#basically continuing the theme of lena having more friends than she thinks

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

@occidentaltourist & @cyclone-rachel your nanite-Jack post made me think of a potential episode idea where it starts off with Lena sensing someone watching her in her daily life.... in her office, getting coffee, in her car, what have you.

She's suspicious af and decides to deal with it in-house because she's still split from the Superfriends at this point, and obvs has trust issues.

But when she fails and is abducted anyway, Supergirl steps in. Not that Kara's particularly successful, though. Not until a cloud of nanites comes swarming into the DEO, panicking all but Brainy, who listens intently.

"Interesting," he says after a moment, turning to the others. "The nanites have been watching Miss Luthor for some time. I will educate them on the human concept of privacy later, but for now they have data they believe will help locate Lena."

Their data does in fact help identify who took Lena and why, but not where she might be. The nanites disperse to scour the city for her, and the rest of the Superfriends just stare at Brainy.

"That's.... weird, Brainy," Alex says.

Brainy agrees. "It is peculiar, given the current level of AI sentience in this era. However I believed it best to use the resources at our disposal, however they arise. I believe this era has a saying about gifted horses that would apply to this scenario?"

Meanwhile, in an abandoned warehouse somewhere in the city, Lena sits bound to a chair for hours, struggling to find a way to either get these people what they want or to escape. It ends up being the latter, in the form of nanites drifting in through the air vents and slowly eating away at the zipties binding her.

She's almost escaped when guards come bursting in, having seen her release on the security feed. Lena barely has time to flinch before the nanites slam into the guards, incapacitating them in moments while a portion remains behind to shield Lena from any wayward bullets.

When Lena is the only one left standing, the swarm reintegrates into a single mass. With sharp eyes Lena regards the undulating cloud of nanites hovering nearby, watching her.

As she stares, they slowly compress, shaping into the vague yet recognizable silhouette of a human. Slowly, things start to piece together in her mind.

The odd behavior of the nanites. The eerily familiar stance of the silhouette. The last time she saw those nanites in the shape of a man.

"Jack?"

The cloud nods, and somehow she recognizes a smile in the shifting glint of the metal nanites. Relief and regret pour into her at once, pulling tears to her eyes.

"You were the one watching me, weren't you?"

It nods again, and she almost laughs. She does smile, even though she knows it's not him. Not really.

"I've missed you."

The silhouette steps towards her. Lena doesn't flinch, not even when a portion of the cloud splits and pulls away from the mass, extending a facsimile of an arm. Lena reaches out, and lets her fingers submerge into the cloud. It's not the warm, tangible contact she wishes for, and yet the peculiar itch of nanites moving against her skin fills her with comfort all the same.

"I'm sorry," she says. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you, Jack."

The swarm around her hand constricts, and it almost feels like a true touch.

"Thank you for saving me."

[dreamersdreamloud]

Love in This Club (V-Day)

Lena Luthor x Reader 

“Sam. Why can’t we just stay in? I don’t mind spending time with you and Ruby here tonight.” 

Lena’s best friend ignored her and continued to look through the closet for the perfect outfit for the night. Lena doesn’t mind going out but hates going out on this specific day. Valentine’s Day. 

If the raven haired was being honest, she hates this day. She hates seeing couples doing couple activities on this special day. Lena just doesn’t understand why couples needed to express their love so much on this day. Why can’t people just express their love everyday or any other day as the same as valentines? 

Sam throws a black scandalous dress at Lena. 

“Seriously?! Why this one?” 

“Because you.” Sam pokes Lena’s forehead. “Need to find yourself a hottie in the club who can make you forget your name and what day it is. So you need to look fuckable tonight.” 

“Sam!” 

“Nope. No excuses. You need to get laid. Don’t  worry about Ruby. The babysitter just texted me and she’s currently waiting for her to get home from her friend’s house.” 

Lena didn’t bother to argue with her again and headed straight to the bathroom to get ready. Hopefully she can just drink the night away. 

***

The flashing red and pink heart shaped lights in the club were a bit overwhelming. The loud music was tolerable and the drinks were alright for you to stay for a while. You were forced to go to the club against your will. Your friends didn’t want you to stay in tonight. You sit uncomfortably in the booth filled with your friends and their dates. Your friends tried very hard to make it feel like just another night at the club but it was hard to ignore due to the theme and music choice of the night. 

You appreciate their efforts but you didn’t want to ruin their night trying to satisfy your loneliness. You excused yourself to use the restroom but in reality to make your way to the bar to get herself a stronger drink. After a healthy sip of your drink, you unbutton a few buttons on your dress shirt and run your hand through your hair to loosen it up. 

You glanced at your watch and thought about purchasing another glass and then leaving for the night. You didn’t want to stay out too long since you have work the next day. 

“Whiskey neat, please.” 

An angelic voice made your ears perk up. You’re not the only one having a rough night, you thought to yourself. You look at the woman not too far from you. A black tight dress hugs her stunning glass figure. Her jet black hair fits her matching bright red lipstick. She basically screams “fuck me, I’m hot.” 

She caught you staring but you didn’t turn away. It must be the alcohol in your system for your stupid actions. You winked at the woman and simply looked away to face down your drink. The raven haired was surprised that you didn’t turn away so quickly and it was bold of you to send a wink at her but not come and flirt around. 

A tall dark gentleman sneaks up behind the raven haired and puts his hands on her waist. You knew it was too good to be true that a hot woman like that would be single. Little did you know, that guy is not her boyfriend. 

“Hey, sexy. I’ve been looking for you. Wanna finish that drink and get back on the dance floor?” 

Clearly, Lena didn’t feel comfortable being manhandled nor being told what to do. She wants this night to be over and she sees that her glass is almost empty. Lena doesn’t want to go back to the dance floor especially not with the guy who is holding her.

If you didn’t know any better, the woman looks like she needs another drink to deal whatever she’s in. You told the bartender to make another drink for the raven haired beauty and put it on your tab. 

The bartender made the drink in seconds and placed it in front of Lena. She was puzzled by the new drink in front of her and the bartender just tilted his head to the side to point out to you that you were the one with the kind gesture. Lena sees you getting ready to leave while the man behind Lena felt offended. 

The man let’s go of Lena and makes his way to you. He gripped your shoulder for your attention. You force yourself to turn to the jackass for grabbing you. The guy wasn't that tall, probably just a few inches and he looks much more buffed up close. 

“What’s your problem, man?” You gritted your teeth. Clearly you don’t like being bothered. 

“You’re the fool who bought my girl a drink.” 

“And?” The annoyance grew within you, seeing no point on the kind gesture towards the woman. 

“James! Let her be. She was just being kind.” The raven haired tries to pull the man off you but instead he shoves you. You held yourself in place and shoved him back with more strength. James takes a chance to swing his fist at you but you dodge it and deck his face. 

The people around didn’t seem to notice. It was all too quick. The bartenders called security and immediately apprehend the man to kick him out of the club. You make your way to leave again but someone grab your shoulder again. 

“Hey! I- um sorry about him.” The raven haired beauty says. 

“It’s cool. Sorry about your boyfriend. You deserve better.” 

“He’s not my boyfriend. I just barely know the guy. We just met and I thought he was a good catch.” 

“Oh. Well I’m still sorry for ruining anything special for this day. Enjoy your night, Miss.” 

Lena quickly gets in front of you to prevent you from leaving. 

“I’m Lena. Do mind if we get to know each other? You technically saved me from a regrettable night and I just wish to-” 

“I’m (Y/N). Do you mind if I buy you another drink?” 

The raven haired smiles and grabs your hand to lead you back to the bar. The two of you continued to drink and get to know each other better. You found out that Lena is a CEO of L-Corp which you can’t believe. Her best friend dragged her to the club to get yourself laid which failed badly. 

You told Lena that you’re from the military and that you’ll be staying in National city for a while until your next tour. It explained why you were much faster and stronger than James. Lena and you were getting really comfortable with each other. Lena was inching closer and closer until she was close enough to just focus on your face. It was getting harder for you to talk normally to Lena. due to you staring at her full red lips. 

“(Y/N)!” One of your best guy friends spots you. Lena raises her eyebrow at you. 

“We were looking for you all over this club! Seems like you kept yourself busy.” He continues to say and notice the closeness between Lena and you. 

“Oh. I was about to leave-”

“Hello, I’m Lena. (Y/N) was planning to leave soon and rejoin you guys.” 

You looked at Lena with confusion but you didn’t reply fast enough. 

“Oh! Why don’t you join us?! (Y/N), bring your girl to our table. I’m just going to grab new drinks for everyone.” 

You nodded and held Lena’s hand to lead the way to the table of your friends. Your friends stop talking when they see you and a stranger attached to you. You introduce Lena to your friends and their partners. There wasn’t enough room to fit another person beside you but it wasn’t a problem to Lena. Lena sits on your lap and makes herself comfortable. 

Your friends were keeping a close eye on you and were very impressed. A sexy woman like Lena is sitting on your lap with an arm around your neck. You continued to drink and socialize. Lena’s head rests on your neck. 

The alcohol and music were helping the two get lost in your own world. It feels nice to be holding onto Lena and she felt the same as well. Soon, the two capture each other’s lips. You could taste the whiskey on her lips. The kiss heated up and Lena wasn’t afraid to grind into your lap. 

Your hand moves between Lena’s legs and touches her fabric covering her pussy. Lena gasped at the touch and you discovered how wet she is for you. 

“Very bold of you to make a move like that on a woman you just met.” Her warm breath in your ear makes you feel fuzzy. 

You went further and started rubbing her clothed clit with two fingers. A breathy moan fills your ear and Lena holds onto you tightly. 

“I may have just met you but I plan to discover every inch of you if you let me.” 

“Fuck. I’ll let you if we leave this instant.” She says. 

You smirk and stand up with Lena. You didn’t say anything to your friends and just pulled Lena with you to head to the exit. Your friends know exactly what’s going to happen and they’re happy that you’re going to feel loved on Valentine’s Day. 

“You didn’t say bye to your friends.” Lena says. 

“Don’t need to. They all know that I’m going fuck you for the rest of the night and I hope I make me you forget your name.” 

If Lena wasn’t  aroused before, she sure is now. 

*** 

You landed beside the messy raven haired after you removed the strap-on. Lena curls up next to you and throws her arm around your chest and buries her face in your neck. 

“You’re so good with the strap, I swear I don’t think I’m able to cum for a few days.” She smiles against your sensitive bitten skin. 

“Mm. I take that as a compliment. For you being a CEO and all . . . You’re such a needy bottom.” 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Darling.” 

“Happy Valentine’s to you too, babe.” 

“By the way. . . I expect that next Valentine’s Day to be romantic. .” Lena declared. 

Your eyes widened, “next Valentine’s Day?” 

It was Lena’s turn to smirk and pull you in for a kiss. 

“Yes. I plan to keep you around, darling.” 

[handlewithkara]

Versus a depowered “human” Kara ending

I know that people have put forth the theory for why they think that the show will end with Kara giving up her powers and becoming “human”. I thought I would lay out my reasons why I don’t think it will happen. For this I will use a mixture of spoilers, discussion of themes and yes of course you can’t avoid personal preferences. 

First let me say, I don’t blame people for this speculation and that it makes the stupid or bad fans. I can see why looking at the evidence could make them come to that conclusion (for example with quotes like “Melissa:  What she stands for and always fighting for what's right, and leading with your heart and compassion and finding your family and holding on for dear life. “ or “ it's a lot of exploration of power and what it means, how do you wield it well, how do you wield it for the wrongs reasons, and what happens when you do on both sides of heroes and villains. “ or “The more Kara matures, the more she's grappled with her power and what it means to carry the powers that she has on Earth and her identity as either an alien or human, or where she belongs. Those are things we're really exploring this year with her. And what makes you strong? What makes you feel empowered? Those are things we're looking at this season across the board for all the characters. But with Kara specifically, this season is going to be more of a self-exploration, looking in the mirror and [contemplating] what her power means because it's almost limitless and it makes her so strong on Earth. Where does she draw the line? How does she reconcile that with her humanity?”), I’m just going to share why I don’t think it will be the ending the show goes with. 

Things we know about the ending - quotes: 

Quotes from Melissa:

-  they pitched me the end, and it's really lovely. It's a great ending. I feel fantastic about it  

-  "Story-wise, it's really lovely the capacity in which [James, Winn and Mon-El] return."

-  She said she would be willing to put on the Supergirl costume one more time to convince [her son]."If he asks, I would do it," Benoist said. "Something tells me he probably won't. [He] might be embarrassed." 

-  Of course, I’m not going to give anything away, but I am very happy with the strength and the empowerment that comes with the way we’re ending the series for Kara.

- it’s our heartfelt wish that her legacy echoes the central message of Supergirl: embrace the hope, the inspiration and the supwerpowers that live within yourself

Quotes from Chyler: 

- Question: Are you content with where Alex’s story ends? Chyler: It’s bittersweet. [..]  It’s going to be a “to be continued” kind of thing. It’s understanding that, OK, they’ve reached a certain point in their life where it’s almost like the audience can hopefully give them permission to imagine them having some time to be happy and it not be dire straits all the time. There’s always going to be bad guys.

Things we know about the ending from behind the scenes pictures: 

- Alex and Kelly will have a wedding and very likely Alex will finally get to adopt a kid like she has always wanted. 

- James, Mon-El and Winn are back for the finale and take part in the big battle. Kara is still flying in that battle. 

- A part of the battle is the people of National City rising up and helping out. 

- There is a scene where Andrea and Lena create something dedicated to William Dey. There is a scene of Nia posing with a flag and Kelly is present. 

- Alex will appear in the Flash crossover which is set after Supergirl concludes, potentially together with Kelly. Kara/Melissa won’t take part. As per her quote Melissa very likely doesn’t plan on playing Supergirl any time soon. 

The feminist message of Kara giving up her special powers

To me, there has always been a feminist message in women having powers and getting to use them. If you compare it to how how the journeys of Kara’s male colleagues have gone, traditionally they have gotten only more powerful over time, such as with Oliver dying and returning as an almost all powerful being. 

To me the message of taking the most powerful character in the Arrowverse who happens to be female and telling her “you have to give up your powers for the greater good” seems just kind of wonky to me. Not that it couldn’t be done at all, but I find it at least somewhat questionable rather than “I heard it and I got it immediately”. (is it really a great example of strenght and empowerment for Kara to give up her special powers? Is it really a lovely occasion for Mon-El, Winn and James to return to watch Kara give up her powers? As opposed to the occasion being that all of Kara’s friends, all the people she inspired to be heroes, powers or no powers get together to help her defeat the baddies) 

Especially since in the context of the show, these powers are an inherent part of Kara, just like they are for Nia and J’onn. And the show has consistently shown as the powers also being something that give Kara great joy (particularly flying). 

Diversity versus hegemony

Supergirl has always used aliens as a metaphor for immigrants and bringing up various aspects like suspicion against aliens, their rights as full citizens etc. 

It seems to me that for the way the show has used this metaphor the more suitable message would be aliens and humans living in harmony with each other and the aliens can keep having their powers. To resolve this conflict by Kara just “becoming human” seems like an odd fit for me compared how the show has handled this topic so far. 

Especially considering how Melissa has recently frequently brought up season 4 and citing that she liked it precisely for the political storylines it had. That being the very same reason where Kara contemplates embracing her heritage in public. 

There has been a lot of moaning about the potential implications of “giving up your life for a dude”, but I would bring forth, isn’t “giving up your heritage, giving up an integral part of yourself for anybody” still a pretty wonky message (presuming that the end would be something like “Kara gives up her powers for Alex, so she can be human with Alex, since the sisters are the heart of the show” [as it does not appear that Kara gave her powers up to defeat the big bad, since she still seems to have her powers in the big battle, so it would have to be what... Kara asking Nyxly or Myxy to take away her powers?], it just seems to me that in such a scenario, wouldn’t the greater love be where the other person doesn’t need or want you to give up such a huge part of yourself and instead loves you the way you are?

To me it just seems like the more uplifting message would be if aliens can keep their powers and still be accepted for who they are. 

Powers are used to bring down the big bad

Having a badguy with the power to do everything at the snap of a finger would be an excellent setup for Kara to lose her powers. But if the message of the show is supposed to be that no-powers is as good or even better than having powers, wouldn’t you expect that be reflected in how the big bad is handled? If the end of Kara’s story was that she gives up on having superpowers and focuses on being just a journalist, wouldn’t you expect then that journalism is what brings down the badguys? Wouldn’t you expect a big battle where Kara does not have powers but beats the badguys anyway to show off that powers are not needed at all even when facing down the biggest bads? 

Instead it looks to me like Kara still very much has her powers in this confrontation (we see her doing a superhero landing) And she is still wearing her superhero suit. Again if the central message of the show was wouldn’t it be more powerful if the big final battle would feature Kara facing the badguys down in her human, reporter outfit? 

Kara wouldn’t leave her friends

I find this claim strangest of all. Because Kara has left her friends before. She left to live on Argo. And if you look at those episodes, she did not come back because she missed her friends so much and realized she could not live without them. She realized she did not like it there, that she didn’t fit in there because even in a mostly peaceful world where Kara has no special powers compared to everybody else Kara could just not stop superheroing and she returned because earth was in danger. 

Back in season 3 when Kara tried to leave, all the people in her life were arguably in a way worse condition than they presumably be at the end of season 6. In season 3 Alex was still alone and still saddened by her breakup, just on the verge of taking steps towards her goal of motherhood. At the end of season 6 she will presumably be married to an equally heroic partner with the adoption she has been craving going through. 

In season 3 Lena was still clueless about the inner workings of superheroics, by the end of season 6, Lena is in the know, part of the team and has forged a lot of new friendships and might presumably even get more active powers of her own and it stands to reason by the end of season 6 Lena will be truly free of her family influence. Nia has grown into her own powers. Compared to the last time Kara left, everybody is in an even better shape.  

Would Kara really stop being a physical hero if she lost her powers? 

One component of the speculation is that whatever the ending is, it must provide an explanation for why Kara isn’t taking part in crossovers. Yet... Alex has no superpowers and she is still a hero. And every time Kara lost her powers in canon, she still kept on being a hero. So even if Kara gave her powers up permanently why wouldn’t she just join Kelly and Alex in being a technology based hero? 

I find it much harder to believe that a Kara who stays would sit by idly while Kelly and Alex put themselves into phyiscal danger. To me, a setup where Kara is still a superhero, just physically elsewhere and trusting Alex to hold down the fort just works a lot better than Kara not joining physically when she is basically around the corner and the show has plenty of technology lying around that would allow her to stay a physically active hero. 

It just seems odd to me that she couldn’t do both yet at the same time Alex presumably stays active as a hero. So is staying a vigilante superhero something worthwhile (even as you can have a positive influence on the world as a social worker or a reporter) or is it not?  If it’s not worthwhile, why is Alex still doing it and if it’s worthwhile and Kara’s beloved sister is doing it, why would Kara stop doing it, when in the past, she has always shown herself to still act heroically even when she had no powers? 

Is being human is better than having powers, shouldn’t J’onn and NIa (or Mon-El for that matter) give up their powers too? 

If the core message of Supergirl is supposed to be that not having superhuman powers and just acting with human empathy and ingenuity is better, why don’t J’onn and Nia give up their powers? if let’s say sacrificing powers was a requirement to defeat the big bad, wouldn’t that also affect J’onn and Nia? 

Yet when Nicole Maines was interviewed and asked how she would like Nia’s story to continue after Supergirl she talked explicitly about wanting to develop Nia’s powers more and how she wants Nia to become even more powerful. Something that seems kind of at odds if she just comes off a show where the presumably celebrated end is the main character losing her powers. 

If Kara has lot her power, why isn’t she present right there in the front line in those scenes with Andrea, Lena and Nia? 

If the aim of the show is for Kara to become “human” and focus on her work as a reporter and the various way that humans can inspire each other and lift each other, wouldn’t you expect Kara to be part of it? To either cover it as a reporter or to even be part directly when for example sort of inspiring organization is being created? 

Kara not being in those scenes to me makes more sense if she either isn’t there and these scenes communicate how various other characters carry on her mission OR if she at the very least still has her powers and flying over them in a way that is added as CGI later. 

Anyway, these are the reasons why I personally find it rather doubtful that the show will go with a depowered or “human” Kara ending. 

I personally lean towards what I call a “Graduation” ending, an ending where Kara looks down with pride on all heroes she helped inspire and moves to some other location to be a hero there or hone her heroing there, feeling safe in the knowledge that she is leaving the protection of earth in capable hands and that her message is still being carried forth by the people she has inspired. 

Another option of course could be that she just stays as a superhero as before, and they just don’t care to have any particular explanation for why she isn’t taking part in crossovers. 

Maybe the strength and empowerement could come from full circle from the pilot in her standing tall as a powerful hero with a army of people she inspired behind her and finally being open about her secret identity, as an alien (as mirror to Kara revealing her powers to the world in the pilot, it is Kara revealing her identity to the world). 

In the end, it be will a question of personal preference and we’ll probably have to agree to disagree which ending seems more likely and just a couple of months from now, we will see what the show goes with, what they felt was more suitable and what Melissa thought made a “lovely” ending for Kara’s character. if Kara “turn human” in the end and Melissa is happy with it, whatever. I can live with it. But with the things are now, I’m skeptical that that would be their ending. To me it would just seem like an odd fit with the overall messaging of the show (yes even with all the talk about human hearts, but what does it say about the rest of the characters who are also aliens?) and a rather dubious place to leave the character in and imo doesn’t really provide a lot of advantages to Kara keeping her powers and staying in town when it comes to explaining her position vis a vis the rest of the Arrowverse. 

[winterskywrites]

Hey, darling, what do you think about Lena Luthor? Like, she IS absolutely brilliant, super gorgeous, powerful and so cool, and she absolutely doesn't deserve that toxic and manipulative family, but the writers could already started the process to her get better of that trust issues. It's hard for anyone be understanding and patient all the time, especially when the other person doesn't do the same thing for you. I hope she gets better, cause she deserves to be happy.

Honestly, my feelings towards Lena, at least at the moment, are not nearly as positive as yours seem to be. At the moment, I firmly believe that she’s acting like a villain. I’m putting the rest of my response under a cut, but please be warned that it’s not particularly Lena friendly.

(And anon, please know that my response is not trying to attack you; I’m only trying to answer your question.)

Edit - I misinterpreted parts of the original message; the clarification is here.

So, here’s the thing about Lena: She seems fairly incapable of seeing morality in shades of gray. With Lena, you’re either with her or you’re against her; you’re either good, or you’re evil. (And Lena tends to be somewhat self-obsessed, so if you’re against her, you’re also probably evil.) We’ve seen this with her multiple times, but her current conflict with Kara is probably the best example of it. Kara didn’t tell her that she was Supergirl (which was one hundred percent Kara’s choice, I will die on that hill), and now Lena is convinced that Kara was never her friend at all and that Kara was never really that good a hero in the first place. Even after Kara did tell Lena her identity at the beginning of the season, as well as an explanation of why she hadn’t done it previously, Lena is completely unswayed. Kara “betrayed” her, so thus Kara is against her, so thus Kara is bad.

Now, I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing to feel upset when you feel that someone doesn’t trust you. However, in this situation, you also need to take the other person’s intentions into account, and this is something that Lena doesn’t seem willing or capable of doing. We can look at her relationship with Andrea as an example here: Andrea took the medallion and lied to Lena about it, which seems like a betrayal on the surface, but we know that she did it to save her father. When Lena learns this, it doesn’t seem to change her opinion on Andrea at all. She still thinks that Andrea betrayed her, and she still seems to consider that an inexcusable offense. Even when Andrea apologizes to her in tears, Lena still continues with her plan to manipulate her. Again, this is an example of Lena’s black and white thinking - Andrea betrayed her, so thus she’s bad, full stop, despite any reasoning she may have had.

The real reason that this black and white view of morality is a problem is that Lena is using it as an excuse for her Non Nocere project, which is, in my opinion, flat out morally wrong. Lena wants to use her technology to manipulate other people’s minds without their consent. She kidnapped Eve and used her technology to override her entire mind, and then kidnapped Ma’alefa’ak and used his powers against him. She planned to broadcast Non Nocere worldwide using Myriad, thus mind-controlling the entire world. She’s been working with Lex, perhaps the worst villain in the entire Arrowverse, to come up with a way to block people from feeling emotions that she deems bad. She used Non Nocere to remove feelings of injustice and framed that like it was a good thing. What Lena’s doing is wrong. She’s allowed to feel however she feels regarding Kara and Andrea, but she can’t use those feelings to justify doing evil, and Non Nocere is, in my opinion, evil.

Now, I am aware that Lena had an awful childhood and that many her reactions can be traced back to that, but while that might explain them, it does not excuse them. Like you said, Lena doesn’t deserve her toxic and manipulating family, because absolutely no one deserves that, but that doesn’t make what she’s doing okay. The fact that Lena has experienced trauma does not mean she can do whatever she wants without consequences. I don’t really agree that the writers have started the process of her getting better with her trust issues; I don’t really think there’s been much growth there at all, and any growth that Lena may have had in the past seasons has been lost in this current one. Of course, working through issues like hers is often not a linear process, but it seems like, as of season five, Lena has lost any desire or motivation to work through her trust issues, and that’s a problem. What Lena really needs right now is therapy (like Kara suggested to her earlier in the season), but to make that work, you need to accept that you have a problem and be willing to work through it, and to me, it doesn’t seem like Lena fulfills either criterion.

You said, “It’s hard for anyone be understanding and patient all the time, especially when the other person doesn’t do the same thing for you.” I absolutely agree with the sentiment, but I don’t think it particularly applies to Lena. I don’t feel like Lena has ever put that much effort into being understanding and patient, and I think that her friends tend to put much more effort into it than she does. Honestly, I think the character who best exemplifies this idea is Kara, who is always understanding and patient, sometimes to her own detriment, even when the other person puts absolutely no effort into doing the same. It took Kara weeks to stop begging Lena to forgive her, and even now, Kara seems entirely willing to forgive Lena for everything that she’s done if Lena even indicates that she wants such a thing. I think Lena is the one who needs to be more understanding and patient more than perhaps any other character on the show (other than the die-hard villains like Lex and Leviathan, of course).

You described Lena as, “absolutely brilliant, super gorgeous, powerful and so cool.” I don’t really disagree with any of those points, but none of them are inherently good things. Lena is brilliant, but she’s currently using her brilliance to come up with a way to manipulate people’s minds. Lena is gorgeous, but that has no correlation with her being a good or bad person. Lena is powerful, but again, she’s using her power to do things that are morally wrong. (I don’t care what Lex said, I’m not convinced that those prisoners from a jail owned by the Luthors decided to be test subjects entirely of their own free will without any outside influence.) And Lena can be pretty cool, but again, that doesn’t make her good. I also hope that Lena gets better, because I do like the prevailing theme on Supergirl that no one is ever fully beyond redemption, and I also think that she deserves to be happy, because I think everyone deserves at least the chance to be happy, but Lena is currently one of the villains of this season, and if she’s going to be anything else, she needs to put some serious work into her redemption.

Basically, tl;dr, Lena has a very black and white view of morality, and she’s using that as an excuse to do things that are morally wrong, like Non Nocere. While her issues don’t make her a villain on their own, the way she’s choosing to react to them does. Lena is not beyond redemption, but she is currently a villain.

[nitr0glycer1ne]

Ducktober/Duckvember Day 8 - Ship

Hooooo there it is!!! Some Drakepad!!! Well, some pre-relationship Drakepad, but still! And also I get to write Lena and Gos for the first time! My headcanon is that Gosalyn is a year younger than Webby (HDL's age), and that Lena "is" a year older than Webby. Gos and Violet are the same age, but Violet skipped a grade. Also I mainly took inspiration from the original Gosalyn, though I did make her a bit more done with her dads maybe??? Please enjoy!

“Uuuuugh!” “What’s going on, Gos?”

The redhead let her head slump on the table, while Webby gave her a puzzled look. It was rather unusual to see Gosalyn look so discouraged; the fiery girl was usually the first to motivate other people when they felt down, and was a seemingly endless well of energy. But Gosalyn had seemed a bit distant since the morning. Since they were a year older, Webby and Violet didn’t have classes with her; but when the three of them and Lena had met up before classes, Gosalyn had already seemed a bit down.

“It’s my dad.” she mumbled. “And Launchpad.” “Are they arguing about whether or not you should be allowed to stay up past nine again?” Violet asked, finishing her yogurt. “No, thank God.” Gosalyn answered, her face still again the table. Lena, who was a grade above Violet and Webby, looked at her with a small smile. “Then come on, spill the beans."

Drake had bonded with her and Violet’s dads, and while she considered him a friend, she also loved teasing him, since he was very easy to tick off.

“It’s just that they won’t go out together! It’s annoying!” Gosalyn complained, lifting her head from the table and rolling her eyes. “They look at each other all lovey-dovey, Launchpad basically lives in our guest room and acts like he’s also my dad, and when they argue it’s like seeing an old married couple!”

She almost added that they fought crime together, but she wisely decided to keep quiet about that last fact.

“It’s true that I did hear Launchpad talking to Dewey about the many ways in which your dad is amazing and looks dashing and stuff for half an hour the other day.” Webby remembered as Lena snickered and Violet nodded in understanding. “It was sweet, but also pretty funny to see the exact moment when Dewey’s face lost all expression. He does that a lot when he’s bored.” “See!” Gosalyn roared. “That’s why I’m talking about! There’s nothing not romantic about that! But when I tell dad that he should date Launchpad, he gets super pissed off!” “Hmm…” Violet lost herself in her thoughts for a moment, gathering them. “Maybe you should try a different approach, if direct confrontation was inefficient.” “I’m sure I could make some sort of love potion.” Lena offered, eating the last piece of her fruit salad. “They’re already in love, dummy!” Webby smiled and affectionately ruffled her best friend’s hair. “But I have another idea, and I’m sure you’ll like it!” “You do? Really?”

Webby nodded, offering her friend the brightest smile she could. Gosalyn couldn’t help but be a little bit scared.

-

“Ahem. Ladies, thank you for being here today!” “You literally dragged us here right after school.” Lena reminded Webby, who coughed a little. “Details, details, my dear Lena. Anyways, let’s kick off Operation Drakepad!” “Drake… pad?” Violet asked, tilting her head. “Is that a portmanteau of my dad and Launchpad’s name?” Gosalyn asked in disbelief. “That’s so… cheesy. Exactly like them. I love it!” “Thank you, Miss Mallard.” Webby bowed, pleased. “But I’m not the one who came up with the name. Meet my associate in romantic cases, Hueeeeey Duck!”

Like a proud mother, Webby pointed her two indexes at the duckling who was standing right next to her.

“Why does he have to be involved?” Gosalyn asked. She didn’t mind the Duck triplets at all; but she was curious as to why Webby had decided Huey would be, in her words, “a precious ally”. “Oh, because he was the other brilliant mind behind Operation Fendra!” “Fendra?” Lena repeated. “Huey, seriously?” “Hey!” Huey replied defensively. “It was a great name! Short, efficient, straight to the point!” “Silence!” Gosalyn yelled. “Was that operation about making two idiots in love realize that they’re in love?”

Huey and Webby looked at each other, suddenly embarrassed.

“… kind of?” the girl answered. “OK, and did it work?” “Weeeell…” Huey hesitated. “Not really, but we didn’t really have a backup plan for the eventuality of one of them being a spy sent by Mark Beaks to infiltrate Gyro’s laboratory, so it… wasn’t a failure either?”

Lena, Violet and Gosalyn looked at each other in disbelief. Gosalyn was starting to look even more disappointed than during lunch, so Webby was quick to do her best to avoid further damage:

“But there’s no reason it shouldn’t work for Drake and Launchpad! I mean, I don’t think either of them own a laboratory? Or that they’re an enemy of Mark Beak?”

Gosalyn thought back to the time her father had investigated a case involving the egotistical and childish owner of Waddle, but she remained silent. After all, Launchpad had been investigating alongside Darkwing Duck, and there was absolutely no way the loyalty the pilot had towards her father was anything but genuine.

“Nah, I don’t think so.” “Then the plan should be an absolute success, I guarantee it!” Webby giddily promised, although Huey looked a bit more skeptic. “And what is than plan?” Violet inquired, curious. “Will you tailor it to the targets’ personalities and interests, or is it something you can apply to every situation and soon-to-be couple?” “A mix of both.” Huey answered. “The idea is to set them up for a date, and to try to make it a date they’ll enjoy.” “So, Gos!” Webby turned her attention to her redhead friend, who seemed a bit lost, somewhere between tempted by the idea and being in utter disbelief at the somewhat surreal scene that was unfolding in Webby’s room. “What do you think your dad would like for an ideal, romantic, sure-to-sweep-Launchpad-off-his-feet date?”

Gosalyn did have an idea, but she wasn’t sure making the date Darkwing Duck theme was going to help set a romantic tone- it would just be like one of their regular Darkwing Duck marathons.

-

“It’s really nice for your boss to invite us for dinner.”

Launchpad, Drake and Gosalyn were in the pilot’s car, an old thing that had seen better days but that Launchpad lovingly took care of. The trio was headed towards the McDuck manor, the two adults sitting in the front while Gosalyn was in the back, seemingly innocently reading comics. However, her mind was focused on what awaited her father and his almost-boyfriend that night.

“In fact, it’s almost too nice.” Drake continued suspiciously. “I mean, he does owe us for the heroic help I provided when those aliens invaded us, but still, isn’t it a bit weird for Scrooge McDuck to-” “Daaad.” Gosalyn rolled her eyes. “Geez, can’t you enjoy a nice gesture from an old man?” “Gosalyn is right!” Launchpad nodded. “Mr McD is nicer than people think. He took me in when I didn’t have a place to stay, you know!” “Mmmh.” Drake nodded. “Still…” “You worry too much!” Gosalyn scolded, putting her comic aside. “That’s what too much crime fighting will do to you.” “What?! There’s never enough crime fighting, young lady!” “Whatever. Just… let Darkwing in the car for tonight, okay? Be Drake and have fun.” “Yeah, DW! It’s gonna be a fun evening!” “Launchpad, don’t call him that!”

They had been so busy bickering that they barely noticed they had arrived. Launchpad almost crashed the car when parking it in front of the garage, but the three of them arrived in one piece in front of the manor’s entrance. Out of habit, Launchpad was about to open the door, but Drake gently grabbed his wrist and rang instead. A surprised Mrs Beakley opened them.

“Launchpad? What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn’t be coming back here before Sunday.” “What?” it was the pilot’s turn to be puzzled. “We’re here for dinner?” Drake clarified, suspicious. “The one Scrooge McDuck invited us to?” “Dinner? Mr McDuck hasn’t told me-” “Oh hey, hi Launchpad! Hi Mr Mallard! Hi Gos!”

Webby had sled right in front of her grandmother, offering the trio the warmest and most welcoming smile she could. Mrs Beakley looked at her granddaughter, suspicion growing more and more obvious on her face, but the girl ignored the heavy gaze she felt on her back:

“How wonderful of you to join us for a magical evening sure to please your minds and your palate! Please, come inside.”

Launchpad stepped inside the house, oblivious, but Drake kept looking at Webby as if she had grown a second head. He then glanced at his daughter, but she raised her shoulders, the very picture of innocence. Sighing, Drake followed his friend. When Gosalyn entered the manor, she saw Mrs Beakley was talking with Lena in a hushed tone, looking somewhat displeased but mostly perplexed. The redhead understood Webby hadn’t told her grandmother about their plan, probably because she would have done everything in her power to dissuade the kids from putting it to execution.

And, to be honest, Gosalyn couldn’t blame her.

But the plan was now in motion, for better or for worse. Gosalyn had, of course, been heavily helping Webby and Huey with it; but in the end, the last steps were entirely up to them, and she truly hoped it would succeed. She would never forgive herself if her meddling somehow hurt her father and Launchpad’s relationship; but she truly believed neither of them would do the first move, and that someone had to intervene, for their own good.

She met with Violet and Lena, who had apparently managed to convince Mrs Beakley to let them handle the situation if the way the housekeeper had gone upstairs while muttering “children…” half annoyed and half affectionately was any indication.

“And now, we wait.”

 -

“Woah! Did you change the decoration? The kitchen didn’t look like that last week!”

While Launchpad looked around the room, amazed, Drake felt like he had stepped into one of those trashy novels oozing with over the top romanticism. Every surface available was covered in rose petals and candles, save for the table at the center of the room, covered with a pink tablecloth. Soft jazz music was playing, and strings of small paper hearts had been taped to the wall.

One of the Duck triplets – Drake still had trouble telling them apart, this one wore a white shirt with a red bow tie – greeted them, a napkin thrown over his arm.

“Ah, welcome, welcome! Your table awaits, gentlemen.”

The duckling guided them to the table, which was around two meters away from them, and let the two adults sit down. Launchpad was still looking around, marvelling at the gentle and cosy atmosphere the candles gave the room, while Drake listened to him, feeling a smile blossom on his beak.

It was when Webby brought them a menu, one that only had a single option available – labelled as “Cupid’s Choice” and whose main dish was a plate of meatball spaghetti – that everything clicked in Drake’s head. Gosalyn’s enthusiasm when she had told them of the dinner, the way she had been looking at him and Launchpad all day long, Beakley’s confusion, the ridiculously romantic decoration of the room-

Gosalyn may not have been his biological child, but she was definitely his clever daughter. She took so much after him, and after Launchpad too, now that he thought about it.

And as a complete understanding of the situation hit him, Drake laughed, taking Launchpad by surprise.

“DW- uh, I mean, Drake, what’s going on?” “Oh, nothing, nothing, don’t worry.” Drake reassured his friend, looking at the emerald eyes he could get lost in, noticing for the first time how close their hands were, resting on the table. “I’m just looking forward to this dinner.”

-------

And of course the dinner was a success!! Let me know if I should write it! I'm just weak for the Mallard-McQuack family......... and Webby and Huey's matrimonial agency of sorts... and Team Magic befriending Gos.... I hope I did this pairing justice, it's my favorite DT17 ship!!

[antonixfawley]

About: Antoni Fawley

“ I’ll keep all my plans close to my chest . . . ”

Introduction

name: Antoni Fabian Fawley also known as: Toni age: 23 birthday:  January 30 astrological sign:  Aquarius species:  Human gender:  Male pronouns:  He/Him orientation: Queer

Past/Bio

Early life: Antonio was raised by two loving parents, Peter and Lena Fawley. His father’s family came from a long line of pureblood, members of the sacred twenty-eight in fact. Though his family did keep their bloodline pure, they only did so out of tradition, and not because they really put much stock into blood purity. The Fawley’s were a long line of Hufflepuffs, with nearly every member being sorted into the badger house, aside from those who married into the family, such as Antoni’s mother. So of course he was raised on values of loyalty and hard work, kindness and gratitude, all the makings of another fine Hufflepuff student. Antoni never really clicked with those things, though. He wasn’t as interested in family activities as he was in reading alone in his room, he found making in depth maps of the land surrounding his family home much more engaging than playing silly games or doing chores on those lands. He had difficultly finding time alone growing up, as his father insisted he stay out and spend time with his siblings as well as aunts, uncles and cousins who were always at the estate for one reason or another. From fancy dinner parties to family game night to simply having tea, the Fawley’s adore entertaining guests. Antoni’s mother understood though, the polish witch being a bit introverted herself, she knew her oldest son was a bit more like her than his fathers side of the family. She would let Antoni leave dinner a bit early some days, or skip out on tea to have some alone time. She let him stay up later so he could read a few more pages of whatever book he was on at the time, when his siblings had to go to bed early. Growing up in a household with such high expectations for their children to be a certain way, Antoni became quite calculated in his behavior. He chose when to sneak away and when to be present with family, quickly learning when the right time to speak was, and when he should hold his tongue. He kept most of his thoughts to himself, already being so distant from his siblings and family, he didn’t want to further alienate himself by making any wrong moves. Hogwarts: When Antoni went off to Hogwarts, his whole family was ecstatic to see the eldest son find a place in the line of Hufflepuff legacies, but when the sorting hat touched his head, it had no hesitation before shouting out “Ravenclaw!” to the hall. Most children would be mortified of not being placed in their family’s house, but all of a sudden he saw a sea of blue rise up and welcome him in, a sea of people just like him. He felt like all his years of running off to find a quiet spot, staying up late in secret to read or write were validated now, he wasn’t the odd one out anymore. Antoni’s family, of course, were supportive anyways. After all, what kind of Hufflepuff wouldn’t support their family? There was always teasing though, and his siblings and countless Hufflepuff cousins never let him forget that he was different, he was odd, but he didn’t mind what they said. He knew who he was and he didn’t care what anyone else thought. Toni’s years at Hogwarts gave him time to grow and branch out, finding interest in astronomy, arithmatic, potions, and history the most, though he excelled in all his courses. He continued his hobbie of map making, working tirelessly to document every part of the castle that he could, drawing extensive separate maps of each floor and the grounds. He found many friends in ravenclaw, as well as some outside his house, though he always preferred to be alone when given the chance. He didn’t really find much interest in dating for the first few years of school, but around fifth year, his friends around him began to couple up he knew he needed to blend in with the behavior and found himself beginning to flirt and be more outgoing with other students. His family credits these years as when he started to blossom, as he began to stop secluding himself and interacted much more with others. He enjoyed these little flirtations he found, and some even blossomed into relationships, though they never lasted long. He wasn’t very focused on actually finding love or romance, he was just having fun with what he found to be a challenge. He wanted to see how easily he could get someone to trust him and fall for him, often playing mind games with the people he dated. Antoni grew into an extremely intelligent, calculating, and focused individual, crafting a reputation for himself as a charming, friendly young man with a bit of a heartbreaker streak. Current life: After leaving Hogwarts, Antoni ventures into various places of employment, testing out office jobs, interning at various places, including the Daily Prophet for a spell, though it didn’t last long. None really ever did since he was easily bored and would just quit, getting a new job whenever he wanted. Due to the high marks he reached on both his OWL and NEWT exams, pretty much any job was available to him. Then, Antoni had found an interest in Ministry work, and law had always been eye catching to him as well. Currently, he has been working as an intern for the Auror department at the ministry of magic. He found a place with the Death Eaters not long after graduation, his intellect and moral ambiguity being good qualities for him to apply to the group. He had never grown up being taught about blood purity, but he of course learned of it in school and was quickly swayed. After all, he was a Fawley, a member of the Sacred Twenty-eight. In his mind, he deserved a spot at that table, and he was going to get what he was owed.

About

personality: charming, calculated, friendly, intelligent, and self-serving label:  The Facade positive traits:  clever, passionate, level-headed negative traits: self-serving, two-faced, easily bored alignment: True Neutral goals/desires:  find something that interest him and holds his interest, gain power in society fears:  being bored, not finding anything engaging that can intellectually challenge him hobbies:  map making, reading, writing, calligraphy. habits: zoning out, over explaining things, lying

Appearance

Face claim:  Thomas Doherty height: 6ft eye color: Blue hair description: * color: Dark Brown * highlights: none * length: medium * worn: shaved on the sides, long on top, usually messy and tousled or styled up scars:  none piercings:  none tattoos: drawing of the golden ratio with a shell and an outline of Poland on his right forearm. A quill on the back of his neck, if you look closely the ink is actually dark blue, not black. clothing style: Clean, often a t shirts and jeans with a flamboyant statement jacket. For work he wears a suit, often dark blue. usual expression: Neutral, basically has RBF distinguishing characteristics: speaks polish sometimes. health physical ailments:  none neurological conditions: insomnia allergies:  none sleeping habits:  bad he doesn’t sleep enough eating habits:  also bad he isn’t starving tho exercise habits: decent he likes to keep in shape emotional stability: he isnt very emotional and doesn’t get worked up by much sociability: he’s quite sociable only because he forces himself to be to make himself look good, he would rather not be social. body temperature: cold addictions:  coffee/tea/energy drinks(caffeine) drug use: social alcohol use: moderate-high

Relationships

father:  Peter Fawley, distant, he doesn’t really understand his son but still has a civil and kind relationship. mother:  Lena Fawley, positive, his mother is supportive of him and they are close siblings:  distant, less positive, since his siblings don’t like how much he distances himself from them. relatives: Most- neutral, distant, he doesn’t associate with most of his relatives. Jasper Travers (cousin), positive, friendly. family line of work:  Ministry work, quidditch players, politicians.   best friends:  open!!! cohorts:  Scorpius Malfoy, Marcelina Bloem, Daisy Dursley, Doe Creevy, Dominique Weasley, Dylan Parkinson idk there’s a lot significant other: none atm gimme crush: open exes: open!! Pls hmu for this connection I’m sure he has loads followers: plots frenemies: plots enemies: gimme plots

Education

school:  Hogwarts house:  Ravenclaw best core class:  Astronomy, potions, charms, defense against the dark arts worst core class:  Care of Magical Creatures quidditch:  no extra-curricular: astronomy club idk probably others I can’t think rn

Magic

wand: * length: 10 3/4 inch * flexibility: unyielding flexibility * wood: Elder * core: Unicorn Hair pets:  none boggart:  boredom animagus/patronus:  Wild Rabbit amortentia: old books, grass, firewood

Favorites

theme song:  wait for it- Hamilton food: toast drink:  coffee/tea color:  navy blue animal:  mouse flower:  lavender season: fall

[starwarsnonsense]

Top 10 Films of 2018 (So Far)

Since I quite like continuing old traditions, I wanted to do a post rounding up what I consider to be the ten best films of 2018 so far. This list includes a few films that came out in 2017 in the US, since they were only released here in the UK this year.

Have you seen any of the films I cover below? Have I piqued your interest in a title you might not have heard before? Let me know, and do share your favourites too!

1. Annihilation, dir. Alex Garland

This was my most anticipated film of the year, and my hype for it was more than rewarded. This is a marvellously rich and transporting science fiction film that isn’t afraid of taking the viewer to some very weird places. However, Annihilation doesn’t simply rely on its strangeness to succeed - it is also firmly rooted in its characters and themes, which has made it incredibly rewarding to return to. Natalie Portman is fantastic as Lena, and Annihilation is a brilliant showcase for her - Lena is a complex and frequently self-destructive character, riddled by guilt and regrets that shape the pulsating, luminescent world of the mysterious ‘Shimmer’ that she has to venture into. The Shimmer might seem like an environmental phenomenon at first, but it’s really more psychological, being a space that adapts according to the people who enter into it. This film overflows with fascinating and thought-provoking ideas, and it was entirely worth the hike I made over to Brooklyn to catch one of the final showings at the theatre (since Annihilation was denied a theatrical release in the UK, I made a point of seeing it while I was on holiday in New York). I think it will go down as one of the great science fiction films, and it belongs in the same conversations as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris.

2. Beast, dir. Michael Pearce

This little British film - shot mostly on location in Jersey by a first-time director - was easily the biggest (and best) surprise I’ve had so far at the cinema this year. I literally had no idea this film existed until a day or so before I watched it, and that made the experience of viewing it even more wonderful. Moll (Jessie Buckley) is an isolated young woman who is stifled by her controlling family and quiet life on a remote island, as well as a secret sin that bubbles away underneath the surface. Her life is predictable - safe, repetitive and dull - until she meets Pascal, a mysterious local man who she finds she has an affinity with. However, there is a murderer haunting the island, taking the lives of young girls in the night. Who’s to blame, and what impact will the killings have on Moll and Pascal’s swiftly escalating romance? While that is a synopsis more than a review, I felt it necessary to explain the premise to try and compel you to seek this one out. Beast is raw, woozy and utterly absorbing - the love story between Moll and Pascal is one of the most passionate and gripping you’ll ever see on screen, and their chemistry is simply sensational. There’s a real gothic, fairy-tale edge to the story which appealed perfectly to my (admittedly rather niche) tastes. This is a real hidden treasure of a film - do yourself a favour and make it your mission to watch it.

3. Lady Bird, dir. Greta Gerwig

This film was so, so relatable, despite my not really having experienced an adolescence anything like “Lady Bird’s”. While the details of her life are very different from mine, I think anyone can relate to the sweeping brushstrokes - the tensions that can arise between parents and children, the thirst for freedom and independence that builds the closer you get to the final days of school, and the feelings of love and loyalty that are always there even when they’re unspoken. Greta Gerwig captures all of this and so much more with marvellous delicacy, balancing little moments that add colour and spark with more serious scenes so deftly that it’s amazing to think that this is her first feature. Lady Bird is a very specific and very beautiful film, and it’s special precisely because it feels universal even as it feels small and personal to its director. 

4. Eighth Grade, dir. Bo Burnham

This is the perfect double bill with Lady Bird, and the people who have dubbed this film “Lady Bird Jr” are right on the money. Elsie Fisher has a real star turn as the heroine Kayla, who is a very special child - she’s kind, sensitive and thoughtful, which basically means she’s my kind of superhero. But even as she is a good and sweet person, she is also going through all of the trials you’d expect a 13 year old to be facing in 2018, as she wrestles with acne, confusing feelings about super-dreamy boys, and the escalating anxiety that comes with a comment-free Instagram post. Like Lady Bird, this film succeeds in being both very specific and highly universal - the only social media I had to deal with as a teen were MySpace and Bebo, and I found that seeing Kayla wrestle with a whole kaleidoscope of feeds, devices and platforms made her strong grip on her integrity as a  funny and deeply warm-hearted individual all the more remarkable. Bo Burnham, as with Gerwig, made a pretty incredible film here - in particular you should watch out for the father/daughter dynamic, which is my favourite part. Eighth Grade is funny and generous, and the perfect medicine if you’re feeling demoralised by the state of the world right now.

5. The Breadwinner, dir. Nora Twomey

The Breadwinner is a really lovely animated film telling the story of Parvana, a young girl living with her family under the Taliban. When her father is taken off to prison, Parvana sees no other choice but to dress as a boy to provide for her mother and siblings. But how long will her disguise last? The story here was what really gripped me - it’s very simple, in both the telling and the themes, but it is truly beautiful in that simplicity. The emotions are very raw, and this film goes to some shockingly dark places at times - while I think it can be watched with children as long as they are mature enough for some challenging themes and upsetting moments, it’s likely to speak most strongly to adult audiences with a fuller appreciation for the context in which the film is set. It’s a great and moving alternative to more mainstream animated efforts, and is well worth your time.

6. Phantom Thread, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

This was a delightfully twisted film with an absorbingly complicated and twisty relationship at its centre. Vicky Krieps is an absolute marvel as Alma, and it’s wonderful to see how she battles to bring the fragile and austere designer  Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) to heel. It’s also a beautiful film with rather fabulous fashions - if you love couture, particularly from the ‘50s, this will be a real treat. I also appreciated the many allusions to classic cinema - there are strong shades of Hitchcock’s Rebecca, as well as the underrated David Lean film The Passionate Friends. Check this out if you like your romantic dramas weird and entirely unpredictable.

7. Revenge, dir. Coralie Fargeat

Revenge is angry, sun-soaked and batshit insane - and it is pretty great for all of those reasons. It follows Jennifer, the teenage mistress of a sleazy married man. After a horrifying assault Jennifer returns, phoenix-like, to wreak her revenge upon her attackers. This movie was very much inspired by exploitation flicks, with their penchant for showing scantily clad (and frequently bloody) women wielding shotguns to hunt down the brutes who did them wrong. However, first-time director Coralie Fargeat takes every one of those tropes and owns them, ramping up the blood and giving the action a propulsive energy that keeps you gripped even as you know exactly where things are going. The soundtrack here is also one to look out for - it’s all pulsating synths that do a great job of building the suspense and tension from the get-go.

8. Lean on Pete, dir. Andrew Haigh

This is a very painful film in many ways, but it’s only painful because it does such a great job of earning your emotional investment. The lead of this film is Charley, a sensitive and quiet teenage boy who becomes attached to an ailing race horse as he seeks to escape his troubled home-life. When he finds himself in crisis, Charley takes the horse and they head off on a journey across the American heartland. Charlie Plummer is extraordinary as the lead here - Charley is the kind of character that makes you want to reach through the screen so you can offer him a hug of reassurance and support. The photography of the American countryside is exquisite, and means this film really deserves to be seen on the big screen - the breadth of the landscape gives all of the emotional drama some (richly deserved, in my view) extra punch.

9. You Were Never Really Here, dir. Lynne Ramsay

This is a very weird film (you’re probably noticing a theme at this point) but it’s completely absorbing. It’s very much actor-led, and the film rests on the shoulders of Joaquin Phoenix’s gripping and unpredictable performance - in some scenes he’s muttering in deference to his mother like a modern-day Norman Bates, while in others he’s portrayed almost as a lost boy in an overgrown body, disorientated by his environment and engaging in acts of extreme violence as if in a sort of trance. The narrative is fuzzy and unfocused, but I didn’t find that mattered much since I was too busy following every evolution of Phoenix’s face.

10. Thoroughbreds, dir. Cory Finley

Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy make fantastic foils to one another as two appallingly privileged teenagers whose obscene wealth is only matched by their resounding lack of morals. This is a film that plays with your loyalties, trying to wrong-foot you at every turn - it’s frequently difficult to figure out what’s genuine here, and while that did sometimes leave me feeling a bit emotionally detached that’s usually the point. This film is more of an intellectual puzzle than a lean, mean, emotion-extracting machine (see: Lean on Pete), and it succeeds brilliantly on that level. The simplicity of the story means the fun lies in picking apart lines and expressions, so go in prepared for some close viewing.

[iheartsupergirl]

Supergirl 3x15: Recap and Review

I meant to get this out last Wednesday, but real life and work intervened. 

J’onn’s father is losing control of his mind, Lena tries to help Sam, and Kara and Mon-El confront their past in a strong episode of Supergirl.  

Spoilers ahead. 

The Recap:       

           Lena has sedated Sam and placed her in a hospital bed inside of a holding cell that is protected by force fields. Lena wakes Sam up and informs her that she’s been changing on a molecular level into Reign. Sam does not believe her and demands to go home to see her daughter. Taking accidental advice from James, Lena insults and angers Sam to the point where she changes into Reign. When Sam awakes (from being shocked by kryptonite?) she sees the footage of herself turning into Reign and is distraught. Sam is horrified by the thought that she has killed people, but Lena assures her that she was not in control of her own actions.  Sam becomes more accepting of Lena’s help and tells her to keep her away from Ruby until she is cured. James keeps dropping in at L-Corp while this is going on to re-connect with Lena. Lena tells James she is dealing with an emergency that she can not really discuss with him. James accepts that she has work to do that she can’t always talk about. So, those two are still together? I guess? Yay?

           Kara hosts a game night at her apartment that includes the hilarious revelation that J’onn had a boyhood imaginary friend named Zook. (a fun nod to the comics) Alex gets word of an emergency downtown and Kara heads into action, but not before very carefully unbuttoning her shirt. “What? I like this shirt,” says Kara. Supergirl arrives at the alien bar to find a woman with green hair tearing the place apart. She must have some degree of super strength because she is able to knock Supergirl around a little bit. Kara defeats her after the two tussle in a photobooth, which leads to a cute moment where Kara admires the photos of their fight.

         The woman, it turns out, is a Kalanorian, an empathic species with psychic abilities. In the comics, for example, Despero is a Kalanorian, which explains the woman’s super strength. At the DEO, J’onn wonders if Mercury being in retrograde may have caused the woman’s mental break, but Supergirl and company put her in containment and basically shrug their shoulders. They have bigger problems with the Worldkillers on the loose. Speaking of which, the Legion has been on the lookout for Pestilence. The Legion’s ship has detected rivers of Biblical, Old Testament blood flowing forth from some Arctic glaciers. Imra and Brainy have gone (off screen) to go check it out. Apparently, Blight is given to this kind of thing in the future and Mon-El thinks this is a sign of Pestilence’s immanent arrival. Kara thinks this means it’s time for Mon-El to teach her his cape fighting tricks.

           J’onn continues to worry about his father’s mental state after the revelation that he’s suffering from the Martian equivalent of dementia.  Myr’nn has been using a Martian meditation technique to move memories from the decaying parts of his mind to the healthy parts. J’onn is worried that this process may have released the psychic energy that affected the Kalanorian. J’onn takes Myr’nn back to the DEO to keep a closer eye on him, and Myr’nn retires to perform his prayers.

           Kara and Mon-El go to one of those DEO training rooms and look at some 3D footage Brainy created of Supergirl’s street brawl with Reign. They determine that while Reign is powerful and ferocious, her footwork is clumsy, which means that cape tricks may help Supergirl against her. Mon-El and Kara change into their super suits (Mon-El’s has been freshly repaired and laundered by Winn) and begin training. It doesn’t go that well for Kara. Mon-El keeps using his cape to fling her around and she’s having trouble getting the hang of it. As Myr’nn prays, releasing waves of psychic energy, Kara gets more and more frustrated until she punches Mon-El in the chest.  

         Upstairs, Myr’nn’s psychic energy causes an argument and then a fist fight between Winn and Agent Demos. Alex shows up to break up the fight but then starts fighting both of them herself. Honestly, Winn is lucky that Alex doesn’t kill him. Supergirl and J’onn show up and J’onn puts up a psychic screen to protect them. Everyone seems startled and apologizes to one another. Kara thinks this was the Kalanorian’s doing. Instead of saying, “actually, I’m pretty confident it was my dad,” J’onn lets Kara and Alex go off to visit the Kalanorian in her holding cell.              

           Kara confides in Alex that she was also affected by the psychic energy and that she punched Mon-El. Alex asks if the punch was really about Kara and Mon-El’s unresolved issues, but Kara insists they are on good terms. They find the Kalanorian in her cell, chanting in a state of paralysis. Alex realizes that she’s chanting in Martian. J’onn confesses to Kara and Alex that he knew the psychic attacks were inadvertently caused by his father. He fears that using the DEO inhibitor technology on his dad would cost him his independence. Alex tells the story about how her mom had to take her grandmother’s keys away after she ran a red light. Kara quotes her uncle Jor-El, “the son becomes the father, and the father the son.” The general point being: we get this is tough but you’ve got to get your dad under control, J’onn.  

           J’onn finally confronts his father and tells him that he is causing the psychic disturbances. Myr’nn refuses to believe it and becomes angry when he realizes that J’onn plans to fit him with an inhibitor bracelet. He unleashes waves of psychic energy and disappears through the ceiling. Meanwhile, Kara and Mon-El have begun cape training again. Under the influence of Myr’nn’s power, Kara becomes more and more frustrated until she gives Mon-El a rather thorough telling off about their relationship, which includes her calling him a “lying jackass.” Alex runs in and fits Kara with a psychic dampener thing on her temple.  

           Upstairs, all hell has broken loose and everyone is fighting everyone else. Worse still, Mry’nn’s meltdown has somehow released the alien prisoners from containment, including a White Martian and our old friend Draaga from last season. Side note, was Draaga a lot taller in the “Survivors” episode? Cause he’s not much taller than Kara here. Kara fights Draaga and even gets to use her new cape tricks to take out him and another alien guy. Mon-El catches a rocket in his cape. Winn has to face down Pam from HR, who apparently carries a deep resentment for Winn. J’onn eventually talks his father down and fits him with the psychic inhibitor, but not before taking a break to fight a White Martian. Couldn’t Kara have fought the White Martian?

           Myr’nn apologizes to the DEO staff for hurting all of them. Kara and Mon-El have a conversation about their relationship. Mon-El says that he’s sorry for all that he put Kara through, and Kara says she’s sorry for hitting him. They shake hands to a new beginning and fly off to patrol the city. They come across some dead birds, which I think is supposed to be sinister, but honestly it just looks like someone is dropping rubber chickens onto a sound stage. These lifeless rubber chickens herald the coming of Pestilence apparently.  

The review:

The Good:      

Overall, I liked this episode a great deal. I really liked the theme in this episode that love, family, and friendship are often about more than words and sentiment, they are about action and tough choices. Lena makes some difficult (maybe even wrong) choices to protect her friend. J’onn makes difficult choices to protect his father and others. And Kara says some difficult things that had previously been left unsaid in order to move forward in her friendship with Mon-El. I don't know that any of this works perfectly. Sam's situation is not a perfect metaphor for mental illness, and Myr'nn's situation is not a perfect metaphor for Alzheimer's or dementia, but I appreciate a superhero show I love attempting to tackle these kinds of tough choices. I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's, so I relate to J'onn's and Myr'nn's situation. My family's experience with Alzheimer's was different from J'onn's in that my grandmother did not really become a danger to others, she just became a diminished version of herself. But again, I appreciate a show like Supergirl addressing issues like this.

Kara and Mon-El: This episode (hopefully) cemented Kara and Mon-El moving on as friends and gave me renewed hope that we might avoid a Kara-Imra-Mon-El love triangle. Plus, the cape training was cool. I like the idea of Kara disarming a supervillain with her cape.  

Lena and Sam: I am not sure why Lena hasn’t told Supergirl about Sam being Reign, but it’s nice to see Sam’s story moving forward and these scenes were well-acted.

Pam from HR: Poor Pam. It’s got to be tough working in Human Resources at a place as poorly run as the DEO. No wonder she hates Winn. 

The Okay:

The Legion: I’m glad this week’s episode appears to be Legion heavy cause I’m ready for the show to do whatever it’s going to do with the Legion and then move on. Imra and Brainy have sort of been . . . around (mostly offscreen) and I want the show to either start using them or send them back to the future.

The Bad:

James and Lena are still kind of dating. That’s a thing that’s happening. I can’t imagine why anyone would care, but here we are.

Overall: A good episode that deals thoughtfully with some weighty issues.

Grade: A-

[motorcyclegirlfriends]

What did you think of tonight's episode?

Definitely the least re-watchable so far, but that’s what I expected.

I was angry at Mon-El 99.9% of the time for putting Kara through the ringer utterly unnecessarily (I mean who just watches Kara cry and doesn’t do anything about it???), but at least we were supposed to be angry with him.

And I liked seeing Kara basically go “what the fuck? what the fuck??” about it all, particularly with Mon-El and Winn deciding what is in Kara’s best interest.

I also liked the confirmation that Kara doesn’t sleep anymore (possibly rather literally? Depending on what she is physically capable of—even if it’s not recommended—as a Kryptonian). 

Depression Symptoms: 

Insomnia ✓

And I enjoyed (a.k.a. got very sad about) it being because of her worst fear—that she sent someone off to die in the same manner as the worst experience of her life. 

And her emotional, “I see you disappear into the blackness of space forever,”—I swear, one of these days I’m gonna write a dissertation on Kara’s relationship with the cosmos.

Only half-related side note: Logically, Kara’s absolute worst fear would be the destruction of Earth in the same manner that Krypton was destroyed. This time, it being Kara’s failing that condemns it. But that wouldn’t have been a present idea in Kara’s mind at the time of Psi’s attacks, and it’s a less convincing lie (you’ll note that people’s fears looked like being surrounded by snakes rather than being attacked by a giant snake monster) so it makes sense for it to be this smaller version of that same feeling.

There was of course a lot of emphasis on Kara’s feelings for Mon-El and how she felt better, at first, because he was alive and there. I feel for Kara, though I’m sure Mel’s acting plays a large part in that, but that’s still never gonna exactly be my favorite part.

But I think it makes sense that, if someone begins spiraling into the depths of old wounds because of a recent triggering event, that event being undone would give them some hope. Especially after she’s done a lot of work beforehand in trying to pull herself up (which I’m so glad for. This storyline would be a lot worse if she hadn’t gotten any better and then was magically cured in his presence).

And there has always been a part of this, along with the abandonment and guilt, that has been about Kara’s fear that she just doesn’t get to be happy, to have the things everyone else seems to have (because she’s the last daughter of Krypton, because she’s an alien, because she’s Supergirl). This was what she expressed in her conversation with Cat at the end of season 2. 

So I get it, even if I’d rather hear more about how this ties into all of her losses, a la the comparison they set up last week with Kenny. 

Fingers crossed for the reestablishing of the other things involved in her depression (abandonment and guilt) as not having disappeared even though Mon-El is back. With Reign coming up very soon, we’ll have the opportunity to talk about Kara’s relationship with Krypton further, which would be a good place to reiterate these themes.

I also appreciate that they had her say “I felt like I could hope again,” because if it were just about Mon-El the whole time, she wouldn’t just have hope, she’d fully be happy again. 

It was, “This made me feel like things could be better,” rather than, “This made me feel like everything was good again.”

Like, “Hmm, made the universe isn’t actually literally out to get me!” (SIKE!)

(Also: “Shame on me for having a human heart.” So you admit you have one! Ha! …Progress?)

Some other observations/impressions:

I know people are probably disappointed that Kara hasn’t gotten the necklace back, but I truly do not think they’ll have Mon-El keep it forever. Especially after making a point it to have teen!Kara have it visibly around her neck in multiple scenes in “Midvale”, and after making sure to have Alura wear it in Kara’s nightmare flashback of Krypton in “Triggers,” as well as in the prayer flashback in “The Faithful.” I feel like that necklace has it’s own storyline at this point, and Kara + Necklace is endgame.

In the tags of my ‘I sure hope she gets it back tonight’ post, I mentioned that if not, he may end up giving it back to her if he goes back to the future, as a kind of closure. Or, if he’s not leaving, perhaps Kara will go off to battle Reign to the death in the finale and Mon-El will give it back to her to ‘keep her safe’. 

Honestly, if I have to go to the set and physically remove it from Chris’ neck, place it around Melissa’s, and call “action!” she’s getting that damn necklace back.

Kara + food continues to be my otp, “It was a limited time offer. I had to!”

People have been saying that Mon-El keeping his secrets for no reason felt contrived for drama, but as far as I’m concerned, it is well established that Mon-El tends to hide the truth when he fears its ramifications. Annoying as all fuck, sure. Unfounded, not so much.

I’m not getting traditional love triangle vibes from this Kara/Mon-El/Imra storyline, tbh. (Maybe it’s because there’s so little indication that Mon-El wants anything other than to stay with his wife?)

J’onn and M’yrran are so sweet and sad and compelling together, I hope to see more of the two. Give them an adventure of some sort.

I never thought someone asking if they could use the bathroom could be so heartbreaking.

It actually being addressed that J’onn has no life outside of the DEO? That his literal only friends are coworkers?? Amazing.

I can’t believe he literally lived in the DEO

*Sigh* David had such a good day filming that outside scene with Melissa and Jeremy, remember? :)

Was Kara’s skirt white and gold or black and blue? ha

L-Corp doing good 400 years in the future is more evidence against Lena turning evil.

By which I don’t mean like, “Lena is obviously good, writers! Can’t you see what she has done?” but evidence that the writers are making this active choice.

When they said re: Reign, “It’s a fun dark-mirror version of the journey Christopher Reeve took in the original Superman as Clark,” they were really not kidding.

The concept of Sam being forced to forget Ruby because of Reign is terrible and brilliant. Looking forward to some emotional scenes moving forward.

Not exactly a Danvers sisters-heavy episode, but I’m glad they made it a point to have them touch bases at least once, something I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have bothered with in season 2. 

Apparently there was another scene with them together that got cut? But they’ve been cutting a lot this season, so I’m not surprised. In a way, it just means that they had intended for there to be even more of them, and that hopefully we’ll get these missing scenes on the dvd this year.

This was the reintroduction of Mon-El, so he was Kara’s primary focus for the episode. The real test will be in the upcoming episodes after the crossover, to see if they have learned to balance Kara’s priorities.

With Reign and the Legion coming, there is certainly room for character work outside of Mon-El… Though I’ll give them a little wiggle room for 3x09, since they may need to establish the new dynamic. (Though the description for the episode has no mention of him, which is promising for that end.)

I’ll also give some wiggle room if they do intend to send Mon-El away, and early on, because that storyline would have to be packed into fewer episodes.

This episode proved that Mon-El is not magically a less frustrating character, by any means, but we’ll have to wait and see how they are tackling the other aspects of the his handling.

[milquetoast-on-acid]

Do Not Disturb, A Reactionary Post

Time to fly on your own little bird

Major Crimes, S3xE5: Episode Review

What this episode is about: Framing the Story Sharon dropping the C-bomb Rivalries: LAPD vs FBI Liberation Lina & her Father Rusty & Sharon B. Coming out: Nontraditional Romances Lina & Josh Rusty's Sexuality Amy & Cooper

Framing the Story

"This is new and also kind of creepy." "Why do the dolls look dead?"

You said it Rusty. Kind of makes me think it's a murder diorama. And also most dolls look creepy.

Love how this episode is framed as Rusty is in a counselling session with Dr Joe and the whole case is Rusty just talking about it in the past. All the while Rusty recounts the tale, Dr Joe nitpicks about why all of the details in his story are relevant. And I love it because it's a nod to us fans who notice so many details. And also it explains why Rusty is so detailed in his explanation of the story. He doesn't need to be for Dr Joe, but in terms of us learning about the story we need to know the details.

"Sutton. That's a really good boarding school." How does Buzz possibly know that? Is he thinking about sending his imaginary kids to Sutton?

Morris Grand Hotel

Is the SAME hotel that Andy, Provenza and Buzz went to on Buzz's first ride along in season 4's "Turn Down"! "Concierge said it's not that kind of hotel." "I stayed there once. Well not like over night but I know it." As both Rusty and Provenza point out...it's a hotel with a bed.

"Lt Provenza finds this rich guy. Completely Murdered." haha I love that completely murdered. He's not halfway murdered or kind of murdered. He's completely murdered.

This! 

Sharon dropping the C-bomb

"Did she just say Crap?"

I love both Provenza and Andy's reactions to Sharon almost swearing. Provenza is stunned and Andy seems pretty happy about it. I rather think that this due to the...

Andy Effect

Rivalries: LAPD vs FBI

"Thing you need to understand about kissing a diplomats ass. Is that it doesn't kiss back."

It's the Squad vrs Fritz and I love how by the end of the episode this gap closes between them. Fritz is so hell bent on keeping up the political game with Ravi Madhavan. But it's after having Sharon yell at him and seeing him physically abuse Lina that he spurs him into action.

"Stay out of his way." "Agent Howard you do something or the LAPD will!"

"See what happens when your allowed to investigate crimes. You find these things called clues." An't that shit the truth! I love the squad coming up with the questionnaires as a way to get the kids to answer questions without Fritz present. Sneaky Sneaky.

Andy at learning that he's going to have to work side by side with Fritz. And how much do I love the split second change in Andy's facial expression. From irritated AF to Sarcasm eye roll to Sharon is looking at me I better give her a smile. I want to highlight that this is one continuous shot of Andy’s face but unfortunately I had to split it up because of the gif size.

Liberation!

Lina & Josh

Lina finally gets liberation from her abusive father and all of the power he had over her at the end of the episode. Thankfully is able to stay in the US.

Rusty & Sharon Rusty finds liberation from his mother in the previous episode. He had the strength to walk away from her. Both Lina and Rusty have abusive parents. I think it's interesting that Rusty walks away from his mother in the previous episode yet that theme plays a big role in this episode. 

Rusty & Lina This whole episode revolves around the two of them. And more in particular Rusty who sees himself in Lina and how much of her story effects him. So it's really great to see Rusty actually talking to Lina and comforting her. Telling her that she's safe there and that no one will hurt her. Even though Lina doesn't know just how important that is coming from someone who was in the same shoes. And how he found a family among the people right outside the cubical. "Am I that self centered that the thing I feel bad about for other people are really just about me?" "Ever hear about empathy?" I love this little bit of dialog here.

Nontraditional romance

All three romances are non traditional. All three Lina, Rusty and Amy prefer to keep their romances or their sexuality kept to themselves. For various reasons. Amy doesn't want anyone to gossip, she's very similar to Sharon in the way that she wants her personal life to be kept private. Both Lina and Rusty fear their abusive parents.

Lina & Josh

Lina makes her first appearance, actually coming out of a door. How's that for hitting you in the head with symbolism. Lena had a marriage arranged for her but since growing up and meeting her boyfriend she wanted a different life. To her abusive asshole of a father, an arranged marriage to a person of his choosing was the only life she was going to live. An arranged marriage is traditional and expected of her.

The absolutely horrible thing is that Lina's father abuses his power as a diplomat to abuse his daughter right in front of the entire squad. Fritz who's been holding his patience for the entire episode finally explodes when he sees it and punches the guy right in the face! Got to love when Fritz can't take anyone's bullshit anymore. Fritz can talk some political game but once you screw up big time he doesn't hold his shit anymore.

Rusty's Sexuality Rusty relates so much to Lena because both of them are children of abusive parents. And both parents try to put their children inside of a box that neither of them fit. Both Lena and Rusty want to be able to choose their own sexual partners. 

"You want me to tell Buzz that your gay." "No, no. I want you to tell everyone." I love how Sharon almost spills the beans that everyone already knows that Rusty is gay. But I can't blame Rusty for being chicken about his sexuality. With his shitty experience with Sharon B. Who's basically blamed her problems on his sexuality. It's got to be even harder for him to get the words out. And I love that Sharon basically tells him that it's got to come from him. Because he's got to be honest with the people that he cares about. 

I love this at the end. Sharon is basically like fly little bird. Your ready. Go fly now! Rusty  mean while is left a little confused. 

And this whole scene reminds me of one between Sharon and Brenda. When Sharon found out that Brenda hadn't told the squad that they were all being interviewed by Gavin. Sharon gently pushes Brenda towards the squad members. 

Lena's friend gives Rusty a very flirty look in the break room. Rusty looks back but he looks more stunned than interested. Andy catches both of the boys and I really love the look Mike gets on his face when Andy looks at him. To be clear, even though Rusty is out to Sharon and almost out the the squad - that doesn't mean he's ready for a relationship. 

When Rusty finally bits the bullet and throws it out there he frames his sexuality as a question. 

"Would any of you think differently of me, if I said I was gay?" Rusty, still very insecure about how anyone is going to feel about him if they knew the truth of his sexuality. I think he's finally realized that Sharon isn't going anywhere. As it was implied they had a nice long talk (or several) when he officially came out. And they the firmly believes what she told him at the end of season 2. That she loves ALL of him. He's so afraid of loosing people and he's not quite sure how the squad is going to react. Especially when they are all a part of his family. What makes it even worse for him was Sharon Beck's reaction and feelings towards his sexuality. 

Scared little baby. Don’t worry Rusty, even if Provenza doesn’t really understand he still loves you. 

"If you told us you were gay. Then we would think you trusted us more. Then we would trust you more." Provenza is the one that Rusty is worried about the most because of father-son (or grandfather-son) relationship with him. And I love how Provenza (who is not always the most tactful) gives him the best answer of all of the squad members. It really feels like it came from his heart. Even though Provenza had been (almost as) apprehensive about this conversation as Rusty had been.

When Rusty takes Provenza to the side to really ask him how he feels about it. Provenza is as honest as he can get. Provenza is pretty old school and it's not something that he understands. Nor is it something that he can guide him through. From the conversation it really sounded like a don't ask, don't tell kind of thing. But I think that Provenza gets more comfortable with Rusty's sexuality as time goes on. Just as Rusty gets more comfortable with his sexuality as time goes on. Even though (even now) he still struggles with it.

"Who are the village people?" "The Village People...hum." I love it when Provenza brings them up. And since Rusty's a millennial he's got know idea who they are. And then of course looks them up and I love his reaction.

Amy & Cooper Meanwhile, Amy is having a hard time trying to keep her romance out of the office. She wants her personal life and her work life completely separate. And it becomes even harder when her own boyfriend is super obvious about their relationship. 

Cooper has THREE guns! Holy Shit! This dude is packing some serious heat! The guy does not go undercover under prepared.  And then he throws Amy a shit eating grin. Like he's so happy he's dating her. And she can't quite even call him her boyfriend just yet.  Look at the guy here! Looks like he lost in lahla land imagining the two of them all alone in his car. I never quite realized just how out of sync the two of them have been through out their entire relationship. 

This is the look Amy gives back to him. Like YOU need to turn that shit down. It's so obvious that she doesn't want their relationship to be gossip around the office. To her, him throwing her looks like that isn't going to get him anywhere good with her. 

At the very least she finally got him to shut up. Love the look on his face. He's so disbelieving actually did that. 

I love how Amy gets Cooper to finally shut the hell up after he rambles about her being naive enough to think that the guys don't already know that the two of them are dating. He does make some very good points that she works with some great detectives. Who if you remember jumped on who is Amy dating bandwagon when she came into work dressed up to the nines and had some flowers delivered to work. 

When your boy won't shut the hell up about you not having a good game face. You pull your game face and then effectively shut him the hell up. Then you eat up this look he gives you because he did not expect that at all. 

"Your dating Cooper!" I mean to give it to Cooper the only person that didn't know she was dating him was Buzz. Of course.

What I don't like: Can't say this one of my favorite episodes. Don't really have much to nitpick about it though. Just not one of the episodes that plays heavily on my rewatch list. 

What I like: Another dark case right after the last one. This one has a sense of urgency (despite it being recounted in the future) because Lena was missing through most of it. I like how this episode was framed. How Rusty is telling Dr Joe about the case. I think that this flashback framework is the first time that MC uses it. Rusty finally coming out and I love the way it was done. I really think that Rusty's coming out story and his struggle with his sexuality has been done extremely well. Not just in this episode but through out the series as a whole.

[rudderless-in-an-ocean-of-stars]

of faults and fissures, part one

Find it on Ao3 here:

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11206920/chapters/25031505

In the aftermath of the Daxamite Invasion, Lena Luthor thinks it’s time she came clean to her best friend about her role in it.

Some changes to canon- Kara did date Mon-el, but there was no huge declaration of love or anything like that when she put him in the pod. She took him back but wasn’t really into the relationship, slowly coming to the realization that she’d simply gone along with it because she felt like she owed it to him to not leave him alone the way she’d been abandoned by Kal-El. Basically, it was a pity-dating thing she was planning to break off before the untimely Daxamite invasion. And, oh yeah- she definitely does not give him her mother’s necklace. Lena’s under the impression Kara was genuinely dating him, though, so three cheers for the angst up ahead.

The first time Kara Danvers really sees Lena Luthor, she’s taken aback by just how small the other woman actually is.

Outside of work, stripped of her impeccable updos, perfect makeup, and six-inch heels, Lena Luthor is downright tiny.

She’s standing right on the Dr. Who-themed doormat that Winn had purchased for her last Christmas, dressed in a loose, oversized sweater, well-worn jeans, and honest-to-goodness scuffed sneakers.

To her credit, Kara manages to keep the gaping and stuttering to a minimum as she ushers her unexpected houseguest into the living room. Lena perches carefully on the couch, tucking her dark hair behind her ear as she smiles hesitantly up at her, and Kara instantly decides that she likes this look best for the typically designer-dressed C.E.O.

With her hair down and her face free of makeup, Lena looks younger than she ever has, appearing more like the untroubled twenty-something year old she should be and less like a woman carrying the weight of her entire family’s sins the way Atlas had shouldered the weight of the sky.

It’s still there, the invisible weight that never seems to allow Lena to sit perfectly straight for more than a few minutes at a time- she always retreats into herself ever so often, hunches inwards like she’s afraid to take up any space at all- but here, now, it’s less.

Like the burden has eased, somehow, or she’s found the strength to actually push back instead of simply allowing it crush her completely.

Kara knows a thing or two about guilt- surviving an entire planet’s destruction is bound to leave some scars, no matter how well the wounds may have healed over time- and Lena all but wears hers like a noose.

Lena virtually encourages the people of National City and beyond to treat her as their own personal whipping boy in Lex’s stead, and it’s something that’s disturbed Kara since their very first meeting, when she’d peered into her green eyes, emerald pools of desperation flickering with the barest hints of hope in their depths, and recognized a bit of herself shining back.

She’d been lost like that too, once.

The Phantom Zone had kept her trapped in the endlessly repeating memory of Krypton’s death for close to a quarter of a decade.

If it hadn’t been for the Danvers, if it hadn’t been for Alex…

She shudders at the thought and silently offers thanks to Rao for those blessings.

“Can I get you something to drink?” She asks, already moving towards the kitchen on autopilot. “I’ve got tea, coffee, juice… Though, mind, the tea is bottled and store-bought…”

“Really?” Lena teases, and Kara falls a little bit in love with the faint, little laugh she hears behind her.

Kara tosses a sheepish grin in Lena’s direction as she pulls open the fridge. “It’s raspberry Snapple. Don’t judge me- I know it’s 90% sugar, but their slogan doesn’t lie, it really is the best stuff on Earth.”

Lena’s eyes widen comically at the sight of the large plastic bottle Kara sets down on the coffee table along with a pair of mugs. “I didn’t realize Snapple came in quart-sized bottles.”

“Neither did I, until I stopped by the convenience store down the road from my sister’s apartment in search of ibuprofen and ice packs after she went and got her ribs bruised,” Kara says, fondness fairly oozing from her voice as she pours a liberal helping into both glasses. “It’s the only place that I’ve ever seen stock bottles this size, but hey, I’m not complaining.”

A cautious sip brings a bright smile to the brunette’s face. “Neither am I. This is great!”

Kara’s jaw drops open in horror as she clutches her chest, clearly affronted. “Don’t tell me you haven’t tried Snapple before! It’s literally in almost every vending machine in National City!”

Lena ducks her head in shame, a weak chuckle issuing from the back of her throat. “I’ve seen it around, of course, but… We-e-ell,“ she says, drawing out the ‘e’ for several seconds as a blush begins to spread across her cheeks, “I just… I never…”

Her face clouds over as the silence between them goes from teasing to strained, something Kara notes as tendrils of apprehension begin to wrap around her heart and squeeze.

Lena can barely bring herself to finish the sentence.

“Lillian was always very conscious about my eating habits,” she finally mumbles, tongue nearly tripping over the words in her haste to get them out.

The slack-jawed expression on Kara’s face is burned away by a look of pure anger and fierce protectiveness as the implications behind Lena’s words sink in.

For a moment, Lena thinks, Kara looks very much like the Kryptonian whose presence she has found herself entertaining more and more on her office balcony. She pulls herself free from that particular train of thought with a vehement shake of her head.

No, Kara couldn’t possibly be Supergirl. Kara would never keep something as big as that a secret from her, would she?

The tiniest trickle of doubt bleeds into her veins as a tiny voice in her head snidely reminds her of her last name.

You’re a Luthor, the voice sing-songs almost triumphantly, sounding far too much like her brother for her to not be unsettled, why wouldn’t she?

“Lena?”

She looks up and shoots the other woman a practiced, apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. It’s just so easy to get lost in my own head sometimes. I just came over to see how you were doing, after… Everything.”

God, she can’t even bring herself to say it.

The Daxamite Invasion.

The one she had ultimately kickstarted.

The one she had helped managed to avert- at the cost of her best friend’s boyfriend, not to mention the innocent lives already lost in the first few waves of attack.

And it was all because Lena was too stupid to see past the façade that Rhea had so easily manipulated her into believing.

The price of Lena Luthor’s loyalty always had been and likely always would be love.

Love that she’d never had the time to get from her birth mother, love that had been wrenched away by her brother’s madness and the shame of being his sister, love that she’d never received from the woman she’d called family for over two decades…

Rhea had seen that easily, seen past Lena’s hardened shield of capable businesswoman right down to the unwanted orphan girl she was underneath.

Rhea had seen that easily, and just like everyone else in her life except for her secretary and the woman sitting in front of her, she’d used it against her.

“I’m fine, Lena, really. You didn’t have to come all the way here just to check up on me.” Kara actually laughs, then, and the sound of it pulls the breath from Lena’s lungs in a way that isn’t tingly, or endearing, or any of the other adjectives she’d come to associate with the feelings that Kara’s laughter usually induced.

How could she be so happy sitting across from the woman who had robbed her of someone she’d cared about?

“I-I…” Lena’s fingers tighten around the glass in her hand as she struggles to keep her tears at bay.

Spit it out, she rages, mentally shouting at herself. Tell her the fucking truth already. You came here for a reason.

“It was my fault.”

She closes her eyes before she continues, unable to maintain Kara’s unwavering gaze. “I built the portal the Daxamites used to get to Earth. I helped their queen transport her armies here. I built the device that irradiated the atmosphere with lead and poisoned all the Daxamites, including Mike- I mean, Mon-El. I did this.”

The words fall flat between them, landing somewhere in the invisible, gaping chasm that now somehow clearly splits the room apart.

“It was my fault,” she repeats, a little louder this time, as though an increase in volume could help her words make the leap over the miles stretched out between them, miles she hates but knows she’ll never make a move to cross.

Because she deserves this.

She deserves whatever look of hatred or betrayal or accusation that’s surely filling Kara Danvers’ eyes right now at her confession.

She deserves whatever words are going to come spilling out of Kara Danvers’ mouth at any second, probably laced with anger and disgust, all of which will be justified.

But again, for the umpteenth time in the past seventy-two hours, Lena Luthor finds herself mistaken about the people she thought she knew best.

She gets only silence.

Pure, pin-drop silence.

Lena doesn’t dare open her eyes to look at the woman sitting on the couch across from hers- and even if she wanted to, at this point, she’s not sure she even can.

Everything seems to be catching up to her now, at the worst possible time for the shock of it all to wear off and finally let her feel something other than the numbness that she’d managed to reach with surprisingly little aid from alcohol.

The world is shaking- or maybe she’s the one shaking- but either way, she can’t bring her limbs to move or her eyes to open or her lungs to breathe.

She can’t bring herself to do anything at all but sit there and silently beg the universe to simply let her disappear.

to be continued…

let me know what you think ;)

[bigbrotherw]

Supergirl: A “Supercorp” story arc can be possible and well-executed.

With the recent news regarding the backlash on Jeremy Jordan’s attempt to exercise humor on the premise of the “Supercorp” fandom, the backlash from many of the fans of the show have been greatly angered over this. For those who may not know the controversy, watch the video below from Sarah, who is one half of the dynamic duo, Princess and the Scrivener.

For those who cannot view the video, here is the breakdown of what happened:

Jeremy Jordan, who plays Winn Schott on the show and serves as the tech geek, initiated the musical number summarizing the overall story of season 2, and it started off with “Supercorp won’t happen, and will never happen.” The backlash was rather swift and many from all walks of social media have shown great disappointment due to this very thing. The damage have already been done and many of the fans have either dropped their support for the show altogether, or will show less of an interest of the show, in the form of a BlackOut and not discuss anything Supergirl related. 

I have already posted my thoughts, but I have since look back on my reaction, and while I cannot relate, as a cis straight male, I can, however, look at it the same way how there was a fanbase that showed some disdain over the removal of the pairing of James and Kara, in favor of the generic character development of Mon-El, who generally fit the “Dudebro” mentality and have been the love interest, especially since the writers planned for James and Kara to be a pair for the series. Whether it was due to the “CW formula spell” or the racist responses, it is still a disappointment, so I do feel for the LGBTIAQ community when Jeremy dismissed the prospects of a possible “Supercorp” relationship in a rather not so well executed comical way. Representation does matter and I think there has to be some solidarity in that regard.

As for the relationship between Lena and Kara, they are definitely friends or close friends rather, so you can clearly see that there is a connection of kinship, where they definitely confide to each other. Where Cat Grant basically helped Kara evolve, both as Kara and as Supergirl, in a boss/mother fashion, Lena serves more of the yin and yang, where her intelligence and skills in technology is much closer to the bonds that Clark and Lex had on Smallville. So, there could be a parallel, though it would likely lead to Lena Luthor becoming a villain of sorts and the main villain for the series, as opposed to being a lover. To be honest, looking at a lot of the GIF edits of the scenes with their own screen captions, a lot of fans write the characters like it is a 90s softcore erotica, than a drama themed television series about two leading ladies in love with each other. That or pretty bad fan fiction often that winds up taking a lot of focus away from the love connection they could potentially have.

“But...what about them being in a relationship? Can this happen?”

Going back to my original point, the likelihood of them exploring that story will be impossible for continuity reasons and the prospects of them becoming lovers are very much next to nil, since that aspect doesn’t not really exist, no matter how much anyone is willing to say otherwise. However, it is not impossible.

Why?

The show is connected to the major Arrowverse, where Arrow spearheaded that universe altogether, despite Supergirl existing on an alternate Earth. However, the crossovers are plentiful, and alternate realities can be possible, especially with the science fiction bent on these shows, along with supernatural elements. With this, it is possible for the show to have a mini arc, where Supergirl might have flew fast enough to travel to an alternate reality in time, or perhaps done by a device, where she is in a different National City and she winds up seeing herself, albeit a bit older (and perhaps bustier) in the familiar Power Girl outfit, and she winds up seeing her and Lena together, holding hands, wife and wife (girlfriend/girlfriend if you prefer that), kissing one another, and the response initially would be awkward, seeing that she is not into girls, nor ever had any thoughts in it. While this is going on, there could be an event where she will wind up facing something that will likely challenge her ability to become a stronger self, all the while trying to find out who she is, and what is this revelation. The other idea is that she is mistaken for that Earth’s Supergirl (or Power Girl) and it would likely cause a lot more unusual story elements that could lead to her trying to find a way back, while trying to figure out the personal relationship between the two characters.

Creating a mini-arc like this is a great way to introduce the idea for the following reasons:

It allows viewers to see an alternate reality “Berlanti Elseworld” story, exploring many “What Ifs” and one of them could be about bringing a fan fiction to life, especially if the story is well-written and serve a purpose to bringing in a greater character dynamic one this arc is over.

The writers could freely explore this idea without having to sacrifice story elements in the world they are building upon, and could give more flexibility for more story arcs in the future, especially if the reception is positive.

It will provide a measure for a possible spin-off series, if the pairing has enough positive feedback to start that series, and thus secure the possibility of a “Supercorp” or “Powercorp” story that could expand the Supergirl universe altogether.

I am pleased with the second season of Supergirl, overall, and I’ll be looking forward to the third season and see how Reign can greatly serve as a major threat for Supergirl, and not just another character working from behind. Reign is a powerful villain and should not be taken lightly, and with this, Supergirl’s adventures to continue to grow into the Woman of Tomorrow, and into the True Supergirl, who can pull off feats similar to that of her cousin. The fans have every right to express hatred, since the feminist identity has been downplayed greatly in the second season, but there is hope that they can learn from this mistake and make the third season more of a return of what made people drawn to the show in the first place.

More so, the LGBTIAQ+ community have been one of the biggest driving forces for the series, and I really hope you all can give the show another go, even if one of the cast members did something very incredulous. Perhaps pitching this idea could serve as a great starting point for what may come and bring the series into light. October is a long way, away from now, but the voices shall never go silent.

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

I can't understand how some people can say that stelena was an abusive relationship... like excuse me... did we witness the same relationship? Stelena was so full of mutual respect, trust, love, passion etc and I just can't understand how anyone can call that abuse?

Warning: mention of sensitive issues relating to abuse under the cut.

Yeah, I mean, my honest opinion is that the word abuse has just become common language for a lot of people and it’s used so loosely. But the problem is it’s such a controversial and sensitive subject, because defining abuse is ambiguous. 

If people want to make a ship appear abusive they will always find things that they can use to validate that opinion. With Stelena for example, there are scenes that people who are anti-Stelena can use to portray them as being toxic. There’s the fact that he watched Elena for months before he met her, he bit her in 3x05, force fed her his blood and threatened to kill her in 3x11 and off the top of my head those are the only examples I can think of, but I’m sure there are more that people use. Regardless of what they use, the point remains, that in my opinion Stelena are not abusive at all. 

Here’s a basic definition for an abusive relationship: “Relationship abuse is a pattern of abusive and coercive behaviors used to maintain power and control over a former or current intimate partner. Abuse can be emotional, financial, sexual or physical and can include threats, isolation, and intimidation. Abuse tends to escalate over time. When someone uses abuse and violence against a partner, it is always part of a larger pattern of control.”

No part of that sounds anything like Stelena to me, but for the sake of argument let’s break it down:

“Behaviours used to maintain power and control over partner”. - When Elena was with Stefan she was a free individual. She was allowed and actively encouraged by Stefan to make her own decisions and maintain relationships with her friends and family. 

“Can include threats, isolation and intimation”. - Stefan’s threatened Elena, but never consistently and never to maintain control of her or get her to do what he wants. Most of the time they’ve been empty threats when he had his humanity off. He never isolated her in anyway or intimated her in anyway. 

“Abuse tends to escalate over time”. - Not at all. Like I said, even if Stefan has ever behaved untoward with Elena, it’s always been a one-off that he’s later apologised for. It certainly hasn’t continued or progressed over time.

I’d just like to add here that Elena has always said that she felt safe with Stefan and that he never scared her. Now, when I look on http://stoprelationshipabuse.org (where I got the above definition of abuse from) and look at the warning signs of abuse, it says things such as: do you feel nervous around your partner? are you scared of disagreeing with your partner? And a common theme of all of the warning signs of abuse relates back to this idea of fear from the victim and control from the abuser. Neither of which are elements in Stelena’s relationship. 

In short, nothing about Stelena is a abusive in any way shape or form, at least if we are to use the above definition of abuse. A few acts of violence, arguments, threats or whatever else does not equate to abuse. Does that make it right? Of course not. Any form of physical or emotional violence or cruelty is never okay, but if you can tell me a real life relationship that doesn’t experience it in some form at least once, I’ll give you a gold medal. The reason for that is because it’s impossible. Sometimes emotions get the best of people, their rationality leaves them and they do or say things in the heat of the moment that is hurtful to their partner which they don’t even really mean. It’s impossible and ridiculous to expect anyone (fictional character or not) to be able to think with a rational head all the time, to always be good, kind, considerate and forgiving and to never hurt their partner with their words or actions. But the difference is that a healthy and non-abusive relationship will work through those incidents if they arise and through mature, open communication will deal with them as a couple. That means admitting when they’ve done something wrong, apologising, being honest about why they said/did what they said/did, listening to their partner’s side of the the story, showing empathy and understanding and mutually co-operating to work towards an outcome to the incident and/or issues. 

I’d also like to add to this that despite what is often said by anti-Delena’s (probably even including myself at some point in the past), based on the definition above, I don’t perceive D*lena to be abusive either. There are certainly more problematic elements and examples of physical or emotional violence or manipulation and control with them than Stelena, particularly in the earlier seasons, but overall, I don’t think Damon controls Elena. In the past he has told her she doesn’t get to make decisions and/or tried to stop her in doing something she wants, but she was still always able to do what she wanted (mostly because others such as Stefan helped her to do that or she simply stood up for herself). But particularly once they were in a relationship, she was free to be her own person, which we saw in seasons 5 and 6. If it was up to Damon she wouldn’t have gone away to college, she wouldn’t have studied medicine, she wouldn’t have stayed friends with Stefan and she wouldn’t have taken the cure, because we all know that all Damon really cares about is having Elena by his side as his for the rest of eternity. In my opinion, D*lena is unhealthy and toxic, not abusive. 

There is a distinct difference between these things, in that with abuse there is an abuser in the relationship, someone that is deliberately controlling the victim through some form of physical, emotional or mental manipulation, control or cruelty and I just don’t see that with D*lena. I see a couple that are unintentionally over invested in one another to a level whereby they’re almost obsessive and lose themselves because of it. Also, in abuse it’s the victim alone that suffers, but in D*lena’s relationship both Damon and Elena suffer, simply because their relationship is unhealthy for both of them. Things such asElena not seeming as concerned with her friends and family isn’t Damon stopping her from seeing them or telling her she can’t spend time with them, it’s Elena being so utterly wrapped up in Damon that she can’t see anything outside of that relationship. That was proven by her drug use in the beginning of season 6 after Damon’s death. And similarly, just the same as Stefan, Elena isn’t afraid of Damon. When I looked at Elena in season 5 and 6 I didn’t see a vulnerable, scared little girl that was being controlled by her boyfriend and was miserable but didn’t know how to escape. I saw a lost little girl that was totally blinded by her unhealthy love for this man whom she believed to be her entire world. Whether we as Stelena shippers like it or not, Elena has chosen to stay with Damon, not because of abuse or control or manipulation but because she wanted to be with him. But my reason for bringing D*lena into this is to make a point that so often the word abuse is thrown around by people to try and insult a ship or invalidate their anti-ships, but it’s pretty ignorant (and probably offensive to those who actually are victims of abuse) to use it without properly understanding what it means. I just think it’s important for people to try and educate themselves to understand the difference between a problematic, unhealthy, toxic relationship or a relationship that has some abusive elements and an actual abusive relationship. 

[handlewithkara]

@peggystormborn I don't think that it has to be "she doesn't have to choose" just because that seems the most natural to people. I think they could have made for example Alex or humanity uber alles work.

I definitely don’t think that it has be Argo AND earth, I think the groundwork was already there with Kara not really feeling at home on Argo either when she doesn’t enjoy the dinner with her childhood friend. The ending could easily have been that she decides she doesn’t need Argo because “Argo was in her heart the entire time!”. Stories whether one chooses one thing can work. Think of all the city life versus small town life that do end with the person deciding the city sucks, they are going to settle down (something that often gets criticized rather justly, but still, there is a long tradition of those stories). Or a long variety of romances that are “I got blinded by X, but then I suddenly realize I actually love Y”. One could have done that about Argo, “I thought Argo was going to fix my identity woes, but it was actually just a smoke screen, I was just running away from my problems”. 

I know some of the more anti-Karamel faction always wanted her to reject Argo (even independent of Karamel going there) because Alura is a bad and cruel person who sent Kara away and put Astra in jail. 

It’s strange. Even though we know they had full control of the season finale, I don’t think they full broke with the themes and values of season 3. Turning Alura and (or) Mon-El evil would have given Kara a reason to reject them and never mention them again. And it wouldn’t have necessarily have been that much of a stretch Like they could have written as Alura being indifferent to human collatoral damage and Kara just can’t abide by that. 

Or it would have required a scene a the most to write “As Imra shows to help save the world, Mon-El’s face lights up and he decides that it was Imra all along, her coming back to help them out settles it for him”. 

Heck, they could have had Alex being the one in danger in the finale rather than Alura and Mon-El. They could have written this as Kara’s big realization that earth and humanity is all she wants. 

Instead, Mon-El still breaks up with Imra, Karamel still are shown as at least very friendly on Kara’s side, Alura is still overall an nice and helpful person who is sad about the things she did in the past (like with Astra), them being in danger as Kara turns back time kind of strengthens their importance even, just as Kara bids goodbye to both of them (only for the goodbye to Winn to take up more of the episode dramatically than either of those goodbyes? Talk about weird messaging?). 

It makes me wonder whether the plan orignially was that Mon-El was to return and it was Chris who said no because he really disliked the story they were planning for Mon-El? And they were so angry at him that they refused to even mention Mon-El for the longest time? Winn’s goodbye being more emotional would kind of fit better if originally Jeremy was the only one they knew was leaving and originally there would have been more to Alura and Mon-El’s stories (with maybe Alura being sort of collatoral damage to them not finding an agreement with Chris). 

Or they decided this wasn’t the direction they wanted to go into but they didn’t want to fully break with the themes of season 3, so they were still reasonably respectful to Mon-El and Alura. It just seems if they just wanted to be rid of the story and for people to stop asking questions, there were other ways to close it more completely, even if they didn’t want to go as far as either Mon-El being evil/Kara realizing he really was a jerk and she never loved him, or Mon-El returning to Imra, Like Mon-El giving back the necklace would have felt pretty final or if not him realizing that he does love Imra, at least have his words about the future stress that they are his family and home, instead his words are all about duty (”I swore to protect”).

It makes me wonder why they cut the scene between Kara and Alura. Whether it was just for time, or because they didn’t want Kara to spell out how she felt during the greenhouse scene or because Karamel fans as well as all other shippers would have taken Alura’s words “Not every love story is simple, but in time the truth always reveals itself” to be an encouragement to keep waiting. 

In the end, what I’m trying to say is, you are right, Kara’s identity juggling was an important theme of season 3 and of Karamel in season 3, but as you say yourself, the writers also seemed to drop a lot of stories from season 3 very unceremoniously and essentially closed them with the season 3 finale. So just because season 3 did have these theme that is no insurance that season 6 will continue on this or pick it up again. Though it is rather striking how many season 3 elements and callbacks episode 100 had. I think it is rather poignant how Mon-El’s coversation with Kara about Lena seems incredibly close to the season 3 conversation where he tells her not telling is a sacrifice (then again, since this is supposed to mostly be a Mon-El from exactly that time in history, it would also just make practical sense). 

Though I will say, I don’t think that it is as straight and easy as Kara’s identity conflicts being resolved. It’s not as much that the writers dropped this particular theme or topic. They kept on using it, they spin it into a different direction. Kara’s identity as an alien on earth after all is another angle to Kara’s identity conflicts. As is when Alex gets her memory wiped. Even the conflict with Lena in season 5 is also a conflict about identity and of duty versus personal relationships. All of Red Daughter (even though that is another story that was handled badly) just screams about being an identity story (who are you really, who are you when X is removed). But it is possible that the writers consider this particular facet of Kara’s identity conflict (earth versus Argo) as closed. It happened. It is done. Kara chose earth and Alex (Kara Danvers is my favorite person, My whole life is here,  Balancing Kara and being a hero, that’s…That’s who I am,  everything that makes me me is here., This is my home.). It’s just surprising then that those scenes still play out so melancholy. The melancholy is even still there in the sister scene. 

This is the face Kara makes when she says that this is her home and that things will be fine. (really makes me wonder what the scene directions for this scene were for the actresses)

(especially if you compared that with the smiles and the loving expression in her eyes at the end of episode 100 which also ends with Kara reaffirming her dedication to Alex and J’onn

It’s thematically a very similar scene, but it doesn’t play out with the kind of melancholy that is there in the end of season 3 scenes) 

There is nothing wrong with Kara embracing earth over Argo and being a Kryptonian. But if she does, shouldn’t it be a joyous occasion? A happy, life affirming choice, for all the people she loves on earth? 

Instead the fact that Kara looks melancholy when she makes this choice makes it feel unfinished, like a compromise. Just like Mon-El returning to the Legion doesn’t feel like a triumph, him going where he belongs and wants to be, it feels like a sacrifice he is making. 

Those choices feel unhappy and that’s why they are bad. Not because choosing earth is inherently bad, not because choosing the Legion is bad. 

If they wanted this choice to be something final and happy, there are so many ways that could have played out differently. It could have been, I don’t know, Alex, Lena and James being in danger in the final episode and Kara has to decide between saving them and going ahead with Mon-El and Alura. Maybe Mon-El and Alura encourage her to go, they will be fine, they have powers. Kara rushes off to save her human friends and later Alura tells Kara she can tell Kara’s heart is here with her friends and loved ones, encourages her to stay here and assures her that Alura and Argo are fine without her. 

Instead it feels like the writers refused to break with the original themes of season 3, but then refused to follow them up (or at least this particular thread, even if Mon-El was gone, either by his choice or theirs, the needs of Argo versus the needs of earth could have been a theme they continue, but maybe they just felt it didn’t fit with the ideas they had for the next season). 

The side effect of not breaking in a more final way, closing them in a more final way makes those threads feel really unfinished, like it is a choice “for now” but maybe there will be a better compromise in future, makes the shift away from those threads feel really harsh. The transition would have been smoother if Mon-El had at least gotten a few mentions and maybe Alura would have gotten a few small guest appearances, rather than Mon-El getting basically no mentions and Alura getting only mentions. 

[handlewithkara]

@chassycat-original To me those cut lines in season 2 about lying to protect the people you love are very interesting because it really makes me question to what extent certain things were preplanned. 

Respectively, to what extent the current Supergirl writers either follow a larger plan or at least picked up on the secrets theme as one of the core themes to explore on the show. 

I wrote an entire entry, before I knew about any cut lines, about how Karamel’s conversation in 100 has a lot of additional depth because it reminds people that Kara is not a hypocrite. She was in a situation where she was lied to by a loved on, arguably in even worse circumstances (because it was a selfish lie, because it was a lie about something bad) and she was much more forgiving. So her absolving herself from her guilt feels earned. Because when the shoe was on the other foot, even in a much worse kind of way, Kara only took a very short while to come around and never stooped to any sort of revenge against Mon-El other than some snippy remarks. 

I do not think that that was always the grand plan, I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that Lena was originally supposed to be only a short term character and was only offered a contract as a regular after she was well received in season 2, but the concept of Mon-El lying about being the prince was clearly planned before that. 

I’ve always thought of the show laying down the reason why Kara lies to Lena as something that felt “new” in season 3 and 3B explicitly, so it’s interesting that it is something that the writers had already decided in season 2. (to me it always felt like season 2 felt like the writers almost forgot that maybe it would make sense to give Kara a concrete reason to lie to Lena when Kara actually is very quick to be open about her secret with almost all other regular characters, so to me that felt almost like 3B was fixing something that that felt a bit sloppy in season 2). 

It never sat right with me personally that season 3 Karamel’s story can be boiled down to there being a secret that Kara never finds out (even though it can be argued where exactly the political marriage falls on the secret spectrum, whether it is even a secret strictly speaking since Kara never asks about it (even though Brainy for example openly refers to Titan Alliance) and hence Mon-El never lies about it and generally doesn’t really treat it as a secret, it also generally seems to skew closer to a heroic deception the way Kara’s identity is). 

I’ve always been puzzled by the question what exactly the writers had planned for Karamel’s central conflict to be if Mon-El hadn’t left. And I guess we’ll never know. 

It’s still interesting to read the subsequent seasons to being riffs of the question of secrets (the concept of heroic secrets again being explored in the Kara and Alex story in season 4 and of course the fallout of Kara’s secret being explored in season 5). This again bringing up the question of when exactly they came up with those parallels and themes. Personally, I’m rather open to the concept that they decide the themes and plots of the season only at the beginning of each seasons and they revert to “let’s do secrets” simply because it’s an oldie, but goodie. 

To me the choice of this theme has always felt a bit weird, because to me this just didn’t feel like a huge aspect of season 1 (like at the most of it a little bit in the very beginning when Kara finds out about the DEO) and even season 2 (so it’s interesting to know that that was supposed to be there, it just ended up being cut). Mostly to me Kara rarely felt like she was experiencing that much guilt or that many downsides from having a secret, compared to many other characters who keep secrets. Particularly because Kara’s cast of support characters who know is just that large, it very rarely felt like she was missing out the way other characters do who for example keep their secret from their families. 

(compare that to Clark in Smallville for example, yes his parents knew, but his first friend, Pete, didn’t find out till season 2, his next friend Chloe, kind of the his “Winn” didn’t find out till season 5, Clark’s ‘James” Lana didn’t find out till season 6, so for the longest time Clark didn’t have this rich support system that Kara has always enjoyed)

I’m not sure whether I believe the writers will be consistent enough to stick with the theme of secrets all the way through or whether they consider that topic over now that Lena knows. (though in theory this topic could be revisited again if now Alex maybe also has to have a secret hero identity?) If they stick with it, I wonder what exactly constitutes a “happy end” for a secret plot, especially since the show has already decided that “Kara tells her secret to the world and everything fine” is not an option for their in show universe. Just Kara having a rule of letting in everybody she spends substantial amounts of time with? Lena officially acknowleding that Kara was justified all along? (I now I joked before that if the writers were serious about how important Kara’s secret is, then the logical end to season 5 would have been Lena offering to have her memory wiped that way Alex did, but yeah, I’m not counting on that) Kara telling the next person (William) and he is completely chill and supportive? If the show continued on longer then I could see Kara telling William, him being supportive but it gets him killed as a sensible way to deepen the topic, but that isn’t a thread that really makes sense if it’s the last season, because it would be too bleak. 

(did I mention recently how much it galls me that Kara never found out about the specifics of the Titan Alliance, with there being basically zero chance imo that that will change since I don’t think that they will bother trying to get Imra back to do this story)