#I kind of like the idea that Zod is dead and Clark and Kara are left to clean up the mess he made

[someoneoffthestreet]

MAWS s2 thoughts before the finale:

I’ve been thinking over what we’ve seen of Krypton this season. Mostly how, even though it feels like a lot, we haven’t actually seen much at all.

Notably, most of the information we have received about Krypton is actually sourced from Brainiac, which- well. Brainiac is a certified liar, or at the very least, has a very skewed perspective of Krypton and what it was supposed to be. I do not doubt that Krypton was at one point a warmongering planet that benefited off of others’ suffering (Jor-El’s account backs this up,) but dialogue from Brainiac in 2x08 suggests that, towards the end at least, Krypton was moving away from this and pursuing a more peaceful existence.

(Speculatively, this could have angered some Kryptonians ((it’s been 20-something years and Brainiac still sounds pissed off about it)) and instigated a coup that then led to the attempted invasions against Darkseid/Apokolips and Earth, and we know how that went.)

The images we see of Krypton show the Kryptonians with superpowers on their home planet. But we don’t? Actually know? If that’s completely true?? Because it seems strange that the show would have this, but keep the red sun weakness. Did Krypton not have a red sun in this universe?

Pushing on that, the images of that Krypton are from the Black Mercy, which Kara outright states is Brainiac’s domain. The world Clark is trapped in is based off of the one Kara shows him in 2x05, but we don’t actually know where that vision originated from. It couldn’t have come from Kara, because she was also an infant when Krypton was destroyed and would have no natural memory of it. So whose memory is that? Is it a memory at all? How do we know Brainiac didn’t tamper with it?

(Like in all likelihood it was just a throwaway line, but my brain keeps getting stuck on Clark noticing Ma and Pa’s doppelgängers in Kara’s Krypton, and I keep wondering if maybe that was a result of Clark’s subconscious infecting the simulation because it isn’t an actual, tangible memory, but Kara doesn’t seem to notice anything unusual with the memory so maybe I’m stuck on nothing.)

More on that, is how all of this interacts with what we see of Krypton from Jor-El’s memories. Admittedly he gives us very little, but the contrast is pretty stark. And maybe it’s just because the planet was mere moments from exploding, but the Krypton we see back in 1x02 is a wreck, in very stark contrast to the peaceful paradise that was Krypton’s Last Days as shown in 2x05. Even more notably, neither Lara nor Jor-El do anything superhuman in Jor-El’s account. Think about that. They are rushing to save their infant son’s life, but they aren’t using flight or super speed: they are very much earthbound.

Now to be fair, there’s another explanation. Krypton was already a spacefaring civilization before the fall, so they definitely discovered how their biology reacted to different suns. Maybe they created some kind of device that could simulate the yellow sun on Krypton (like the red solar shielding around Cadmus in s1) that “blessed” all Kryptonians with superpowers; and then this device was damaged/shut off in the time before the planet’s destruction.

Like it could be both: the above point being true and Brainiac still omitting/manipulating things about how Krypton was, maybe to better preserve his idea of what it should have been.

[phantoms-world-and-more]

Out of question, where did the idea of Superman hating clones come from in fanon?

Is it just an amped up version of him generally being neglectful for a while, taking a while to lend Conner a hand when he was homeless twice? The Kents adopted Conner and they've basically acted like brothers ever since...

He certainly is never weird about Damian.

Kara was weird about Conner for like an arc at one point (technically the New 52 Kon-El, by all accounts a different individual from Conner, even cloned from distinct people) because she was raised on Krypton and actually had a typical kryptonian bigotry against them before realizing that Kon-El wasn't created devoid of sentience to be purely a weapon for war and got over it. Does it have something to do with the view kryptonians had of clones?

Clark was dead when Conner first showed up and they basically worked together along with Steel until Conner joined Young Justice, so beyond seeing his as at most a teammate Steel trained for a bit and at worst a target of his constant paranoia over every action Lex takes, so there wasn't much that the idea could have come from in there.

It just seems strange to me that this concept was invented at all. Zod is right there. H'El is right there. There are characters that actually do hate Conner for being a clone already. I mean the comedic genius of Zod getting the upper hand on Superman for once only for Danny to beat him into the dirt because the motherfucker called Dani an 'unfeeling filthy copy' a week ago when he first broke out of the phantom zone and she went to the ghost zone to tell Danny to beat him up for it is masterful.

I'm pretty sure its for his negligence of connor

When fanfic writers need a villain but dont want to make a big fight they use what they have

And superman, who is considered to be incredibly strong and kind(in what ive seen, never read the conics) while being a a voice of reason and emotional

And people see flaws rather than the good so the negligence is what we latched onto, there's not alot of other heros that have complicated emotions that live in the grey area in morality while being a complete "good" hero

Personally i think it would be best used for a redemption ark in fanfics

This is just my opinion on this and while i dont fully know if theres something more my opinion is that people see flaws in good people rather than the good and thats what they focus on so the fandom latched onto it

I'm sorry if i offend tpu but thats my opinion

[sueboohscorner]

#SupermanandLois Season 1 Episode 10 "O Mother, Where Art Thou?" Episode Recap and Review

The episode begins with Morgan Edge explaining himself to Superman. He is technically Kal El’s half-brother, since they have the same mother. Morgan Edge’s real name is Tal-Ro and his father’s name is Zeta-Ro. He was also sent to Earth because Krypton was dying, but he was sent to Earth to colonize it and he was not greeted warmly. He and his father decided to take a page out of the Zod book and resurrect Krypton, using something that Lara Lor-Van, Kal-El’s mother, invented. Tal-Ro wants Superman to stand with him against the humans, but Clark says no. He doesn’t take this well and they fight.

Kyle is staring into space for obvious reasons and Lana and Sarah fight. Sarah thinks that her mom is simply covering for her dad, again, and Lana both doesn’t have any credulity with her daughter and wouldn’t know how to explain what was happening if she tried. Sarah storms out. Lana goes to talk to Kyle while ignoring Lois’s many, many phone calls.

Lois is rightly worried about her and has her father send someone over to check on her.

Clark comes back and tell Lois and the boys everything that Edge said to him. Lois tells him to do more research before she believes a word that Edge says, which he does.

He goes to the Fortress of Solitude and talks to Jor-El. Jor-El tells him that it’s possible, but that Lara would never have used her invention to destroy life as Morgan Edge is doing now. She created it as a way to preserve life in the way that Jor-El’s has been, so that their civilization would not be lost forever. Unfortunately, he doesn’t understand it enough to be any sort of help on the subject.

Jordan and Jonathan talk. Jonathan is afraid because of the footage he saw in John Henry Iron’s murder RV. He wonders if that’s how the Morgan Edge of that world got the Superman of that world to turn on humanity. Lois, who has been eavesdropping, says that’s not possible because Clark has a family in them and they come first, before anything.

Kyle and Lana talk, or at least begin to. Kyle isn’t able to get very far into his story before Lois shows up. When that happens, Kyle ceases to be Kyle and tries to choke both Lois and Lana. Lois subdues him with kryptonite and then General Lane and the D.O.D. take him away in cuffs.

Lana, Lois, and Clark share information. They need to find the machine that Morgan Edge has been using to put Kryptonian consciousnesses into humans. They call it the Eradicator. Lana pinpoints a doctor that took part in all of the physical exams for everyone in the executive program named Dabney Donovan. He’s the one that they need to find.

General Lane tries to get information out of not Kyle. When he isn’t cooperative, General Lane reveals that the cage they put him in is lined with kryptonite and reminds me of a cage that Lex Luthor built in Smallville.

Jonathan and Jordan tell Sarah the truth about her dad, or at least a version of it.

Lois and Clark talk. The only reason that Edge would give Superman time to consider his offer is if he needed that time too.

The D.O.D. found Donovan, and the Eradicator. He, unfortunately, doesn’t have much of a clue how it works. For that, they’ll need the person who invented it.

Lois and Lana enter the military zone to figure this out and Lana completely fangirls over Superman, which is adorable. Superman and General Lane that they can’t get to Superman’s mother without planting her consciousness into a willing volunteer. Lana volunteers, which is far more awkward than she realizes. Seriously, how would you feel if your ex-girlfriend volunteered to host the consciousness of your dead mother?

Lois tries to explain to Lana that this isn’t her responsibility or fault. Lana disagrees. At every turn, she has allowed someone to get hurt by Edge, including her own husband. She’s going to help fix this.

Sarah, Jordan, and Jonathan try to get in to see not Kyle. They’re unsuccessful until Jonathan goes off on General Lane again, and he lets them in. Sarah soon realizes that the man in the cage is not her father. While making a creepy villain speech, not Kyle makes it clear that he is specifically gunning for Jonathan.

Superman thanks Lana and tries to talk her out of doing what she’s about to do. It doesn’t work and she does it anyway.

And ya, it’s just as weird as you’d imagine. She explains that she was genetically matched with Zeta-Ro, but she fell in love with Jor-El and ended that relationship. Essentially, Kryptonians were heavy on genetic engineering and didn’t reproduce in the way that we would consider normal. Edge would have been created in the Kryptonian manner, simply using the parent’s genetic material, whereas Clark was birthed in the way we would consider traditional. Anyway, Clark tells Lara about Martha Kent, because she was afraid that he would grow up without a mother.

Jonathan refuses to apologize for telling Sarah the truth and sends Jordan over to comfort her.

Edge and his crony assistant realize that the Eradicator is gone and decide to enact their plan now.

Lara explains that the Eradicator works like a computer, uploading the consciousness of the Kryptonian to its host. It was never intended to subjugate a race. In order to reverse the process, everyone would have to go through the process again. They need a quicker way to do this, but they don’t have a big enough energy source. That will have to wait though, as Clark hears Edge and has to go.

Edge explains that he was not welcomed when he came to Earth. He was hunted, and hidden, and experimented on. He believes that humans are inferior and need to be eliminated. The person that would really be useful right now is Kara, but there isn’t any mention of her at all. I get that because I want this show kept as far away from that show as possible, but she also knows what it’s like to lose a world, so she might be able to get through to him. John Henry Irons will probably be the one to work in this capacity, because he tried to save the world after his was destroyed, not commit genocide.

Jordan apologizes to Sarah for missing her performance. She forgives him because she believes that she was dealing with all the craziness going on outside. That’s kind of true and so he doesn’t correct her.

Then their waiter flies out of the diner, and so do a lot of other people. This is Edge’s army and it’s coming for Clark. He flies away and they follow. He tells General Lane that he’s going to use himself as an energy resource, releasing the equivalent of a solar flare. General Lane doesn’t like it, as he’ll be out for days, but they don’t have any better ideas.

General Lane evacuates everyone. Jordan and Jonathan can’t find Sarah, who is with not Kyle, but Lois gets them out of there anyway.

It works, and it’s phenomenal. There is the little question of what happened to the people suspended in the air, but they all appear to be fine. The only people that aren’t accounted for are Edge and Clark.

Clark crawls his way to the Fortress of Solitude.

Edge reconvenes with his minion, whose consciousness has been there far too long to give up now. He still has a plan.

So wow. Wow wow wow. This show is honestly incredible, and I look forward to the next episode. What’s the rest of Edge’s plan? 8.5/10

[lopithecusfanfiction]

The End of the Star: Chapter Six

Author: Lopithecus Pairing: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne Rating: Explicit Word Count: 2328 Alternate: AO3, fanfiction.net Author's Note: N/A

Chapter Six:

~2 Months Later~

Bruce is lying in bed with Kal. Both of them are under the covers. Bruce doesn’t need the blankets to keep warm, his full body flushes have him almost sweating. He is surprised Kal hasn’t noticed them yet. Kal has been spending the nights in Bruce’s room with increasing frequency. Bruce would crawl in alongside the Kryptonian sleeping in his bed, after studying the problem of the planet’s destabilizing core. There was no contact, nothing happens between the two. They would just lie there talking to each other. Sharing small things about each other until they would finally fall asleep. When they woke, they would still be separate. Bruce considers that to be a small miracle considering how much of a pull Kal seems to have on his body. He didn’t feel it would be a good idea to make that fact known to the Kryptonian. He had a hard enough time admitting it to himself in the beginning. After being on Krypton for months, Kal is the only bright spot in this whole ordeal.

Kal would often wake up first. Bruce would wake to Kal’s alien blue eyes staring at him. A light pink dusted the Kryptonian’s cheeks, and Bruce would have to stop himself from reaching over to touch. He wanted to kiss that rosy pink skin, feel it under his lips. Bruce would often wonder what Kal’s skin felt like. Do Kryptonians have to shave as often as humans? He knows Zod and Nam-Ek sport beards and mustaches, but Kal and Jor-El have no facial hair. In the morning, no tell tale shadow graced Kal’s jaw.

Occasionally, Bruce would be lucky enough to wake up before Kal. He would relish every opportunity to look his fill. Kal mumbles in his sleep, but his features stayed calm and relaxed. Neither does Kal snore. The curly hair always, always, ends up tangled in the morning. Bruce struggles to resist running his hands through the dark hair, under the pretext of untangling it. He just wanted to feel if it was as soft as it looked. When Kal isn’t mumbling, his lips are parted and small puffs of breath come out as he breathes. Kryptonians breathe differently than humans; slower and less frequently. It’s a strange sight, but one Bruce enjoys nonetheless.

“So, Zhi is yes, zha is no.”

“Correct,” Kal says, holding a hand up in order to inspect the growing fingernails. Bruce notes that Kal seems to be biting them less over the recent months, but that wasn’t stopping the Kryptonian from nibbling on them now. He had to stop himself from reaching out and pulling the hand away from the perfect teeth.

“Okay. Rraos is why, nahkluv is thank you, kluv is thanks, dol is bad, while udol is evil.” Kal nods, biting the index fingernail. Bruce’s hand twitches at the sight. “Ukr is father and ieiu is mother. Erosh: bem is hello and goodbye. Mehl is council and sokao is please but it’s used as a prefix.”

Kal shrugs, releasing the fingernail from between white teeth. “Can use alone if need.”

“Got it.” Bruce runs through a few other words that Kal has been teaching him. He’s nowhere near being fluent in Kryptonian, but knowing what the words mean when Kal uses them, helps with understanding Kal, despite the language barrier.

Bruce has been trying very hard to keep his feelings for Kal at bay. So far, he’s failed miserably. Every time he sees Kal, he wants to be closer, to talk with, and touch, the man. God, does he want to touch! His attraction to Kal isn’t purely sexual either. It’s emotional as well. He loves listening to Kal talk, share stories about childhood on an alien world, and about Krypton itself. He loves how intelligent Kal is, the confidence displayed alongside clumsiness, and uncertainty. He just enjoys the Kryptonian’s company, and his heart won’t let him stop.

Bruce yawns. “We go sleep now?” Kal asks him.

“I think so. It’s going to be another busy day tomorrow looking at things I don’t understand.”

Kal frowns at him, and Bruce wants to kiss it away. “Find anything?”

Bruce shakes his head. “I’m sorry Kal. I don’t think we are close to finding anything to save Krypton.”

“I believe in you.”

Bruce stares at him, Kal stares back. Bruce sighs. “I wish your father wasn’t so stubborn.”

“I tell already. Ukr not fault. Mehl not listen to Ukr when tell need evacuation plan. Brainiac say not need one. Brainiac believe in you too. Mehl listen to Brainiac, not Ukr.”

Bruce runs his hand down his face, rubbing his eyes vigorously. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. I’m just frustrated.”

“You find something. Soon I sure.” Kal smiles, and suddenly grabs Bruce’s hand. This is the first time they’ve touched while lying in the bed together. “Get sleep. Both tired. Need rest.” Bruce nods in agreement, a small smile quirking his lips. He reluctantly releases Kal’s hand and turns over onto his side. He feels Kal settle down, leaving a good two inches between them. He can feel Kal’s slow breaths on the back of his neck. Bruce swallows and closes his eyes, willing his sudden arousal to go away, and for sleep to come.

*~~~*

In the morning, Kal and Bruce walk to the research lab together. Jor-El found out about the two spending time together about a month ago. Bruce can tell the Kryptonian seethes, every time Bruce and Kal are together. Bruce has been wondering how long it will take until Jor-El attempts to put a stop to it. It doesn’t help that ever since Kal introduced Bruce to Kara, a younger cousin, Kara has been wanting Bruce to teach her English.

“Bruce!” Kara comes running up to him, bouncing on her feet. “Hello! Correct?”

He nods at the ten year old, ruffling her blonde hair. “Yes, hello is the proper greeting.”

She speaks in Kryptonian excitedly to Kal who smiles widely back at her. She holds up a few pictures that she has drawn to Bruce. “Cat, dog, lizard, bunny, and, uh…” She looks at her picture, puzzling over it, “hamster!”

Bruce chuckles. “All correct, Kara. Good job.”

Her smile is wide and proud and she turns once more to Kal, speaking in Kryptonian again. Kal turns to him. “She want know if come tonight for extra lesson?”

Bruce shrugs. “I don’t see why not.” When Kal doesn’t tell her this, he realizes Kal has no clue what he means. “Yes, that’s fine,” he clarifies, and Kal informs Kara of the good news.

Kara bounces on her feet more, clutching her pictures close to her chest. “Nahkluv! Nahkluv!” She throws herself at Bruce, and wraps her hands around his waist, giving him a tight hug. Bruce pets her upper back in return.

When someone clears their throat, Kara quickly backs up with her head hung low in shame. They all face a glaring, angry Jor-El. The man furiously commands Kara in Kryptonian, she nods quickly and runs off. Kal is glaring as Jor-El turns away from Bruce. Suddenly, the pair are arguing in Kryptonian, and Bruce is extremely uncomfortable. It reminds him of when he was a young boy, and his mother made him go to another boy’s home. The parents didn’t speak English, they only spoke Russian. There had been an argument, he didn’t know what it was over, and it made him feel awkward at the time. He sat with the boy in the living room while the parents argued furiously in the kitchen, in a language he didn’t understand.

Kal’s arms cross over the broad chest defiantly. “Zha!”

Jor-El is practically grinding those white teeth together. “Kal-El.”

"Zha!” Kal retorts, adding a few other words in Kryptonian that Bruce isn’t familiar with. Jor-El’s eyes narrow and the annoyed gaze travels to Bruce. Bruce swallows under the scrutiny. With a deep breath that turns into an annoyed huff, Jor-El turns and leaves.

Bruce looks at Kal in question. “What the hell was that about?”

Kal frowns, watching Jor-El depart, before heading towards the research lab once more. “Father not want me spend time with you. He really not want Kara spend time with you.”

“Okay, he has been on our case about spending time together for two months now. What is his big deal?”

“I think because you human. Not want mix of species.” The smooth cheeks turn surprisingly red. Bruce still finds it irresistible. “Also think I get too close, too attached to you.”

Bruce crosses his arms. “Well, that’s just too bad, isn’t it? You’re my friend Kal, and I’m not going to let him stop us.”

Kal smiles warmly at him. “That what I tell for me. He not happy. He yell later at me.”

“You can tell him from me, I don’t have to listen to his orders or commands, I’m not a Kryptonian citizen.”

“Could be.”

Bruce raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Kal’s head shakes, looking to the floor and blushing hard. A small, shy smile is on that face. “Nothing. Not matter.”

“No tell me.”

Kal looks at him nervously. “Could become Kryptonian citizen if want. Stay here.”

“Because you want to stay friends?” Kal’s cheeks turn darker, and the black haired man nods. “I’m sorry Kal I can’t.” Kal’s head stays bowed low, and that sunshine smile turns into a frown. “Not because I don’t want to be your friend but because I can’t leave my family back on Earth forever. It’s bad enough I’ve been gone for so long as it is.”

Bruce can tell he has hurt Kal, but he has spoken the truth. He misses his family, a lot. He thinks about them everyday. Bruce wonders what they’re doing, and he dwells on whether they have stopped looking for him yet. Do they assume he’s dead? Bruce wants to see them, how much Jason must have grown by now, if Dick got the promotion he was hoping for.  He wants to eat Alfred’s home made pizza and not grumble about how it’s bad for his health. Bruce just wants his family, to hold onto them and never let them go.

But he also knows Kal’s family isn’t like that. Kal isn’t as close to Jor-El as Bruce is to Alfred. Kal’s mother, though kind, doesn’t show much affection, outside of simple hugs and kisses on the forehead. Even Kara isn’t all that close to Kal, occasionally having a conversation longer than two words. He also knows Kal doesn’t have any friends, apart from that one night time visitor when Kal can’t make it to Bruce’s room. Not that Bruce considers that Kryptonian to be Kal’s friend. Not when Kal had told him this friend is hurtful and causes pain. Bruce knows that kind of loneliness, had felt it when he walked into the Manor for the first time, after his parents had been killed. He didn’t have any friends at school, and he was not as close to Alfred then as he is now. He can’t imagine feeling that kind of pain everyday.

He opens his mouth to apologize to Kal, to comfort the sullen Kryptonian, but Kal beats him to it. Bruce is given a small, forced smile, and Kal is obviously struggling with emotion, given away by shiny eyes. “It okay. I understand. Family important.” It breaks Bruce’s heart. He doesn’t want Kal to look so sad. He feels torn between his family and Kal.

“Kal-”

“Bruce, I be okay. I miss you but… move on. Dhugh?” The smile Bruce receives is real, and he knows Kal had messed up on purpose, in order to brighten the mood. Bruce’s heart warms. Kal is too precious and he doesn’t like hurting him. “I mean, right?”

Bruce grins back. “Dhugh,” he says in Kryptonian because he knows Kal likes to hear him speak it.

With one last smile, Kal grabs a hold of his hand and starts pulling him along. “Come. Lex be wait.” Bruce holds that warm hand in his own, wishing he never had to let it go.

“Waiting.” Kal looks back at him, one eyebrow raised. “You sometimes forget to add the -ing to words. Just something I’ve noticed.”

Kal looks confused at what Bruce means but he answers anyway. “I try remember next time.” They enter the room, and as always, Lex is already there. “Ukr also not happy no progress. He want you speed up.”

“Then tell him to get his ass in here and help us,” Bruce mumbles. Kal’s head tilts. “Don’t actually tell him that.”

“Brucie, would you stop flirting already and get over here?” Lex calls, head bent over a tablet.

Bruce growls low in his throat, however he is too far away from Lex for the billionaire to hear. Bruce rolls his eyes, giving Kal’s hand a squeeze. “Duty calls.”

He starts to let go of Kal’s hand, but the grip remains strong. “Wait Bruce. What flirting mean?”

Bruce feels his cheeks flush hot. “I’ll, uh, tell you some other time.”

“Why get red?”

“I-it’s nothing.” He pulls his hand from Kal’s grasp. “I better get working.”

“Okay…” Kal’s head tilts in confusion. “I just be over there.” Pointing over to the usual spot when the Kryptonian stays in the room while Bruce and Lex work.

“Okay,” Bruce says, turning around and making a hasty retreat. He tries to will his blush to go away but he can feel Kal’s eyes on him. He groans, rubbing a hand across his face. This is bad. This is really, really bad. If even Lex has noticed his attraction to Kal, it means he is getting complacent.

Lex eyes him in annoyance, probably noticing Bruce’s red cheeks. Bruce gets to work, desperately trying to ignore Kal’s gaze. He really doesn’t want to have to explain his blush to the Kryptonian, or the reasons why.

Later that day, Lara brings them cookies.

A/N: Thanks for reading!!

[kl-writes]

Stable DC Timeline (Part 2/5)

At this point, I started thinking about what their ‘current’ ages should be. I see Flashpoint as the end of the initial DC Universe, so that’s the starting point for the stable DC Timeline’s ‘current’ era, or at least the point in time from where stories should develop and we start to put in new thoughts and ideas. Flashpoint takes place in mid-1974 (Unadj. 2011).

Batfamily:

Bruce Wayne: 55

·         Dick Grayson: 37

·         Helena Wayne: 27

·         Jason Todd: 26

·         Timothy Drake: 24

·         Cassandra Cain: 23

·         Damian Wayne: 22

·         Duke Thomas: 15 (Existence uncertain, he’s post-Flashpoint. His first appearance would be mid-1975, and we consider the current time to be 1974).

Selina Kyle:  55

Katherine Kane: 34

Barbara Gordon: 38 (Puts her at 16 at her first appearance)

Stephanie Brown: 23 (Puts her at 13 at her first appearance, and 17 at the birth of her daughter)

·         Unknown Daughter – Adopted by someone?: 6

Alfred Pennyworth: 75 (First appearance was in 1946. However, he was with the Waynes presumably during the upbringing of Bruce, so I used the minimum age of 20 at Bruce’s birthday, making his birthday 1899.)

Luke Fox: 19 (Post-Flashpoint)

Harper Row: 14 (Post-Flashpoint)

Speedsters:

Jay Garrick: 55

Barry Allen: 47

Wally West: 35

Iris West II: 3

Jai West: 3

Bart Allen: ??? (1966 would be his first appearance. Speedforce affected his aging, putting his birthday at 2 years prior, despite appearing to be 12. His effective age is about 20 as of 1974, so his civilian records likely have his birth year as ‘1956.’ These are fake, though, as he’s from the future).

 For a lot of the more modern comics, the ages of Damian and Timothy seem a bit too old, given their personalities. Even Dick seems a bit too old with this timeline. We can see that although the adjusted timeline works well for the oldest characters in DC, when it comes to legacy characters, the timeline isn’t perfect. It doesn’t help that in some stories, Dick and Wally are seen as young adult peers, and in others, Wally is seen as the father of a young family. This is where the stable timeline starts to change how characters are perceived. This is also why I wanted to minimize any changes to characters I might make to force them to fit the timeline, because introducing a stable timeline will force character growth and maturity.

Another thing I thought about was making certain character deaths permanent. Superman came back to life, Batman came back to life, and Jason Todd came back to life. My thought is, that unless their return created new stories (Like with Jason Todd), maybe they should just stay dead. This means that Superman died in 1965 (Unadj. 1992), Batman died in 1973 (Unadj. 2008), and Barry Allen died in 1962 (Unadj. 1986).

This doesn’t stop their stories. Wally West as the Flash has been thoroughly explored- in many ways, he absolutely trumped Jay Garrick and Barry Allen as the Scarlet Speedster. Dick Grayson as Batman was also interesting- he became Batman out of necessity, to stop the battle for the cowl. His dynamic with Damian was interesting. Given that Damian is “now” 22, perhaps Dick Grayson would step down from the role of Batman, and go back to being Nightwing. Damian always wanted to be Batman’s successor. Jason Todd, Timothy Drake, and Cassandra Cain all seem as though they’ve gone on their own paths of heroism now.

Superman’s permanent death would also be interesting. It was Superman himself that stopped the fighting of the supermen. Had he not intervened, perhaps Steel would have become Metropolis’s hero. Maybe constant battles between Lex Luthor and Superboy would have opened up new avenues- it’s not a straight Darth Vader, given that Superboy’s only a clone, but Lex Luthor has shown some affection for Superboy in the past. What would happen if Lex were able to establish a more permanent sort of mind control? What if he did so, and essentially took control of Metropolis’s ‘Superman,’ being able to play both sides of the board? There’s definitely a lot of room for stories like this.

Those were the biggest 3 deaths at the top of my head, but there were many others where the character came back to life, but didn’t necessarily have to. I’m not counting when they came back within a few months (Like with Wally West or Guy Gardner), of course, just the deaths that were “supposed” to stick- Bart Allen II, Supergirl, Hal Jordan, Martian Manhunter, Captain Boomerang I, etc.

Another thing we can do is look at deaths of minor characters, especially those around Final Crisis and Flashpoint, and determine whether we want those deaths to ‘stick’ or not. For example, Weather Wizard’s son, Josh Jackam, was killed off during Final Crisis. Owen Mercer, son of the first Captain Boomerang, was killed during Blackest Night. Both of these characters were potential ‘legacy’ characters. The Rogues don’t have many of these, so it might make more sense if they didn’t die, especially since their deaths didn’t have any lasting effects on the story.

Rogues (And kids):

Leonard Snart: 47

Lisa Snart: 37 (DEAD)

Hartley Rathaway: 46

Mark Mardon: 46

·         Josh Jackam: 5 (Dead?)

Sam Scudder: 46 (DEAD)

Evan McCullock: 31

James Jesse: 45 (DEAD)

·         Billy Hong: 17

Axel Walker: 24

Digger Harkness: 45 (Dead?)

·         Owen Mercer: 23 (Dead?)

Roscoe Dillon: 45 (DEAD)

Mick Rory: 44

Roy G. Bivolo: 35 (DEAD)

Owen and Josh are soft deaths for the reasons listed above. Digger came back to life, but he should probably just be dead-dead like Superman and Batman. Looking at this, it’s kind of depressing how many of my favorite characters, the Rogues, are dead.

If we were to look at a modern (1974) Rogues, we might also consider Wally West’s hallucination in the Flash v2 #140, with Cadet Cold, Mirror Miss, Heat-Whelp, Weather Whiz-Kid and Captain Slingshot as children of the Rogues. Cadet Cold would either be Leonard’s kid, or perhaps an unknown child of Lisa and Roscoe, who was perhaps sent to an orphanage. Mirror Miss would be Evan’s, Heat-Whelp would be Mick’s, Weather Whiz-Kid is more than likely Josh Jackam, and Captain Slingshot is Owen’s. Billy Hong, AKA Makhalli, with his magical powers, would likely become a superhero of some sort, if so, probably mentored by Hartley. But all of this is just speculation!

 The Luthors and the Supermen:

Clark Kent/Kal-El: 56 (DEAD)

Jonathan Samuel Kent: 1? (Existence uncertain, as he’s a post-convergence character who is the son of the New Earth Clark Kent)

Christopher Kent/Lor-Zod: 22

Kara Zor-El (Supergirl): 46 (DEAD)

Kara Zor-L (Powergirl): 39

Alexander Joseph “Lex” Luthor: 55

·         Lena Luthor II: 6

·         Connor Kent/Kon-El: 9, he was “born” in 1965 with the body of a teenager, so his biological age is anywhere from 22 – 28. (DEAD)

·         Jerry White: 32

Lena Luthor I: 45

·         Lori Luthor 17, high schooler. Honestly, this one could be anywhere from 14-19, she only appeared in one storyline before Flashpoint.

One thing that I didn’t realize before was that Superboy was yet another person who died and came back to life 3 years later. So my remarks earlier about the dynamic between Lex Luthor and Connor might not apply, depending on where you set the limit on how long until death becomes “permanent.” My initial thought was 1 year max, but maybe this should change. I’m not quite sure what to do with the two Karas, but it’s entirely possible that Superman has 2 cousins.

 The Marvels and the Sivanas

Billy Batson: Biologically 23/Chronologically 42

Mary Bromfield: 23/42

Freddy Freeman: 23/42

Thaddeus Sivana, Sr.: 56/75 (Assuming a starting age of 40)

Magnificus Sivana: 36/55

Beautia Sivana: 36/55

Georgia Sivana: 23/42

Thaddeus Sivana, Jr.: 23/42

The Wizard: 9000+

This is another special case. The original run was from 1941 – 1953, and due to a long story about legal issues, didn’t have another ongoing series until 1973, and after Crisis on Infinite Earths, in 1991. In 1973, Billy had been gone for 20 years without aging, due to being exiled by Dr. Sivana, placed into suspended animation. In 1991, the story was that the Wizard froze Fawcett City in time to protect it from the encroaching evils of the outside world. As a result, between 1953 and 1991, we can say that the Marvel family didn’t age. Even adjusted, that’s 1945 – 1964, or about 19 years taken from Billy’s life. Billy began Captain Marvel at age 7 – 14, depending on the version. If we aim low, and take into account the lost years, then in 1964 his age is still only 13, which fits him being a child hero for that series.

The Sivana family, like the rest of Fawcett, only lost 9 years.

Edit: Upon re-reading, I found that the sivanas also lost 19 years. I adjusted the ages accordingly.

[hellyeahheroes]

Cleansing the Crimes of Old Krypton: Comparisons Between Superman #1-6 and Supergirl #1-6

Ever since the rise of the comic-book anti-heroes, Superman and his family were positioned by writers in the opposition to them. This is a natural progression for those who understand the character’s roots as the hero of the little folk. Such qualities are resonating with the liberal and socialist ideals. Meanwhile, antiheroes often voice ideas that would be very terrifying if said by real-life politicians. The efficiency being presented as more important than human rights or collateral damage. The idea that the justice system only stops the protagonist from doing what’s necessary. An approach where stopping the bad guys is more important than protecting the innocent. These ideas can easily be applied to politics. And as a result, lead to authoritarian or outright fascist thinking. Don’t get me wrong. Some people claim if Batman won’t kill the Joker, he has the blood of Joker’s future victims on his hands. I’m not saying they’re cheering Donald Trump saying federal judges who overruled his ban on Muslim Immigrants are to blame if a terrorist attack happens. But we need to recognize the parallels.

Many successful antihero stories were built on exploring the consequences of this approach. You can find those themes everywhere from The Authority and V for Vendetta to Code Geass. Sadly, lately, we have a continuous increase of those problems being glossed over. And not only for actual antiheroes but even more upstanding characters. Especially in movies. Once paragons of virtue on big screen become terrifying. And yet we're supposed to cheer when they commit atrocities. Violating borders of a foreign country, intruding on people’s privacy, destroying an entire city in battle, murdering people. It all becomes not only justified but even glorified. They say it’s okay for “good guys” to do those things. Because otherwise, we’re all going to die. Because they’ll stop once the danger is gone, pinky swear. Because only the bad guys get hurt and killed. So relax and handle all the power and no accountability to those guys, they need it to protect you.

Superman stories often tackled this issue. Sometimes results is a compelling, meaningful voice in the discussion. Other times we get an awful, hypocritical story. That is given praise regardless because it sticks it up to the other side. “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice And American Way” and it’s adaptation “Superman vs the Elite” are a prime example. There Superman proves wrong the Authority knockoffs who claim that might makes right. By beating the living shit out of them, thus proving that might do indeed makes right…. if you’re Superman. Thankfully, two stories I want to talk about do not have this problem.

For inspirations, both stories reach back. To a tale of 4 individuals that tried to replace Superman after his supposed death - Reign of Supermen. Superman books under Rebirth banner, in general, try to recreate the feel of that era. Superman is dead and his replacements start showing up. Kenan Kong in the New Super-Man, Lana Lang in Superwoman, even Lex Luthor dons the cape. But DC managed to have their cake and eat it too. The main Superman book still has it's Man of Steel. It's Superman from another Universe, with wife and son. He is more in line with old DC Continuity, compared to Superman that died. Meanwhile, Supergirl reaches to feel more like beloved TV Series, even if Kara is still a teenager. To connect with Reign of Supermen both books use a different way. They reach for its “bad” Supermen - Eradicator and Cyborg Superman. They also revamp them to have them fit a specific purpose.

Or use earlier revamps, as is the case with Cyborg Superman. Before Flashpoint this name was held by Hank Henshaw, a scientist with a grudge. In New 52 he is the man who had sent Kara to Earth from Argo, last surviving city of Krypton. Her father, Zor-El. He failed to save the whole colony and is desperate to undo past failures. He turns dead corpses of his citizens and even wife into cyborgs like him. But to regain sentience the need to consume life force of intelligent beings. Then Zor-El hears Kara cry in her moment of doubt. She question she’ll even be able to fit on Earth and how strange and, well, alien, our customs are for her. Her father doesn’t hesitate. He decides to invade Earth, harvest humanity to resurrect Argo and take his daughter back.

Eradicator was absent from New 52 era of DC, to resurface in Rebirth, with a simplified origin. Before Flashpoint it was an alien A.I. obsessed over Krypton. In Rebirth Eradicators were created by General Zod. It was a mechanical police force used against both criminals and political rivals. This one came back to life through contact with the blood of Superman’s son, Jonathan. And then vowed to protect and restore Krypton’s legacy. Starting with the last heir of House of El, Superman himself. Clark is reluctant to trust the robot when it offers to examine Jon’s health and fluctuating powers. Turns out it was a good call. Eradicator decides that being half-human half-Kryptonian, Jon is impure. And that the best way to heal him is to eradicate human part of his DNA. Jon would become fully Kryptonian, but also cease to exist as a person he was up to this point.

Both those villains have a history of representing darker shades of Krypton. In old continuity, Eradicator was a go-to explanation for every Krypton-related bad thing. Villainous interpretation of Zor-El is nothing new either. Before Flashpoint his whole motivation was "He hates his brother, Jor-El". He didn't send Kara away to save her, but to make her kill Kal-El. He had brainwashed his own daughter to make her a weapon against her cousin.

If anything, this version of him comes off as, if not sympathetic, then at least pitiable. Flashbacks show us he was a caring, loving father, who sent Kara away to protect her. It makes it much more tragic to see how far he has fallen. Even Kara starts to feel bad for him over the course of the story. She recognizes in him a man haunted by his failures, whose actions are a desperate try to fix everything. But Supergirl still calls him out. She points out that he doesn't care about anything but himself anymore. If he did, he’d see how twisted his “solution” actually is and try to find a better one. The results were more important than how he achieved them. And things like mass murder became merely means to an end. It doesn't matter how many he has to kill. It doesn't matter he turned his wife and friends into mechanical monsters. Once he gets them back, everything will be back to normal, he tells himself. He expects his wife and daughter to go back to their old life and ignore all the blood on his hands. He is delusional. When his wife regains part of her mind, she sacrifices herself to save Kara's adoptive mother. She'd rather be dead than part of this. Does it get to him? No. because for Zor-El it doesn't matter how appalling his methods are. Only that he wins.

Both Zor-El and Eradicator are operating on racist and xenophobic assumptions. They see everyone who is not Kryptonian as inferior and disposable. The whole idea of a Kryptonian living with human family is appalling to them. Zor-El several times states he never meant for Kara to stay on Earth forever. He expects her to simply abandon her new home, now that it served its purpose. He also mentions in passing wars betweenKrypton and other races. It's implied they were as horrible as what he is doing now. Meanwhile, what is Eradicator? A Kryptonian version of police brutality and law-enforcement being used for political reasons. All these factors make the reader ask a question neither of the villains bothered with. Should you bring old Krypton back? If Kryptonians were warmongering xenophobes, then why should they return? Who is to say if they do, they won’t go down the same path again? Neither Eradicator nor Zor-El makes a strong case against this argument. Not when they’re willing to stomp into the ground anyone who stands in their way.

We live in times when people in power tell us we need to give up parts of our freedoms for our own protection. That we need to do whatever it takes, no matter how unethical, to protect our way of life from “the enemy”. Even if it means crushing rights of those different from us. This is no different from many anti-heroes in comics. How often do we see one accusing more restrained superheroes of not having what it takes to “get the job done”? Or claim not only are they too weak, but people they protect are dumb masses easy to sway and control? Those themes are still being explored by creators of both books. Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason do it through later Superman villain, the Prophecy. Lord Havok and the Extremists serve this role in Steve Orlando’s JLA. But it isn’t enough to have heroes beat this type of villains. What is even more important is how they beat them. As I mentioned above, in that kind of stories it’s easy to come off as a hypocrite, if you play your hand wrong.

Luckily, even on that ground, the stories are on point. Neither Superman nor Supergirl can defeat their enemies alone. It is the strength of family, friends, and allies that allow them to overcome this threat. As Kara says, she isn’t on Earth to inspire humans – they inspire each other. Threat Eradicator and Zor-El present cannot be defeated by an individual. It needs the united effort of everyone it threatens. Even average people like Cat Grant or Bibbo Bibbowski have their part to play. It’s love, family, and unity that save the day.

And in true classic fashion, they are both shown mercy. While Eradicator’s physical form is destroyed, Superman’s very aware that’s not enough to kill him. Meanwhile, Cyborg Superman ends immobilized and imprisoned. The story ends with Kara hoping to find a way to save her father. If you follow solicits you know they’ll both be back in May’s Action Comics. Some might complain about the never-ending nature of superhero comics. How no victory is ever meaningful because the villain will come back. It’s one of the major problems raised by supporters of the antiheroes. But looking at those villains a metaphor for fascist tendencies, it works. Fascism can be beaten, but it cannot be killed. It will always find a way to creep back under a different name. The weakness of anti-hero stories lies in them giving the reader a fake sense of finality. They tell us we have to do whatever it takes, even if it’s immoral and unethical, to win against the evil. That once we beat it, it’s gone and we can go back to normal. But that’s not true. Evil is forever and it will keep coming at you in new forms. We can see it in today’s world as well. Not so long ago many folks would say fascism died when WWII was over. Allies victory over this evil was final and definite. The questionable choices made by them like bombing civilian cities, were justified because fascism is now dead. Once put down it will never rise to power again. And then Richard Spencer and Steve Bannon started making the news…..

The purpose of this text is not to bash on fans of the antihero characters. But when working with them it's important to show their questionable aspects. Otherwise, they can become propaganda tools for the worst kind of people.

[angstandhappiness]

INTERESTING

MAWS s2 thoughts before the finale:

I’ve been thinking over what we’ve seen of Krypton this season. Mostly how, even though it feels like a lot, we haven’t actually seen much at all.

Notably, most of the information we have received about Krypton is actually sourced from Brainiac, which- well. Brainiac is a certified liar, or at the very least, has a very skewed perspective of Krypton and what it was supposed to be. I do not doubt that Krypton was at one point a warmongering planet that benefited off of others’ suffering (Jor-El’s account backs this up,) but dialogue from Brainiac in 2x08 suggests that, towards the end at least, Krypton was moving away from this and pursuing a more peaceful existence.

(Speculatively, this could have angered some Kryptonians ((it’s been 20-something years and Brainiac still sounds pissed off about it)) and instigated a coup that then led to the attempted invasions against Darkseid/Apokolips and Earth, and we know how that went.)

The images we see of Krypton show the Kryptonians with superpowers on their home planet. But we don’t? Actually know? If that’s completely true?? Because it seems strange that the show would have this, but keep the red sun weakness. Did Krypton not have a red sun in this universe?

Pushing on that, the images of that Krypton are from the Black Mercy, which Kara outright states is Brainiac’s domain. The world Clark is trapped in is based off of the one Kara shows him in 2x05, but we don’t actually know where that vision originated from. It couldn’t have come from Kara, because she was also an infant when Krypton was destroyed and would have no natural memory of it. So whose memory is that? Is it a memory at all? How do we know Brainiac didn’t tamper with it?

(Like in all likelihood it was just a throwaway line, but my brain keeps getting stuck on Clark noticing Ma and Pa’s doppelgängers in Kara’s Krypton, and I keep wondering if maybe that was a result of Clark’s subconscious infecting the simulation because it isn’t an actual, tangible memory, but Kara doesn’t seem to notice anything unusual with the memory so maybe I’m stuck on nothing.)

More on that, is how all of this interacts with what we see of Krypton from Jor-El’s memories. Admittedly he gives us very little, but the contrast is pretty stark. And maybe it’s just because the planet was mere moments from exploding, but the Krypton we see back in 1x02 is a wreck, in very stark contrast to the peaceful paradise that was Krypton’s Last Days as shown in 2x05. Even more notably, neither Lara nor Jor-El do anything superhuman in Jor-El’s account. Think about that. They are rushing to save their infant son’s life, but they aren’t using flight or super speed: they are very much earthbound.

Now to be fair, there’s another explanation. Krypton was already a spacefaring civilization before the fall, so they definitely discovered how their biology reacted to different suns. Maybe they created some kind of device that could simulate the yellow sun on Krypton (like the red solar shielding around Cadmus in s1) that “blessed” all Kryptonians with superpowers; and then this device was damaged/shut off in the time before the planet’s destruction.

Like it could be both: the above point being true and Brainiac still omitting/manipulating things about how Krypton was, maybe to better preserve his idea of what it should have been.