#( thread ) jon kent 1

[puppiesandnightlock]

Link: Why Bruce Should Not Have The Title of World's Greatest Detective Anymore, a presentation by Tim Drake

Summary: Bruce didn't know the Super Sons were dating somehow, and Tim compiled a list of evidence of a bunch of moment here he should have caught on, but did not.

Featuring Confused and Tired Dad Bruce, PowerPoint master Tim, Traumatized Dick, and an embarrassed Damian.

Super Sons Week Bonus Day: Family and Legacy (this one won by a landslide on the tumblr poll)

In Bruce’s defense, he was a father of six officially and about twelve emotionally. He had long ago resigned his title of World’s Greatest Detective to Tim, so honestly, could you blame him for not noticing that his youngest son had had company around more often? And come on, it was Jonathan Samuel Kent, the two were practically glued to each other even before recent developments. 

How recent, he wasn't sure. 

And now he had to sit through a folder Tim had given him, evidence compiled in an attempt to clear things up in his head. He plugged in the USB that fell out of it and it opened to a powerpoint.

Of course.

Angels and Demons, or otherwise known as B, how the fuck did you not know?

A presentation by Tim Drake 

Evidence #1: “Wrestling.”

The slide played a clip of surveillance feed from inside of the manor. Damian had Jon pinned to the ground, both panting and flushed. 

“What’s going on here?” Bruce turned the doorknob, poking his head through the door.

Damian scrambled off of the taller boy, schooling his features to a mask of indifference. 

Jon made no such efforts, choosing to starfish across the carpeted floor, a blank look on his face as he stared at the ceiling.

“Nothing, Father, we decided to make use of our time and spar. Jonathan needs practice.” 

Bruce eyed them suspiciously, pausing to take in the scene. Damian’s usual gel slicked hair was ruffled, and Jon’s curls were splayed out on the floor, some in his face.

Then again, his hair was always a bit unruly.

Their faces were flushed, and they had been breathing heavily when he came in.

The quick once over seemingly revealed nothing to him, although one could clearly see the still blown pupils of an expressionless Jon, and both boys’ kiss-bitten lips.

“Next time, spar in the cave, that’s what it's there for.” He walked out, shutting the door behind him.

The video feed played for a bit longer, Damian putting his face in his hands, a very un-Damian-like thing to do, and groaning.

“I cannot believe that actually worked.”

Tim had left a little note on the side of the video after it stopped playing. You have six kids, and one of them is one Richard John Grayson, how on earth did you fall for that?

Evidence #2: Dates

This opened to a video from a phone, someone walking into Damian’s room and filming his fussing with his appearance in the mirror.

“Whatcha doin’, baby bat?” Tim’s voice came from the other side of the camera.

“Fixing my hair, what does it look like, Drake?”

“Whoa, whoa, chill. I’m just curious, I haven't seen you put this much interest into your appearance since you had picture day.”

Damian scowled, more out of admittance that he was right then spite.

“Say what you will, Timothy.” He hesitated. “How do I look?”

“You’ll blow his socks off, Dames.” Tim said softly, a hand reaching out from behind the phone to straighten his jacket.

Damian inhaled deeply and carefully walked down the stairs. The doorbell rang, and as if filming a reality show, Tim followed dutifully behind. Jon stood, looking as nervous as he was, holding a small bunch of wild flowers that he immediately thrust into Damian’s face. 

“Oh my god-” was whispered from Tim as the camera zoomed in on Damian, a pink flush becoming slightly visible.

“I’m so sending this to Dick.”

Damian handed off the flowers to the nearest person, but not before threading a few into Jon’s curls.

“Where are you going?” Bruce came out from the dining room, files in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

Tim switched the camera over to him, zooming in on his tired appearance, then zooming out so he could see everyone.

“The movies, s-sir.” Jon stuttered.

Burce raised an eyebrow. “Jon, you’ve known me for years, you can drop the formalities.”

An undignified squeak came from the boy and Damian sighed, albeit affectionately.

“We will be going, Father.”

“Have a good time.” He waved them off, disappearing into the labyrinth that is Wayne Manor.

“That’s it?” Tim was heard screeching off screen. “He gave ME hell, gave my dates HELL, broke out the KRYPTONITE when Kon even LOOKED at me, and all you get is HAVE A GOOD TIME?”

“Sucks to suck.” Damian jeered, taking Jon by the hand and dragging him out the door.

Followed by it was several screenshots from a chat titled “Rockin’ Robins”, all of them sharing stories until someone pointed out that maybe Bruce didn't even know it was a date, which was accurate.

This note said There were flowers. Flowers.

Evidence #3: They were in A FUCKING CLOSET.

Bruce spat his coffee out at that, massaging his temples. This was getting to be way too much. He did not at all need to know about what had happened in the closet, especially because he remembered this particular one and frankly? It was embarrassing that he didn’t catch on then.

Bruce was walking down the hallway when he suddenly heard noises coming from the third floor janitor's closet.

Tentatively, he opened the door. The last thing he expected was for Jon and Damian to stumble out of it, school uniforms slightly unbuttoned and very rumpled. Jon’s glasses were crooked, and Damian’s tie was missing.

“F-Father!” Damian stuttered, attempting to smooth out his ruffled appearance. Jon silently handed him his tie, both boys flushing furiously under Bruce’s rather confused gaze.

“What were you doing in there? Aren’t you supposed to be on that field trip? Your class is still on the first floor.” 

“W-We were…uh-” Jon fidgeted with the buttons on his shirt, nudging Damian for help.

Suddenly, his gaze caught on something reflecting green in his son’s back pocket. His eyes narrowed and his face set into a firm expression.

“We will be talking about this at home. I’m disappointed in both of you, I thought we’d gone over this.” 

Damian’s face paled, before morphing into one of confusion. “What exactly are you talking about, Father?”

“Sneaking out for hero work.”

Both teens inwardly sobbed in relief as Damian said stiffly, “Yes, Father.”and Jon with a quaking “Sorry, Uncle Bruce.”

Satisfied in his parenting skills, Bruce continued towards his office.

If he watched the video Tim had put in from the surveillance feed of Wayne Enterprises, he could almost guarantee they would have both been sporting some rather suspicious brusings. 

Bruce stood up, he was going to need a drink to get through the rest of this. 

Unbeknownst to him, most of his kids were perched in the living room, wheezing at their father’s reactions.

Damian was rather displeased at all that was being shown, and his face was flushed red.

“Looks like baby bat isn’t so innocent.” Jason cackled.

“My precious sweet little boy, this is OBSCENE, they are BABIES!”

“Richard, I am nineteen years old.”

“BABIES.”

Tim closed the laptop as Bruce left the cave, leaning back. “It was sad, honestly, to compile all this information and realize Bruce didn't get any of it. I mean, how long has it been?”

“Three years.” Damian muttered.

“Three fucking years. It’s sad to see him go.” Duke said solemnly.

There was a moment of silence as they mourned the loss of their once perceptive father.

Then promptly burst into laughter.

@super-sons-week-2023

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

BEWARE of the batkids

by sadlybeans

The Bat children have been spotted around town

Gotham has been more chaotic than usual this Saturday night, as our vigilantes came back from a three week long disappearance. Even on the absence of the Batman, criminals all throughout the city cower in fear….

 or, the Batkids are insane and just a little bit bored.

Words: 5538, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 2 of Batman Most Certainly Does Not Work Alone

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), DC Extended Universe, Superman - All Media Types

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply

Characters: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Duke Thomas, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Damian Wayne, Jonathan Kent, Original Batfamily Member(s) (DCU), Original Kryptonian Character(s), Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent (mentioned)

Relationships: Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Jon Lane Kent & Damian Wayne, Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne

Additional Tags: Damijon - Freeform, but its purely platonic due to them being kids, Minor Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, if you squint real hard, Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Batfamily (DCU), Batfamily Dynamics (DCU), Batfamily is a Mess (DCU), Crack, this is just them being little assholes, Damian Wayne is a Little Shit, Damian Wayne is Baby, Jonathan Samuel Kent is a Ray of Sunshine, Twitter Threads, this is just a mess of many things thrown together ok dont look at me like that, AU, Again, no i wont explain what kind, SuperBat, is also heavily hinted at

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/44967646

[phantom-le6]

Ramble of the month December 2023: Phase 4 of the Batman Begins-Led DCEU

We now come to the last ramble of 2023, and to keep me from feeling more stress than I need to around the occasion I often call Stress-Mas, I’m sticking with my comfort zone of superhero film universes that could have been.  In this case, it’s back to imagining the DCEU that could have been if Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins had launched DC’s live-action film continuity instead of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.  So, let’s get right into it by quickly re-capping phases 1-3.

Phase 1:

2005: Batman Begins

2006: Man of Steel

2007: Wonder Woman

2008: The Dark Knight, Green Lantern

2009: The Flash, Man of Steel 2

2010: Aquaman, Justice League

Phase 2:

2011: Wonder Woman 2, Green Lantern 2, Green Arrow

2012: Hawkman, Batman/Superman, Aquaman 2

2013: John Constantine, The Flash 2, Suicide Squad

2014: Justice League 2, Green Arrow 2, Batman: The Long Crusade

Phase 3:

2015: Shazam, Man of Steel 3, The Atom

2016: Wonder Woman 3, Batgirl, Teen Titans

2017: Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Shazam vs Black Adam, Suicide Squad 2

2018: Justice League: Darkseid Rising, Aquaman 3, Doom Patrol

So, phase 1 is basically there to establish the DC universe in a film format and get the Justice League together.  Phase 2 builds on that foundation, but it also takes a big whack at it by having Batman’s caution over his colleagues going rogue cause issues within the league.  With Green Arrow 2, the caution proves apt and brings about a lot of change, which is followed up in phase 3.  Now with the third Justice League film focusing on a prelude to an attack by Darkseid, one may assume phase 4 will take a similar tack to phase 3 of the real-life MCU and play into similar plot threads to Infinity War and Endgame.  However, when we look into phase 4, things aren’t totally what you’d expect.

Phase 4:

2019: Superman: Doomsday, New Gods, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

2020: Suicide Squad: Arkham, Knightfall, Green Arrow 3

2021: Reign of the Supermen, Green Lantern: Twilight, Knightsend

2022: Justice League: Armageddon, Teen Titans 3, Justice Society

Looking at this, the more knowledgeable DC fans out there can probably see what I mean when I talk about phase 4 maybe not going where you’d think.  We’re channelling some major shake-up story arcs from the 1990’s in this phase, so expect the unexpected is definitely a must.  However, for those who may be less knowledgeable and for those who want to get into the blow-by-blow details, let’s check these hypothetical DCEU phase 4 films.

Superman: Doomsday (2019) Directed by JJ Abrams

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Lois Lane = Kate Bosworth

Kara Zor-El/Supergirl = Dakota Fanning

Doomsday = Terry Notary

Lex Luthor = Kelsey Grammer

Mercy Graves = Scarlett Johannsen

John Henry Irons = Aldis Hodge

Hank Henshaw = John Kraskinski

Terri Henshaw = Kate Mara

Martha Kent = Diane Lane

Jonathan Kent = Kevin Costner

Jor-El = Russell Crowe

Dr Emil Hamilton = Richard Schiff

Perry White = Sam Neill

Jimmy Olsen = Rider Strong

Cat Grant = January Jones

Steve Lombard = Josh Brolin

Capt. Maggie Sawyer = Jeri Ryan

Insp. Turpin = Colin Farrell

Bibbo Bibbowski = Luke Hemsworth

Mongul = Ioan Gruffudd

Guy Gardner = Damian Lewis

Dinah Lance/Black Canary = Malin Akerman

J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter = Chiwetel Ejiofor

Barry Allen/The Flash = Matt Damon

Booster Gold/Michael Jon Carter = Alexander Ludwig

Fire/Beatriz Bonilla da Costa = Selena Gomez

Ice/Tora Olafsdotter = Kristine Froseth

Mari McCabe/Vixen = Lupita Nyong'o

To date, the Death of Superman story arc of the 1990’s has had three adaptations in film.  The first was an animated home-release film called Superman: Doomsday, which heavily shortened the death arc and went a long way off the original source material story regarding Superman’s absence and eventual return.  Next came Zack Snyder’s Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, which essentially shoe-horned a version of the story into its ending, then mangled the resurrection arc between Snyder and Joss Whedon in the 2017 Justice League film.  Third were the DCAMU film adaptations from 2018 and 2019, with the first being a fairly accurate adaptation of the Death arc, while the second film was similarly good quality on part 2.

For this alternate DCEU, I’d want to borrow the title of the first attempt, ignore anything Snyder-based and try for a longer and slightly different variation on what the DCAMU gave us.  As a result, we still get a good quality adaptation without being a carbon copy.  The plot is roughly the same, in that Superman would have to go up against an alien monster called Doomsday, and has to lay down his life to end the threat.  However, changes include the Justice League line-up aiding him, Lex Luthor isn’t trying to pass himself off as his illegitimate Australian son (don’t know what the comics were thinking on that one), and of course it’s the more modern Supergirl on hand instead of the 90’s version.

The cast is mostly retained from prior films, though a few are new in this film, specifically Doomsday, the Henshaws, Bibbowski, Mongul and JL members Fire, Ice and Booster Gold.  In addition, there’s a change of direction; up to now, each Superman film has had different directors, going from Roland Emmerich to Ron Howard to Guillermo del Toro, with Rob Marshall directing the Batman/Superman film in phase 2.  This time, it’s JJ Abrams taking up the reigns, having previously been my selection for the two Flash solo films of this alternate DCEU.

New Gods (2019) Directed by Ridley Scott

Scott Free/Mister Miracle = Charlie Cox

Barda Free/Big Barda = Lindsay Kay Hayward

Darkseid = Bernard Hill

Izaya the Inheritor/Highfather = Brian Cox

Orion = Tom Hardy

Solis/Lightray = Charlie Hunnam

Bekka = Danielle Fishel

Metron = Jonny Lee Miller

Forager = Steven Yeun

DeSaad = David Wenham

Mantis = Winston Duke

Virman Vundabar = August Diehl

Granny Goodness = Stockard Channing

Bernadeth = Rachel Weisz

Bloody Mary = Jennifer Stone

Lashina = Kristin Kreuk

Mad Harriett = Hannah John-Kamen

Stompa = Ronda Rousey

Steppenwolf = Ciarán Hinds

Kalibak = Liev Schreiber

For this film, we’re following up on events from the previous Justice League film as well as our Death of Superman adaptation.  With Superman down, the heroes Mister Miracle and Big Barda return to their home-world of New Genesis in an attempt to bring their kin to Earth’s defence against an almost-certain assault by Darkseid.  However, their leader Highfather is unwilling to violate a non-aggression pact between their world and Darkseid’s planet Apokolips.  However, Darkseid is less scrupulous and facing potential usurpation by Virman Vundabar, so it’s actually New Genesis that comes under attack.

This film is very much about getting a better look at Darkseid and his supporting cast, while at the same time getting to explore the New Gods and paying cinematic homage to one of the more notable Jack Kirby creations from his DC Comics work.  Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Darkseid, DeSaad, Steppenwolf and Kalibak are brought back from the last Justice League film, while everyone else is introduced for the first time.  The castings of Danielle Fishel and Jennifer Stone attest to the attention I’ve paid at times to Disney Channel sit-coms (in this case, Boy Meets World/Girl Meets World and Wizards of Waverley Place, respectively), while most others are from a smattering of various mainstream films and shows.

As we’re dealing with alien worlds, I picked Aliens director Ridley Scott to helm this one.  This is a first-time pick for this alternate DCEU.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2019) Directed by Matthew Vaughan

Richard Grayson/Robin/Nightwing = Patrick Schwarzenegger

Koriand'r/Starfire = Elle Fanning

Donna Troy/Wonder Girl = Ciara Bravo

Wallace "Wally" West/Kid Flash = Calum Worthy

Raven = Maisie Williams

Victor Stone/Cyborg = Ashton Sanders

Garfield "Gar" Logan/Beast Boy = Dylan Sprayberry

Tara Markov/Terra = Emma Bading

Joseph Wilson/Jericho = Brenock O'Connor

Slade Wilson/Deathstroke = Daniel Day-Lewis

Sebastian Blood/Brother Blood = Tyler Hoechlin

Mother Mayhem = Jennifer Connelly

Adeline Kane = Kristin Davis

Wintergreen = Martin Shaw

The Judas Contract is a 1980’s story arc for the young heroes that’s seen a couple of adaptations, first in the team’s animated series of the early 2000’s and then as a film within the DCAMU.  It’s a good tragic story, as well as a coming-of-age story about being careful who you trust.  This film version would try to adapt it a bit closer to the comics, including the incorporation of Deathstroke’s mute son Jericho, his estranged wife Adeline and his best friend Wintergreen.  The film would also showcase Dick Grayson’s shift from Robin to Nightwing, and since Terra is of Eastern/Mid-European descent like her brother in the Outsiders, the casting takes this into account.

While the main Titans and Deathstroke return from past films, Terra and the other characters are new.  Emma Bading is a German actress with a decent filmography who would be of comparable age to the other Titans, hence her selection.  Direction-wise, I’m looking to Matthew Vaughan, having previously picked him in this alternate DCEU for the solo Green Lantern films, based primarily on the work he did on X-Men: First Class.

Suicide Squad: Arkham (2020) Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Amanda Waller = Viola Davis

Rick Flag Jr. = Joel Kinnaman

Floyd Lawton/Deadshot = Christian Slater

Captain Boomerang/Digger Harkness = Hugh Jackman

Dr Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn = Margot Robbie

Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger = Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Cheshire/Jade Nguyen = Rila Fukushima

Nanaue/King Shark = Sylvester Stalone

Claire Selton/Volcana = Kirsten Stewart

Killer Croc/Waylon Jones = Tyler Mane

Cluemaster/Arthur Brown = Martin McDonagh

Cavalier/Mortimer Drake = Kit Harington

Sonar/Bito Wladon = Silvio Simac

Baffler/Titus Czonka = Michael Chicklis

Bane = Rodrigo Santoro

Angel Vallelunga/Bird = Diego Luna

Zombie = Stephen Merchant

Trogg = Luis Guzmán

Dr Jeremiah Arkham = Dan Stevens

Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin = Sean Astin

Det. Crispus Allen = Djimon Honsou

Det. Peter Foley = Matt Le Blanc

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl = Bella Thorne

Having used Guillermo del Toro of Blade 2 fame to helm a third solo Superman film and the second Suicide Squad film of this alternate DC film universe, I’ve brought him back for a film that leads directly into the Knightfall/Knightsend duology.  In this case, Amanda Waller has heard rumours of a new player in Gotham City planning to make some kind of move on Arkham Asylum.  To that end, she recruits two Suicide Squads; one made up mostly of lesser Gotham villains who are to find out who the new player is and stop them, the other as back-up in case the first team fails or turns traitor.  As to why team 1 lacks the usual explosive fail-safes, this is so Waller can avoid being found out, as Batman is wise to such things.  However, as the film progresses, it’s more Batgirl and Detectives Allen and Foley of the GCPD who periodically disrupt the operation.

As the plot develops, the threat of Bane is ultimately revealed, at great cost to the Squad.  In fact, this is where the first real shock probably comes in, because this film will see Harley Quinn killed by Bane.  This is done largely to show that no one is safe from Bane and increase the stakes for the upcoming Batman films, but it also sets up for a Joker-related film plot in the next phase of this alternate DCEU.  I won’t go into unpicking all the new versus old casting on this one; if you look through my Ramble articles past on this alternate DCEU, you’ll be able to see for yourselves.

Knightfall (2020) Directed by Matt Reeves

Bruce Wayne/Batman = Christian Bale

Alfred Pennyworth = Michael Caine

Tim Drake/Robin II = David Mazouz

Lucius Fox = Morgan Freeman

James "Jim" Gordon = Gary Oldman

Bane = Rodrigo Santoro

Angel Vallelunga/Bird = Diego Luna

Zombie = Stephen Merchant

Trogg = Luis Guzmán

Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael/Batman II = Connor Jessup

Nomoz = Michael Klebba

Det. Harvey Bullock = Donal Logue

Det. Renee Montoya = Penelope Cruz

The Joker = Willem Dafoe

Dr Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy = April Bowlby

Edward Nygma/Riddler = John Barrowman

Arnold Wesker/Ventriloquist = Giovanni Ribisi

Burt Weston/Film Freak = Luke Mitchell

Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter = Matthew Jaeger

Aaron Helzinger/Amygdala = David Denman

Victor Zsasz = Elijah Wood

Maxie Zeus = Goran Višnjić

Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow = Cillian Murphy

Carleton LeHah = Lambert Wilson

Jack Drake = Tobey Maguire

Mrs. McIlvaine = Sinéad Cusack

Dr Shondra Kinsolving = Aisha Tyler

Mayor Armand Krol = Eli Roth

Dr Jeremiah Arkham = Dan Stevens

Dr Simpson Flanders = Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Knightfall is an epic-length film that covers much of the comic story arc of the same name from Batman comics on the 1990’s.  In the original arc, Bane breaks out all the villains of Arkham Asylum, forcing an already weary Batman to exhaust himself chasing down the escapees prior to a showdown with Bane.  In that showdown, Bane broke Batman’s back, forcing Bruce Wayne to hand the cape-and-cowl over to apprentice superhero Jean-Paul Valley, who was trying to overcome brainwashing he’d undergone to be an assassin of sorts called Azrael.  After an opening act to introduce Azrael a few months prior, the film then jumps in at the moment the preceding Suicide Squad film ends; with Bane firing a rocket at Arkham to bust the villains out.

With a montage here and there to expedite matters, Batman wears himself down as before, only to be broken by Bane as in the comics, and as before, Jean-Paul is handed the mantle of the Batman.  However, it soon becomes clear this may have been a mistake, and when Jean-Paul confronts Bane, it’s uncertain whether the new Batman will triumph over his mental trauma or not.  The film contains a huge ensemble cast and covers a wide range of Batman characters both good and evil.  To direct, I’ve picked Matt Reeves, who did the Planet of the Apes reboots and in this alternate DCEU has already helmed the third solo Batman film.

Green Arrow 3 (2020) Directed by Rian Johnson

Oliver Queen/Green Arrow = Ethan Hawke

Dinah Lance/Black Canary = Malin Akerman

Connor Hawke/Green Arrow II = Levon Hawke

Eddie Fyers = Seth Green

Roy Harper/Speedy/Arsenal = Cameron Monaghan

Veronica Dale/Hyrax = Anna Kendrick

Leopard/Leonard/Ed Pinkwater = Ian Somerhalder

Camorouge = Émilie Dequenne

Callendar = Jon Cryer

Dreyfus = Method Man

Nathan = Sam Worthington

Paine = Michael B Jordan

Monroe = Jon Bernthal

Belle = Sara Paxton

Green Lantern/Hal Jordan = Ben Affleck

As 90’s DC fans might guess, this film is all about adapting Oliver Queen’s death from 90’s comics into film, though I swap Superman out for Green Lantern on three counts.  First, slating this film for in-between Superman’s death and return prohibits his involvement.  Two, Hal and Ollie have long had a major bromance to add greater importance to the climax.  Three, it makes the built-up to our solo GL film a bit better, as we will see.  Aside from Hal Jordan, only Oliver Queen, Dinah and Roy are returning rolls, while the rest of the characters are all new and largely exclusive to this film and its storyline.

What is the story line, beyond killing the original Green Arrow?  Well, like the comics, Ollie goes undercover with a group of eco-terrorists to uncover their plans, but he starts to fall for a member of the group, and at the same time, Ollie’s illegitimate son shows up looking to connect with his dad.  For film direction, I’ve gone with Rian Johnson, a new selection for our alternate DCEU based on his work with the Star Wars film The Last Jedi.

Reign of the Supermen (2021) Directed by JJ Abrams

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Lois Lane = Kate Bosworth

Kara Zor-El/Supergirl = Dakota Fanning

Hank Henshaw/Cyborg Superman = Brandon Routh

The Eradicator = Brandon Routh

Conner Kent/Con-El/Superboy = Asher Angel

Mongul = Ioan Gruffudd

Lex Luthor = Kelsey Grammer

Mercy Graves = Scarlett Johannsen

John Henry Irons/Steel = Aldis Hodge

Jaina Hudson/White Rabbit = Hayley Kiyoko

Green Lantern/Hal Jordan = Ben Affleck

Martha Kent = Diane Lane

Jonathan Kent = Kevin Costner

Jor-El = Russell Crowe

Dr Emil Hamilton = Richard Schiff

Perry White = Sam Neill

Jimmy Olsen = Rider Strong

Cat Grant = January Jones

Steve Lombard = Josh Brolin

Capt. Maggie Sawyer = Jeri Ryan

Insp. Turpin = Colin Farrell

Bibbo Bibbowski = Luke Hemsworth

Obviously, this film covers the return of Superman arc in much the same way as the comics do in the broadest sense; four Supermen turn up, Lois tries to work out who the real one is, one turns out to be a villain in league with the alien tyrant Mongul, whose role is expanded in this film.  Their plans destroy Hal Jordan’s home town of Coast City, but Metropolis is saved by the returning real Superman.  The film borrows a bit from its DCAMU counterpart by simplifying the Eradicator’s history, and indeed over this film and the previous Superman one we’ve done the same with Hank Henshaw.  This is because the characters had prior history with Superman in the comics, but our film continuity wouldn’t cover that, so a bit of a tweak is in order.

Now because both the Eradicator and Henshaw were meant to resemble Superman outwardly to some extent, the casting of them is now a matter of putting Brandon Routh into those roles as well as playing his original Superman role in the third act.  We also get another step on Hal Jordan’s descent into darkness, something that hasn’t had a proper adaptation in any media.  The closest we’ve come is the last Green Lantern solo film in DC’s Tomorrow-verse continuity, which frankly isn’t that good, but more on this under the next film.  JJ Abrams remains the director here to keep things consistent within this duology.

Green Lantern: Twilight (2021) Directed by Sam Raimi

Green Lantern/Hal Jordan/Parallax = Ben Affleck

Carol Ferris = Liv Tyler

Tom Kalmaku = Taika Waititi

Thaal Sinestro = Mark Strong

Kilowog = Tyrese Gibson

Kyle Rayner/Green Lantern II = Taylor Lautner

Alex DeWitt = Hunter King

Clifford Zmeck/Major Force = Luke Evans

Mongul = Ioan Gruffudd

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Boodikka = Gina Carano

Ke'Haan = Kevin Durand

Laira = Emma Stone

Kreon = Ryan Philippe

Ganthet = Patrick Stewart

Sayd = Glenn Close

Appa Ali Apsa = Hugo Weaving

Tomar Tu = Tom Hiddleston

Jack T. Chance = Colton Haynes

Hannu = Lee Pace

Graf Toren = Hiroyuki Sanada

As you might imagine, this film would be filmed in close proximity to the two before it to facilitate the various cross-over aspects of it.  This time, we’re doing the Emerald Twilight/New Dawn story arc, in which Hal Jordan suffers a mental breakdown after his home town is destroyed during the events of Superman’s return.  In a fit of anger, he rampages across the stars to Oa, home planet of the Green Lantern Corps, defeating fellow lanterns and swiping their power rings.  After a final showdown with his friend Kilowog and enemy Sinestro, Hal takes all the power of the central Lantern battery, becoming a villain known as Parallax who plans to remake the universe to prevent the destruction of Coast City.  However, a last member of the Guardians travels to Earth and bestows a last Lantern ring on freelance artist Kyle Rayner, and thus a new Green Lantern is found, but one who must master the ring with no GL corps or Guardians to guide him.

Again, not going to unpick who is new and who is long-standing for this film as it would be a bit long-winded to explain.  However, as we don’t really include Golden Age superheroes like original GL Alan Scott, exposition regarding Hal’s actions to Kyle ends up coming from Superman’s appearances in the film, as well as human GLs Guy Gardner and John Stewart.  Due to the way Hal acts in this story arc, not to mention this film adapting the infamous murder of Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend, I picked Sam Raimi to direct this film based on his horror film background.  Raimi was also my pick to direct a John Constantine one-off film in phase 2 of this alternate DCEU.

Knightsend (2021) Directed by Matt Reeves

Bruce Wayne/Batman = Christian Bale

Alfred Pennyworth = Michael Caine

Tim Drake/Robin II = David Mazouz

Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael/Batman II = Connor Jessup

Lucius Fox = Morgan Freeman

James "Jim" Gordon = Gary Oldman

Bane = Rodrigo Santoro

Richard Grayson/Nightwing = Patrick Schwarzenegger

Jack Drake = Tobey Maguire

Mrs. McIlvaine = Sinéad Cusack

Dr Shondra Kinsolving = Aisha Tyler

Mayor Armand Krol = Eli Roth

Det. Harvey Bullock = Donal Logue

Det. Renee Montoya = Penelope Cruz

The Joker = Willem Dafoe

Tallyman = Bill Skarsgard

Lady Shiva = Ming-Na Wen

Tony Bressi = Milo Ventimiglia

Arnold Etchison/Abattoir = Robert Kazinsky

Benedict Asp = Jason Isaacs

Colonel Vega = David Nykl

Yuri = John Morrison

Graham Etchison = Bill Hader

Penn Selkirk = Jason Sudeikis

Carter = Liam Cunningham

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl = Bella Thorne

When Bruce’s doctor Shondra Kinsolving is abducted, the crippled Bruce Wayne begins a search that leads to the healing of his back at great cost, while Jean-Paul Valley grows increasingly unstable.  Now heavily armoured and armed, this Batman is more brutal, and when a man dies from Jean-Paul’s behaviour, the recovered Bruce Wayne must begin a crash-course in the fighting arts in order to confront his errant replacement and reclaim the mantle of the bat.  Again keeping Matt Reeves in the directorial position for duology consistency, this film focuses on the follow-up to Knightfall as the defeated Bane is moved aside and the battle comes out as original Batman versus would-be replacement.

Justice League: Armageddon (2022) Directed by The Russo Brothers

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Diana/Wonder Woman = Kate Beckinsale

J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter = Chiwetel Ejiofor

Barry Allen/The Flash = Matt Damon

Kyle Rayner/Green Lantern II = Taylor Lautner

Fire/Beatriz Bonilla da Costa = Selena Gomez

Ice/Tora Olafsdotter = Kristine Froseth

Arthur Curry/Aquaman = Chris Pine

Dinah Lance/Black Canary = Malin Akerman

Amanda Waller = Viola Davis

Floyd Lawton/Deadshot = Christian Slater

Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger = Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Killer Croc/Waylon Jones = Tyler Mane

Jaina Hudson/White Rabbit = Hayley Kiyoko

Weather Wizard/Mark Mardon = Michael Fassbender

Shimmer = Anna Faris

Eve Eden/Nightshade = Debby Ryan

Dr Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy = April Bowlby

Scott Free/Mister Miracle = Charlie Cox

Barda Free/Big Barda = Lindsay Kay Hayward

Darkseid = Bernard Hill

Orion = Tom Hardy

Metron = Jonny Lee Miller

Granny Goodness = Stockard Channing

Bernadeth = Rachel Weisz

Bloody Mary = Jennifer Stone

Lashina = Kristin Kreuk

Mad Harriett = Hannah John-Kamen

Stompa = Ronda Rousey

Steppenwolf = Ciarán Hinds

Kalibak = Liev Schreiber

Dr Niles Caulder/The Chief = Pierce Brosnan

Clifford Steele/Robot Man = Johnny Whitworth

Larry Trainor/Negative Man = Alessandro Nivola

Rita Farr/Elasti-Girl = Alyssa Milano

Mento/Steve Dayton = Nathan Fillion

Bumblebee/Karen Beecher = Kyla Pratt

Vox/Malcom Duncan = Donald Glover

Hal Jordan/Parallax = Ben Affleck

John Stewart = Derek Luke

Guy Gardner = Damian Lewis

Wallace "Wally" West/Kid Flash = Calum Worthy

Our latest Justice League film brings a few different plot threads in from past films.  Following the events of Justice League: Darkseid Rising, the death and return of Superman and the New Gods film, Darkseid finally dares to try and assault Earth.  Forewarned by survivors sent from New Genesis, the Justice League gathers what heroes it can, and also reaches out to the Suicide Squad.  The Doom Patrol also appears, but at the climax of the film, as Darkseid takes to the field of battle, there are two major shocks; the death of the Flash, and the arrival of Parallax, who decides to wipe out the forces of Apokalips.  Suddenly it's not an alien tyrant who threatens the armageddon of the film’s title, but one of their very own turned to darkness by grief and fear.

The film has a huge ensemble cast, largely reprising roles from past films.  Debby Ryan as Suicide Squad member Nightshade is the sole piece of new casting in this film, and as for direction, I decided that the work done by the Russo Brothers in the MCU, especially Infinity War and Endgame, earns them the chance to direct this film and one or two subsequent instalments in this film universe.

Teen Titans 3 (2022) Directed by Matthew Vaughan

Richard Grayson/Nightwing = Patrick Schwarzenegger

Koriand'r/Starfire = Elle Fanning

Donna Troy/Wonder Girl/Troia = Ciara Bravo

Raven = Maisie Williams

Victor Stone/Cyborg = Ashton Sanders

Garfield "Gar" Logan/Beast Boy = Dylan Sprayberry

Trigon = Viggo Mortensen

Dr Arthur Light = James McAvoy

Cassie Sandsmark/Wonder Girl II = Amiah Miller

M'Gann M'orzz/Miss Martian = Marsai Martin

Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle = Iñaki Godoy

Tim Drake/Robin II = David Mazouz

Conner Kent/Con-El/Superboy = Asher Angel

Roy Harper/Speedy/Arsenal = Cameron Monaghan

Tempest/Garth = Luke Benward

For this film, we retain Matthew Vaughan from our last Teen Titans film for directing and explain the absence of the Teen Titans from Justice League: Apocalypse a little.  Following an arc over all three Teen Titans films, Raven is struggling to contain her father’s presence, but after a major fight with the villainous Doctor Light, Trigon manages to possess Raven and attacks the Titans through her.  With the main team decimated, a group of new, younger teen heroes rise to aid their predecessors.  By the end, what Titans remain would not be in much shape to fight, win or lose.  Much of the cast is retained from past films, with the characters of Doctor Light, Wonder Girl II, Miss Martian and Blue Beetle being the newcomers for this instalment.

Justice Society (2022) Directed by James Gunn

Jay Garrick/Flash = Miles Teller

Alan Scott/Green Lantern = Lucas Till

Ted Grant/Wildcat = Robbie Amell

Rex Tyler/Hourman = Adam DeVine

Carter Hall/Hawkman = Sullivan Stapleton

Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl = Jessica Alba

Billy Batson/Shazam = Zachary Gordon/Zachary Levi

Isaac Brown/Fiddler = Stephen Dorff

Cameron Mahkent/Icicle = Sendhil Ramamurthy

Richard Swift/Shade = Anthony Carrigan

Paula Brooks/Huntress = Gemma Chan

Neal Emerson/Doctor Polaris = Nicholas Hoult

Henry King Jr./Brain Wave = Ray Stevenson

Hal Jordan/Parallax = Ben Affleck

Black Adam/Teth-Adam = Dwayne Johnson

Metron = Jonny Lee Miller

Closing out phase 4 of my alternate DCEU is a take on the Justice Society that borrows from a Justice League animated series story line and Marvel’s Wandavision series.  In this film, Hawkman, Hawkgirl and Shazam wake up in a world where they’re part of the Justice Society, a superhero team operating in a 1950’s-style American mid-west town.  Though they initially suspect nothing wrong, Hawkman’s past life memories and Shazam’s wisdom of Soloman begin to disrupt a strange mental hold, and as they do, the infamous Injustice Guild becomes much deadlier.  In reality, Parallax is doing a test-run of his proposed plans to the time stream, but as the test is disrupted from within, the New God Metron convinces anti-hero Black Adam to interfere from without.

For direction, I went with James Gunn out of curiosity to see what he could do with this, given that in real life he’s become the DC film-verse’s equivalent to Marvel’s Kevin Feige.  In terms of casting, the individual characters mentioned in the paragraph above are all returning actors, while everyone else is new and exclusive to this film.  As for why I think this would be a good approach on the Justice Society, that’s down to a desire to pay homage to the early comics in a way that’s nostalgic while also advancing the Parallax story arc.

So, that’s it for phase 4 of this alternate DCEU.  More to come on this and my alternate MCU in the new year, but not right away as I’m hoping to get more variation on the go in the new year.  So, until next month, Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating that occasion, Happy Holidays for those celebrating something else, have a prosperous new year when we get to the end of this year, and otherwise ta-ta for now.

[daithirps]

— When The Boys of Steel Met; Flashback

The teen paced around his room for what seemed like an eternity; everything he has ever done began going through his head, playing like a film without sound. He wasn’t too worried, but he found it strange that Clark would call him and ask to meet him at the farm. Obviously, this was important or else Clark wouldn’t have called, but he couldn’t help but think he did something wrong and Clark — no Superman — wanted to talk to him about it.

After getting dressed, Conner left the tower and flew towards the Kent house in Kansas. It took only a few minutes, but the flight seemed like it dragged on. A little worried about having done something wrong, he landed and made his way to the front door. Conner knocked and waited for the familiar voice to welcome him in.

Instead of Clark, or Lois for the matter, a young boy answered. Conner was confused, hoping he didn’t just go to the wrong house. “Huh, hi?” Conner greeted the boy — who looked more like Clark the more Conner looked at him. “Is Clark here?”

@smallblueboyscout

[ofsupercloned]

@smallblueboyscout​

“Alright, Conner, where are you now?”

To be completely honest, this wouldn’t have been the first time he had woken up in a strange place. The first time he awoke in a strange place, he was looking out of a chamber of sorts watching scientists. This time, however, was a the complete opposite. Instead of people in white lab coats, he was looking over the edge into what appeared to be a giant hole in the middle of a... city? Very strange.

On top of the strangeness of the hole and random city, Conner noticed others. Some people were peering into the hole, others looked like they were sleeping — probably unconscious — and others were getting into vehicles. Conner was questioning pretty much everything. The last thing he remembered doing before waking up here was falling asleep in his bed back at Titan’s Tower.

Though, there were two other things that the Teen of Steel noticed. The first being himself. He noticed how different he felt. Like he was weaker. Probably due to there being no “yellow” sun present.

The second being a child some distant from him wearing the familiar symbol he came to love. The ‘S’ that any Superman wore, the symbol that represented The House of El. Though, where he’s from, most people who wore that symbol were fans of The Man of Steel. Perhaps Superman has a small fan-base here, wherever here was.

“You know Superman?” Conner questioned the kid, after walking over.

[its-proprietary-blog]

((Starter for @smallblueboyscout!))

Getting around without her tentacles is hard. She’s used to just being able to glide freely whenever she’s doing real work, and not acting like some kind of innocent, absentminded nutty professor. Something in whatever phenomena had caused her to transport here had also caused her tentacles to malfunction, and now she was left with one - useless for movement.

It was tempting to ask whatever questions she had running through her mind the easy way - by crushing someone’s face in her one working tentacle until they gave up the information she needed - but she had to lay low. She had to...

There was a kid in front of her. She didn’t know what they were doing or why they were in front of her, just that they were in the way.

She feels strangely fortunate that her power suit is covered up by a big white coat.

She plasters on a big, surprised smile. She’s good at those.

“Oh! Hi there!”

, you snot-nosed little brat,

“Can I help you with something?”

Or can you go away? Forever?

[pluckyredhead]

For the ask game, how about jon kent and damian?

Jon:

First impression

I was read the Convergence issue where he was born when it came out, so my impression was basically "I can't believe they named him Dad Dad Kent." Naming him after Jonathan Kent is fine, but in the continuity Jon originally hailed from, Sam Lane literally committed genocide against Kryptonians including Clark's aunt (Kara's mom), so...no?

Impression now

HE IS MY PRECIOUS CHILD. THE GOODEST BOY. THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE. I adore Jon Kent with every fiber of my being. Lois and Clark are one of my all-time favorite couples in any media ever and I adore all Supers so I was already primed to love Jon, but then when it turned out he was a blend of Clark's sweetness and earnestness and Lois's dogged curiosity and love of speaking truth to power PLUS he's secretly a little shit? Heart eyes, motherfucker. If I could turn back time he would be twelve years old right now but he great up real good even if his current series is sort of bland. He's perfect and I would bake him a pie if I could.

Favorite moment

All of the original Super Sons run but also his very first meeting with Damian from just before it, where Damian KIDNAPS him and he wakes up strapped to a table in a cave and like thirty seconds later he's trying to befriend Damian and complimenting his cow. WHAT A PURE HEART. Oh oh oh and this:

That endlessly open heart, I weep! His first meeting with Kon was also very very good. And him earnestly telling the Legion that his dad's best friend is his mom and they're like "Gross." I JUST LOVE EVERYTHING HE DOES EVER.

Idea for a story

Oh I have nine million. The three topmost at the moment are: the DamiJon shifter AU that's the sequel to the JayRoy shifter AU that is fighting me tooth and nail (ha); the sprawling art school AU which has Jon as a new student at the Gotham Academy of the Arts as one of the main plot threads and which I'll probably never actually write; and a long heartwarming genfic that actually digs into the relationships between Jon and Kara and Kon and which again I will probably never write, alas.

Unpopular opinion

I don't know if I have an unpopular opinion, per se, but my two biggest pet peeves with how I see Jon treated in fandom are 1. removing or downplaying Lois's importance in his life, as if he isn't a little mini Lois as much as he's a little mini Clark, and 2. using him as some sort of emotional labor minion for Damian and never allowing him to be a fully realized character who can make mistakes and experience hurt.

Favorite relationship

I mean, Damian, obviously. I love how well they balance each other. They have all the opposites attract goodness of Clark and Bruce but they're much more fun. Jon brings out Damian's softness and ability to be better; Damian brings out Jon's little shit-ness, which is actually really important because Jon can be a bit of a pushover sometimes, and Damian's particular form of playful irritation encourages him to actually stick up for himself. They're also deeply protective of each other, even when they're very young - Damian LITERALLY made a solemn vow to Clark that he would always keep Jon safe!!! In canon!!! I'm losing my mind!!!

I also love the aspect of "my destiny includes you" in their friendship. Like, not to downplay the importance of Kon or the other Batkids, all of whom I obviously love, but from the moment Jon and Damian met, it was like "Oh, we are going to be Superman and Batman someday, we are going to be partners and teammates and brothers in arms for the rest of our lives, you are my destiny," to which Jon's reaction was "Well, we might as well be friends, too" and Damian's was "UGH." (And now Jon's reaction is "We belong together" and Damian's is "UGH but also you're mine." 😍)

Favorite headcanon

Jon's hair only has two modes, "slightly messy" and "extremely messy," even when he's an adult. There's something permanently boyish about him.

Damian:

First impression

I was deeply invested in Stephanie Brown as Robin and furious when she died, so when within two years they had brought back Jason and introduced Damian - replacing the only in-continuity girl Robin with not one but two more boys - I was even madder. Stupid Jason and Damian! Who needs 'em?

Impression now

It was actually Steph who made me fall in love with Damian half a decade later, in her Batgirl series. I was like "Ohhhh, this terrible murder baby doesn't know how to play" and I was done. Reading every single one of his appearances (I am...not a person who likes things by halves) just cemented it.

So yeah, I love Damian. I love that he's obnoxious and vain and petty and often cruel. I love that he dotes on animals at the same time and doesn't see it as a contradiction. I love that he's trying so hard to learn how to express himself, to love and trust others when he was taught not to. I love that his affection comes in sudden bursts of passion or grandiosity (see above re: his solemn vow to Clark). He is a tragic figure and an inspiring figure and a stone cold badass, but he's also really fucking funny, and all of that at once is a rare combination.

Favorite moment

All of the Jon stuff above. The moment he and Dick realize they're both not dead and he flings himself into Dick's arms. When he tells Jason he's going bald. As shattering as it is, Goliath's origin. When he frees his clones. But also:

And, like, Bruce is a terrible garbage father even within the context of this story, but this moment always gets me:

I'M GONNA CRY.

Idea for a story

All of the Jon stuff above, again, but also I would really like to write something long exploring all the various Batkids' relationships. I particularly want to write more about Damian and Tim, their dynamic is so fascinating to me.

Unpopular opinion

I tend not to agree with posts that are like "Damian thinks X about various Green Lanterns" or "Damian thinks Y about various Flashes" or whatever because I just don't think Damian thinks about other people that much? Which is kind of a joke but really, he's both very self-involved and very practical, so what does he care what Hal Jordan is doing?

Favorite relationship

Jon, obvious, but also his relationship with Dick is so beautiful to me (and I find Dick...pretty boring otherwise, so that's saying a lot). I'm loving his interactions with Connor in his current serious. AND GOLIATH!!!

Favorite headcanon

I don't think Damian trusts his own moral compass, because he was taught one thing until he was ten and then something completely different and it taught him not to trust his instincts. I don't think he refrains from killing because he's internalized that it's wrong, but because Bruce and Dick told him that's The Rule and he's very good at following rules (when he wants to). This is fine in the field but it's why I keep writing about him struggling with his attraction to Jon and sex and consent and any possible age differences, because Bruce and Dick didn't give him a rule about that and he doesn't trust himself to know what's right (and also Ra's does whatever he wants and Bruce never lets himself have anything he wants, so clearly if Damian wants something it must be morally wrong and the correct ethical decision is to deprive himself of it, right?). Oh, Damian.

Also, on a lighter note, I always hear his voice as just slightly British in my head, mostly because a child being imperious always sounds posh to me.

[ramonahblog]

Back on my Superman&Lois salt. This time, it’s actually going to be a series of post otherwise everyone who wants to click keep reading is going to be stuck with an insanely long post. 

I am aware that’s kinda part of Tumblr’s Aesthetic but I don’t care. It’s going to be a Series. 

Possibly funny note: I did actually open tumblr to talk about how I decided to organize my Literal Salts (I mean literal, the one you have in your kitchen - some salt does not work well with breadmaking okay?) while keeping an eye on my dog. And ended up doing this on tumblr instead. 

Disclaimer: It’s a public post so you’re free to argue against any of my points/interpretations, just know I’m not going to respond. This is just a way to organize my negative thoughts about season two of Superman&Lois. 

Part One - Jon

Jon-Plot Salt

So the show is clearly gearing up to get Jon merged with Jon-El, right? 

Ever since the Pilot, I had a nagging feeling that the show was going to make Jon a villain. Initially, I assumed that was just a various of aspects in my life unrelated to the show (bingewatching soaps, falling-asleep and medical issues that severely impact my quality-of-life). 

But this second season has essentially been me “I think they are doing this plot-thread but hope not” and the show going “hahaha it IS that plot threat mwhaha���. 

Okay, so I’m imagining the evil-laughter. 

Point is: I have been giving this season the benefit of doubt and all it has been doing, so far, is proving I should stop doing that. 

Frankly, I don’t trust the show to make Jon merge and then enable him to unmerge. Let alone in one episode. I know, supposedly this is Jon’s Arc mirroring Jordan’s S1 Arc but I highly doubt the show is going to let Jon be merged for only one episode. 

And the more this season comes out, the more I doubt they will Unmerge Jon at all.

Take this latest episode (2x11 for those reading in the future and/or time-travelers, hi!) for example. 

Jon almost got merged despite not wanting too. Clark just made it in time and while we do get a nice “you’re my son and I love you” from Clark. The next Jon-Clark scene is again the (edit) X-K thing. This scene happens right after Jon is almost merged. There is something to be said about the seriousness of using and covering for a drug dealer but bringing it up right after Jon was nearly forced to merge is, at best, questionable. (end edit)

And there’s also this fact that instead of the show just quietly dropping the “I don’t know how Clark will ever forgive him (Jon)” from Lois* when she found about the X-K. And appearing to try and make it a valid concern from Lois? 

First off, it’s just wrong to have Clark Kent be unforgiving in this aspect. 

But especially when the show is also doing fucking two plot-threads at the same time where Clark is forgiving two adult characters that have done way worse. I will go into further detail about this in my Clark-Plot Salt post. 

And I get that this show is trying to not make Jon’s feeling that his mom and dad no longer love(1) him come out of nowhere. But you can do that without going the way this show has done. 

Because they have the basic set-up. Have more scenes where the audience see Clark&Lois discuss their current parenting choices in regards to Jon. Like the scene they had where Lois outright tells Clark she’s mad as well but don’t let it drag on before it’s too long. Have more of that.

But use the fact that the show, since day one, has set up Clark&Lois viewing Jon as the well-adjusted and happy kid. And have them wonder, alone, how they can make Jon understand the seriousness of his drug use. But then have them think that any unhappiness Jon is displaying in this plot is because he’s being punished and misunderstanding the underlying reason until it’s (apparently) too late.  

That way, Jon thinking his parents don’t love him isn’t out-of-nowhere but the audience has seen that Clark&Lois are struggling to balance how to punish Jon and still thinking there’s nothing more going on so any unhappiness is a response to being punished. And not because generally-happy kids don’t turn to drugs. 

And all this points to Jon getting merged. And honestly? I don’t think the show wants to Jon to stop being merged at all. Let alone in have him only be merged for one episode. 

1) While it’s more clear where Jon’s feelings are coming from in regards to Clark. In 2x9, Jon expresses the exact same concern to Jordan he has with Lois hating him that he has expressed previously about Clark. So it’s more obvious with Clark-Jon but, right now? This kid does not think either of his parents love him. That is a plot point.   

*Don’t worry, this series will have a Lois-Plot Salt in it as well where I will talk more about the gall this show had to just decide to not let Clark comfort Lois after finding out he’s been gone for a month? The fuck, show? The fuck? 

All the Kents gets a salt-plot post. Including Jordan but that will be the shortest, to be fair. Clark gets two, possibly three. 

You are at Part One (Jon). Part Two (Jordan) is posted. 

[multi-fandom-freak0221]

If Your Done With Embarrassing Me On Your Own Won't You Go Ahead and Tell Them

Oh my god y'all have just blown me away. I was not expect so much positive feed back. I was screaming so much I could not Believe how much you guys liked that. And so many people are asking to be tagged in the next part thank you guys so much. Also can I just say moving from Google Docs to Tumblr was a bitch to do and I hated it. But y'all inspired me so much that I decided to just go ahead and type it up on tumblr and move it to Google Docs afterwards.

This part's title is from "Impossible" by Shontelle. The song in this part is "Young Volcanoes" by Fall Out Boy

This is Part 2 of my fic based on @misashabunbun 's Love of Three.

Part 1

Tagging List (I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE I NEED ONE.):

@thestressmademedoit @colorfulmongerpsychicranch @lizziejay @indecisive-mess-named-me @captainmac6 @luveverything12 @kris-pines04 @brokenwordsarehard2

To say Marinette was busy would be an understatement. Between working with Luka and Uncle Jagged producing her album as Neon Titanium and her friends insisting that they help heal her brokenheart she felt like she was caught in a whirl wind. But it was nice she had fun. Luka and Uncle Jagged knew how to turn the hard work of producing music into a fun experience while still being efficient. And her friends they had her laughing harder than she laughed in while and smiling brighter than their resident sunshine child. They did everything they could think off.

She went shopping with Chloe and Kagami. She watched horror movies with Alix, Nathaniel, and Adrien. Marc and Luka let her rant to them which turned into a crying session which then turned into a meditation session. And on top of that her and Peter hung out as well. Whether they just worked in silence together on their respective projects or they were pranking Uncle Tony, kwami did she have fun renaming the protocols on the Iron Man suit. Soon Peter easily fit his way into her group of friends abd he fit in perfectly. Everyone got along with him.

But he wasn't the last to join their ragtag group. Everyone was shocked when Felix Graham De Vanily came to their group offering Marinette condolences on her lost engagement. He was sincere and courteous so of course no one was surprised when Marinette invited him to join in the currently planned game of dodgeball, except maybe Felix himself. But nonetheless he joined in the competition and found himself hanging out with the rest of the group as well. Soon his cold off-standish demeanor was traded for sly smirks and slick humor that nobody caught at first except Marinette and Peter who would laugh openly at his responses.

Soon enough Felix was a part of the group and felt comfortable letting his guard down. It help that they didn't treat him as the Graham De Vanily heir or Adrien's asshole cousin. They treat him like Felix, the boy who while very proper cried watching Big Hero 6. Also the boy who slam dunked on Adrien without breaking a sweat. Yet he still is the master of backhanded compliments and insulting people with a smile and having them thank him. He could truly be himself and he was thankful.

And while he easily was getting along with everyone, anyone with easy could see he had a soft spot for Peter and Marinette in general. It was in the way his face would soften when looking at them. Or the way he would smile when Marinette would get excited over something. Or the way he always paid attention to Peter when he was geeking out. It was the way he softly teased them over their height, Marinette being the shortest of the group and Peter only being taller than Marinette and Alix. And everyone knew Marinette's heart was still healing, so it came no surprise when Felix and Peter started dating. And while everyone was happy for them no one, but Marinette herself missed the looks of longing both boys would send towards her.

Believe it or not Felix was not the most surprising addition to their friend group. No the last addition came soon after Marinette formally did an interview after too much press took notice of Damian Wayne's fiancee being seen for the first time in almost a year, in New York of all places.

She remembered Uncle Tony setting up the interview with someone he trusted. She was glad that this was only an interview as Damian Wayne's (ex) fiancee and not MDC or Neon Titanium. She can only imagine how big a deal it will be when she reveals. But that was future Marinette's problem. Present Marinette had to focus on what to say without giving too much details because no matter how much he deserved it, she didn't want to throw Damian to wolves like that. She settled on saying that she was going through some things and no longer was content in Gotham. She claimed that she decided it was in her best interest to leave, but she didn't want to make a big deal about which is why nothing had been said until now.

The interview went well and everyone accepted her answers. It was released about a month after she left Damian and two weeks since Peter and Felix started dating. She still got news alerts for Gotham so she was waiting with baited breath for her interview to reach the Gotham, but it never seemed to. No announcements from WE or the Wayne family in general. She couldn't say it didn't hurt that no one even realized she was gone yet. But what hurt more was when 2 weeks after her interview she got an alert from Gotham Gazette saying the Damian claimed they set a date for their wedding. She cried that day. How could he not even notice she was gone? Was he so used to lying about her and their relationship that he didn't even give a second thought to what he was saying any more? And while she despaired, she relished in the fact that her friends did not let her be alone. Her face was buried in Peter's neck, she was sat on Felix's lap, Chole was threading her fingers through her hair, her feet laid over Peter legs and settled on Marc's, Adrien sat on the floor in front of Felix a hand rest on her back and everyone gathered around as close as possible trying to physically reassure her. Luka was even humming softly. She appreciated all the love amd support she had and soon she was feeling much better. Eventually it turned into a puppy pile napping session and if she ended up curled up between Peter and Felix? Eh, nobody said anything.

It was these series of events that led to their newest and by far strangest addition to their friend group. Here it was, two days after Damian's announcement and here in front of her stands no other than Jonathan Kent, Damian's best friend.

"Hey, Mari. It's been a while, huh?" She could admit Jon looked nervous. The way he wouldn't meet her eyes and how his hand was rubbing his neck. But him bring nervous did nothing to calm her nerves about why he was even here.

Marinette took a deep breath and drew as much of her inner Ladybug as she could. "Why are you here, Jonathan?"

Jon flinched at how she used his full name. "I'm so sorry, Nette. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry I didn't push harder. You were my friend too. I should have checked on you. Damian was such a good liar, I never knew. I should have known but I didn't and that doesn't excuse the fact that I wasn't there for you." Jon took a deep breath and finally met her eyes before speaking again. "But I'm going to do better, Nette. Whatever you need just say the word. Even if it means leaving. When we saw your interview Dad told Uncle Bruce to make sure his family was in order especially his youngest. He didn't give any details and Uncle Bruce got offended. I guess he did end up talking to Damian, but Damian doubled down on his lies and his family is believing him. But I know better because I saw what you said and I know even that wasn't the whole truth. So I want you to know I'm on your side."

Marinette was silent for a minute she study him and his words. The way she was looking at him made Jon feel like his whole soul was being judged, but he didn't dare look away. He needed her to know he meant it and that he was truly sorry for not being for. After a minute that felt like hours Marinette smiled softly at him. "I could always appreciate a hug from a friend." She held her arm open and Jon surged forward and hugged her tightly lifting her off the ground.

Marinette giggled a bit before he set her down. "Thanks, Jon for being here for me. I know Damian is you best friend-"

"He lost that right when he decided to lie to me repeatedly for his own benefit." Jon looked uncharacteristically upset at the fact.

"Well if you're in need of some more good friends, I know a group you should meet. Come on, we're about to have a pool day. I'm sure I have some swim trunks I've designed that you could probably fit. "

After they changed intl their respective swimwear, Mari led Jon to her Uncle Tony's pool where the rest of her friends were already waiting. "Hey guys! I'd like you to meet my friend Jon. He's in need of some good company."

Those who recognized Jon looked up surprised before see his nervous fidgeting and hearing Marinette's last sentence before nodding in understand. It was Peter who spoke up first. "Well any friend of Mari's is welcome with us. Come on we were about to play chicken fight!" And just like that their pool party was in swing. The played a couple pool games and had some snacks before Marinette decided to play some music. Soon a familiar tune was playing over the speakers.

When Rome's in ruins

It was Chole who started singing along first sitting laying on one of the pool chairs. In between Alix and Kagami.

We are the lions

Free of the colosseum.

In fields of poison

We're anitvenom

We're the beginning of the end.

Soon Alix was singing the next part as Chloe finished the first part.

Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds

It's all over now

Before it has begun

We've already won

Luka was quick to pick up the chorus while trying to get everyone to join in with him.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

While everyone was distracted with singing Luka had Adrien and Jon sneak with him behind the girls in the pool chair. Each of them grabbed one and threw them in the water. Luka grabbed Kagami, Adrien grabbed Chloe and Jon grabbed Alix.

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

As everyone else's singing tapered off into laughing, Marinette picked up the next part solo as she walked to the diving board and climbed up.

Come on, make it easy, say I never mattered

Run it up the flag pole,

She ended her singing with a cannonball into the pool. Peter picked it up from his place in Felix's arms.

We will teach you how to make boys next door out of assholes

He sung his verse looking at Felix the whole time, who scoffed jokingly when Peter winked at him, but gave a him a kiss after he was done singing. Marc and Nathaniel picked up where he left off dueting together.

Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds

And it's all over now

Before it has begun

We've already won

Soon everyone was singing along again to the chorus playing around splashing each other.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

Soon everybody had calmed down slightly singing a little quieter. Marinette her self was floating on her back towards the center of the pool. Smiling at all her support around her.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

As the song ended Jon was the first to speak. "What the fuck is in the water in Paris that makes y'all so talented?"

Peter laughed as he easily agreed, "That's what I said!"

Adrien chuckled at the Americans in their group antics. "To be fair, Felix is from London and Kagami is from Japan."

"Still! That is crazy. And Marinette I never knew you could sing like that!" Jon looked over towards the bluenette, his eyes softening at her.

Marinette giggled. "Neither did the rest of the world until Neon Titanium featured in Luka's last single."

"What?!" Jon exclaimed. "You're Neon Titanium?! I loved that song! Nette you're even more amazing than I thought."

Luka threw his hand up saying "Here, here." Making Marinette blush as all her friends joined in on complimenting her.

About a 3 weeks later, Marinette found herself working on a dress for her debut as Neon Titanium which uncle Tony insisted she do at a gala he's throwing. Which she suspects he's throwing just for her to debut because there was absolutely no gala planned before.

That was what she was doing when Jon, Felix, and Peter found her. It didn't take long for Jon to fit in with group. And with how often he stayed with them in New York instead of going back to Metropolis, no one was surprised when he started dating Peter and Felix. Marinette was happy for them even though it seemed like everyone was in happy relationships but her. But she knew she still had some things to work out before returning to the dating scene.

As they approached Marinette paused her sketching to look at her friends. "What's up guys? You needed something?"

The 3 boys looked at each other before Peter spoke up. "Yeah, actually. We wanted to tell you something." He rubbed the back of his neck before letting out a sigh. "We like you Marinette. A lot. And we would love for you to date us."

Marinette could feel the rejection on her tongue, but before she could say a word Jon cut her off.

"Let us finish first Nette. Please. After we're done you can tell us to never bother you again, but just let us get this out." Jon pleaded at her. Marinette just nodded and let them continue.

"We all like you a lot," Felix started his words very sincere. "But we all know that your still healing. We only told you because we thought it would be fair for you to know."

It almost seemed as they had planned and rehearsed for this because Peter effortlessly picked up after Felix. "We're not trying to guilt you into dating us because at the end of the day it is still you decision. And we know it may be some time before your ready to even consider dating us, but we're willing to wait."

Jon grabbed her hands as he prepared to finish them out. "We just want you to know how amazing we think you are. We'll be beyond lucky if you decide to date us when you're ready to make that choice. And until you are we're still your friends and we'll continue helping you heal and be better how ever you want us to. And if you decide you don't see us that way we'll still be some of your closest friends because having you in our lives is a blessing Nette."

Soon they all seemed to be holding one of her hands as they finished what they had to say. Marinette had silent tears streaming down her face, but the big smile she had eased away their worries. She pulled them into a tight hug for a moment before pulling back.

"You guys are the absolute best friends a girl can have." She smiled at them gratefully. "You're right that I'm not ready yet, but when I am, you guys will be the first people I consider dating. Promise. Now do you guys wanna see the designs I'm considering for my reveal?"

As the boys gathered around Marinette for her to show them her sketchbook she thought to herself with a smile.

I might not be quite okay yet, but with all the great people I have on my side, I know I will be soon.

[aion-rsa]

Future State is the Next Evolution for DC’s Legion of Super-Heroes

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains spoilers for Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes #1

Never let it be said that Brian Michael Bendis doesn’t know how to keep busy. The prolific writer has had his hands full since coming to DC in 2018. Arriving with much fanfare on both Superman and Action Comics, Bendis also relaunched Young Justice, co-created a new DC mainstay in Naomi, wrote the excellent Batman: Universe, shepherded the Event Leviathan mini, and more. All of these books introduced new characters, re-tooled existing ones (such as aging up young Jonathan Kent to his mid-teens), and set various wheels in motion throughout the DC Universe.

And in the midst of that he also rebooted the team with the largest roster in all of comics, the one that brings with it the most complex web of continuity, the one that requires the most amount of worldbuilding by virtue of its 31st century setting. I am, of course, talking about the Legion of Super-Heroes.

It’s been a little over a year since the launch of Bendis and Ryan Sook’s ongoing Legion of Super-Heroes book, which kicked off in the Superman titles, brought the now Legion-aged Jon Kent along (any good Legion needs a Superboy…it’s the law), showcased some truly spectacular new character designs in Sook’s art (new costumes and regular redesigns for Legionnaires may as well be the law, too) and established what the 31st century of the current DC Universe looks like these days. In true Legion fashion…well, it’s a lot.

The book seemed to reach a stopping point with its twelfth issue, taking a brief hiatus. But not too brief, because as part of DC’s Future State initiative, which offers tantalizing glimpses of the DC Universe to come across the entire line, Bendis returns to the 31st century with the two-part Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes, this time aided and abetted by Riley Rossmo on art. And like Sook before him, Rossmo followed one of those unspoken Legion laws and gave a bunch of the Legionnaires new looks. Great new looks.

But…isn’t Legion of Super-Heroes by its very nature ALREADY a Future State book? Not exactly, and fans of the recent series will find plenty of surprises even as it picks up on story threads from the main series. Oh, and if the roster wasn’t big enough already, there are some Legionnaires you haven’t seen yet, and some fan favorites everyone has been waiting for. Bendis told us all about it…

(This interview has been edited for length)

Den of Geek: Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes #1 kicks off with a time jump from where we last saw the team in Legion of Super-Heroes #12. What can you tell us about that time jump?

Brian Michael Bendis: We were going to do a time jump after the first 12 issues, regardless. That was the plan because it’s in the DNA of Legion where you don’t have to, if you don’t want to, there’s no reason to stay [in one time period]. You don’t have to do monthly, to monthly, to monthly, like you would on Superman or Batman because it’s a shared universe and anything that happens in one book affects all the other books.

Whereas Legion, because it’s a thousand years in the future, you can do five years later. You can jump and bounce around and show the story from different perspectives. So the jump was always on the list of things to do with Legion. And then DC called and said, “Hey, Future State!” And I’m like, “Oh, great. Already in my notes.” It was all already planned. It’s the future, of the future. I liked that, so I leaned into it hard.

The issue isn’t clear about how much of a time jump it is, though.

No. The hint I will give is that it’s not as big of a time jump as people might think, considering the dramatic changes that have happened around them.

Is that time jump, and whatever it is that happened, tied to the “Great Darkness” that was being teased in the latter part of the main run? Or is this a separate event?

It is a separate event, but it doesn’t stop the momentum where they’re headed. They’re concerned that this is The Great Darkness. They’re like, “Oh, this is The Great Darkness. We can deal with it.” And then they go, “Oh, shit. This wasn’t The Great Darkness. This was just a mild case of darkness.” As bad as the event was, there’s something else coming. They live in almost…not fear, but in dread of what this Great Darkness is, how it may manifest itself, and whether they’ll be ready for it when it comes.

It’s funny, when I spoke to you before the launch of the book, I had asked you about the potential to touch on existing Legion stories. At the time, you were like, “No, we don’t want to do that,” and you specifically mentioned The Great Darkness Saga as one where “people know what’s going to happen.” And clearly you’ve found a way around that.

I think when we brought back Secret War or other things at Marvel, you want to find something that fits the label, but elevates. You don’t want to just repeat the beats of something people have already seen. I personally like it when, if you don’t know anything about the history of the Legion, it completely works. But if you know everything about Legion, we’ve got something for you. That’s been my goal from the get go.

You had said that the time jump was already probably going to be baked into the book anyway.

It was. It was like my third note when I was making my notes for Legion. It was like, “oh, and we don’t have to follow a linear timeframe.” We can tell stories from anywhere in this period, even going to prequel stories and then stories that go before they were all gathered as well.

How much of the specifics of that were in place before it became Future State? Was Riley Rossmo on art already on the table? Or did that happen later?

No. I’m very happy to report that Riley was the first name requested, and he immediately said yes. I had worked with Riley on a couple of things. There’s something about his work that very deeply speaks to me. I just was like, I would like to see more Legion with him.

I said, “This is a grand opportunity. Just go nuts.” That’s what you want for someone like Riley, to give him an excuse just to use all his tools and all his imagination. He took it from there.

And the script was really like… sometimes you write scripts, and they’re emotional, and sometimes they almost take on a list of drawing prompts. I was just prompting him to go as crazy as he wanted to go, and I would then take the ideas from there.

How did you settle on which Legionnaires would be part of this? Did Riley have input into that as well?

I 100% said to Riley, “Who do you want to draw?” I do this with anybody I can. If there’s any space in which we can meet. I’m like, “What would you like to draw?” I’ve learned through many years and many collaborations that just asking brings a level of craft and quality to the finished product that everyone gets excited about. When an artist points to something and says, “I want to draw that,” they’re telling you, “I’m going to draw the hell out of it and this is going to be amazing.” So I always try to make it work.

He had a list of characters, some of which I already knew he was going to pick from our past work together. I was able to use most of them. Also, I told him what the hook of the story was, so it was easy to cast. There were some character needs we had, like Saturn Girl, but he had already picked them.

One of my favorite things about the Legion in general, and then particularly about this run of it, it’s always about how the characters evolve and how the costumes get redesigned on a regular basis. This was the first opportunity since Ryan Sook did the designs in the main run for that to happen. Did you discuss any of Riley’s designs beforehand?

I told him “Here’s what’s happened to them, here’s who did it, here’s why, and make your choices. Here’s what’s motivating the character.” And then sometimes he came to me with designs where I went, “Oh, I can write a whole of stuff about that.” So, yeah, it was a nice mix.

It’s nice to see the Duo Damsel change happen.

See, I agree with you and I hated it at the same time. One of my favorite storylines of all time is the Duo Damsel thing. But it’s also like the biggest tragedy in comics to me. It’s like a haunting thing. It’s losing a limb but it’s a whole person. So, I was excited to write it and dreading it at the same time. I knew I would feel it and I knew that Riley would bring a lot to it too.

You’re able to encompass that whole thing in just a couple of panels too. It was really powerful.

Well, if I remember correctly, that’s how they did it back in the day too.

Yeah. It was like, she came back and they’re like, “Wait, you’re alive.” It’s like, “well, kind of…”

Yeah, and no one knows what to say. It’s just so unique, the tragedy.

There’s a lot of characters who appear in this issue. Shadow Lass, Ultra Boy, Brainiac 7, Saturn Girl, Colossal Boy, Chameleon Boy, Cosmic Boy, Timber Wolf, Blok, Duo Damsel, Bouncing Boy, and Element Lad. I rattled off the people that I know for sure because they’re throughout most of the book. And then page eight and nine, there’s this spread and there’s a few Legionnaires that I can’t quite identify. Is that Shrinking Violent and Polar Boy? Who are some of these others?

That’s the Substitute Heroes. Time jumping was number three on my list of Legion notes, but I think the Substitutes was number eight. May I say, hilariously at the announcement of this relaunch of a Legion of Super-Heroes, the first comment was, “Substitute Heroes.” I was like, bring them. We don’t want the Legion, we want the Substitutes. I was excited to bring them in here, and it seemed like a good place. And also, Riley was the right person to infuse them with new energy.

Who’s the guy wearing the Superman crest and the hood?

You will find out next issue. A payoff’s coming.

On page 23, you give Bouncing Boy possibly his most badass moment ever. How long have you been planning that Bouncing Boy moment in your head?

Riley made it the most badass moment ever, I will say. If you really do some pseudo-super-Legion science, he really does add up to be the most powerful Legionnaire. I just thought it was a great way to celebrate that character, which I love.

That panel’s great. I almost want to see it in 3D.

Everyone gets their moment and then every once in a while, just something really special happens in the collaboration and you’re like, yeah, good. I absolutely wanted Bouncing Boy to have that kickass of a moment.

I have one more question about one of the mystery Legionnaires. There’s another great shot, another great spread at the end of the book. There’s a guy who is carrying a laser sword of some kind. I don’t recognize this character.

That’s Ferro Lad and his sword. He has a sword now. I love that design.

There’s one more issue of Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes out in February, but there’s no Legion in DC’s solicitations for March and April.

But there are Legion plans coming. Legion is a hard book to make. There’s 34 lead characters, and we try to shove as many of them on panel as often as possible because that’s one of the best parts of the Legion is the scope of it.

I think you can kind of tell from the jam issues and the fill-ins and the level of quality, attempting to keep it at the highest quality possible, yet still delivering that very special Legion feeling…instead of fill-ins that may not be up to the quality that we were doing, we’ll stop, get a story ready to go, and solicit it when it’s time. There’s more to come.

I know that’s frustrating for some people and some people just want it monthly. I get that, but not all books are created in the same way. It’s art. Even though it’s commercial art, it is art. The pandemic also takes a lot out of the schedule. When we’re ready, we’ll put out more. We’re planning stuff that connects to what’s going on in Justice League as well. Not to connect the two, but that is 100% within what’s happening.

Do you already have your artistic collaborators lined up for the next arc of the book?

Yes.

You’re not going to tell me, are you?

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

No. It’s very, very good news. I’m absolutely delighted, but honestly, I don’t want the person stolen. Sometimes that has happened to me. I don’t mean to be vague, but right now, I don’t want to oversell something that is down the line.

One of the cool things you did in the main run of the book was introduce legacy characters that fans don’t usually associate with the Legion, like Dr. Fate and particularly Gold Lantern. I want to know what kind of feedback you got from fans on those.

Well, I was actually quite delighted. I thought the purists were really going to hit us hard on any additive stuff, but most Legion fans know that almost every run of Legion has had the added characters to the roster.

It gets frustrating only because when there’s been a lot of time in between Legion books, so some of these fan-favorite characters from past runs don’t get as much face time because you’ve introduced Gold Lantern and “oh, Gold Lantern is standing in front of Ferro Lad. We want more Ferro Lad!” Which I understand, so you better make sure Gold Lantern is interesting enough that no one feels slighted because it’s not Shadow Lass. I must say the additions, particularly of Gold Lantern and Dr. Fate and Monster Boy, all seem to go over very well and I was grateful for that.

Our biggest pushback was on redesigning the costumes. That comes with every Legion redo as well. So I pointed that out. But part of it is that some of the biggest fans in the world have already dedicated cosplay, and we messed up their cosplay. This happened in the X-Men too when we redid Magneto’s costume. People were screaming at us. We’re like “Oh, because you bought the helmet. Okay. I’m sorry. I get it.”

But I just don’t think they take away from each other. I just know from Legion past and other franchises I’ve worked on that anything you’re earnestly adding to it is good, even if it’s got pushback in the moment. I live in a world with the things I’ve gotten pushed back on the hardest ended up being huge movie moments that everybody applauded 10 years later. “Good job on creating Ronin!” I’m like, “Really? Where were you when it debuted? Because people were ripping my face off.”

So compared to stuff like that, I think the Legion fans have been just really, really generous and cool about where we’re going. I think they can tell we’re real Legion fans and we’re not messing around, and we’re taking it seriously. Even though you may not agree with every choice we’re making, you see we’re making loving choices.

Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes #1 is on sale now. We’ll have more from Brian Michael Bendis about his upcoming run on Justice League very soon!

The post Future State is the Next Evolution for DC’s Legion of Super-Heroes appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3ceaRTK

[ssvperboy-aa]

Which muse(s) is/are your favourite(s)? Which muse(s) do you wish had more interactions?

ASKS FOR PEOPLE WITH A MULTIMUSE OR MULTIPLE RP BLOGS || ACCEPTING

1. Which muse(s) is/are your favourite(s)?

I’m a biased ass bitch bc my favourite ones are the ones who care a birthday with me, esp. Caeleste and Elyssa. They’re very near and dear to my heart. I’m also one of those people who tries not to pick a favourite, but I made them share a birthday with me bc well… it eez what it eez.

2. Which muse(s) do you wish had more interactions?

At this point in time, any of my newer muses or any of the ones who’ve been sitting around with no threads for a while (ie. Jon Kent; Dylan, Dawn & Nathan Beauregarde; Orion Ashford; Ronan Cole; Hunter Jackson; Gaby & Nico Trainor; Winter Wolfe; August Evans; Storme Thompson; Gabrielly Barbosa… and many more lmaooooo). But I know that that’s the consequence of having so many muses lmao

[isolaradiale]

Hey I think i want to put my blogs on hiatus for a bit, so I can recover from the stressful holiday sh*t we had at work. today is 1/4/2020 & i wanna put Jon Kent, Licht Todoroki, Leo Valdez, & Sleepy Ash on a hiatus. i wanna apologize to people i was threading with, i hope to be back sooner than a month, i just need some stress free recover time to come back with complete energy. thank you for your time! hope the mods had a good holiday!

Noted for you!

--Mod Lyra

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

BEWARE of the batkids

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/C10RSDI

by sadlybeans

The Bat children have been spotted around town

Gotham has been more chaotic than usual this Saturday night, as our vigilantes came back from a three week long disappearance. Even on the absence of the Batman, criminals all throughout the city cower in fear….

 or, the Batkids are insane and just a little bit bored.

Words: 5538, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 2 of Batman Most Certainly Does Not Work Alone

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), DC Extended Universe, Superman - All Media Types

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply

Characters: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Duke Thomas, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Damian Wayne, Jonathan Kent, Original Batfamily Member(s) (DCU), Original Kryptonian Character(s), Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent (mentioned)

Relationships: Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Jon Lane Kent & Damian Wayne, Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne

Additional Tags: Damijon - Freeform, but its purely platonic due to them being kids, Minor Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, if you squint real hard, Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Batfamily (DCU), Batfamily Dynamics (DCU), Batfamily is a Mess (DCU), Crack, this is just them being little assholes, Damian Wayne is a Little Shit, Damian Wayne is Baby, Jonathan Samuel Kent is a Ray of Sunshine, Twitter Threads, this is just a mess of many things thrown together ok dont look at me like that, AU, Again, no i wont explain what kind, SuperBat, is also heavily hinted at

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/C10RSDI

[sassycassie-s-series]

All My Fault 31

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): DC, BatFam - Damian Wayne/Batman

Rating: PG-11/T- (for implied mature themes but nothing explicit)

Notes: (Masterlist) It only took me 156 (slightly double-spaced) pages to get here, but we’re here! I don’t know how to write non-slow-burns so... yeah.

Tag List (Open): @batboys-and-other-messes @haylo4ever @lostredrobin @na-n-na @probsjosh @spooder-moon @welovegroot

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 30

^^^^^

Jon glanced at the sun as it cleared the horizon and wondered if he should start wearing a watch. After dawn meant Damian was probably awake, right? Usually the new Batman was up at four in the morning for a workout. And Jon left Metropolis at like six…

He skirted around the outside edge of Gotham City so hopefully no one would notice Superboy flying around where he probably shouldn’t have been, and ducked into the woods that surrounded Wayne Manor.

He touched down gently on the window ledge outside Damian’s window, still using his flight to keep him from falling over.

He tapped on the window with his fingernail, used a trick Damian taught him to pop the lock, and slipped in. “Psst! Hey Damian!” Jon hissed, getting into a small slap-fight with the curtains trying to find the gap so he could actually see Damian’s room. “I found this thing that I wanted to run by you—OH MY GOSH! WHAT THE HECK?! WHY AREN’T YOU WEARING CLOTHES?!”

Jon almost fell over. There was a girl in Damian’s bed! With Damian!

Damian was holding her. He was asleep on his back, one arm around the girl’s shoulders and the other across his chest to hold her upper arm. She was curled against his right side, her head in the crook of Damian’s shoulder with her face resting on his right chest, her arm bent over his torso so her hand was resting on the left side of Damian’s chest. Her other arm was under Damian with her fingers curled on his left trapezius. They were both covered in the sheet modestly but that didn’t hide the fact that they both appeared to be naked and their legs were tangled together.

Jon clapped his hand over his eyes and shut his eyelids, hoping his X-Ray vision didn’t decide to activate without his conscious control.

^^^^^

I jumped awake. Who was yelling and why? What was going on? Where was I anyway? Why could I feel a heartbeat under my right hand?

My eyes peeled open.

I was cuddling Damian’s side. He was holding onto me—which was almost more surprising than—

What happened last night.

I gasped and yanked the sheet up more securely to cover up the fact that I wasn’t wearing anything.

“Jon?” I demanded, noticing the tall teenage boy standing just barely in front of the window curtains, one hand over his eyes, though his fingers were pried apart so he could peek with one eye. His eyes were blue and his hair shaggy and black. He was about the same height as Damian—maybe an inch shorter—and a skinny beanpole.

“Wait. Cloudburst?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?! How are you alive and why are you in Damian’s bed and WHY ARE YOU BOTH NAKED?!”

Damian woke up too from Jon yelling, taking a deep breath and holding me more snugly against his side as he shuffled. His bright green eyes opened, gave me a soft sort of smile, and then also seemed to realize we weren’t alone. He glanced over at where I was looking.

“Kent?! What are you doing here?!” he demanded.

“I came to show you a file I found. Why is Cloudburst in your bed and why are you naked?”

Damian cocked an eyebrow. “Do the math, Kent,” he said.

Jonathan Kent—Superboy, who I hadn’t seen since he was 10—scrunched his eyebrows. “What math? Math doesn’t apply here. That doesn’t make any sense Dami—OH MY HECK YOU TWO SLEPT—”

“Jon!” I exclaimed, cutting him off. “We don’t need you shouting for the whole world to hear!” My face was turning red and I was wishing that I was anywhere but here. Like maybe Kyrgyzstan. Or Mars.

Damian’s doorknob started shaking, like someone on the other side was trying to come in. But I remembered Damian locking the door last night somewhere in the mess that was our makeout session.

Before I could even think of doing anything, the door opened. “What’s with all the shout—OH MY GOSH! CLOUDY?!” Dick exclaimed.

I ducked under the covers and curled up, absolutely mortified.

“Get out of my room!” Damian ordered—at Jon or Dick or both I wasn’t sure. “What part of a locked door doesn’t imply that I wish to be left alone, Grayson?!”

“You mean, you two want to be left alone,” Jon corrected.

“Shut up, Kent. You’re not helping your own situation,” Damian snapped.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands, still hiding under Damian’s sheets. This was a disaster. Not only had I just guaranteed I’d never willingly return to the past, but I got caught the morning after by Mama Bear Nightwing and Superboy.

“Sorry. I heard yelling and I thought someone was hurt,” Dick said.

“Both of you, out of my room. Now,” Damian ordered. “And do not speak of this to anyone. Do you understand me? If you say a word about what you think you saw, I will not hesitate to string you up by your own intestines. Kent, I’ll speak with you down in the parlor shortly.” There was a darkness in his tone that almost frightened me.

I heard a few noises—footsteps, a quiet whoosh—and then the door shut.

Damian tugged the sheet up. “It’s safe to come out now, habibi,” he said.

I groaned in complaint. “I cannot believe we got caught,” I muttered.

His hand rested between my shoulder blades. “It’s alright.”

“How is this alright?” I sat up, clutching the sheet to my chest. “I’ve been thinking for a while now that I don’t want to go back to my past. I want to stay here. But I didn’t… I didn’t think it would happen like this.”

“Nor did I, habibi,” he agreed.

I sighed. “What does that even mean?” I asked.

Damian brushed some of my messy hair out of my face. “It means beloved,” he replied.

My heart pounded. I scrunched my eyebrows. “But… you called me that… before last night too.”

Damian gave me a soft smile. “Of course,” he said. “I’ve been in love with you since before you returned to us.”

I took a deep breath. “Really?”

“Yes.”

I sighed. What was I supposed to say to that?

Damian noticed my hesitation. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I just guaranteed that I'm never going back to the past. Ever.”

“Why not?”

I looked him dead in the face. “Because I wouldn’t be able to look teen-you in the eye ever again.”

Damian brushed some of my hair out of my face. “Is that the… only reason?” he wondered, his fingers trailing through my hair and rubbing the ends between his fingertips when he reached them, his eyes watching their progress.

“What other reason do I need?” I asked.

He met my eyes. “Well… I was… hoping that you might feel the same way about me as I feel about you,” he said quietly, quickly looking away from my face, back down to his fingers.

I lifted my hand up and held the back of his hand where it was still playing with the ends of my hair. “Dami. If I didn’t feel the same way, I wouldn’t have agreed to… last night,” I said, ducking my head so he had to meet my eyes. “I… I'm in love with you too, baby bird.” I threaded my fingers into his hair, smiling softly.

He smiled back at me, leaning down—and pausing. “May I kiss you?” he asked.

“Always such a gentleman,” I said.

“Only for you,” he said.

I grinned and nodded. “You may.”

He closed the distance, sealing our lips together. It was a far more tender kiss than both of us attacking the other’s face the night before. I sighed into the kiss and tilted my head to the side, searching quietly for a better angle.

When it ended, Damian pressed our foreheads together. “Where does this leave us?” I asked quietly. “We’ve never even gone on a proper date.”

“That is a simple fix,” Damian said. “Unfortunately, for the moment, we should probably go catch up with my brother and best friend before they tell the whole house what they saw.” He sighed, like he didn’t find the notion pleasant.

“Right,” I said.

We kept our backs to each other as we got dressed. Damian put on a change of clothes while I put on what I’d been wearing yesterday. I’d run back to my room—hopefully not running into any of the rest of the family—and change.

Once we were dressed, we both left the room. Damian to go downstairs, me to go to my room.

“Hey Cloudy!” I heard Jason call from behind me as I was ducking into my room. “How was your night off?”

“Good. I feel much better,” I said, trying to shut the door in his face before he could see anything.

No such luck. Jason caught the door. “You sure? You look like you didn’t get any sleep,” he said.

“What do you mean?” I asked innocently.

“Well for one, your hair is even messier than usual,” he said.

A brief flash of Damian’s hand tangling in my hair in the dark shot through my head. I forced the image down and hoped Jason wouldn’t notice the blush creeping up my neck.

“And for two, you’re in the same clothes you wore yesterday,” Jason finished.

“Yeah I passed out in the game room on the beanbag,” I said. “I'm gonna shower and change. See you at breakfast.”

“Hey, before you go,” Jason said, stopping me from shutting the door again. “I thought I heard Jon. Do you know if he’s here?”

“No idea,” I said, trying to shut the door again.

“Hang on, Cloudy,” he said. “I stopped by the game room last night to grab a mag I hid from Dick. You weren’t in there.”

“I, uh…” I began.

Jason’s expression dropped as his eyes took in my hair and my clothes again. “OH MY %*^&ING G—”

“Jason!” I protested.

But he wasn’t done. “YOU AND DAMIAN SLEPT—!”

“JASON!” I shouted, putting my hand over his mouth. “Don’t go shouting accusations like that for the whole house to hear!”

“So you did!”

“No! Even if I did it’d be none of your business.”

“Oh, Cloudy, I knew somethin’ was going on between you two since the night you got here but, %^&* that escalated quickly.”

“Jason. Do me a favor: shut up, okay? And don’t tell anyone about your speculations because I don’t want unfounded rumors running rampant around this family or this city that could potentially end up in some misunderstanding that culminates in someone firing me from being Cloudburst.”

Jason didn’t look at all convinced that I was telling the truth, but relented. “Okay, sure. See you at breakfast.” Finally he left. I slammed my door shut.

I took a very brief shower before pulling on new clothes and braiding my hair behind me. The whole time trying to figure out what to do and what to say now. I sat on the floor in front of my mirror as I braided my hair and stared at my reflection.

Yes, I was in love with Damian. No, I didn’t want to go back to the past anymore. But how was I supposed to address that topic to Bruce and Tim and Cass? Were Damian and I supposed to keep… whatever we were a secret from them? Could we even do that? This was Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake—the two best detectives in the world. I’d be lucky to keep a hangnail a secret from them.

I tied off my braid and got to my feet. I really needed to go talk to Dick and Jon.

———

Next

[daithirps]

— When The Boys of Steel Met; Flashback

The teen paced around his room for what seemed like an eternity. everything he has ever done began going through his head, playing like a film without sound. He wasn’t too worried, but he found it strange that Clark would call him and ask to meet him at the farm. Obviously, this was important or else Clark wouldn't have called, but he couldn’t help but think he did something wrong and Clark — no Superman — wanted to talk to him about it.

After getting dressed, Conner left the tower and flew towards the Kent house in Kansas. It took only a few minutes, but the flight seemed like it dragged on. A little worried about having done something wrong, he landed and made his way to the front door. Conner knocked and waited for the familiar voice to welcome him in.

Instead of Clark, or Lois for the matter, a young boy answered. Conner was confused, hoping he didn’t just go to the wrong house. “Hh, hi?” Conner greeted the boy — who looked more like Clark the more Conner looked at him. “Is Clark here?”

@smallblueboyscout​

[swordfaery]

[Image Description: a twitter thread between Clark Kent and Brucie Wayne, both official accounts with blue ticks.

The thread starts with Clark

""Why do I have to convince people that charity will make them look good? Why can't I just punch them?"- Bruce Wayne, Wayne Enterprises"

Clark again,

"One day I will look out to the night sky and see a Batman with a butt wildly different than usual. Curious, as a journalist, I'll follow him to his crime scene and take several pictures and phone cam footage as he pummels half the guest list of the last Wayne charity gala (1/?)"

"I look to the names brutally assaulted and find that none of them donated to the children's hospital but all still drank $2000 bottles at the open bar. Following my hunch, I skulk onto the grounds of Wayne Manor... (2/?)

"(Which is no easy feat, but if questioned I can say Jon snuck out and this was the first place I thought he'd be)... and crawl into Bruce's favourite "If i had to hide a body" spot. (3/4)"

"There I find, as expected, an off brand Batsuit coated in glitter. I delete all evidence and know I have yet another Wayne secret to take to my grave. (4/4)"

Bruce replies

"I'm offended you think I wouldn't make my own persona. Why would I just copy his suit?"

"Also that is a misquote and I will have you disbarred from journalism"

Clark ends the thread with,

"One of these days I will ask you what you think you are saying when you use words"

End ID]

“Bruce’s favorite ‘if I had to hide a body spot’” and “yet another Wayne secret” 👀👀👀👀 

(ok but Cluse Nation, how we feeling about them doing this from their official twitters?)