully. though she certainly has her Thought Habits [nostalgia disease] [major depressive disorder] [Protect and Serve but not in a cop way] [a certain inextinguishable childlike wonder]

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT BEFORE BED  : oh, nothing. she's one of those people who won't lie down until she knows she'll be out before her head hits the pillow. so she doesn't really have any kind of 'routine' as such. she's just going until, for a few hours, she's not.

WHAT THEY THINK THEIR BEST QUALITY IS  : her last name 🫶

𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙴𝚁  𝟶𝟶𝟺    :    𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓’𝐒    𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑?

SINGLE OR GROUP DATES  :  please don't take her on a group anything.  

TO BE LOVED OR RESPECTED  :   respected.

BEAUTY OR BRAINS  :   secret third option 🫶

DOGS OR CATS  :  she is rightfully a centrist --- but i don't think she would ever have a cat that wasn't like, a barn cat, for what it's worth. if she wanted something to make her feel unnecessary and kind of stupid in her own home, there are so many people she could just invite over instead.

𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙴𝚁  𝟶𝟶𝟻    :    𝐃𝐎    𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘…

LIE  :  she will, if she has to. she's excellent at it. it's not in her nature, though --- it is not a skill she values or enjoys using.  

BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES  :  yes. mostly.

BELIEVE IN LOVE  :  sometimes i think we all kind of wish she didn't. but yes.

WANT SOMEONE  : lana just kind of... wants. obviously certain people (past, present, future) are part of that --- but i'm not sure she's quite capable of settling down [romantically] in a way that would actually be fulfilling to her, either. she does not know how to trust like that lol 🥺

𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙴𝚁  𝟶𝟶𝟼    :    𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄    𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘    𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑…

BEEN ON STAGE  : i'm sure she has been as like. someone being interviewed for The Press / that sort of thing. but otherwise, absolutely not.

CHANGED WHO THEY WERE TO FIT IN  :   if lana were capable of changing herself for another person, her onscreen personal drama would have been cut down like 60%. but she's not.

𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙴𝚁  𝟶𝟶𝟽    :    𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐒.

FAVORITE COLOR  : purple.

FAVORITE ANIMAL  :  all animals is good animals. but, gun to our heads, the answer is, of course, horse. she'd also especially love anything else that is Big But Gentle. elephants being an obvious example 

FAVORITE BOOK  :  great question! her taste is probably far more discerning than mine! but i do think she'd be into arundhati roy and dorothy allison. catherine lacey. edwidge danticat. toni morrison. i'm not ALWAYS wrong

FAVORITE GAME  : some kind of trivia board game, probably. sorry. MAYBE pictionary

𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙴𝚁  𝟶𝟶𝟾    :    𝐀𝐆𝐄.

DAY THEIR NEXT BIRTHDAY WILL BE  : 1 february.

HOW OLD WILL THEY BE  : however old we need her to be for the bit, son. but the character herself (sv edition, anyway) was born in 1986. so i guess she'd be turning 39.

𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙴𝚁  𝟶𝟶𝟿    :    𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐇    𝐓𝐇𝐄    𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄.

I LOVE  :  yeah my characters will never cooperate with these things

I FEEL  :

I HIDE  : 

I MISS  :  

I WISH  :

[lifeforms]

i wrote this whole post about how stupid it is that Baby Lana gets shit for being bothered that clark lies to her all the time (not that he won't tell her, mind you: that's his business) only to delete it because all that really needs to be said is that if we killed jon*than faster, that and also most of clark's issues with himself would completely disappear 💜

(no offense to any of the pa kents who i don't want dead on sight! many of them are fine! but. this one?)

[lifeforms]

archive 81.

dialogue prompts from archive 81, a podcast by dead signals.

i heard a joke about lawyers once.

you know about me?

when you live with something a long time, you can become blind to it.

i don’t want to think about stuff like that anymore.

you’re really scaring me.

cut the bullshit. i don’t have the time.

we’re ants trying to understand the face of a god.

don’t you want to hear the end of the story?

i really admire your stoicism in the face of adversity, by the way.

i can’t imagine anything would scare you.

you’re the one person who actually seems to give a shit.

what did you see in me?

there are a surprising number of decent people in this horror story.

i’m not the grand villain in this story. sorry to disappoint.

no one is prepared for something like that.

you must have been a person once.

curiosity has its consequences.

information is a lovely gift.

you’ve kept me normal.

i’ve been waiting for you, you know.

have you ever loved someone so much that you’d do anything?

names are so important and powerful and frightening.

you’re a very bad patient, you know that?

you don’t exactly have the best bedside manner.

did you have good and safe and wonderful dreams?

you could tell me a story.

are you going to keep being weird?

i’m officially done with cryptic shit.

we’re safe now. alright?

tell it however you want to. it’s your story.

what’s your favorite album? or your favorite movie?

now you’re just being mean.

are you starting to remember?

sacrifice is the only currency anywhere.

don’t kill anyone without asking first.

you’re a pretty good hugger. i’m surprised.

you’re doing great. i’m really proud of you.

if there’s anything i’m good at, it’s making fun of rich people.

i have never once lied to you.

i don’t know if you’re good, but you’re a good friend.

[lifeforms]

[lifeforms]

add me on discord @ sheryllee if you want to talk about plotting! if we are mutuals here, you're automatically welcome to it, so please do not be shy 🫶