#(like jonathan did in death of superman)

[thesulkycroissant]

Space Age takes a different stab at Jonathan and Martha as parents, in a way that I think is very interesting. Jonathan is portrayed as critical of Clark (for a reason, but), and there's a panel after his death of Clark and Jon:

Space Age is a comic set in one of the worlds culled during Crisis on Infinite Earths, but I'm always interested in the different ways comics portray Jonathan and Martha Kent because of their status as kind of the perfect parents. But it's interesting to consider and explore the ways Clark's upbringing also effects him in more complicated ways.

[bet-on-me-13]

Dan is (Insert Character)

So, I've recently fallen in love with the idea of Dan being reformed and being a part of various characters Backstories, like This post about Dan being a Farmer Friend of the Kent's

So here are a few more examples of that!

Dan is Thomas Wayne: Dan is reformed and moves to Gotham to start a new life, while there he meets and befriends the elderly Wayne Couple, who never managed to have kids. Eventually the Wayne end up adopting Dan (who changed his name to Thomas), and he becomes Thomas Wayne. He even has a Kid. Unfortunately as a Parole Requirement, he had to lock away his powers, meaning he couldn't save himself or his Wife the day they got murdered in a Mugging. He became a Full Ghost, and in his rage at the death of his wife he relapsed into his old Violent self. Danny, while he understood the feeling, unfortunately did have to arrest him for his rage filled rampage. His Sentence is finally up, and he wants to see how his Son is doing.

Dan is Billy Batsons Dad: A little known fact about Billy Batson is that whenever he transforms into Shazam, he unconsciously makes himself look more like his Father than a future version of himself. So imagine his shock when, in the middle of a fight, one of his enemies takea a closer look at him and suddenly yells out, "Is that DAN!?". Billy now wants to know how these Extra Dimensional Monsters know his Dad's name. And why they seem Terrified of him...

Dan is Alfred's Dad: Alfred is taking one of his famously rare Vacations, and the rest of the Batfam decides to ask where he is going. "Oh, I'm going to visit my Father" "Wait what? Aren't you like 100 years old?! How is your dad still alive?!" "Did you not know? Alfred is a Demigod" "WHAT?!"

Dan is Jonathan Kent: Dan settles down somewhere in Smallville, Kansas. Unfortunately, as a Halfa he isn't physically capable of having kids, but as luck would have it a space pod carrying a small baby crashes into their fields one night. When that baby starts developing powers, Dan is experience enough to help him control them though. Just imagine one day, a Villain discovers Superman's Civilain Identity and tries to attack his Dad, only for his dad to be stronger than him.

Dan is Ra's Al Ghul's Dad: Dan was reformed and decided to get sent back in time to live his life, so he wouldn't interrupted the present Timeline. While there he met a lady and had a Kid. Unfortunately, he was forced to return to the Zone to wait for the Future to happen when his son was barely into adulthood, but he did decide to give him a Birthday Gift. The Lazarus Pits. Once in the Zone, he had to wait for a few centuries to pass before he was allowed to return, but once he was allowed back to the Living Realm he immediately began to search for his Son. The Pits should have kept him alive this long, so hopefully he lived a nice long life. Wait, who are these Cult Guys around his Lazarus Pits? And, where is his son? And why does that lady feel so familiar? Who is that little Demon Brat?

Dan is General Sam Lane: Simple really, Dan is Lois Lanes dad, and she is technically a Quarter Ghost but she had never awakened her powers. If you want to use the Injustice Timeline, then Lois gets resurrected after a few days and finally awakens her Halfa Powers. She is there to stop Superman from fully turning to the Dark Side, and asks her Dad to help Clark keep his emotions in check.

What do you think?

[casscainmainly]

This is a copy/paste of a reply I did to this post. I'm putting it in its own post because I genuinely need people to understand that saying Duke is unpopular because he's 'new' or unknown only furthers the racism Black characters face in fandom. This extends to the sexism Babs and Steph face, and the double racism/sexism that Cass faces.

For everyone in [this post's] notes saying [Duke's unpopularity in fanfiction] is because Duke is new, that's part of it, but absolving fandom of responsibility is misguided and sweeping both racism and sexism under the rug. The newness argument doesn't explain why Damian has more fics than Cass, Stephanie, and Babs, who all predate him.

More importantly: Jon Kent, who was introduced one year after Duke in 2015, has a total of 3,144 works under 'Jonathan Samuel Kent' and 9,280 works under 'Jon Kent'. That is 12,424 fics - around 5,000 more than Duke, despite debuting at roughly the same time.

The adaptation argument (that the ones who are more adapted are more likely to be written about) is also flawed - Tim has 3 major TV show appearances (The New Batman Adventures, Young Justice, and Titans). He cameos in Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, and an episode of Justice League. For films, he appears in two DCAU movies, Batman Unlimited, Gotham by Gaslight, Batman Ninja, and Death in the Family. That's 12 total appearances in film and TV.

By comparison, Barbara has an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to adaptations of her. She appears in 8 animated films, 6 animated Lego films, and has 5 animated film cameos. This is already more adaptations than Tim. Add to that 60s Batman, the Birds of Prey show, Titans, Gotham, DC Super Hero Girls, BTAS, Batman Beyond, Gotham Girls, The Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Young Justice, Beware the Batman, Teen Titans Go!, Harley Quinn, Batman: Caped Crusader, and the live action Batman & Robin, that's 35 total appearances across film and TV.

Barbara Gordon as Batgirl is undeniably more popular to the general public than Tim Drake as Robin, and her film and TV adaptations also outnumber Jason's (13, with 90% of those being pictures of him because he's dead) and Damian's (15). So if she should be more popular than Tim in every supposed metric (longevity, adaptations, even name recognition), you have to ask yourself: why is she less popular in fandom?

To return to Duke Thomas, if you're even a casual Batman fanfic reader you would know that most of his tagged fics are not about him. Duke has 7,042 tagged fics, and of those, 242 works are tagged as Duke Thomas-centric. By contrast, Tim Drake has 62,704 total works, with 3,809 tagged Tim Drake-centric. That means 3.4% of Duke fics are tagged as Duke-centric, whereas 6% of Tim fics - almost twice as much - are Tim-centric. This is not a perfect metric by any means (for example, Dick actually has less than Duke with 2%, though this is due to him having a bonkers amount of fics), but it is illustrative of the trend that literally anyone who's skimmed AO3 could tell you.

More comparisons: Jason Todd (2,990/76,427 = 3.9%), Damian Wayne (1,870/45,635 = 4%), Cassandra Cain (200/17,060 = 1.1%), Barbara Gordon (54/16,729 = 0.3%). Keep in mind not everyone uses the -centric tag, but this is generally useful to see broad trends.

If debut date, adaptations, popularity among the public, amount of canon content, or presence in major Batman events were truly the deciding factor, Barbara would be the second most popular character in fandom (behind Dick). However, she isn't. Even Dick isn't the most popular - Tim, despite his lack of adaptations, is clearly the Batboy centred most in fanfiction and fandom. Therefore, the treatment of Babs, Steph, Cass, and Duke in fandom cannot be attributed purely to lack of knowledge.

Blaming fandom's focus on the White- or White-passing boys on canon is ignoring the signs of racial and gendered biases in the way we latch onto characters. Fandom barely cares about canon - most Titans Tower AUs or family fluff blatantly ignore huge chunks of comics. If we can ignore Gotham War, make up lies about Red Robin (2009), and pretend Tim's allergic to shrimp, why can't we extend that imagination to the POC and female characters? Why are they less worthy of our efforts to make stories about them, whether they have canon/adaptational histories or not?

All this to say, trying to explain away the lack of works for Duke and the girls will not solve anything. Making excuses for the fandom is only perpetuating the racist and sexist erasure of these characters. Instead, read their comics! Here is a list of reading guides for POC characters.

Not interested in comics? Read these Duke fics (compiled by @himejoshiangels)! Also take the time to go through the Barbara Gordon-centric tag and support those creators. Feel free to post any recs of your own as well :).

[weebsinstash]

Alright bestie I’m on that shit again

So yandere Superman, right? Like obviously your fucked. The only other yandere in existence that might just be able to keep you from him is Batman, but even then he’d probably sooner work together just to ensure your safety- but that’s a prompt for another day.

Back to yan Superman, imagine you’re his darling and he is “keeping you safe”. But one day, you get snatched up by some organization that wants to use you as leverage or some shit, but you are just sobbing in relief at maybe being free- only to have Superman show up and do some not so super things to everyone who “stole” you

There are just so many casually horrifying things about Superman that people don't realize until you start like digging into his lore. "Oh he's super strong and a super fast flyer" actually he can do basically anything at those super speeds to the point he can literally even PROCESS THOUGHTS at near light-speed which means he has Absolutely Terrifying reaction times and can make plans and schemes on a dime, which, you know, can be even better utilized by him being intelligent. He has natural invulnerability so if you throw a punch at him too hard you could literally shatter the bones in your hand and he can't even control that, like you could literally hurt yourself with him on accident! He can see across INSANE DISTANCES and his x-ray vision doesn't have like a set range so he could do anything from, peep inside buildings to spy on you, to looking under your clothing for any bruises or injuries or even self harm marks, to peeking behind your hero disguise to learn your true identity, to seeing if there's anything inside your stomach and seeing if you're eating properly. Like jesus christ he literally found out Lois was pregnant from waking up one morning and suddenly hearing the heartbeat of the FETUS, there's literally nothing from him pulling that stereotypical "I know you're nervous or lying or afraid because I can literally hear your heartbeat increase" scary bullshit

And let's talk about Lois for a sec because my god her death was literally what kicked off the Injustice timeline? And there are other forms of Superman media where she just straight up dies naturally of cancer! Sure we could take the easy way and say "in this au Lois never existed or was just Clark's friend and he loved YOU" (which is my preferred default tbh bc, no competition for Reader lol) but I mean if you're going for that angst, that real whump, a yandere Clark Kent that just lost his wife/unborn child to either the Injustice incident or cancer, now overcome with grief? And in those cancer timelines they usually already have a son, Jonathan, and sometimes Jordan, and here's Clark thinking, well, his boy needs a mother, and he's got these weird feelings for you, and lil Jonny clearly has affection for you, maybe bring a bit of a platonic yan himself who sees you as either a big sister or even a secondary mom, so... be his wife maybe?

Like my god if Reader somehow helped him through the grief of losing Lois and managed to avoid "fully activating" Superman's anime villain arc, like he's going full fascist in the Injustice 2 Bad Ending, then some shit DEFINITELY goes down when Reader gets taken away. It just reactivates all his trauma. No! He can't lose anyone else! Jonathan can't lose anyone else! You're not just someone he loves, you're his FRIEND!

You're just huddled in whatever cell you've been kept in with your black eyes and bruises and knuckles bloodied from trying to fight back when you hear Clark's voice and you look up with excitement that just falls immediately off your face because holy shit did he just unlock that thumbprint scanner with a severed arm, and suddenly you're realizing there are other shades of red on his costume and dripping from his fingers

I can only imagine like, ngl I considered a sequel to my fic Doubt where Reader escapes the manor and runs into Supernan as the only other person who can protect you, so here we would have the inverse: you're the only one who knows about Clark's increasing instability and, while you still have your own freedom and autonomy, try to speak to Bruce about it, and now you have Batman Vs Superman: Competing For Your Heart Edition. I can only imagine what sort of unhinged reactions there would be if you think you've got Batman alone and you're beginning to cry all "Bruce I'm really worried about Clark, he isn't acting like himself, there's something wrong with him" and. Clark is like literally using his x-ray vision to read lips through the walls if he can't use his super hearing to outright eavesdrop.

Of course as you suggested, I'm always a slut for ideas with"oh shit I ran to this guy to help me and he's ALSO crazy, now they're teaming up and I'm in some weird shared/poly situation with TWO nutjobs". Lmao you go to Bruce concerned about Kal and Bruce goes to confront him and Clark just drops "did you know Y/N has been hiding self harm cuts under their hero suit also wow they smoke HELLA weed and im worried about their lungs and all the stuff they do when they're alone that no one else knows about 🥺" and suddenly here's Bruce " thanks i hate this actually :)" and there's a scheme concted to spy on you or move you elsewhere.

I've even thought of "Reader oh nooOoooOo, that, giant monster or villain attack or whatever also coincidentally destroyed your shitty little apartment complex? You mean Clark 'accidently' got sent flying into your building or smacked some giant creature into it and now you don't have a place to live? And you're broke too? Oh no 🥺 Well, BATMAN has this nice big house with lots of room in for you to stay toooootally 'temporarily', we PROMISE uwu"

Batman is the one who can put a tracking chip injected into your skin or even disguised as a filling in one of your teeth, and Superman is the one who can zoom off to rescue you/retrieve you "faster than a speeding bullet". I think one of the only people who could bring them down together at that point would be like. Fucking DARKSEID and, Jesus no, you definitely don't want HIM treating you as a pet 😭 the evil Batman that was brainwashed by him in the Apokolips War movie was scary enough (and scary HOT, lmao, let him keep me as some sort of prize and the only luxury Darkseid will allow him as a reward for his obedience. Lord Batman goes from having a meeting talking about like enslaving people to returning to his quarters and railing tf outta you because he's still holding onto some slim vestiges of humanity where he cares about you but also using you as his personal anti stress fuck toy)

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

.batcrow feat. the owl.

or a situation, which is stuck somewhere between existential threat an’ scuffle between barn animals.

...

(it’s one of those underdeveloped, raw-ish concepts that i indulge in just for funzies. it all started very simply. i was thinking about what kind of person might make bruce jealous. the topic was kinda challenging, considering that bruce in the comics *at least in the ones, i read* or even btas is rarely express this emotion if at all. in fact, at one point, he literally said to the woman, who he supposedly was in love with, that she should stay with the other man, who also liked her, bc he needed her more *he got disfigured an' such* an’ she was like ‘wtf is wrong with you. to paw me to the other man like that’, clearly outraged. but bruce didn’t seem to fully grasp what her issue was lol.

still, what if he somehow got jealous of another man, when it comes to crane, anyways? and who that man could possibly be? my first thought was superman, bc bruce generally can be kinda petty, when it comes to him. but clark is such a puppy-like character. he wouldn’t have been mean about it, or even be someone who could potentially like jon in such a manner. at worst, bruce might have got annoyed at crane *not clark*, if he said smth about superman’s strong arms in front of him. some jealousy there, but not quite what i was looking for, when pondering on that set up.

an' then, i recalled the owlman! i only know the version of him from the cartoon, an’ honestly after seeing glimpses of what they do with him in comics, i’d say this is the only owlman for me. from the crisis on 2 earths ‘toon. gotta admire a character, who is SO nihilistic an’ SO sure in his own worldview, that he literally does nothing an’ dies, just bc it doesn’t matter to him. he even smiles a bit, if i remember correctly. kinda both chillin’ an’ sad. the owlman had an ego, but he also just kinda….wanted everything to die an’ that’s it. he is what might have happened, if bruce went full blown doctor strangelove, after his parents death. which is funny, bc owlman isn’t bruce wayne at all, but he is the one who ‘takes’ his place in his own universe. i don’t remember if it was ever revealed in the cartoon, who the owlman was or if they left it ambiguous. i'm pretty sure, that they made him bruce’s brother in the comics, specifically. but i might be wrong, bc there was a few owlman in batman's ran, i think...?

either way, this version here is devoid of backstory. the main thing for him is that there was never a bruce wayne in his universe, an’ coincidently enough, no jonathan crane, either. as result, owlman knows nothing about scarecrow. he had analogs of other batman’s rogue gallery, who were either heroes or anti-heroes, but he never had professor of fear of his own. an' that’s part of the reason why he gets slightly curious about him. at the begining, it's very casual on his part. i guess, he might have wondered why it's those two *jon an' bruce* specifically, who never existed in his reality. everybody else, clearly did. so he looks a bit closer into it, still mostly for the sport. only to find out about strange relationships that crane has with the bat.

the owlman is an isolated kind of character. he doesn’t care for his own teammates. nor he's able to reciprocate their affection. i mean, he didn’t really react to the villain version of wonder woman kissing him. he was surprised, sure, but not hurrying to return the gesture or even seemingly knowing what to do about this situation. which led me to believe, that at least in the frames of that toon’s worldbuilding, he had no alt alfred or robin or anyone, who he was close with. kinda an opposite of batman, who does to a degree surrenders himself with people, even if he keeps them at *emotional* distance, more often than not. but the point is, that bruce still wants a connections an’ not devoid of hope to see the things sorta/kinda working up. in comparison, owlman is as nihilistic as a person can get, so it makes zero sense for him to have close ties with anyone. or even see it smth that he needs. but i imagine that witnessing how batman acts with his enemies, jon esp, be a very confusing experience for him. like, why pity such a person? why even show some small signs of kinship with him? an' what’s so different about this one, if anything at all? 

so after some more pondering, he approaches crane just to see for himself, if he is worth all that effort *sympathy* or not. an’ hey, scarecrow is kinda fun. reactive an’ jerky, an’ surprisingly aggressive for such a coward. owlman's usual enemies are the good guys. they're heroic an' noble. but jonathan isn’t that. not even close. his worldview is bitter an' twisted. whatever wrongs were done to him, didn't mold him into a hero like with any other owlman's enemy. the scarecrow is a villain to the boot an' it's...new. his use of fear is interesting too. none of his enemies had this gimmick. this makes the owlman wanna play around with him for a bit longer. or owlman experience unknown emotions for the first time in years an’ kinda not fully certain what to do about it, other than indulge in it. his end goal still the same. it won’t change for/or bc of anything, but he can have a small distraction, before the curtains call. it's not everyday, when he can find a person, who is kinda interesting to him, even if bc of pure novelity that he can hang out with a man, who had never existed in his own timeline.

then, he learns about the scarecrow’s life. how it went downhill or rather, how it was sorta doomed from the start almost. an’ oh. here it is. that’s what batman feels too, isn't it? that silver of kinship. the owlman never had this before. an’ it’s not a bad feeling, either. he was never able to relate to the others. it’s like ‘everything sucks so much. everything just sucks forever’ an’ he has found someone who understands the meaning of this sentiment, an' not just being an emo about life. at least, the owl would assume that jon understand it in the exact same way he does *but jon doesn’t lol* 

meanwhile, bruce is concerned. owlman is a very bad, bad kind of man to have around crane for many different reasons. one of which is that it doesn't sound like a hard thing to convince someone like crane, that destroying everything is the only 'right' way to go about things. jonathan's life is generally was an' still is awful, so why not end it all, but with a huge, literal bang?

it’s like a nihilistic doom an’ gloomy buddy club. sounds hella corky, but in reality, it’s dark stuff, actually. jon be beyond depressed in this case. him getting all buddy-buddy with people, who are more unhinged an’ dangerous than him isn’t a new thing. but in this case, it’s like an extra salt on batman’s open wound. the bat himself states in comics at least twice, how crane is one of those villains, who don’t just stay the same, but who progressively gets more an’ more insane an’ deranged each time he breaks out of arkham. him hanging out with the person, whose worldview is basically ‘it would have been so much better, if we all were dead’ an' who literally an' genunily means this, isn’t smth that is good for jonathan's *already declined* mental health. esp if owlman is also rather problematic in other ways too. not to meantion, that him dragging crane along is also kinda personal. in this way, he might be showing bruce, that no matter how much he wants his rogues to change or how much good will he shows them, they're all just human, therefore they're all hopeless an' bad. bc all humas are bad in owlman's understanding. it's like 'aw, you want to believe that this one isn't a lost cause? what if i will make him help me to murder everybody? still think he worthy of your delusions?' owlman might have an end goal, but he's also arrogant an' petty too.

on main, i have two rough-ish concepts for their uhhh, trio shippy thing. in PG-ish version, it’s just that owlman influencing jon in an awful ways, an’ since he kinda/sorta resembles batman, crane subconsciously rely on him, bc he's somewhat familiar. besides, the owl hints that his own life was bad too, an’ it’s like finally someone gets on the same level of despair as crane does. an' also, maybe...this what could have been, if the bat was a villain too. they could have been on the same team. so in a way, it's kinda more of jonathan playing into this weird fantasy of himself an' bad batman, than him fully understanding the real level of 'oof' that owlman tries to acomplish with 'the plan'.

*funny enough tho, where it really counts, jon isn’t like owlman. he, for one isn’t someone who would just give up. after every fail an’ each kick an’ shove, he still gets up. the thing about jonathan is that he wouldn’t just lie down an’ die no matter how much pain an' humilation an' despair, he felt. an’ he also wouldn’t *in the end* commit to the idea of murdering countless people just bc his life sucked. even if, it doesn’t mean, that he won’t go through motions an’ nearly, truly consider going along with it. he isn’t alright in the head, an’ his negative emotions tend to get the best of him. still, i feel like most versions of jonathan would in the end, decide that no, it's not what he wants or ready to take responsibility for.*

it all would resolve in comic book fashion, where jon would help the bat in the end, an’ not that other man, who had his allure an’ had almost seduced crane into doing one last evil act any human being in existence could have ever done. still, there always be longing on scarecrow’s part for this odd, wrong ‘batman’, even if he sticks with his own, regardless. 

*an’ yeah, the bat is kinda jealous throughout all of this lol. the world can be hanging by a thread, but no one said, that he cannot be a tad possessive, while he’s saving it *an’ crane* too. owlman will have fun with this knowledge, while it will go completely over jonathan’s head. mister ‘i can pin-point everyone’s fear from one conversation’ would have a really hard time understanding that batman’s beef with the owl not strictly hero vs villain thing*

then, in more mature version, it's kinda the same-ish plot, but owlman prob would do way more messed up things, which might put crane into a position, where he’s afraid to not comply, but also not actually willing to do it. an’ naturally, there bruce won’t be jealous, more so angry. really struggling with idea, if he should let just this one man *or an owl, whichever rings more true* die. an’ then, if this is a reflection of him, what kind of person, he really is. so it’s more of moral dilemma an’ a character study of a nihilistic sociopath, who just might have wanted to have a lil chew-toy, as he prepares his biggest scheme.

anyways, it’s not like an otp3 or anything. i’m a very bond/pair oriented fella. so when i’m dabbing into 3 way dynamics, it usually has more situational/reactive undertones. but i won't deny, that it’s fun to think about 'what if' or even about some situation in the void, where the bat an’ the owl double teame the crow. which in any plot-included or a somewhat coherent narrative just wouldn’t have happened bc of how all 3 of them function / react to things. it just not in their character to do it this...randomly. but if i will ever make a superhero pwp ficlet collection, i might try to do smth with this idea.)

[cardcaptorsakura96]

Finding Each Other-Chapter 3

Fandom: Superman, Batman, Shazam, and Wonder Woman

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Dick Grayson, Diana Prince, Billy Batson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Kara Zor El, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Alfred Pennyworth, Lex Luthor, Jonathan Kent, Connor Kent

Summary: Clark Kent always knew he wanted a family. He just always thought it would be traditional like his parents. Little did he know that destiny had something different in store for him.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2

Clark followed B and Dick out to a white Rolls-Royce. B went to the passenger door and opened it for Clark and said, “After you.” 

Clark blushed and said, “You really didn’t have to do that.”

B smirked and said, “But I insist.”

Dick giggled as he got into the back seat of the car and said, “You guys are funny.”

Clark blushed harder as B chuckled as he went to the driver’s side and got in. The distance between the museum and Bruce home was short. They were only in the car for ten minutes chatting some more about Atlantis when Clark just stared at the scene before him with his mouth wide open. Bruce had initially stopped at a gate. Once he put in a code, it opened to the most beautiful scenery that Clark had ever seen. It was a mansion. The biggest mansion that Clark had ever seen. He wouldn’t be surprised if it had over 100 ones inside. While the outside had a dark gothic look, it was counterbalanced by the assortment of beautiful flowers on the outside as well. The flowers did make the mansion appear less threatening. 

B smirked and said, “You seemed surprised.”

Clark chuckled and said, “Well, I have never seen a mansion so big so far.”

B chuckled and said, “That is refreshing to know.”

Clark looked at B confused and asked, “How so?”

B smiled and said, “I am used to people either trying to play it cool when they come here or being self-important. However, you are different. You seemed to be very much in awe of the place.”

Clark chuckled and said, “It is not hard too. Not only is the size incredible, but the gothic feel combined with the flowers, make it appear welcoming.”

B chuckled and said, “That would be my mother’s doing. When she moved here, she hated the place because it reminded her of the TV show Dark Shadows.”

Clark chuckled and said, “That is a show I haven’t heard of in a long while.”

B looked at him startled and asked, “So you are familiar?” 

Clark smiled and said, “I used to watch the old episodes with my Pa. It had everything I liked in fantasy: vampires, witches, love, and death. It was quite thrilling.”

B looked at Clark impressed and said, “I haven’t met that many people my age that have seen it before.” 

Clark sighed and said, “I am not surprised. It is from a while ago. I wished the movie they did recently did it justice.”

B sighed and said, “I couldn’t agree more.” B shook his head with a wistful smile and said, “My mother used to joke that she thought that Barnabas Collins haunted the grounds and would come out to get her.”

Clark raised an eyebrow and asked, “Really?”

B nodded while smiling and said, “My dad thought it was funny at first, but seeing how scared out of her mind she was decided to redirect her focus to something positive. He suggested gardening which she took to like drinking water. She planted so many flowers of different colors to liven up the place.” B’s face fell a bit before wiping off a tear from her eyes and said, “I wish you could have met her. She was a very lovely and gentle soul.” 

Clark didn’t know what to say to that but decided to gently squeeze B’s hand who smiled back in appreciation. As they continued up the driveway, they finally got up to the front of the mansion after a couple of minutes. When Clark looked up, the front door was open with a man already standing there in a three-piece black suit. He seemed like an older gentleman either in his late 60s or early 70s. Dick instantly got out of the car and ran ahead of them to the older gentleman and instantly embraced him in a hug. 

The man smiled and said, “Master Dick, it is nice to see you too. I take it you and your dad had a good time?”

Dick looked up at the older gentleman, smiled, and said, “We had the best time, Alfie! We learned about Atlantis and I got cool stuff from the gift shop.” Dick instantly opened the bag and showed the older gentleman its contents. 

The older gentleman chuckled and said, “I see you are adding more to your Superman collection.”

Dick smiled and said, “Yup.” Dick looked back to Clark and B coming up right behind him on the stairs and then directed the older gentleman’s direction to Clark and said, “Oh! We made a new friend tonight too, Clark. He has a lot of awesome ideas about Atlantis.”

The older gentleman smiled at Clark and said, “I see.” He raised his hand to shake Clark’s and said, “My name is Alfred Pennyworth. It is nice to meet you.”

Clark shook Alfred’s hand and said, “It is nice to meet you.”

B smiled and said, “Alfred is my adopted father after my parents died.”

Clark smiled and said, “You raised a fine young man.”

Alfred chuckled and said, “Heavens know that it was a struggle, but I believe everything turned out good in the end.”

B chuckled and said, “Alfred is putting it mildly. I was a little hell raiser.”

Clark smirked and said, “I still can’t imagine that.”

Alfred smirked and said, “He used to get into a lot of mischief growing up. However, I wouldn’t trade it for anything for the world.”

B smiled softly and said, “Thanks, Alfred.”

Alfred placed a gentle hand on B and smiled. Clark's heart warmed at the sight of the love between the two. 

Alfred cleared his throat and said, “Well, let’s not keep you all outside.”

As they entered the foyer, Alfred asked, “Shall I get you guys anything?”

B shook his head and said, “I was just going to make us sandwiches. I thought we could have chips and ice cream with it for dessert.”

Alfred nodded and said, “Very well. I will be upstairs in my room reading if you need anything.”

Alfred proceeded to head up to the staircase a couple of feet in front of him while B and Dick started to head down the hall to the right with Clark following right behind them. After walking for a couple of minutes, they entered a brightly lit kitchen. B went to the fridge while Clark and Dick sat at the kitchen island. 

As B looked through the fridge, he said, “Clark, if you could have any sandwich right now, what would it be?”

Clark looked up thoughtfully and said, “A roast beef sandwich on white bread.”

B nodded and said, “Coming right up. Did you have any preferences for toppings?”

Clark smiled and said, “If you have mayo, cheddar cheese, and lettuce, that would be awesome! If not, the roast beef and bread will be fine.”

B chuckled and said, “Don’t worry, I got you covered. The best parts of the sandwich are the toppings. I tend to be more into honey mustard fan myself when it comes to toppings.”

B brought over all the ingredients to the kitchen island. 

B looked up at Dick and asked, “I assume that you are wanting your usual?”

Dick nodded enthusiastically and asked, “Can I have the sour cream and onion chips too?” 

B nodded and said, “They should be in the pantry. Do you mind getting them out and the BBQ flavored chips and…” B turned to Clark and asked, “Was there a particular flavor of chips you preferred?”

Clark smiled and said, “I am actually a big fan of sour creme and onion, especially the ones from Pringles.”

Dick smiled and said, “Those are my favorite too even though Lay’s sour creme and onion is a close second.”

Clark nodded and said, “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

Dick beamed and said, “I’ll go get the chips. I’ll be right back.”

Read the rest on AO3

[thevindicativevordan]

Thoughts on Superman Earth One by JMS?

Reading it again transported me back to the Great Recession Era. Fitting that Earth One was envisioned as "Ultimate DC" because it is as much a product of the 00s - albeit the Great Recession era - as Ultimate Marvel was a product of 9/11.

What if Superman was Spider-Man is a pretty obvious direction to go when you've tapped the guy who just got done writing Amazing Spider-Man (and controversial second half aside I still love the JMS run) to come kick off a new Elseworld version of Superman. What fascinates me about this take on the character is that JMS, knowingly or not, applied the original Stan Lee/Steve Dikto approach to Spider-Man onto Superman. Unlike the modern approach where, black suit aside, Peter basically transforms into a secular saint post-Uncle Ben, 616 Peter remained an asshole. His evolution into the iconic Spidey we know and love was the product of years of character development. He did not suddenly transform overnight. Here we get a Superman who is the same way. First time we see him use his powers is to do this:

I have to admit I smirked when I saw that. Not because it's cool or badass or whatever, but frankly because it's the kind of edginess you plain don't see in superhero comics these days. Left me feeling almost downright nostalgic for the edge of yesteryear. Superman wearing Alex Mercer's fit is such a tryhard design choice. Sets the tone for what kind of Superman we're getting here perfectly too. No rescues or acts of heroism for this bad boy, instead we get Clark frying all the hair off a would-be mugger. Second volume has Superman fantasize about massacring an army because he couldn’t stop seething over a dictator who evicted him from a war torn country. Third volume has him chew out the UN for standing back and letting Zod try to kill him. Wrath is what this guy has in spades, to the point it seems to be his defining trait.

Rereading Earth One I was blown away by how large it's shadow looms over the DCEU. Even the coloring, subdued as it is, evokes Snyder's films before they had been finished. Metropolis isn't a gleaming City of Tomorrow, it's a recession ruin that evokes the worst parts of Detroit. No one is living there except the people with nowhere else to go, and while it's not actually explored at all, the idea of Superman being drawn to a city of outcasts works for me just as much as him unconsciously seeking out the one place on Earth that's closest to Krypton.

Ironic how much Snyder took from JMS, Waid, and Johns while managing to alienate all three. Obvious examples are Zod serving the same basic function in MoS that Tyrell does here, down to the hijacking of all Earth broadcasts to demand Superman turn himself over, or how a Kryptonian ship serves as Superman's equivalent to the Fortress. But then there's other little details like the memory of Jonathan Kent urging his son to "fly" playing over a triumphant moment for Superman, as seen in ZSJL. Makes sense because reading Earth One, the Clark depicted here is a far more believable result of the teachings of the DCEU Kents.

He doesn't want to be a hero, he wants to take care of his mom and himself (there's the early Spider-Man DNA). Altruism doesn't come naturally to Clark. And you know what? This is actually a great premise for an Elseworld Superman story! A Superman who is forced into the role, who spends the first couple minutes of an alien invasion trying to stop it while maintaining his secret identity, who has enough of a moral core to realize what he needs to do, but is scared to death of actually doing it? Elseworlds were created for a premise like that, something you could never do with the mainline guy. Where it falls short however, and the sin it shares with it's cinematic offspring, is that neither JMS nor Snyder realized how their Supermen came off.

After Superman deposes a dictator via arming a rebellion in the second volume, we're treated to a radio broadcast that proclaims a new democratic government has formed. Played totally straight as an unambiguous good deed too, at least within the second volume. For a book written long after the failures of regime change in Iraq and Afghanistan were obvious to all, and while the Syrian Civil War was raging, it comes across as totally naïve and tone-deaf. No one buys that it would be that easy. Now it does end up backfiring on Superman in the third volume, but not because JMS acknowledges the likely reality of Superman's actions where the nation would descend into total chaos, but because the rest of the world fears he'll do the same to them someday. For a series that is trying to be a grounded take on Superman if he were real, the portrayal of Superman meddling in global affairs feels downright fantastical.

Shame because there are great character beats where JMS emphasizes Clark's loneliness that are overshadowed by the poor writing overall.

Good stuff! JMS understands that isolation and feeling like an outsider are key components that make Superman who he is. Throughout all three books there's a plotline of Clark having trouble connecting with anyone, which he finally overcomes first by joining the Daily Planet after being inspired by Lois and Jimmy helping him in the fight against Tyrell, and then when Lisa saves him against Zod and the two begin to date. Despite my knocking the trilogy as a whole, that was something I enjoyed seeing play out.

With all the Spider-Man influence in play here, I believe JMS’ biggest mistake was not centering this Superman’s mission around guilt. Clark was selfish and didn’t want to be a hero, he didn’t immediately leap to protect people when Tyrell attacked for fear of being outed, and innocents died because of that decision. Making Superman be Clark’s realization that he let his father down and he has to live up to his father’s beliefs in humanity’s goodness by serving as an example, that would be a great “realistic” way to explain why Clark is Superman while sticking to the Everyman+ foundation. Peter Parker is Spider-Man because he let his uncle die when he could’ve prevented it by stepping forward to stop a thief. Clark Kent is Superman because he let people die when he could have stepped forward to stop Tyrell from massacring people around the globe to force him out of hiding. It’s taking Spidey’s origin and expanding it to the greatest possible scale via a global threat.

Biggest complaint I have is that this iteration of Superman feels unfinished. Earth One Batman and Wonder Woman, whatever your opinions on them, at least feel that they've reached their natural endgames. Batman builds a family to replace the one he lost and will fight crime forever. Wonder Woman destroys the patriarchy and builds a new feminist utopia. But this version of Superman? Everyone was scared of him because he showed a willingness to intervene where he pleased, and while he promised to not repeat his dictator deposing at the end of the third volume, I don't believe this Superman would stick to that promise.

A natural endgame for this Superman would be to go full Miracleman. Use his powers and his Kryptonian ship (which can apparently manufacture materials for him and even convert matter) to transform Earth into a paradise, marry Lisa, turn Lois against him, and end his days asking himself if it was worth it. He fulfilled Pa's dream of using his gifts for the better, and accomplished it through science rather than through tyranny like Jor-El, but Superman can't help wondering if he proved all the naysayers right. Especially since the person he asked to play conscience for him, Lois, doesn't think he did the right thing. Earth One Superman started his journey asking himself if his father's dream for him was one he actually wanted to pursue, you bring it full circle by having him end where he began by asking if fulfilling that dream was the right decision.

Now as for the rest of the characters?

The Supporting Cast

Daily Planet Crew - They're fine. None of them can be called great or memorable but they're recognizable as variations of the Lois, Perry, and Jimmy we all know. Only major difference is that I don't buy this version of Clark and Lois ever getting together romantically. They're rivals who respect each other but not "soulmates" (much as I hate that term). No chemistry between the two of them here (another commonality with the DCEU), and I'm actually glad this series ended without the two ever becoming a couple.

Lisa Lasalle - Never seen anyone touch on her that much, guess I'll be the first to say that pairing Clark with gritty and realistic Mary Jane Watson was actually sweet. A redhead who is the "girl next door" in Clark's Metropolis apartment, wants to be a model but has to hook on the side, is the first one outside his family to discover his secret identity, and has an upbeat party girl personality before revealing a deeper side later on? Go ahead and try to argue that isn't a darker and edgier take on MJ. Far as civilian love interests for Superman go, she's the only one I've ever liked enough to want as endgame for Clark other than Lois. Seeing Clark bring her into his world and take her to meet his Ma was a genuinely touching moment. Funny that adaptions of MJ tend to make her more like Lois, while here we get a Superman who dates someone closer to 616 MJ.

The Villains

Tyrell - Other than looking like a Hickman reject he's as generic as they come. He shows up, threatens the world, pushes Clark to become Superman, dies, and that's that. Not sure why JMS even went with this guy over using a traditional member of the Rogues Gallery. I do dig his techno-angelic aesthetic, too bad it's wasted on such a paper-thin character.

Parasite - Shockingly great take. His backstory as a hitman is whatever, but once he becomes Parasite he's exactly what I want Parasite to be. Loves being able to kill people, after draining Superman and finally being able to think straight, he feels no shame, guilt, or horror over the people he's killed and the monster he's become. Instead he fantasizes about finding a unique way to kill every single person on the planet, that's the kind of sociopathic energy I like to see. Also shares the delightful trait of zero accountability with his MAWS counterpart, blaming Superman for his sister's death despite it being his own fault.

Zod - Bland as his knockoff predecessor Tyrell. Don't even know why he's made into an El here, nothing interesting is done with it. I've always been a fan of Zod trying to recruit/win over Superman to his side, and at first he feints at doing that. After showing initial promise he firmly grasps the idiot ball for the rest of the book, having Superman at his mercy several times but insisting on making Clark "kneel", rather than simply finishing him off. Despite taking clear design influence from the MoS movie, this is a straightforward "modernization" of the Stamp Zod. Other than wanting Superman dead he seems to have no other ambitions. It's not even clear why he bothers with the pretense at first, when he has superior training and should be easily able to kill Superman in combat.

Lex² - Uhhh they sure existed didn't they? Weird how both JMS and Johns pulled the "instead of the person you think will become the villain, it's their opposite gender counterpart” (wife for Lex, sister for Two-Face). I guess if there were plans for a volume 4 we would've seen "Alexandra" use the kryptonite against Superman, maybe via creating Metallo? Could've been interesting with Alex talking about how she hates Superman for taking away her husband who was the one person she considered an intellectual peer, that would've been prime setup for this Superman to show he was also as smart as she was (since this Clark is explicitly a genius). Since that didn't happen they're merely a curiosity.

Final thoughts: JMS' best Superman work remains his Becoming Superman autobiography.

No clue if the events he depicts are accurate or exaggerated, but if it's fiction then it's the best Superman story that shows how he can inspire real people that I've read. Really hard hitting stuff in here, particularly for anyone who has grown up in abusive homes and had to rely on fiction as an escape. If you want to check out JMS' Superman work, I honestly recommend this over anything else.

[jor-elsemissary]

Lionel buying Martha jewelry

Martha: Ooo these diamond earrings look nice!

Lionel: ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Martha: What? Why?

Lionel: Because I....don't you out of my life. I would rather you still be in it.

Diamonds Are Forever

Martha Kent looked over at the man whom she has known for nearly a decade now. It was only in the last year that they finally agreed to explore what was between them. The grief of losing Jonathan had faded enough that she felt she wasn’t betraying his love and memory, that she could seek companionship and perhaps love for herself again.

She had tried with Perry White but found that the pain of Jonathan’s death was still too raw for her. She couldn’t help but think about her husband when they talked or had dinner. She came to the realization then that she just did not want to replace Jonathan in her life yet.

But that changed when Lionel supposedly had returned from the dead, claiming he had faked his death to protect himself from a threat that wanted him dead. She had thought about him for days afterward and found herself looking for information about his return.

She hadn’t understood why she was so happy to see he was alive, only that she was. So she had come back to Metropolis looking for him, only to learn from the man’s daughter that he was not their Lionel Luthor. She hadn’t fully grasped how that was possible until she confronted him in the manor and spoke to him.

That man looked and sounded like her friend but he was not Lionel Luthor. To say that she was disappointed would have been an understatement. Martha had not let on to that doppelgänger how hurt she was by the revelation and warned him away from her son. Poor Alexander had been hurt by the revelations that day as well but at least he had the luxury of no longer remembering what had happened.

So she had returned to Washington after the faux Lionel vanished, though if what her son had hinted, she suspected he was dead too. With the only other man she could have loved finally buried, she came to accept a widow’s life.

But Lionel Luthor was Lionel Luthor, and he was a man that apparently could not stay dead.

A month after the Apokalypse Incident and the arrival of her son as Superman, Lionel Luthor really came back from the dead this time. He had appeared on her doorstep in Washington look worse for wear but alive and very much her Lionel. Once the skepticism and shock had worn off at seeing him standing there with her favorite flowers in hand, she knew instantly that it was him.

He had been smiling at the time. That small smile that was happy to see her but was unsure of whether she was with him. “Hi…” she remembered him saying after the silence was bordering on awkward.

She had slapped him.

Lionel had stood there shocked with a palm to his cheek, the red welt of her handprint quickly marking him. “I… suppose I deserved that.”

“That’s for not calling me,” she had huffed indignantly. She had felt tears welling in her eyes and didn’t allow her anger at his duplicity get the best of her. Martha had hugged him tightly and he had grunted in pain.

“I’ll be alright,” he had tried to reassure her and once they had been inside and he explained what had become of him, she had tried to apologize for gripping him so strongly. He had only waved it off and took it as a sign that she truly cared about him.

She had told him then and there she had cared about him a lot more than just as a friend. That she was willing to explore who they were to each other and she saw that he was thrilled and hopeful.

That had been a year ago.

Now they were in a jewelry store in Washington looking for something that she could wear to the Presidential Dinner at the White House. Normally Lionel would have given her one of Lillian’s pieces to borrow, but everything that had been hers had been lost in the fire. Martha was somewhat grateful for it. She would not have been too comfortable in wearing something that had belonged to his wife.

“Why would diamonds make you feel that?” she had asked him as her thoughts returned to the present and the man who stood beside her now. She could see the faint lines of surgery scars where he had undergone reconstruction surgery along his neck and cheek. She could not imagine how he had endured three years in a hospital, undergoing surgery after surgery and years of therapy.

“I…” Lionel hesitated and he gave an embarrassed smile. “It’s what I always gave the woman when I wanted to end things with them. A parting gift to… remember me by.”

“A consolation gift?” she clarified and he grimaced.

“When you put it like that, it sounds horrid.”

Martha tapped the glass and met the gaze of the clerk, “You are not planning to send me away with a consolation gift, Lionel,” she tells him and accepts the earrings to try on. They were a beautiful piece of artisan work. A cascade of tear drop inlaid with small diamonds. They glittered in the light and Martha thought they were beautiful despite the extravagant price tag attached to them.

There was no way she could afford these on a Senator’s salary.

“I would be a fool to give you up.” Lionel nodded to the clerk to indicate they would take the earrings. “Nothing I give you would be a consolation gift.”

“I would hope not.” There was a hint of teasing in her voice and she could see his reflection relax in the small mirror. “What do you think?” she turned to face the resurrected billionaire and he continued to smile at her.

“They look beautiful on you,” he honestly answered. She felt his knuckles graze her jawline, his fingers curled slightly inward from his fall and surgeries that could not correct the damage.

He struggled to function these days and she found that he would only let her fuss and fret over him. The days of chasing after Clark and fighting alien phantoms and invaders was long behind him. The injuries he sustained from his fall would not let him so much as traverse up a set of stairs without some kind of aide, much less allow him to keep up with her son.

Walking was assisted with a cane and she could see the pain in his eyes when he moved. But he was too proud and stubborn to give voice to his suffering. She was just glad he let her help him when she there.

“Is there an accompanying necklace?” Lionel asked of the clerk and the young woman reached down to bring up a tray with a neck piece that had to be worth everything she owned and then some. “We’ll take the whole set,” he said and she softly gasped.

“Lionel…”

“You are worth the cost, my dear,” he declared happily. “And you will be the envy of every woman at the dinner tonight.”

“You are such a flatterer.” Martha leaned into his touch and kissed the knuckles softly. She didn’t dissuade him from leaning in to give her a chaste kiss on the lips that promised more once they were in the privacy of the limo.

“I would lavish flattery upon you all day and it would be the truth.” Lionel gave her a roguish grin and she rested against him while they waited for his not-consolation gift to be paid for and wrapped.

Yes. She was ready to move on and accept another man in her life. Jonathan had his place in her heart and she had finally made room for Lionel to take up residence. Whether they would be able to make something of their relationship, she did not know, but she hoped that whatever it is they had between them, would last a long while.

[brodinsons]

"Instead of highlighting the character's Jewish origins, 'Man of Steel' features a Randian Christ-figure who commits genocide against his entire race, then causes multiple mass casualty events."

I apologize in advance for the incoming rant but I am sick and tired of sitting quietly for this relentless bullshit and at some point, enough is enough. I'm not naming the individual I'm quoting because I'm not interested in starting fights. This is my space and I'm venting a collective decade of frustration and anger.

Noun. Randian (plural Randians) A follower of Ayn Rand.

God damn, y'all just can't help yourselves, can you? You just slurp up every bit of nonsense from all those puffed up "YouTube Essayists" with god complexes from 2015 and take it as fucking fact.

Not to mention, y'all cannot seem to let a random baseless accusation from a disgraced sexual predator go. That's him! He's the one who started it! The very one to fling the first scrap of "Zack Snyder is a Randian Objectivist who hates Superman and is poisoning the DCEU!" bait out into the twittersphere for the rest of the ravenous bloggers to jump on. I refuse to take anyone's treatise on the modern superhero myth seriously if this is the depth they'll stoop to in the middle of their piece.

Snyder made one single offhand comment about maybe adapting 'The Fountainhead' (for its aesthetics, mostly) years ago and now he's a sexist racist fascist objectivist and the root of all evil.

Objectivism: "The exceptional people among us have a divine right to decide our fate and we should not oppose them."

Does that sound like the message of any of his DC films? Movies that end with speeches about heroes wanting to be on the ground to do good in crises and how good humanity can be despite its faults? What about MoS specifically, where the ultimate immigrant allegory struggles to find his place in a world that does not accept him yet still fights for and protects humanity because this world is his chosen home?

Not to mention, where the fuck is this genocide-committing Jesus Superman? Clark t-poses out of the Black Zero one goddamn time while looking sadly back at his dad because Snyder is a visual filmmaker with a penchant for dramatic shots and everyone loses their fucking minds. He goes to the Lutheran church he presumably attended with Martha & Jonathan as a child to seek the counsel of Father Leone because Clark Kent is not canonically Jewish (may the memory of his Jewish creators be a blessing). There's stained glass iconography of Christ in the background at one point because it's a Christian church in middle America. Clark himself never once espouses any religious lines or strict beliefs. Nor does he position himself as a "Christ-figure", either through himself or via the story??????? He doesn't want the responsibility that comes with putting that suit and cape on. But he does it anyway because he understands the stakes when shit gets real and he refuses to let his adoptive world pay for unwittingly bringing the worst remnants of his old world here.

Also, Clark only kills one person: Zod. The U.S. military "bombs" the Black Zero with the starcraft that brought Clark to earth in order to re-open the Phantom Zone and send Zod's forces (the pack of militaristic extremists known as the Sword of Rao) into it. Given what we know of the Phantom Zone in various canons, that's a fate almost worse than death. Then, after being given an ultimatum that either he dies or Zod will, he makes the impossible choice that will haunt him the rest of his life to save a human family moments from being obliterated by Zod's heat vision and kills the general. Nowhere in this catastrophic battle did he "commit genocide against his entire race" (did everyone forget that he himself is the Codex's host and therefore the living possibility of Krypton's rebirth?) or "cause multiple mass casualty events".

I understand that the scale of fictional damage was perhaps a touch more realistic than the near identical scale featured in all of the Avengers movies. It's fine if it's not your thing. Move along. That discomfort still doesn't give you enough leeway to point the finger at a rookie Superman on his first day on the job and say "all that destruction and death was his fault". He tried to take it out of the city! Zod—a vastly more experienced military leader with blind genetic fanaticism on his side, by contrast—refused to allow it. His goal was the annihilation of earth and as much collateral damage as possible (preferably the entire human race). Clark had to stand between humanity and that with zero combat experience and no clue he'd be forced into a no-win scenario to stop the carnage.

I'm tired. It has been ten years. I'm so fucking tired. Can you people give it a rest? None of you are the ultimate authority on superheroes and positioning yourselves as something dangerously close to that with these twitter threads and blog treatises and reviews full of big words in nerd outlets only poisons the fandom well further.

You are allowed to dislike things. You aren't even required to justify that dislike. What you aren't allowed to do is declare something objectively bad based on nothing but your own subjective reaction to it, then invent criticisms that aren't even applicable to the thing in question.

The day we lost the ability to differentiate between "I did not enjoy this media so I guess it wasn't for me" and "I did not enjoy this media and therefore NO ONE SHOULD BECAUSE REASONS I WILL INVENT FROM SECONDHAND HEARSAY" is the day media literacy ceased to exist in pop culture.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Symptoms of Life

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/rBWDYmt by VampyBat888 Thanos had won the war and had managed to eradicate the entire universe and design it into his own making and what did Peter do? Oh yeah, he was busy dying in the arms of someone he considered a hero. All hope seems lost but just as his shitty luck would have it he manages to crash land in a totally different Earth. Would he be the same person he was or would he take a different path in the hopes of changing his fate but you cannot change fate and deep down Peter knows this Words: 1695, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English Fandoms: Wonder Woman - All Media Types, Superman (Comics), Superman - All Media Types, Batman - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Categories: F/M, M/M Characters: Diana (Wonder Woman), Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker, Barry Allen, Shayera Hol, J'onn J'onzz, Hal Jordan, Doctor Strange, Tony Stark, Aunt May, Martha Kent, Jonathan Kent Relationships: Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Past Bruce Wayne/Minkhoa Khan, Marth Kent/Jonathan Kent Additional Tags: Near Death Experiences, Peter Parker is a Mess, Lazarus Pit (DCU), Red Hood mentioned - Freeform, BAMF Batman, all JL members are rightfully concerned, Thanos won, Traumatized Peter Parker, Mentions of Aunt May - Freeform, Protective Diana (Wonder Woman), Peter has the freakish ability to remember heartbeats, Peter Parker has Spinnerets | Organic Web-Shooters, Peter Parker Acts Like a Spider, Clark Kent is a Dork, J'onn is cool as hell, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Ma and Pa Kent are the best read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/rBWDYmt

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Monday, June 10

JONATHAN: (incredulous) You're checking for implants? ANDREW: (defensive) Lex Luthor had a false epidermis escape kit in "Superman Versus the Amazing Spider-Man" Treasury edition- JONATHAN: Okay, first of all, those were sonic disrupters. And second of all ... you are sadness personified. Waiting for Warren? Yeah, maybe he'll come bust us out of here on Santa's magic sleigh. ANDREW: (stands up angrily) I'm telling him you said that. JONATHAN: Why wait? I'll tell him right now. Jonathan grabs Andrew's elbow and holds it up to his own face. JONATHAN: Hey, Warren, do you read me, your girlfriend's pathetic, over.

~~Two to Go~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Escape From Mosaic (gen, not rated) by eevol76vamp

Girls Night Out (gen, not rated) by eevol76vamp

Lindsey's Last Song (gen, not rated) by eevol76vamp

Old Enough (Buffy/Spike, G) by sandy_s

Finding a Sense of Direction (Drusilla/Faith, not rated) by rhodrymavelyne

Night Swimming (Buffy/Spike, R) by Geliot99

[Chaptered Fiction]

Incarnate Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Sigyn

Rebehold the Stars (Love from the Other Side of the Apocalypse) Chapter 15 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Asokatanos

East of Nevada Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Blissymbolics

Morning Stretches Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by CheekyKitten

The Boyfriend Swap Chapter 16 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Maxine Eden

The Devil's Trill Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Murray

The Witch's Gift Chapter 36 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by RavenLove12

Blood and Fame Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Desicat

Bruises Chapter 17 (Buffy/Spike, adult only) by hulettwyo

Love Lives Here Chapter 74 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Passion4Spike

[Images, Audio & Video]

Podcast:Pride, Prejudice and Buffy (Buffy and the Art of Story Podcast) by lisalilly

Podcast:Episode 31 - Fly Kids and Eye Stalks (Killed by Death) by thesunnydalediaries

Art:Who’s this billy idol looking loser by bugaboooooooooo

[Reviews]

war and peaches' buffyverse compendium by war and peaches

[Fandom Discussions]

Spike wasn’t a Good Vampire by virtue of just being that way by buffy-targaryen

One of the funniest jokes in the Buffy episode “Once More With Feeling” by jq37

Why Spike picked Sunnydale by nicnacsnonsense

Angel's most heroic act by The Whirlwind

Rewatch thoughts and questions continued by multiple posters

Is Riley more misogynistic than other characters? continued by multiple posters

What If: Buffy lived with Hank instead? by nightshade

Were the slayers a good idea? by TheXandyman

In what stances was a character screwed by the narrative? by brwitch

On your first time watching The Zeppo did you think they would do something with Xander and Faith? by LightBlueSky55

Thoughts on Willow's character during her recovery from abusing magics in the mid half of season six by jdpm1991

Which Scooby gang member had the best levels in "Chaos Bleeds"? by jdpm1991

Spike and Andrew were both integrated into the Scooby Gang the same way by rednax2009

the ascension by brian5mbv

Watching Angel for the first time, this scene made me shocked by brwitch

I think killing Angel influenced Buffy's decision to sacrifice herself in "The Gift" by Whedonite144

The Mayor and his bs by Pookienini

"Come in here, take everything that I have... You did it before. Did you tell them that?" by jogaforacont

Am I wrong for thinking Angel hooking up with Darla was hot in 2x15? by rites0fpassage

What are some moments that you were incredibly frustrated or disappointed with Cordelia? by PristineSituation498

Which if any characters grew on you the most when you revisited the series? by Whedonite144

What is everyone’s funniest episode? by queenrosybee

Unexplainable vibes? by mymacaronibirthmark

Although Faith was always jealous she did seem to like Buffy a lot in season 3 by IntelligentPumpkin74

Is BTVS Angel a little overhated? by debujandobirds

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

[cantsayidont]

March 1968. For more than 20 years, the Superboy strip depicted Jonathan and Martha Kent as rather elderly, looking more like Clark's grandparents. However, if you look at Bronze Age Superboy stories from the 1970s and 1980s (e.g., SUPERMAN: THE SECRET YEARS), the Kents appear noticeably younger. Bizarrely, this was not a retcon: The Kents were actually de-aged in this weirdly metatextual story in SUPERBOY #145.

The premise is that on the otherdimensional world of Thraxx, a sleazy TV producer named Jolax has created a pilot for a new Superboy TV show, which he has filmed by surreptitiously recording real events on Earth with his "super-telescope." However, his show's prospective sponsors worry that Superboy's elderly foster parents will be a turnoff for younger viewers. The sponsors ask Jolax to recast those parts, which Jolax can't do because the Kents are real people unaware that they're being filmed. Instead, Jolax arranges to slip the Kents a "youth serum" to make them younger!

Alarmed that his parents' sudden rejuvenation might lead residents of Smallville to suspect that Clark Kent is secretly Superboy, Superboy comes up with an absurd scheme to blame the effect on a passing comet, which involves also de-aging a number of other people (with the remains of the doctored lemonade) so that Jonathan and Martha won't be the only ones affected. (The ethics of this plan are left as an exercise to the interested reader.)

In the end, this doesn't help Jolax — the sponsors like the "new actors," but decide that they'd rather have a show about an adult Superman instead, and the Kents are now too young for that. However, at the close of the story, Clark and his parents break the fourth wall to explain that the Kents' new look is the new normal:

The change did stick through the '70s and early 1980s, although it created discrepancies with previously published, still-canonical stories showing the circumstances of the Kents' subsequent deaths, which took place only a few years (in story time) after this issue. This was later addressed by explaining (in ACTION COMICS #500) that the youth serum unexpectedly wore off about a month before their deaths. What tangled webs, etc.

[ao3feed-superbat]

The prince of endless sands

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/7CvEw8B by shipper4ever17 "Why did you have to bring that motherfucker between us? Why?" Damian shouted with fury, tears streaming down, almost like tears of blood. "Tell me one thing, were you with him? Did you make love to him? Did you make love to Jay Nakamura while I was suffering for you? Yes or no?" Words: 7048, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types, DCeased (DC Comics) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Categories: M/M, Other Characters: Damian Wayne, Jonathan Kent, Talia al Ghul, Bruce Wayne, Jay Nakamura, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Helena Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Batfamily Members, Clark Kent, Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character(s) Relationships: Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne, Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Canon, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/7CvEw8B

[iggyalfi2319]

A Toy’s great adventure (MAWS G/T AU)

_

A/N: Yet another Toy!Clark idea plaguing my brain, so I wanted to give it a try. Again, dunno how far I'll carry it out X')

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TW for character death, blood, non consensual body transfer, living doll (action figure)

Please tell me if I forgot anything

_

Clark was the biological kid of the Kent’s.

He was playing outside with his favorite toy, an action figure named Superman, based on a very popular cartoon character.

All of sudden, there was a flash in the sky, with something heading very fast into his direction.

Sadly, he didn't even get the chance to move.

When the Kent went outside to look for Clark, they met a very horrifying sight, tearing a scream out of Ma, as the viewers can only see the child's hand holding the tattered toy, in a pool of blood.

???: No one wasn't supposed to die, especially not a kid...

???: I really hoped to give a different purpose to the meteorite...

???: Forgive me, young one...

A ghost of a person dressed like a sorcerer manifested in front of the Kent.

Humans, it wasn't my intention to kill your child. I had to save this meteorite from very dark forces... But seeing the damages... It's definitely not worth the life of an innocent soul...

It looked at the couple.

I can somehow bring your child back... But they'll never be the way they were before…

"A-anything to get our Clark back!" "Please! We cannot lose our unique son!"

The ghost picked up the remaining shard of the meteorite, dipped it into the blood as it started to glow on and off softly, slowly shaping into a heart.

This is now the heart and the soul of your child. If anything had to ever happen to it and he will be gone for good.

The ghost then picked up the toy, removed the batteries before placing the meteorite heart inside. It glowed for a few seconds before it handed it to Ma.

May you and your child ever forgive me...

The ghost vanished, leaving the Kent in shambles and holding the toy very dear.

💭💭💭💭💭💭💭💭💭💭

Clark felt very odd... Like he was too stiff to move.

Everything around him was so gigantic!

Or...did he shrink?

Wait, wasn't he supposed to be dead? Maybe he survived but the meteorite did something to him.

Why couldn't he move...-

Ma came into view. She was so huge!

💭Ma! I'm here!💭

"Never fear! Superman is here!"

💭Huh?...💭

Clark tried to speak again.

"No need to thank me, it's my duty!"

💭Why is Superman's voice coming out of my mouth?...💭

"It's acting up again... Do you think Clark is trying to tell us something?" Ma asked Pa.

"Who knows, Martha, who knows... We can only ever hope..."

Ma leaned toward Clark before gently picking him up like he was made of glass.

💭W-What is going on!💭

"It's a bird! It's a plane! No! It's Superman!"

As Clark was really starting to freak out, he caught their reflections on the living room's mirror.

Wait, not his reflection...

The reflection of Ma holding his toy, Superman...

But Ma is holding him...

💭No...no way....💭

💭💭💭💭💭💭💭💭💭💭

Clark woke up with a scream.

💭A nightmare... It was just a nightmare -💭

"Clark!"

His parents rushed inside.

Only for him to see they were as huge as his nightmare.

"N-no..." He whimpered.

"Clark... sweetheart... I know everything looks scary for you right now, but we can explain -" Ma started.

"NO! I must still be asleep!"

As he tried to rub his eyes, he couldn't reach his face, feeling very stiff...

He slowly looked at his hands.

Horribly familiar plastic hands with joints at the wrists, elbows and shoulders.

"No way..." His voice trembled.

The nightmare had only begun…

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After managing to calm down Clark, his parents explained to him what happened to him.

Needless to say that the kid was devastated.

He was trying so hard to be a normal kid despite coming from a farm, but now everything went to the drain...

"So... I'm forever stuck inside of a toy..." Clark sulked.

"We'll get through this, Clark." Martha gently took his hand and Jonathan's. "Together."

A little flicker of hope washed over the now Toy boy, as he gently squeezed her finger.

Wait... what?

He looked down, seeing his plastic hand not so stiffly curled around her own.

Maybe that was only his imagination...

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TBC...

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[ao3feed-drstrange]

Symptoms of Life

by VampyBat888 Thanos had won the war and had managed to eradicate the entire universe and design it into his own making and what did Peter do? Oh yeah, he was busy dying in the arms of someone he considered a hero. All hope seems lost but just as his shitty luck would have it he manages to crash land in a totally different Earth. Would he be the same person he was or would he take a different path in the hopes of changing his fate but you cannot change fate and deep down Peter knows this Words: 1695, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English Fandoms: Wonder Woman - All Media Types, Superman (Comics), Superman - All Media Types, Batman - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Categories: F/M, M/M Characters: Diana (Wonder Woman), Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker, Barry Allen, Shayera Hol, J'onn J'onzz, Hal Jordan, Doctor Strange, Tony Stark, Aunt May, Martha Kent, Jonathan Kent Relationships: Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Past Bruce Wayne/Minkhoa Khan, Marth Kent/Jonathan Kent Additional Tags: Near Death Experiences, Peter Parker is a Mess, Lazarus Pit (DCU), Red Hood mentioned - Freeform, BAMF Batman, all JL members are rightfully concerned, Thanos won, Traumatized Peter Parker, Mentions of Aunt May - Freeform, Protective Diana (Wonder Woman), Peter has the freakish ability to remember heartbeats, Peter Parker has Spinnerets | Organic Web-Shooters, Peter Parker Acts Like a Spider, Clark Kent is a Dork, J'onn is cool as hell, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Ma and Pa Kent are the best via https://ift.tt/rAhmD8W