#enter last son of krypton

[damianbugs]

this could mean nothing but upon my reread of Superman: Last Son of Krypton i noticed how important physical contact, specifically hand holding, is to chris' character. one of the first major bonding moments between clark and chris is when clark tucks him into bed, and chris asks him not to leave.

there are key moments in the story when people make the realisation that this 'mysterious kryptonian' is also just a little boy, and i think this is it for clark. lois has a similar moment after the bus falls on chris and she sees him cry.

the next time they hold hands is when jor-el tells clark he has no recollection of the boy, meaning there's a good chance he can't have been from krypton — which should make him more suspicious. clark doesn't seem worried about it, if anything, he seems really sad that the boy, just like him, has landed on earth with no family.

then after lois and clark accept chris as their own and start to integrate chris kent into their lives, all three of them hold hands when entering the daily planet.

now before this i just thought it was a really lovely and sweet way to show how affectionate the kents are, until this cover showed ursa and zod.

it might look like they're holding hands, but it's important to remember they never taught chris how to fly (most likely because they didn't care to, or they didn't want to give him the agency to then try and leave/disobey them). so they're just holding him up in the air. in the later story we see that they literally just drag him around by the hand since they don't expect him to fly with them (also to make sure he doesn't escape).

a great deal different to how clark and lois hold him.

then in the final moments we see clark save chris by grabbing hold of his hand.

i just think it says a lot about how we're supposed to see superman in this situation, especially after the previous moments with zod and chris. obviously in this situation clark would have grabbed whatever part or chris he could to stop him from being sucked up by the portal, but something about it being the boy's hand seems important. especially since it gives way to the very last time they hold hands.

the first time chris held clarks hand, he reached out first and held on, not wanting the other to leave him. the last time, clark is the one desperately trying to hold onto chris as the boy leaves.

again, this could mean nothing. chris is their kid so of course clark and lois hold his hand as all parents do, but it just seems a little more deliberate in this case. to really highlight the life chris had, the one he could of have had, and the one he gave up for others.

[suzukiblu]

For WIP Wednesday: the last son of Krypton meets Hypertime Kon? (And thank you!!)

“DNA scan first,” Bruce instructs tersely as they enter the lab, immediately heading for the equipment. He called ahead to have it set up and the lab cleared, because he’s Bruce and if he’s not over-prepared, then it’s the end of the world. 

Well, no, Bruce is definitely over-prepared for the end of the world too. 

“How many needles are involved in this DNA scan?” Kon asks with a grimace. “Like, ballpark it for me.” 

“None,” Clark says, unable to repress a wry little smile of amusement. “It’s a noninvasive procedure. We don’t need a blood draw or anything.” 

“Oh, cool,” Kon says, looking curious–and a little relieved, too. Well, it probably takes kryptonite to get a needle through his skin, so Clark doesn’t blame him for that. Though they do have the red sun room, of course, but that’s a much longer process. “Uh–no offense, just not a fan of getting stabbed, y’know?” 

“Your ear is pierced,” Clark points out mildly, and Kon blushes in embarrassment and covers it with a hand. 

“That is so different!” he sputters, gesturing with his free hand. “And it didn’t involve anybody running off with any of my blood or anything!” 

Clark tries not to laugh, but it’s very hard not to laugh. The kid is just so animated, so reactive and emotional, and it’s just . . . 

The closest he’s ever gotten to another “living” Kryptonian is the Fortress’s AI, which has always been stiff and stagnant and artificial. Kon, though . . . Kon is alive, just like the people in all the old recordings that Clark has spent countless hours watching, wondering what it would’ve been like to meet even one other person like him, even once. 

This, apparently, is what that’s like.

[siremasterlawrence]

Superman: The Evolution of A Pussy

The fortress of solitude the impenetrable force of nature in the middle of the freezing cold ocean, Superman uses his x-ray vision to peer through the roof to see a strange old shadowy figure looming down over him and to see him. Clark Kent flew out of the vicinity in to the air as he is lifting higher in to the atmosphere as he reaches the man staring him down with such malice and Clark is astonished to see how this man’s nerve is breaking him in all kinds of ways he is grows unnerving more and more.The man smirks raising his hands in the air he summons of gust of whirls under him as it blows like a tornado it is surrounding the fortress and begins to shoot upward in to the sky launching it like rocket it aims up towards it hitting him head on as it sped in to space.

The man flew after him in to space as the tiny crater broke in to a million pieces as if hits Clark one at a time, the man watches his own destruction as each one glow with a heavy green tint landing on top of him he falls back to earth in a glorious display of power. Clark is unconscious as the man floating before him with a little effort of swinging his hand he shoves him to the side surrounding him by a green bubble covering him as they travel beyond the area and they head in to a new arena where I have began to plan it all. The man and the emerald bubble free falls to the deep, dank, and dark underground that I have built to harbor myself as well as others I have taken in to my aids to help me to take over the city and the world at my whim and I am madly in love with them all as my humble slave.

His lips are so tender as I place him on to the medical slab laid to rest in a massive blue lit bubble covering over the body encasing it as it lifts him upward in to the air and it is holding him in place as if spun him about preparing him for my minds control and I begin the process snappingup all of it.I walk to the edge of the room flipping on the light switch as the light shines on him, it is also shining on me as I step on to the machine entering the floor panel pad as the glass covers him and the glass shuts me in as it is locking me in to the space as it stirs on the air circles in swirling through the room. The air descending down upon us causing a rush as the energy burst in to my body with a electrical output that is sending my nerves to spiral crazily through my spine before shooting through the pad it lifts and dives right in to Superman’s body sending him unconscious.

“it is a Knight’s Tale programming.” I state as it commence.

“Reprogramming commences “

“Clark Kent! Can you hear me?”

“Yyyyeeeessss!”

“Do you know who I am?”

“That criminal that came to to…”

“What? Came to what?”

“I don’t remember…”

“Would you like my help?”

“I have no other choice “

“Yes or no”

“Begrudgingly yes!”

“You little shit”

“Please”

“That’s better “

“Your name is Clark Kent”

“Yes! Absolutely correct “

“You have been living a lie”

“No! I have not “

“Oh really? Last son of Krypton”

“Don’t call me that”

“Why not?”

“STOP PLEASE!”

“Feel my hand on the sides of your head and embrace it.”

“Feel my energy soul through you “

“Soul to soul exchange “

“You love me”

“I love you “

“Lois, Kara, your parents, your kids, and your clones.”

“You never loved them “

“I hate them”

“Increase the hate and accept it”

“I will kiss you, you will love it and succumb “

“Mmmm! Yes! Taste so good”

“I am your Master, Lord, God and everything else in your life.”

“Yes Daddy”

“Did you refer to me as”

“Yes daddy”

“Why?l

“Because I love you “

“I know only you “

“When I snap my finger you will wake up and kneel in submission “

“Yes Daddy”

The end

Captain America: A Centennial Criminal

Clark Kent Aka The Man Of Steel Superman The Last Son Of Krypton rose from the life less ash of his old life spread across the ground and swoops in the air as he rose to his full height in power and stood tall above me. He looks down in deference of his power compared to me his absolute ruler of his world, he peers down at me in other bliss with a smile washing on to me In excitement as he swoops up in his arms with a bright smile. Under my instructions for him he sprints up smashing through theceiling glass as it scatters to the ground as if it is raining and he speeds across to a very random research facility and begin to spin like a drill to the basement. Borrowing downward in spiral as the floors broke beneath him landing in a perfect spin

on the basement floor as the alarm system blares out, the red let radiating all over the hall covering the place in a dark red as a warning and Clark laughs seeing the signs up for hazardous area. He grabs it yanking it off of the wall as he crumbles it then threw it to the ground in a rage using his heat ray vision to burn it, the guard race down the hallway way to face him as he blast them with his heat ray and outstretches his arm forming a hole in them. Clark laughs like a lunatic sending them flying in to the wall of it as he blew past the wall he he shifts push his feet on to the wall as he shoves himself forward and launches in to the laboratory a deck below coming to a holt as he smashes through the glass.

He throws the glass window aside of him to reach out for the shirt as he grabs a frozen Steve Rogers like a popsicle stick inside of his pod and he flew in to the air one again smashes the ceiling flying back to my base with such accomplishment as he heads on home. He soars back him free falling to the ground causes a earthquake in his quake as he kneels down, placing Captain America In the pod as well flip another switch as he shuts down the area and he watches in to great delight and the machine gets to work for him. “He was unconscious when I arrive Master Lawrence!” Superman replies taking my hand in his as he leans down taking my hand even tighter as he kisses my hand up to my shoulders with so much love and lust in his eyes.

“The machine is all prepped Master”

“Commence boi”

“Watch his eyes go blue and roll back “

“His body begins to sink”

“Falling to the floor “

“In pain he aches “

“Mmmm! He is pleased”

“Sexual release?”

“Precisely “

“Oooooohhhhh”

“Do you hear me?”

“Ffffuuuucccckkkkkk”

“He is amusing Master”

“No Duh!”

“You are so thrilling “

“How so boi?”

“You forced me to succumb”

“Submit in to submission “

“Kneel at my feet “

“I love you Master”

“Can you hear me Steve?”

“Yes! I can hear you “

“I love you Steve “

“You love me too”

“Stop screwing up your face”

“You love me to…I know you “

“Yes! I love you too”

“I am your Master”

“You are my…no you lie”

“How can I?”

“I am your God!”

“Sir Yes Sir”

“I am touching your head and channeling you.”

“Accept my will”

“Yes! I accept “

“On to you feet”

“Sir Yes Daddy Sir”

The end

The end

[samgirl98]

Mending a Family 22/?

Prev | Next

Father and son day out!

Danny vibrated with excitement as dad put on a leather jacket. (He didn’t know why his dad put one on; it was the middle of summer.)

The sun hadn’t risen yet, and the stars were in full view. Today, it would be a father-son trip to the planetarium.

“Have fun, you two,” Jazz said. She wore a robe, and her hair was all over the place.

“We will, Jazz,” Danny said, excited.

His dad put Danny in the booster seat. He didn’t even complain because the sooner they left, the sooner they would get there. It would take almost six hours to get there. (Danny suggested flying, but his daddy said it was too dangerous.)

Danny watched as the sun rose in the sky and read the pamphlet his dad had printed out over and over again.

“Can we go to the gift shop at the end,” Danny asked.

“Of course, chum. What’s a trip to a planetarium if we don’t go to the gift shop afterward?”

“Yay,” Danny yelled in excitement.

Danny spent the car ride giving his dad facts about space. Anything he could think of, from constellations to black holes to galaxies. Danny talked about it all. He even talked about how gravity differed in Space from Earth and the equations used to determine how far anything was. Danny was afraid his dad would get bored after a while but could feel his dad’s enthusiasm.

Danny cheered when he saw the “Welcome to Montreal” sign in French and English.

“How much longer, daddy?”

“Half an hour,” Jason said, smiling at the excited little boy.

How did he get so lucky to have Danny in his life?

Jason parked and carried a vibrating Danny into the planetarium.

Danny’s overwhelming happiness and excitement hit Jason like a freight train when they entered the planetarium.

Jason put his little boy down but held on to his hand so he wouldn’t run off.

“Bienvenue à le planétarium du Montréal. Comment je peux veux aider?” (Welcome to the Planetarium of Montreal. How can I help you?)

“Daddy, what did she say,” Danny asked while tugging on Jason’s shirt.

“Bonjour, j’ai besoin du deux billet, mais je suis américain. Je puis obtenir des services in anglais?” (Hello, I need two tickets, but I’m American. Can I get English services?)

“Of course, sir. How many tickets?”

“I need one for an adult and one for a child, please.”

Danny had tuned out the two adults and stared at the ships they had hanging on the ceilings. It had been so long since he had the chance to come to a planetarium. He had been ten the last time. (He ignored that he was five this time around. It was too confusing to think about.)

“Okay, chum, I got our tickets to enter and for the shows. Ready to go in.”

 “Yeah, yeah!” Danny jumped up and down excitedly.

“Have a good time,” the lady said before turning to the next family.

Danny led his daddy deeper into the building. He stared and drooled over the exhibits. There was alien technology that would never exist on his Earth.

The Metropolis Space Museum had recently lent the planetarium its Krypton exhibit. There was a model of Superman’s baby spaceship. A few imitation kryptonite rocks and part of the meteor Superman had been in during his ride to Earth.

Next, there were smaller exhibits on Tamarian and Martian technology and culture. Danny ate it all up. Jason had to remind Danny to be careful with his eyes as he stared at the new technology he had never seen in his dimension.

It was nothing new or exciting to Jason, who had met Superman and Starfire. He had fun watching his son’s adorable face.

They caught a show of Clark’s passage through space when he was a baby. He had donated the images when he found them in his spaceship. They went to another about every known sun with civilization and how each culture interacted.

(This was thanks to the Green Lantern Corps.)

Then, they watched a few shows that were closer to home. As much as Danny enjoyed learning about alien culture and technology, there was just something fun watching about the phenomena that happened on their turf.

Danny enjoyed the one that showed all the planets and different constellations from the Earth’s perspective while playing orchestra in the background.

Jason took them to eat and then to an activity room where children could replicate satellites and space telescopes with Lego.

Finally, at the end, Jason took Danny to the gift shop. Danny bought a plush of Martian Manhunter, a rocket he would build, and a lamp with planets orbiting the sun. He also got a keychain for Jazz and a starry blanket for Ellie, all with daddy’s money, of course.

Jason had to carry his little boy to the car. Danny’s sleep contentment enveloped Jason, and he reveled in it.

“Did you have fun, lad,” Jason asked as he buckled his baby boy in.

“I had the funnest day ever! We don’t have aliens in my world, so learning about the different cultures was the best!”

“I’m glad you liked it. What was your favorite part?”

“Learning about Superman and Martian Manhunter. I think Martian Manhunter is my favorite Justice League member!”

Jason laughed.

“Remind me to tell you stories about Uncle Clark later.”

“Who’s Uncle Clark?”

“I’ll tell you a secret: Uncle Clark is Superman.”

Danny woke up a bit hearing that tidbit of information.”

“Y’know Superman? He’s your uncle?”

Jason laughed while feeling a ping of guilt; he hadn’t told Danny much about his time as Robin.

“Yeah, he’s da—Bruce’s best friend, so he came around the Manor a few times. Plus, I met him in the Watch Tower in space.”

“You’ve been to space? Have you met Martian Manhunter?”

Jason regaled his son of his time as Robin on the ride home. Danny fell asleep to his daddy’s voice as he told his stories.

Jason couldn’t wait to have another day out with his precious boy.

I've never been to a planetarium, but then I thought to myself, this DCU, they have aliens. I can put whatever I want. Anyway, if anyone has actually been to the Planetarium of Montreal, sorry for it not being accurate.

@itsberrydreemurstuff @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @skulld3mort-1fan @theauthorandtheartist @emergentpanda-blog @jaggedheart11 @fisticuffsatapplebees @booberrylizard @fantasticbluebirdfan @thegatorsgooseoose @cyrwrites @kjoboo91 @crystallicedart @amaramizuki666 @spekulatiusmuffin @meira-3919 @kilasmess @bubblemixer @lexdamo @wonderland-daisy @mj-arts-n-stuff @amyheart19 @dolfay @the-church-grimm @undead-essence @aph-mable @lizisipancardo @purrloin77 @writer-extraodinaire @charlietheepic7 @sinfulloccultist @nootherusernameworked @coruscateselene @chaoticchange @itsberrydreemurstuff @gmkelz11 @feral-bunny31 @paroovian @thatonegaybitch68 @d4ydr34min9 @overtherose @fandomwandererer @vipower001 @thordottir45 @blackrabbitt3t @rosecinnamonbun @bianca-hooks123 @epilepticnerd @dat1angel @consouling @flamingenchiladadragon @all-mights-asscheeks @ender-reader @fuyu-bitch @ravenswife

[rwac96]

Ask

Crossover

Supergirl Vs Black Cat

MK Intro

Black Cat: *saunters while stretching* "I thought Big Blue was the 'Last Son of Krypton'."

Supergirl: *hovers in the air* "Well, I'm Krypton's Last Daughter."

Black Cat: *stops walking, brandishes her claws* "Aren't you a special snowflake."

---

Supergirl: *descends from the sky, entering the stage* "Give back the diamonds you stole, Felicia."

Black Cat: *tightens her gloves* "Then give back Spider's attention, Blondie."

Supergirl: *places her hands on her hips* "Ugh, we're really gonna do this?"

[cantsayidont]

"So each year, hoping he will return, we set an extra place at dinner...for Superman!"

In 1984, the 400th issue of SUPERMAN presented an oversize issue with a series of vignettes about Superman's future, illustrated by a selection of different artists (including Frank Miller and Jim Steranko, among others) and interspersed with pinups and little essays by artists ranging from Will Eisner to Moebius.

The story itself, mostly written by Elliot S! Maggin, is unusual, since unlike most "Imaginary Stories," it's not interested with Superman's future (whom he marries, whether he has children, etc.), but rather with his eventual transformation into a mythic figure.

The most interesting of the vignettes is this one, drawn and colored by Klaus Janson. The narrative captions aren't always very legible, so I'll transcribe them after each page.

"So did the legend wax and wane and wax some more across the ages until, inevitably, the career of Kal-El, the waif from a lost world, passed from the realm of legend into myth… And in the dawning days of the Sixtieth Century--the memory of Superman has passed from reverence to ritual…"

"Meet Riley Benedix-- Even to 20th-Century eyes Riley's mode of dress would appear eccentric… Worry not--there is an explanation. The hat, of course, is the stovepipe of Abraham Lincoln, who lived soon enough before the great age of heroes to be included among them… The eyes wear the distinctive spectacles of Woodrow Wilson, who made the world safe for democracy… The shirt is that of Superman, greatest of all heroes, who fought for truth, justice, and the American way… Over Riley's back is an Eisenhower jacket, reminiscent of the hero of D-Day… On his feet are the highwater boots of Kuhan Pei-Jing, who slogged through the ricefields of Asian negotiating to head off a Third World War in the 1990's."

"Every year Riley and thousands of other history buffs fly hopelessly outdated spacecraft to Arcturus…to the convention of the 'League of Supermen'--for costume parades, sales of ancient memorabilia, parties, and a bit of unabashed fun… Riley's father never understood fun…"

"We join the Benedix family on a night of the year that is different from all other nights…"

"That is a good question, Superman…which you will answer to your own satisfaction soon enough…but for now you are only relatively sure of where you have been. You learned, again, that when the powers you wield are awesome, then the forces that array themselves against you are likewise--when the pulsing blob of chaotic energy nearly entered a star-system close to Earth's…and threatened, but its presence, to skew the orbits of inhabited worlds… Suddenly, not only was the blob of energy gone--but so was the last son of Krypton!"

"Alone, in pain, he found himself swimming through space like a drowning man looking for a life raft…directing himself more through will and instinct than through consciousness--to the blue-green world that has come to be his home. As, not a hundred yards from where the Man of Steel fell…"

"Soon, the stranger opens his eyes, looks around, and wonders…"

"So young Riley Benedix does continue the story of this festive day for his family…and he is the only one who knows that one of the story's main characters is here at the table with them all! It is a story of the days when America was young…and a child who could change the course of mighty rivers came to Earth--to exemplify all that American had and would come to stand for! Some of the story is accurate…some is clouded by the folds of myth and time--but like art and greatness, it is all true!"

"The young man walks the man from four thousand years ago into the sea-breeze of the night, and… For every Miracle Monday after that one, Riley's family set an extra place as everyone else did…but every year through Riley's old age, the food on Superman's dish mysteriously disappeared during dinner! Of course, everyone thought it was a trick--that Riley always teleported it away…but only Riley knew that sometimes legends live!"

Miracle Monday is a recurring holiday in Maggin's Superman stories, celebrated the third Monday of each May. It's explained in Maggin's 1981 prose novel of the same name, in which Superman beats the Devil (in the form of one C.W. Saturn) with some assistance from a time-traveling 29th century historian named Kristen Wells and an unexpected last-minute save from Lex Luthor (who was a very different character in that era and whom Maggin generally presented in a relatively sympathetic light).

(The cover of the novel tends to imply that it's a novelization of the Christopher Reeve SUPERMAN 2, which it's not, despite the glossy center section with photos from that movie.)

Maggin, who was a regular writer of the Superman comics in the '70s and '80s, later returned Kristen Wells in DC COMICS PRESENTS Annual #2 (1983) and #4 (1985), which make reference to the events of the novel.

In any event, the Benedix family's Miracle Monday celebration is very plainly modeled on a Passover seder, with an empty plate for Superman taking the place of the extra glass of wine poured for the prophet Elijah. It doesn't appear they've left the door open for Superman, but his appearance at the open door is obviously intended to evoke that tradition.

There is a lot of Jewish-coded content in the Superman stories of the Silver Age and Bronze Age (from 1958 to 1986) — a lot more than in the Golden Age, unless you really strain, and MUCH more than in the period following the John Byrne revamp begun in 1986–1987, which pointedly did away with most of that stuff — and this is a particularly clear example. In that respect, it's notable that the Miracle Monday seder is expressly an Earth custom; much of what you can most readily identify as Jewish-coded in these stories is associated with the Kryptonian diaspora.

Regarding the story's narrative coda, it may be worth pointing out that while this story has Superman initially thrown through time by a mysterious space phenomenon, the "pre-Crisis" Silver Age/Bronze Age Superman could fly at superluminal speeds, and was capable of both interstellar travel and time travel under his own power. There were some complicated (and irregularly applied) rules about traveling to time periods in which he already existed, but Superman was capable of simply traveling forward in time and then returning to his own time more or less whenever he felt like it, which is how he was able to perform this little parlor trick for Riley. That was one of the abilities that John Byrne removed in the wake of MAN OF STEEL, in the effort to reduce Superman's powers and try to tie them to a specific set of pseudo-scientific rules.

[afaims100arrowversefavs]

My 250 Favorite Arrowverse Episodes: Part 9: 50-26

Taken from „Arrow“, „The Flash“, „Supergirl“, „Legends of Tomorrow“, „Constantine“, „Black Lightning“, „Batwoman“, „Stargirl“ and Season 1-3 of „Superman & Lois“:

In honor of Seaosn 4 of "Superman & Lois" being the end of the Arrrowverse, the end of DCTV like we knew it and the end of The CW like we knew it, a final time before the final season all Seasons ends of all the 250 best Arrowverse Episodes (according to me):

I did include "Stargirl" this time, since it has as much connection as "Superman & Lois" to the rest of the Arrowverse, but One Hit Shows like "Gotham Knights" and "Naomi" (anyone still remember this one?) are not on this list, neither are Arrowverse unrelated DC shows:

50. The Last Children of Krypton (Supergirl 2x2)

The One in which: John Corben goes through some changes and Clark fights with J’onn.

22, Written by: Robert Rovner, Caitlin Parrish, Directed by: Glen Winter

 49. Prochnost (Arrow 8x5)

The One in which: Oliver and Mia visit Anatoli.

165, Written by: Benjamin Raab, Deric A. Hughes, Directed by: Laura Belsey

48. State V Queen (Arrow 2x7)

The One in which: The Count is back and Moira gets acquitted.

30, Written by: Marc Guggenheim, Drew Z. Greenberg, Directed by: Bethany Rooney

47. Lian Yu (Arrow 5x23)

The One in which: Adrian blowsuo  the island.

115, Written by: Wendy Mericle, Marc Guggenheim, Directed by: Jesse Warn

46. Going Rogue (The Flash 1x4)

The One in which: Captain Cold enter the picture.

4, Written by: Geoff Johns, Kai Yu Wu, Directed by: Glen Winter

 45. Shogun (Legends of Tomorrow 2x3)

The One in which: The Atom Suit goes around.

19, Written by: Phil Klemmer, Grainne Godfree, Directed by: Kevin Tancharoen

44. Tricksters (The Flash 1x17)

The One in which: The Trickster returns together with his son.

17, Written by: Andrew Kreisberg, Directed by: Ralph Hemecker

 43. Crucible (Arrow 2x4)

The One in which: There is new kind of mayor in the City and the Canary is revealed.

27, Written by: Andrew Kreisberg, Wendy Mericle, Directed by: Eagle Egilsson

42. Moonshot (Legends of Tomorrow 2x14)

The One in which: Ray walks on the Moon and Martin sings.

30, Written by: Grainne Godfree, Directed by: Kevin Mock

41. All Star Team Up (The Flash 1x18)

The One in which: The Atom comes to Central City.

18, Written by: Grainne Godfree, Kai Yu Wu, Directed by: Kevin Tancharoen

 40. The Reverse Flash Returns (The Flash 2x11)

The One in which: Eobard returns for the first time.

34, Written by: Aaron and Todd Helbing, Directed by: Michael Allowitz

 39. Flashpoint (The Flash 3x1)

The One in which: Barry lives in an alternate reality.

47, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Brooke Roberts, Directed by: Jesse Warn

38. Doomworld (Legends of Tomorrow 2x16)

The One in which: The World is wrong.

Written by: Ray Utarnachitt, Sarah Hernandez, Directed by: Mairzee Almas

37. Enter Flashtime (The Flash 4x15)

The One in which:A catastrophe is immanent.

84, Written by: Todd Helbing, Sterling Gates, Directed by: Greogry Smith

36. Infantino Street (The Flash 3x22)

The One in which: Barry recruits Leonard to save Iris.

68, Written by: Andrew Kreisberg, Grainne Godfree, Directed by: Michael Allowitz

35. Pilot (Superman & Lois 1x1)

The One in which: Martha Kent dies.

1, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Todd Helbing, Directed by: Lee Toland Krieger

34. Aruba (Legends of Tomorrow 2x17)

The One in which: There are multiple legends and even more Eobards.

33, Written by: Phil Klemmer und Marc Guggenheim, Directed by: Rob Seidenglanz

33. Pilot (The Flash 1x1)

The One in which: Barry Allen is struck by lightning.

1, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Geoff Johns, Directed by. David Nutter

32. Fellowship of the Spear (Legends of Tomorrow 2x15)

The One in which: Tolkien helps.

31, Written by: Keto Shimizu, Matthew Maala, Directed by: Ben Bray

31. Flashback (The Flash 2x17)

The One in which: Barry goes back to Season 1.

40, Written By: Aaron Helbing, Todd Helbing, Directed By: Alice Troughton

30. The Last Temptation of Barry Allen Part 1 (The Flash 6x7)

The One in which: Ramsey offers Barry salvation.

121, Written By: Jonathan Butler, Gabriel Garza, Directed By: Chad Lowe

29. The Once and Future Flash (The Flash 3x19)

The One in which: Barry goes to the Future.

65, Written by: Carina Adly MacKenzie, Directed By: Tom Cavanagh

28. The Adventures of Supergirl (Supergirl 2x1)

The One in which: Supergirl and Superman team up.

21, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Jessic Queller, Directed by: Glen Winter

27. Nora (The Flash 5x1)

The One in which: Nora says hello to her parents.

93, Written By: Todd Helbing, Sam Chalsen, Directed by: David McWhirter

26. The Brave and the Bold (Arrow 3x8)

The One in which: Team Flash visits Starling City.

54, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim, Grainne Godfree, Directed by: Jesse Warn

[lesser-mook]

My Adventures with Lois-Chan season 2 (I see what they're trying to do with Kara Snore-El, the question is how far are they going to take it? And will they commit or just play it safe despite how serious the topic is?)

They're trying to pull a X-23/Cassie Cain/Iron-Giant/ Son of Darkseid with this one.

First glance it looks like promise, but what's going to make or break this decision is what they do after the fact.

Keywords: "-AFTER the fact"

What exactly are you going to do with the fact that she's committed genocide?

And it's very unlikely Brainiac wouldn't just mindwipe her entirely, so that obedience mode she enters isn't a mode, it's her default state.

Why would he even allow her to keep anything close to a personality, that already doesn't make any sense as it didn't make sense when Supes got brainwashed in Legacy arc in TAS.

But this is Brainiac we're talking about, if anyone has a method to wipe a persons mind clean it's him.

See if they just have her become the usual stock Supertoken/supergirl, cape & all and just go about the script per canon usual then the backstory setup was a total waste and only served to just be edge bait, jangling keys and nothing more. Another waste of potential for this sinkhole of a character.

Now her wanting to be a hero would be a semi-sensible way for her to attempt to "do good" to make up for the wrongs buuuuut this is genocide, saving a cat out of a tree or putting away the same 3 villains isn't going to even begin to make up for that shit.

So I sincerely doubt whatever they do after this is going to be anything close to an appropriate direction for what she did.

See with that said- there's already brewing problems with this. And when I first saw it, I thought "Hm, okay, there's potential here."

Mainly because of how she reacted to the truth, which is the point of her emoting, to make you sympathize.

Sidenote: I can't stand Kara as a concept, I make ZERO attempts to hide that, and yes they did the bullshit cousin thing which annoys the shit out of me but they can still do something halfway decent here even if it's mid per the show's usual standard of writing.

Furthermore, even if the execution is shit, i'll give the writers some credit here for introducing her with an (albeit lazy) attempt to make her somewhat interesting though (basically Young Justice S4 all over again), the best way they can give her intrigue is make her "evil" seemingly (always some mind control or conditioning, she's never bad by choice, which defeats the possibility of her being interesting or engaging) and then turn her into an accessory after she is eventually/inevitably turned to the good side.

I don't see why DC is so afraid of making Kara a legit Superman villain or taking risks with this character who desperately needs an overhaul.

Top 5 baddies, calculating, in charge, with a purpose. There's nothing wrong with that, why the fuck does she always have to be a good guy, when the world already has a SUPERMAN? That question never gets brought up more.

When all that happens when she's good is she gets shrouded in the shadow of Superman anyway because despite the attempts of so many writers, she does not possess the impact, themes or narrative/symbolic legitimacy, she literally just exists.

And unlike Batman who can have many protege, Superman's hook initially was being the last Krytonian. So not only does her existence null the impact of Kal's survival in the first place but the world doesn't need two Super-people, it's just redundant.

The only reason why Conner gets a pass is he's the clone gene-baby of Lex and Supes, thus nowhere near as powerful. And the fact that he's not native to Krypton doesn't in any way negate the impact of Kal's survival narrative.

And the storytelling potential of being both Lex and Superman is a goldmine.

From SB-Prime to Conner, they keep giving the better origins and stories to the male Kryptonians, and DC refuses to shake the formula.

Make that shit make sense to me.

Back on the show, they really shouldn't have made her his cousin, again.

That takes so much agency from her when her stake in the story is being Superman's cousin like the canon, and not just a Kryptonian with her own stake that somehow survived or say she was off on an independent scouting mission as a researcher boom, Argo gone.

And she has her own name. Still a knockoff, still trivializes the original point of Kal's survival but that's an improvement.

It's why Kara In-Ze is a slight improvement that people don't appreciate enough. Though there wasn't enough done with her too.

(Yes, I'm complaining there wasn't enough Supergirl in the DCAU, and I'm the guy that hates Supertoken. BUT to be fair, her lore in the DCAU Timm-verse comics more than makes up for it, so it balances out but her NOT being in JL vs Fatal Five? Unforgiveable)

Overall, the miraculous surviving cousin trope is bad fanfic and again it trivializes Clark surviving at all, hence why I hate Kara's existence. But PLEASE stop using the cousin schtick, allow Kara to stand on her own two goddamn feet for once.

yet again my gripe specific to this show is I don’t think these writers are thinking this through. The one time they take advantage of the “Adult” in the Adult Swim and they overshot their shot with genocide.

I thought: "Oh? This might have potential for this version of the character."

But then I thought, "Wait minute, they're not going to revert her to a normal status quo & put her little ass in a cape and hero suit after showing her doing that shit are they? (though tbh they didn't show her do anything, it's adult swim and they pussied out of showing her actually doing the deed)

-How the fuck is she going to integrate, when she's technically an intergalactic war criminal?"

Now if you gave her legal immunity or some kind of galactic supervision fine, but one of the only legitimate ways to set that up is if Superman asked John or Hal to put in a word or pull strings with the Guardians but a seasoned Justice League (where that possibility would make sense) doesn't even exist- so that prospect is completely null.

See this is what happens when you don't think this shit through, and unfortunately this doesn't get the excuse of being a "kids" show, and it really should be because it's written like one, just not as good as better kids shows.

Because despite My Adventures clearly being written for 13 year old girls/Shoujo fans going through their shipper phase, this tripe is actually on adult swim- for some reason.

(ATLA is also leagues more mature in writing)

Point being: Just edgy backstory is setup, set up can create intrigue but what makes one interesting is what exactly do you do with it, where you take that is what makes a character, that's the ONLY reason why Zuko works as a character, it's the ONLY reason why MCU Tony Stark isn't the worst character in the MCU, somehow.

She better have some serious issues from this beyond just curling up in space with the pouty sad anime girl face, mid.

Don't want her to look too ugly with her bawling her eyes out, snot & shit, because you know-

it's only GENOCIDE, right?

Really that broken up about it huh Kara?

See this is why I cannot stand this show. It's so half assed. And the fact that S2 was lit before Episode 3 of Season 1 dropped is a disgrace before the show could earn the right to continue someone had the connection to get their brain baby 2 seasons before it could prove that it deserved to even finish season 1.

And then by sheer fucking luck Lois-Chan and James just HAPPENED to TP in front of her, are you fucking serious? LMFAO, that's amateur webcomic levels of convenient and that's coming from me.

So not only can't we nor the girl meditate on the previous revelation for a goddamn second and see her deal with it for two minutes alone, and let the mood settle.

Not only is that cut short but they just happened to show up in her lap pretty much.

This title apparently has not changed since I last dropped it like a bad habit. Holy shit.

To wrap this turd sandwich up,

Drug problem, feverish nightmares, violent hallucinations, some kind of serious brutal trauma. Because HELLO? ADULT SWIM, maybe use that to your advantage writers? Use it to your benefit with some serious storytelling, HELLO? Goofballs.

You wanted Kara here, just like I predicted since Season 1 Episode fucking 2 (Because DC/WB can't get over their Kara boner and neglect to give other better lady characters in DC time to breathe *cough cough, where's Starfire's Show? Headass!??!)

Well now she's here, now do something with her or keep doing what you've been doing and just set her up...aaand then she crashes and burns into obscurity. Like she's been doing for the a past 30+ years.

I'd settle for her not becoming a "Superhero" and living her own life figuring how to cope with what she did, saving people on the side.

Or? For a better take if we skip tween shit and just debut her as a grownass woman like Smallville did to an extent.

Be like Victoria or Valora-El and have her be a Supe in a position of infrastructural status where she can make another brand of difference that isn't just sloppy seconds of what Superman is already doing. ie. Being a redundant character in deed and name.

Anything less or to the contrary is cop-out, and yet another example waste of potential, which is a classic fate for Supergirl.

If she killed a few people, okay still bad, but it's doable, but multiple GENOCIDE?

I repeat: MULTIPLE GENOCIDE?!

Ohhhh buddy. These writers better hope they know what they're doing pal. Not me hoping they know what they're doing-

No THEY better hope THEY (guys/& gals/writers) know what they're doing.

Cause this can easily go messy mode if they don't treat this with the appropriate care. Jfc.

And yes, I have pitched many times to make her dark, but that was the make her Superman villain permanently, clearly that isn't their agenda here.

The difference is, I would've had her be a recurring Top 5 Superman foe. Not some superpowered "uwu kawaii" girl next door gimmick who's stake in the fandom is exactly that or being a female superman DLC vs her actually being taken seriously for once in her history.

See she has stans, she has fans, she has cool moments (MOMENTS, keyword) but does anyone truly take her seriously? But she gets all this goddamn push.

One can try to argue that her having memories of Krypton makes her pain & anger stemming from that sort of interesting, not really-

her concept is the same as Superboy-Prime's origin but for her: without everything that made him iconic- his mental issues, his very real, very realistic ramification of a teenager losing too much, too soon all at once. Intrigue, something was actually done with the fact that he was traumatized, and it wasn't backtracked, it was expanded upon for better and worse.

And in the end, bro saved everyone, and I mean EVERYONE. And nobody will EVER know it was him- why? Because he doesn't deserve the glory, but he was owed a chance to live the life he had before it was snatched from him.

He didn't deserve happiness after what he did, but he finally did right and was rewarded happiness.

That's the kind of shit that deserves to be in a show.

And he was manipulated on top of that, sort of like Kara is manipulated by Brainy here.

But it's likely not going to lead anywhere beyond her siding with Clark-Kun and beating Brainiac, saturday morning kidz cartoon shit.

Point being: People like her profile because she looks appealing, a concept of a female superman, female Kryptonian is a nice thought. Female, that's the gimmick.

She's always had potential, but it's always played safe or backtracked. Now we have her being a genocide puppet, which is a nice set up but the likely outcome is they'll sweep it or go the usual Sueprgirl route despite what she did.

I sincerely hope they do NOT do that, that is the wrong move.

A lot of people (including me sometimes) don't truly understand the gravity of genocide when they want to use it for a character's narrative, it makes for a good hook I get it-especially when the character regrets it or is a villain like Omni-Man.

Or as a premise.

But a lot of writers don't want to commit to how big a deal that shit is in ramifications but want to flaunt it just for the sake of tugging heart strings when the character gets in their feels over it.

My charge is specifically: What are the ramifications for the character's humanity, their mental state, them as a person, how they view themselves, will she want to end her own life over this?

That's the kind of shit i'm talking that would make her leagues beyond in depth over the majority of her other variants (including her canon) in terms of depth, beyond the female superman gimmick, beyond the nepotism factor that Kara owes her entire career to.

But again I doubt they have the balls to go that far, even though that's exactly what they NEED to do given this is a situation involving a one-woman genocide.

That's why Invincible Season 1 Episode 8 is so good, EP3 was more of a spectacle we didn't think too much of Nolan wiping out that planet but when it happened to Earth, seeing that mother & daughter die, you feel that shit. It makes you feel how serious that shit is. When you watch reactions to the episode, people physically cringe are distraught by it. GOOD, that's the right way to present it, because it's not a joke.

My Adventures with Kara-Chan Reads like a "look, aren't they so tortured? Are you sympathizing with the cute girl yet?", nah man. You need to do a lot more than just show her cringing with "shocked anime girl" face:

(That's what she looked like, like she sent her term paper to the wrong email address "Nooooo, i couldn't, i don't remember", Wow i'm really choked up about this along with you sister. Such a stale performance, Iron Giant showed more emotion when he thought Hogarth died.)

How the fuck you get out acted/Emotioned by a goddamn Robot who managed to cry without shedding a tear.

Again, WB feels the absolute need to push this underwhelming nothing character over and over again just for her to meet the same brick wall because the general demo? Contrary to popular belief, doesn't give a shit about Supertoken.

She works in concept, but she has zero staying power.

Most people like her because she's an aesthetic, a gimmick, a checked box, like Mid-Morales. They look nice on paper, they're a nice thought, they look great on design sheets. What they represent vs not what they are. Most People like what they are, than who they are. Not all, most.

But this attempt at Kara? Depending on what they do as of post Season 2 EP6, even if the aftermath is mid (and it likely will be mid) at least do something dynamic or risky with that set up, just tragic backstory isn't enough.

Fact is, to wipe out that many people?

Writers better deliver on that shit & make her 2% the interesting/ complex character Azula was in terms of issues, or Guts.

Because they're doing this cutesy anime shit, the same shit they've done with Lois but with Kara it's the strict tsundere who's not privy to norms schtick.

So basically Starfire just more "hmph" frowny faces, it's so goddamn annoying how hard they're trying with this anime aesthetic bullshit but not trying hard enough with literally everywhere else that matters.

It's amazing that that's the main thing that's consistent since Season 1 lmfao.

Not holding my breath, but we'll see where they go with this latest attempt with Kara Bore-El.

Sidenote: Reiner wasn't handled the best overall but him developing lite Schizophrenic symptoms out of guilt due to the many friends he betrayed to accomplish his mission was actually a sound decision, one of best in the story because that's actually doing something with the guilt, now did Isayama commit to taking it to a fine conclusion, ofc not, but that was a good direction to go in that wasn't expected. I'll praise that much.

That wouldn’t be a bad direction for this version of Kara Bore-El, a believable ramification.

They should’ve made her into a villain instead

Instead of the lazy as fuck “oh it wasn’t her fault, brainwashed victim” excuse, which is just having your cake and eating it too. Taking 100% agency from her but you get to show her doing evil stuff, that’s convenient.

At least with her choosing to be a villain- this way she has some agency in this genocide situation and the writers would have dodged a bullet.

Why? They wouldn’t have to justify anything as much in terms of trauma if she chose to be a genocidal overlord to begin with. Boom.

There's a better conflict, and Super-Kun would have a legitimate enemy.

But they’re trying to paint her as a victim via brainwashing, so now they just made more work for themselves and they’re not off to a good start with addressing it, because her reaction was so lackluster.

This show since the beginning has been nothing but half-assed, it’s the one thing that’s consistent about it: The mid.

But at the very least, the show means well. That's the best thing I can say about it even now, it's garbage but it means well.

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

The Superman Logs

You will believe a nerd can write...kinda.

Listed below are the links to my insane ramblings about the Man of Steel, the Last Son of Krypton, the Man of Tomorrow: Superman. To be specific, this began with an essay series on what I would do with a Superman film, were I given the reins to the DC Cinematic Universe instead of James Gunn. And from there, it sort of exploded. Feel free to start with the film essay series, or go ahead and check out the smaller essays on characters or films/series reviews and retrospectives. This is expanding all the time, but beware before you enter. This shit is LONG, real nerdy, and just generally a lot. But if you DO read anything presented here...well, thanks, I really, genuinely appreciate it. Hopefully you enjoy the ride!

My DC Cinematic Universe: Superman

Part I: Why I Love Superman Part II: On Lois Lane Part III: The Kents Part IV: The 'Rents Part V: The...Frendts? Part VI: Lex Luthor Part VII: The Real Villains Part VIII: Superman's Rogues Gallery Part IX: The Story - Act One Part X: The Story (Acts Two and Three) Part XI: The Story - Climax Part XII: Hope... Part XIII: For The Future

Reviews and Retrospectives

Epilogue: My Adventures With Superman My Adventures With Superman: S2, Episodes 1 - 3

More coming soon!

Character Essays

Character Essay: Mr. Mxyzptlk

More coming soon!

[itsupermanti]

My Hero Superman AU; Reign of the Multiversal Supermen by @itsupermanti, Part 1(Prologue) Superman; Man of Steel

(Artwork by SkrubPhace on Deviantart)

We open up with a clear view of the Musutafu skyline in Japan.

Superman(voice over): My name is Hisashi Midoriya, I was born Kal-El on the planet Krypton.

A man in a red and blue costume wearing a cape with a golden “S” symbol on it is seen flying amongst the buildings in the city. This is Hisashi Midoriya, Kal-El of Krypton.

Superman(voiceover): I was sent to Earth as an infant by my birth parents, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van to save me from Krypton’s destruction. I was adopted by Josuke and Chiyo Shuzenji, who raised and loved me as there own son.

Superman(voiceover, as a thug uses their quirk to set a building on fire while fighting the pro hero Deatharms): They taught me right from wrong, and that EVERYONE mattered. Even when it became apparent that I was different from everyone else. That I was stronger.

Superman(voiceover, as he flies in and puts out the fire with his ice-breath): More POWERFUL than everyone else. After learning of my origin, I realized that I could help others, show them a better way.

Superman(voiceover, while subduing the thug with his super speed): I could lead by example.

Superman(voiceover, as the police place quirk dampening cuffs on the thug and crowd of civilians and news reporters swarm him): Instead of showing everyone what someone as powerful as me COULD do…

Superman(voiceover, as he smiles warmly at everyone): I show them what someone as powerful as me SHOULD do.

Superman(voiceover, as he slowly starts floating into the sky as he tells everyone to have a great day, with Deatharms glaring at him for showing him up as a vigilante): This is why I stand as Earth’s Champion, why I’m the one that people chose to call…

Superman(voiceover, as he is shown flying towards UA): SUPERMAN, MAN OF STEEL, the Symbol of Hope.

Hisashi is seen flying over the gates of UA, with many students crowding at the windows and looking up from their places in various the training grounds, trying to get a clear look of him as he flies by.

He approaches one of the more heavily reinforced training gyms before setting down, and walking in. As he enters, we see that the gym is currently in use both two people, both moving so fast they only appear as blurs to normal with, albeit one of the blurs is also leaving behind trails of lightning.

The two blurs stop to reveal themselves as two grown men.

Superman(voiceover, as the first of the two men is shown): Toshinori Yagi, known to the public as All Might. He was Nana Shimura’s other protege, the one she didn’t tell about her connection to me. He was the one who inherited the quirk One for All from her. When I retired, he assumed the role I used to have. A symbol of peace, unfortunately peace doesn’t always last…He was gravely injured in a fight against All for One, and lost a large portion of his stomach.

Superman(continuing his voiceover, as he turn to the other man): Tensei Iida, he’s an old friend of mine, he worked alongside me, Inko, Enji, and Haruto, among others to protect people from secret threats that were too big for a group of normal Pros to handle themselves, no matter how powerful their quirks were. His family’s engines allow him to tap into a pocket dimension he discovered called the speedforce. Normally the engines in his body allows him to run as fast as a racecar, but with the speedforce, he could outrun light itself, and vibrate his body at various frequencies to pull off a lot of things. When I retired, he lost his speedforce connection and assumed the family name of Ingenium. He got injured while confronting the Hero Killer, Stain. He’s experience helped him come close to stopping him, but Stain used his quirk on Tensei and nearly killed him, leaving him paralyzed.

Superman(as he walks over to them): These two men were both injured to the point that they normally would’ve never been able to help others ever again. That is, if I didn’t help them.

Superman(speaking out loud): I see that you two have recovered alright.

All Might(turns to him): That is correct!

All Might(voiceover as a flashback is shown of him being operated on using Kryptonian technology): Thanks to your alien technology, Recovery Girl was able to replace nearly my entire missing stomach!

Tensei(speeding next to Hisashi in a blur of lightning): And thanks to that “Speed Formula” Jor-El came up with, I was able to restore my Speedforce connection.

(Flashback)

Tensei is shown sitting in a wheelchair, with he old teammates, Hisashi, Inko, Enji, and Haruto standing behind him alongside his younger brother Tenya, for support as he begins to recite the “Speed Formula” he was given.

Tensei(flashback): 3X2(9YZ)4A!

Tensei is then seen being struck by lightning, causing his Tenya to begin panicking, only for a blur to run out of the clearing smoke. It is shown that the ruined wheelchair was the only thing left. The blur stops in front of Tenya, revealing itself to be Tensei, who has regained the use of his legs thanks to the Speedforce’s gift of speed healing.

(Flashback end)

Tensei(excited): Not only have I regained the use of my legs, but I regained ALL of my old abilities!

Hisashi(smiling at his old friend): You just gave yourself a mental block after my “death”, you limited your ability to use the speedforce. My father was able to create the Speed Formula after we ran a scan on Tenya while he was running. The formula only acted as an amplifier for your connection, allowing you to heal.

Tensei(shocked): You mean?

Hisashi(nods his head): You never lost your Speedforce connection, you just thought you did, but your engines kept you connected to it, even Tenya could learn to access it.

Tensei(smirking): Well regardless…

Tensei pulls out a golden ring with a lightning bolt symbol on it, and press a hidden button on it. A red and gold costume pops out of it. Tensei grabs the costume and became a red and gold blur of lightning as he puts it on at superspeed.

Flash(wearing the Injustice Flash costume, with special slots for the engines on his arms): The Flash lives again!

Toshinori(shrinking down, but looking much bigger and healthier than before, matching Hisashi’s own physique): And I can now properly maintain my muscle form!

Hisashi(turning to Toshinori): My father figured that your “Muscle Form” is the result of a Meta Gene activating in your body as a way to allow you to safely use One for All.

Hisashi(as a figure is seen walking up behind him): Your Meta Gene allowed your body to safely adapt to One for All’s energy, and now you can assume that form whenever you’d like, regardless of the fact you don’t have access to One for All’s stockpiled energy anymore.

???(talking up from behind Hisashi): Which is perfect.

Three men turn around to see a lanky, scrawny man wearing a suit and glasses, with dark green hair that has a yellow streak along his bangs. This is Toshinori’s former sidekick, Sir Nighteye, and he appears to be glaring at the Man of Steel and the Fastest Man Alive.

Superman pinched his nose and suppresses a groan as Nighteye approaches, already having an idea of what the man will say.

Nighteye(maintaining his glare on Superman): Japan needs All Might, especially now that YOU and your friends have caused new stronger threats to emerge.

Toshinori(trying to reason with the pro): Mirai please. According to Endeavor, these new threats have always been here.

Toshinori(gesturing to Superman and Flash): They simply kept them hidden from the public to prevent mass panic.

Nighteye(still glaring at Superman): Then why didn’t he decide to share his technology with the world? We could’ve healed you sooner, then you wouldn’t have had to pass on One for All!

Nighteye: Hell, we could’ve killed All for One already!

Superman(glaring right back): WE don’t kill.

Nighteye(taken aback): Excuse me? But this is the real world! Sacrifices have to be made!

Superman(maintaining his glare): My team and I only resort to ending a life as an absolutely last resort. We always try to find ways to subdue and contain a threat first.

Nighteye(glaring right back): Then why not work WITH the Hero commission? Think of how much more you cou-

Superman(interrupting him): And have them treat us like weapons? Face it, you’re just another soldier in their ever growing army! Toshinori’s different, he’ll save as many lives as he can or die trying.

Nighteye(getting frustrated, and shrugging off Toshinori when he placed his hand on his shoulder): LIKE YOUR SON?!?! HE NEARLY RUINED MY INVESTIGATION OF THE EIGHT PRECEPTS BECAUSE HE REFUSED TO LET ME ASK QUESTIONS TO THE GIRL!!!

Superman(eyes glowing): THAT “GIRL” IS MY GRANDDAUGHTER!!! AND YOU WANTED TO INTERROGATE HER OVER HER TRAUMATIC PAST, A PAST WE HELPED HER MOVE ON FROM!!!

Nighteye: YOU ALL NEARLY RUINED MY MOVE AGAINST OVERHAUL!!!

Flash(speaking up): YOU NEARLY DIED AGAINST HIM!!! INKO AND SUPERBOY SAVED YOU WHEN THEY CONFRONTED CHISAKI FOR WHAT HE DID TO AN INNOCENT LITTLE GIRL!!!

Nighteye was about lash out on the speedster as well, until a voice spoke up from behind them.

Nezu(from his place on Inko’s shoulder): I suggest you take your leave, Sasaki, NOW. Or do you really WANT young Eri’s family to make you wish for death?

Wonder Woman glares at Nighteye for everything he said to her husband, ESPECIALLY concerning Eri, with lightning coursing in her eyes.

Nighteye(turns and starts leaving, and glares at them over his shoulder): Fine, side with the alien vigilante! Just don’t expect me to EVER help him!

Toshinori(turning to the couple): I’m sorry about him, he gets stubborn whenever he’s proven wrong. Especially since he learned that Young Eri is able to use One for All better than any other user before her.

Wonder Woman(turning to him with her eyes back to normal): You don’t need to apologize for him, he’ll see he’s wrong, eventually…

Flash(addressing Nezu): Did you need anything sir?

Nezu: Why yes actually! Please, follow us.

———

The heroes and principal arrive at a UA testing ground that appears to contain various odd looking pieces of technology being inspected by specialists. Upon a closer look, Flash realizes that they are familiar with this technology.

Tensei(worried): This is Intergang’s Apokoliptian tech! What’s it doing here?

One of the detectives overseeing the inspections hear this, and begins walking over, revealing themselves as Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, aka True Man, All Night’s trusted friend in the police force.

Naomasa(explaining): We confiscated all this during a joint raid on an Intergang base with assistance from Green Lantern and Endea-sorry, Batman’s help.

Naomasa(gesturing to all the tech): Enji instructed us not to take any of this to the Commission, so we brought it here to be analyzed and catalogued before Haruto would transport it off planet to Oa.

Naomasa(scratching the back of his head over the last bit of his statement): I’m still processing the fact that a well known vigilante has actually been a space cop this entire time.

Toshinori(raising an eyebrow): Then why did Nezu come get us?

Another detective walks up to them, slowly changing shape until they had green skin, And red eyes, with a blue and red costume. This is the Detective John Jotaro/J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter.

J’onn: I was the one who sent for you.

Hisashi(offering his hand): It’s good to see you again J’onn

J’onn(shaking his hand and accepting a hug from Inko): Likewise, but I called for you because we are best suited to handle this any situation that may arise during this inspection.

Tensei(curious): Then where are Haruto and Enji?

J’onn: They are currently on their way to retrieve Orin so we can have the whole League on-site.

Inko(smiling): This might be the first time the whole League will be together for a mission since Hisashi and I retired.

Toshinori(confused alongside Naomasa): Who’s Orin, and what do you mean by the “League”?

Tensei(turns to them while pulling his cowl off with a smile): Whenever we would all meet up and work together, we all agreed that if anyone ever saw us working together, we would introduce ourselves as the Justice League.

Nezu(grinning): You paid homage to the Justice Society!

Hisashi(smiling): Yes, they were my inspiration growing up. I knew that I was powerful, but I recognized that I still had limits and after a talk with Nana, she inspired me to put together a team, so that we can help each other with threats none of us could handle alone.

Inko(continuing): We each have our specialty in the group, with a unique background. Orin is Aquaman, the King of Atlantis.

Naomasa+Toshinori(shocked): ATLANTIS IS REAL?!?!

Their shouts stun some of the detectives and specialists as they’re working, making them stop to process what they just heard. They then decide to keep working and deal with that information later.

Nezu(claps his hands together): How exciting! To think that such an ancient civilization still exists to this day!

Eraserhead(walks onto the field with Class 1-A, confused by all the equipment): What the hell is going on here?

Eraserhead(looking around): We were going to hold some training exercises here! What is all this stuff?!

Powerloader(walking up while pushing a cart full of teach): This is alien tech confiscated from an Intergang base, we’re analyzing and cataloging everything before Green Lantern takes it off world.

Powerloader(looking at the rest of the tech): I’d stay away from here, we’re still not sure what everything here does yet.

Shinso(wearing his new archer gear as Green Arrow, mumbling to himself): Of course it’s alien tech…

Momo+Midoriya Siblings: Hey, we resent that!

Nezu(hopping into Eraserhead’s scarf): Actually, the class can help make the process go along much faster!

Nezu(addressing the class): As a hero, you could all find yourselves helping perform tasks such as this in order to help minimize possible risks.

Superman(voiceover as the class and Justice League members present begin helping catalog the alien tech): Everything seemed to be going well at first.

Superman(voiceover as Izuku and Eri are shown lifting large crates while being guided by Ochaco into a stack of tech ready to be transported): Nothing out of the ordinary…

Superman(as Shouto and Momo are seen performing scans on some of the tech while Kota makes a list of them): Everything was going along smoothly…

Superman(as the rest of the class are seen helping the researchers present): We should have known that something bad was going to happen.

Superman(as Bakugo was shown picking up a device, only for it to zap him): Especially with Katsuki involved in hero training that ISN’T combat training…

Bakugo(screaming in pain): DAMNIT!!!

Bakugo(looking down at the device, before throwing it down): STUPID PIECE OF ALIEN TECH!!!

Powerloader(trying to stop him): WAIT, DON’T!!!

However as soon as the device hits the ground it begins sparking, before it begins pulsing and producing a booming sound!

Naomasa(concerned): What’s happening?!

Manhunter(explaining): That’s a motherbox! Haruto said that it got hit and damaged during the raid!

Powerloader(turning to Bakugo): Why would you throw a piece of malfunctioning alien tech unto the ground?!

Bakugo(annoyed): Stupid thing’s probably won’t even work any-

Bakugo is caught off as the motherbox shoots beams into the sky across the city that begin expanding into portals.

Bakugo(with everyone staring at him for being an idiot): -way?

All Might(assuming his muscle form): What’s it doing?

Flash(putting his cowl back on): It’s opening boom tubes!

Wonder Woman(summoning her sword and shield): Get ready for anything!

As the portals stabilize, human looking figures can be seen coming out of each. They each appeared to be wearing a costume of some kind with cape. They’re all also hovering in the air after they exit their respective portals.

But the most discerning feature to note, is that many of them appear to have glowing red eyes.

A muscular man with white hair, wearing a red and white costume with no sleeves and metal bracers coming out of the portal above the city outskirts: What the hell just happened?!

A man in a red and white costume with graying hair and a mustache, a symbol that looks like an “O” in downtown Musutafu: Where are we?!

A teenager wearing a black, yellow and blue costume that came with the previous man: I don’t know dad!

A child sized figure wearing a demonic looking mask with a red cape, above the rural parts of the city: I’LL TAKE THIS WORLD!!!

A blonde man wearing a red and blue costume, with eagle shaped shoulder pads and a cape that looks like the American flag, above the Musutafu News’ Building: WHAT THE F*#^?!?!

A muscular old man with long gray hair, coming out on Dagobah beach, catching his breath: What did you do, Brandon?

A young man with brown hair, wearing a a blue and silver costume with a red cape, hovering over the mountains near the city: You can’t get away that easily father, we were meant to be gods!

A man with black hair and curl on his front bang, wearing a red and blue costume with a “U” symbol on his chest, addressing the group that came with him, in the remains of what used to be the League of Villains’ bar: Another world for us to conquer, let’s wait and see who stands in our way before proceeding, shall we?

A blond man wearing a black and yellow costume, with a blue cape and a yellow glowing “S” on his belt, putting his hands up to keep a group of people away from him with a scared look on his face: Stay away from me! I don’t want to hurt anyone!

A familiar looking teenager wearing a black and red costume with silver lining, with a red cape, and a familiar “S” shield and a grin on his face, in the forest surrounding the city, seeing all the people come out of the portals using his powers: This should be fun…

And lastly at the portal at the UA testing ground;

A blonde man wearing a red and black costume with an odd three pointed silver symbol on his chest, looking down on them: Who are you people?

His eyes start glowing: IS THIS ANOTHER TRICK TO IMPRISON ME?!?!?!

Superman(hovering in front of him): Just calm sir.

Superman(holding his hands out in a calming manner): Just tell us who you are, and we can help you.

Mystery Man(glaring at him): I’M THE PLUTONIAN!!!

Plutonian(shooting his beams at Hisashi): NOW WHY DON’T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!?!

The beam seemingly hits Hisashi right in his face. The now named Plutonian keeps firing his beam, expecting the man in front of him to start burning, only for his beam to be pushed back by Superman’s own. The Plutonian’s eyes widen at seeing someone with his abilities, before he is tackled out the air by All Might, Shazam, and Supergirl.

Plutonian(getting madder): GET OFF OF ME!!!

He throws them off of him before he gets pushed into a wall by the Flash.

Flash(charging the Speedforce into the engines on his arms as they dispel huge bursts of flames with lightning): SPEEDFORCE BLITZ!!!

Tensei then begins delivering a flurry of punches much faster than what All Might could ever hope to accomplish in his prime. He then delivers a final punch strong enough to punch the man through the wall.

Wonder Woman(addressing the students and Eraserhead): Get everyone to safety, we’ll try and contain him!

As the students start getting all the specialists and detectives to safety, the Plutonian charges back through the hole he was punched through and attempts to grab Tensei by the neck, only for him to phase through his hand and disappear in a flash of lightning, helping evacuate the training ground, as the security alarms start going off.

The Plutonian is then slashed by Inko’s sword, resulting in him bleeding from a wound on his chest, making his eyes widen.

Plutonian(shocked): You actually hurt me?!

Plutonian(telekinetically pushing everyone back): NO ONE HURTS ME!!!

As he is pushing back the heavy hitters, he fails to notice an arrow flying towards his face until it explodes and releases a burst of sticky goop on his eyes distracting him.

Plutonian(trying to pull the goop off of his eyes): ARGH!!!

Green Arrow(notching another arrow): This was definitely a better motif to go with.

Batman(pulling out batarangs along with Robin): GET HIM!!!

Superboy, Supergirl and Uravity tackle Plutonian as he manages to get the goop out of his eyes, forcing him to the ground using their combined telekinesis’ and gravity manipulation to force him down.

Supergirl(eyes glowing): JUST STAY DOWN!!!

Superman(charging in to help keep him down along with Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter): Keep him down!

Superboy(feeling a force building up against their own): Wait, STAY BACK!!!

Superboy(reinforcing Ochaco’s defense with his telekinesis): HE’S TELEKINETIC!!!

However his warning comes to late, and the enraged Plutonian manages to send the two parents and their daughter flying off him, sending Ochaco through a wall, Eri into a container of Intergang tech, and Izuku straight up into space.

Superman(voiceover as Denki goes rushing in): Who is this guy?!

Superman(voiceover as Shazam and Troy start raining down blows with magical lightning and enchanted weapons): His powers are similar to a Kryptonian’s, but according to Izuku their telekinetic.

Superman(voiceover as he flies in to land a punch after Denki and Mina were pushed back): And his symbol doesn’t match any Kryptonian family.

Superman(voiceover as he grabs the Plutonian, keeping him in place): So WHERE did he come from?!

As Superman struggles to keep his opponent in place, he suddenly loses his hold as Plutonian was hit by one of the empty containers that was telekinetically thrown by Supergirl.

Plutonian(realization dawning on him as he glares at Eri): You’re just like me!

Supergirl: Yeah, but I have backup!

Plutonian suddenly finds himself struck by batarangs that attach to him before emitting sonic blasts, disorienting him and making him fall to the ground.

Robin(pulling out more batarangs and asking Batman and Green Arrow): Think that got him?

Green Arrow(with his bow ready, seeing Plutonian rises from the crater he made): You just had to jinx it kid!

Before the Plutonian could take another step, he was suddenly crushed a green construct of a cargo boat by Green Lantern.

Green Lantern(picking them up in a green bubble): GIVE HIM EVERYTHING!!!

As soon as the Plutonian breaks the construct boat, he is immediately hit with a rapid assault of punches by Manhunter, Flash and All Might and is then struck by lightning by Shazam and is forced to stay in place as gravity is increased on him by Uravity as Supergirl, Troy and Wonder Woman fly straight at him.

Supergirl+Troy+Wonder Woman(as they all deliver a punch together): PRINCESS IMPACT!!!

The combined punch is strong enough to send the Plutonian flying out of UA completely and into Musutafu.

Superman(hovering into the air): We have to make sure he doesn’t hurt anymore people!

Hisashi takes off after the Plutonian, while on the shores of Dagobah Beach, a green watercraft emerges, before fading away to reveal Haruto Yaoyozoru, the Green Lantern, King Orin of Atlantis, the Aquaman, and Enji Todoroki, the Batman.

Batman(wearing a red and black batsuit, think “Justice League 3000” Batman, stepping unto the beach): Thanks for coming back Orin.

Green Lantern: Yeah, it just wouldn’t feel right without the entire League being back.

Aquaman(addressing his old friends): No need, it was getting boring without any action anyway.

As they walk on the beach heading towards the waterfront, they spot the injured man in a cape that had come out of one of the portals earlier, they run over to check on him.

Aquaman(kneeling down to check on the man): Sir, what happened to you?!

Old Man(slowly catching his breath): My son, he’s being manipulated! Him and a group of other heroes tried to kill me!

Old Man(looking down): All because I ignored my brother’s ramblings that we could be gods.

The group of four then hear a sonic boom as an object is seen being sent into orbit.

Green Lantern(looking at the object): What was that?!

Batman(getting serious): Not sure, but whatever it is, it came from UA.

They then here another sonic boom, and the old man tries to get back up, only to fall down unto his knees.

Old Man(trying to force himself back up): That must be Brandon! I have to stop him!

Aquaman(catching the man as he starts to fall over): Go check it out, I’ll keep an eye on him.

As his two friends leave to investigate, Orin turns back to the old man.

Aquaman: Do you have a name I can call you?

Old Man(confused): You don’t know who I am?

Aquaman(raising an eyebrow): Should I?

Old Man: I’m the Utopian.

Aquaman(confused): Who?

Meanwhile, within Earth’s upper atmosphere, Izuku manages to catch and stop himself from the knock back of Plutonian’s telekinetic push.

Superboy(shaking his head to clear it): Okay, so he’s a strong telekinetic…

Superboy(eyes glowing with power): But I’m a stronger one.

Izuku then rockets back down to earth, igniting as he re enters the atmosphere, at around Mach 7.

The Plutonian is seen having crash landed in the middle of Downtown Musutafu. He recovers quickly, and with a roar of anger, he pushes aside the debris of the crater he landed in, only to be called out by a young voice.

???:Hey!

The Plutonian turns around to be greeted by the sight of a teenager in a yellow, blue and black costume, wearing a mask and what appears to be an “i” on his chest, hovering before him.

Plutonian(eyes glowing): AND WHO ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE?!?!

???: I’m Invincible!

Invincible(flying straight at the Plutonian): And I’m stopping-

However, before Invincible is able to land a hit, a red, and blue blur shoots down from the sky and nails the Plutonian into the ground!

Superman(pushing Plutonian down): Remember me?

Superman(turns to Invincible): I suggest you leave son, this man is out of your league!

Invincible(confused): Who are you?!

Superman(smiling): A friend.

???: Is that so?

A red and white blur then flies straight at Hisashi and pushes him off the Plutonian.

???(stopping in the air to reveal the man with graying hair that was with Mark earlier): Any chance YOU were the one that brought us here?

Invincible(shocked): Dad, what are you doing?!

Omniman(turning to his son): Getting some answers!

As Hisashi recovers, he is suddenly hit by a beam of heat vision that barely even affects him. Looking up he sees a blond man with an American flag cape looking at him stunned.

Homelander: WHAT THE F*#^?!?!?! HOW DID YOU SURVIVE THAT?!?!

Hisashi then picks up an object flying straight for him and uses his superspeed to dodge aside, avoiding the demonic looking child.

Superman(voiceover): Another one?! Who are these people?

Superman(voiceover, as he spots the approaching Omniman): They must of come through the portals as well!

Superman(raising his hands in a calming manner): Listen, there was an accident with a piece of alien tech, it opened portals across the city and pulled you all through.

Superman: If you all just calm down, we can help you get back to where you came from.

Homelander(eyes glowing with anger): NO ONE TELLS ME WHAT THE F*#% TO DO!!!

Brightburn(eyes glowing with a growl): TAKE THE WORLD!!!

Omniman(glaring at him): And why should we listen to you?!

The Plutonian then fully recovers and heads straight for Superman, only to be intercepted by a red and blue blur coming straight from the sky crashing down on him!

Superboy(eyes and hands glowing with telekinetic power): Stand down, NOW!!!

Plutonian(pushing Izuku off of him): Make me kid!

(Cue “One Hundred Percent” by Brandon Yates)

As Superboy does battle with the Plutonian, Homelander and Brightburn charge at Superman, with Invincible scolding his father.

Invincible(scolding his father): I told you, even though you’re from earlier in our timeline, I won’t just let you pick fights with people!

Omniman(annoyed): I’m just trying to get us some answers!

Invincible(throwing his hands in the air): Fine! Go get them, see how well that goes for you!

As Omniman joins in fight against Superman, All Might arrives alongside Wonder Woman, Shazam, Supergirl, Troy and Uravity along with the Flash, as they begin getting everyone to safety as a News Helicopter begins reporting the mayhem.

Meanwhile, Elsewhere;

A man with orange red hair(who happens to look A LOT like Dr Doofensmirtz) is watching the News report and sees the battle that is occurring. This is the Quirk supremest, Re-Destro.

New Reporter(on-screen): We can see Superman and most of the Justice League engaging these mystery men, with assistance from heroes-in-training Superboy, Uravity, Shazam, Troy, and the third Green Lantern as well as All Might and the young controversial Supergirl.

News Reporter(as Re-Destro begins making a call): This battle can only be described as a “Clash between Supermen”.

Re-Destro(as soon as his call is answered): Activate him.

Re-Destro(as a man with mechanical parts connected to cables is shown, wearing the symbol of Superman on his chest): Its time our TRUE leader made a comeback!

As soon as the order is given, the man opens his eyes to reveal a menacing red glow.

Meanwhile, Batman and Green Lantern are seen approaching downtown when they spot a red and yellow blur passing by them and leaving civilians behind. The blur then stops to reveal Tensei who spots them approaching him.

Batman(with a serious tone): What’s the situation?

Flash(setting a civilian down): A motherbox malfunctioned and opened portals across the city.

Flash(continuing): Some guys came out of them and they have powers similar to Hisashi’s.

Flash(turning towards the sounds of destruction): We don’t know how many came through.

Green Lantern(landing next to them): I think we ran into one of them on the beach, Orin stayed behind to keep an eye on him.

Batman(turning to Haruto): Go help them protect civilians from getting caught in the crossfire!

As Green Lantern is about to take off towards the battle, the noise of a loud, powerful engine is heard heading towards them, making him pause.

They turns towards the noise and see a jet black sports car, reminiscent of a 2022 Chevy Corvette C8 with a bat emblem on its hood, speed past them.

Flash(confused): Was that a Batmobile?!

Batman(concerned): That was Shouto’s!

Batman(pressing a button on his gauntlet): It’s not equipped to deal with Kryptonians, get going Haruto! I’ll be there as fast as I can!

As Green Lantern flies off, Izuku is seen punching the Plutonian across the face hard enough to make the windows around them shatter from the force.

Plutonian attempts to blast Izuku with his heat vision, only for the beam to seemingly stop in midair, before being caught off all together!

Plutonian(shocked): WHAT THE HELL?!?!

Superboy(punching him across the face): You’re telekinetic…

Superboy(smirking as his eyes glow): But I’m better at using mine.

The Plutonian recoils from the last punch thrown and feels something over his lips. He touches his lip and when he brings his hand away, he sees blood on it. His eyes widen as he realizes that his nose is bleeding from the last punch across the face!

Plutonian(stunned): How?

Superboy: My telekinesis can overpower yours.

Superboy(catching his punch, resulting in the windows around them to shatter): I simply pushed through your personal field, AND RIPPED IT APART!!!

Superboy(pulling him closer and putting him in a full-Nelson hold): I’M ENDING THIS, NOW!!!

Izuku then flies up into the sky fast enough to push back the other fighters around him. His take off pushed Homelander away from Mina and All Might, Brightburn away from Eri and Ochaco, Invincible away from Denki, and Omniman away from Hisashi and Inko. They all look up at Izuku as he carries Plutonian up into the air, before firing his heat vision as hot as he can, causing his Solar energy to begin to pour out of his body.

Plutonian(panicking as he feels himself start to fall apart): WAIT, NO!!! STOP!!! I DON’T WANT THIS!!! I WANT TO LIVE!!!

Superboy(looking like a human star): SUPER FLARE!!!

Izuku lights up and explodes like a miniature supernova, nearly blinding most of the people looking at him.

(End song)

Uravity(seeing her boyfriend seemingly explode): IZUKU!!!

Supergirl(punching Brightburn back and flying up to her father): DAD!!!

The batmobile drifts to a stop, with Shouto and Kota stepping out to see the results of Izuku’s super move as the two Green Lanterns arrive.

Robin(spotting something falling from the sky): Is that him?

Batman(taking a closer look): No it’s not.

The object lands in front of the batmobile, revealing it to be a probe of alien origin, with deep scorch marks, leading them to realize just what it was.

Green Lantern(scanning the probe): This probe is like nothing in this universe!

Green Lantern(looking at her father): So you’re saying he was a probe the entire time?

Green Lantern(standing up): He probably developed his own consciousness and reformatted himself into a humanoid form.

Uravity(running up while looking up): But where’s Izuku?!

Supergirl then lands besides them, supporting her father as they touch down. Izuku’s hair and eyes have turned into their natural green color due to jettisoning his store of solar energy.

Homelander(recovering from the show of power he just witnessed): Impossible…I’M SUPPOST TO BE THE STRONGEST!!!

However before Homelander can go charging at the depowered Izuku, a ringing sound begins emitting from all the screens around them, making everyone clutch their ears in pain, before the sound stops and the screens go blank. And an ominous robotic voice is heard from the screens as a words begin appearing.

Voice(echoing and coming from all of the screen displaying what is being said): So-so-so-so-so-so…

Voice(stops echoing): WhAt CaN yOu Do?!

Before anyone can question what is happening, an red, blue, and black blur crashes down from the sky, kicking up a large cloud of dirt as it creates a large impact crater where it landed.

Superman(voiceover): I should’ve known these strange visitors wouldn’t be our only problem…

The smoke clears to reveal a man who resembles Re-Destro, but with cybernetic parts and red and blue armor plating with a chest piece that bares the symbol of the house of El(think New 52 Cyborg Superman/Zor-El).

Superman(voiceover): What did Rikiya do?!

???: Now THIS is truly interesting!

Everyone turns towards this new voice, and are shocked to see another Izuku, wearing a red, black and silver costume(GodFall armor), hovering down.

Izuku?(grinning): Pardon my intrusion…

Izuku?(eyes glowing): But is there room for some “Superboys” in this dance?

As he finishes his question, what appears to be an army of Izuku and Denki look-a-likes begin descending from the sky.

Cyborg Superman(grinning as well): Perfect, this will be the greatest test of my new power!

Cyborg Superman(eyes glowing): The world shall know of the rebirth of Destro!

Superman(voiceover, as the army of Superboys and the Cyborg Superman approach): Things just got a whole lot worse…

To Be Continued…

Stay tuned for Part 2, Superboy; Teen of Steel!

[rebelthree]

@talesfromthevoiid

her entire world had once been uprooted in horrific fashion. sent away in the final days of a planet upon the precipice of destruction. it hadn’t simply been the product of brainiac’s extraction of kandor which had destabilized some of the planet, but also the actions of it’s own people. resources being depleted and arrogance. she understands that now even if kara hadn’t been able to then. krypton’s fate was perhaps the only thing her father and uncle had agreed on for even when she visited her aunt as lara helped kara prepare for her next trials, some topic would arise from jor-el if her father was present. they were not a perfect family, perhaps some set in their ways while also defying convention in others. her father had supported her own view against gene-matching when her mother pushed it and jor-el had sought a natural birth for his son. the house of el had always been party to innovations and rose up in challenge when needed-- like sul-el sounding the alarm of the vrangs to usk-mar or her grandfather setting a new course for the unranked. but jor-el and zor-el had come together to save their children, creating ships for them. she knows kal-el would not remember, he was but a baby, but she does. she remembers everything about those last days. she remembers when she’d been told she had to say goodbye to kal-el. she remembers general zod attacking the law council. she remembers her uncle's death. she remembers the earthquakes and being forced to leave her parents despite her wanting to remain with them. 

it had all come back to kara as zod’s voice had emitted from the television, her watching with bruce after they’d returned from dealing with an incident in the narrows. gotham was still recovering after the flood, a new and idealistic mayor at the helm of the city. there had been hope in the air, air that had been taken away from kara with one message. general zod had come to earth and kal-el was still alive. furthermore zod was searching for him which meant that her cousin had been on earth this entire time while she lived her life in a mansion in gotham believing him to have been lost to her forever. she had failed in the one directive her parents had given her, to find kal-el. she should have looked for kal, should have begged thomas to use his resources to find him like he’d discovered her. but there had been so much anger and pain within her then– there still was at times, the child she had been barely able to contain her powers or understand this world or language let alone search for a baby cousin. and then her earthly parents had been taken just as her birth ones had. in brutal fashion. it felt as if it was a lifetime ago and yet, contrarywise, as if it had been a moment ago. she’d known she had to find him. a dangerous level of trustful conviction within her that had challenged everything bruce had taught her. the automatic way kara suddenly determined to seek to trust another when she had not seen them since they were a baby-- as if a switch had been flicked between kara wayne and kara the kryptonian, kara the cousin because kal-el did not know the true risk that embodied zod, not like she did and kara had felt and almost primal instinct to protect.

kara hadn’t found him before he’d given himself over to the military and then zod and that had granted her time to reevaluate. to allow herself to reign her emotions in, to consider that she did not know kal-el anymore, that she needed to have some level of vigilance. bruce had been a voice of reason to make her see that. and then all hell had broken loose upon them. there had been no time to speak, her introduction to kal-el thrust upon them by zod’s deduction of who she was when she’d entered the fray. kara zor-el. daughter of zor-el, niece of jor-el. she’d fought against zod’s sagitari as kal-el engaged with zod and helped as many innocent bystanders as she could as the battle raged. the hit to wayne enterprises had been an astronomical weight upon her, a weight she had to push down in the moment. she hadn’t been able to save those in the building, but she had been able to save lex @everythingheard even if she knew not what the ramifications of his discovery of who she really was would be. 

batgirl had gotten to the train station in those last moments of zod’s life and kara had felt the loss of what his end brought forth. she had understood his purpose, understood him, in a way perhaps no others of earth could. she understood the compulsion of one’s purpose, how their guild was a part of them, drove them and their actions for many. his purpose had always been to protect kryptonese interests, even if his extreme views had gone far askew just as her aunt astra’s had. he wanted to save their people and she had wanted that too. but she could not sacrifice an entire planet’s lives in the process. kal-el couldn’t either. and, that is perhaps what drives kara’s initial opinion of him. when faced with the impossible, he chose to save the innocent. he embodied their house more than he perhaps realized. it’s this kara considers as her feet touch the ground later that day-- eye mask in place, a few feet from him and away from the destruction, the military, from listening ears. she’d told him a location and he’d come to meet her. “rao-- you look so much like your parents, kal-el.” strange that that’s the first real thing she says to him outside of what was passed between them in the middle of the chaos. and yet, perhaps, it’s the most fitting thing of all for her to point out. 

[mamun258]

Short play 82 Days Later: Crazy Money, Fallen People

At the end of last year, the short drama industry attracted everyone's attention. This business, which can be produced within a few months and then turn over millions of dollars, has attracted more and more people's interest. With the HE Tuber tightening of policies and changes in platform rules, this hot industry has suddenly gone from noisy to silent.

Someone described the skit after the storm: the disappearing colored cake.

Once this sweet and gorgeous cake appears, it often means that a certain short drama has exploded again - the crew will use it at the celebration banquet, and the cream coating will use crude capital letters to announce an amazing news. Box office figures were initially in the hundreds of thousands, then millions, and finally tens of millions were the norm.

This campaign is so fierce that almost everyone can tell you a legendary story or two.

Wang Han, the founder of the short drama company, remembers that a farmer who had previously made jokes in Kuaishou bought a Ferrari by filming the son-in-law short drama, and he became a counterattack short drama. Jiuzhou Culture, which used to be a distributor of online articles, has transformed. Within two years, it has become the leader in the industry through the distribution of short plays. Founder Wang Jiacheng said that in Jiuzhou, the monthly salary of an online writer may exceed 200,000 yuan - comparable to that of an Internet giant. Income of factory executives.

As for the most widely circulated one, it is nothing more than the "100 million in 8 days" short play "Wu Shuang", which is regarded as the most successful short play to date.

As a drama mode, short plays have actually existed for a long time. It's just that no matter how short the short dramas on the long video platform are, they can't escape the "horizontal screen logic" of the past. As for Dou Kuai, they are still trying to figure out how to make money from short plays in the most silky way?

In this crack, the mini program short drama focusing on "direct payment by users" was born in a wild and reckless manner.

A mini program short drama is cut into countless 1-3 second sliced ​​ads, and then placed using the huge traffic pools of Douyin and Kuaishou. Once captured successfully, users click on the link and eventually jump to the WeChat mini program. Achieve rapid consumption within.

During that period, the short drama market was rolling in real time with a box office of 40-60 million yuan every day. This number is quite astonishing - Soochow Securities has predicted that the entire short drama market may exceed 30 billion yuan in 2023, and throughout 2022, the national The movie box office was only 30.067 billion yuan.

With a short cycle, low cost, and quick payback, mini-program dramas seem like a perfect investment with quick payback and high returns. Game companies entered the market strongly. Some MCN companies were still selecting products in Yiwu last year, but this year they went to Hengdian to grab people. Even Chinese teams as far away as Los Angeles have received domestic short drama business.

But now, the cake is gone and the money is quiet. On November 15, 2023, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television announced the launch of a month-long special short drama management work. 2,139 illegal short dramas were banned or removed from the shelves, including a large number of small program dramas.

The money related to short plays was once crazy, but now it is so cautious. When investors hear about rebirth and revenge, they will say, “Don’t show off your wealth.” The boss of the abortion company refused to be interviewed by the media, claiming that he needed to keep a low profile during this period. Until the end, Fengxing Culture, the short drama company that originally created the myth of "Wushuang", came out to clarify to 36 Krypton that "it didn't earn that much money at all."

In the impression of short drama investor Ma Chenggang, after November 15th, he never waited for the news of the launch of his two mini program short dramas. With an investment of more than 600,000 yuan, it was originally scheduled to be released in November. Due to the tightening of policies, the producer's responses have become slower and more vague.

At first, the other party had many reasons. We had to queue up in Hengdian, and the film couldn’t be edited. Nowadays, censorship is strict, and content that shows off wealth needs to be reconsidered. In the end, the producer simply gave in and admitted honestly that there was no short drama platform willing to take over the film. To this day, Ma Chenggang has only received one feature film collection.

From hustle and bustle to silence, skits, one of the loudest industries in the second half of 2023, suddenly pressed the pause button.

Short drama producer Chen Wen told 36Kr that currently more than 90% of short drama producers have died on the road to streaming and supervision. “The final winner must be the traffic platform.”

1. “Opportunities” for ordinary people

For investor Ma Chenggang, his understanding of short dramas started with a slap.

He is in his 40s and is engaged in steel business in a county in Henan. The business has not been doing well in the past two years, and "people around him are looking for opportunities everywhere." One night, he came across a short play by chance, and after paying for it, he found it very interesting. Ma Chenggang took the initiative to find a producer on social media, who told him that he happened to have a short play that was about to start filming in Hengdian.

When he arrived in Hengdian, he caught up with the crew on the first day of filming. The director team and actors were already in place. On that day, facing the camera, the supporting actress suddenly raised her hand and slapped the beautiful heroine with a loud voice.

The "bang" slap also broke Ma Chenggang's trust in the short drama. Having been a businessman for twenty years, in his opinion, being able to abandon dignity and lose face in front of everyone is "not something that ordinary people can do."

After returning to Henan, he quickly registered a film and television company, signed a contract with the other party the next day, and transferred 200,000 yuan.

Hengdian left a deep impression on Ma Chenggang that day. Props and equipment were everywhere, the headlights were shining brightly, and "everyone was working hard." In fact, Ma Chenggang did catch up with the hottest period of short dramas in Hengdian. Due to the explosion in demand for mini-program short dramas, Hengdian was once nicknamed the "vertical store".

The "Micro Short Drama Market Report for the First Half of 2023" released by Tawen Film and Television Observation shows that a total of 481 micro short dramas were released in the first half of 2023 alone, exceeding the 454 in the whole of 2022. Industry insiders estimate that the number of micro-short dramas in 2023 may eventually exceed 800.

These demands naturally flocked to Hengdian. Producer Chen Wen clearly remembered that in July 2023, there were 200 short drama crews filming in Hengdian at the same time, and their filming schedule was forced to be extended. Can’t even record it.”

Even post-editing was paralyzed for a time. The post-production period originally planned for one month was postponed to two months, for no other reason than that all the post-production companies in Hengdian were queuing up for editing.

An important reason why short plays can become popular quickly in Hengdian is that the threshold is not high. Many industry insiders told 36Kr that short dramas evolved from the original information flow advertisements. These advertisements were originally intended to attract traffic to online articles. Most of them were 1-3 second videos. Later, the videos became longer and longer, and finally evolved into Skit.

For a short drama, the structure, scenes, and story can all stand up to scrutiny. The important thing is that it should be as visually stimulating as an information flow advertisement.

"We have a standardized rule for short drama creation, with seconds as the timing unit. In terms of story content, characters and scenes must appear within 2 seconds, and a result must be produced in 5 seconds. In terms of narrative rhythm, on average, one episode takes 3 seconds To reverse, there must be a new amount of information within 10 seconds." said Su Cheng, who is engaged in commercial customized short plays.

According to this logic, short dramas have little connection with traditional film and television, which also means that opportunities seem to have come to ordinary people.

A short play director who has been working with Aiyu Tengmang for a long time told 36 Krypton that one day when he was filming in Hengdian, he noticed that the director of the crew next door looked more and more familiar. After one last slap on the forehead, he finally remembered, "This is not the resignation we had before. That car manager?"

Before investing, Ma Chenggang watched a lot of short plays in private. "Have you seen "The Empress Comes to Work"?" This is his favorite short play. The heroine is a former empress. Within 2 minutes of the beginning, the whole family died, and he also died. Then he traveled quickly, As soon as I arrived in modern times, I found that I had become a rich wife, and smoothly moved between the mistress, mother-in-law and CEO husband.

Having been dealing with steel for half his life, Ma Chenggang has always felt that he has reached an age where he should think about culture. He firmly believes that the future business lies in mobile phones that are a few inches in size. He has been to Hollywood and visited Universal Studios in Japan and Hong Kong. Now, he believes that short plays are an opportunity, and he feels that he is quite familiar with the short play production routines. Soon, after spending 400,000, Ma Chenggang invested in himself ’s second short play.

The drama was filmed in Zhengzhou, and the producer respected him so much that he let Ma Chenggang select the script himself. He selected "The Real and Fake CEO's Wife Comes to Intern" from three thick books. The female videos, inspiration, and contrast in it were all elements he liked.

Before the filming started, he deliberately changed the heroine because a girl recommended herself on social media, hoping that she could be in his team. Ma Chenggang agreed because the girl "really looks sweet", with big eyes and a round face, which is pleasing to the eye. happiness.

This is the first time Ma Chenggang has felt the initiative in a completely unfamiliar industry. On the day when the Zhengzhou short play was launched, he was invited to speak on the spot as an investor. After taking the stage, he didn't know what to say, so he just said, "Thank you everyone for your hard work." He still remembered that the weather was nice that day, and the sun was so bright that it made people blind. Ma Chenggang stood in the center with a red envelope for power-on, and smiled very calmly in the group photo.

2. A dangerous game

For some true insiders, skits are like a whirlpool, beautiful at first, but with an undercurrent as you go inside.

Xi'an Fengxing Culture, which produced "Wushuang", was also one of the first companies in Xi'an to shoot mini-program dramas. The person in charge, Li Tao, told 36Kr that according to his observation, domestic mini-program short dramas have gone through three iterations. The first time is in mid-2022, when small program short dramas begin to align with the film and television industry, and a split-account model is introduced instead of the past production fee buyout. In other words, producers can get incentives from the box office. The second time was after March 2023. A round of supervision on short dramas had just ended, and a large number of people in the film and television industry began to enter mini program short dramas. The third time, in August of the same year, after "Wushuang" became popular, because of the myth of "100 million in eight days", people outside the industry began to really pay attention to the opportunity of short dramas.

But when film and television people started to get involved, they found that the gameplay of the game had already been locked. "Mini program dramas are different from ordinary video websites. They have no natural traffic and no user loyalty. Almost everyone consumes impulsively. The streaming company has the power to decide whether you can be seen or not." Short drama production Filmmaker Chen Wen said.

Before payment is realized, there will be three roles in the chain of a small program drama: the short drama company that owns the copyright, the distributor responsible for streaming and selling the drama, and the platform with large traffic. Among them, the relationship between the first two is quite deep, and powerful players will merge these two roles. Leading short drama companies such as Jiuzhou, Dianzhong, and Capacity are typical examples.

Whoever is closer to the money has the absolute right to speak. The only ones in this chain that are guaranteed to make money without losing money are the traffic-rich platforms like Douyin and Tencent. “For a short play, 90% of the box office revenue is spent on casting.” Li Tao, head of Fengxing Culture, told 36Kr. In other words, the short drama company and the investors will share the remaining 10%.

The investment is the most important and secretive part of determining this 10%. It directly determines whether the final income is tens of thousands or tens of millions.

For a casting company, what exactly determines the casting value of a short drama?

ROI, return on investment, is the most accurate and efficient data rule. Many industry insiders confirmed to 36Kr that deciding whether a company should continue to invest depends on ROI.

Wang Han, the founder of the short drama company, has been exposed to the streaming business before. According to his observation, streaming has high requirements for positive feedback. He first tests the water at a small cost, and then gradually increases investment based on the data. For an investment account, if the ROI is lower than 90%, it will enter the status of maintaining an account. It will be observed for a while. If the ROI is lower than 70%, then the account will be completely abandoned.

When the ROI is greater than 110%, that is, the box office of a short drama can bring at least a 10% return rate, the pitcher will continue to invest. "The greater the return, the greater the investment, the higher the return, and so on. As long as one of the ten dramas is a hit, the investment company can make high profits." Li Tao said.

This is a mobile hunt, just like wild beasts in the jungle that never directly hunt the prey in front of them. The three most common things they do are observation, calculation and dormancy.

"So if a short drama does not bring good returns to the streaming company within three days, or even the next day in some cases, the streaming company will not have the patience to continue paying traffic costs for you." Chen Wen said.

Once this happens, the short drama producers will be left with nothing to gain. He still remembered that a friend of his used to run a photographic equipment company. In the second half of 2023, he started making his own short dramas and invested hundreds of thousands. He was full of confidence at the beginning, but after a week of broadcasting, he finally received only 80 yuan in share.

During this week, the producer received only a simple excel sheet to find out how much the box office revenue of a mini program short drama was - it only briefly recorded the name of the short drama and a few box office figures. As for data input, sources and algorithms, everything is hidden.

"Asking is a core secret. We can't see the box office data at all." Chen Wen said.

Under the premise that the streaming company has control over traffic costs and data and has a huge say, the producer has become the one with the greatest risk. "We have to bear all the production costs in the early stage, and the income depends on the box office results. The results all depend on the streaming data." Chen Wen said.

He told 36Kr that from the end of 2022 to the present, he has participated in the production of 5 mini program short dramas and has lost millions of yuan so far. “I have stayed in so many post-processing rooms and talked with all the production companies. , this year we have lost all our money."

In the huge traffic pool, from delivery, capture to realization, the interests of each other are also nested layer by layer.

A small program short drama advertisement, from distribution to user end, only relies on a distribution company is not enough. Chen Wen mentioned that each streaming company has its own area of ​​expertise, such as female videos, male videos, etc. In this case, short drama streaming will also evolve into layers of distribution.

"Generally speaking, a small program short drama will first be bound to a main investor. If the ROI decreases in the later period, the main investor will delegate the TV drama's qualifications to some secondary distributors, and then run it around the entire platform. , share it proportionately, and eat up all the final dividends from this show."

The main investment company has a firm grip on the copyright. As long as the drama is in hand, there is always the possibility of chicken and egg. Chen Wen observed that some streaming companies will ask for an extension of the authorization period as much as possible before casting a promising drama, "one year, five years or even forever."

It's just that the fate of a drama has been theoretically verified by the main investment company with data, and secondary distribution is just gaining a probability. "Betting on the birth of a hit drama at a higher cost for drama testing is just gambling," Chen Wen said.

A rather darkly humorous phenomenon is that no matter how intertwined the investment and profit chain is, once someone loses control, everyone in the chain can easily monetize the copyright. Yang Diandian, a mini-program short drama user, once purchased a 50-yuan short drama resource package online, which contained 10 paid short drama resources. Later, the seller told her that she was actually a pitcher. “In addition to streaming clips, , and also secretly sell resources to make extra money."

Like the flesh and blood of a whale, it fell straight to the bottom of the sea. The large carnivore shark takes the lead in enjoying the first meal, but in the process, 90% of the whale's body has been torn off. As the whale continues its descent, an opportunity arises for smaller predators. Up to the skeleton is the third meal of microorganisms.

This is a first-come, first-served banquet that emphasizes absolute strength.

[amoretheiwa]

The Dark Knight and the Boy Scout

On time! For once! Here’s the end of my pre-written stuff so hopefully, I can get back ahead before next week. Enjoy!

Read on AO3

Breanna Wayne is turning 23 years old. It has been 4 months since Batman fought the Joker. While getting to know someone new at her birthday party, the contraption the media has taken to calling the Batsignal (thanks a lot, Gordon) lights up the sky. In the name of safety, Breanna sends her guests home and dons the cowl—only to run into the Man of Steel himself just a few hours after taking care of the situation. It turns out they’re both looking for the same thing, and Breanna reluctantly agrees to work with him for just this case.

Chapter 2: Enter Last Son of Krypton B

Close to two hours later and they walked out into the hallway, just 30 minutes before the gala was supposed to start. One of the people working for Ms. Iverson had directed a very shocked delivery boy to the upstairs at one point when the two women had ordered pizza. Even though there was going to be food at the party, it was considered rude to eat too much and it was not uncommon for guests to eat a small meal on their own beforehand.

Now, however, there was no reconciliation image of the two women messily eating pizza in sweats and t-shirts just an hour or so ago. Lois was wearing a dark red gown with no fancy beadwork or design on it. The neckline was cut close to the base of her neck, and instead of a regular sleeveless cut where the fabric would just end at her shoulders, it came in with a sharp point accentuating her shoulders. It was a little longer than floor-length and her shimmery gold heels peeked out with every other step that revealed toenails that matched the color of her dress. Her black hair was pinned back, the ends gently curled.

Breanna’s dress was a lighter fabric but just as dark but a blue rather than red. There was a slit that showed some cleavage and from the front that seemed to be it but the back was a rather sizeable cutout that stopped just above her hips. Her hair, with its natural curl, was pinned in a half-up-half-down look that showed plenty of her back’s skin. Her dress was the same length as Lois’ but with her extra two inches on the woman, her silver heels were visible with every step. Her toenails, like Lois’, matched the color her dress.

Where Lois wore a simple sparkling silver chain on her left wrist and a pair of gold and diamond earrings, Breanna had a thick, dull, silver bangle on both arms. A set of slim silver rings—just individual bands—on a few fingers added to the look, and her earrings were like a sheet of glowing silver that hung to just above her shoulders.

Their makeup was simple, the most attention paid to their sharp eyeliner and false eyelashes that had been placed masterfully. They were giggling, whispering to each other as they walked into the foyer. The door was open, and the event planner stopped her conversation with the head of security to stare at them for a moment. She excused herself quickly and caught them before they walked into the ballroom.

“Miss Wayne! Miss Lane!”

They both stopped, waiting for her.

“If I may say, you both look gorgeous tonight,” she began with a rushed breath. Breanna smiled, and Lois thanked her.

“Before you two enter the ballroom and truly finish preparing for tonight, I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday Miss Wayne.”

Breanna smiled again and put a hand on the woman’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Racheal. This wouldn’t have been the same without you. Remember, once all the guests have arrived, you are more than welcome to join us. You look stunning yourself.”

Breanna gave the woman a once-over with her eyes and ignored the light blush that it brought forth on her dark cheeks.

Lois made a face at Breanna as they turned and walked into the ballroom. Breanna ignored her as well and waved at the quartet who were warming up. They would be performing throughout the night, and Breanna was finally feeling herself get excited. She had not allowed herself to celebrate her birthday in many years, and when she had it was more for others than for her own enjoyment.

Less than an hour later and everyone was there, even those with a tendency to show up fashionably late. Breanna greeted all of her guests with the courtesy her parents had instilled in her before their passing, and it was with a twinge in her heart that she made small talk with a few old family friends. It was with partial relief that she noticed a tall blonde man stumbled his way in her direction.

“Excuse me, if you will Mr. and Mrs. Hendrickson. I have a friend to see,” she said with a smile. It was with a forced air of joviality that Breanna greeted Oliver Queen. He for once did not ignore her hand as it was stuck out in a handshake, and they both squeezed a little tighter than necessary.

“Ollie, good to see you well!” She said.

“Not as good as it is to see you, Bre.”

“How are things in Star City? Business going well?”

He nodded, eyes sweeping behind her.

“Things are pretty swell, even with Queen Consolidated. What about here, in Gotham? How’s Wayne Inc going?”

Breanna pulled her hand back, making a show of rubbing it on her dress.

“Gotham is Gotham, as always, and we’re about to change it to Wayne Enterprises soon.”

His eyebrows shot up as he redirected his attention back to her.

“Really? That’s an odd change.”

Breanna shrugged, grabbing two flutes of champagne as a server walked back. She handed on to him and took a sip before replying.

“It was time for a change.”

Before either could say something else, Lois appeared, towing someone as tall as Oliver over behind her. She grinned at Breanna and more or less pushed her into space next to Ollie. He had hair just as dark as Lois’ or Breanna’s, and blue eyes as well, but his face was smooth and handsome in ways Oliver’s was roguish. He wore a pair of glasses that Breanna immediately saw as fake, but as he nervously pushed them back up on his nose she recognized him as Clark Kent, a writer for the Daily Planet. Or, as Lois often referred to him, Smallville.

“Breanna, Mr. Queen, this is Clark Kent.”

As Oliver shook Lois’ offered hand, Breanna couldn’t tear her eyes away from Clark’s. He smiled at her and cleared his throat. When they shook hands, it wasn’t like when Oliver had tried to squeeze the life out of hers. His grip was gentle, and his hands were barely calloused. It took an extra second to fully pull her hand back but she swallowed before speaking.

“Wonderful to finally meet you, Clark.”

He flashed a smile that Breanna couldn’t help returning.

“Thank you for inviting me, Miss Wayne. Happy birthday, by the way.”

Breanna shook her head.

“Please, call me Breanna, and thank you.”

Oliver barked a laugh and Breanna turned to face him.

“That’s right! It’s your birthday, that’s why we’re here. Happy birthday, Bre! Maybe now that you’re older you’ll stop being so serious.”

Breanna closed her eyes and didn’t care that she was visibly losing her patience with the man. Lois’ suppressed laughter didn’t help and Breanna opened her eyes to see a waiting Oliver sharing a look with Clark.

“Tell me, Ollie, how long have you been back? Three months? Five?”

He narrowed his eyes at her and took his time answering.

“It’s been close to a year now.”

“Ah,” she said, raising a hand to brush against her chin. She turned to face Clark and Lois. “You see, Oliver here was presumed dead five years ago when his father’s ship was lost at sea. He was quite the party animal in his prime, but I never shared the same tastes.”

Oliver quirked his lips.

“Seems like you still don’t.”

He clapped his hands together.

“Well, with that, I think I’m going to find a different crowd to hang with. Ladies, Clark,” and with that he was gone. Breanna let loose a sigh and put a hand to her forehead.

Lois couldn’t stop herself anymore and let out a pealing laugh, and Clark looked back and forth between the two women.

“Am I missing something?” He asked, not unkindly. Breanna waved a hand at him.

“No, it’s no secret that Oliver and I have never gotten along. I’m sorry that you got somewhat involved in that, Clark.” He shook his head, pushing his glasses up on his nose again.

“No need to apologize.”

Lois glanced between the two and slung an arm around both of their shoulders, bringing the three of them awfully close—Clark was taller than Breanna and Breanna was taller than Lois.

“C’mon, let’s find somewhere better suited to talking.”

Ten minutes and three conversations later the trio finally found their way to the breakfast table in the Manor’s kitchen. It was a diner-like booth that curved so as to accommodate more people, while out of the main walkways of the rest of the kitchen. Breanna was sipping from a glass of almond milk, listening to Lois recount one of her funnier incidents that resulted in yet another rescue from Superman. Breanna laughed, moving her glass farther away from her face, and tried desperately not to snort. When they all calmed down and it was quiet, the heiress turned to face the newcomer.

“So, Clark, tell me—is Smallville really as small as Lois makes it sound?”

Clark glanced at his colleague with an exasperated expression. She just shrugged her shoulders and took a long drink from her glass of water.

“It probably isn’t if Lois has been exaggerating again. There’s a lot of farms so geographically wise it’s not so tiny but it’s the population that really makes the name match the place.”

Breanna nodded once and leaned forward.

“Did you grow up on a farm, then?”

Lois snorted and they looked at her.

“Bre, you’re looking at the most country boy you could hold to find this far north.”

Clark rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat, swirling the water in his glass.

“I’ve adapted to city life fairly well,” he met Breanna’s eyes. “Mostly.”

“Mostly?” She asked, and he winced.

“There have been a few mishaps over the years,” he started. Lois chortled and sat forward.

“He just isn’t as lucky as me and doesn’t have Superman picking up after him.”

They all laughed, the conversation continued for another twenty minutes. It ranged from the differences between small town and big city life to the differences between Metropolis and Gotham. The topic had just turned to Batman and Superman when Alfred appeared behind Breanna.

“Miss Wayne, what is the point of hosting such an elaborate party if you yourself do not attend?”

Breanna leaned back, tilting her head so that she was looking at her surrogate father upside down. She grinned and he felt a twinge in his heart; it wasn’t often she was happy without some sort of regret or heavy air degrading the emotion.

“But Alfred, what’s the point of having a party if you can’t sneak away?”

He rolled his eyes and walked around the back of the booth, sliding in to sit next to his charge. She scooted over slightly, giving him more room, and he rested his hands on top of the table. Lois smiled at him.

“Alfred, this is Clark Kent. He works with me at the Daily Planet.”

Clark stood up just enough so that he could reach across the table and shake Alfred’s hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Pennyworth.”

“The pleasure is all mine, and please, call me Alfred. I enjoy reading your articles, especially the culturally focused ones.”

Clark blushed a little, a light pink that dusted his entire face.

“Ah, thank you, sir. I never really got to travel as a kid and so when work sends me anywhere I’ve never been I try to learn about the culture, local and national, and end up writing an extra two articles.”

“Tell them about that time you almost ended up married to a chieftain’s daughter in the Amazon,” Lois elbowed him, grinning.

Clark groaned but Breanna didn’t let him get away with telling the story.

More time passed and eventually, Alfred nudged the three of them back out into the foyer, which had some people mingling but not nearly as many as were still in the ballroom. It was while they were there talking that Breanna noticed something that made her entire countenance shift. Lois noticed first and followed the young woman’s gaze through the windows over the door.

“Oh,” she said softly, and soon everyone in the foyer was also looking out at the Gotham skyline. The Batsignal was lit, throwing the shadow of a stylized bat against the permanent cloud cover. Breanna sighed and put a hand against her temple. Lois gave her a look, and she shook her head.

“I guess it’s time to send everyone home,” she said mournfully. Clark turned back to look at her, no longer as distracted as he had appeared the last few seconds.

“Why? If the Bat’s signal is up wouldn’t that mean it’d be safer to keep everyone here?”

Breanna shook her head, already turning towards the ballroom.

“The Batsignal goes up whenever the commissioner wants Batman’s help, and if could be something as little as information on a case or as big as the Joker showing up again. It’s better if my guests are safe at home than here, a potential target regardless of what is happening.”

Breanna took swift strides into the ballroom and it was obvious by the hushed chatter that the party goers had also noticed the light in the sky. She signaled the quartet and they paused their playing. It took almost a full minute but eventually, she had everyone’s attention. She took a deep breath and grinned, making sure to look at the entire room.

“Thank you, everyone, so much for coming and helping me celebrate my 23rd birthday. It has been wonderful chatting with each other and catching up with some amazing refreshments and spectacular music,” she nodded at the servers standing together and the quartet that was already packing up their instruments.

“I’m afraid, though, that in the interest of safety, it is time for everyone to go home. There’s no rush but I wouldn’t want anyone to get stuck here should something happen in the few minutes.” There was a polite scattering of laughter and the chattering picked up again. This time, the entire room had a lighter feel to it as the guests each began to shuffle their way towards the front doors.

Breanna turned to face Lois and Clark, sighing.

“Anyone out in the gardens will be found by security in the next few minutes and sent on their way as well. Can Lois and I walk you out, Clark?”

The man exchanged a quick look with his colleague before nodding.

“Of course, thank you again for inviting me.”

As they walked out, Breanna smiled up at him. The height difference wasn’t severe enough that she was craning her neck, but it was obvious enough that she was grateful for her heels.

“No, thank you for coming! I’ve heard so much about you and read enough of your articles that I knew that I had to meet you.”

Clark smiled, that light blush covering his face again.

They stood outside, on the brick roundabout that circles the foundation 30 yards away from the front door. Lois gave her coworker a quick hug and Breanna shook his hand and they said their goodbyes. He walked off towards the valets with a wave and the two women turned to go back inside. They had their arms looped together and were silent as they watched the rest of the guests file out.

As soon as the cleaning was started by Ms. Iverson’s people Breanna was heading towards her study. Lois followed her, not quite sure what she was supposed to do. As she followed her younger friend into the room, Breanna locked the door behind them. Alfred was already standing there, waiting by the tall grandfather clock. He nodded at them and reached up to rotate the hands into a specific arrangement—12:17—and pushed the center, and with a low rumbling the clock swung out, revealing an elevator. Lois knew her mouth was hanging open but she couldn’t help it.

Breanna smirked and put her hand on a scanner. When it flashed green the door to the elevator opened with a quiet hiss and she stepped inside. She gestured for her friend to follow, and Lois eagerly stepped inside.

“I will take care of Ms. Iverson and her people, Miss Wayne. Expect me on the comms as soon as I am done.”

Bre nodded and pushed the down button. The door closed and they began to go down. It was when they stopped that Breanna spoke again.

“Welcome to the Cave, Lois.”

[blorb-el]

STAS episode recommendations! for people who do not want to watch the whole thing but want to enjoy the JL/JLU arcs with full context.

there’s 4 main arcs set up in STAS that are relevant for the rest of the DCAU: Brainiac and Lex, Apokolips, Cadmus, and the World’s Finest coming together. Here are the twelve episodes relevant to those plot threads.

1. last son of krypton (3 parts): technically skippable, mostly your standard superman origin story but pretty well done, with some genuinely excellent details; part 1 is most relevant, establishing Brainiac as a Kryptonian AI, which was original to this series, and its hatred towards Jor-El and the House of El.

2. stolen memories: Brainiac returns, beginning its long interaction/rivalry with Lex Luthor, and an important emotional moment for Clark as he learns for the first time real information about Krypton beyond the short recording his parents left for him.

3. tools of the trade: Introduces Dan Turpin, the Jack Kirby tribute detective, and his crusade against Intergang and its Apokoliptic weaponry.

4. brave new metropolis: Lois enters an alternate universe where fascist Superman and Luthor have joined forces to rule Metropolis. Not directly connected to the aforementioned arcs, but this theme will obviously return in JL/JLU.

5. ghost in the machine: Brainiac has trapped Lex in his basement and forces him to build it a new body. Sets the tone for their relationship going forward, which comes to a head in JLU.

6. world’s finest (3 parts): you know it. batman and superman team up because the joker is hired by lex luthor to kill superman. it slaps. end of story.

7. apokolips...now! (2 parts): possibly the best episode of the series, the Apokolips arc comes to a head as Darkseid invades Earth and Clark loses in more ways than one.

8. little girl lost (2 parts): Clark finds the last survivor of Argo, another planet in Rao’s orbit. Kara In-Ze, the DCAU Supergirl, is eager to join the neverending battle, but her very first outing brings her face to face with Darkseid as Clark is captured by the Furies.

9. where there’s smoke: the first hints of the Cadmus arc. Clark investigates a shadowy organization that may be trying to create or control metahumans. technically skippable, but Clark rules in this episode.

10. knight time: when Bruce Wayne mysteriously disappears, Clark teams up with Robin to impersonate Batman and find him.

11. the demon reborn: Ra’s al Ghul and Talia capture Superman in order to carry out a dangerous plan. Batman to the rescue.

12. legacy (2 parts): the finale of STAS, the climax of the Apokolips arc, and a critical inciting incident for the Cadmus arc. Darkseid captures Clark before the story begins and brainwashes him into attacking the Earth.

Episodes that have little to no bearing on the above-mentioned arcs, but which nevertheless slap and you should consider watching anyway under the cut:

- the late mr. kent: probably the best standalone episode. when Clark tries to prove a death row inmate’s innocence, he’s targeted for assassination, and has to figure out how to clear the inmate’s name without revealing how he survived a car-bombing.

- mxyzpixilated: the imp from the fifth dimension comes to torment Clark, who gets to show off his quick wit. Along with the late mr. kent, some of the best characterization.

- speed demons: A charity race between Superman and the Flash (Wally West), who do NOT get along at first, is interrupted by the Weather Wizard. The best superhero team up in the series with someone not named Batman. other teamups include in brightest day with Kyle Rayner Green Lantern, the hand of fate with Dr. Fate, and a fish story with an Aquaman who is not quite JL Aquaman but close. but those are all worse than speed demons. watch that instead.

- the main man (2 parts): Lobo, who is a riot, is hired by The Preserver, an organism who wants to preserve the last specimens of their kinds, to capture Clark for its zoo.

- the way of all flesh: Metallo’s introduction, an excellent standalone story that shows off Lex’s manipulative abilities while also featuring some genuinely pathos-filled dialogue as Metallo loses his senses.

- identity crisis: a tour de force for Tim Daly as he voices Clark and the flawed, Frankensteinian, sympathetic clone Bizarro.

Episodes which cannot in good conscience be grouped in with the above on account of they are not actually good, but which are kind of fun regardless:

- warrior queen: maxima, a forward, brash dictator, decides to kidnap Superman, whom she deems the only man in the universe powerful enough to be her husband. it’s just pretty brainless fun tbh

- father’s day: Kalibak plots to take down Superman to earn his father Darkseid’s regard, while Jonathan and Martha visit Metropolis; Darkseid and Clark come face to face for the very first time. Technically relevant to the Apokolips arc but skippable, mostly on here because it has delightful boomer Kents and sets up the Kalibak/Orion/Clark parallels. It’s also very transparently how Clark works in the DCAU, in that he is so incredibly bad at fighting until something reminds him he’s Superman instead of a pea brain dummy and then he wins the fight in 30 seconds.

- unity: Kara and Clark have to fight a classic small-town horror alien invasion set in Smallville, which has targeted among others the Kents. my thesis is if you’re going to have the Kents alive in your setting you better DO something with them, and while this is...an...odd thing to do with them it’s for sure better than having them sit around and dispense apple pie wisdom and nothing else the entire series. also i like alien invasion horror.

@allgremlinart here u go sorry it’s so long lmao

[pluckyredhead]

I’m sorry, “angel mixed with a blob of protoplasm” WHAT?

I will admit that I put that line in as bait and I am SO HAPPY someone asked about it because it is one of my very favorite pieces of bonkers comics history, both for the bonkersness and because it led to some actually really amazing comics.

So from her debut in 1959 to her death in Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986, Supergirl was the version most people know her as: Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El, who came from Krypton just like he did. Her human alias was Linda Danvers.

However, when DC was building out their post-Crisis universe, they decided that they didn't want to have any Kryptonians but Superman. After all, how can he be the Last Son of Krypton when there's a Bottle City of Kandor, a whole mess of criminals in the Phantom Zone, a dog, a monkey, and Supergirl? So Kara Zor-El could no longer exist, not even as a memory.

But...Supergirl is a really valuable IP. So they needed to find a way to use that.

Enter Matrix.

Matrix comes from a pocket dimension that was basically created to tie up a whole bunch of Crisis-related loose ends and I'm not going to get into the details, but the short version is: Earth was attacked by rogue Kryptonians and had no superheroes to protect it, because their greatest hero, Superboy (Clark Kent), had vanished years ago. So Lex Luthor, a good guy in this universe, created a superbeing out of protoplasm based on the genetic matrix (hence the name) of his dead wife Lana Lang, dressed her up in a costume similar to Superboy's, and sent her to the nearest universe looking for him.

Instead she found Regular Superman and brought him back to help save her Earth, but...they completely failed and everyone died. WHOOPS. Clark killed the rogue Kryptonians (yup) and brought Matrix back to his Earth, where she stayed with his parents while she tried to figure out what to do with herself. She also briefly dated Regular Lex, thinking he was a good guy like her Lex.

Matrix had super strength and flight, but her other powers were different: she could shapeshift, turn invisible, and fire "psy-blasts." She was also sort of a blank slate of a character that DC didn't really know what to do with...

...until the 1996 Supergirl series. This was 80 issues long, all written by Peter David, and remains the best Supergirl run of all time. At the beginning of it, Matrix tries to save a human girl who is being sacrificed by a demonic cult, but fails - so instead she merges her protoplasmic body with the girl's, and they become one being. Not two minds in one body, but one completely unified entity.

The girl's name? Linda Danvers.

After the merging, Supergirl/Linda's powers changed: she still had strength, flight, and psy-blasts, but she could no longer turn invisible, and her shapeshifting was limited to switching between tall blonde Supergirl and petite brunette Linda. BUT! Due to Matrix's sacrifice, they had also become something known as an "Earth-born angel," so she also had flaming wings when she wanted them, flame-vision, teleporting through a flame tunnel, and the ability to judge the sins of the wicked.

After 50 issues of this, Linda "fell from grace" for complicated reasons and she and the angel part split off. Her powers were severely reduced and she couldn't shapeshift into tall blonde Supergirl anymore, so she had to wear a blonde wig while she fought crime (a reversal of the Silver Age, when Kara Zor-El wore a wig to become Linda Danvers) and she changed into a costume much closer to the Superman: The Animated Series one.

But in the early 2000s, DC decided to bring Kara Zor-El back, and Linda sort of wandered into the wilderness. (Literally. She had some traumatic things happen to her and just went MIA after sending Clark a letter telling him not to look for her.) Kara Zor-El is my all-time favorite character so I'm not mad that they brought her back, but I wish they had kept Linda as well. There's 19 Robins and 437 Green Lanterns, we could have two Supergirls.

But yeah, if you see a Supergirl between 1988 and 2002, that's Linda Danvers, and not a Kryptonian.

[draw-back-your-bow]

Always Be There | J.K

My Masterlist | Request Guidelines | Send a Request

Pairing: Jordan Kent x fem! teen!reader

Request: “Hi! Hope ur doing well😊 Could I request a Jordan Kent x Reader where instead of Tal-Rho taking Clark he takes the reader because she’s psychic and can tell what plans of his will fail but when he tries to use the red beam thingy it fails and she beats the living daylights out of him but when she comes back Jordan immediately gets attached and its all fluffy and Clark thanks her but its not over cause Tal-Rho killed her fathers and Lois and Clark let her stay and then just more fluff with Jordan pls🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼” | Requested by Anonymous

A/N: First fic of 2022!!! I changed the ending because I’m not comfortable with the whole Barry and Iris “siblings to lovers” trope. I honestly think it’s the weirdest thing ever because the show will be so quick to call everyone family until the two actually raised as family get married. But anyways, this isn’t the time nor place to criticize The Flash’s plot.

Summary: When Tal-Rho abducts you from a car crash, you find yourself to have an unimaginable power inside of you.

Warnings: Implied threat of torture

Word Count: ~1.6k

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The last thing you remembered before blacking out was the car crash and Morgan Edge’s red eyes before you were lifted off the ground.

Now, there you were, lying on the cold, stone floor of the previously remote desert base of Superman’s greatest enemy this year.

Lifting your head, you squinted at the unexpected brightness in the room, contrasting its dark emotional atmosphere. Although the lighting was courtesy of the structure’s geographical setting, you figured that the cheerfulness stopped there.

Morgan Edge, now known to you as Tal-Rho, entered the room with an aura of superiority as he looked down to where you were, shriveled on the ground.

“Get up. At least act like you are deserving of your power,” he ordered, disgust present in his tone.

Without moving an inch from your curled up position, you dryly asked, “Where am I?”

Losing patience, Tal-Rho demanded, “Stand or else I will make you stand.”

Still refusing his command, you simply rolled over to look him in the eye, “Where. Am. I?”

Your captor’s eyes began to turn red and you shut your own, bracing yourself for the pain that would come.

Instead, a hologram flickered to life and demanded the attention of your kidnapper.

“My son, let us not injure such a crucial element of our mission before we have even started,” the man spoke, causing your eyes to shoot open in surprise at the stranger intervening on your behalf.

Tal-Rho was equally surprised at his father’s request, although for the opposite reason. He had never known his father to be so merciful, especially to someone refusing to follow his orders. But then again, Tal-Rho supposed that he had never really known his father.

The hologram then turned its attention to you, his eyes observing your form in an inquisitive manner.

“I have to admit, I have never met a being such as yourself in person before,” he noted before looking down at his intangible form, “Although, the statement does remain true due to my current circumstance.”

You remained uninterested in whatever the alien had to say, and Zeta-Rho took your unsympathetic expression as a prompt to get to the point.

“However you… you are extraordinary. Child, your mere blood retains more power than Superman himself. You are the key to achieving our goal of restoring Krypton to its former glory. And you will be a hero to the strongest planet in the universe.”

Not batting an eye at his unfounded praise, you reminded yourself that no promise in the multiverse would make you betray your friends.

You refused to have your last memory of Jordan be his horrified face helplessly watching as you were taken out of the wrecked vehicle and him desperately calling out your name. You had to get out of there.

You had to get back to him.

Channeling the fiercest glare you could manage, you silently made it clear that you wouldn’t be helping Zeta-Rho or his son with any of their malicious plans. The only thing preventing you from voicing your defiance was the fear your voice would waver and give away your true fear.

Shrugging at your decision, Zeta-Rho turned to his son and gestured to the floor. “I admit, your resistance is disappointing. I originally didn’t wish to use such severe methods to convince you. However it would be a lie to say that I won’t enjoy bringing one of the most powerful beings in the universe to her knees.”

Pulling you up by the forearm only to throw you back on the ground in front of Zeta-Rho, Tal-Rho stepped backwards and out of the way to observe as his father went through with his threat.

Bracing yourself on the ground, you shrunk into a fetal position and clenched your teeth in an attempt to protect yourself from the incoming pain.

In your panicked state, you didn’t notice the burning corner of your mind, aching to be let out and release the chaos that was inside of you.

When the red beam hit your skin, you screamed at the agonizing pain. And without even realizing… you let go.

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Groggily opening your eyes, you furrowed your eyebrows when you saw debris from the lair surrounding you. Examining your body, your confusion was only heightened when you saw your unblemished skin, despite being able to swear that it was being torn off of you less than a minute ago.

Hearing the rumble of vehicles in the distance, you turned to see the source of the noise and saw dozens of military vehicles approaching.

Trying to piece together what happened for when they inevitably asked, you only remembered your desperation for the pain to stop when you felt power engulf you… and everything else apparently.

A thud landed on the ground behind you and you quickly pivoted with your hands up defensively, not quite sure how to use your powers but threatening nonetheless.

However your posture instantly relaxed and a smile spread across your face when you saw Jordan Kent and his uniformed father.

“Jordan,” you sighed in relief, letting your legs run to him.

He enveloped you in a hug as his arms locked around your body, not wanting to let you go again.

“Oh my god, I thought something happened to you,” he exclaimed, finally releasing you.

Speaking up from behind you both, Superman asked, “What happened here?”

As the military vehicles parked around you, General Lane approached upon hearing Clark’s question, him having a similar one.

“Well, I-uh,” you trailed off, nervously scratching behind your neck as you once again examined the scene around you. “Morgan Edge brought me here… well, before all this. And the hologram guy tried using the red light thing on me… and then, this happened.”

“You did this?” the General questioned with an eyebrow raised, wondering how a freshman in highschool managed to destroy a kryptonian base.

“Yeah,” Jordan said, agreeing with his grandfather’s question before gesturing to all the damage, “This is… a lot. Even for a kryptonian or any other superpower alien.”

You shrugged, “Well according to him, I’m not kryptonian.”

“What are you then?” Superman asked.

Once again shrugging, you absentmindedly kicked a rock away before answering, “Just powerful I guess.”

General Lane dryly chuckled, “That’d be quite the underestatement young lady.”

From afar, one of the soldiers called out, “Found him, he’s unconscious!”

Looking over at the commotion, Tal-Rho’s unmoving form was being pulled out of the rubble by a couple soldiers and locked into kryptonite cuffs.

Turning back towards you, the General held out his hand for you to shake, “Well on behalf of the United States and the world, thank you for your heroic bravery in stopping one of the most dangerous kryptonians since Reign.”

You smiled as you took his hand, “I honestly don’t quite know what I did, but I’m glad that I could help.”

General Lane walked away, probably to sort out the government’s reaction to the matter and call off whatever kryptonite weapon he was planning to use against Tal-Rho.

Walking up to you, Clark spoke, “Now that you know you have a power like this, you need to be able to control it.”

You frowned, looking down at your hands which still had a blue tint in them, “I didn’t even know I had powers a few hours ago. How am I supposed to do this again?”

Perking up from beside you, Jordan sensed where his dad was going with the conversation and interjected, “Training! You can train with me!”

Clark chuckled at his son’s enthusiasm before nodding, “I’m already teaching Jordan how to use his powers, I’d be happy to show you too.”

Jordan’s excitement must have been contagious because you similarly grinned, “I would love that.”

Nodding at your agreement, Clark continued, “Great, now we should probably get you home, we don’t want too many people seeing you here.”

Jordan added, “Superhero 101, no one can know your secret.”

“Mysterious,” you remarked.

Pausing while his father momentarily left you both, Jordan breathed, “I… I’m happy you’re okay. More than happy even. I was so worried that something bad happened to you and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.”

You placed a hand comfortingly on his arm, “Well, try not to think about it so much. As long as I have anything to do with it, you’ll always have me.”

Jordan softly smiled before repeating, “Always.”

Walking back over, Clark held his arms out for you both to hold on to, “Ready to go?”

Glancing at Jordan, you both exchanged warm smiles as you replied, “Yeah, I’m ready to go home.”

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