#able to leap tall buildings in a single bound

[theforty7thgamer]

They should make a Superman trio of villains.

They should be called

The Speeding Bullet

The Powerful Locomotive

And The Tall Building

[abuddyforeveryseason]

It's Superman and Supergirl! Remember the Superdictionary? The one where Lex Luthor stole forty cakes? He stole forty cakes!

You know, it seems like, inside every writer, there are two wolves - one who wants to be as self-indulgent as they want, write stuff only to themselves, and not care about criticism at all. The other, the one who wants to be as popular as possible, try and craft a story based solely on what people want and strip it of any flaws, no matter how personally revelant these flaws are to them.

And to a certain point, both sides are kind of childish - wanting to be self-indulgent is like wanting to play with your toys alone and get mad at any suggestions, even though sometimes suggestions are given specifically because someone likes the writing, and wants to see it evolve. And of course, being too dependant on praise is also childish, cause it's like wanting mommy to see you do a tumble - having confidence means doing stuff for yourself as well, after all.

The one big criticism every writer has to answer to, the first thing everyone hears again and again when starting to write - is to avoid making your main character a Mary Sue. Meaning, flawless, overpowered, too important to the plot and being too unique compared to the rest of the cast.

Yeah, I mean, that does sound like an unpleasant read. The big problem is that term was created mostly to discuss stories that are based on the idea of external struggle. So if the conflict in the story comes from characters having a hard time surviving, a character that's universally powerful and beloved is boring.

That is the big complaint everyone has about Superman - why is in interesting to read a story where the tension comes from finding out who wins a fight, if one of the challengers can punch the sun shut?

And I'm not sure if I'd classify Superman as a Mary Sue. He's the strongest guy in the story, sure, but the conflict isn't whether he'll win a given fight. The conflict comes from the way the plot's constructed, whether Superman knows who the enemy is, if he can get there in time to stop him, how other people feel about it...

And there's the inner conflict that comes from Superman having a secret identity. That goes against the "Mary Sue" accusation because having the secret identity is a flaw. It was the big flaw that set the character apart from others when he was first published. And although it's never really explained why Superman even bothers "pretending" to be Clark Kent, it makes sense, even if only on a subconscious level, back when the character was created.

I know that, if I started developing superpowers as a teen, I wouldn't abandon my current identity and life, and my adolescence wasn't even as wholesome as Clark's, with his upstanding parents and friends. So, the reason Superman has a secret identity is that, even if he's not human, he's a person, with all the lived-in background, dreams and psychology that that ensues.

Then, during the Silver Age, writers pretty much gave up on portraying Superman as an enviable, much less powerful figure. For most of it, Superman was subjected to all sorts of humiliations, from being turned into a monkey every other issue, becoming evil at the flip of a hat, or otherwise being portrayed as a mean-spirited prankster or neurotic egomaniac.

All that, of course, was to suprise audiences who were shocked to see their hero reduced to such a pathetic figure.

Of course, after then, Superman was not much different than any other superhero out there - if he was super strong, his enemies were just as strong. Also sometimes he wasn't even that strong. There was even The Death of Superman, an interesting story where he was killed by the personification of the nineties.

Of course, the idea that the main character is going to be victorious isn't exactly news to the audience - at least not if the story's supposed to be about dangerous conflict. Nobody watches The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron assuming there's a chance Jimmy will be slaughtered by the end of the episode.

Mary Sues are called conflict-killers because they're overpowered, but also because they're boring. A character can be all that much better/stronger/smarter than everyone else, but readers don't mind it so much if they're also interesting. Or if the story around them is interesting. It's usually the case with a character like Sherlock Holmes - not only is he a genius, he's also surprisingly strong for a skinny, balding englishman. He's rich, too, and can even be pretty handsome and charming when he wants. And to top it all off, he's a badass who flaunts his superior intellect by declaring he gets bored with the matters of the common man.

But the stories are good, because his hypercompetence is what allows us to see him figuring out the truth. And that's often pretty interesting. Except in that story where the guy's impotence drugs were turning him into a monkey.

There are other ways to make stories with all-competent characters interesting. Sometimes comics are more about the art (and in some cases, the circunstances that make it so the backgrounds are so interesting), so it's a lot of fun if Mary Sue's just plowing her way through the plot to let us see the pretty pictures. If the Mary Sue isn't the protagonist, jealousy and admiration are interesting plots. It's a thing that works well in comedy too.

But the interesting thing about Mary Sues, and Superman in particular, is that, if the character isn't bogged down by the dangers of the world and its associated fears, the story becomes becomes purely about morality - if Superman can do anything he wants, what should he do? The best Superman (and Superman analogue) stories are about questions like that. And some of the worst ones are the ones that fumble the answer.

Anyway, he's resting with Supergirl there. Funny. Why does he even need to rest? He can punch out the sun for God's sake!

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV Musings - Can vampires LEARN new Dark Gifts?

YES.

And NO.

Three things affect a vamp's Gifts: Time, Blood, & Akasha. ALL vampires have the ability to unlock ALL of the Dark Gifts as they age & drink & get stronger & practice. No one vampire is born with the ability to do things no other vampire can do, that's not how it works. Vampires are superhuman, and preternaturally strong & powerful, even at base level as bb!fledglings. For instance: mere minutes after she was Turned, Lestat's mother Gabrielle was able to shatter glass just with her voice (just as we see AMC!Claudia do); it's basic.

However, some vamps CAN be born naturally more adept at using the Gifts from the offset. Gabrielle's vampiric senses & instincts seemed to be naturally sharper than Lestat's:

And she needed ZERO direction figuring out how to scale walls (anti-gravity)--nothing but sheer youth/age kept her from the Cloud Gift.

A BAMF, AMC!Claudia seems to be teaching herself how to use the Cloud Gift--or at least anti-gravity (OG!Superman could only leap tall buildings in a single bound b4 DC said eff it and let him fly).

Ofc she has the potential for the Cloud Gift already, cuz AMC!Lestat already had it. book!Les didn't learn the Cloud Gift until QotD, after he drank copiously from Akasha. But book!Claudia never stood a chance--book!Les didn't have it yet to pass it down to her.

Another good example's Armand, who is THE best vamp with the Spell & Mind Gifts--a naturally talented savant; a child prodigy.

That's not to say that there aren't other skilled & powerful vamps who're really good at the Mind/Spell Gifts. It's just that from very early on, Armand was uncommonly good at it, and he just honed that talent over time, quicker than other vamps do.

But the Mind Gift is also THE default ability of vampires. Even basic AF young bb!fledglings can use it; and with practice, they can all get good at it--but most don't live long enough to get that good.

But several things CAN hold a vampire back from getting stronger/better with the Dark Gifts--I've explained wtf Rhosh was up to b4.

As bad as Magnus was, he had NOTHING on Rhoshamandes (who deliberately didn't WANT his fledglings to know anything about their Gifts). Magnus was suicidal, and in a hurry to to die, so he told Lestat the barest of bones, but nothing more, then offed himself.

Cuz yes, even BEFORE book!Lestat met Armand & Marius/Akasha, he was ALREADY abnormally gifted (10x stronger than a fledgling his age)--cuz Magnus was old & strong AF thanks to having the blood of old AF Rhoshamandes (via Benedict).

But book!Louis was weak AF, and the WORST with the Mind Gift. AMC!Louis' below average with it, as Armand warned him in 2x2 that he's garbage at blocking his thoughts. But book!Louis couldn't use the Mind Gift AT ALL, he's shockingly bad.

But it's not that book!film!Louis could NEVER be taught how to use the Mind Gift--but Lestat certainly didn't know HOW to teach Louis, or connect with him on a level that could ease Louis into vampirism more considerately. He was a pisspoor teacher for Louis (but not for Claudia, who was more similar to Les & thrived under him--at first).

However, the fact that Lou was habitually starving himself meant he'd stunted his own growth--he CAN'T get stronger/better, cuz his body's too frail by design. Vamps need time, practice, and esp. HUMAN BLOOD, to feed the power within them. book!Lou never did; despite how old he got, it was only once he drank Lestat's super!Akasha!blood in Merrick that he finally unlocked all of the Gifts instantly, in one fell swoop, inc. the Fire Gift. Despite how weak & starved he was, the second Lou got access to Akasha's super!blood thru Les, he was off like a shot. (And I'd bet Monopoly money that if book!Claudia had drunk from Akasha, she'd have every Gift, too.) Speaking of--

Conversely, let's look at Akasha. According to Marius, it took her FOREVER to get the Fire Gift--several millennia. As strong as she was in Egypt, she was still young, and still developing, too. Khayman's Akasha =/=Marius' Akasha =/= Lestat's Akasha. She naturally got stronger & stronger with time.

Back in Egypt, Akasha had to use the Mind Gift (telekinesis) to lift oil lamps that were already lit, and throw them at people.

~500yrs later, Marius saw her kill Eudoxia just by lighting the wench on fire from thin air; with the Fire Gift (pyrokinesis). So it took Akasha thousands of years to acquire the Fire Gift.

But Akasha already had it in her--"lain dormant for centuries." Same as it lay dormant in Marius--he didn't even know he had the Fire Gift, or that it was even a thing--the first time he used it was an accident/surprise, when he was already ~500yrs old & fought Eudoxia's goons.

One could argue that mere time had given Marius the Fire Gift--and his Maker Teskhamen was old AF, strong enough to have survived the Great Burnings, so that was another bonus. BUT! Marius had drunk lots of Akasha's blood MORE RECENTLY than ANY of the Elders did. Her blood was aging while he alone had her, so as Marius drank, he gained access to older/better blood than the Elders before him. He was at the best advantage to get stronger quicker. Marius was better at every Dark Gift than the vampires FAR older than he was (Avicus was just as old as Teskhamen).

With the Killing Gift, Marius could make bodies literally explode. But Avicus, the eldest, could only give them a fatal aneurysm to make their brain bleed out. Mael could only cripple bodies, not kill them.

But the Fire Gift was something ONLY Marius could do, that the other vamps couldn't, younger or older.

Drinking Akasha's blood is vamp steroids, crack, Aim Bot, hax mode, deus ex machina, cutting the line, copying off the smart kid in class. But drinking from old AF vamps can also grant significant boosts. The Children of the Millennia begged book!Lou to take their ancient blood, to help him get strong pre-Merrick; but he always declined. We know from the Tulane drafts that he never drank book!Les' blood, or vice versa. And presumably, he never drank Armand's blood either. (I have reservations/doubts abt whether AMC!Loumand drank e/o's blood, but I'll talk about that in a separate post.) As for Lesmand....

We'll have to wait for S3 to confirm if 2x3 was bullsh!te or not. AMC!Lestat drank Armand blood (and presumably gained the power boost needed to get the Fire/Mind Gifts Armand then taught him to use), but this never happened in the books. book!Les already had the Mind Gift--he was able to read Eleni's mind and know she wanted Renaud's Theatre, which he told her take & run with Nicki. And in QotD Les said he used the Mind Gift "in the first few weeks after Magnus had made me" to telekinetically punch Nicki during one of their fights.

book!Armand drank LES' blood when they fought and Les kicked his arse, but he never drank from Armand in TVL, or asked him about the Mind/Fire Gift. It was Armand's strength that surprised Les--

--mostly cuz Les wondered if he was just as strong as Armand. Les had no idea what his powers were. Cuz barring extreme cases like using the Fire Gift while your life's in danger, vamps don't KNOW the Gifts that are out there, to even know to learn/practice with them--just like Everard said: Rhosh never told the de Landen Coven about the Dark Gifts, and he was 1000+ years old when he learned about them by reading TVL. Knowledge is power, and if you don't even know what your baseline is, how can you ever know your limits/potential?

The most valuable thing book!Armand taught Lestat (and Louis) was information. KNOWLEDGE about the past. NOT about Dark Gifts.

Louis took Armand's word that there was no living vamp older than Armand (proof that God didn't exist), but Lestat took Armand's word that Marius was NOT a fake legend, and went looking for proof on his own.

But AMC!Armand teaches Lestat & Louis VERY important Dark Gifts, which changes their dynamics significantly (I'll make a separate post all about that).

So yeah, I just wanted to think out loud & mull over whether dogs really can learn new tricks or not.

[guspartenza]

THE SUPERWOMAN FROM KRYPTON, FANART+FANFIC INTRODUCTION

art by https://www.deviantart.com/gabrielrb91

What would you think about an alternate universe with a female-Clark as Superwoman in the golden age?

Is the only main change in the classic canon together with her love interest, is not Earth-11, let's say is Eart-19...meet Clara Kent/Superwoman!

It's 1948, in Metropolis!

Up in the sky! Look! It's a bird? It's a plane? No! It's Superwoman!

Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, this amazing stranger from the planet Krypton, The Woman of Steel: Superwoman!

Empowered with X-ray vision, possessing remarkable physical strength, Superwoman fights a never-ending battle for love, truth, and justice, disguised as a mild-mannered newspaper reporter, Clara Kent!

In a world plagued by the Cold War and mistrust, can Superwoman bring peace to the world while fighting for love, truth, justice, and the American way? Can she finally find a happy life with Louis Lane, the love of her life? Can she defeat Lex Luthor and the terrible ancient evil he is about to awaken?

You can download full free illustrated fanfic in pdf here! SUPERWOMAN FROM KRYPTON-FREE ILLUSTRATED FANFIC by lordmallory on DeviantArt or here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XPh48B9_giTgDpnBXjRP-4Z4ksUU-WzR/view?usp=drive_link

Art by https://www.deviantart.com/letoart

KALA-EL/CLARA JOSEPHINE KENT/SUPERWOMAN

BORN: Krypton, a moon in a distant galaxy. Formally 28/02/1918, SMALLVILLE, KANSAS

PROFESSION: ASSISTANT REPORTER

YEAR: 1948

PLACE: METROPOLIS (METROPOLIS COUNTY, NEW YORK)

art by https://www.deviantart.com/wagemagegames

-Farmgirl, born Kansas 1918. No sisters nor brothers.

-Nicest girl in the office but very unfunny.

-Disappears without reason very often.

-Lives alone in a little flat and has a golden retriever dog called Krypto.

-Daddy issues. Her father didn't let her pursue a career as ballet dancer or swimmer (he didn't want her to take advantage of her powers) and died when she was 18.

-Former nurse during the war in the Pacific Ocean and in the Philippines.

-Loves children and dogs

-Tomboyish trails. Not quite elegant.

-Music-Hall fan, Katherine Hepburn and James Stewart fan

-Favorite books: Scarlet Pimpernel adventures, Jane Austen, Upton Sinclair and Virginia Wolf, somewhat eclectic.

-Amateur writer of children's stories, with characters such as DeeDog and the Komfy Dragon.

-She greatly admires her boss, Perry Weiss. A 1940s very liberal Republican style journalist, chief editor of the Daily Planet. She despises her deputy boss Cat Grant.

-Ambiguous relationship with her other boss Louis Lane. Clara has a good friendship with Louis and hides that she is very much in love with him. At the same time, she competes a lot with Mr. Lane and is annoyed by his political ideas and his paternalism.

-Strange friendship with young millionaire Bruce Wayne, something that is very surprising for the people in the Daily Planet newsroom.

-Always good scoops but never appears in the front line and too stubborn and independent to grow fast in the newspaper.

-Progressive quaker like her fathers.

-Civil rights supporter.

-Dislikes General McArthur, dislikes even more Lex Luthor

-Loves Eleanor Roosevelt but also Governor Dewey.

-Hates guns

-Supports unions, splits ticket between Metropolis Liberal Party and the two main parties. Politicians must be kind.

art by https://www.tumblr.com/bobbinalong

SUPERHEROINE LIFE

-Superpowers: Flight, Super-Strength, Super-Speed, X-Ray Vision, Heat Vision, Enhanced Vision, Super-Hearing, Super-Breath, Freeze-Breath, High Invulnerability, Super-Stamina

-Can fly to a Mach 100 speed.

-Acts as Superwoman since October 1945.

-Defeated Zod invasion in July1946.

-Initial bad relationship with Batman but now close friends and allies. Together with Flash they conform the Justice League.

-Didn't act as Superwoman during the World War II because she was afraid of her powers. After the discovery of the Holocaust and the atomic bombs she decided to step in and showed herself to the world on autumn 1945.

-Worst enemy: Lex Luthor, heir of Nikola Tesla, rocket engineer & CEO of TELCORP (Tesla-Luthor Co.)

-Deeply in love with Louis Lane, who strongly rejects the superheroine.

-She hides her supersuit and cape under her normal clothes. The material is extraordinarily thin, flexible and resistant, and very easy to wear under normal clothing. Whenever someone needs Superwoman, she just needs to find an inconspicuous place, rip her shirt, unfold her cape and fly away at full speed.

-Widely admired.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/bluerollerball

art by Gabriel Larragan (Ko-Fi)

FAMILY & ORIGINS

The El family & Krypton

Krypton was a decadent civilization located on a moon near a large gaseous planet in the Orion belt, next to a green sun. In the past they had visited Earth and other planets expanding civilization, but their penchant for slavery, war, resource extraction and violence caused many of these projects to fail. Even in 10,500 BC the Kryptonians almost caused the terraforming of the Earth, melting the poles and destroying Atlantis and other civilizations, causing among other things the end of the Ice Age. Nearly 99% of humanity perished during that Kryptonian attack.

Over the centuries the Kryptonians lost the fuel necessary to travel across space and ended up confined to their planet, dedicated to warfare, genetic engineering-creating clones whose organs they needed to extend their lives-to pleasure and to exploiting the subsoil of their planet. The Kryptonians also established a dictatorship with a caste system based on genetic engineering and prohibited natural reproduction.

Jor-El and Lara were a couple of scientists critical of the system and supporters of the abolition of the caste system. They also fought against genetic engineering, violent repression, and the permanent destruction of the ecosystem. After a series of terrible earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and gas outbursts, it became clear that Krypton's core was collapsing, due to the energetic drilling and magnetic energy used in Krypton's industry. The Planet was doomed but the ruling caste ignored it. Jor-El and Lara had a daughter, Kala-El in a natural way against all the rules of Krypton. Lara managed to manufacture a small ship capable of making a space jump to save her daughter from the end of Krypton. General Zod stole her design and managed to build a larger fleet of ships but Jor-El managed to sabotage them and send the fleet to the Phantom Zone, a black hole near Krypton.

Lara decided to send Kala to Earth, confident that the culture of this planet was much more hopeful and kinder, and less prone to the mistakes of Krypton than other distant inhabited planets closer to them. Jor-El preferred to send her to New Genesis, another distant inhabited planet, because there Kala would receive less radiation and develop less extraordinary abilities that would allow her to live a normal life, but eventually Lara convinced him. During her journey to Earth and her growing period under a yellow sun, Kala would develop wonderful powers and could live a long life in the service of mankind, rehabilitating Krypton's legacy.

Within hours of Kala's birth, she was placed in the small ship, accompanied by the robot guide Kelex, whose memory was imprinted with the consciousness of Jor-El and Lara, as well as nearly all of Krypton's cultural heritage. They included several Kryptonian artifacts inside, such as a nearly indestructible ceremonial female ancestral caped suit with the crest of the House of El on its chest.

The ship was launched just hours before Krypton's demise and travelled through space for thirty years...

art by https://www.tumblr.com/bobbinalong

Joe&Martha Kent, Kansas life

Joe and Martha Kent were a Quaker farming couple whose farm was struck by the pod carrying Kala-El the 28th of February of 1918. Although owners of substantial property they were a very humble, cooperative, austere, devout, and civil rights-minded people. Martha Kent was a descendant of Kansas abolitionist guerrilla fighter John Brown. They both raised Clara very lovingly and unwilling to ask too many questions about the baby's origin. Clara was a very sickly child as her body did not adapt to the Earth. She was an affectionate and obedient girl and devoured books. The Kent family were avowed supporters of the New Deal and Joe Kent was a member of the local farmers union.

With puberty Clara developed very fast, and her superpowers began to appear. She soon began to excel in swimming and ballet, while still questioning her origins, but Joe forbade her to pursue a professional career to prevent her from taking advantage of her powers, and moreover he forbade her to use her superpowers to help others, fearful of humanity's reaction and wary of savior messiahs in the era of interwar dictators.

Clara rebelled against her father but eventually gave in, fearful of her own abilities and understanding her parents' position. During these years, Clara didn't fit in very well, but she had two best friends, Pete Ross, with whom she was secretly in love, and Lana Lang. Pete didn't know about her superpowers, but Lana did. In 1936 Joe Kent died of a heart attack, devastating her daughter. Clara was unable to go to college after her father's death and worked as a teacher and nurse's aide in Smallville. Her engagement to Pete Ross, her teenage sweetheart failed in 1939 when she revealed her powers to Pete and he panicked, although he later promised to keep the secret. In those times of sadness, Kelex, the Kryptonian robot, was activated, explaining to Clara her true origins, which filled her with confusion.

Between 1939 and 1941 Clara lived in Canada and Alaska searching for the Fortress of Solitude, a strange place Kelex was pointing, but with the outbreak of World War II she decided to enlist as a nurse in the Pacific, refusing to use her powers except to help the wounded, fearing to cause more harm than good. In late 1944, the hospital ship on which he was traveling, the USS Shuster, was torpedoed by the Japanese. Clara jumped into the water and managed to keep the ship afloat with her super strength until she managed to beach it. No one understood how miraculously the ship had stayed afloat and even levitated. The incident was kept secret. Clara got a permit to return home and she revisited Alaska where she found the Fortress of Solitude with the help of Kelex. There she was able to better understand her origins and began to train her superpowers.

After learning about the Holocaust first and the atomic bombs later, Clara decided to become Superwoman and help others with her superpowers dressed in the ceremonial Kryptonian costume of her ancestors. Her mother Martha supported her decision. She relocated to Metropolis, where in September 1945 she was hired as an assistant reporter by Major Louis Lane, who had just returned from Europe.

art by LuisF47 - Hobbyist, Digital Artist | DeviantArt

On October 1, 1945, Superwoman unveiled herself to the world and caused a huge sensation. The world was changed forever. Superwoman introduced herself to the newly formed United Nations, explaining her origins and her desire to help others and to stay out of political conflicts except to protect civilians.

Clara Kent began her double life as a journalist and as Superwoman. In July 1946, she defeated the invasion of General Zod and the survivors of Krypton. She also had to face other enemies such as the Intergang - an alliance of all organized crime in Metropolis and Gotham, Atomic Skull - an ex-Nazi agent with terrifying technology, Lex Luthor who began to develop his hatred and paranoia towards the superheroine, and his creations such as Metallo.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/xtophe

DAILY PLANET CHARACTERS

Perry Weiss, a major shareholder and editor in chief of the Daily Planet. Born in Odessa in 1886. Jewish immigrant from humble origins who became a skilled journalist and founded the Daily Planet as a tool of the liberal wing of the Metropolis Republican Party to unseat the city bosses of the time. Still a staunch liberal, he supported Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936, is an ally of Mayor LaGuardia. He won the Pulitzer Prize in the 1920s for defending the innocence of Sacco and Vanzetti. Friend and ally of Louis Lane's father. He is very demanding with his employees but is very fond of Clara. He admires and defends Superwoman despite Louis Lane's distrust. Best friend of Cat Grant.

Cat Grant, Co-chair of Perry Weiss, Pulitzer winner, closeted lesbian, and Ayn Rand Fan. Born 1901, she comes from a fine family of Metropolis Knickerbockers. She is like Louis the least liberal element of the newspaper. To protect herself she married a very old friend of her father who helped her lead a double life. For twenty years she lived with a painter named Margaret Ivy. Considered the best writer of the Daily Planet, in addition to being a journalist she has published two novels. Very elegant and popular in intellectual circles. She is tremendously authoritarian. She mistreats Clara a lot because she does not respect her authority and because of her different political ideas, but as Clara grows as a journalist and Cat Grant suspects that she is Superwoman, she will protect her and push her forward without Clara knowing it. Best friend of Perry Weiss

Jimmy Olsen and Lucy Weiss, best friends of Clara.

Jimmy is a junior urban photographer. He comes from a town in Massachusetts. He is 7 years younger than Clara. He is a party animal, friendly, generous, and somewhat naive. Yet he is a skilled photographer who has been able to capture the worst of the night and day of Metropolis. Miraculously he always gets the best pictures of Superwoman (Clara helps him a little). Very democratic and complains about working for a newspaper that is too conservative for his taste. Adores Clara whom he treats as his big sister. It doesn't even cross his mind that she is Superwoman. Jimmy thinks that Louis is a snob and a bigot.

Lucy is a senior political photographer and the only woman on photo reporting on the Daily Planet who works outside the fashion department. She is the eldest daughter of Perry Weiss. She is an intrepid photojournalist who gets overseas passes and has been to several military conflicts. A loyal friend of Clara, and a very serious and professional woman. She is suspicious of Clara's double identity but would never say anything. She is the same age as Clara and a lover of jazz and the more alternative circuits of Metropolis.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/milkydraws8/gallery

art by https://www.artstation.com/pabloalcalde

LOUIS LANE, SUPERWOMAN'S WEAKNESS?

NAME: LOUIS LANE

BORN: 08/02/1912, METROPOLIS (NEW YORK)

PROFESSION: SENIOR REPORTER

YEAR: 1948

PLACE: METROPOLIS (NYC)

art by https://www.deviantart.com/rickcelis/gallery

-Rich family, born in 1912, first of 6 brothers.

-Caustic, cynical, ironic but somewhat kind.

-Commanding.

-Lives in Park Avenue with his 6-year-old daughter and his rich unfaithful wife, fashion reporter Pat Lane (neé Kelly). Very unhappy marriage.

-Major rank during the war in the US army. He also worked with the OSS.

-Elegant, sportsman, plays violin.

-Teaches music lessons in an orphan house in secret.

-Not that snobbish nor Wasp, new rich family traits.

-Arkham University alumni.

-Classic music and literature lover.

-Heavy drinker.

-Does not enjoy journalism, thinking of quitting to politics or teaching literature.

-Jewish father (Lane surname is a change from Lantzman), Irish catholic mother, raised catholic and religious, but not extremely orthodox.

-His father is a self-made tycoon who started as democrat in the Tammany Hall and then switched to republican. Close ally of Mayor LaGuardia.

-Fought in the European theater during World War II.

-Conservative republican opposed to his father liberal republican views, loves McArthur, who he thinks should be the next President.

-In the past he had a good opinion of Lex Luthor. He saw him as an innovator and freedom fighter, but his opinion changed when Luthor kidnapped him to set a trap for Superwoman.

-Perry Weiss favorite reporter.

-Won the Pulitzer Prize in 1941, for his articles about the first defeat of the Intergang.

-First person to interview Superwoman.

-Very nice and paternalistic to Clara. Louis pushes Clara's career forward despite Cat Grant's opposition. He is also secretly in love with Clara. Although he rejects Superwoman and suspects she is the same person as Clara, he deludes himself and rejects these suspicions.

-Tired of New Deal Politics, anticommunist.

-"a brilliant and kind man" for most of the Daily Planet staff, a "terrible asshole" for many others like Jimmy Olsen.

-Strongly rejects Superwoman and other heroes.

-Sometimes Clara really hates him.

-Famous line "Neither reds nor capes".

-He lives a bizarre love triangle with Clara Kent and Superwoman. Although he publicly rejects the superheroine, he also desires her and he and Superwoman have had moments of passion, which Louis feels guilty about because he is married and because of his religion. On the other hand, he is in love with Clara Kent as much as he rejects the figure of Superwoman. He deludes himself about the identity of both. A bit James Stewart in Vertigo, which destabilizes and infuriates Clara.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/guinnessyde

art by https://akiko02.carrd.co/

CURRENT AND PAST ENEMIES

Lex Luthor

Rocket engineer, CEO of TELCORP and Heir of Nikola Tesla. A Brilliant scientist who defines himself as a "radical humanist"...but in the early 30s supported closely fascism to stop "imperialism" and "usury" but later changed his mind and move closer to the USSR to fight "predatory western capitalism". Publicly, he is a tycoon and scientist loyal to the United States and works closely with the government. The world's greatest philanthropist. Loving father and husband. Hates Superwoman to death and believes she spells the end of humanity. Paranoid and ruthless but convinced that he does everything for the greater good.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/gus-art

General Zod & Faora

Political dissidents like the El on Krypton on the other hand believed that Krypton's only salvation lay in emigrating and invading, terraforming, and exterminating other planets. They almost succeeded in a coup d'état but after their failure they and their henchmen tried to flee by space jumping their ships, Jor-El managed to sabotage the launch and send them to the Phantom Zone. Over the years they managed to escape and arrived on Earth in 1946, shortly after Clara showed herself to the world as Superwoman. They tried to exterminate all humanity, but Superwoman and the armies of Earth managed to defeat them. Their invasion caused 5,000 human casualties but could have caused complete extermination. The experience was traumatic for Clara because she had to send Zod and Faora back to the Phantom Zone where they would surely die. Zod, Faora and their henchmen had not yet developed the full powers of a yellow sun like Earth's and so several of them were killed by human bombs and missiles. Their remains were stored by Russians and Americans. Superwoman managed to expel all Kryptonian technology and weaponry into space so that humans would not use it for warfare.

Doomsday

A truly near-indestructible abomination.

Perhaps from Krypton's past? Perhaps created by mistake by human scientists?

art by https://www.deviantart.com/fernando-damasio & https://www.deviantart.com/kristherion

The Toyman

Winslow Schott, former entrepreneur, and inventor of the 1920s toy business who was ruined in the Great Depression by banks and various betrayals. After a crime spree he was imprisoned in 1933 but escaped from prison recently completely crazed and ready to take revenge on the whole city using his inventions.

Brainiac "The Eternal Traveller"

An android resulting from the abhorrent merger of a famous astronaut and artificial intelligence, which was used by the first civilization of Krypton to collect information from other worlds. It is more than 100,000 years old. With the passage of time, he revealed against the Kryptonians, became evil and phobic to any form of life that he considered imperfect or inferior. It caused the destruction of many cultures. He wanders through space visiting planets and analyzing life forms. He probably has no enthusiasm for humans, much less for a descendant of the House of El.

art by https://www.instagram.com/estefaniaart_/

art by https://www.deviantart.com/midnightowl07

art by https://www.deviantart.com/artsandar

art by https://akiko02.carrd.co/

art by https://www.deviantart.com/son-neko

art by https://www.deviantart.com/dommnics

You can download full free illustrated fanfic in pdf here! SUPERWOMAN FROM KRYPTON-FREE ILLUSTRATED FANFIC by lordmallory on DeviantArt or here SUPERWOMAN.pdf - Google Drive

[yourlocaltransdude]

Broke: Superman is Jesus Woke: Superman is Moses Bespoke: Superman is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!

[superman-the-secret-third-thing]

hey power scalers, based solely on these statements- who is the superior super-simian?

Superman: Faster than a speeding bullet More Powerful Than a Locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound Not a bird or plane

Titano: Taller than a building More powerful than a herd of elephants More destructive than a hurricane More fantastic than King Kong

Superman #138 "Titano the Super-Ape!" (1960)

[celticcatgirl2]

Superman-Goku parallel i havent seen people noticed:

both are able to fly yet did not TECHINCALLY have the is ability in their early years

in golden age comics superman literally LEAPED tall buildings in a single bound it was just jumping super far/high not flight

and in the original dragon ball Goku rode the nimbus instead of flying himself

[usafphantom2]

Kelly Johnson proposed to build an airplane that would fly not only four times faster than the U-2 but 5 miles higher. The A- 12 would be faster than a speeding bullet and be able to leap tall missile shields in a single bound. The A-12s skin was so hot that in a single flight it cooked the red white and blue stars and bars until they were scorched brown.

Do you know what 600° is? Is the temperature under your broiler.

‘’Wonderland” By any means necessary. by William Burrows

@Habubrats71

[citizenscreen]

Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

“The Adventures of Superman” debuted #OnThisDay in 1952.

[rorirevolutions]

World Building Pt 7: Powers #1 LabRats

I think we can all agree that there are some discrepancies when it comes to powers in the shows. The biggest ones being the inconsistency and OPness of some of the characters. Now please keep in mind that these are my fanfic headcanons and they follow the rules of World Building Pt 1: Power Systems. So if you haven’t read that you might be a bit lost. This is going to be ongoing so this part is just LabRats

Adam

According to the wiki Adam has Super Strength, Super Jump, Heat/Flame Vision, Super Durability, Plasma Grenades, Blast Wave, Water Breathing, Pressurized Lung, and a Mental Link. 

Super Strength is kinda Adams whole thing and while most superheroes/villians have enhanced strength in some way, his is kinda different. In the LR vs MM crossover Adam was shown to be able to overpower The Crusher who apparently is the Strongest Human. Therefore, I think Adams strength operates on unstoppable force meets immovable object rules. Basically his strength calibrates to combat whatever he is coming into contact with. Thus making him able to overpower even the strongest of foes. Now he doesn’t have conscious control over this, which is why he is consistently breaking things and why we see these fluctuations. The Super Jump is a part of the strength think Supermans leap tall buildings in a single bound but more SuperBoy for the Young Justice Cartoon. 

His Heat Vision is another commonly used ability of his. The Flame part was originally shown as a glitch and I kinda wanna keep it that way. One of my favorite headcanons is that Adam needs glasses and my main reasoning for this is that due to the damaging effects of the flame vision glitch his vision is permanently damaged and continued glitches makes it worse and worse until he is forced by Douglas and Tasha to get glasses. He is very farsighted(can’t see things far away).

Plasma Grenades and Blast Wave are barely ever shown and when they are its usually an accident or glitch. This accompanied by the fact that they are shown with a similar affect leads me to believe that they are connected. The plasma grenades are most likely a condensed version of the blast wave and with more practice he eventually gains control of them and can use them more frequently. The full Blast wave on the other hand probably requires a lot of energy so after using it Adam is pretty much fried. 

The Water Breathing and Pressurized Lung are kinda self explanatory, but I always found it odd that Bree and Chase didn’t know about it. I mean Rats on a Train(S1Ep3) Mr. Davenport  has the test extremes and prepares to have Adam be submerged in water. So I don’t think it was the Breathing he was training but instead he was training Adams resistance to water pressure. The Ocean is deep and to be able to go to the depths of a Submarine without being crushed is insane. So instead of them being surprised that he could breathe instead they are surprised he could go that deep as he hadn’t reached that depth before in training.

Now the Mental link and Durability are only going to be mentioned on Bionics. Supers have a natural extra bit of durability and the mental link is through the Chips. I really think they should have used the mental link more, not just for missions but for the lols. I mean come on its a mental link and they are teenage siblings. If I had the ability to terrorize my siblings with show tunes I’d do it with out hesitation. So yeah absolutely more of that.

Bree

According to the wiki Bree has Super Speed, Enhanced jump/wall crawling, Invisibility, Durability, Vocal manipulation, and a Mental link

Super Speed is her main thing and like Adams strength it’s different that other speedsters. Unlike other speedsters she dosen’t experience time discrepancies, she’s the one moving fast the world isn’t slowing down for her. Thus she isn’t on the same wavelength as others and moves just as fast if not faster. This dosen’t save her from the same drawbacks as speedsters, she has difficulty stopping and turning, if not focused she experiences sever vertigo, and she does have a enhanced metabolism. Due to the fact that time isn’t really slowing around her as she runs she trained to be able to quickly identify her surroundings, she dosen’t have the time to look closely at things and look at minor details. However, due to time not slowing for her, she isn’t nearly as jittery and easily bored as others. She still is a bit because ADHD gang but not nearly as bad as other speedsters.

The Enhanced Jump and Wall Crawling go with the super speed. Her jumps arn’t nearly as powerful as Adams because its her speed and continues motion not really jumping. Same goes for the ‘wall crawling’, its actually her body vibrating and producing energy similar to a static cling that keeps her up. If she stops her speed she will fall.

Her Invisibility is less of her actually disappearing and more of you not being able to see her. Her body (minus clothes, Suit can match her but not normal clothes) shifts to a light frequency that is unable to be seen by the naked eye. The only one who can usually see her when shes invisible is Chase.

Vocal Manipulation. I like to think its more of her vibrating her vocal cords to make certain sounds then her chip copying sounds. Similar to a mockingbird or Lyre Bird.

For Mental link and Durability go up ^

Chase

Chase has the most abilities of the bionic trio, Super Intelligence, Force Field, Commando App, Enhanced Senses, Bionic Eye, Magnetism, Enhanced Durability, Molecular-Kinesis, Levitation, Laser-Bo, and a Mental Link

Starting with his ‘Super Intelligence’. Now I never liked how when they took his smarts away he became an idiot, he took after Douglas and Donald the most out of the siblings so I believe he is genuinely very smart. Probably an honor student even without his powers, and has a photographic/eidetic memory. What his super intelligence does is boosts that and allows him to organize what he knows into useful little mental folders. Anything he needs to know outside of that he can access through his chip and the wonders of the internet. Overall though without the chip he’s still really smart but like a kid with ADHD who is off Adderall for a day his once neat folders are now scattered and papers are everywhere. So it’s gonna take him a sec to figure things out. 

His Force field unlike other supers isn’t really malleable. He can move it, grow and shrink it, but he can’t chang the shape. Its a circle, a bubble if you will. Other than that it operates pretty much the same as other supers.

His Enhanced Senses and Bionic Eye allow him to take in more information than the average person. All of his senses are dialed up to 11 and he often has trouble adjusting to new places and frequently has sensory overloads. It’s actually easier for him out in the field because he is constantly monitoring his senses, but at home or when he’s just out n about and he isn’t expecting sudden changes it shocks his system. If he needs to focus on one specific sense he taps the area (ie his temple, behind his ear, the bridge of his nose, his lips, or his index fingers).

Molecular-kinesis. Now the definition for actual molecular-kinesis is that it allows the user to manipulate the molecules of an object, which is not what Chase does. FireStorm(DC) is the best example of a hero that actually has molecular-kinesis, and personally I think if Chase actually had it he would be way to OP. What he has is telekinesis and while it is a lot more precise and powerful that others with the same set I believe this has to do with his concentration. The Levitation and Magnetism kinda go along with this. I don’t believe he actually can levitate especially since he only ever does it once, Instead I think he just applied his telekinesis to himself. The magnetism is pretty straight forward, he attracts and repels any magnetic metal. He can shape it with telekinesis but not the magnetism. 

Laser-Bo. Just Laser-Bo. Ok for real though it functions like a staff and I believe its made out of the same energy as his force field. It’s not hot or anything its just condensed light and energy.

The ever famous Commando App. Now I’ve seen many takes on this and I agree that the reason Chase has Spike is because the trio are Fight(Adam), Flight(Bree), and Freeze(Chase). If Chase were to freeze in battle he and his siblings are dead, thus Spike exists. If he gets into a perceived dangerous situation and his response is freeze Spike takes over. It doesn’t happen as often as it probably did due to Mr. Davenport training his instincts to be fight or flight, but if he is startled or in a big confrontation he sometimes freezes. Such as in Spikes Got Talent(S2Ep9) where he is embarrassed on stage, one of the most common reactions to stagefright is to freeze, which he did. Or in Commando App(S1Ep2) when Trent and Perry get in his face and yell at him.

Leo

Now Leo is a bit interesting because he canonically has only a bionic arm and leg. While he eventually gets full bionics it dosen’t happen in the main series, instead it happens when LREF happens. In Leo fashion(and to not divulge too much) he gets himself into a dangerous situation and something falls on him. Douglas being Douglas and only knowing how to fix something by adding bionics does that and thus he is bionic like his siblings. He can now use the laser sphere with both arms, his entire body is now more durable, and his energy transfer ability can be used on any energy source now.

Marcus

Marcus being an Android complicates things slightly. In my fic Leo and Daniel go back for Marcus post The Vanishing(S4Ep25-26). They along with a guilty Douglas fix Marcus and after some much needed family therapy Marcus joins the team(Adam, Leo, Daniel and Marcus). His abilities kinda shuffle around and most only appear once and then never show up again. Post LR he has Laser Vision, Telekinesis, Electrokinesis, Enhanced Speed and Strength, enhanced senses, invulnerability, and has weapons embedded in his skeletal body.

Daniel

Daniel is another difficult one since he only shows up towards the end in a handful of episodes. Overall though I believe he only has the Power Replication ability. I think that even by itself it is an amazing ability. Especially because he isn’t replicating the ability at the point of development the others ability is at. Which means he can individually train each ability and when he needs to borrow it again it will still be at that enhanced level.

[comphetkoncass]

UM... EXCUSE ME...

does anyone want to tell me why the FUCK on dc's official comics website, when you look through the characters, conner kent doesn't even exist?

they use the picture of him from the fucking new 52 universe.

no mention of his alias of conner kent, and here's the fucking description: https://www.dc.com/characters/superboy

Superboy One is one of the greatest super heroes in the world—a legend whose symbol inspires hope and that stands as the embodiment of truth and justice. The other is one of the world's greatest villains—an egomaniacal genius whose every action only serves to further his own goals, even at the expense of others. What side of the coin do you fall? Good or evil? Alien or human? Superman or Lex Luthor? Maybe it's a little bit of both? Cloned from Kryptonian and human DNA, and gifted with powerful tactile telekinesis, Superboy possesses abilities similar to that of the Man of Steel. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, Kon-El always strives to live up to the Superman name but constantly questions his ability to do so. Of course, having the shared DNA of Lex Luthor doesn't make it any easier on the young hero, who lives in constant fear of what sort of influence his human side might hide. Part alien, part human, he exists as a boy of both worlds—embracing aspects of both Kryptonian heritage and humanity in a way that Superman never can.

what the actual FUCK?

[kurtvrich]

Tumblr Hunk…

Able To Leap Tall Buildings At A Single Bound. Handsome young LAK lad shows off his incredible stair climbing skills. Part One.

[tangleweave]

👀 for Peter and Tabs because of the potential chaos

[ Barely There / Accepting ]

Being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man came with certain perks. Catching cars hurtling through the air at 30 mph? Knocked that one out when he was in high school. Leaping tall buildings in a single bound? A little on the Superman side, but hey, Superman's cool. Scaling sheer surfaces with nothing more than his fingers and toes? Cirque du Soleil, eat your heart out.

But even above these things was the extra sense with which he'd been endowed after that spider bite had unspooled and recombined his DNA. He called it his spider-sense. Some manner of precognition, lying in the strange space between clairvoyance and extreme attunement to his surroundings. It was an element he'd never quite been able to get a proper understanding of... but it had saved his life more times than he cared to count.

And as he emerged from the bathroom, he was in the midst of reminding himself that it had saved his life again -- which was why he was covered in shallow cuts and not skewered fully on the blade that had drawn them. His outfit had been a lost cause, shredded to tatters and already bagged up, ready to be incinerated when the opportunity availed itself (he'd learned to not be sloppy). After the shower, which had stung to every Hell that existed and back, he'd meticulously dressed each and every wound, knowing better than to take his accelerated healing factor for granted. Kravinoff was known to poison his weaponry.

Maybe the Raft would hold him.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, his intent was to slip over to the kitchenette to grab the half-empty bottle of grape juice from the door before heading to bed. His body was already long dry, and the gauze, medical tape, and butterfly stitches holding his skin together could have been covering nearly a quarter of his body.

But none of it offered him any modesty, and neither did the wide-eyed gaze of the woman standing just inside the front door, key still in hand.

The sight of her there caused Peter to very nearly leap to the ceiling. As it was, he yelled and twisted aside, turning his flank to her and inadvertently giving her a show of his backside that was only minutely more modest than what she'd just seen.

"Gah! Oh god, Tabby, what the hell...!" he spluttered, his face turning redder than the juice he'd meant to acquire.

[loisandclarktieposting]

This is kind of sad to read. I was curious when/why the show's ratings declined. I've been a fan of a show that struggled to get renewed every season while it was airing, so this kinda hits me in that place.

But I know the real reason the ratings dropped: Clark stopped wearing the super wild ties. I'm about 6 episodes to the series finale, and he's worn a plain tie like 3 times this season! There's been some busy stuff and one that made me "woah" but it was tame compared to others.

[chernobog13]

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (1952-1958)

Faster than a speeding bullet!

More powerful than a locomotive!

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!

[guspartenza]

Merry Christmas!

Art by Marcelo Millicay (@millicay.art) • Instagram photos and videos

You can download here free and complete the illustrated 8 chapters+Introduction of my fanfic about Clara Kent/Superwoman here SUPERWOMAN FROM KRYPTON-FREE ILLUSTRATED FANFIC by lordmallory on DeviantArt

Alternative download link: SWLiterari(I).pdf - Google Drive Epub version: SUPERWOMAN.epub - Google Drive

Bonus chapter! SUPERWOMAN: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF CLARA KENT

What would you think about an alternate universe with a female-Clark as Superwoman in the golden age?

Is the only main change in the classic canon together with her love interest, is not Earth-11, let's say is Eart-19...meet Clara Kent/Superwoman!

It's 1948, in Metropolis!

Up in the sky! Look! It's a bird? It's a plane? No! It's Superwoman!

Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, this amazing stranger from the planet Krypton, The Woman of Steel: Superwoman!

Empowered with X-ray vision, possessing remarkable physical strength, Superwoman fights a never-ending battle for love, truth, and justice, disguised as a mild-mannered newspaper reporter, Clara Kent!

In a world plagued by the Cold War and mistrust, can Superwoman bring peace to the world while fighting for love, truth, justice, and the American way? Can she finally find a happy life with Louis Lane, the love of her life? Can she defeat Lex Luthor and the terrible ancient evil he is about to awaken?