#but when i saw a priority i mean A Priority .

[hunterofartemis7]

Adopted by the gods AU pt.15

Anticlea: *holding an ice pack that Hera gave her to her cheek*

Laertes: *sitting by his wife rubbing her back*

Zeus: I deeply apologize for the way my daughter acted today. She is never like this. I assure you, she will be punished for thi-

Laertes: thank you lord Zeus, but that won’t be necessary.

Apollo: your wife got slapped in the face twice by one of the eldest goddesses on Olympus and you don’t want her punished? Bro you need better priorities.

Laertes: I at the very least want her to apologize for..that and for us to figure what ACTUALLY happened that night. I don’t believe Lady Athena just took him and made up this story of us abandoning our son. Something had to have gotten lost in translation the night she found him.

Aphrodite: found her! *dragging Athena in by her arm*

Athena:🙄

Hera: *crosses her arms* Athena. Do you have something to say?

Athena: I’m only here to find out what really happened my son.

Aphrodite: *elbows her in the ribs*

Athena: ow!

Hermes: *flies in* okay! Got the spell from Hecate!

Anticlea: what does that do?

Hermes: this will show us what really happened, from both your perspective.

Zeus: and when this is over, you will apologize to the queen first the way you acted

Athena: *rolls her eyes* when it shows my son was abandoned, those people will stay the fuck away from my kids.

Hera: and when it doesn’t, you will return both boys back to their home kingdoms.

Athena: THE FUCK I WILL!!

Hermes:….okay! Let’s get this show on the road! *throws the vial on the ground and blue mist surrounds them, showing a vision from the day Odysseus was taken*

*The vision shows baby Odysseus being taken from his crib in the middle of the night by some random man. Laertes sends the guards out to chase the men and they follows him to the waterfall, where he throws the baby off the edge. It then shows Athena catching baby Odysseus and hiding behind a tree when the guards look over the edge for. It shows the guards leaving and Athena taking the baby back to Olympus. She flies to the palace where the captain tells the king and queen that their son has died and his body wasn’t found. What Athena heard made it sound like the king and queen planned to kill Odysseus, but in reality they were just in shocked that their newborn son was dead. She had flown off before she could hear the queen break down in tears*

*the vision ends, and all the gods look between Athena and Anticlea*

Hermes:…….so at least we know this was a huge misunderstanding *laughs nervously*…this is awkward.

Anticlea: I told you I never abandoned my own son.

Athena: he’s not your son

Anticlea: are you still going to be like that!? You just saw with your own eyes what really happened—

Athena: and that doesn’t change the fact that neither you or your husband actually looked for him, and I’ve been the one raising him for the past 11 years! You might have given birth to him but he is my son!

Anticlea: need I remind you that you were the one who hid him when he fell!?

Athena: he would’ve died if I hadn’t!

Zeus: BOTH OF YOU ENOUGH!!!!

Anticlea and Athena: *shut up*

Zeus; where is the boy? He needs to know the truth

Odysseus: *comes out from under the table with Diomedes* right here grandfather, and I heard everything.

Zeus: well that saves me some work.

Athena: Odysseus…

Odysseus:….*runs up and hugs her*

Diomedes: *follows and hugs her too*

Athena; *drops to her knees and hugs them both close*

Hera: Odysseus, since you heard what really happened, it seems you have a choice to make.

Odysseus: *let’s go from the hug* what do you mean?

Athena: yeah what do you mean?

Hera: the boy knows he’s the real heir of Ithaca, and that he wasn’t abandoned as you previously said. So it seems he has a choice; stay with you till he turns 18, or go with his birth parents now.

Athena: over my dead body is he going with them!

Hera: you don’t get a say Athena.

Athena: he is still underaged and I’m still his mother! There is no choice to be made here!

Apollo: wouldn’t Anticlea have a say in this since she’s his birth mother?

Athena: stay out of this!

Apollo: yes ma’am!🫡

Athena: and no she doesn’t because she didn’t raise him!

Laertes: lord Zeus, if I may. I don’t want to lose our son again after just learning that he is in fact alive, but I don’t want him taken away from the woman who’s raised him either. Isn’t there some kinda of compromise we can come to?

Odysseus: how about we forget this whole thing and I stay with my mom and brother?

Hera: the boy needs to learn how to be king Athena.

Athena: I can teach him that. Besides he has 7 more years before he can even become king!

Artemis: than just do that. Both boy stay with Athena till their 18, and in that time she will teach them how to be kings.

Laertes: or at the very least until they need to become kings

Artemis: what he said.

Hera: I suppose that could work. Athena? Could you comply with this?

Athena: *sighs* if I must.

Odysseus: what!? Mama I don’t want to leave you!

Diomedes: me either!

Aphrodite: you won’t be leaving her immediately, just when you become adults. By then you’ll be sick of her and want to leave anyway

Athena: hey!

Odysseus: *clings to her leg* never!

Diomedes: *clings as well* yeah! We’re never leaving mother!

Zeus: you both will when it is time for you to become kings. End of discussion.

Anticlea: wait, does this mean I still won’t get to see my son for another 7 years?

Zeus: well—

Athena: that’s exactly what that means

Hera: Athena!

Athena: I’m not going to make Odysseus go somewhere he doesn’t want to!

Zeus:..*sighs* if the boy wants to visit his birth than he shall, but he cannot be forced.

Athena: *mumbles* thank the gods.

Odysseus: *buried his face Athena’s side* yay

Diomedes: *does the same*

Athena: *holds them close*

Hera: now I believe there’s still the matter of an apology that you owe Anticlea for slapping her.

Athena: *rolls her eyes* I’m sorry I hit you, after you called me a bitch in my own home😑

Zeus: just go

Athena: *takes her kids hands and leaves*

[thelostgirl21]

Okay, now that video makes me feel even more uncomfortable with his silence on those issues.

Because, by contrast, I remember this interview:

GAY TIMES: There will be a few homophobic haters out there, people who think a queer storyline is outlandish in a world of basilisks, dopplers and chernobogs. We saw this recently with The Last of Us. Is this something you’re anticipating or are you not entertaining all of that anti-LGBTQ+ tomfoolery?

Joey: In this fandom, there is a very vocal negative space. That vocal negative space is actually the minority, I think. The thing that I’m most concerned about and will do my best to counteract is when discourse becomes bigotry. Then, I don’t know what I’d do with myself. I think I’d log onto Twitter and battle them all off myself. There is going to be inevitable backlash but what we’re doing is worth it.

https://www.gaytimes.com/originals/the-witcher-joey-batey-hugh-skinner-queer-interview/

So, it's unlikely that he's unaware of the presence of those toxic fans, when other co-stars are very aware of it, and ready to state that bigotry directed at others is never okay.

Although, I should mention that this interview (the video you showed) seems to have been done in Season 1 (if we look at the clips they are playing).

And Cavill seems to have understood the question as meaning how does he feel about people seeing his own interpretation of the character in a negative light.

I'd be curious about how he'd answer if someone asked him about it today; while being explicit about them specifically referring to the toxic hatred that has been directed towards the way the female characters have been put front and center on the show, the diversity of the casting choices, and the decision that was made for Jaskier to be portrayed as a "personizer" rather than a "womanizer", so to speak.

Would he still attempt to go "well, you know, people are just passionate about it", or admit that "regardless of how passionate some of those fans may be, bigotry directed at specific groups of people, the cast, etc. like that is never okay."

Because I've met quite a few of those actually passionate fans he's referring to. People that genuinely love and prefer the game - as is their right - and might be sad and upset that Netflix chose to give priority to the books and their own vision / adaptation of the books rather than integrate more lore from the games into it.

They aren't toxic, and they aren't the ones going around bashing minorities and making it some huge morality issue about how the show is not respecting the BOOKS' integrity, and SAPKOWSKI's vision, while clearly defending elements only found in the games (falsely claiming that it belongs to the book), and holding sexist, racist, queerphobic and even ableist remarks.

When we are talking about toxic fans, we are talking about toxic fans. Not passionate and disappointed ones!

Those are two very different categories!

Do toxic fans still have the right to their sexist, racist queerphobic and ableist opinions? Yes. But people that stand against those harmful views have a certain responsibility to clearly state "treating others the way you do is wrong, I don't agree with it, and I'm opposed to it."

And this is where having an influential actor - whose voice is constantly being misused by those toxic fans - remaining silent about it, gets very close to endorsing those views, especially if in the past Cavill has basically said that "it's not toxic, it's just passionate".

Like okay, maybe in Season 1 most were still "just passionate" for the most part, as it hadn't yet been made entirely clear what the direction of the show was going to be (and how much importance Ciri, Yennefer, Francesca, etc. would have in it).

But you've still got that very vocal negative space that has since grown, and that now see Cavill as their "champion of the manosphere", that are absolutely awful online, and feel validated by their Geralt of Rivia's silence.

If you look at 1:28:15, Henry does show support for his main co-star's performances, but he does so by suggesting that their characters tend to be oversimplified. Which is technically okay, because he's entitled to be dissatisfied with the show's writers interpretation of certain characters.

But again, that dissatisfaction is still indirectly suggested rather than stated.

But suggested in such a way where he has the "courtesy" of making his co-stars appear like victims/hostages of a show that is "oversimplifying characters" (a.k.a. failing the source material™), so they can almost be seen like THEY are too afraid to speak out against the "big bads" because they need the money and the job.

So it does sadly make that very vocal negative minority feel validated in their interpretation of Cavill having left because the show was "becoming too woke", etc.

He did also wish Liam Hemsworth well, and the little of what he's ever clearly stated has always praised his co-stars (the main ones, at least).

But, at some point if you've been made aware that you've got the freaking manosphere worshipping you, where does it become your responsibility to say "I know these men interpret my behavior as saying I support their bigoted views and frustrations with the diversity of the cast and the place given to women on the show, but I don't."

The thing also is that, even if he was to say something now , would these people then invent some story about him having been threatened by Netflix with legal actions for standing for his beliefs, etc.?

They've created such a persona for him, that would they even be willing to believe that he's not the alpha male anti-woke dudebro they believe him to be?

But, at the very least, he'd be standing for what's right, rather than looking like he's willing to sell his soul to the devil if that means staying on top.

So, my own personal perception of him?

Somewhere between A and B.

I don't blame him. I don't hate him.

Self-preservation is human.

He's not publicly nor explicitly endorsing those toxic views.

But I can't help but feel like he lacks the courage to do anything against it, because he'd rather prioritize his own popularity and safety above doing the right thing.

Taking a stand against bullies means risking having them turn against you.

And Cavill has often spoken about having been bullied and called "fat Cavill" as a child.

What is sad about that tale, is that the way he says it, you get the sense that instead of having learned to be proud of being fat as a child, and realised that those people were just assholes, he "won" and "showed them" by working and training hard to achieve the standards of physical beauty that those bullies likely held in high regards.

And some people do protect themselves from bullies by allowing them to think that they are on their side (even if they aren't).

As much as he wants to be Superman in real life, I still see him as a child that never outgrew being a victim in a sense, and that will still want to protect himself by avoiding to provoke aggression from bullies directed towards him.

He might secretly agree with certain sexist views of society (A), but I've a feeling that a huge chunk of the issue is closer to (B).

Not because he's got a narcissistic personality disorder per se (he hasn't raised any clear enough red flags for me to diagnose something like that from him), but he would rather have the monsters "on his side", than become the target of their ire, and continue to reap the benefits in terms of them supporting his career.

He's human, not Superman. Humans are messy and scared and sometimes self-serving in the choices they make.

I don't blame him, but I'm not comfortable with the way he's chosen to handle those toxic fans, and I don't support his methods, either.

And even there, all I know from him is the little I've heard and seen in interviews. It's highly likely that his motivations for not saying anything are even more complex than I can imagine.

I've been thinking about The Witcher books and tv show recently. Because half of the things that make Geralt seem cool and edgy in the show just don't exist in the books.

In the show he's always so stoic. Most of his exposition has to be told by side characters implying things and you just have to gage his reaction to decide if it's true or not. In the books however, he gives a full lore dump to anyone who's remotely nice to him.

Random Character: So how've you been?

Show Geralt: Hmmmm.... 😒 😔 😒...

Book Geralt: Terrible actually, thank you for asking. Monster hunting is dying out and I have zero transferable skills. Yennifer's left me again and Jaskier's off god knows where. Overall I suppose it could be worse, but that's the life or a Witcher. Also, my perfectly good leather jacket got ruined in a fight the day after I bought it :(

[numberoneredriotfan]

(in reference to your post)

i think an important factor in writing a rddk get together is the fact that rody... doesn't really let himself have the things he wants? primarily because his siblings are his #1 priority. i mean, he had essentially given up his dreams of becoming a pilot until izuku came along. if you consider the team up missions canon, there's also that bit where rody saw the pilot goggles and then kept walking. through pino, we can tell how badly he wanted them. And yet.

not only that, but when we look at his insistence towards izuku Not seeing the photo in the team up mission (if you interpret this particular scene as rody having romantic feelings for izuku), we can also make the argument that he's scared of something affecting their relationship.

it's fun to think of cute/fluffy scenarios where they get together for sure, but i agree that it's a bit more in character for rody to suffer a lot of misunderstandings. he already thinks so lowly of himself... i think you can get a lot of emotional beats with that ^^b

Ohhh I didn't even note that! Rody definitely does deny himself the things he wants simply because he doesn't think he deserves it, or because he has to put his siblings needs first (he's such a good brother I'm gonna cry-)

Adding onto that, I also think he believes that Deku doesn't care for him as much as he does his friends and classmates. Because who is he compared to these people who Deku has gone through so much with?? All he did was save the world with him like one time (lmao). And I definitely think that insecurity shines through with a few sly comments or him distancing himself when Deku is with his friends. That, and at the same time, he's willing to settle for a friendship if it means he at least get to be in Deku's life. A take what he can get type thing. Despite the fact that, though he'd deny it, he wants more with him.

[superman86to99]

Superman #93 (September 1994)

ZERO HOUR CROSSOVER! Due to the time-related shenanigans going on around the DC Universe, Superman meets his Kryptonian parents again -- and this time, his mom doesn't want to puke when she sees him! In fact, she even gives him a motherly kiss. Aww.

We start with Supergirl fighting some 68th century aliens who found themselves transported to present-day Earth and apparently figured they might as well invade it. Superman drops by and deals with the aliens via his usual approach to problem-solving: he just chucks their ship back into space.

As the heroes land back in Metropolis, Lois Lane hands Superman her cellular telephone because he has a call from Ma Kent, who sounds pretty panicked. The call abruptly cuts off, and there's a dramatic moment where Superman wonders if he can really leave the whole "the universe is in danger" thing aside for a while...

...before deciding that, yes, his mom is more important, obviously.

So, Superman flies to Smallville to check on his parents, only to find two surprise characters in their home: freaking' Psi-Phon and Dreadnaught. Wait, no, it's his other parents, Jor-El and Lara, just standing in the Kent's kitchen. Jor-El explains that, after sending little baby Kal-El's rocket to Earth all those years ago, they realized Krypton wasn't exploding after all, whoops. A scientist called Jen-Em had figured out how to stall the explosion, and then, after years of work, they managed to cure Krypton of its explosive tendencies for good.

Superman quickly figures out that this must be the result of the weirdness caused by Zero Hour (after all, he's been to Krypton and saw that there's nothing but a big ball of green gas there), but he agrees to put on a Cyclops-esque visor that will show him Jor-El's story in more detail.

Through the futuristic Viewmaster, Superman learns that in this timeline, Krypton's near-death experience caused the Kryptonians to re-evaluate their priorities and abandon their cold, emotionless ways (hence this Lara not being repulsed by her son). In fact, Lara became the first modern Kryptonian to get pregnant and have a child the old fashioned way -- meaning that, yes, Superman has a brother, Zan-El. Zan not only grew up to become "prefect over the entire planet" (so, world president) but, more importantly, he also brought back the shorter togas and fashionable headbands of Krypton's ancient, Mike Mignola-designed past.

Meanwhile, Jor-El had spent all those decades working on a cure to the genetic defect that kills Kryptonians if they try to leave the planet. He finally came up with a serum that temporarily allowed him and Lara to visit Earth, but it's already wearing off. So, Superman has to decide quickly: will he go live in alternate, non-exploded Krypton with his biological family? Or will he stay with his adoptive one that actually raised him and made him who he is?

Superman agonizes over the choice for a moment, but then he's like "hey, wait a minute, I can just go visit!" He informs the Els of his decision and they're overjoyed -- until a poorly-timed thunderbolt full of chronal energy strikes their spaceship and erases them from reality.

"The last son of Krypton is orphaned once again." Damn, Jurgens.

Metron of the New Gods comes to remind the grieving Superman that all the other superheroes are waiting for him at Zero Hour #3 (now on sale!), but Superman says they can wait a little longer because he has something important to do: hug his Earth parents and tell them he loves them.

CONTINUED IN ZERO HOUR!

Plotline-Watch:

This is a classic issue, obviously, but my problem with it is that one of the "next issue" blurbs in another Super-Title had teased it as "Guess who's coming to dinner?" -- and yet there's no scene of the Kents and the Els enjoying any type of meal. I haven't read the recent Zero Hour 30th Anniversary Special by Jurgens (I will once we're done covering the event), but this scene better be in it.

At the start of the issue, as she fights the aliens, Supergirl sees the Superman hologram that he and Metron created with Green Lantern's help in Zero Hour #4. We'll go over every DC comic that got spammed with green holo-Superman in another post.

It greatly pleases me that Superman specifically mentions the time, exactly 75 issues ago, when Hawkman took him to see Krypton's remains (at which point Superman hallucinated a timeline where the Kryptonians survived by becoming even bigger assholes). Sure, it later turned out that this was an evil Hawkman impostor who inexplicably helped save Superman's life, but Superman probably doesn't know about that whole mess, plus I think Zero Hour is about to delete it from continuity anyway.

The reason for that genetic link to Krypton that Jor-El mentions was the Eradicator, as revealed in Action Annual #2, but Jurgens also refrains from opening that particular can of worms in this comic (especially since the Eradicator is currently running around with a superhero team and even appears in Zero Hour).

Metropolis Mailbag:

Imagine our delight (and our embarrassment) when we opened the newsletter archive page for Man of Steel #37 last week and saw there was a comment there from Mr. Jon Bogdanove himself, which had been sitting there unanswered for over a month! Agh! Here it is in full:

"Don—Outstanding job identifying all the Batmen ( You even got Walt!!). The only one you didn’t get reflects my failure. What you guessed was Marshall Rogers was meant to be Bernie Wrightson. However I deeply regret NOT including Marshall. I really should have. I also left out Norm, mainly because I didn’t think I could do him justice. I tried a few sketches and was able to identify a number of tropes we took a similar approach to—but I just wasn’t satisfied that I could really nail Norm—at least in the time I had left. Teaching myself all these different styles really pushed the drop-dead deadline to the limit. I really put poor Dennis and Whitty under the gun on this one. I did learn a hell of a lot drawing this issue though. Nothing like studying the masters to help you learn!! BTW: Weezie and I love that everyone hated Jeb so very much. One gets to draw many villains in one’s career, but rarely does one get to create so dislikeable a douchebag! I consider Jeb a genuine achievement. I know 90’s Jimmy annoys some people, but to me Jimmy was always meant to be comic relief. I liked playing Jimmy as this doofus kid with a middle-aged dad’s sense of cool. He still cracks me up. I would love to do a Retro look at Zero Hour—perhaps a vignette from that same night— in which 90s Jimmy meets himself from various other timelines—Golden Age office boy Jimmy, Silver-Age drag queen Jimmy, Kirby-era Jimmy, etc. I’d dedicate it to Max!"

And my shamefully late response (gonna go ahead and blame the time disturbances for it):

"I am mortified that we hadn't seen this comment until now! (Didn't realize the newsletter wouldn't alert us, argh) Sir, if you don't draw that Jimmy idea, I swear I will commission it from you one day. I would add Turtle Boy Jimmy, My Adventures with Superman Jimmy, and of course bald, Superman-hating Jerry Ordway Jimmy. Just no Jebs, please."

(I now check the newsletter archive pages for comments 75 times a day, unless I forget.)

Shout Outs-Watch:

Time-displaced shout outs to our SUPporters, Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Dave Shevlin, and Dave Blosser! Join them (and get extra non-continuity articles; the latest one was about Superman fighting a guy called BONECHILL in the 1989 cartoon) via Patreon or our newsletter’s “pay what you want” mode!

And now: more from Don Sparrow, who sent me his section weeks ago but it also got lost in time (actually, I decided to cover Zero Hour #4 first). Keep reading:

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We open with the cover, and while it’s a bit broad, it’s certainly accurate for the story within.  I kinda dig that “DC Universe” trade dress, though it didn’t seem to last very long.  Inside the issue, we’re met with a lovely full-page splash of Supergirl amidst a LOT going on—thunderclouds, lightning, a firing spacecraft and a Star Wars style holographic projection of Superman.

I wasn’t sure which review to tackle first, Zero Hour #4, or this one, but since they seem to take place more or less at the same time (with the holographic message coming early into issue 4, but the New York meeting coming in Zero Hour #3), I flipped a coin and went with this one as happening first.  As the story progresses, Supergirl gets an assist from the Man of Steel in dealing with the timelost aliens, brusquely tossing them into space.  This issue exemplifies a trend I’ve noticed with Jurgens’ layouts since the Death and Return storyline—he uses a lot fewer panels per page than he once did, often with a near full page splash and then two or three panels laid overtop.  Visually, it’s very arresting, and Jurgens knocks the background splashes out of the park—on pages 4 and 5, despite being nearly identical scenarios (Superman and Supergirl flying in a stormy sky), they’re both so well handled, you don’t even mind the repetition.  But from a storytelling standpoint, it really does feel like a little less to read each issue, so the Superman issues seem a little thinner in terms of what actually happens.  Anyone else notice this? [Max: For me at the time, the shorter plots were balanced out by the fact that I spent more time looking at the big, awesome pictures, as opposed to the smaller, lamers ones in the backissues I was buying, with all that wasted white space between panels. I'm paying for the full page to be used, dammit!!!] 

Back to the art, page 7 has a great drawing of a pensive Superman. Page 9 is a great image, but a bit of a missed opportunity—the last panel would have been more impactful had Jor-El REALLY looked identical to Kal-El (which I’ve mocked up). [Max: I also made a small change to the panel, see if you can spot it...]

I do appreciate Jurgens’ and Rubinstein’s effort to still give the Els expressive faces, without eyebrows.

As Jor-El shares the alternate history of Krypton, Superman in the VR visor is pretty reminiscent of Cyclops from X-Men.  It’s compelling to see the flowing outfits that Zan-El and his bride wear, in opposition to the robes of Jor and Lara—much more like the early more Roman look shown in the first issue of the World of Krypton series.  My guess is the group that attend Zan’s nuptials are all members of the El family--I had thought that the different Kryptonian houses would wear different colours rather than everyone in green, but aside from the odd panel from Action Annual #2, I can’t seem to find much corroboration of that assumption.  The sweet image of Lara giving her son a peck on the cheek is quietly powerful, with a great expression on Superman’s face on page 17.  Lastly, the tragic page of chronal discharge (which sounds like a rap metal band name) and electrical storms is well drawn.

SPEEDING BULLETS:

When Superman is hemming and hawing over whether to focus on the extinction level event the superheroes are facing, or head to the farm to help his parents, Supergirl posits “There’s only one choice and you know it.”  I completely thought that it was setting up for him to focus on saving all of humanity rather than popping home for a visit.

Perhaps it’s because they were trying to have the Zero Hour books serve as a jumping on point for new readers (particularly the zero issues, which are coming soon) but some of the dialogue in this issue feels clunkily expository, like when Superman reminds his fiancée Lois and quasi-family member Supergirl that the Kents “may not have been {his} genetic parents, but they’re real as they come”, or later when Superman explains to Jor-El and Lara (and the reader) about Krypton’s explosion, and the Matrix chamber rocketship.

They kinda gloss over whether there was any fallout about being wrong about Krypton exploding, though I suppose it was more about Jen-Em stabilizing the core rather than Jor being wrong. [Max: "Krypton is gonna blow up, guys" is definitely a meme among the current Kryptonian generation because the scientists did such a great job stopping it, like Y2K or the hole in the ozone layer here.]

Have we ever seen a post-Crisis Kryptonian depicted as having anything but black hair? [Max: I'm pretty sure there were some non-black haired ones in World of Krypton, but it's hard to tell with the eyebrow-less, nun habit-wearing ones. It's possible they made other hair colors go away once they got all into eugenics, though.]

It’s interesting that this alternate Krypton goes one step further than Byrne’s origin, regarding the Els.  In Byrne’s history, Jor-El was a rebel in his society because he had actual affection for his lifemate, Lara.  The notion of natural conception and birth goes even further than that, and was explored in the Man of Steel film, where (spoiler alert?) Kal himself was the first child naturally conceived in love in generations.

This issue also reveals that the familiar robes and headpieces worn by Jor-El and Lara aren’t simply traditional garb, they’re referred to as life support suits.

Though the Kents are worried about losing Clark to his Kryptonian parents, Jonathan is all man, which explains why he picks this particular moment to go to second base with his elderly wife. [Max: He instinctively wanted to get working on a replacement son, forgetting he's been shooting blanks since youth...]

While Superman cries in anguish at seeing his biological parents detonate, Metron simply refers to them as “unfortunates”.  All heart, that one.

Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our new chronological issue index!

[schnee-gheist]

dp fanfic ideas are getting to me again goddammit

[ofhonorastute]

Jack’s priorities had changed. He had fallen short. He had been the one who let his family down once. He didn’t want to risk not saying the words he needed to say. He wanted to see his kids. He wanted to hold his children close to his chest, he wanted to feel relief in knowing his family survived, was okay. And he knew his urgence in his voice probably spoke other volumes now. But in the moment Jack wasn’t considering the consequences. When he heard Rebecca say she’d call Miguel, he was relieved. But he also took in the tone of his voice, how pleading he was. 

And it made sense why Rebecca was wary now. He wore that lopsided grin on his face. Because he was okay, he felt the tight pressure against his chest, from the surgery, but he was okay. And as he reached for his wife’s hand. He was the first to utter the words. “ I’m okay Beccs, I just want our family to be together.” Which made sense for Jack. The last time he saw the kids. They were taking in smoke, they were worried as he collapsed along the pavement. And Kevin who knows the last time I laid eyes on that boy. I wanted to feel safety in our family, which is why I was urgent to see the kids, I didn’t mean to worry Beccs. I just wanted to be able to see the kids together. As I locked eyes with the brunette I wore that grin of mine that made the worry the concern wash away. “ i’ll be here, and I’ll be okay Beccs.” A promise in my tone. Because all I wanted was to see her smile again, to be happy. Not that worried frown that creased on her brows each time she got a jump, a fear barking out at her.

Continued

@testytendencies 

Burns; you see it displayed in movies; on television. But you never anticipate being the one on the other side. Jack felt worn down; he felt like his body was on fire. From the mask that was attached to his face to help his breathing; from the lack of oxygen coursing through his body. The smoke inhalation had caused his lungs damage; he felt it. He knew there was a reason why the doctors told me to stay put; to relax despite all the fire his skin felt like. He knew the wires were to help his lungs; he decided against sharing that information with Kate when he woke up. She was already attached to my side; she was holding my hand as if her life depended on it. I understood she was my daughter; and she definitely had more of an attachment to me, I could see the fear she felt when I had climbed down from the house; when I heard the swallowing breathing the coughs that had emitted from my lips. It wasn’t easy to watch someone you love risk their lives; to wonder if they’d come out on the other side. 

Weakness; the way his eyes had to adjust to the light; the way my chest slowly raised and fell; but Kate was only a teenager she wouldn’t of known the signs. Nor do I think I’d be stuck to a hospital bed if the doctors felt I was stable. I was the one that took in the most smoke; I knew the risks with my lungs but at the moment I didn’t care. The only thing I cared about was saving my family; the family I walked from. The people I wanted to prove I was okay; that I was capable of being the parent and husband they deserved. 

Eyes had kept blinking shut back and forth until I heard her voice; the tenderness; the care when her face came into view. My wife; she was okay. A Gentle smile came to tug at the corners of my lips. I wore a brave face, I didn’t want to worry her or our kids. I wanted to feel okay. Upon her sitting at the edge of my bed; I felt Kate loosen her grip on my palm before I felt her hand leave mine. She had taken the time to reach for her mom; placing a hand over hers. A sight I loved to see; seeing as the pair never liked to see eye to eye. 

A sheepish grin displayed upon my lips; I let my hand find hers; fingers easily laced through her own. How am I? Honestly I was wore; O felt like my chest was on fire. I felt like each time I removed this oxygen Mask from my face; It only lasted a few minutes before I struggled to breathe again. I felt the tighten in my chest when I breathed in too deep. But I stared at my son, my daughter and my wife and I couldn’t say the words. I was barely holding on with the fear of worrying the people I cared for. “ I’m fine.” Fine perhaps the more I said the words it be true. Rebecca knew me; I knew she doubted me which is why she asked Kate and Randell to go phone Miguel; I had hummed an okay; As I whispered “ I love you” To the kids; giving an attempt at a sten expression to indicate I wanted the kids to listen to Miguel. He was family. 

Brief minutes when the sound of smaller feet disappeared from earshot, hand fully wrapped around her own, as I tried to be more reassuring. “ My Lungs took in way more smoke than the doctors had anticipated. That’s why they want me to stay overnight. But I’ll be fine Beccs.” Pausing swallowing the slight lump in his chest; he had brought their linked hands to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to her knuckles. “ I didn’t come all this way back to you only to leave again, I’ll be fine I promise.” A promise I held my breath on keeping.

[shannonsketches]

lays on the floor do you guys ever think about how in ResF Bulma falls for Vegeta's fake-out with Freeza and both she and Yamcha are worried about Vegeta's villain fake-out strategy in Champa and Beerus' mini tournament and how it's only been a couple of years since the Buu saga and how Vegeta straight up stopped using that strategy after that tournament

[scarlettfevor]

Decided to start watching teen wolf because why not, and I'm literally only 3 episodes in and I already suspect that Scott is probably going to be my favorite, and I know that there's a thriving shipping scene for this show so I took a quick peak at the top ships on ao3 and it......Derek and Stilies...? I think that once I get over his kinda cringey early 2010's humor I could grow to like Stilies, but Derek? To me he just seems like every other sad bad boy in every twilight/Buffy-inspired teen show from the 2000's - 2010's, there is 0 chance I'll actually like him, so it's no surprise really that he seems to be fairly popular.

[todayisafridaynight]

So, here’s a question I don’t think anyone’s asked or at least it’s been a while… why is Jo your favorite?

i was trying to find the post where i explained it in depth but i'll give a tl;dr his backstory regarding masato and his implied childhood abuse recontextualizes a lot of his behaviors and actions as well as adds extra layers to his devotions to arakawa and the speculative progression of that relationship going from strictly 'transactional' (being that he's only there to see masato and arakawa just Happens to be there) to genuine respect and adoration and that makes my brain tingle. also i think hes hot

[spnupgrade]

Simple, Dean and Sam are soulmates, and Dean's carnal desire is Sammy. It was told during Sex and Violence, the Siren saying to Sam that Dean doesn't want a b*tch in a G-string but his little brother, then Dean told Sam, during season 06, that he went to Lisa and Ben because Sam asked him to do it not becausehe wanted to, and before this, when he woke up and look that Sam was back, he said: is this heaven? They also shared heaven.

Jensen said that if Dean saw Sam with a dress, he would say: YES!. So Dean's obsession is Sam.

Does it mean that you have to ship Wincest? No, you can see their relationship as non-romantic soulmates. This just means that Dean number 1 priority is Sam. No one else.

Dean is a functional alchoolic, misogynist, violent, and obsessed with his little brother.

But in the canon both Sam and Dean are heterosexual, that's it. So for the series, Dean doesn't like men.

Castiel is a SOULLESS celestial entity, a warrior of God. He is not there to save the Winchester from themselves. What he feels is outside human comprehension. And there were many times when Dean left Castiel or sent him away; he doesn't come before Sam.

Also, Jensen said that Destiel doesn't exist, that Dean likes women, and that the story is about the 2 brothers.

I don't have a problem with people shipping Destiel, but I can't stand when they shit on everybody that is not Cass and Dean, change the canon, and completely destroy the characters. Making Dean and oppressed bisexual man who can't show his emotions because he grew up with a homophobic father and brother, and Cass, who looks more like a dog, then an angel.

It's the fact that they can't accept a simple reality: Dean is not a saint who needs to change, because he doesn't want to change or to be saved, every relationship with Dean is an abusive one, he is controlling and obsessed. Being with Dean is not a fairytale.

That's what I can't stand Destiellhellers and some other shippings; because they want to change such complex characters.

If you want to ship Destiel do it, just don't push your ideas as canon.

But, for me, I don't find the appealing between Cass and Dean, there are other relationships for the both of them more interesting and complex.

Non Destiel Shippers, what stops you from shipping them?

What are the reasons you don't ship them? Im just curious, not looking for a fight.

[gloriousmonsters]

the tendency for people to go 'well (x) person we found out was shitty always made bad art anyway!' is just... so tiring. no rowling wasn't the best writer ever but she was (WAS) a decent and compelling one, there's a reason her books sold. no scott cawthon's games weren't always shitty and dumb, they were simplistic but in a very appealing way, they literally kicked off a whole mini-genre of games with similar mechanics and a wave of animatronic related horror.

you can acknowledge that people are hugely harmful assholes without immediately derailing into 'and everything they made was bad and useless anyway!' it enforces a bad-person-bad-art concept that makes you remain unwilling to examine art and consider negative things about the creators if you like the art or think it's well done, and it hurts and pushes away people to whom that art was important. it's always ok to talk about a work's flaws, including in the context of finding out bad shit about the creators, but a lot of it just feels like... people retro-justifying their dislike of something popular, you know?

[chelseasdagger]

omg a car accident are you ok? 🥺

elle baby!! it’s so nice to hear from you 🥺 yes, i’m okay as i can be i guess :/

i got rear ended and pushed into another car. the person who hit me had their airbags go off, so they must’ve been traveling at a decent speed. i was in the car with @chellestrash and we had just left a destruction room and were happy and then this happened right after :( i felt horribly guilty and couldn’t stop crying and apologizing. her first time meeting me and coming to the states and this happens the NIGHT BEFORE she’s going on a place back to her country :(

my mom had us checked out at the emergency room (mostly to make sure chelle was okay for going back on the plane) and everything is good between the two of us. we’re both just incredibly sore? car accidents always have you aching but we were throwing crowbars and sledgehammers above our heads before that, so our shoulders and arms are even more sore than they should be. thankfully everyone is okay and my car isn’t totaled, but it hurt so much to see my baby crunched in from the impact :(

[the-kipsabian]

reminder that you can block people for whatever reason you want to and its always okay <3

their vibe is off to you for whatever reason? okay to block!

they reblog content that makes you icky (even if you never look at their blog again)? okay to block!

you saw them being annoying on someone elses post or in tags you frequent? okay to block!

you dont share the same opinions or faves no matter how harmful? okay to block!

💜

[yoonyia]

my humanity in a book series now that I actually think about the premise is so weird.

the original concept is just to prove that all of humanity's pain and suffering and joys and gifts can be shown in just a few books, that a lot of our struggles are shared and a lot are unique but that they're all inherently human.

no matter what experience you go through it's going to be a human experience because you are a human, and no matter how isolated and alone or exiled you feel the rest of humanity you are still infact human and take that part of you everywhere

you will always be a step in some direction of humanity no matter what that deed is

it's not meant to be read as comforting, in all honesty most of the characters find the idea of never not being human to be sort of disturbing. But that's a part of the human experience too. To look at humanity and say "man we suck"

But now I'm looking at it and it's more then that

the book is set in the 32nd century

although because of my lack of imagination I can't think of what the language would be like I did haphazardly put together a culture that I personally felt like matched the common trend of development in humanity

everyone is given a livable space, concept of currency really isn't a thing (but that's less on humanity and just because the space colony is made up of roughly 10,000 people and trade is impossible, there's more reasons too but I won't get into them at this moment) and in all honesty the society is fundamentally different then most societies on earth.

It's what you would call a utopia but it's such an obvious system that no body even considers it good. They talk only about the unfairness of the council members and the inhuman layout the colony is built on to make it relatively fair between all people. (I say fair not equal because they do take children, occupation and just size of person into account, which yes is a nightmare for everyone invloved)

but I dont know if you see it but there's a disconnect

they don't value the things we value, they don't have the same desires the same ambitions the same secret indulges, many conflicts are the same as they are now but they have a completely different context, different reactions from people, different tones and no real recognizable side we usually see in modern debates.

it's worse then if it were completely different conflicts, then you could just do some narrative translation and make it based off of the modern lense but you can't do that because it's the same conflict. ofcourse it's not to a point where your brain thinks "I can't compherehend this at all" but actually that makes it worse, because it is compherehensible it just isn't common

it's a story trying to tell you that all human experiences are inherently human but it's showing you a humanity that you can't really quite connect with

things you think are basic desires exist but they're not considered the core things that makes someone human, there's something alien about these people that you can't really agree with the actions they take and can't make sense of the movements and words they make.

800 years is a long time and I wanted to show it but I made a story that's inherently ironic

it still fits the original theme, it might fit it even better since it's telling you no matter how much humanity changes its still going to be humanity

but I left my audience behind, I alienated them to show them that they are human, that despite the alienation they're still apart of this society that they're reading about that dosent feel quite right

it's a weird thing to do

I really thought this book was going to be simple to write but I'm already adding layers and I don't think I'm going to stop

and also the science aspect behind this story excites me so much

I'm no biology major so half the stuff I come up with for the alien planet's are probably going to be impossible but it's fun to write about

espicially the plants, I found the heat regulated Lilly pads to be really fun to think up of

also fox like creatures that glow under uv light, gosh that took so much research

they're adorable by human standards but they are deathly venomous so please don't pet them

this series isn't even the only one in this universe

there's a second story that I suddenly forgot the name of but it's something like 'Colony 1, Brother Lutangalo' or something similar.

oh and if you haven't noticed yes these books are heavily inspired by the enderverse and I just wanted to go more indepth into the parts of the books that was largely left unexplored. So this series is also inspired by the shadow series, so the humanity in a book is more morality, conceptual and personal in nature the col1 brother lutangalo books are more political and more grounded in the main society (the 2 main characters are sent to set up a colony on a different planet so they aren't really on the main colony themselves) the main narrator being lutangalo which is the son of the 108 year old colony leader Lau. (this society also has a euthanization law that all people over the age of 100 by law must die to prevent over population, but religious leaders are protected so they can live pass 100 indefinitely) and is currently 8 when you first meet him. Actually his books don't start until he's 12, we meet him when he's 8 because that's the year the 2 main characters comes back

his books, and I'm calling them his books because this series is heavily centered on the one character rather then the humanity series which is forced to jump between people in different time and space to get the message across because the 2 main characters litterally don't react to anyone else but eachother for the majority of book one, all of book 2 and half of book 3 (at least that's what my planning says but it may change when I get to writing the drafts)

anyways his books are very focused on the family that he's apart of and how they affect the colony, it also focuses on the personal perspective of this one kid which is honestly the closet thing the readers get to a instinctually relatable character, he has all the impulses and needs a person of the current age would have, because he basically lived in the 21st century because of his obsessive need to research about Mr ari who is notoriously a history nerd.

so you're finally getting a person that lives and breathes in the same patterns as you do.

and he's so miserable

he is one of the most troubled, impulsive people you have ever met

but also the calmest and kindest and gentlest person at the same time

he's a horrible liar until he isn't, he's intelligent and self aware until he's shockingly oblivious

just a ball of horrible contradictions that feels way too unstable and flipfloppy to be consistently relatable

yes of course in several moments you will exclaim "ha, he's just like me!" but it's going to be rather hard to admit that all of his experiences and actions are relatable or even compherehensible

unlike the first series it's not justifiable in any rational way

it's messy, it's complicated, it's convoluted and he's honestly awful in some scenes

but thats human too

[nulltune]

@tenkoseiensei replied:

shes a part of da convo in spirit. in my brain shes standing next to yq and nodding while he yells a whole lot

yq vc i also want to know… what you think you’d be doing in that sort of world, y'know—

a thought - provoking question !   gears already turning in her rational mind,  she ponders over details that may be too series for a hypothetical scenario.      ❛   assuming that the situation in the video game were to be replicated in this reality ?   ❜     there's a slight cant of her head,  still mulling over the details with a gaze looking elsewhere.

❛   would servants be affected by zombie bites ?   well,  in any case  ...  i would like to keep you safe,  and everyone else.   ❜

❛   from there—  hm.  there are a lot of unknowns involved with zombie survival,  likewise there may be many factors we need to be aware of when moving in a group setting  ——   but first,  it would be wise to set up a temporary base ...  a safe place to rest and make plans without the fear of zombie interruption.  hunting for supplies will have to be a priority,  food and water  —  canned food would be most effient  —  first aid kits and water as well.  naturally,  this would not be sustainable for survival in the long run,  so—   ❜

[staliaz]

Since when do you ship stalia?

I ship them ever since I watched the show back in 2017.