The First Supervillain
So! A Typical "Early Start" AU where the events of The Show happen early in the Timeline. Like, in the 70's or 80's.
Danny never quite managed to fix his Public Perception, and even years into his career people still saw him as the Villain.
Coincidentally Valerie was seen as a Hero because of how often they were seen fighting. Even after they revealed their Identities and got together, they still had the occasional Battle. It was their love language.
His role as the Villain was Cemented when Pariah launched his Second Invasion of Earth after some dumbass accidentally freed him, and Danny took the Blame for it. Instead of being seen as the Hero who battled Pariah and stopped the Invasion, he was seen as the Tyrant to launched the Invasion in the first place, with Red Huntess being the one to defeat him in one final Ultimate Battle.
And honestly? He was fine with that. Now that he was the King of the Ghost Zone, he had the Authority to Regulate the Portal so villains stopped getting through. And that meant that he wasn't needed to stop random Ghost Attacks anymore. He could finally focus on College and his own Life, instead of sacrificing everything to act as the Protector of the Human Realm.
Val continued to be a Hero for a few more years, eventually retiring when it became Clear that the new generation of Heroes could pick up the Slack.
He went to College, got a Job as an Aerospace Engineer, and eventually proposed to Valerie.
About 20 years since his initial Accident, and he was doing great! He had moved into a humble home on the edge of town with his loving wife Val, his beautiful daughter Ellie, and his cute dog Cujo.
Yeah, life was good.
Until the day Danny accidently caused a Mass Crisis.
...
Superman was having some extreme trouble in dealing with his current Opponent. He had just been flying around the City, patrolling as Usual, when all of a sudden he had been attacked by a Flying Mech Suit.
At first he had assumed that Lex was giving it another Go, but he quickly realized that was not the case when the Armor seemed to Phase though solid matter in the middle of the battle. Lex had never made Tech advanced enough to do that on the fly.
This opponent was tough too. Strong enough and Durable enough to go blow for blow with him, and seemingly able to pull Advanced Weaponry from out of nowhere whenever he wanted. As tough as it was to admit, Superman as losing the Battle.
Then, without warning, the battle stopped. His opponent was staring at the space just behind him, with a look of pure dread. He turned around, and his heart stopped.
Floating behind him, staring right past him and directly at the Mech Suit, was the First Villain Phantom.
He looked much the same as when he had last been seen, although he was definitely Older. He had snow white hair, and glowing green eyes that seemed to stare right past him and into his very soul. He was wearing what seemed to be a costume of sorts, with an all black suit, white gloves, and white boots. Over his Shoulders sat a Cloak made of Stars, and above his head sat a Crown made of an Icy Blue Fire.
The Mech tried for a greeting, "Er- Hello t-Lord Phantom. How do you d-"
"Skulker."
"Y-yes?"
"What are you doing here? I thought I gave you explicit orders to stay in the Ghost Zone until further notice. You disobeyed me."
"Okay look. I got excited, that's my fault. It's just, I got anxious waiting. Can you really blame me? I've been waiting 20 years to take another Crack at the Human World, what's it matter if I left a few weeks Early?"
"I told you. You were supposed to wait exactly 20 Years, and you left Early. This calls for punishment."
"No wait!"
"Let's see how you feel after a few days as Soup."
The Villain pulled out a Thermos, and in a flash of green light, Skulker was gone, and the King was capping the Thermos. He then turned to Superman.
"I apologize for him, he decided to leave ahead of schedule." The King addressed him. "Now, Kryptonian. Rest and tend to your wounds, you will need to be in your best health if you want to continue saving the lives of those people below us."
With a dramatic flare, the King reached up and Tore a hole in Space. Through the Hole, Superman could only see an infinite Green Void, with the sound of screams cheering being heard through the rift.
The King departed through the Tear in Spacetime, and it closed behind him.
Superman tried to collect himself, and activated his League Emergency Comms.
"Attention All Founding Members, and Justice League Dark Members. This is Superman calling for an immediate Emergency Meeting."
He took a deep breath.
"Phantom is Back."
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Being Ukrainian in this world is like trying to build a card tower during an earthquake that just doesn't fucking stop.
Sometimes the earthquake becomes less noticeable, and you manage to build a nice structure from the things you enjoy and keep your mental stability, but then at one moment the earthquake becomes stronger. Your card tower is now ruined, you suddenly feel a lot of rage or grief that's been building up all this time, you can't do anything because you're too overwhelmed and scared. Despite all of that, eventually you pull yourself together and start building the tower again.
But the earthquake is still there. It is always there. It never ends and it feels like it won't ever end. People start gaslighting you that there's no earthquake or that it's not important compared to other earthquakes.
And it's a cycle I and every Ukrainian have been living in for 2.5 years now. Someone has lived in it since 2014.
I don't like to whine about it, because there are indeed people whose experience is worse than mine. But living like this is still mentally exhausting.
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I think Arknights' Sami may be, outright, one of the coolest ideas I've ever seen in a piece of fiction. Most things would have said "The Collapsals are why Sami is like this!" But no, Arknights knows better. Sami is already a place where snow falls upwards, where you can see the ghosts of people who are not dead, where 4 story tall shadows pass by and block out the stars at night. Sami is strange, illogical, and hostile, but it is not Wrong. It's just a place where the natural order is different from anything else in the world, but you can come to comprehend it, come to an accord with Sami and the way it exists. But the Collapsals are Wrong. Their blood is poison, their bodies are corpses, their knowledge is a curse. You can't comprehend it. You can't come to an accord with it. You can only die. It is one form of strangeness, the comforting unsettling feeling of a different natural order, being intruded by one that is just outright Wrong, uncanny, broken, and evil.
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I’m a big fan of Durge having some more animalistic qualities, regardless of race, like fangs meant to tear or a real, inhuman growl. But ya know what? I’m also a big fan of this vicious Bhaalspawn being able to purr. Maybe not like a house cat. Maybe it’s a deep, rumbling sound that comes out with a contented sigh. Either way, it’s a shock to Durge when one day it happens for the first time, the Chosen of Bane’s fingers carding through their hair.
What could That Sound possibly be? It wasn’t a growl. But if it wasn’t a growl, what could it be? The Dark Urge is no house cat! But Gortash knows exactly what it was, and he makes it his life’s goal to make it happen more often. He’ll tease Durge at first, justify his efforts to himself by claiming to exemplify how he has subdued even the Bhaalspawn. In reality, it means Gortash spends copious amounts of time pampering and doting on Durge until it becomes too obvious he just thinks it’s cute, a proud smile and a bit of color coming to his plaid cheeks every time he succeeds.
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