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that-shamrock-vibe · 5 years ago

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TV Review: Crisis on Infinite Earths (Spoilers)

Part One: Supergirl

Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review the day after the episode airs in the U.S. so if you have not yet seen the first part of the crossover or are waiting for the entire crossover to become available then don’t read on until you have.

Overview:

We have SO MUCH to discuss! So much so that my Easter-Egg section which is usually more or less a minor tag-on at the end of these reviews is possibly going to be the same size as a lot of these other sections we are going through because, as promised by Marc Guggenheim, Easter has come early and we were treated to quite a few very tasty Easter-Eggs, one of which had me cheering at the screen.

But with Part One of this 5-episode crossover already giving us so much action, drama and emotion, it’s not only a question on how the Multiverse survives, but how the rest of the crossover does as well.

In the Beginning:

I love a good theory of evolution story, and we have heard in Arrow over the past season that The Monitor has been around for eons so it stands to reason he was around at the start of creation itself.

I just the sentiment of “In the beginning there was one singularity that soon spawned a multiverse”. It’s a lot like Doctor Who’s first rock theory from “The Runaway Bride”. I don’t know enough about the beginning of all life to actually determine what created the universe, I am more inclined to believe evolution than creationism, but I do like this idea of one reality spawning many.

I wasn’t so crazy about the visuals of this, especially considering in the past whenever we have viewed the Multiverse it’s always been within the Speed Force so we’re used to that blue energy rather than this red darker energy but it seems to be in-keeping with the theme of the crossover so I’m going with it.

Also LaMonica Garrett, who deserves some sort of award recognition not only for appearing as a series regular in both Arrow and The Flash this season but also wearing what I’m sure is the heaviest outfit created, but selling it very well, even the cheesy prophet of doom voice he has down rather well.

Multiverse Annihilation:

Alright so this was obviously to be expected that we would see some if not a lot of Earths be destroyed during this crossover, but my god they don’t pull punches in starting by letting you know “Yeah we’re killing off a lot”.

Now the Earths we see erased during the opening of this episode are Earth-9, Earth-66, Earth-89 and Earth-X. Of those four, we have only ever seen Earth-X which was the Nazi-ruled Earth from two crossovers ago.

Now while there was a great and uncredited cameo here from it and we’ll discuss that further down, would anyone really be sad if a reality where the Nazis won and ruled was wiped out? I know there are inhabitants on that world and for the most part they are innocent and good people, but you would think just maybe find a way to evacuate them like they do on Earth-38 later and then if it goes extinct then fine because it’s not exactly a good reality.

Both Earth-66 and Earth-89 also has great Easter-Eggs just in the name and we’ll discuss that also further down but it is interesting that both Earths-66 and 89 only focused on Gotham City whereas this was the Supergirl episode of the crossover.

Rallying the Team:

Okay so Harbinger, who either was Lyla Michaels but is now an emissary of the Anti-Monitor or simply likes using her Task Force X codename, appears to all the major heroes just as we saw her do in last week’s episode of Arrow and summons them all to Earth-38 aka Supergirl’s Earth.

I have to say as well, I know they’re on a TV budget and can’t really afford to have as many characters in one scene as say Avengers: Endgame did, but the fact they cheapened out and only gave us two Legends (Sara and Ray), rather then also showing Nate, Constantine, Mick and Charlie as well does seem a tad unfair especially considering they’ve been absent from screens the longest, some may say for the better considering the way their show is going.

Also, I will probably talk about this more with the Batwoman episode tomorrow, but they need to clarify the timeline of her show. When we first met her in Elseworlds last year she was Batwoman, but the start of her season saw her become Batwoman, and now she’s still hunting for Alice? How long has it been?

Also, as expected, Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman and his Lois Lane join the party after Argo City is destroyed and they send of their newborn son in a pod to safety. Argo City’s destruction also sees the death of Kara’s mother Alura played by Erica Durance but because I know who’s coming in tonight’s episode and the possibly jokes they’ll make about it I am okay with that as a Smallville fan.

I do always like it in these crossovers when the heroes either first meet or reunite, this time Oliver’s daughter but from the future Mia Smoak and Batwoman are officially introduced as Batwoman reveals herself as Kate Kane, to Oliver’s bemusement.

I do wish also that there was more time spent on character interaction because that is usually what I enjoy most about these crossovers, we had a little bit of that with Brainy and Ray, but Elseworlds I felt established a great repour for Batwoman and the Trinity yet that wasn’t really seen here.

My biggest complaint in this Supergirl episode though is that both Brainy and J’onn were never seen in their natural forms. I know it’s costly and timely to have them look like Brainiac 5 and the Martian Manhunter, but when they just look like Jesse Rath and David Harewood, no matter how great these guys are it’s a comic book crossover event and I would love to see more comic-booky character looks.

Alright so, Harbinger sits down the newly formed or reformed or updated team because they’ve come together now four times to help save a world or multiple worlds or now reality itself and just need to be called the Justice League and get it over with, but anyway I digress.

She instructs the team that the tower that randomly appears was one of many placed by the Monitor on Earths he thought were at risk...why he didn’t just place them on every god damn Earth if he could see the future is beyond me but that’s what we’re getting.

I did like a couple of interactions before going into action where Oliver seamlessly interacted with Barry, Sara and Mia without making it seem forced.

My favourite was the interaction with daughter Mia when he effectively passes on the mantle of Green Arrow to her despite the fact she’s not ready to lose him. I don’t know whether or not the spin-off series focusing on Mia as New Green Arrow has been confirmed yet but we know she will become Green Arrow in the near future.

So Oliver, Mia, Ray and Kate go off and battle the Shadow Demon army that are swarming the tower trying to destroy it for the Anti-Monitor, while Barry, Kara and Clark are off trying to save the people.

I will admit Ray didn’t annoy me quite as much as he has done in recent seasons of Legends during this episode. I did love his interactions with Kate about her suit getting an upgrade and then her asking him to upgrade her batarangs, when Brandon Routh is good he is good and he is pulling double duty in this crossover so let’s hope he’s very good.

Also at this time Lois, because she needs something to do, has gone to Earth-16 with Brainy and Sara to retrieve baby Jonathan who wound up going through a wormhole and ending up on a parallel world...in the future...2046 to be exact.

This was, I feel, there for two reasons. 1) Another Easter-Egg appearance but this time in-house as it references Legends Season 1, but also 2) To still keep the events of “Star City 2046) canon despite the fact that in that episode Connor Hawke was actually John Diggle Jr. and in present day they are not only two separate people but also adoptive brothers...and also we know Oliver is supposed to die so how is he alive in 2046? Well it’s an alternate reality version who apparently can’t remember meeting Earth-1 Sara before.

Our two other teams rallying really only serve to give the rest of the Supergirl cast something to do as Alex enlists Lena to help either build or activate portals to get the inhabitants of Earth-38 to safety while Dreamer and Kelly help get those inhabitants onto ships including the Legion Cruiser that J’onn is piloting because apparently Brainy was given it by the Legion before they left with Winn despite the fact they left in the Legion Cruiser. It doesn’t really make sense but I enjoy seeing that ship again so I am letting it slide.

Saving the Multiverse, Take 1:

This may be quite cynical for me to say but this is what the remainder of the episode was, the first attempt at saving the multiverse because Earth-38 is where The Monitor wanted the heroes to make their stand against the Anti-Monitor.

The Anti-Monitor does not appear in this episode and his army of Shadow Demons are 1) Poorly rendered compared to the likes of the Time Wraiths and 2) Quite easy to defeat when you consider Darkseid has Parademons and even Thanos with his legion of horribles.

In any case while the Supers are trying to fix the tower to make the sky not red which works margingly well before they exhaust themselves, the other heroes are on the ground battling the Shadow Demons. I would have maybe liked if Ray had to cover the Supers while they were doing what they do because it seemed slightly daft that the Shadow Demons wouldn’t try and stop them but that’s what we got.

It was a very small-scale battle and I know we’re only in part 1 and usually it’s the final episode we get the big battle but this was still small scale considering what is at stake here.

The biggest surprise of the battle was Kelly Olsen, who I haven’t really liked all season as she seems pointless other than just being Alex’s girlfriend who always needs saving, apparently has the Guardian armour left to her by James who retired from vigilantism to take over a newspaper in his old hometown and that’s why he left despite never actually being part of these crossovers, his dopplegangers were.

This was also a very low-powered battle. Think about it, the Supers, Flash and Atom all have CGI powers or tech yet we didn’t really see much of it, aside from the Supers trying to fix the tower. Maybe they’re saving the budget for later episodes but it better pay off.

The Monitor comes in as the prophet of doom to basically tell them that they’ve lost this battle but the war still rages, so transports everyone aside from Oliver to Earth-1 Star City.

Oliver refuses to leave and makes one of the most poignent comments I have ever heard him say when The Monitor says “It’s time” and Oliver asks “Has everyone been evacuated” The Monitor responds with “No” so Oliver responds “Then it’s not yet time”. From the trailer I thought this to mean it was time for his death, but actually this was something The Monitor was trying to prevent as he did not see him dying this way, but he does.

Stephen Amell delivers both this line and scene very well. I have never been the biggest Stephen Amell fan and do feel as if he goes to the corny side a little too much but here, given the interactions he had with Barry, Mia and Sara in the episode, and knowing that Arrow is ending and he is supposed to die, it was minorly emotional which is the most emotion he’s ever got out of me.

Fallen Arrow:

The Monitor returns a battered and bleeding Oliver to the Arrowcave in Star City Earth-1 where the rest of the heroes have returned to. Along with the news that they were somewhat successful at evacuating Earth-38 before it was destroyed, it seems that Oliver does actually die in this episode.

First of all, the fact that Supergirl is disheartened to know they didn’t save everyone is stupid because they only worked to evacuate one city compared to the entire planet. Secondly, we know that the episode of Arrow after this crossover will not include Stephen Amell...but to lose him on part one of the crossover does seem like a red herring.

Also I do not think he would die on any other show but his own and that part isn’t until January 14, so I don’t think this is the last of Oliver we’ve seen.

However, out of nowhere, Pariah appears. Pariah is Harrison “Nash” Wells who is the latest Harrison Wells to appear on The Flash and was the main focus of the Crisis teaser at the end of every Arrowverse show over the last two weeks.

I have to say 1) His suit makes him look like Doctor Doom and 2) I haven’t had the time to be as invested with this Wells as I was with Harry Wells or H.R. Wells or even Sherloque Wells to supposedly feel bad for him that he has become Pariah as his penance for freeing the Anti-Monitor.

He is however another harbinger which sounds stupid to say as there is a character literally called Harbinger but not only is Lyla one but so is the Monitor and now Pariah. I’ll be curious to see where this leaves him after the crossover because, unlike almost every crossover before, this is the one that promises ramifications across the multiverse.

Easter-Eggs:

Alright here we go, as I said in the opening Multiverse Annihilation alone, there were multiple Easter-Eggs that not only connect the Arrowverse to various other DC properties but also just have some very cool cameos.

I do have mixed feelings on what they’re doing, as it does look like they are actually trying to combine every DC TV property and possibly movie into the same multiverse which is crazy but it could possibly work.

Titans:

This is the one I cheered at my screen for in a similar way to when they played the Smallville theme while showing their version of the Kent Farm in Elseworlds last year.

As mentioned before, one of the Earths wiped out by Antimatter is Earth-9. On this Earth we focus on San Francisco and two costumed heroes as Antimatter obliterates everything, Hawk and Jason Todd’s Robin. These characters are portrayed by Alan Ritchson and Curran Walters who are the actors portraying these characters in these suits in Titans over on DC Universe.

It was rumoured some time back that Titans would appear in this crossover but never confirmed, I know because for my job I’ve reported on everything to do with Crisis.

Now clearly there’s nothing to say these are the same characters from Titans, particularly as the end of Titans Season 2 saw Jason Todd leave the Titans and we don’t see Nightwing, Dove, Starfire, Raven or Gar, but considering Black Lightning is joining the Multiverse it stands to reason that Titans can as well.

This does also mean that Titans is now on Earth-9, while Arrow, The Flash, Batwoman and Legends are primarily on Earth-1 and Supergirl is on Earth-38.

Batman ‘66

Speaking of other Earths, we have two others that are wiped out in the opening and both focus on Gotham City, why? Well we have Earth-66 which features an elderly gentleman in red walking his dog and seeing the red skies exclaims “Holy Crimson Skies of Death!”.

This gentleman is portrayed by Robin veteran Burt Ward and the character is confirmed to be Dick Grayson of the Batman 1960s series.

This is wrapped up very nicely and honoured in the fact that the Earth is numbered 66 to pay homage to the fact that 1966 is the year the Batman series begun.

Batman ‘89

Similarly, the other Earth we see obliterated is Earth-89. Here we see another Gotham City with a man reading an edition of the Gotham City Gazette that shows a distorted image of Batman with the headline “Batman Captures Joker”.

The man reading the paper is revealed to be Alexander Knox portrayed by Robert Wuhl, reprising his role from the 1989 Batman movie starring Michael Keaton as the Dark Knight and Jack Nicholson as The Joker.

It has also been rumoured before that Michael Keaton would reprise his role as Batman in this crossover, while I still choose to debunk these rumours, it’s official that the 1989 Batman is now canon within the Arrowverse. This takes the Arrowverse from simply being the DC TV Universe to an actual Multiverse spanning TV and Film, something the MCU hasn’t properly managed to do yet.

Star City 2046:

So as mentioned before, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’s first season had an episode titled “Star City 2046″ where the Legends arrived in a dystopian Star City where Deathstroke’s son Grant Wilson was the new Deathstroke and Connor Hawke was the new Green Arrow and revealed as John Diggle Jr, Diggle’s son which at the time was crazy because Diggle had a daughter Sara before Barry created Flashpoint and replaced Sara with John Diggle Jr...keeping up?

So in the future of this Post-Flashpoint timeline that this universe is now in, we see that Connor Hawke and John Diggle Jr. are two separate people with Connor being the biological son of Ben Turner aka Bronze Tiger and John Diggle Jr now being the leader of the Deathstroke Gang.

This of course caused conflict with that episode of Legends, but because Legends never really follows the rules anyway I think everyone simply let it slide but now we have a loophole way of explaining things.

It turns out that when the Legends travelled to Star City in the year 2046, they also travelled to a parallel Earth, Earth-16. Now this is still in the future so I don’t think they’re saying it’s set, but what they are saying is it still happened and they didn’t overwrite their own lore basically.

We do only see Oliver here, who still has a cybernetic arm from before which Sara remembers and uses to her advantage, but Oliver doesn’t seem to remember that this Sara is not his Sara despite them having a rather candid conversation in that episode.

Also Joseph David-Jones portrayed Connor Hawke of that Earth in “Star City 2046″ so of course it makes sense for him to return as the Connor Hawke of Earth-1 in the future, but why didn’t he appear in this episode if he is already part of the cast of Arrow this season?

The Ray:

Briefest of cameos and unfairly uncredited in my opinion but we see a brief glimpse of Ray Terrill aka The Ray portrayed by Russell Tovey flying through the skies of Earth-X before being obliterated. Tovey first portrayed The Ray in “Crisis on Earth-X” two years ago and was part of the first openly gay male relationship in comic-book history with Wentworth Miller’s Leo Snart.

He then went on to voice the character in his own short-lived animated web series Freedom Fighters, but to see him return in live-action even for a brief uncredited cameo shows how much Tovey respects both the character and this universe and I love him even more for that.

Jonathan Kent:

Alright so I’ve mentioned baby Jonathan a couple of times because we knew Lois was pregnant at the end of Elseworlds last years however now seeing Jonathan Kent Jr. I am excited for what this could mean going forward.

In the comics, Jonathan is the son of Superman and Lois Lane given the full name Jonathan Samuel Kent to honour both his grandfathers and is a Kryptonian-Human hybrid who becomes the new Superboy and teams up with Damian Wayne, the Teen Titans and the Legion of Superheroes.

So when Brainy mentioned him going through a wormhole and time-travelling I thought they may be setting up that he’ll be taken in by the Legion, Mon-El may return with a grown-up version of him later in the season or something, but no he’s safe and Lois has him back.

The one thing I will say about him is I hope the writers don’t relegate Tyler Hoechlin’s already minimal Super-Antics into simply being Super-Dad. The odd dad line is funny but I hope that’s not all he is.

I am going to wait until Part 5 to rank the entire crossover but if they keep the momentum that Part 1 managed to accelerate then this could be the greatest TV accomplishment ever and could even rival Avengers: Endgame in how they literally bring worlds together.

So that’s my review of Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more DC TV Reviews as well as other TV Reviews and posts.

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foxofthedesert · 6 years ago

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Arrow FanFic | Dinah x Laurel | A Christmas Miracle

Part 4 – The Miracle (AO3 Link)

A vicious chill threads through the alleyway outside the Carmine Kanigher Shelter, sending waste detritus of modern civilization skittering in every direction. Mice and rats flee for cover as fat flakes of snow begin to fall. Soon the entire area will be blanketed in a carpet of fluffy white powder. A Christmas Miracle for Star City courtesy of a recently reunited father and daughter duo of certain...arctic talents who are in town for the first of what will become the annual Team Flarrowgirl – a universally reviled portmanteau courtesy of one Ralph Dibney – Christmas extravaganza.

Pushing off the cinder block he’s occupied for the second time tonight over the past few minutes, Marv adopts a toothy grin. He already worked his seasonal miracle, which if his best friend Nora’s spotty accounting of history unrelated to her dad can be trusted is taking place right about...now. Nervously, he lifts the sleeve of his jacket to check the vitals monitor on the modular biometrically keyed device wrapped around his wrist, finding all readings back within ideal parameters whereas only hours before they were fluctuating wildly. Just to be sure his efforts were indeed successful, he pinches himself in several places to ensure his central nervous system is still functioning correctly that he is still corporeal and has not disintegrated due to a seismic shift within the causal domino chain that will eventually result in his birth less than six years from his present location in spacetime.

As a reward for a mission accomplished, he sifts through the menus on what Nora calls their Vibe-rators – bless the innocent, adorable, perpetual child that she is, Nora has yet to grasp why nicknaming the gadgets that in honor of their esteemed inventor, their beloved Uncle Cisco, was not quite the honor she thought it was – and quickly deactivates the artificial aging matrix produced by some seriously shway tech that, savvy as he is, even he doesn’t fully understand. He also unilaterally decides to never adopt the pseudonym Marv ever again.

Honestly, what was I thinking going with that? Quen shakes his head, chuckling ruefully as the answer dawns on him. There is a longstanding Christmas Eve tradition in his house of watching Christmas movies all evening until everyone is too tired to keep going, and this year they are breaking out amongst other titles both of Macaulay Culkin’s Home Alone films. Double-dipping those gems before bed is, in his opinion, just about the perfect way to cap off a perfect Christmas Day with his family. Which is why he has to get a move on or he’ll be late and his Moms will not be happy. Nor will Aunt Sara and Aunt Ava, who are actually supposed to drop by this year instead of ducking his Mom’s invite with some lame explanation of a temporal anomaly that needed fixing like, pronto. Come to think of it, Maya, his older sister by a year and a half, is coming back home from a work thing in National City for the annual Lance family Christmas and will almost certainly use his tardiness as another excuse to hit him. And Quen can’t have that. She has enough reasons as is without adding valid cause. Plus, his damn shoulder has been abused enough by his sibling’s iron fists, thank you very much!

Glancing back toward the street he’d watched a younger, more hardened version of his softer mother approach him from, the familiar tug of welcome memory pulls him under its sway. His Ma is still a knock-out according to all his friends, who often break out an ancient acronym he chooses to ignore so as to not require a bleaching of his brain, so the age difference was not that jarring. But it was beyond weird to see her so restrained and world weary.

Of his parents, his Ma is the positive one, the tactile huggy, kissy, slightly smothery mom who sings while she cooks, dances as she cleans, and who cried – on camera! – at his graduation...every last one of the four so far. So many wonderful memories of her flash by that he can hardly sort through them all. Her singing him to sleep while he was little and really, really sick while his Mom cradled him close to her chest and rocked him in her favorite rocking chair. The absurd, bonkers, overboard, birthday bashes she organized for both him and his sister every friggin’ year until they were old enough to insist she dial back the adorable insanity. The way she would stand to the side giggling uncontrollably at his ultra-competitive Mom once he got old enough to regularly beat her at basketball or soccer or video games. How a few stern words from her spoke volumes more than a profuse tirade from his Mom ever could amongst one of the many lectures he endured regarding the vital importance of taking responsibility for one’s own actions. How she always smells like an amazing blend of vanilla and cinnamon and can with a single enveloping hug and a lingering forehead kiss banish every iota of hurt, confusion, pain, and fear plaguing her children, even when they are fully grown adults. His Ma is a lionhearted woman who loves with every last ounce of her strength, and it was more than a little disconcerting to witness her holding that ferociousness ransom in the obviously fading hope that a rescuer might appear to set it free. Thankfully, he is a devoted son who is willing to brave her wrath to secure her happiness, which he did by pushing her toward a certain irritatingly complicated blonde.

The various images of his Ma, heartwarming as they are, mingle with one of his other mom as he watched her first set foot in the shelter. Looking for all the world like she didn’t know what the hell she was doing there, all the while unwilling to surrender an inch to fear or doubt, she was yet so fragile he was afraid to even breath in her general direction lest she shatter into a million pieces. He had to get to know her first before he risked ingratiating himself to the point she would grant him permission for one stilted hug.

He’d like to say that it shocked him to see her so walled off, the woman who carried and nourished him inside her body for nine months and then endured unspeakable pain to deliver him safely into the world, but it didn’t. His Mom has always had trouble letting people in, which in combination with her frightening dark side could make her a foreboding person to approach. From his first memories, he can recall glimpsing fleeting specters of what he’d witnessed in earnest while on this escapade in the past: a simmering rage and innate cynicism fueled by pain that only his Ma can assuage. Once or twice he was the unlucky target to bear the brunt of an outburst that scared him witless, and scared his Mom even more – so much so that she would sequester herself in the bedroom or the spare bathroom until she calmed down or his Ma intervened to soothe the offended beast back into her thick iron mental cage. He never really understood why his Mom got that way sometimes until just last year, about five months after his eighteenth birthday, when he learned about Black Siren. That wasn’t a happy time for him, or for his Mom. He had always known she had a troubled past, but that...that shook the foundations of his essential being, made him doubt his own moral and ethic core, and worst of all caused him to doubt his Mom’s ability to love. It took both his Ma and his Uncle Ollie teaming up to knock some sense into him for him to get his head out of his ass and to stop avoiding and start talking to his Mom again.

And now? Well, now he’s glad he knows about Black Siren, because if nothing else, this trip into the past has given him a reality check as to just how awful his Mom’s life was to have molded her into the hateful person she was before his Grandpa took a chance on her that his Ma later picked up and ran with. Once, and fortuitously, she got to the shelter early enough to join in a group session with the therapist that visits the facility once per week. He had to sit there silently and listen as she got roped into sharing, then grit his teeth through the empathetic agony of her divulging a lot more than she had originally intended. The things she went through before she met his Ma...Quen shudders at the very thought. The silver lining to that intolerable experience is that at least he has a reference to work with dealing with her occasional mood swings.

Also, this foray has given him a new, unique perspective into how much his parents love each other. To have overcome so much adversity just to be together is, quite frankly, astonishing. Nora has told him so many times that his Moms’ love story rivals that of any epic parental romance within the group of kids belonging to the venerated members of the Justice League, but he never quite believed her. How could he when they were competing with the likes of Superman and Lois Lane, the Green Arrow and his Overwatch, the Flash and Iris West, and Supergirl and her mysteriously broody governmental handler all the kids simply know as their favorite Aunt Alex. But those precious hours surreptitiously watching them interact in the kitchen and during the post-dinner clean up operation afforded him a view that, while slightly biased, was able to recognize that same divine spark between them that he sensed whenever he was around his friends’ folks. It was nice, so nice that his heart is still soaring high in the clouds above, to be given the immense privilege of bearing witness to the event that will begin an inevitable spiral into his – and his sister’s – future conception upon a recovered Kryptonian Genesis ship. And come what may, be it unavoidable tragedy like Nora’s Uncle Wally getting imprisoned outside the timeline by Abra Kadabra, or some catastrophic event like Darkseid himself descending upon his Earth tomorrow, he won’t be forgetting this adventure any time soon. It has ignited in him a flame of hope that cannot be quenched and solidified a belief that will endure until his death that love really can conquer all.

“Well, I guess you guys will see me in five years and twelve months on the dot” he says, his gaze turning instinctively to the apartment in which he knows his parents to be making the first baby steps toward a future they have both risked life and limb to protect multiple times. “Good thing it’ll be sooner for me. Just hope you guys don’t kill me when I tell you where I’ve been for the past month...”

And with the press of a button upon his Vibe-rator – he snickers at the thought of the name – Quentin Nicholas Lance disappears from view to join his best friend for their return trip to the future. He is not seen again until many years later. Twenty-four years, ten days, seven hours, and thirteen minutes to be precise, which is two minutes late and of no consequence to anyone but Maya, who uses that as an excuse to hit him.

Damn that punchy brat.

Quen rubs his sore arm, but the smile on his face remains until he is engulfed by two pairs of arms that officially ring in another Merry Christmas for the Lances. To his unending delight, in addition to a new Quantum Tablet, his Moms pulled some really big strings to get him into the Air Force Academy. He can’t wait to tell Nora! And as he rushes to dial his bestie up on his Vibe-device, he gives them both the biggest hugs he can muster up. He doesn’t see how their eyes catch over his shoulder, glowing with love for each other and pride for their child and happiness over his happiness, but then again he doesn’t really need to. He sees it every single day. Nor would it have registered even if he had caught it. He is far too excited to think of little else than realizing his dream of becoming a pilot.

Merry Christmas to me! He thinks as he hears Nora’s voice chime through the tiny, nearly impervious subdermal implants designed by his Uncle Cisco that were wired into his ears after a childhood accident his Mom still hasn’t forgiven herself for rendered him deaf.

“Hey! You’ll never guess what I got for Christmas!”

Nora does guess, the know-it-all brat, but his enthusiasm doesn’t diminish one iota. This is, after all, the best Christmas ever. And not just because he got everything he wanted, but because he got to watch his parents take the final steps in their journey falling in love. How many kids get to make that boast? Not any he knows of besides Nora.

Quen has an extended family that loves him, a bright future ahead of him, a sister that would fight the world for him, and Moms who love him – and each other – more than he could ever begin to describe. And that makes him the luckiest kid alive.

THE END

#dctv #arrow #arrow fanfic #dinah drake #laurel lance #dinah x laurel #laurel x dinah #aka Dinahmite!#or:#dinahsiren #merry christmas y'all!

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dweemeister · 7 years ago

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NOTE: The following contains some spoilers.

Justice League (2017)

Under the leadership of Zack Snyder, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) has begun with embarrassing efforts including Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Suicide Squad (2016). The outlook at Warner Bros. was grim, facing diminishing box office returns and vicious critical reviews. This summer, it took Wonder Woman to provide any hope that the DCEU was on an upward trajectory. In comes Justice League, a film that marks a step forward for Warner Bros.’ most important franchise, but is troubled by writing its way out of the holes dug by Snyder in Man of Steel and especially Batman v Superman. With Zack Snyder’s Justice League (alongside expensive reshoots by Joss Whedon, credited as co-writer with Chris Terrio), the DCEU remains in critical condition. But unlike the recent philosophical shallowness of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) militancy, the DCEU – in Wonder Woman and Justice League – is making an honest attempt at a superheroing dialectic.

Shortly after Superman’s death in Batman v Superman, Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds; the character is an alien general from Apokolips who serves Darkseid) has landed on Earth to retrieve three Mother Boxes and harness the boxes’ aggregate powers to commence Earth’s destruction. No one knows the exact capabilities, purposes, or origins of the Mother Boxes, but Amazonian Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) warns Diana Prince (Gal Gadot; Wonder Woman) of Steppenwolf’s arrival. Diana joins forces with Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck; Batman) and, together, recruit Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa; Aquaman), Barry Allen (Ezra Miller; The Flash), and Victor Stone (Ray Fisher; Cyborg). Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons are making quick work of finding the boxes, and – this should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention to the DCEU – our superheroes exhume and reanimate Clark Kent (Henry Cavill; Superman) in preparation for the final showdown.

The supporting cast is unwieldy – as in any superhero team movies – but the prominent members include: Bruce’s butler Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons); Clark’s mother, Martha Kent (Diane Lane); Clark’s love interest but, most importantly, Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist for the Daily Planet Lois Lane (Amy Adams); and Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon (J.K. Simmons).

Before delving into the heart of this write-up, note that Zack Snyder departed the project after a sudden family emergency. Joss Whedon (who directed the first two Avengers movies) replaced Snyder, re-wrote scenes, and filmed reshoots. The stylistic differences between the two directors clash throughout Justice League – Snyder has always relied on a desaturated brown- and black-heavy color palette, foreboding self-importance, and an attitude toward life that is a cross between an emotionally bankrupt nihilist and that edgy fellow from your Intro to Philosophy class trying to be “deep”, but failing; Whedon established the MCU’s quip-heavy dialogue in favor of slowing down the action and showing us where a superhero’s humanity comes from, oftentimes interrupting thoughtful moments and conversations like a loud frat boy with a tenuous command of the subject being talked about (the frat boy might actually be “deep”, but he has trouble expressing himself).

I profess to appreciate Whedon’s writing only a little more than Snyder’s. Self-important superhero movies need to earn their somberness – see Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy – and humanizing those with superpowers is something that post-Spider-Man 2 (2004) superhero movies have all but forgotten to do. So the Whedon-esque comedic dialogue is appreciated, if occasionally misplaced in the thick of a violent scene. In other times, Whedon’s dialogue is entirely inappropriate and will unintentionally have the audience burst out in disbelieving guffaws. Let us take the scene where Superman returns with Lois Lane to Smallville.

Lois’ first line is to tell Clark that he smells good.

“Didn’t I smell good before?” he asks.

That is the first thing she says in their first private moment together? And second, wouldn’t being buried six feet under make you smell like earthworms? I guess Kryptonian pheromones are pretty resilient even in death! Soon after, Lois asks Clark what was it like being dead.

“Itchy,” he says.

Itchy? Is the Kryptonian afterlife filled with Kryptonian fleas (bad news for Krypto the Superdog if that’s the case)? To pull back before I pick and choose dozens of individual lines of dialogue for ridicule, Whedon’s comedic tendencies – not for the first time – destroy any sense of intimacy between friends, lovers, and family. A Whedon-written subplot about a Russian family fleeing the final battle sequence is manufactured and manipulative, rather than horrifying or inspiring.

For Snyder (and Terrio, who worked with both Snyder and Whedon and whose contributions are less clear), his writing belies little interest in adding dimensions to Steppenwolf. The worst of Snyder appears immediately after Superman is resurrected as Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, and The Flash must combat the awoken Man of Steel in a battle that does not serve anybody’s characterization or the plot’s progression. It is a superficial battle fulfilling Snyder’s dependency on unnecessary violence to keep interest going.

Yet Snyder is also responsible for the film’s most inspiring moment. Unfortunately, that comes in the opening minutes as the film introduces Wonder Woman. She is seen defending civilians from terrorists threatening to obliterate a London bank. From the sequential progression of the moment – despite being deprived of too much context – and the impressive visual effects, it builds off Patty Jenkins and Allan Heinberg’s characterization of Wonder Woman earlier this year. And though the final line of that introductory scene smacks of cheesiness (”Who are you?”; “A believer.” Is Diana a Monkees fan?), it retains what was essential of Jenkins’ interpretation of Wonder Woman: that Diana has always been motivated not by personal animus, but a genuine, learned belief in humanity’s characteristic and fragile goodness. It is a brief moment, this. Yet in that snippet, Zack Snyder – whether he internalized these lessons or not – provides a moment worthy of cheers and, yes, tears.

The balance of screentime between all six founding members of the DCEU’s Justice League (spare a thought for fans of omitted, original founding members Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter) is equal enough, although Aquaman does not truly factor until the final third of the film. For Aquaman, The Flash, and Cyborg, Justice League might feel like an extended trailer for their more interesting standalone movies. Regarding the film’s treatment of Wonder Woman, there are mixed results after that spectacular introduction. One-liners and comments about Wonder Woman’s attractiveness (Flash, Aquaman, and Alfred in particular) are unwelcome, undermining the professionalism seen in the Cartoon Network animated series Justice League / Justice League Unlimited (2001-2006) and even Hanna Barbera’s long-running Super Friends (1973-1986). The angles in which Wonder Woman is shot also contribute to feminists’ justified anger in how Snyder (who has never been concerned with feminism) and Whedon (a self-professed feminist, but whose behavior and past writing suggest otherwise) have portrayed her. Eventually, the film’s roughshod editing between the Snyder and Whedon versions provides a portrait of the Justice League to that is cluttered, confusing, contradictory.

In such a sizable ensemble picture so devoted to narrative and action, it seems useless to comment on performances. With the exception of Cavill and Affleck, every other lead and important supporting cast are doing a serviceable job (for Fisher, Miller, and Momoa, their shining moments will come in their respective movies). Cavill has the muscles, but his charm remains missing despite a more saturated suit for Superman – Cavill remains a more convincing antagonist than a protagonist. Affleck looks and sounds bored. He adds nothing to Bruce Wayne or Batman. Today, it seems even more impossible in film to make the Caped Crusader a sympathetic character – like the one found in the comics and animated television.

It is sympathy that brings us to the direction of this franchise. This paragraph should be read with the understanding that I do not read comic books and that I do not have the emotional ties that many others have to these characters. If Zack Snyder remains sidelined at the DCEU in future installments (unlikely at this juncture, as Warner Bros. did not sack him after multiple critical failures), the franchise’s primary problem will no longer be that it peddles in malformed ideas and soul-heaving darkness. In this case, the primary problem of the DCEU is making its characters sympathetic – allowing the audience to understand each hero’s sense of altruism and showing us where that comes from (e.g. family-instilled values, personal losses processed or otherwise, childhood loneliness into compassion) and having the Justice League become something inspirational to those unable to defend themselves.

Making characters sympathetic sounds simple (anything but!), but it is a good primary problem to have considering the recent history of superhero films. The DCEU has no problems making its superheroes feel larger-than-life. There are few character visibility or recognizability obstacles. As long as the DCEU avoids stunts like Superman’s “death” and Man of Steel’s heinous thesis that the only way for Superman to truly cherish life is to kill someone, its regard for life and understanding of death’s gravity is intact. These are foundational aspects of superhero narratives that must be recognized. Regarding sympathetic superheroes, the DCEU has Wonder Woman (the MCU wasted Captain America due to a convoluted conspiracy-thriller maze of an overarching plot and an unwillingness or inability to meditate on mature themes; the DCEU may yet squander Gal Gadot’s Diana) and must endeavor to make its future installments just as appealing. The MCU might be making the better movies, but this is where the DCEU can still mount its challenge.

Again, realize that almost all of the above is dependent on Zack Snyder’s permanent departure from DCEU films and a need for better writers.

Justice League’s music score has become one of the fiercest points of contention among hardened fans. Just as the DCEU has become the most visible battleground for the soul of superhero movies, it is also the frontline for the future of film scoring. In June 2017, Junkie XL (2015′s Mad Max: Fury Road, Batman v Superman) was replaced with Danny Elfman (1989′s Batman, 1990′s Edward Scissorhands). Junkie XL, who has collaborated multiple times with Zimmer, is a DJ and audio engineer first, a composer second (sorry, but all those categories are distinct), and is interested in rhythm and ambience. Elfman, who has composed for superhero media for almost thirty years, is classically influenced with a rock and ska background, and has always been regarded for his melodic and harmonic constructions. American movies – whether independents or major studio tentpoles – have been moving away from traditional orchestra-based film scoring in recent years in favor of electronic music and Zimmer’s drum “choruses”. Controversy among DC fans ensued when Elfman announced he would recall his theme to 1989′s Batman and John Williams’ Superman theme rather than continue some of Zimmer’s previous musical ideas – the number of incendiary personal attacks directed against Elfman have been sickening and reflective of a lack of understanding of film music conventions and history.

I personally have mixed feelings about the Elfman score. While I despise Zimmer and his associates/ghostwriters’ DCEU contributions and refuse to believe their music is “revolutionary” in the ways they boast, Elfman’s decision to undermine the musical continuity of the DCEU resembles the compositional debacles with the MCU. The 1989 Batman theme is an imperfect, but adequate fit for Affleck’s Batman (variations can be heard early in “Batman on the Roof”; Elfman restrains himself until “Then There Were Three”); Cavill’s sleep-inducing Superman does not yet deserve the soaring strings and inspiring brass and woodwinds that fit Christopher Reeve’s portrayal of the Man of Steel (Williams’ theme is buried underneath a thunderous sound mix, but its renditions in minor key suggests Elfman considered Cavill’s Superman and applied the theme in a suitable fashion). In ways that Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL could never provide, Wonder Woman’s theme is, for the first time, not played by electric cello, but by lower strings, brass, and guitar in “Wonder Woman Rescue”– diversifying the instrumentation is almost always rewarding, as evidenced here. Less developed are Elfman’s hints to themes for Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash for any future composers to build upon if they so desire.

For all my gripes about the score and lack of new, recognizable motifs (Elfman’s score is motif-heavy), film composers rooted in classical music have an advantage over composers using drum choruses and harsh electronics: orchestras are more capable to carry multiple, harmonically independent themes in a single cue and have those themes in dialogue with each other. And though it is played underneath the combat, “The Final Battle” is a gorgeous orchestral action cue combining motifs that – and it feels so strange to write this – help tell the story of the battle.

Adjusted for inflation, Justice League is the third-most expensive film ever made – behind the 2011 and 2007 Pirates of the Caribbean movies and ahead of Titanic (1997). With extensive reshoots and a committed effort by Warner Bros. for an extremely late, movie-saving operation, Whedon’s interventions improve the film, even if Justice League is a Frankenstein’s monster of a movie in all of its tonal inconsistency. As expectations beforehand remained abysmal, this Justice League is the best possible movie that could have been made with the talent attached to it. With the exception of perhaps Star Wars, the production history of the DCEU is just as dramatic as the events on-screen. Justice League shows that the producers, directors, and writers of the DCEU are actively learning from their prior mistakes.

The challenge is now to make these comic book superheroes into the ideal that their creators, decades ago, imagined for themselves, their readers, those who can still differentiate between justice and mercy.

My rating: 6/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here.

#Justice League #DCEU #Zack Snyder #Ben Affleck #Gal Gadot #Joss Whedon #Henry Cavill #Ezra Miller #Jason Momoa #Amy Adams #Jeremy Irons #Diane Lane #Connie Nielsen #J.K. Simmons #Ciaran Hinds #Chris Terrio #Danny Elfman #Patrick Tatopoulos #My Movie Odyssey

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deathtrapnest · 8 years ago

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All This And Love Too

fandom: Superman generally, can fit into comics/Smallville/DCAU/etc pairing/warnings: Clark Kent x Lex Luthor, NSFW/smut involved

summary: "you realize the one person in this world who loves you isn’t the one you thought it would be, and you don’t trust him to love you in a way you would enjoy.” Lex needs love from Superman like he needs a hole in the head.

READ ON AO3 or under the cut:

“And no one can ever figure out what you want, and you won’t tell them, and you realize the one person in this world who loves you isn’t the one you thought it would be, and you don’t trust him to love you in a way you would enjoy.”

- Richard Silken, from “A Primer for the Small Weird Loves”

Lex has never considered “true love” in so many words. He isn’t so un-self aware to believe what he feels for Superman is purely logical nor is it purely hatred. It would be the height of blissful ignorance to not acknowledge how entangled and complex that particular set of feelings is.

It is undeniable that wrapped up in all that rage, there is something much more. Frustratingly, something more than Lex can even properly put words to. Maybe not words, but actions at least, physical sensations at least- those he can process objectively.

The curling satisfaction in the pit of his stomach when Superman’s face even for just a flash of a moment, loses its’ composure and Lex can attribute that change to his own caustic words and deeds.

The adrenaline rush that makes goosebumps raise on his flesh and heat pool between his legs when Superman has him by the throat, has him pressed against a wall, has him in his grip of steel and for a moment that impossibly perfect body belongs to Lex, presed against him and devoted only to him, on stopping him, restraining him, holding him down.

That flutter of familiarity- almost what Lex could compare to his understanding of the term ‘affection’- when he feels the prickle at the back of his neck that alerts him to the fact that he is being watched, and he needn’t even turn around to know that Superman is floating in mid air just outside his window. Probably complete with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.

And certainly Lex couldn’t avoid acknowledging the nights he spends alone in his office, the lights out after everyone has left, one hand wrapped around his length, grip nearly bruising, nearly punishing himself with his roughness, with thoughts of that alien in his head. Sometimes it’s genuinely more about himself than it is about Superman- the self satisfaction of his own genius at fulfilling a particularly dastardly plot had always been borderline sexual, but imagining what the blue boy scout’s righteous fury reaction would be is always what pushes it over the edge for him.

He thinks about those unnaturally blue eyes. The piercing focus that they bore into Lex’s whenever they stare each other down. The cut of his face, his body, as perfect as a Greek statue. And he thinks about what that creature could do to him with all its strength, all its power. All the power Lex has ever wanted but can never have. If only he could have it through him. To have that archangel pin him down, hands crushing and mouth unforgiving on his. In that defilement, Superman would be his.

Other times Lex wonders if Superman is the closest thing he has to a true companion. He has some doubts about the concept. Certainly, they couldn’t be called ‘friends’. Lex had never had any of those, truly. He isn’t sure if he would know friendship even if it was right in front of him. He has people he’s taken a liking to, people who by their company a mutual benefit is achieved, people he is aquainted with- but few he considers anywhere close to being an equal. Superman alone presents a steep enough challenge to keep Lex entertained. Normal friends play sports with each other, Lex reasoned, while he and Superman play a game of wits, of power, with the fate of the world at stake. But for two people of their level, were those stakes not appropriate?

Lex doesn’t know what to call that look he sees in Superman’s eyes sometimes. Is that love? He wonders. He thinks Superman probably doesn’t know that he notices it at all. Sometimes it comes when Lex is at his angriest, when he’s yelling and threatening, and essentially throwing a fit. Other times it comes unpredictably, a side long look from those sky blue eyes that lingers over him. A look that infuriates Lex because it is inherently pitying. To him it says “You could let it all go. If you wanted to. All the rage, all the fear. You could let it go and I would help put the pieces of you left over back together without it. You don’t have to hold onto all that. You could hold on to me instead.”

Lex needs love from Superman like he needs a hole in the head.

Love is untrustworthy, untangible, uncontrollable. A volatile substance. Not unlike the alien himself. Lex has survived his whole life without it and done quite well for himself. He thinks he might be allergic to it. If the movies, songs, and poems are to be believed, then love is capable of impossible feats- of stripping a man down to his most vulnerable, exposing every weakness. It’s no wonder his greatest enemy might try to use it against him.

More feelings that Lex can’t quite place. Maybe because there are no words in the english language specific enough for them, maybe because Lex is just unfamiliar with them.

Lex doesn’t go long without thinking about Superman. He knows that that’s “obsession”. It doesn’t necessarily indicate love. But Lex has never been very straight forward in his feelings.

When Superman is in danger- REAL danger, not the run of the mill type. Not even the sort of danger that Lex, despite his best efforts, can provide. In those times when it really appeared that he would die…. Lex feels it all in his chest and the pit of his stomach. His chest tightens with such force that he can’t breathe and its as if his ribcage has snapped shut like a bear trap around his heart. Piercing and unignorably painful. And lower down in his body something goes cold, so cold he has to clench his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering.

He reassures himself that it’s because he wants to be the one to kill Superman. The grief he feels, the anxiety, is nothing but the blow it would be to his own pride to lose out the opportunity to get rid of the alien to someone else, someone less qualified and deserving.

And yet, it is sometimes difficult to imagine life without Superman. He could cure cancer, solve the energy crisis, halt global warming, maybe… Somehow it is hard to feel motivated. The distraction of exchanging blows, matching wits, maneuvering and outmaneuvering, the alien has become too entertaining. Too fundamental.

Lex wonders if he were a different person, a ‘better’ person… if he’d been the type of average, blissfully ignorant, citizen who wasn’t born a genius, who was loved as a child, who hadn’t sustained himself on rage and fear and ambition his whole life… If he could love normally too. If he could look at Superman- at the way his expressions reaches all the way to his eyes, the way his lips curve into a smile as honest and pure as sunshine- and feel the undeniable longing, the pull to him, the wrenching ‘want’, but without the twist of shame, the fear, that always accompanied it. A lifetime of self sufficiency, of rejection, made Lex feel naturally self protective. Those feelings, spawning in him unbidden, were as much an alien invasion as Superman’s first landing in Metropolis. He would do anything to be eradicated of them.

- - -

When Clark was a child he’d been read stories of princes falling in love with princesses and saving them from dragons. And he’d imagined himself the prince.

When Clark got a little older he wanted to marry Lana Lang, from the cheer squad, because her hair was vibrant red and she always left a smell of wild flowers in her wake when she walked down the hall in a skirt short enough to awaken any adolescent boy’s fantasies.

He’d pictured a life for himself not unlike the one his parents had. He’d find a girl who was sweet and beautiful and who made his heartrate go up and marry her, have children, be blissfully happy.

Clark should have known that his life would never be that simple.

No, instead, he’d somehow fallen in love with the dragon instead of the princess.

Clark hadn’t intended to fall in love with Lex Luthor. He didn’t want to be in love with Lex Luthor… it’s just something that happened.

It’s the opposite of everything Clark dreamed romance would be. He wanted soft touches, gentle kisses, a warm fuzzy feeling, whispered ‘I love you’s. Lex is shattered glass, the taste of blood, glares made of ice, the feeling of an expensive suit clutched in his fists. The love he feels for Lex is painful like a knife twisting in his gut. It is impure and ravaging, all consuming and distracting.

Clark wants Lex and there’s nothing wholesome or romantic about it.

He thinks he must be a worse person for it. For feeling the way that he does. He’s always been much less of the boy scout than everyone seemed to give him credit for but some of the things he wants from Lex, thinks about in his private moments… he wonders how to reconcile the Superman who saves cats out of trees and the Superman who wants to hold Lex down by the throat and kiss, lick, and bite the rage out of his system.

Lex makes Clark angrier than anyone else. But he also makes him angry in a way that’s different than anger he feels toward anything else. If Darkseid kills people, if he threatens Clark’s city… that makes him angry. Sure enough. But Lex… Lex is continuously frustrating in a way that’s completely different. Frustration bordering on desperation. Like the moment bordering on orgasm. Clark had noted that with embarassment and a little curiosity. He’s exasperating.

Everything Lex does illicits a reaction somewhere in Clark. He flies between being shocked, angry, impressed, weary, suspicious, and often enough that it’s a problem: hopeful.

After all, everything would be much less frustrating if Lex was hopeless. Clark sometimes wonders if Lex really is a lost cause. But most of the time he knows that he’s not. Lex is the smartest man alive. He could do great things. The person who stops him isn’t Clark, as much as Lex would never admit it. The person that stops Lex is Lex. But every once in a blue moon Clark gets a glimpse of what Lex could be like… if he could let go of his hatred. Of what THEY could be if Lex get of his hatred. Together.

It’s stupid, Clark reprimands himself repeatedly.

Even a reformed Lex… could never give Clark the life he imagined for himself. But ever since they’ve known each other, deep down, Clark knows he’ll never be satisfied with his white wedding and family home with kids on a farm. What he wants is Lex Luthor. God help him.

He wants Lex’s self satisfied smirk that equal parts enrages him and arouses him. He wants Lex’s green eyes, always watching him with a fierce analysis, wants them to keep watching him always. In the tight fit of his tailored suits, when he sees the fabric stretch over the muscles in his shoulders when he leans over, or tighten over his thighs when he sits down- he wants Lex’s body, wants to be able to touch him whenever he wants, feel all over him and memorize every inch of skin. Wants to hear him talk about his inventions at length, too fast and too complicated for any laymen to understand but going on regardless as if it doesn’t matter. He wants to be the one to understand Lex.

Clark thinks he knows Lex’s darkness almost better than anyone. Has seen through so many of his schemes, halted his world domination ambitions not a second too soon on almost a weekly basis, seen firsthand the damage and destruction he could cause. But he also knows the goodness in him. When there has been a larger, more imminent, threat to the world and humanity than Superman, Lex has always been one to step up to help. In a funny way, Lex is almost as protective of humanity as Superman is.

In those moments, where Lex and Clark are on the same side, Clark can’t help but think ‘why can’t it always be like this?’. But possibly the only thing Clark can trust Lex with is to be perverse.

Clark wishes Lex knew. Clark wishes Lex knew he’d make the world turn backward, kick the moon out of orbit, if something, anything, could dislodge that hatred, that obsession, that kept them apart. That seems to drive Lex while destroying him at the same time. But Lex isn’t the type to want to be saved. And Clark has learned that even that part of him, he’s come to love.

- - -

The first kiss is a mess. Lex goes for Clark’s upper lip, Clark goes for Lex’s lower lip, their noses clash somewhere between. Clark accidentally rips the front of Lex’s shirt in the desperate scrabbling of his hands and Lex steps on Clark’s foot. These mishaps do nothing to deter either of them.

Clark presses the back of his hand against Luthor’s lower back, pushing their hips together and hears the other man’s moan before he has time to stifle it. Everything moves between extremes of gentleness and roughness. Lex runs his hands through Clark’s hair then tangles his fingers in it and pulls hard. Clark runs his tongue across Lex’s lip then bites it, taking care not to draw blood, but with enough force that he feels Lex’s body twitch under his.

Lex retaliates by scraping his fingernails against the front of Superman’s suit. Clark pushes them back so that Lex’s back knocks against his desk, then leans forward, forcing him to arch his back over it until he’s lying face up, Clark on top of him. A few pens and papers fall to the floor. The red cape falls over their bodies like a curtain.

Clark pulls his hand down the already ruined shirt, ripping the buttons as he goes and he notes with some satisfaction that Lex’s breathing is strained- he’s biting his lip, and he’s hard- his arousal evident and straining against the silken fabric of his dress pants.

Clark puts one hand there, rubbing his palm teasingly slow and puts his other hand loosely around Lex’s throat, holding him down against the table as he opens his mouth to another kiss. Lex growls against his mouth, cants his hips up against Clark’s hand, and fists the handful of hair he’s holding harder. He manages to snap Clark’s head back and goes for his throat, ghosting his teeth against it, sucking against as if hoping to leave a mark on his indestructible flesh.

Clark grunts and forces Lex back down. More things clatter off the desk. Clark takes his hand off of Lex’s crotch (Lex swears at him) and uses it to pin Lex’s arms above his head. Lex wiggles like a trapped animal but it only serves to enforce the friction between their bodies.

Clark feels like he’s on fire from the inside. Sensory overload. He can smell the sweat on Lex’s body, can hear his heart beat deafeningly loud, drowning out every thought he could possibly have. He groans against the curve of Lex’s neck as he ruts against his thigh. His teeth dig in too hard and suddenly he tastes Lex’s blood.

“Do it already” Lex says between gritted teeth like the words are acid on his tongue.

And Clark regains some of his senses and he looks up at Lex, all the anger drained from his face, blue eyes shocked and wide, his open mouth drippng with Lex’s blood even with such an innocence expression. He drops his grip on Lex and pulls away, balancing himself on the desk on his elbows.

Blood is pooling on Lex’s collarbone. His wrists are red in the shape of Clark’s fingers.

“I’m so-“ Clark starts weakly but Lex grabs him by the nape of his neck, pulling him forward again.

“Shut up.” he hisses. “I want this. I want this.” his voice is more desperate than Clark’s ever heard it. And when Lex forces their lips back together, he can feel it. The need. As he knocks his teeth against Clark’s tongue, opening his mouth as if he’s trying to devour Clark’s.

“N-no,” Clark manages weakly against Lex’s mouth, pulling him away easily despite Lex’s efforts. “Not like this…”

Clark presses one hand lightly on Lex’s chest, lays him flat against the desk and looks down at him, eyes searching. Then with feather light touch brushes his lips against Lex’s. Barely a butterfly kiss. It deepens, Clark’s hand on the back of Lex’s neck for support. When they break apart Clark litters tender kisses against the side of Lex’s mouth, across his jaw, along his cheekbones. Clark looks like he might cry- his eyes moist and the smile on his face uncertain and quavering. He trails his fingers down either side of Lex’s face, pausing at his lips before he kisses him again.

Lex abruptly bucks under his touch, pushing Superman’s hand away from his face. Clark doesn’t move and Lex can’t quite manage to wriggle free without his cooperation even as he claws at the stronger man’s biceps to break out of their embrace.

“Lex…” Clark whispers mournfully. The way he touches Lex’s arm to still him is utterly gentle, comforting. Lex recoils from it as if he’s afraid it will dirty him.

“I can’t do this” Lex mutters under his breath and Clark is surprised to hear the crack in his voice. The other man turns his head away from him, shaking it gently as if he’s talking to himself frantically in his head- hashing out an argument that isn’t happening. Clark stands up and lets Lex turn his back on him, pulling the remains of his shirt around himself protectively. “Just get out…”

Clark frowns but he can’t say anything either. His throat feels tight and as much as they just bared it all to each other, he doesn’t feel ready to cry in front of Lex like this. Lex apparently doesn’t feel ready to do the same either, as he doesn’t let Superman see his face, turns toward the window stubbornly until he hears the door close behind him.

- - -

Lex feels stupid. He’s been standing on his balcony in a bathrobe for 24 minutes (he’s been checking his Rolex every few seconds) and saying “Superman” over and over. Not too loudly. In a firm, clear, voice, that he hopes doesn’t belay the embarassment he feels. A few times he clears his throat. He takes sips from a glass of whiskey he holds in one hand. He paces back and forth and frequently turns as if to go back inside but stops himself. On one such turn, though, when he turns back around, the man himself is floating before him, cape billowing in the wind. A perfect image. The light from Lex’s bedroom cutting panes of shadow on the angles of his chiseled face.

The past few weeks, since the night in Lex’s office, there’s been hurt in Superman’s expression that he can’t quite cover up even with his most convincing attempt at an impartial scowl. He can see it in his eyes. As pitiful as a puppy dog. Lex shudders to think how his own shame at their trespass must manifest. He’s been too quick to snap at Superman, too hot headed, even in contrast to his usual. He wonders if its noticeable to others that they’ve both lost the grasp on the control they’ve been holding onto so tightly for so many years, or if only the two of them can see it.

“What took you so long.” Lex drawls and is pleased when Superman’s face twitches with genuine annoyance as opposed to manufactured.

“I was putting out a fire. Your tone didn’t seem urgent.”

“It’s nothing urgent.” Lex agrees, inspecting the rim of his glass of whiskey as if it’s far more interesting than their conversation.

“What is it? Need help opening a jar?” Superman bites back sarcastically.

Lex looks back up at him, hoping his expression relays nothing.

“I want to try it your way.” he says simply.

Lex thinks the way Superman’s jaw drops will make any further humiliation he has to suffer in the coming activities wholly worth it. Or at least he can justify it to himself that way.

- - -

Every muscle in Clark’s body is tightly wound. He’s scared to move too fast, too hard, too strong… Lex’s bed is covered in silk sheets and Clark shivers at the feel of them against his naked skin. He’s tempted to cover himself. He’s embarassed to be seen this vulnerable in front of his arch enemy but Lex takes it all in his stride as if it’s of no consequence to him. And Lex is equally unabashed when he drops the robe he’s wearing and pulls Clark against him across the bed, guiding his hands across his body.

Lex’s tongue is still more aggressive than Clark can almost bear. He’s not used to feeling ‘breathless’ but when Lex has their mouths joined, struggling against his like his life depends on ‘winning’ the match of their kiss, somehow… Clark feels his arms and legs go limp.

They spend a while doing nothing but kissing, touching. Clark wraps his arms around Lex and pulls him close so their chests are flush against each other. Lex’s hands roam over the contours of Clark’s body, as if analyzing him, squeezing and caressing to see what makes Clark tremble or moan. Clark nuzzles his face against Lex’s throat, lathing him with kisses, nibbles, licks. Lex is twitchy- Clark keeps fearing that he’s going to push him away again. But he doesn’t this time. He wraps his legs around Clark’s waist and reaches his hand between their hips, grabbing Clark’s length with one hand. The other reaches for a bottle on his night stand and he drips lubricant over his hand before starting a languid rhythm.

Clark grips the headboard to steady himself. Lex’s fingers are slender and they twist as they come to the head of his cock, before sliding his palm down the shaft. It doesn’t take long before Clark is painfully hard and jerking his hips into Lex’s hand.

But Clark is nothing if not magnanimous and he reaches out and applies a liberal amount of lubricant to his own hand before taking Lex’s cock and squeezing hard enough that Lex throws his head back with gritted teeth. Clark’s technique is not as elegant. He knows his strength, how to apply it just right, but his rhythm is messy and unpredictable. That only seems to make Lex harder. They look each other in the eye as they touch each other, Lex still practically sitting in Clark’s lap, one leg pressing against Clark’s tailbone everytime his hips jerk forward. Clark catches a drop of sweat collected in the space beneath Lex’s lower lip with his tongue. It turns into a kiss. And then he’s falling into Lex, pushing him flat against the bed, his cock sliding against Lex’s stomach.

“I can’t wait any longer.” Clark whispers. Lex nods. His eyes are heavy lidded, his lips parted. Clark’s seen Lex injured, on the edge of death, vulnerable, needing to be saved, so many times, but never quite like this.

Lex takes Clark’s wrist, the hand that’s still slick with lubricant, and guides it between his thighs. “Touch me here.” Lex says, quietly, but yet still somehow with a sense of authority. He cants his hips up against Clark’s fingers.

“Are you sure?” Clark says. “I can-“

“No.” Lex cuts him off. “It has to be this way.”

He bites his lip as one of Clark’s fingers breaches him slowly.

“Otherwise” he continues with strain in his voice, “how could you trust me?” he lets out a huff of a laugh, smirking as he lowers his hips against Clark’s hand, fucking himself on the one digit inside of him. “Otherwise this could just be some extended ploy for me to dominate you, couldn’t it?”

Clark frowned at his cynicism. “I know it isn’t.”

Lex quirked an eyebrow at him. “Really? Maybe you don’t give me enough credit.”

Clark leaned forward, so his face was over Lex’s, and smiling smugly as he added another finger. “I give you plenty of credit.”

Clark knows Lex well enough to know he’d never complain about pain. So he has to be careful. And Lex is too high strung. His body protests at the invasion and he squirms against Clark, unable to relax. Clark has to soothe him. He works him open slowly, the entire time leaving no lack of attention or affection to the rest of his body- kisses down the center of his chest, his shoulders, his ribcage…

He uses his other hand on Lex’s cock. He goes slow enough and switches off between touching him there and massaging his thighs, his hips, that he’s never in danger of bringing him off too soon. He can tell it’s frustrating to Lex but when has Superman ever done anything that didn’t frustrate Lex Luthor?

By the time he has three fingers inside of him, Lex is trembling. Clark kisses him on the lips and Lex seems to relax, his body going limp. Soon Clark is thrusting three fingers into him easily without much resistance.

“Is it okay?” Clark whispers against his ear, his arms are around Lex, holding him, surrounding him with his warmth. Lex nods again.

“Then say it.” Clark insists.

Lex looks for a moment like he’s about to argue but then he stares straight into Clark’s eye and without challenge says “I’m ready.”

Lex’s cock is leaking the moment Clark begins to enter him. His fingernails drag down Clark’s shoulderblades and he cries out, then muffles it by biting down, clenching his jaw. Clark wishes he’d let himself moan. He wants to hear it.

Lex is shaking again, his arms flung around Clark’s neck.

Clark is about to ask if he needs to stop but Lex says “please… please…”

The rhythm is slow, careful. Clark holds his arms around Lex to support him and lets him set the pace by moving his hips. Clark’s never had sex like this before- sex that made him feel the same way he did when he was flying. Like his chest had the whole sky in it.

In the desperation of coming to climax, they both move faster.

Clark wraps his hand around Lex’s cock and Lex sobs brokenly. He muffles it by burying his face against Clark’s shoulder. Clark knows the feeling. It hurts to be so undone. Clark has never had as many walls put up around himself as Lex has, but they’ve all been stripped down now. All his excuses and explanations and denials. He feels laid bare and its as tender as a raw wound. In this moment all that he can possibly feel is love. And it’s painful. To feel anything so deeply.

Clark is trembling now too. Because this is nothing like he expected. And more than anything he could’ve asked for.

Lex digs his fingers into Clark’s shoulders and pulls him closer, his chest heaving with every breath, and Clark feels their heartbeats a drumbeat in sync as they come at the same time.

Clark sees white behind his eyelids and when he opens them again he’s flopped on top of Lex, his body so limp he couldn’t move it if he wanted to. There’s a streak of a tear from the corner of Lex’s eye and his chest is heaving from every breath but he’s calm now. Back in control after briefly falling out of it. Clark realizes he has tears on his own cheeks but he makes no move to swipe them away. Just pulls Lex closer against him and presses his face against the crook of his neck.

For once, Clark dreads the sunrise. He wonders if everything will go back to being the same. If this was a brief respite. An armistice. But he can live with it. He thinks he can live with anything now.

He splays his hand across Lex’s chest to better feel the pulse of his heart beat under his palm. And to his surprise, Lex puts his own hand over his, and twines their fingers together. When Clark looks up, Lex’s head is turned from him. He’s staring out toward the balcony, watching the sky turn shades of lilac as the sun comes over the horizon.

“Tell me how all this, and love too, will ruin us. These, our bodies, possessed by light. Tell me we’ll never get used to it.”

- Richard Silken, from “Scheherazade”

#clex #lex luthor #clark kent #kentluthor #superman #smallville #my fanfic #mine

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