#Krypton gender utopia when

[jesncin]

Idk queer kryptonian have always intrigued me, never being mentioned in canon, but they should do something about them in canon with Jon being out and all... I can easily imagine Crush (Xiomara Rojas, lesbain daughter of Lobo) asking Kara about Krypton's gay scene sgsjksks

I don't know about canon, but we can certainly have fun takes in AUs about it haha. I know it's because Krypton as a concept is made by us, human beings with very rigid gender norms via the western gender binary and what not, so Krypton generally tends to be imagined in a very "like us, but futuristic" way- but I think it's much more fun to imagine an alien species with a whole different set of rules over how gender and sexuality function in society. An entirely different framework alien (hah) to us. Like think less gay couples or a gender neutral bathroom and more a society that never considered a binary to begin with. What would that world look like, and how would characters like Jon or even Conner react learning about this?

Canon will probably never do this because this would imply a nuanced understanding of the intersection between culture and queer identity and well! Haha.

[fazedlight]

Krypton vs. Gallifrey on Homophobia

In my mind, Krypton is a fascist state:

Quashes disagreement (eg the knowledge of Krypton's doom)

Controls sex and reproduction; eugenics (Matrix)

Required algorithm approval for marriage (until the Matricomp became sentient oops)

Prison where all the prisoners get tortured by phantoms

Has a caste (Guild) system

Facism loves bigotry. It's an easy way to maintain control, if powerless people are too busy fighting each other to realize that their government has betrayed them. Patriarchy is particularly convenient - often bundling sexism/homophobia/transphobia. Krypton already has rules around gender categories (consider: the names Kara Zor-El vs. Kal-El), so I think it's a reasonable interpretation that homophobia could be among those rules.

(I occasionally see the idea that Krypton would be beyond bias, but I don't think technological advancement means moral advancement - sometimes, technology just automates bias.)

Gallifrey, on the other hand, seems to be described as far more democratic. While there's certainly room for it to fall into "all utopias are actually dystopias" (Timeless Child 👀?), it doesn't fit the same type of overt fascism to me. Likewise, I'm not sure it makes sense for homophobia to be a type of bias they have - Gallifreyans (like Coluans and Martians) aren't rooted in their bodies or gender expressions or anything else used by patriarchy to enact that sort of bias.

I think the Doctor (and the Master, etc) basically try to translate themselves into something that is legible in the human world, for ease of communication. But gender probably just... seems like a weird construct to them. Making decisions (like marriage) based on gender or similar attributes seems like a fool's errand, when those attributes can be completely different 12 times in their lives. Homophobia in that sort of world doesn't make sense to me.

I guess that's where I'm coming from, when it comes to homophobia and technologically-advanced societies. The faults in a society will depend on multiple factors, and I don't think we can evaluate it based purely on how futuristic they seem.

But these are just my headcanons - glued together from chaotically inconsistent canons! - so take them with a grain of salt.

[syppys-den]

Some of the major changed I've made to The Superman Mythos in Earth 1605

DISCLAIMER: while some of these were made because I think they're genuine improvements most of them were made purely for either self indulgence or for the sacred reason of "I dunno, I felt like it" so don't judge too too hard (but constructive criticism is very much welcome)

Smallville is in New Mexico instead of Kansas (though it's still in the Boonies)

Metropolis is in California instead of Delaware, mostly because I wanted to kind of wanted to make it more like old LA in that it's this city advertized as the shining city on a hill and "the place to be" that destroys you once you're there

Ma and Pa Kent's names have been changed from John and Martha to Jerry and Mia

adding onto that, Jerry is Jewish on his mother's side with Mia is black, and Mia's name is "Dunn" instead of Clark (as a nod to Siegel and Shuster's short story "Reign of The Superman" and yes I renamed John to Jerry as a not to the former, and to top it off his mother's maiden name was Siegel)

Kryptonians evolved a form of touch based telekinesis (or "Tactilekinesis" as it's called) to actually be able to stand up, move and walk around on Krypton (a world with 10-11x the gravity of Earth) and this ability is fueled by solar radiation, and despite their sun Rao being much dimmer and smaller, if one were to view the everyday strength of Kryptonians on their homeworld it'd look like a race of Captain Americas basically, now take a Kryptonian away from Krypton and to a planet with 0.1x its gravity and a star that is several times brighter and larger than Rao, and I think you can guess the obvious result

adding to that, Tactilekinesis also gave them the ability to keep themselves at consistent temperatures, which is why Heat Vision and Ice Breath are a thing (though Clark may eventually learn how to channel this ability in ways other than those two)

Krypton was basically a utopia, and instead of Noble Houses it had a system that could be called Guild Socialist Council Democracy (every major labor force had a guild and each guild was represented on a council)

the planet was destroyed by Brainiac, who here is basically just The Sentients from Warframe (sent to another star system to colonize it and then came back and killed its creators)

Jor El discovered Brainiac's intentions when he tried checking on its progress, and when he tried to show The Council, they didn't believe him because Brainiac covered its tracks

Lara was in the military guild (admittedly not a big change since she also was in The New 52, but I still like it as it makes her her own person)

instead of Kryptonian Women having their father or husband's first name as a middle name, all Kryptonian children have the names of their parent of the same sex (with some exceptions and caviats but we'll get to that) as their middles names until they reach adulthood (for example Clark's full Kryptonian name when he was born was "Kal Jor El")

because of the rule listed above I've had to change a couple things, for one, Zor El is now a woman but Alura is still one too, and Kara was born via something called a "Birthing Matrix" that can take one or more people's DNA and incubate a child

a similar process was done with Jor and Zor actually, but in their parent (haven't decided their gender yet, if they'll even have one) Seyg El's case, they opted to be a single parent instead

back to Earth, Clark eventually ends up in a romantic relationship (and eventually marriage) with Lois AND Jimmy

much like in MAWSM, Lois is Korean and Jimmy is Black

Kryptonians all have traits one would associate with The Autism Spectrum, so much so that Clark was diagnosed as such after being adopted by The Kents

nearly all Kryptonians could be called "Ethnically Ambiguous" based on their appearance

Kryptonian hair and eyes are almost always the same color, (though the former is obviously a much duller shade) and their eyes are usually Monochromatic (like the eyes of Tamaraneans in the 2003 Teen Titans series, or in Clark's Case the eyes of The Fremen in Dune)

Lex Luthor gives off more arrogant douchebag techbro vibes

Clark is more of a vigilante and more willing to break the law to get things done (actually that's an understatement, his main non supervillain targets are CEOs, crooked cops, corrupt politicians, hate groups etc.)

Krypto wasn't Clark's dog on Krypton, rather he was basically a labrat for Phantom Zone experimentation ages ago, and since the FTL drive on Clark's ship was based on The Phantom Zone, it ended up taking Krypto with him to Earth, at which point the beast became attached to him and became his sort of guardian angel

also Krypto looks less dog-like, a bit more wolf-like but a lot more alien

Kryptonians hatch from eggs and don't have mammary glands

[jesncin]

Hello! I'm not sure if you read the Actions Comics #1074, but I wanted to get this thought out of my head. Spoilers ahead!

Clark got sent back in time when Krypton has yet to be destroyed. After saving a stranger from a malfunctioning flying bot, he was sent to Krypton Hospital and, after he was given treatment, a meal, and new set of clothes, he immediately went to place Lara and Jor-El were.

I couldn't help but think his sudden visit to Lara and Joe-El reminded me of how in some Asian countries, you could just walk into your neighbor's home, usually without a prior notice, and just...eat with them, talk with them, and other activities. I remember someone talking about how in their country, they would go to their neighbor's home so much and help them with chores like laundry, they knew the days when that neighbor does which chores and always got meal going there.

In my country, the Philippines, my grandpa's neighbors would just appear with no notice, and give my grandparents company!

Indeed, Clark did send some sort of message about his visit to that Lara received, but he immediately left from the Krypton Hospital to the place of Lara and Jor-El's, and even though the Science Council is conceited, the communal spirit must be so strong for Lara to just accept this stranger's sudden and quick request for a meeting, even though she doesn't know them.

just...something about community and how people just helping each other because they want to, which bring about an easier life and also a joyful one

Anyway! What comics have you recently read? I think Absolute Superman is out now! Have you read Absolute Superman? What do you think about it?

I gave said Action Comics issue a quick read!

It's definitely not intentional in the story, but it does serve as a nice jumping off point to thinking of Krypton as having a type of collectivist communal mindset for treating thy neighbors. Part of what fascinates me about Kryptonian worldbuilding is exploring what the idea of a doomed utopia could be like. I'd personally love to see writers pull inspiration from cultural philosophies like Gotong Royong or Bayanihan, along with challenging human structures of gender, class and spirituality. An indigenous-inspired Krypton would be phenomenal.

But as long as DC Comics continues to be a reflection of a white dominant industry, we're not going to get anything like that soon. The Action Comics story is charming enough, I like seeing Clark try out Kryptonian clothes and mention that he has a language barrier, but the white imagination can only go so far without having lived it.

I have read Absolute Superman! My feelings about it are actually pretty similar. I'm glad I wasn't excited for AbsoSupes because it sounded boring from the promos, and turns out, it (the first issue at least) was indeed dull. Something Absolute Superman shares in common with Absolute Batman is that it doesn't stand on its own. These takes rely on being contrarian (what they call "subversive") to their source material. If I didn't know anything about Superman, I'd honestly think this was a pretty generic alien superhero story.

I notice most of the people enjoying AbsoSupes are praising it because they've done 80 years of Superman homework to get all its references and recognize what it's twisting. But I think an over-reliance on expecting your audience to do reading pre-requisites to even like a story at all is weak. Absolute Wonder Woman on the other hand, is an outstanding, mythic take on the character- no homework required, just genuinely compelling characterization and storytelling.

(spoilers for Absolute Superman #1)

To bring this back to my feelings on Krypton, Superman writers and DC as a company; I think stuff like Man Of Steel, that Krypton tv show, MAWS and Absolute Superman reflect the very limits of the white imagination. New Superman writers are no longer invested in exploring Superman's origin planet as a utopia, because that's not something white people can relate to or fathom. Instead, they'd rather Krypton be a direct reflection of Earth's problems.

Kryptonians are now colonizers, classist and bigoted. Krypton is no longer the land of the future sending down their one hope to guide the imperfect people of Earth into a better tomorrow. There's no appealing contrast between Earth and Krypton anymore, and because of that- Kal El becomes an exception from Planet Colonizer. He's just some decent guy from the other equally shitty country. It's not that you can't make an interesting hero from that, but I've certainly seen that guy many times before. It's nothing new.

Kal now doesn't have a cast system and wanders around on his own, I've seen how that kind of character struggles because I've read Martian Manhunter stories. Kal talks to his suit because he's Iron Man now I guess. Kal was actually more grown up when he was on Krypton instead of a baby, so... just like Supergirl is in canon- well that's not new either. Lois Lane is a government agent here, because why have characters who occupy unique jobs like being a librarian or a journalist when you can make them yet another cop or agent? When the biggest personal experience integrated into Kal your Absolute Superman writer boasts about is how he's the first writer who is actually from Kansas to write Superman, this is what you get.