#jeremy really intrigues me i need to know his backstory. like WHAT is going on. what aren't you saying man?

[bisexualcroissant]

okay i think maybe i don't want it to eat him alive per se and i say that because i'm like . a fuckin hopeless optimist but i DO want to see jeremy crash out significantly. like not just a little bit, oh captain sunshine isn't so happy after all, i need it to be. substantial. enough to make sense of that line where cat says "a good therapist can change lives, look at jeremy for example" because like???? what do YOU MEAN????? what was he like before? i need to see a resolution to jeremy's silences, his hesitations with his family, all the questions that weren't answered in tsc. he really intrigues me. i do want him to have a break down of some sort in a way that shows jean he's not alone in having things he can't talk about. i need hurt/comfort where it goes both ways !!!!!!!!!!!!!

when i say i want jeremy knox to crash out i mean i want him to CRASH OUT. i want it to be debilitating. i want it to be brutal. i want him to lose it so bad people think he won't recover. i want him to lose his goddamn mind. i want everyone around him to panic and lose it too, because jeremy is always in control, always knows what he's doing, and he's finally been derailed. i want him to lose control and spiral and devolve and i want all the tentative threads holding him and his family and whatever past transgressions he has to unravel and for him to lose it so badly everyone gets worried that he won't make it out alive. i want every terrible thing in his past, big or small, to catch up with him and eat him alive. i want him to be irretrievable inconsolable unreachable i want him to be so out of it everyone is kind of like "well what the fuck do we do now" like if it's not that kind of a crash out i don't want it.

[fairyroses]

I wanted to ask, why do you think there is a possibility for karadox? But are also scared to hope?

Sorry this took so long to answer! 

The shortest and simplest answer to this question is: Because I’ve noticed some things over the past few months that seem to point towards canon Karadox, and also some other things that seem to point away from it. This has led me to believe that Karadox could be a possibility, but also makes me hesitant to fully back that belief, lest I end up disappointed.

The long answer: I’m gonna split this up into two lists (a positive “why do I think it’s possible” list, and a negative “why am I afraid to hope” list), and I probably won’t go into as much detail as I usually do in an effort to keep those lists as succinct as possible. If you want me to elaborate on any specific bullet point, feel free to send me an ask about that topic in particular and I’ll expand on it.

Why I Think Karadox is a Possibility: 

Brainiac 5 is Kara’s primary love interest in the comics, and has been for decades. (@kara-querl is the expert on comics Karadox, though, not me.)

As soon as Jesse was cast as Brainy, there was a lot of buzz about him potentially being Kara’s new love interest, because, again, the two characters have a reputation as a comics-canon ship. 

Brainy’s first episode on the show (3.10) was largely him-and-Kara-centric, and they were so likable together that people were already asking if we could keep Brainy after that single ep, despite the way his makeup looked at the time.

Brainy and Kara have also continued to be very likable together, and their dynamic already functions as a solid base that could be easily built up into a healthy romantic relationship. (This is one of those massive topics that I’m not going to expand on unless I’m asked about it, because we’d be here all day otherwise.)

I’m not going to point out every individual canon moment between them, but this shot in particular from 3.10, where the camera shifts focus onto Brainy just as Mon-El walks away, was interpreted as an “out with the old, in with the new” moment by a LOT of people at the time:

They gave Brainy a human disguise, thus making him acceptably “date-able” by CW standards. (This was also obviously a way to save money and time on the makeup, but still, it only helps the ship. It also helps that Jesse Rath is hot as hell under all that makeup.) 

The writers have been subtly dropping hints all along that Brainy already has Feelings for Kara (I have a couple of gifsets lined up with examples of these hints, so keep an eye out for those). Even if you don’t personally see those feelings as romantic yet, it’s still undeniably canon that he cares a great deal about her and isn’t afraid to show it.

A small preview of one such hint: HE FUCKING CRIED OVER HER.

The CW has been marketing the show using Kara and Brainy (or Jesse and Melissa) together since Jesse was promoted at the end of last season. As evidenced by this leaked image from last summer, it was a planned campaign, so the fact that the promos are using the two of them in particular isn’t a coincidence or anything. 

I don’t think Brainy/Nia is going to go the way most people are expecting, and as a result, I don’t think they’ll be a significant impediment to Karadox from a character standpoint. (This is my personal speculation, of course, but it’s speculation based on the things we’ve seen in canon, research that I’ve done into the comics, and what’s been said about the characters in interviews. So it’s not like I’m just pulling it out of my ass, either. Feel free to ask me for specific examples/evidence if you’re curious.)

Small note that even if Brainy/Nia proves me wrong and does happen this season, that still doesn’t necessarily mean that Karadox won’t happen at a later point. 

Brainy has become a fan-favorite character who’s well-liked by most everybody, which means that pairing him with Kara would be largely uncontroversial (especially compared to her last relationship). I’m sure the showrunners would love to put Kara with someone that people aren’t going to automatically hate. 

Building off of the previous point - If Brainy isn’t going to date Kara, then who will? He’s the only guy around right now that she could possibly date (and obviously she’s eventually going to date someone). The only alternative to Brainy is bringing in someone new, and personally, I think introducing a brand new character to be Kara’s next love interest - when Brainy is already right there - would NOT go over well with a lot of people.

Why I’m Afraid to Hope (aka Why I Have Doubts About Karadox Becoming Canon): 

Despite the promos, Kara and Brainy have had noticeably little screentime together since 3.10, and haven’t had a single emotional moment or conversation alone since that ep. Instead, all of Brainy’s more personal scenes (such as ones where he reveals important pieces of his backstory) have been going to Nia, which in turn has stagnated his developing friendship/relationship with Kara in a concerning way that I can’t help but feel is deliberate. 

We’ve seen how much Brainy cares about Kara, but the vast majority of those moments have conveniently happened when Kara is either unconscious or simply not around. So she’s still completely in the dark about how Brainy may feel about her. (And we’ve seen hardly anything about how she feels about him.)

Whether Brainy/Nia becomes canon or not, the fact that the show has been baiting people into shipping it at all creates a problem for Karadox in the future, because people are going to be less likely to support a new Brainy ship if they’re still bitter about Brainy/Nia not being together. So Brainy/Nia’s very existence is enough to make me doubt the possibility of Karadox. 

When asked about the potential for Karadox in season 4 after the season 3 finale, Rovner only gave a vague, and not particularly encouraging answer. That, plus the announcement a few months later about Kara staying single for a while, tells me that they never had any real intentions of exploring Karadox in season 4. 

The CW has a history of swerving on comics-canon ships, most notably Green Arrow/Black Canary. So just because Karadox is canon in the comics, doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll become canon on the show. 

There’s the whole issue/inherent tragedy of Brainy being from the future, which he technically should have to return to eventually (ignoring BTS facts like Jeremy Jordan not coming back, which likely means that Jesse will stay indefinitely). I’ve discussed this before, specifically mentioning how the time period difference hasn’t stopped Karadox from getting together in the comics, but it still needs to be mentioned as a point of doubt, because I’m not sure how they’d address it on the show itself. 

On a personal note, I’ve been badly (and I mean BADLY) burned by ships before, so it’s just in my nature now to temper my expectations whenever I see canon potential for a ship, because I’d much rather be pleasantly surprised than blindsided and heartbroken. So basically, until Kara and Brainy actually kiss onscreen and/or declare their feelings for each other out loud, I’ll always have doubts about Karadox happening.

But finally, because I don’t really want to end on a sour note, here’s a snippet from an interview that came out a few days ago, which I found intriguing and wanted to share:

….Now, I’m not necessarily saying that we could see hints of Karadox in the season finale as part of a setup for season 5…but I’m also not not saying it, if you know what I mean. :))