#Sam and Lena's friendship

[thatonebirdwrites]

Can I just say I fucking love Sam Arias? Of COURSE, she's back! Honestly, I think showrunners had to send her away because Lena wouldn't have gone to the darkest of places because Sam would have been there to remind her that there is some hope in humanity, because Sam never lied to her. Sam is basically her best buddy, her wingwoman.

Sam would have talked her out of Non Nocere by asking just the right questions, and Lena would likely say, "Ugh, Sam, stop making me think and feel."

Sam would reply, "You know, I think you need a hug now." Upon which, Lena would be all grouchy but allow it. And of course Ruby would appear out of nowhere to tackle Lena in a surprise hug, and who can be angsty and despairing with that kid around? In this essay I will....

EXCERPT From Near the Start of The Chapter:

“Hey.” Sam’s voice draws her out of her research haze. “You unable to sleep?” She stands in the kitchen’s archway, her eyebrows scrunched in concern. She’s wearing navy blue pajama pants and a large T-shirt with a crow on it, and her shoulder-length brown hair falls in soft waves.

Lena shrugs. “Nightowl. Why are you up? You should be resting.”

“I normally wake at six,” Sam says, amused. “May I join you?” Sam gestures to the other stool in front of the counter. 

“Sure.” Turning back to her search, she clicks through another record, the translation program she ad-hoc-ed for Irish in the other window. 

“What are you researching?” Sam fills a glass with water and settles on the stool next to her. 

“My adoption papers were missing,” Lena says, absently. The screen is a little hazy, so she reluctantly puts on her glasses back on. Later, she’ll switch to contacts. “Searching Irish records for my birth currently.” 

“Why would they be missing?” Sam frowns. 

Lena sighs. “Lillian hated that I was Irish. I thought she hated me in general, but when I put a truthseeker on her a few weeks ago, she…” The memory is laced with shock and pain still. “… she said she loved me. I don’t know what that means. Her actions have always been hurtful.” 

“Abusive people can still love, but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy,” Sam says, her voice soft.

Lena glances at her friend. “Therapy is making you wise, Sam.” 

“Well, it’s got to be good for something, right?” Sam sips her water. “Love is a complicated topic for you, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Lena clicks through to the next page and narrows the search on her birthdate. Or at least the one the Luthors have used for her. The more she digs into her Irish past, the more she realizes the lies her adopted family told her. It infuriates her. 

“What is love, Sam?” Lena pushes back from her laptop and looks at her friend. No, more than a friend. A sister - part of Lena’s chosen family. “I understand it scientifically. A series of chemicals in our brain and nervous system that induces feelings of connection.”

Sam studies her, her brown eyes thoughtful. “It’s more than that.”

Lena gestures for her to continue.

“Fair warning,” Sam holds up her hands. “I’m going to be super sappy now.” 

Lena rolls her eyes. “I don’t think you can defeat Kara’s sap.”

“Now that’s a challenge!” Sam grins, but then her smile fades, and her gaze unfocuses. “Love is warmth. Hope. A connection that bridges time and space. It’s how I survived Reign.” She pauses to rub her hand on her leg, a sure sign she’s nervous. “When I was trapped in that damn forest, I wrote Ruby’s name, my name, yours, and I kept writing it. It was my love for all of you that kept me fighting. Kept me hoping you’d find the cure, and you did. All of you did. That connection, that feeling of vulnerability love creates? It’s the strongest force in the universe. Not even Reign could destroy it, and we both know she tried.”

“Love as a force, that’s not one I’ve heard before,” Lena tries to quip, but instead, she finds herself tearing up again. She turns back to her laptop. “Dammit, I didn’t cry this much before Kara died and I resurrected her.” 

“Lena, what’s really going on?” Sam’s gentle concern only makes Lena want to cry more. 

“I think I’m in love with Kara,” Lena blurts it out before she loses her nerve. “But I don’t know how to trust her again. She lied to me for years, Sam. I keep telling her that I’m working through the hurt. I want to forgive her, but I just…” 

“You’re angry.” 

The moment Sam says it, Lena realizes she is. She is angry. So very angry. It surprises and alarms her. How much of her rage lately relates to Kara's confession then? How much to Kara's death, where Lena's rage and grief magically brings Kara back? Or at Lex orchestrating Kara’s death?

Unnerved, she traces her finger along the edge of the counter. Parsing intricately layered emotions like this feels insurmountable. Like she's climbing a massive mountain with little to no gear. It brings to mind that dark void Dreamer and her got stuck in when her attempt at a safe space imploded. For Jack's death, she was numb, the grief apparently shoved deep down, but for Kara, she is the exact opposite - a boiling cauldron of emotion.

[casualsavant]

"You were never the villain. You were always the hero."

Kara Zor-El Danvers may be her true love, but Samantha Arias is her very best friend.

[lenakluthor]

totally random question but do you read supercorp fics? and if yes, which ones are your favorites?

i absolutely read supercorp fics! i've been devouring ao3 basically since i finished the show. here are a few of my faves: people will say we're in love by AKAWWJJD - this was recommended to me by a friend and was the second ever supercorp fic i read. it's angsty, but it's BEAUTIFUL and it's one of my favorite fics from any fandom, ever. it's basically a rewrite of crisis and the aftermath of that (with a heartbreaking, post-reveal beginning), and it's just so, so good. it really set the bar for me in terms of supercorp fics and i still think about it to this day. it's heartbreaking and poignant and just. perfect.

the banks of certain rivers and ever more light by @i-am-robie - these two go together, but if you only read one, read ever more light (although i highly suggest reading both). i found this one through a gifset based on the fic, and i am SO happy i did. this is the fic that made me believe in fluff again. i'm not kidding, before i found this fic, if it wasn't tagged as angst, i was not reading it. this one? completely changed my opinion. it's so soft and sweet and it gives you the same butterflies and good feelings kara gets around lena. i actually love these so much that i am in the process of binding them into a book.

same old blues by @searidings - this one is, in my opinion, hands down the best portayal of lena i've read so far. it captures her anger and hurt and emotions so well and it just feels exactly like lena. it picks up after the end of season four and is exactly how i imagine lena's reaction to kara being supergirl. obviously it's canon divergent, but this one just really nails lena. it's angsty and emotional and just SO good. the author describes it as "horny enemies to lovers" in their note and that really sums it up pretty well.

you're in my blood, like holy wine by @jazzfordshire - this one is one of my favorite AUs. it's a loose practical magic AU with witch!lena, but much more developed and fleshed out than in the show. not only does it have really well written supercorp, but it also showcases a really well done friendship between lena and sam. i'm gonna be real i'm very picky about AUs, but this one GOT me. i definitely recommend it.

i also highly recommend checking out all four of those authors' other works. robie has an AU that i really enjoyed, searidings has a fun little competitive supercorp one shot, jazzfordshire has one of my favorite smutty one shots, and AKAWWJJD has a mxy rewrite that is just wonderful.

i've read so many more that were really worth reading, so i highly recommend scrolling through the supercorp tag on ao3 and filtering out the results to find ones you might be into. i could've mentioned a bunch more that i enjoyed, but i figured i'd keep it to my top four and the honorable mentions because the authors all happened to have multiple i love. i've also got like, more than 40 open ao3 tabs currently, so i know my favorites list will definitely be growing.

[lovelacefc7723]

Every time I rewatch Season 3 of Supergirl I'm reminded that Sam Arias was the best thing happened to the show, after Lena Luthor's arrival. Everything was wonderful about her: being a badass CFO while also a single mom, her Kryptonian alter ego as Reign, her friendships with Lena, Kara and Alex, Odette Annable who is just gorgeous, it was perfect. They also had the opportunity to create the greatest story with Alex, maybe if she had stayed in the show she could have developed powers again and become part of the SuperFriends, she would have been incredible.

[macabresymphonies]

What is Alice's game?

I didn't notice it at first, but the more episode we get I start to notice how Alice is setting Sam up on bad terms with the rest of the team, it's subtle, but it's there:

her general attitude to Gwen is hostile (so is ours, as per her namesake) and she voices so to Sam, but from what we've seen Gwen is actually quite competent and civil, we've got to see more of her yet, but it seems that Sam is keeping his distance to not "betray" his friendship with Alice in turn Alice is putting certain "ideas" about Gwen into Sam's head by making jabs at how "spoiled, nepo hire" she is

she set Sam up against Colin twice now - once as a "joke" which we all read as playful, but now she told him to call Central IT "for her" right after we all heard it will not change much and only piss Colin off who will have to do all the paperwork

Lena so far is distant, she's a boss after all, but again Alice's supposed nihilism paints her as out of touch boss, not somebody that would serve as a confidant

I know, Hanlon's razor, she could simply be into bad taste jokes and genuienly is ignorant to what she's doing, but to me it feels like an isolation setup - she sets Sam up against everybody and presents herself as the only "bridge" of communication between Sam and the rest of the team.

[trashpandato]

Art

Kara is a doodler. 

Anytime she has a pen or pencil in her hand, she doodles. Initially, it started off as a way for Kara to find a credible explanation for when she was drawing Kryptonian symbols on the edges of her school work in high school.

“Kara likes to doodle,” Jeremiah explained to her teacher who had pointed it out during a parent-teacher meeting. 

Kara had to ask Jeremiah what doodling meant, and then vehemently disagreed with him that that is what she was doing. But then Jeremiah reminded her, again, that she could never let anyone know that she wasn’t human and really shouldn’t be writing Kryptonian words on anything that could be seen in public.

From that moment on, Kara learned to stay away from words and began to try and capture her memories of Krypton as images. She still doddled, as Jeremiah called it, because all anyone not familiar with Kara’s background would see on the page were circles (not Krypton’s moons) or abstract shapes (not the skyline of buildings Kara remembered seeing from her bedroom window).

Over time, Kara’s doodles became less about Krypton and more about things she had seen on Earth. Cat Grant famously asked her about a scribble of a cat in a tree that showed up on the upper left edge of a printed press release Kara had handed to her. Kara stammered her way through an apology and explained that she had rescued a cat during her lunch break and the image must have stuck in her head somehow.

Most of the time, Kara’s doodles are about food, though.

She draws little pizzas, dumplings still in their steamer baskets, croissants that make a decorative edge around the notes from her latest interview. It’s mindless fun and keeps her hands entertained when she’s bored or needs some release valve for her extra energy.

“It’s almost Freudian with you” Alex joked once when she found a small ink pen drawing of a box of donuts on a few notes Kara made while listening to a briefing at the DEO.

“I told you not to schedule the briefing over lunch,” Kara shot back and then immediately launched herself into the skies in search of her favourite donuts in National City.

And then she meets Lena, and it doesn’t take long for Kara’s doodles to include little chess pieces, loops that remind her of the earrings Lena wore that day, sharp lines that look a lot like a certain building with a large L on its facade.

It’s years into their friendship when Lena finally asks her about it.

Kara is sitting at her kitchen island, lost in thought. She’s spent the last few days frantically trying to help organize Alex and Kelly’s wedding. She’s exhausted, and Lena has offered to make them some tea to help Kara relax when she turns around and asks.

“What’s that?”

Kara frowns but looks up at Lena then.

“What’s what?”

“You’re, I don’t know, scribbling something. Or drawing. I’m not sure because it almost didn’t look like you were even paying attention to what your hand was doing.”

“Oh,” Kara feels a little like Lena caught her with her hand in the cookie jar. “It’s nothing. Just a doodle.”

Kara wants to cover up the paper in front of her but Lena is already there, craning her neck to see the small image that has appeared on the edge of Kara’s to-do list for the wedding.

It’s a small portrait of Lena. Next to a larger doodled heart.

It’s not subtle, but then again, none of Kara’s doodles ever are. It’s just that usually no one else sees them. But when Lena does see this one, she freezes. For a brief moment, Kara wishes a portal would open up in her kitchen so she could disappear rather than have to explain. But then, Lena turns to face her, eyes wide but oh so full of hope and Kara knows this is it, the final step for them.

Years later, Sam finds the framed doodle in Lena’s and Kara’s apartment, hanging just to the side of several photos they’ve taken over the years of their friends and family. Sam turns to Kara and smirks.

“This is high art. You should feature it more prominently.”

Kara smacks Sam’s arm but can’t help the broad smile overtaking her features. 

“I’m sure if I move the Kandinsky to hang this one up by the fireplace instead, Lena is going to divorce me.”

Sam laughs but then says: “Lena loves you so much, she would let you doodle on that Kandinsky.”

And Kara isn’t so sure about that. It’s an original, after all. But she is sure that Lena loves her, so she just nods and pulls Sam back into the living room to re-join their friends.

Kara does draw a small portrait of Lena on the side of her Yahtzee score sheet later, though.

[morganacorp]

Rewatching It’s a Super Life (comfort show, comfort episode) and I just have to vent for a second...

Kara was chilling with Alex talking about the whole situation with Lena, a random Mxy suddenly appears and offers his help. Kara asks how he could possibly help her and then he plays Lena’s confession of her killing Lex on the tv…

Alex’s face while watching was so funny- she hadn’t been there so she didn’t know how Lena reacted or how she told Kara what she did (did Kara even go into detail about the drama? or was she just like 'she knew' and left it at that?) and then that scene just keeps playing in the background (with Kara intently watching even while he keeps talking).

I wonder if Alex was like ‘this is gayer than you described??!!!’ or ‘no wonder she’s mad, you didn’t say shit!’… because the look she gives Kara after the whole ‘I’m not a villain, you shouldn’t have treated me like one’ is SOOOO epic 🤣

And then her indignation with Kara considering the possibility of ‘changing history to save a friendship?’ while Kara gives the lamest excuse to do it before saying ‘I don’t know if I have what it takes to stop her’.

Then when we get to the first scenario and they watch Lena talking to Sam Kara hears Lena’s POV for the first time (and she didn’t understand): Lena remembered how back when they were fighting Reign Kara had been supportive and kind to her, but Supergirl had been horrible instead, and that made her wonder which was the real Kara. That’s the part Kara never understood. That’s what hurt Lena, not the secret, because ‘if the real Kara thought I was a villain, then maybe that’s all I really am.’ (and then Sam tells her she was never a villain and actually the hero...)

But then Kara goes back to thinking: ‘the Lena on this timeline may never forgive me’ instead of understanding what she just heard her say. Lena was never mad about the secret, it was about that double personality and behavior toward her.

‘I get it now! My dual identities made Lena think that she couldn’t trust either side of me. I was a hypocrite.’ Wrong.

Then when she tries again and tells her before the big Kryptonite fight, Lena’s upset because she went through the dangers of helping Sam/Reign alone. This is the one timeline where she was indeed mad about the secret, but it’s kind of a forced reaction imo. At least Mon-El had a bit of wisdom to share and tried to make her understand how vulnerable Lena would feel when she’s betrayed (Kara should’ve known this too) and said she’d forgive her once she understood- which she did (until Reign killed her and Mon-El 💀)

‘Lena was never angry about hypocrisy, she was angry because I never shared my identity with her in the first place.’ Wrong.

Bonus: ‘I can’t believe I was fooled by a pair of glasses.’ Oh Lena 🤣

Bonus x2: ‘Having supergirl as a partner… it gives Lena the credibility her last name never could.’

Bonus x3: these tapes

The wigs though. They were atrocious 💀

[lovequinn]

DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU FINALLY TOLD ME YOU WERE SUPERGIRL YOU WERE WEEPING BIG CROCODILE TEARS WELL I WEPT REAL TEARS BITTER TEARS OVER YOU WEEKS BEFORE WHAT I THOUGHT HOW LONG HAD YOU KNOWN I FOUND OUT THE DAY I KILLED MY BROTHER LENA YOU DIDN'T KILL LEX THAT WAS ME I WATCHED HIM I SAW HIM FALL YOU SAM HIM FALL BUT DID YOU SEE HIM LAND DID YOU SEE HIM DIE I DID AND LET ME TELL YOU IT WASN'T PRETTY THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE ANYTHING'S POSSIBLE WHEN YOU'RE A LUTHOR LEX USED HIS TRANSMATTER PORTAL WATCH I KNEW EXACTLY WHERE HE'D GO THE CABIN WE LOVED WHEN WE WERE CHILDREN SO I WAS THERE WAITING FOR HIM HAD THE GUN READY LOADED I COULD FEEL THE WEIGHT OF IT IN MY HANDS EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING REBELLED I DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT BUT I KNEW I HAD TO BECAUSE IF LEX LIVED THE WORLD WOULDN'T BE SAFE MY FRIENDS WOULDN'T BE SAFE SO I FORCED MYSELF TO PULL THE TRIGGER I SHOT MY OWN BROTHER IN THE CHEST HIS FINAL WORDS TO ME WERE THAT I WAS A FOOL AND THAT MY BEST FRIEND EVERY FRIEND I HAD WAS LYING TO ME WITH HIS DYING BREATH HE TOLD ME YOU WERE SUPERGIRL LENA YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME I NEVER MEANT TO HUMILIATE YOU NO WHEN I CAME TO THIS CITY I PROMISED MYSELF THAT I WOULD NEVER TRUST ANYONE EVER AGAIN AND THEN

I

‎‎‎　　MET

　　　　　　YOU

AND YOU CHIPPED AWAY AT MY ARMOR WITH YOUR WARMTH AND YOUR EARNESTNESS AND YOU CONVINCED ME TO TRUST IN PEOPLE IN FRIENDSHIP AGAIN AND AGAINST MY BETTER JUDGEMENT I DID ALL THE WHILE TELLING YOU ABOUT MY ACHILLES HEEL BETRAYAL I CONFIDED IN YOU THAT EVERYONE IN MY PAST HAD BETRAYED ME ABOUT HOW MUCH IT HURT TO HAVE SOMEONE YOU LOVE LIE TO YOU AND BETRAY YOU I SPELLED IT OUT FOR YOU OVER AND OVER ESSENTIALLY BEGGING YOU NOT TO VIOLATE MY TRUST BEGGING YOU NOT TO PROVE ONCE AGAIN THAT I WAS FOOL YOU REASSURED ME AD NAUSEAM THAT YOU WOULD NEVER LIE TO ME THAT YOU'D NEVER HURT ME AND ALL THE WHILE THERE WASN'T A SINGLE HONEST MOMENT IN OUR FRIENDSHIP NO THAT'S NOT TRUE NO I KILLED MY BROTHER FOR YOU FOR OUR FRIENDS DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'VE DONE WHEN YOU FOUND OUT WHY DIDN'T YOU COME TO ME RIGHT AWAY SO I COULD EXPLAIN EXPLAIN YEAH IF YOU HATE ME SO MUCH WHY NOT OUT ME AT THE PULITZER PARTY WHY PRETEND TO STILL BE MY FRIEND THIS LONG BECAUSE I WANTED YOU TO EXPERIENCE WHAT YOU DID TO ME FEEL WHAT I FELT I UNDERSTAND YOUR PAIN AND YOUR FURY AND YOU'RE RIGHT I MADE A BIG MISTAKE MAYBE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE BUT PLEASE LENA PLEASE DON'T LEAVE THE FORTRESS WITH MYRIAD PLEASE DON'T LET MY MISTAKE PUSH YOU TO DO SOMETHING TERRIBLE YOU ARE A GOOD PERSON NO NO YOU DON'T EVER GET TO TELL ME WHO OR WHAT I AM AGAIN DID YOU REPROGRAM THE FORTRESS'S DEFENSES TO ATTACK ME YES AND I RIGGED IT TO ANSWER TO THIS LITTLE BUTTON I HAVE IN MY HAND ARE YOU GOING TO TRY TO KILL ME NO SUPERGIRL I'M NOT GOING TO KILL YOU I'M NOT A VILLAIN YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TREATED ME LIKE ONE!!!!!!!!!!

[thermodynamic-comedian]

sam lena weird little friendship canon and true nobody can take this away from me now

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Prompt (it's okay if you ignore this one cos it's a bit dark/triggering): Lena, post S4 having just killed her brother & finding out about the SG secret, is suicidal, like seriously considering ending it once and for all. BUT she finds something that brings her back to wanting to live and be happy (a new goal or motivation?) Side reigncorp would be nice, having Sam there to support her etc and she's the only one she trusts right now plus she's the only one who never lied to/betrayed her. Thanks!

WARNING FOR SUICIDAL THOUGHTS/INTENTIONS

----

Lena stares at the pill bottle in her hand. It would be so easy, she thinks. Just tip the bottle to her lips and swallow the lot with a chaser of bourbon. Let herself drift away into sleep. Maybe she'd get lucky and remain blissfully unaware of the vomit and foam that would likely follow. Perhaps her mind would block it out, allow her to sink peacefully into death while her body convulsed to reject the poison.

She considers who might find her. The cleaners perhaps, due to return in two days time. Or more likely Jess, when she fails to come to work or answer her phone. Certainly not Kara, who believes everything between them is fine-- that their friendship hasn't shattered into irrecoverable shards.

Kara. No, Supergirl. Fucking Supergirl.

Lena clenches her eyes shut, but the image of the hero simply projects against the backs of her eyelids. With her stupid hair and her stupid cape and her stupid, lying smile. But no. The truth is, Lena is the idiot. An idiot to think she'd made true friends, to think she could share the innermost parts of herself with someone who wouldn't turn around and use it against her.

They played you for a fool, Lex's voice echoes from beyond the grave.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Suddenly, an explosion of glass issues from her living room. Lena surges for her handgun, and carefully creeps from her bedroom. Her fingers clenches unnecessarily-- angrily-- against the trigger when she recognizes the caped figure that rises shakily from the floor. But she doesn't fire.

"Lena?" Kara croaks, cradling her middle as though her ribs are broken. Lena watches her scan the living room and kitchen before locating her outside the bedroom. "Lena..."

"What do you want?"

She means it to sound angry, or at the very least irritated. Instead, she just sounds tired, even to her own ears.

"Something's happened to Alex-- to everyone. The DEO is compromised. They--" The hero grimaces in pain. "They tried to kill me."

"So you came to me."

"I hoped you wouldn't be affected. Whatever it is... it's bad. It's really bad."

Lena tries to feel something. Concern, outrage, curiosity-- anything. But she can't. She feels flat, like the air has deflated from her, leaving her a sagging balloon, pressed down by the weight of the air around her.

"Kara..."

Lena sees the exact moment the name hits home, and its implication hits home. Her eyes close in resignation-- not apology, Lena notes distantly.

"You figured it out--?"

"No."

Kara nearly sighs. "Your mother?"

"Brother," Lena allows, "but interesting that you know Lillian knew."

Lex was right. Everyone in the world but her knew the truth. Even her mother. And Kara knows that Lillian knows. That she allowed Lena's family to know the truth, but not she herself.

Fuck her.

"And now you've come to the Luthor you've managed to keep in your pocket."

Like always, Lena notes. Every time she's been involved with Supergirl and her allies, it's been as a last resort. Not because they truly wanted her or her help. Because they had nowhere else to turn.

Her stomach turns, and again Lena's thoughts flicker back to the prescription bottle in her bedroom. She feels sick, and she doesn't want to. She'd rather feel nothing at all than feel this.

"Lena..." Kara straightens as best she can. "I'm not here because I have to be. I'm here because you're the only one I trust."

Their eyes lock for a long moment, and Lena hopes her gaze conveys her disbelief. The words mean nothing, and the fact Kara expects her to believe them is actually insulting.

"What do you expect me to do?"

"We need to know what's affected them and find a way to neutralize it."

"I'll need a current blood sample, and a sample from before the changes in behavior occurred for comparison."

Lena turns back towards her bedroom.

"Then I'll see what I can do."

---

What she can do, it would seem, is quite a lot. Per usual. She isolates a chemical signature in Agent Schott's blood that stands out as abnormal, and traces it back to readings taken from clothes that have arrived on several alien refugee ships. The chemical is alien in nature, but it's not long before Lena synthesizes a counteragent to render the chemical inert until it could be processed from the bloodstream on its own.

She does all this before it can spread further than the DEO. Kara looks at her with gratitude and relief and a little bit of patent awe, but Lena isn't impressed with herself or her results. Isn't this what she always does? Pulls a rabbit out of her ass and saves the day-- but never enough to breach that final circle of trust she never even knew existed.

Once she confirms all DEO employees are returned to their normal selves, Lena withdraws. She relinquishes her role at L-Corp to Sam with some easy bullshit about taking a sabbatical. She hoards her prescriptions, waiting for the moment to be right.

The night she chooses is dark and rainy. But she manages to prod herself to going to the boutique liquor store beforehand-- might as well go out sipping something luxurious and expensive.

On her way back, she pauses on the sidewalk when she hears something moving beneath the car parked next to her along the curb. When it doesn't come again, she moves to resume her march home, but is stopped again by a new sound.

A whine.

Lena hesitates. She can keep walking, pretend she never heard it. But her feet remain rooted against her intentions to leave, until she finally relents and climbs down to her hands and knees. Pressing her cheek almost to the cement, she peers under the sedan and sees the soggy silhouette of a small quadruped.

A puppy. Or some sort of small breed. When it shifts, she sees disproportionately gangly limbs and a long tail curled around its trunk. Puppy.

Lena sighs. "C'mere," she mutters, reaching her arm under the car. The dog is far enough under that her shoulder feels like it nearly dislocates before she finally catches the sorry creature by the scruff of the neck.

It yelps when she drags it out into the rain, but makes no move to escape when she stares down at it appraisingly. Short brown fur darkened by rain, small half-flopped ears, and big brown eyes. It's certainly the picture of a creature any decent human being would cleave to.

"All right," she says heavily. "Let's get you somewhere dry."

She picks the pup up and tucks it into her coat. It curls into the warmth of her chest, shivering all the way back to her apartment. She snags a towel from the linen closet before removing her coat, and transfers the animal directly into it.

Once it's mostly dry, Lena sits back and stares at the beast as it stares at her. She glances at the bottle of liquor she'd set on the coffee table next to the pup.

Lena sighs.

"You chose a hell of a night to turn up," she says drily. Lena gives the dog's head a rub before picking it up to set it gently on the floor.

"Let's get you some food."

----

(Prompts are closed)

[hikaaa-bi]

soooo. thoughts about ep 25 under the cut!

i'm glad sam is softening a little towards alice again. i understand why he was upset, alice was definitely not doing herself a favor by going through his stuff. but i'm still glad they're communicating and making sure the other is safe.

finally we got a delicious scrumptious statement! jk but really, i thought i'd be grossed out by it but it wasn't that bad. it was a very well written statement obviously, but it didn't ick me out too much. and i listened to it right before having lunch.

i'm glad we're getting more strange horror instead of the more outwardly violent ones. idk why but those were a bit boring. there's only so many times you can listen to statements of people being dismembered or their eyes getting crushed like gummy bears.

yes yes, colin smashing the computer was very exciting but i can't help but be focused on sam trying to protect alice. they're the cutest (i don't ship it btw. i'm just speaking in friendship terms.)

lena is so done with everything, i feel bad for her. she just wants to get through her life without having to deal with annoying employees and extra paperwork. i wonder why she joined the OIAR in the first place.

i feel so bad for celia too. girlypop can't seem to catch any sleep without ending up on the other side of the world.

[lover-praxis]

i was having such a good time at the beginning of the episode with the sam and lena friendship (they're friends to me) and then learned that tmagp universe jmart is dead (?) like way to ruin my vibe

[luthordamnvers]

Hell was the journey (but it brought me heaven)

Chapter 7 - Lavender

“Are you sure you are okay with it?” Kara asked for the umpteenth time, pacing in front of Lena’s couch. Lena chuckled slightly, “What are you gonna do if I say no? You already sent it to print.” She extended her arm, offering her hand to Kara. “Relax. Yes, I’m sure. I trust you. We can’t keep hiding forever.” “I– I don’t mention you, it felt… invasive. Like giving too much.” Kara confessed, taking Lena’s hand, and interlocking their fingers after sitting next to her. “I just hate having to do this, because of one disgruntled ex-employee.” “Everyone important in your life knows,” Lena offered. “You are in a relatively public position as Editor-In-Chief. I am a very public figure and you are already terrible at controlling the PDA.” She teased Kara with a smile that made Kara smile back. “Even if you decided to do this now because you fear retaliation from one asshole, you are doing this for yourself, too. Also, you can control the narrative, if you say it first, you are doing so on your terms.” Kara bit her lip, thoughtfully. Lena was right, of course. It was already a struggle to keep her hands to herself while they walked next to each other or while having lunch, not because she wanted anything inappropriate, but it was nice to have Lena’s hand in hers, and she wished she could do it in public. The casual touches, the peck on the lips as they said goodbye, walking next to each other in an embrace. She felt like she was missing out on those.  Kara lifted Lena’s hand to her lips, and kissed the palm of it. “You are right. I don’t want to miss out on milestones about our relationship because we are hiding. We are two of the most powerful women in the city, we can deal with what happens next.” Kara finished, with a smile. “You are the most powerful woman on Earth, Kara. Don’t sell yourself short.” Kara laughed. “Yeah, Supergirl might be, but this is Kara Danvers’ life we are talking about. She needs to have some privacy, fade in the background, even.” Lena frowned. “You know, to me Kara Danvers could never fade in the background.” “I don’t know, I seem to remember you gushing about Supergirl being so solid and powerful.” Kara teased her. “I am going to kill Sam for telling you that. How does she even remember that?” Kara laughed. “Clearly it was important for your friendship.” “In any case, since I met you, Kara Danvers has been my favorite person in the world, did you know that?” “Are you being cheesy?” “A little, but it doesn’t make it any less true, darling,” Lena smiled.

Continue Reading on AO3 || From the start

[cool-person-yey]

If you were to psychoanalyze the characters from tmagp, what would you say about them as well as how that affects them and their outlook on life?

now THAT is a loaded question

Sam -> oh that boy is not well. getting rejected from the institute fucked him up a lot, and all the expectations his parents ( and himself) had for him didn't help. all of that resulted in him being a massive overachiever & people-pleaser, n also his obsession with the institute. Sam feels that need to prove himself, prove that he's good enough, and if for some reason he isn't, he needs to know why. he's trying to cross-reference cases, looking for the answers— and yet, he's being deprived of them. again. I've noticed that he's slightly manipulative, not like, playing people to do what he wants, but just small little actions and stuff he says that seem harmless at first but do have second intentions in mind. I'd say it's related to the whole Gifted Kid Burnout™ thing, usually ex-gifted kids are great at lying and schooling their expressions to not show what they truly feel and think.

Alice-> oh she is not fine. not fine at all. We don't know how her experience at the institute impacted her (or if he remembers it at all. I think she does, just trying to ignore it) so I'll leave that aside for now. Her parents' deaths resulted in her having to fill that role for Luke, and she probably did not have time to grieve properly for them (yes, Sam helped her, but there's only so much a friend can do. and in a way, grieving never really stops). Her 'jokester doesn't care about the horrors' demeanor is meant to hide the simple fact that she is scared she probably has been for a while, but never had the chance to show it, and know she doesn't know exactly how to. if she can't make it funny then she'll ignore it, it's better that way.

Gwen-> yeah she's not good either. honestly no one in this fucking office is alright. The first thing we know about Gwen is that she comes from a rich family, and that obviously impacts heavily how she views the world, the scene that portrays this the best is when she welcomes Lady Mowbray into the OIAR because " she's an actual lady'' ( like the most dangerous thing isn't an old British lady) Gwen is very much an elitist. she needs to be at the top at all costs, she needs to be "In it". While her experience with Bonzo definitely shook her up quite a bit, she does not seem to want to go back though. We don't know much about her personal life (outside her family being rich obv) so I won't comment on that.

Lena -> I think she might be the most unwell on this list. she doesn't interact much with the others, but she does care a lot, we have basically 0 information on her background (outside of headcanons, and while I have many I'll only talk canon stuff here) so I won't comment much on it, but Lena seems like someone who was taught to always obey and not to ask many questions. she wants to complete the tasks management send her, not only because she needs to obey, but also because they're supposedly helping the world with that work. Lena cares, she just doesn't show it, I'd say either because she was taught not to, or because she learned it the hard way that caring may be your downfall.

Celia -> this one's a bit complicated. everyone and their mother have talked about how celia is the same one from tma etc etc. and yeah, I believe in it BUT since it wasn't properly confirmed yet, I'll talk about tmagp-only Celia first and then tma-travelled-to-tmagp Celia bc that's a whole other angst ( well not that they don't have stuff in common, but they're for different reasons)

So we know very little about Celia actually. she has a son, she likes little doughnuts, she wakes up in the middle of the night at a train station sometimes. She seems very reserved to talk much about her own life, even to old friendships such as Georgie. Celia is a very secretive person, she does believe the cases are true and does not hide that fact, even bringing it up at her date with Sam. Jack adds an interesting layer to her character, we haven't seem much of him yet, but I think that eventually her Mother Instincts and protectiveness will come into play. So overall, Celia is a pretty reserved person that does believe in the horrors, but doesn't want her loved ones to be involved in the horrors ( unless they show an interest in it? lots of people have theorized that maybe she is not in love with Sam or something, while i do not share that theory it is something to consider still. ) She definitively had a past experience with the horrors though.

now our beloved tma-celia-went-to-protocolverse-celia. Like i mentioned before, she has basically the same personality as— well, herself. but now I can pick out these traits and explain the reason behind them ( or speculate because this is a theory, even if like, everyone has agreed on it. we could just have been fools the whole goddamn time. do not forget that) first of, her being extremely secretive is kind of obvious, trying not to attract unwanted attention and not have many people involved in it, as not to harm them. Celia has first-hand experience with the horrors, she lost herself in it, she doesn't want that to happen to anyone else. I choose to assume Jack was born before she took tmagp's Celia's place, and she did not have the courage to just get rid of an innocent baby (tmagp celia was too but hey, telling lies to justify our actions is easier when looking through a mirror). She cares, she even became georgie's friend again, she cares a lot and she knows she'll have to work hard to keep the people she loves safe.

We don't know that much about collin and teddy yet, although if anyone want to psychoanalize them go for it!

thanks for sending this question anon! and i apologize for taking a while to asnwer it, and if any of the asnwer seems weird or not like what a human person would say, it is because they were written all in different times and places and stages of sleep deprivation.

[brettanomycroft]

incredibly intrigued by your sam thoughts give me more

hooooohohohohohoh *rubs together grubby little raccoon paws*

I am excited to answer this and also don't know how much more I'll be able to say about Sam that I haven't already discussed here and here (though danged if I'm not going to try!)

Something that I think is central to understanding how my brain thinks about Sam is the way I think about Gwen; more specifically-

(Gwen and Sam from @boonsandwhatever 's amazing art, found here)

While I don't truly think they're the exact same character, I believe that what we've seen of them so far suggests that we are looking at two characters who, in their heart of hearts, are very similar in terms of their inner selves and motivations, but who are nonetheless being set up to walk two very different paths.

So how are they similar? We've seen so far that Gwen and Sam are both

goal-oriented

hardworking

stubborn

temperamental (Sam less openly, but it's there)

petty (not as obviously as Alice, but it's soooo there)

curious

seeking validation for their work/pursuits/questions

not in the career/field they had aspired to be in

under tremendous pressure from their families (Gwen's has not been directly addressed, but what we know of the Bouchards and and Gwen's comments about her 'friend' circles seems to suggest this)

driven (Gwen towards power/recognition, Sam towards understanding - both of these tie into that need for validation)

barely holding it together

more sensitive to teasing than they let on

imposter syndrome? (this one may actually be a stretch but all of the above similarities strongly suggest this one)

Of all of the above traits, "curious" and "seeking validation" are the two that I feel are Sam and Gwen's strongest motivators right now - and were also the source of their conflict in episode 18. They are, of course, pursuing answers to their own questions without realizing that, in this case, they are the ants seeing separate parts of the massive and horrible mystery that is pushing into their lives.

Sam's path has him looking out as he seeks to learn more about The Magnus Institute and about the catalysts and victims of the cases they get at the OIAR. Gwen's path has her looking up, as she questions the role the OIAR plays within the government/society, how it is structured and managed, and what employing literal monsters has to do with it all.

In an ideal world, Sam and Gwen would team up to be like the supernatural Wonder Twins. If they're able to see past their misunderstandings and the walls they've put up, I think they could actually get a lot done - but I worry that their insecurities, ambitions, and lack of validation at the right times/in the right places will push them further away from the best possible allies they have: each other.

(If you're fanfiction inclined, I've actually explored some of these team/friendship dynamics in my fic "Pieces of You." Part 2 continues to explore how Sam and Gwen interact when they are seemingly in opposition)

I do think there is a very good chance that both Sam and Gwen end up in difficult, morally challenging, or outright evil situations as a result of their need for understanding, recognition, and validation. I've seen a lot of folks suggesting that Sam could become "avatar-ized" or willingly take on The Powers of the Horrors in order to finally "live up to the potential" that he perceives himself as having been denied when he was rejected from The Magnus Institute. As for Gwen, I think (hope, pray) that her own insecurities and need to prove herself could lead her right into the claws of Lady Mowbray, someone that she has already defended in front of Lena simply for being of a higher echelon, and who has already given Gwen a level of recognition that she did not expect but clearly craves (when Lady M asks about her family line). Of course I would be tickled pink if they both got over themselves, communicated, and worked together to overcome (or at least understand) The Horrors!

Anyway, I know this ended up being more of a Sam and Gwen rant, but I hope you enjoyed, and thanks again for asking!

[sssammich]

(upends all the -corps on your desk)

agent, guardian, reign, rojas, super, freespace for any i forgot?

god you're a bitch (affectionate)

im so sorry it's so long so please have a read more

also i give you 2 freespace -corps as a treat (to literally me and like 3 other people idk if anybody else cares about this)

agentcorp - NO

for all the potential they could have based on how i feel about their relationship to their respective siblings, i just don't care. im not vibing. just ready to nuke her? idk pass i guess. (did kara lie a gazillion times? yeah for sure. but also like she doesn't want lena dead dead so)

guardiancorp - (if you're referring to kelly, then YES; if james, then NO)

the potential for james guardiancorp could have been interesting but it's literally the same as agentcorp in that i end up not caring about it? no nuking tho and i think if it wasn't idk rammed into our eyeballs without friendship (that is the literal ticket to lena's heart, it's friendship so idk why they're not giving it to her), i might be more cool with it. but as it stands *shrugs* just not vibing lmao

the potential for kelly guardiancorp is that there is so much healing involved. not because she's idk a therapist or whatever and it's her job, i think kelly (for all the characterization she did get) i think it can pair as unlikely friends who click on well but turn into something more. it's slow but it doesn't burn, necessarily. i think their respective demons and skeletons in the closet are gonna come out and not necessarily war with one another, but come out at inopportune times. i think kelly might even last longer than jack, all things considered, because she knows about that pain or tension or darkness that lena needs. i think it could work. also i maintain that gun range headcanon

reigncorp - YES

sam is a also giver but i think because she's not silver spoon-grown the way the rest of lena's posse are, there's a grit to her that makes her different. at least to the likes of jack and andrea. there's history there, shared companionship, compatibility. literally a quality friends to lovers fic. the child complicates it, but lena is so starved for love just as she hungers for giving love. i think that sam (and ruby, as a result) are good people for that. i think of all the relationships to work out long term, this might be it, actually. especially if we're talking long term restorative healing journies. controversial take since i have never written anything to signify this, but *shrugs* they would be good for each other. i think this is like accidental eventual happy ending in the way that they've since stayed together through everything, it almost is a surprise when lena leans forward and sam closes the distance. but then when they kiss, it isn't. so, yeah.

rojascorp - YES

similar to how sam and lena have history, companionship, and compatibility, i'd like to think andrea was the blueprint for that. and then she betrayed lena and got into some bullshit and wrecked her life a bit before getting it slightly together. rojascorp is like redemption!arc endgame that i think would happen in light of a permanent supercorp rift. their dynamic would also serve to highlight just how vastly different their station in life is in comparison to the others. where the superfriends are decidedly middle class, lena and andrea literally are in the .05% of society. they live particular lives, have particular expectations thrust upon them, navigate the world so differently. lena is open to hang with the plebes people but staying around andrea keeps her up in the social circles of her family, despite their absence. aside from that, i think that andrea will fight for and with lena. i think she's the right type of pain and struggle that lena needs in her life. in some ways i also see this working out, but i can also see this couple getting as close to the Best and they get in each other's way by getting in the way of themselves. old wounds that have scabbed over might reopen at a moment of weakness, even with the progress they make, so that would be interesting on how can they survive again. if nothing else, that's how they define love with each other.

supercorp - YES

i mean (see my ao3 tag pls)

if you want a real answer, i think they have been set up so perfectly together that whatever it is that the show can't do, i know that i can do for myself (and the fandom as well). i'm also thinking about the emotional beats of their upbringing and complicated relationships they have with both male and female family members and what that entails, and also that they serve to complement and parallel each other in different ways. two women born out of circumstance and trauma, enduring of so many things, what's not to like. suffice it to say, other women on this list also share this with lena, so it's not like kara is unique, but i do think that the ways in which the two of them have stationed themselves where kara is the sun and lena orbits her (both canonically and fanonically, for literal better or worse) is fascinating in a way that i literally just can't get enough of. granted, that could be that kara is the titular character so we just see her more. but i've shipped pairs from nothing but the power of my imagination, so i don't think that's it, necessarily. i think that there is a bit of a serendipitous approach to their relationship's rise and fall. i think redemption!arc endgame, when done right between them, reassesses how they can be better than they were, this time with each other in mind. but it's a lot of work and i think they will have to really, really work at it - especially kara, to make it so that they never hurt each other in the way that they have in the past. kara has committed a thousand paper cuts on lena and i think she addresses that in her second chance with lena. and i think that's enough of that grounding pain that lena seeks, whether she realizes it or not. it's not all the way healthy, i'll admit, but they are also not all the way healthy, so.

freespace: rojaslettecorp (aka andrea, veronica, lena) - YES

it's a throuple of boarding school bitches with A Past, all rich and somewhat shady in various and compelling ways. what's not to love i guess. i headcanon that they are all soft (even veronica, but not all the way, just enough for the other two not to give up on her) and broken mostly through family trauma and expectations that they don't meet

but also think about the fact that they could very well come together as versions of their youthful selves, a little battered, a little broken, a little bit more criminal (they are rich, they literally already exist outside of the law for the most part) and there's a certain kind of recognition in that. the way it'll play though is that andrea and veronica will 100000% antagonize each other and lena will for sure play the straight man who just keeps the peace together long enough until it's time for her to pick a winning side, temporary that side may be.

freespace: imralucylena (what the fuck kind of corp are they?) - WHY NOT

a) i believe in myself so im vibing and can make this happen so jot that down

b) "in service of the greater good, even at the expense of one's personal good" is what i would sum this all up to be