#lois lane depending on the version

[sailing-ever-west]

Gosh I love emotionally dysregulated disaster women in media. Even if they're incredibly capable otherwise, I love it when they just Can't in the feelings department. Women who are disgruntled wet cats. Women who don't smile when they're supposed to. Women who break stuff when they're angry. Women who cannot ever talk about the thing that happened to them. Women who care deeply but don't know how to be nurturing. Women who are rough and sharp and always too loud or too quiet and don't know the right things to say. Women with ugly, ungraceful feelings that come out in ways they don't mean. Women who wipe blood from their mouths and say something rude and keep getting up.

[mysticmoondancer]

🎃 Happy Halloween from the MBAV Crew! 🎃

Thought I'd have them all dress up in a group costume and their theme is of course DC superheroes. More specifically, those who were part of the Justice League! I originally wanted to do the founding (or rather the original) members who started the Justice League, but sadly couldn't, seeing as there was only one female member (Wonder Woman) that was part of the Justice League's creation. And of course, for the MBAV gang there are TWO females. So, it just wouldn't work. So, I just went with the more well known/popular members of the Justice League instead.

🔽 More down below about their costume choice and a better look at them individually, as well. 🔽

Rory is Flash because he lost to Benny in a game of "rock, paper, scissors" to see who gets to be Batman. After losing to Benny, he wanted to be Green Arrow, but no one trusted him enough to have a fake bow with arrows. Also, Erica really didn't want him to be the Green Arrow too because from what she remembers, the Green Arrow used to date Black Canary (her costume choice), and she didn't want to hear it from Rory or have him annoy her about that little fact all night long, as well. So, she STRONGLY had him choose another DC superhero to be, instead. Like the Green Lantern, but he didn't want to be the Green Lantern because he thinks his superpower is weak and lame due to having to rely on a ring that you have to recharge every now and then (which is stupid in his opinion, despite what Ethan may think). So, the Flash it is! Plus, he's super excited because now he can use his vampire speed to zip around everywhere like the Flash does!

Benny is Batman because he wanted to be all dark and mysterious. Plus, he thinks Bruce Wayne is awesome because of how rich he is and how he's a known playboy/lady's man to boot. Which is why I chose Benny to be Batman. I think he'd admire Bruce's lifestyle and also just like how Bruce has a bit of dark side to him, so does Benny too, as seen on a few occasions in the series. Oh! And he chose the costume with the fake abs because he wanted abs and thinks it makes him seem even more manly as Batman.

Ethan is Superman because he wanted to do a couple's costume with Sarah while also still doing the group one. And yes, I know that famously Superman's main romantic interest is technically Lois Lane. But it wouldn't work here if Sarah was going to be Wonder Woman and after some research, I found that in some rare instances there have been comics that had his love interest as Wonder Woman and NOT Lois, instead! Some even declared this rare pairing as the power couple of the DC universe! Anyway, that's why I picked Superman for Ethan. Plus, Ethan kind of has some of the same personality traits that Clark Kent/Superman does, as well. Depending on your version of Clark Kent/Superman that you choose, that is. For me, I was going for the Clark/Superman in the animated series "My Adventures with Superman".

Sarah is Wonder Woman because Ethan thought it would fit her, and she agreed. Plus, she gets to be a badass Amazonian warrior princess, as well! She also likes what Wonder Woman stands for (like justice and virtue) and can sort of see a bit of herself in her, as well. Like being a compassionate, strong, courageous, and honest person. If not a little bit stubborn, also.

Erica is Black Canary because she thinks she's badass and cool looking. Not to mention hot-looking, as well. Oh! And is a blonde like her, also! Originally, she was gonna be Wonder Woman but decided to let Sarah be her instead. Mainly because she too thought that Wonder Woman would be a better fit for her bestie rather than herself. Plus, Erica gets to mostly dress up in one of her favorite colors, too. Black. She also thinks that Black Canary has a way better fashion sense in the outfit department than Wonder Woman does when it comes to their superhero costume/look, anyway.

[ceiling-karasu]

Update for The Rod That Blocks the Lightning and basic first concept for a new OC.

September turned out to be a very busy month, and depending on this weekend I may not be able to upload the new chapter this month.

I was also very distracted, because I was wondering how to draw a deer with a hijab, and then found a Picrew that does in fact allow one to make a hog deer wearing a hijab, so I played around with that for a week so I can study that.

Anyway, someone scattered these tiny frogs around my workplace.

So this one lives at my workstation now.

Which is a coincidence, since I was just thinking of the frog reporter from The Continued Battle.

Well, I actually do need a foreign reporter OC for at least one scene. I also need an investigator from the international law courts like The Hague to ask questions (like the weasels and wolves attacking civilians and the Flower Hill spike pits).

The ostrich and frog did not seem to fit the bill. But a pink frog? This allows for me to make a general first concept from what I did have planned.

So, poison dart frog reporter it is (sah-headcannons guessed it as well)! Of course, it just so happens that poison dart frogs don’t really come in pink outside of a toad and maybe some private breeder’s rare color morph, which might also be fake.

The closest coloration I can get is the Strawberry Poison Dart Frog, specifically a variant from the Red Frog Beach of Isla Bastimentos, Panama, which are a more red color.

I kind of wanted to name the frog ‘Maria,’ (funny enough someone else suggested the same), which would be some other character’s first introduction to an individual not named after their species and occupation. But the locals of the beach where she is from call the frogs Rana Rojo.

Rana Roja is the perfect name! I was somewhat thinking of Lois Lane for the reporter character. She’s technically just a court reporter, but she does some amateur investigative journalism (maybe kind of like Nancy Drew?) since her coloration and the fact that she is from my AU’s version of The Hague makes people act suspicious, and gets her into troublesome shenanigans that reveal many hidden secrets…

The poison part could be an issue. Maybe she wears special clothing to prevent it from touching anyone. Maybe it’s just numbing and works like sweat unless she is stressed or very excited.

The poison also comes from diet, I think, since captive poison dart frogs don’t have the toxins. So she might be careful with what she eats, while carrying around vials of her own poison for emergencies, which Soor-Hiran would be very interested in obtaining.

[rp-partnerfinder]

✨✨ hey there! 18+ writers only please. i'm looking for someone who'd be willing to write canon female characters! mainly, i'm looking for someone to write / plot or headcanon around some canon characters with, with some of my favorites specified below.

i’ve got more than a few characters i’d looove to write opposite, of course —— these are just a few:

dc

talia al ghul, donna troy, cheshire / jade nguyen, artemis crock (young justice), black canary, zatanna, yara flor, lois lane, huntress / helena bertinelli, carol ferris, jessica cruz, selina kyle, wonder woman, ravager / rose wilson, starfire / koriand’r, lilith clay, dawn granger (titans tv), mera, punchline, poison ivy, hawkgirl, lady shiva, supergirl, arrowverse girls (sara lance, laurel lance, thea queen, iris west, dinah drake, mia smoak), etc.

marvel

elektra, emma frost, jean grey, psylocke, rogue, susan storm, kate bishop, felicia hardy, wanda maximoff, carol danvers, mary jane watson, gwen stacy, hope van dyne, claire temple, agatha harkness, gamora, etc

a song of ice and fire (game of thrones / house of the dragon)

cersei lannister, daenerys targaryen, margaery tyrell, melisandre, alicent hightower, rhaenyra targaryen, alys rivers

star wars

rey or leia

video games

ashe or kiriko (overwatch) / tifa, aerith, or jessie (final fantasy 7) / ellie williams (the last of us, part 2)

disney

jasmine, colette (ratatouille), cinderella, helen parr, tinker bell, kim posible or shego, elsa, alex russo, teddy duncan

other

starlight (the boys) / gwen tennyson (ben 10, alien force version only) / daphne blake (scooby-doo) / heather, gwen, courtney (total drama) / betty cooper (riverdale) / yennefer (the witcher show), etc.

these are just a few of the characters i’m looking for tbh, or the main ones at least. there’s quite a lot that i’d love, tbh.

as for who i'd play, i'm fine with most anyone, be it canons or crossovers or whatever. it depends on the pairing or plot, we can talk about it!

i'm fine with most themes and plots, and definitely most pairings. no real limits!

if any of this interests, like this and i‘ll message you! i mainly write through discord.

.

[flower1622]

Has anyone noticed that many heroes have weird or toxic girlfriends?

. I used to be a fan of this couple, but then I noticed that sometimes Annabeth can be a little bully to Percy....making fun of his intelligence....like she is superior and he would totally be lost without her. I just wanted to see how she would manage without him in Tartarus. She can be arrogant and bossy. In my opinion, I think she got really interested in Percy because of his powers....you know being the big hero stuff and....she was lonely after losing Luke, Thalia...and many other things that happened to her. Her fatal flaw is pride, so I guess she rarely apologizes for her mistakes and learn from them. I don't blame Percy for having insecurities to express himself because he gets afraid of Annabeth's reaction...and the jealous thing with Rachel....everyone already felt jealous...but treat someone bad just because of it and not even apologize to the person? This is totally creepy....If I had a friend like Annabeth, totally obsessive and possessive of me...I would keep my distance from her. If I'm not mistaken, Annabeth even made Percy ask her to dance...is this serious? Because I don't remember from the book....grateful for that...but still...If a guy doesn't ask you out, don't make him do it. Dance alone...love yourself first... it's better than humilate yourself for a man...and he can do whatever he wants to do...he doesn't have to dance with a girl only because she ordered him to do it...

Marinette is a sweet person, but sometimes she can be a creppy stalker. She even planned her future with Adrien who didn't even know her that well at the time. She even stole his phone. I see her character a little boring and forced sometimes. I never liked her as Ladybug because she was always bossy and boring...and sometimes even cold to Chat Noir. I don't like how they put the two together...her as someone smart and powerful and him just Chat Noir, the sidekick...the friend...the most important second hero. I think the best episode was Chat Blanc, when he used his power and she was gone. But her other version appeared to save the day...as usual....and I think she can be selfish too, especially to Adrien. Both remind me of Percy and Annabeth...I even stopped watching the series because of Ladybug.

I'm a big fan of this couple, but still....in all universes, Lois keeps something from her personality...that she is always bossy and arrogant...and sometimes a little boring. But I guess it may be Clark's style because there is another man with the same personality....

Sometimes, Lois Lane can be a little annoying; obsessive and possessive of Superman. I know that she fell for Superman because of his values, but I think deep down she fell for his powers and beauty too...and she treated Clark like she was superior to him....

She looks like the only nice version of Annabeth. Well..depends on the universe too...because she was a villain in one reality...and at least in the new superman and lois series, she fell for Clark first 😊

I love her so much, but she is a stalker or used to be..I don't know. She always followed Naruto and it was kinda creppy. He didn't like her or notice her existence....and even Naruto called her weird. Well, at least she was the only girl who never liked Sasuke!

In another version or dream (whatever that was)...Hinata even threatens Sakura for going out with Naruto, who wasn't even her boyfriend....

For me, Iris is a bad version of Lois Lane. She can be annoying, bossy and boring. I don't think that Barry and her have a lot of chemistry. She bothered more the team than helped. Sometimes, she can have her great moments. She even jumped from a building to try to save Barry. She could have died. So, yeah....she can be good. But, still..."Savitar only had one job...only one job" 😅🤣

[memento-mori-twilight]

Looking at the villians they had for My Adventures with Superman,

They honestly picked the best choices they could for a Season 1 rogues gallery.

Think about it (way too much detail below):

They didn't want to dip too far into multiverse and multidimensional villians, outside of Mxyztplk to introduce the concept, so they couldn't pull out Ultraman or Superboy/man Prime (who needs a Crisis Event to even exist properly if they want to do him nicely and that's a whole other can of worms).

They couldn't introduce Kryptonite soon enough for Metallo or Conduit to be relevant, and Metallo also kinda needs Lexcorp to exist beforehand (unless they wanna go with the military origin version who doesn't need Lex).

Conduit also requires an intense murderous rivalry with Clark from Smallville, which how they have made Clark Kent in this iteration, wouldn't make sense. What would he be pissed over, Clark beating him at a chess tournament?!?

Bizarro also comes from Lex's machinations having been a failed clone he created.

Aliens are *not* a common thing known, so intergalactic villains like Darkseid, Lobo, Mongol, and Zod aren't ones to form as threats until Clark knows what Krypton even is, or at least has a vague kind of idea.

We also don't have STAR Labs (yet) and barely have an evil form of Cadmus Labs (sincw they kinds blend in with Task Force X)

Honestly on that front, they did great reworking to have Parasite and Intergang in here as threats, since their origins/threat levels are often tied to Darkseid. Pairing them with Silver Banshee and Ivo were smart in that regards.

And yeah, I can hear the complaints already about Banshee not being a Metahuman and Livewire not being a Shock Jock, but metahumans being a thing not originating from a hush hush experiment from the military (as Episode 9 suggests is happening with Leslie) wouldn't work with how they formed Jimmy's story arc.

On top of that, Silver Banshee was born of magic shenanigans, and introducing that weakness before his more famous one of glowy rock with no known helpful magical allies would have been a major misstep, because that would essentially leave Clark no way to counter and win. She could still mess around with magic angle later in, though, after getting a taste of the power via the tech. (And maybe her sparking a romance with Jimmy, eh?)

As for Livewire not being a Shock Jock, that requires the fact of Superman being previously established as a hero in Metropolis for a time for there to be news about him (and a prominent radio station in Metropolis for Leslie to get zappy-zapped by radio tower after getting fired), which wouldn't work since the show's story makes it clear that Lois and Jimmy are the first ones to encounter him. {Also going the influencer angle wouldn't make sense for her getting electric powers because how would she get zapped while uploading vids on YouTube? Wifi or 5G doesn't work like that.}

Therefore, blending them in with Waller's proto-Suicide Squad of criminals and Sam Lane's distrustful actions against Nemesis Omega all wrapped in a military/government jingoistic bow was a smart move to not make some major potholes for the purpose of story direction. And making them have powers from repurposed Kryptonian tech also equals the unspoken question of "how is Superman constantly getting his ass beat?"

The only other real "Superman" villians they would have room left to mess with would be Toyman, the Atomic Skull, Ultra-humanite, Titano, Chemo, Bloodsport, the Prankster, Volcana (who is barely a villian and is more a victim of circumstance), Mr. Zed, and Manchester Black (depending how they implement them). And we very well may see many of them in Season 2, along with some of the ones from above, now that Kryptonite and the Multiverse exists now and Brainiac and other Krypton survivors have been teased.

They did their best with what they had left to work with, if they wanted to give us the beautiful characterizations and story beats we got in the first place.

Anyway, that's my piece on the villians, why they chose the ones they did, and why they were tech based instead of their other origins, and what ones they could mess with in Season 2 maybe.

Thanks if you read this whole thing, you're a real one for hearing me out.

[popculturebuffet]

Supermay!: President Luthor Review (Comission by WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people and welcome back to SUPERMAY, a month long celebration of all things superman.

Today we spotlight one of the greatest villians of all time. Not even going to undersell it I LOVE Lex Luthor, in large thanks to Clancy Brown's performance as the man the myth the legend in Superman the Animated Series and Justice League. Wether he's a super scientest, a super buisness man or some combo of the three, Lex is a fascinating character.

Lex is a perfect mirror to clark: Clark had two loving wonderful parents, Luthor's were abusive. Clark has incredible power, but uses it to help people, while Luthor has incredible intellgence but uses it to crush others under his heel metaphorically or quite literally depending on the day. Clark is empathetic and belivies in everyone, while Lex belivies in no one but himself. They don't just come into conflict because Luthor is a terrible person.. they come into conflict because it's hard for these two to coexist: Superman wants Luthor held acountable and as a rich white man in america, that's a tall order, and Luthor simply can't STAND that all these people love Superman and not him.

So that lead's us to today's comic, an intresting chapter in Lex's history borne ENTIRELY out of that egocentric spite: In 2000 Lex Luthor ran for president.. and he WON. Most of you are likely aware this happened as it's been adapted a few times, the movie superman/batman: public enemies adapting the end of his presdiency, Justice League Unlimited featuring him doing said campaign (if JUST to piss superman off/further his evil plans), and Smallville has that happen somewhere.

It's an iconic storyline.. that's sadly undercollected. Yeah today's review covers trade released after an even less subtle evil billionare won the presdiency.. and the probelm is Luthor's campaign was less a storyline and more a big status quo change. As such this collection covers a handful of stories, dosen't really feel like an actual storyline, and only covers up till just after Lex is elected.

There IS a decent reason as this trade was likely reconfigured from the original trade released around the time the storyline happened, and the year after this they began reprinting the era these stories come from in "Superman: The City of Tommorow"... which stopped after two volumes. DC.. isn't great at collecting it's own history, though marvel's only a smidge ahead thanks to their Epic Collection line. They have a bad tendency to stop halfway through and this was a casuality.

Still this trade does at least provide a peak into the election of lex luthor, why he ran, who his running mate was, and how Clark took his greatest enemy WINNING. So join me under the cut for all that and more!

Our first of many stories, and pieces of stories, is The Why. And it's easily my faviorite collected here as it's simple yet brilliant. It's a story with no dialouge till the final panel, with muted colors around, that follows a day in the life of Lex Luthor.. and how no matter what he does or where he goes he can't escape superman: He sees him on a news, at newstands, an employee having a superman action figure (who he naturally gestures his assitant to fire), even a tatoo on a woman he was going to flirt with and maybe unsatisfygly do sex with. I mean lex CAN be hot but let's face it: there is no way in hells someone that egocentric is not selfish in bed.

So we get to the final page.. where he sees a headline with superman and gets an idea. A wonderful awful idea

It's a true masterpiece and while some would say "would luthor REALLY be so petty as to run for president just to spite superman", I say "Early into this post crisis version of the character the man spent billions of dollars and had a woman kidnapped to find out his secret identity and later created a temporary cure to Lois Lane's mother's terminal illness just so she'd date him". Pre-Crisis he was sore superman made him bald and dedicated his life to destroying him. Lex Luthor is a petty bitch and always has been.

This brilliant story was by Greg Rucka, who if you haven't heard of him, you rmissing out. Rucka has done a ton of work at DC with the two standouts to me being his sadly short lived run on Wonder Woman, redefening the character, givnig her her own lex luthor and really just killing it. THen eh did it AGAIN for rebirth. The other is his run on Catwoman, which took Frank Miller's edgelord riffic Year One retcon of Catwoman having been a sex worker.. and recontexualizes it, making Selina's rough background part of her and making her a champion for sex workers and others who simply dont' have one, taking what was meant as stupid fanservice and giving it depth and weight. What i'ms aying is he's really awesome so it's not a shock some of the best stories here are him.

So we then go to part of a story called Adversaries, by JM Demattis, one half of the masterful team behind Justice League International. As Superman is having his morning meditation and thinking "golly gee nothing could ruin this gorgeous day"... Lex Luthor announces he's running for president.

Now you may be asking "Jake how in the flying fuck is lex luthor running for president. " And while 2000's superman is one of the gaps in my comics knowledge I know enough about the time period to know what's going on here and thus why Lex has a shot, with the various storeis themselves filling in a gap or two.

Okay so a while back, Lex Luthor was dying. This was the famous "Kryptonite gave him cancer" story, which I know thanks to the Justice League cartoon. Like the cartoon he eventually escaped it, but rather than Braniac curing it he found another way out: Cloning.

Yes folks Lex Luthor cloned himself, and then pretended to be his own illgitamte child for a while. I mostly know about THIS because I did read the death of superman, reign of the supermen and return of superman all of which happen while Lex is pretending to be his own son and also romancing supergirl who was a shapeshifted alien blob who trusted him for something at the time rather than a teenage girl, which still dosen't make it less creepy as it's still lex luthor grinding up against a member of superman's family. He's also the reason she didn't intervene in said death, telling her to back off clearly hoping superman would die. Granted he ALWAYS hopes superman will die this time he just happened to be correct.

The clone eventually degraded, Luthor blew up metropolis, and he made a deal with the demon neron for a new body. He later pinned all his crimes on a "failed clone" and thus was scott free for any overt supervillany. So as far as anyone knows Luthor's record is clean.

Helping this are two factors: one is that while Luthor was shady as fuck, like most buisnessmen in the 80's and 90's he didn't go around announcing it or hoping he can get courts to ignore his crimes and put them down to "politics". He kept his hands clean like any shady billionare so superman could stop his nonsense, but couldn't really stop HIM, with superman the animated series keeping with this line of thought.

The other is that any shady stuff left tha tcould be dug up.. was erased. See something very weird I haven't read the storyline for happened right before this: at the dawn of the millnieum, braniac attacked and converted metropolis into a literal city of tommorow, a futurestic city packed with fancy tech, robots and other stuff. Braniac was beat but Luthor barganed with him: His baby daughter for the knowledge of how to work all this. Thus Lex was able to make everything run well and had the popular vote.

Finally we have the climax of the year long Batman epic No Man's Land, a story that like president luthor has been adapted a few times because it's that good an idea. Now what it was was a bit nuts.. after a massive earthquake and a plauge, the goverment, backed by some shady folks hoping to profit off the situation, decided Gotham just.. wasn't part of america anymore.

Yeah they just.. set up guards so no one got in or out, and it was declared a no man's land, hence the title. Many evacuated but some coudln't and some like Batman, the GCPD and most of Batman's partners stayed behind to try and save the city. It introduced Cassandra Cain Batgirl, and was where Nightwing and Oracle finally hooked up.

The important part to this is towards the end, as the goverment was finally shamed into doing the right thing Luthor stepped up to help rebuild the city. Naturally this being Lex Luthor he can't do a nice thing unless it either benefits him or pisses off superman somehow, and so he tried to steal the city out from under it's citizens, foiled naturally by batman. So while Batman stopped his shit, the public at large just sees this as a huge humanitarian boost and a bane against the incumbent who you know, signed off on no mans land in the first place. Granted any presidency would struggle after electing to abandon a city and let the joker sort it out, but Luthor being the guy who went in and cleaned up the mess only makes it worse.

It's also here I want to stop and point out the obvious parallel: Lex Luthor is a buisnessman, with a reputation for putting his names on things, having heavy ties to one of america's big cities, flaunting his wealth and being pettily vengful at everyone who so much as sneezed at him wrong. As much as I don't want to talk about him, we really can't talk about this arc anymore without talking about Donald Trump.

Luthor getting elected got comparisons to Trump, to the point they threw in the story Luthor the Unauthroized Biography in here despite having happened long before this arc , simply so they could use this cover

The thing is though while the two have SOME similarities, Luthor's campaign was done long before Trumps.. and thus Luthor presents himself as an actual human being instead of some shouty sack of skin and hair plugs who dosen't understand how anything works. Luthor may be evil.. but part of what makes him an intresting villian is the presentation: Luthor wants to be seen as a good man, to be praised. His reputation and power is everything. Thus luthor packages two evil schemes as him trying to help people, packages everything he does carefully.

Trump DOES have a carefully cultivated brand.. but also has zero filter. He never has. He flat out admitted a few months ago he'll be a dictator on day one.. and day 1001 but he didn't say that part, but he sure is thinking it. Trump is a bafoon who got into office preying on people's need for some sort of economic upturn, pandering to racists and other anti-change bigots, and getting a loyal army of fellow dumbasses to back him and whatever he does, to the point his loyalists held the senate hostage and that he's been able to use them to get away with formenting an insurrection. Would lex luthor storm the captial? yes. Would he do it in a way that couldn't possibly be linked to him? Yes.

Again i'm not saying Lex is a good person: he gave his daughter to an alien robot man. Lex Luthor is a monster. I'm saying that he dosen't really resemble trump.. because he's a FUNCTIONAL monster. Part of why this arc works is that you can see WHY lex can sell america on this as he uses a mostly pristine image. Trump had a combination of luck and racisim. Luthor actually worked at it.

Anyways one of Superman's foes The Adversary, a guy I know nothing about and whose unrelated to the trickster god from marvel far as I know, kidnaps luthor, superman rescues him.. and superman is all too happy to give him a haughty "your welcome" after luthor is a dick about it saying his people could've handled the giant flying man as strong as superman.

Our next story is another Greg Rucka banger, The Most Suitable person and is another tie to Batman. Lex knows he can't keep his company and since he gave away his only children to use as a puppet king, he instead courts the best woman for the job: Talia, daughter of Batman superfoe Ra's Al Ghul. It's an intresting pull and makes sense: He could have his right hand woman mercy run it.... but he needs her at his side for his evil schemes and it'd still look like he was running it. He needs someone he can trust to run it and not take it from him, but also not make it less evil.

Talia at the time was on the outs from her dad and not really in a mood to accept given the centruies old head of a large terrioist group kinda wants her dead. Lex naturally takes her no.. by having a bunch of mercnaries pretending to be her dad's men. It IS left ambigious if it was really them.. but like Talia I fully think Lex set this up and despite his refusals he WOULD blow up a building and get 17 mercs killed just to get what he wants. She agrees to here him out if only because it's clear he won't take no for an answer... and there's no telling what he'd do for an encore.

Next is the great debate, a fun short story and another likely backup. This time it's from my boy Peter David, writer of X-Factor over at marvel, and Young Justice and Supergirl here at dc among a LOT more. It's a fun three pager where Luthor has a nightmare of a debate.. with two face.

Next is some forward movement with the concept, the american way by Jeph Loeb, who'd not only write superman for the luthor presidency as a whole, but would also write it's end with Public Enemies.

Lois and Clark get an ugly suprise that morning: Luthor's picked his running mate..and it's Clark's childhod friend Pete Ross, a former senator and clear pick to get the vote of midwesteners. And living in the mid west I can tell you this ploy probably woudl've worked.

Clark heads down there to find out what the hell and after LUthor exploits his sudden apperance for press, Clark asks pete what the fuck. Pete explains he's given up on dreaming: he wants to be a winner dammit and Luthor is going to win.

Clark confides in his parents, with Pa not knowing what the hell got into Pete.. I mean he was apparently always a moron but my god. Clark considers talking to his wife Lana, Clark's childhood sweetheart, and Ma tells him he should but that she's suffered enough and he shoudlnt' write a piece against pete.. even though pete did this dumbass thing himself and it's clark's job as a reporter, not to mention pete FLAT OUT ADMITTED he's only doing this because he wants to win.

Lois goes to work where Perry, SHOCKINGLY isn't happy. Also she ignores Jimmy, expect that to be a theme here. At any rate, Perry is pissed, but Lois is more concerned about a ticking time bomb: she agreed to kill any one story luthor asked and is afraid the bill will come due. This.. dosen't come up strangely. I THINK it plays into the arc, but I can't be sure as it's missing here.

Superman decides to deal with his own issues with this whole situation the way he does.. by battling a giant monster in the atlantic. He wins.. but finds a bigger problem, Aquaman, whose still in his angry phase but is ANGRIER than even usual: turns out it's Lexcorp that's been causing creatures like the giant monster thing to go nuts, and he's going to do something about it even as Clark TRIES To get him to calm the hell down. Thankfully this isn't bad character writing as there's a reason for Arthur being mopeier than usaul.

For now Clark swoops into an event for Lex, but before he can talk to Lana, Aquaman shows up with a giant net to kidnap lex luthor

Superman naturally goes after him only to find THE ARMIES OF ATLANTIS led by former aqualad and current tempest garth, who orders superman to stand down or he'll flood the city

Garth is the key indicator somethin'gs up: arthur does have a tendency to be a grumpus in this era, him doing this isn't SUPER out of character.. but declaring war and Garth participating in it and activating a giant wave machine? Something's fucked.

Superman may be faster than a speeding bullet.. but he isn't fast enough to stop garth.

Thankfully he gets some help from the boys YOUNG JUSTICE IS HERE! Specifically the comics version, which I love dearly and which is nothing like what got on screen. Nothing against the cartoon, Weisman did a great job, it's just based more on the teen titans with bits of greg's own ideas. Young Justice is more like the teen titans cartoon , which was intended to be a YJ adaptation but they coudln't get the rights to some of the cast.

The lineup for this crossover is the core of the team: Robin (Tim Drake), Superboy (conner king) Impulse, and Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandmark), along with their mentor and advisor and babysitter my boy red Tornado. Clark is.. less than enthused, but takes the help as they hit the streets. Naturally things don't go on too long before robin and cassie get eaten by that big thing from earlier.

This is on purpose though: Tim revs up the super cycle, had cord attached to it and superboy and later superman PULLL PULLL while he revs up, allowing them to pull the thing back into the ocean. Superman sincerly compliments them, which is nice: clark may be mildly frustrated with them.. but he's still superman. He's not a dick and as weird as the plan was, it worked. He quickly saves lois , as he do then goes to rescue Luthor.

This being Luthor though.. he spins it in his favor. He claims he had no idea the braniac tech he was using was turning sea life mad.. including the atlantians, explaning why Arthur done did a war crime, and vows to actually fix it, spinning this pr disaster into a win.

Then he gets another PR win.. the hard way. He gets shot. The culprit is Jenny Hubbard, a minor character I had to look up, a waitress he once offered a million dollars to spend a month with him... then left long before she could accept the offer, it being a cruel prank he does to fuck with people. Naturally the media spins it as her being delusional... it also uses the same shot for an entire page but i'll only show you 4 panels

Also for some reason they didn't think to not have a shot wher eluthor looks like a preist getting down instead of having just taken a bullet... he smiles in his hotel room. It's as if he planned it.

The next story is another Loeb story, and another backup, tales from the Bizzaro World. Batman shows up and he's understandably nettled: As I mentioned, and learned from this story, the braniac 13 thing wiped Luthor's records. That means there's no dirt to dig up, the planets records also wiped and Batman wants to know if Clark personally has anything.

Clark dosen't.. but is pissed Bruce would even ask, pointing out this isn't the usual try to take down luthor thing: their talking about a political canditate running for office and this isn't something they should be doing.

I see both points: Luthor should be stopped and Batman is right ot question the american people's judgement when they let no man's land happen. But Clark is right: he can't just suddenly DECIDE who can be president or can't. He's not king superman. He put away the pope hat ages ago. He can vote, he can use his power at the planet to TRY and stop this.. but they can't just start deciding who runs america. Even if the people choose wrong they should be allowed to choose. Granted i've now seen how bad the people choosing wrong can go.. but the whole point of elections is to prevent a dictator ship, just like this one and likely others after it given the way the republican party is going. If someone else is sinking canditates ;using their billions and connections and bat skills, that's not freedom and clark is aware of it.

We move on to election night as everyone prepares.. and we get a really nice moment with Clark and Jonn

A reminder the leauge isn't thrilled about this either. More on that in a minute

In the office Pete White considers two headlines: Luthor Loooses.. or Luthor wins.

We then get Triumph Over Tragedy, a heavily doctored detaling of luthor's past, leaving out that he killed his dad, that the evil clone was him, etc. It's a neat piece that goes over his history and shows just how mnuch he's buried..a nd he buries it again as he asks cat to cut out the piece. This ending is chilling.. especially now as we have full channels like fox news dedicated to telling blatant lies and propping up people like luthor.

We then get the results as Jimmy is assigned to do a story on where they were when they heard about his announcment.. only for him to be interuppted. Perry announces, comparing it to other disasters.. that luthor has won. They have to press on because shit is going to get bad.. but they ahve to. While the Luthor trump comparssions don't really work for the most part.. this part hits as it's the reality most of us faced that day: that someone truly bad won.

Next up is another greg rucka story. Batman shows up , wanting the kryptonite ring. Luthor can have it or the presdency. Luthor says nah he can have both.. and shows just how bad things are now. While he said in the cartoon "you know how much power i'd have to give up to be president" this shows how much he GAINS: every wet works orginzation in the us now responds to him and he threatens batman: come after him again and he can track him and his allies 24/7 and he will. Bruce says he'll be back.. but it's an empty threat. Luthor.. has once again won. It's a great shor tlittle story, showing WHY Batman was so afraid of this and how even Superman's equal... can't lay a finger on him. Luthor.. has won.

We get a jeph loeb short story next: have you heard the news. it's a fun short three pager as Superman goes into an absolute RAGE on saturn's moon. He's.. not happy and luthor can see that. I also would like to take a minute to praise Ed McGuinnes, who did the art on Jeph Loeb's story. He has this nice bombastic cartoony style i REALLY love and it's always a pleasure to see him when he pops up and we'll be seeing him again when we cover public enemies at some point.

Next is the confrontation with Lana. Turns out part of Superman's understandable bafflement is that he kidnapped her like I mentioned.. and she never told pete as she couldn't without compromising clark's identity and admits they have NOTHING on luthor and that maybe pete will make it better and her marriage has to be mor eimportant. In other words.. it's all justifications: while Lana COULD have told Pete what happened and it's on her to not trust her husband enough. Clark would've let her. The truth is she just didn't want to and cries as she hopes he won't be president. Unsuprisingly this marriage did not last.

We get one final piece of election night: Superman storming in.. and admitting defeat

I love this image as it just convey's both how little clark wants to do this.. and how much he has to. To show america he won't undercut the president even if that president has cameras on saturn just to see if superman has a venting session.

Next up is a snippet of an issue, where Luthor has his big innaugration parade. He even hired an old friend to help celebrate

Trust. It's interuppted by some protesters from the Suicide Slum, a poorer area of Metropolis that got left behind by the Braniac updgrades to the rest of the city. Luthor dances a little sidestep saying he's not in charge of Lexcorp, he'll look into this, bullshit bullshit.

Clark and Lois go to talk to John Henry Irons, aka Steel aka Lana's next better husband. Then we cut off but we'll be seeing my boy here soon

For now we have my other faviorite story in this collection, a very close second to our first: Help.

Help is set at christmas and follows Clark as he talks with the other members of the Justice League about the shit that just went down, clearly stressed to hell given the people he protets and tries to inspire.. just willingly choose an egomaniac with a shady history to be their new leader. We also get a murder's row of artists for each vingette, written again by Jeph Loeb.

The first is the Martian Manhunter.. and Plastic Man as he was the only member of the expanded league from Morrison's run to stick around because he's awesome. Fun fact; Ben Schwartz has apparently campaigned to play him. James Gunn.. get.. get on that buddy.

Jonn is TRYING to help Clark relax but he can't because he's a boinger. And again a sociopath is in the white house. Clark wonders if he shoudl've done more to stop this.. but Jonn helps put it into perspective: Clark is integrated into this world a bit better than Jonn is, something he envies... especiallys ince what happened made no sense. But he assures clark the second Lex does something illegal, he's there... which also feels like his way of assuring his friend he did the right thing. We also get a sweet moment as plastic man makes him smile. Clark gives the two a gift: rubber bands fo rplastic man, choco's, jonn's faviorite oreo stand in, for .. well guess. It's a fun runner as I love the idea Clark gives his friends each a cheesy gag gift.

Next up is aquaman, by rob liefeld, which is shockingly passable. Clark and Arthur both look pissed off and dead at the same time but at least their spines are in tact. Arthur is actaully on lex's side since he's the first world leader to both promise trade with atlantis and offer commuincation and while Clark admits those are probably lies, Arthur warns they better not be, implying Luthor would be kinda stupid to do anything. Arthur then gets his gift a snowglobe and cracks the closest thing he can to a smile.

Next is a talk with green lantern drawn by Mike Wirnego, who i'm less familiar with but whose art looks sensational and expressive here. Granted anything is expressive after Rob Liefield but still, it's good stuff.

The League's green lantern is Kyle Rayner, imaginative boy and 90's guy. So naturally his stance is Luthor is crooked.. but so was the last guy and so will likely be the next guy. Things really don't change. Kyle still votes though as he has to hope things will be better. It shows Kyles' character off well: he's flip and easy to crack a joke.. but he's an optimsit at heart. His stance here is honestly mine: the system is broken, our vote only pivots thing slightly in elections where a known criminal and tyranical narcsist isn't running.. but it's worth voting just to TRY and make things better. There's no reason not to vote even if sometimes it's the lesser of two evils. Kyle's gift is ring polish, which he cracks up about.

Next up is Wally West, the flash by art motherfucking adams, an artistic legend and a genius at the pen. Truly fantastic stuff as always. Wally is picking up some chcoclates linda wanted, last minute of course since when your the fastest man alive you can do that cliche without coming off like a douche. Also when you have undiagnosed ADHD. Wally's stance is voting early and often, as that's the american way and admits he'd drag luthor out if Clark asked.. but he won't ask that because that's not the american way. The American way is putting your faith in something and hoping it works out. Wally gets tube socks for some reason.

Next is Diana, Wonder Woman and it's by Ian Churchill who i'm less familiar with.. but i'ts not drawn great. Diana also has large fake nails for some reason. It's this weird tendency i've noticed: artists tend to give long painted nails to women even if it didn't fit the character back in the 80's through the 2000's. I don't mind it if It fits and I could see diana doing it for a fancy occasion or fun, but not for a sparring session.

Diana dosen't care about the electoin and while she probably did vote she's more worried Clark is slipping and has already let Luthor win mentally. He hasn't but it's good of her to worry. She does have a valid suggestion that comes off as more in character though: take some time off. Granted i'ts written as "as a woman and as your only friend whose a woman " which just tells you a 2000's man wrote this. He gives her a tiny mjonr, which I again don't get but gets him a hug. Awww.

We end on Batman whose still pissed at Clark, rubbing the whole "letting humans have free will thing' in his face and saying when the time is right we will take down luthor. In other words prime bat dick behavior, not suprising for the era wher Batman was extra dickish at times.

So Clark takes the advice of a friend who didn't want him to interfere with free choice and takes a few days off in kandor with lois, content for now to accep tthe situation

We then get World without Superman by Mark Schultz... and this story is just..

The IDEA for the story is good: Around christmas time we see Clark depressed that Luthor won. Granted it dosen't jibe well with the previous story: Luthor won, but clark at least tried to take some time away from. I can still allow it though thanks to personal experince. Like with Perry's line before CLark depressedly watching the tv as Luthor makes good, butters up to the league and geninely seems to have america's approval hits harder after the 2016 election. Anyone on the left.. was left dismayed and shocked this actually happened, that this openly racist, sexist, homphobic pile of hair and spray tan won. I can sympathize with Clark having GENUINELY belivied in the people.. and them having let him down. I can buy that Superman, one of the most hopeful and hope inspiring characters in all of fiction.. could be laid low by this.

So the followup, Lori Lee of the time traveling Linear Men who i'd only vaugely heard of before this, shows up because things are going VERY bad thanks to decisions clark makes soon, that he quits being superman and gives up.. and the world goes to hell as a result. This idea.. is brilliant. While the it's a wonderful life riff is common, I like merging it with the future segment of a christmas carol here.

The problem is that they go WAY too far in this distoypian future to the point that it defies logic and sense. A good bad future has to have some sort of logic to it. To use an X-Men example because I got x-men on the brain now and always, Days of Future Past was effective because it was so simple how things went wrong: a mutant killed an anti-mutant senator, that ramped up anti mutant tensions, and things slowly escalated to the regestration act and the sentinel program going public. It took TIME for the world to go to hell in a realistic fashion.

This story does try to do that, it's 15 years later, Lexcorp runs the world. A large part of this is due to Our Worlds at War, a massive crossover and interstellar war that happened next year. During that war a powerful being named impereix decided to unmake reality due to a percieved imperfection in the cosmos and given his drones were incredibly powerful and if defeated detonated like nuclear bombs it took ALL of earth's superheroes as a united front, along with a few villians of course, to fight it back. Luthor proved his presidential chops by directing the conflict. The idea that this war goes badly without supes is a good one.

The problem is it dosen't really make sense with the storyline next year or even objectviely: Luthor apparently spent through a bunch of heroes with costly battle strategies.. but while Clark being gone DOES impact the superhero community severely and his clear replacement, Wonder Woman, was also gone, replaced by her mom, they still have the rest of the league, and if they coudln't inspire hope, there's the justice society of america, who the whole superhero community looks up to and who have vetran clout. Sure Lex could TRY and send them on a suicide run and did send them on a risky mission in the actual war, but the fact of the matter is it'd be a bit hard to both overtalk and cover up the deaths of world war II vetrans. Heroes who as far as I can tell have a unviersally good reputation. It's also overlooking the younger generation like DIck Grayson or Wally West, both of whom have enough collections across the various dc heroes to rally them.. and rally tem against luthor if he went to far.

Even putting that aside.. the second step, putting in laws to fuck with all them, is more plausable.. but the fact their ALL gone but batman and co by this point dosen't make any sense to me. Only one league member wasn't against luthor's election on some level, Arthur, and even his terms were VERY conditional. Luthor would have to do a lot of state sec killing to get the heroes down to a point where they couldn't just overthrow him and while he has the b13 tech, the heroes have geniuses like Oracle, Steel, and Batman on their side to help reverse engineer things. I also don't think bruce would remotely wait to go commando on Luthor and is smart enough. I'm not saying batman's a god : many a weak story has made batman a gary stu by forgetting he's a flawed man.. but he CAN beat lex luthor even with the world against him and wouldn't let Luthor get this far.

With days of future past the X-Men are a bunch of average people, with only charles having any political pull at the time. Batman.. is a billionaire. Wonder Woman and Aquaman both rep whole nations. Kyle and Wally while average joes are both gods. The only reason the justice league didn't say, remove Luthor the second he got elected.. is he was rightfully elected and they respect that. Even Batman, as pissy as he's been, knows better than to do that. But if things got bad enough they would and would let america hopefully pick someone better. Even if they ended up jailed.. they'd expose luthor if it killed them. Maybe i'm just an optimist, maybe the world would beat them all down.. but i've read enough dc comics of all kinds to know these characters.. don't give up and would fight their hardest for a better world even if it killed them. So it feels reductive to say superman being gone instantly means their all fucked. It'd mean they'd be more depressed, might go to darker places without clark, and some MIGHT give up.. but I can't imagine everyone giving up because superman decided.

And yes folks.. THAT'S what they went with. Superman just GAVE UP ON earth. I could buy Clark giving up on being superman if pushed enough: the world is full of heroes and as seen with the later storyline up up and away, which I hope to cover one day and might save for the next supermay, the dcu.. didn't burn down because he was gone a year after being depowered. He can still do good as Clark Kent. I can't buy Clark being SO fed up he'd leave. Retire maybe, and even then that's hard to buy.. but it's PLAUSABLE. Superman abandning his parents, wife and friends to fend for themselves and NEVER coming back is ludcirious, especially since the imperix war ended up spreading wide enough hat there's no way he wouldn't speed back to help. Darkseid pitched in for fucks sake: you think he'd let Superman sit out a war he had to humble himself to get help for? No. Darkseid is. Darkseid would be PISSED superman gave up and demand he come help or he'll kill his ass. I get the writer probably didn't have all the pieces, but said pieces really hurt htis series longetivity

What also hurts it is the present day part: Lois, Jimy and Perry try one last hail mary to save journalism.. and fail, as Luthor saw it coming a mile away and has his personal hit squad kill them. and some tigers. I don't buy Lois being this dump or thinking cozying up to luthor would remotely work. He took satstifaction in Lois, Jimmy and Perry joining his propoganda.. but he never forgot.

We also get another insult with that.. see some heroes.. sold out to luthor.. and who they choose...

Yeah normally on this blog I try to be positive. I will point out when a work is bad or not great.. but I try to be constructive. Explain why it is or at least thrown in a joke. I try to avoid nerd raging.. but my GOD does the choice of having Plastic Man, Booster Gold and Huntress honk me off. Part of it is i'm a big fan of the latter two thanks to JLI and Birds of Prey, respectively. So I admit to a little bias. That being said, said bias is from having actually read the characters apperances and not just picked who would make a good edgy shocking luthor justice league out of a hat.

I get WHY each one was picked: Plastic Man comes off a tad shady and entirely unserious, Booster is both not all that serious and was introduced as a willing corprate shill: he had standards but DID it for the fame and to escape his criminal past and once bought an island with justice league money, while Helena often clashed with the bat fam at the time due to her more violent methods and bruce being a tad dickish.

The problem is NONE OF THIS MEANS THEY'D SIGN UP WITH LUTHOR. Plastic Man is loosey goosey.. but he's not so loosey goosey he'd agree to work for luthor to opress people. Booster sold out.. but he both grew past that and already fueded with Luthor in his solo: he knows he can't trust him and if he's going to make money, he'll do it on his own and if things are going THIS bad he'd either go back to fix them.. or just go back entirely to avoid this crap if the's that cynical. He also wouldn't blow up a building full of people under any circumstances that aren't accidental, and even the latter is a bit much for Booster. he may be a fuckup.. but he's not a "murder a bunch of people fuckup" and is a good guy, i'ts just buried under layers of self intrest.

Finally Helena.. has a super strong sense of justice: she DID start her career killing and went after the mob because they murdered her family. She'll do things Batman won't , or at least would at this point in her career.. but I can't remotely buy her selling out to luthor and not trying to put a bolt in his head, even if he is the law. She went outside of the law in the first place, why would she trust it enough to work under lex? This feels like the writer picked three characters he thought might do it and didn't bother to think thorugh how their fans would feel, which happens a LOT and always feels cheap and has only gotten worse since booster and helena got furhter fleshing out in the later 2000's that makes this somehow dumber.

Our last few stories cover his actual swearing in and right after and i'm going to rapid fire them as they aren't BAD stories, but mostly either small one offs clearly designed to set something up later.

The first is the actual innugaration which is a full story.. but I simply don't have much to say about it. It's by the same guy who did the previous dumbassery, but he does a good job here. I'ts innaguration day and Steel and his niece and future steel herself Natsha plan a protest. They even run into some othe rheroes: Pat Duggan, formerly Stripsey sidekick to the star spangled kid.

His daughter courtney, bitter about having to move when her mom married pat and being a bit of a brat at the time found the equipment and became a costumed hero just to piss him off. Pat used some powered armor he was making to become S.T.R.I.P.E. to keep an eye on her. That's where we are here, with Courtney and Pat having bonded but still not being on the same page a lot of the time. This would soon change as Courntey realized her bio dad was a piece of shit, and accepted pat as her dad, becoming Stargirl and taking up that legacy.

For now though their just at the inagguration because history and all that, but naturally superhero stuff breaks out as Steel's protest was leaked to team luthor. HIs bodyguards mercy and hope attack, but with an assitn from Courtney Steel wins the day.. and asks how they knew. He figures out itw as a setup.. just in time for someone else.

A supervillian attacks, having been created by the same circumstances that John Henry and co were protesting: luthor's devistation of the suicide slum. Naturally superman sweeps in as he planned not to attend, a silent protest but WAS nearbye just in case. He, Steel, Stargirl and Stripsey win of course, and Luthor also wins of course, getting a photo op with superman as "you wouldn't deny your president would you". A masterful dick move sir.

The next one is cleaning up a loose end, courtsey of Karl Kessel, long time superman writer and superboy co-creator and writer.. the connor kent one. Luthor was actually married once to the Contessa, an immortal buisness woman he secretley married who is the mother of his child and once took over his company. Luthor blows her up with missles as you'd expect.

The last two are setups for later... that i'm baffled are in here. The first one I get a little. Cerce, wondy's arch enemy I mentioned (one of them anyway, she has a few contenders) waltzes up planning a partnership but Luthor shoots her down and is naturally a dick abou tit. Some shady man offers her his help and.. that's about it. It's a decent story showing that Luthor's old criminal buddies aren't getting any free rides by this administration, it just baffles me it's in here. You could've used the pages to finish one of the other stories from earlier or put in a story from his adminstration. We also get one setting up his bumbling assitant Mercy is bitter about. That's.. really it. That's how it ends.

So overall this trade.. was a bit better on the second go round. The first act, while pieced together, does tell a cohesive story.. they just felt for osme reason the need to include the innguration and some other stories to pad it out at the end. It would've been better to end at luthor becoming president, maybe at the justice league story dealing with it. We really didn't NEED the terrible future story or the innaguration and tales. The rest tells a good story of how luthor GOT here, how he won, and how Clark feels about it. Throw in the unathorized biography and it would've been enough. Still if you have a few bucks the trade IS worth picking up, and did the best it could with the space it had. IT's an intresting look at an intresting storyline and has some real gems: like I said "The Why" and "Help" are really great stories and worth the price of the trade alone. Thanks for reading

Next time: We get super serial as we look into "The Clan of the Firey Cross"

[toon-rp-finder]

⭐️ hey there! 18+ writers only please — i'm 25 and i'm looking for adult writers only. mainly seeking mxf pairings.

i'm looking for someone who'd be willing to write fandom female characters! mainly, i'm looking for someone to write / plot or headcanon around some of the canons i'll list below. there's a few other favs, but the ones are here are the main ones i'd love!

as for who i'd play, i'm fine with most anyone, be it canons or ocs or crossovers. it depends on the pairing or plot, we can talk about it!

i'm fine with most themes and plots as well, and definitely most pairings. no real limits!

anyway —here are the main animated characters i'd love to write opposite:

scooby-doo

daphne blake

ben 10 (alien force and older versions only!)

gwen tennyson, julie yamamoto, charmcaster, ester

disney

kim possible or shego, jasmine (aladdin), colette (ratatouille), jane porter (tarzan), cinderella, helen parr, tinker bell, wendy daring

final fantasy 7

tifa lockhart, aerith gainsborough, jessie rasberry

young justice

artemis crock, cheshire, black canary, zatanna

dc animated universe

talia al ghul, lois lane, batgirl, huntress

overwatch

kiriko, ashe

total drama

heather, courtney, gwen

avatar

azula, suki, asami

stardew valley

abigail, emily, leah, penny

red dead redemption

sadie, abigail, mary-beth

misc

lara croft, ellie williams (last of us)

these are just a few of the characters i’m looking for tbh, or the main ones at least. there’s quite a lot that i’d love —— feel free to message and we can discuss it all!

if any of this interests, like this and i‘ll message you! i mainly write through discord.

😉👍

[sailormoonandme]

Mamoru is NOT useless in the Anime Part Tri: Power & Worth

Last time we compared Anime and Manga Mamoru's power levels in order to dissect the idea that anime Mamoru, in being less powerful than Usagi is unworthy of being her romantic partner.

However, there was a lot more I wanted to unpack from this particular idea the 'Mamoru is useless' brigade are prone to pushing. Specifically on the very notion of linking power to worthiness.

Power Creep

This is one of my shorter points but, its seems rather insane to suggest that Mamoru needs to be of a minimal power level to be worthy of Usagi.

Usagi in both versions is at least functionally the most powerful entity in the known universe. Even if we go arc by arc, she is almost always the most powerful person on the good guys team. The time period before she obtained the Silver Crystal was only time when the gap in power between herself and the other Senshi was in any way close, and even then it depended on who you were talking about. Mercury was clearly weaker than Usagi, her attack was a glorified smokescreen. Was she unworthy of Usagi's friendship? Were Makoto and Rei the MOST worthy of Usagi's friendship because they were the most powerful Senshi?

Did they all become progressively less worthy of her time and affection as Usagi steadily grew ever more powerful across the series? In Crystal Tokyo, when Usagi could transform the barren frozen Earth into a glittering utopia, did she have 0 friends because she was now just THAT powerful?

Was Star Serious Laser just so powerful that it meant Seiya ranked highest of all for Usagi's affections? After all, I do not see anyone arguing that Seiya was not powerful enough to be worthy of Usagi's love...almost like there is a double standard in play...

And how demeaning of Neo-Queen Serenity, who was so powerful she could terraform a lifeless planet Earth into a glittering utopia, to allow the now incalculably weaker King Endymion to have sex with her and thereby conceive Chibi-Usa.

Or...does this work by you simply have to be of a minimal power level and then you can be worthy of Usagi no matter how powerful she gets?

Please enlighten me fellow Moonies?

Power DOES NOT = Worthiness

Finally...isnt it just plain old reductive to equate power with worthiness?

Sailor moon is a super hero at the end of the day, so let's look at examples from other superhero fiction. In fact, lets look at the most famous example within the genre.

Superman is by far and away the most famous (though not necesarilly popular) of all superheroes across the globe. Superman can fly, has super streangth, super speed, enhanced durability, heat vision, x-ray vision and sometimes can freeze stuff with his breath. And whilst the exact degree of all of those abilities has varied (originally he was stronger than ten men, later he could pull multiple planets at the same time) he has always been mindbogglingly more powerful than even the most elite of human athletes.

And who has he frequently been paired up with from the past 85 years?

Oh, that's right. A human woman, Lois Lane. She might be extraordinary in her own way, but she isn't going to be bench-pressing a tank anytime soon.

Ah, but there are those who reject the most famous superhero couple in pop culture for that very reason, arguing that Superman should instead be with someone who is powerful in their own right like he is. Someone like, say, Wonder Woman?

The problem here being that...well...Wonder Woman is almost always weaker than Superman. By a WIDE margin. At the end of the day, she is incredibly strong but her strength has limits whilst Superman's are in fact dependant upon circumstances. If he absorbes enough yellow sunlight he is functionally limitless in how powerful he can become. So...is Wonder Woman unworthy of Superman too?

Regardless, let's instead turn our attentions to something more comparable to Sailor Moon.

In Dragon Ball Z the Goku and Vegeta and Gohan can annihilate whole Solar Systems but Mary human women, falling for them because of their strong, wilful and aggressive personalities.

In Yu Yu Hakusho, written by Naoko Takeuchi's husband, the main character is a demonic prince basically and falls for a normal human.

How about all the boxers, MMA fighters, wrestlers and action movie stars who marry people who are not in those kinds of professions, people who are physically weaker than them?

All of them unworthy too?

Power DOES NOT = Worthiness, regardless of gender

Ah, but these are all where the man is more powerful. But...if we argue that the situation is different in the reverse...isn't that just a classic (say it with me folks) double standard?

Are we to seriously entertain the rather backwards argument that a man is not worthy of a woman's affection if they are weaker than her?

If so let's look at some other examples.

She Hulk has dated normal humans Wyatt Wingfoot and John Jameson.

Carol Danvers has the power of a star and has fallen in love with War Machinw, who is a man with high tech armour nowhere close to that power level.

Jean Grey has been more powerful than her lovers Cyclops and Wolverine since even before she became the Phoenix, a cosmic entity so powerful it consumes stars for energy.

Wonder Woman has the power of the Greek Gods and her frequent lover, and in her original canon husband, was a regular human soldier.

In Cutey Honey F, the magical girl reboot of the classic 70s anime that helped inspire Sailor Moon, Honey can annihilate and create anything she can want. She is in love with a demonic prince, but ultimately marries a normal man and private eye who always had her back despite being put of this depth with the threats they faced.

And what about all the women in real life who have married, or remained married to men with disabilities? Men who by any metric are physically weaker than their wives? For example, all the women that married or remained married to soldiers who were horribly injured during either World War? Or, any of the wives of Stephen Hawkins, with even his first wife aware of his illness.

All of which is to say...maybe Mamo is worthy of Usagi's love regardless of him being less powerful than her.

Conclusion

Mamoru in the anime...

Is.

Not.

Useless.

Please.

For.

The.

Love.

Of.

<insert whatever/whomever you worship here>.

Fucking.

Stop.

Claiming.

He.

Is.

[justheretodump]

lore explained: my story doesn't reflect accurate canon so to understand the differences, i suggest using this as a break off point to learn the name of things and researching more.

pt 1

constantine isn't australian, i just like him like that. he's an occult detective from the dc universe.

danny phantom characters don't have southern accents, i just like it. jasmine "jazz" fenton is the older sister of danny fenton, protagonist of danny phantom.

gotham university is part of gotham city. gotham city is where batman and other vigilantes reside.

lazarus pits are pools of dark green water in the dc universe that bring people back to life with heavy side effects.

justice league dark is a group of superheroes in the dc universe known for dealing with the magical, the occult or supernatural.

zatanna is a magician in the dc universe. she sometimes has a romantic relationship with constantine.

the infinite realms are the place where ghosts reside in the danny phantom universe. it can also be referred to as the ghost zone.

ra's, or ra's al ghul, is a recurring villain in the dc universe, often going against batman. he frequently is shown to have control of the lazarus pits.

doctor fate is a sorcerer in the dc universe. he's been shown to guide the justice league when dealing with different realms. the justice league is a group of superheroes that include batman, superman, wonder woman, etc.

jazz curses using the word 'ancients', referring to old ghosts in the danny phantom lore. this is a fanon habit.

red robin / tim drake is one of batman's / bruce wayne's sidekicks and adopted children.

one of the known lazarus pits in the dc universe is in arabia.

martian manhunter is a member of the justice league.

the bats refers to batman and his group of vigilantes.

pt 2

marinette dupain-cheng is the protagonist of miraculous ladybug. she carries out the role of paris superhero, ladybug.

chat blanc is a character from an episode by the same name. in it, her superhero partner, cat noir, is turned into a villain by the name of chat blanc. the episode show's a version of ladybug turned to stone by her partner turned rogue. it is caused by a butterfly effect that starts with a gift to adrien.

adrien agreste is a character in miraculous ladybug, acting as marinette's love interest and as cat noir.

gabriel agreste is adrien agreste's father, and the main villain of the show, hawkmoth.

peter parker is marvel's spiderman. in the film spiderman:homecoming, he fights a villain by the name of the vulture on a beach after said man steals a plane's cargo.

may parker is his aunt, and his only remaining family member.

the titans are a superhero group in the dc universe. multiple versions exist.

jim gordon is part of gotham's police force (his title depends on the version) and an ally of the bats.

dick grayson and jason todd are adopted sons of bruce wayne and vigilantes.

oracle is barbara gordon, daughter of jim gordon and a vigilante under batman.

amity park is the town the show danny phantom is set in.

superman / clark kent is from the dc universe. metropolis is the city he protects. he has many powers, i cannot list them all.

tucker foley is best friends with danny fenton in danny phantom.

the baxters are dash baxters' parents, a character from danny phantom.

mr. lancer is a teacher in danny phantom.

sam manson is danny fenton's other best friend.

pt 3

ghosts in the infinite realms can have weird characteristics and not look entirely human.

ghost lairs are what a ghost home is called.

iron man is a marvel superhero. in spiderman:homecoming, he takes on spiderman as a distant protege.

danny phantom being ghost king is fanon but i like it.

kingpin is a villain in a few marvel stories, including spiderman stories.

for the purpose of this story, marvel superheroes mentioned almost always operate out of new york (however, this could be retconned).

lois lane is superman / clark's love interest in the dc universe. for this story, she's his best friend.

danny fenton becomes half ghost by turning on the ghost portal while inside. he dies but revives. sam and tucker were there.

[canonrpfinder]

✨✨ hey there! 18+ writers only please. i'm looking for someone who'd be willing to write canon female characters! mainly, i'm looking for someone to write / plot or headcanon around some canon characters with, with some of my favorites specified below.

i’ve got more than a few characters i’d looove to write opposite, of course —— these are just a few:

dc

talia al ghul, donna troy, cheshire / jade nguyen, artemis crock (young justice), black canary, zatanna, yara flor, lois lane, huntress / helena bertinelli, carol ferris, jessica cruz, selina kyle, wonder woman, ravager / rose wilson, starfire / koriand’r, lilith clay, dawn granger (titans tv), mera, punchline, poison ivy, hawkgirl, lady shiva, supergirl, arrowverse girls (sara lance, laurel lance, thea queen, iris west, dinah drake, mia smoak), etc.

marvel

elektra, emma frost, jean grey, psylocke, rogue, susan storm, kate bishop, felicia hardy, wanda maximoff, carol danvers, mary jane watson, gwen stacy, hope van dyne, claire temple, agatha harkness, gamora, etc

a song of ice and fire (game of thrones / house of the dragon)

cersei lannister, daenerys targaryen, margaery tyrell, melisandre, alicent hightower, rhaenyra targaryen, alys rivers

star wars

rey or leia

video games

ashe or kiriko (overwatch) / tifa, aerith, or jessie (final fantasy 7) / ellie williams (the last of us, part 2)

disney

jasmine, colette (ratatouille), cinderella, helen parr, tinker bell, kim posible or shego, elsa, alex russo, teddy duncan

other

starlight (the boys) / gwen tennyson (ben 10, alien force version only) / daphne blake (scooby-doo) / heather, gwen, courtney (total drama) / betty cooper (riverdale) / yennefer (the witcher show), etc.

these are just a few of the characters i’m looking for tbh, or the main ones at least. there’s quite a lot that i’d love, tbh.

as for who i'd play, i'm fine with most anyone, be it canons or crossovers or whatever. it depends on the pairing or plot, we can talk about it!

i'm fine with most themes and plots, and definitely most pairings. no real limits!

if any of this interests, like this and i‘ll message you! i mainly write through discord.

✒

[findroleplay]

✨✨ hey there! 18+ writers only please. i'm looking for someone who'd be willing to write canon female characters! mainly, i'm looking for someone to write / plot or headcanon around some canon characters with, with some of my favorites specified below.

i’ve got more than a few characters i’d looove to write opposite, of course —— these are just a few:

dc

talia al ghul, donna troy, cheshire / jade nguyen, artemis crock (young justice), black canary, zatanna, yara flor, lois lane, huntress / helena bertinelli, carol ferris, jessica cruz, selina kyle, wonder woman, ravager / rose wilson, starfire / koriand’r, lilith clay, dawn granger (titans tv), mera, punchline, poison ivy, hawkgirl, lady shiva, supergirl, arrowverse girls (sara lance, laurel lance, thea queen, iris west, dinah drake, mia smoak), etc.

marvel

elektra, emma frost, jean grey, psylocke, rogue, susan storm, kate bishop, felicia hardy, wanda maximoff, carol danvers, mary jane watson, gwen stacy, hope van dyne, claire temple, agatha harkness, gamora, etc

a song of ice and fire (game of thrones / house of the dragon)

cersei lannister, daenerys targaryen, margaery tyrell, melisandre, alicent hightower, rhaenyra targaryen, alys rivers

star wars

rey or leia

video games

ashe or kiriko (overwatch) / tifa, aerith, or jessie (final fantasy 7) / ellie williams (the last of us, part 2)

disney

jasmine, colette (ratatouille), cinderella, helen parr, tinker bell, kim posible or shego, elsa, alex russo, teddy duncan

other

starlight (the boys) / gwen tennyson (ben 10, alien force version only) / daphne blake (scooby-doo) / heather, gwen, courtney (total drama) / betty cooper (riverdale) / yennefer (the witcher show), etc.

these are just a few of the characters i’m looking for tbh, or the main ones at least. there’s quite a lot that i’d love, tbh.

as for who i'd play, i'm fine with most anyone, be it canons or crossovers or whatever. it depends on the pairing or plot, we can talk about it!

i'm fine with most themes and plots, and definitely most pairings. no real limits!

if any of this interests, like this and i‘ll message you! i mainly write through discord.

-

[prpfz]

✨✨ hey there! 18+ writers only please. i'm looking for someone who'd be willing to write canon female characters! mainly, i'm looking for someone to write / plot or headcanon around some canon characters with, with some of my favorites specified below.

i’ve got more than a few characters i’d looove to write opposite, of course —— these are just a few:

dc

talia al ghul, donna troy, cheshire / jade nguyen, artemis crock (young justice), black canary, zatanna, yara flor, lois lane, huntress / helena bertinelli, carol ferris, jessica cruz, selina kyle, wonder woman, ravager / rose wilson, starfire / koriand’r, lilith clay, dawn granger (titans tv), mera, punchline, poison ivy, hawkgirl, lady shiva, supergirl, arrowverse girls (sara lance, laurel lance, thea queen, iris west, dinah drake, mia smoak), etc.

marvel

elektra, emma frost, jean grey, psylocke, rogue, susan storm, kate bishop, felicia hardy, wanda maximoff, carol danvers, mary jane watson, gwen stacy, hope van dyne, claire temple, agatha harkness, gamora, etc

a song of ice and fire (game of thrones / house of the dragon)

cersei lannister, daenerys targaryen, margaery tyrell, melisandre, alicent hightower, rhaenyra targaryen, alys rivers

star wars

rey or leia

video games

ashe or kiriko (overwatch) / tifa, aerith, or jessie (final fantasy 7) / ellie williams (the last of us, part 2)

disney

jasmine, colette (ratatouille), cinderella, helen parr, tinker bell, kim posible or shego, elsa, alex russo, teddy duncan

other

starlight (the boys) / gwen tennyson (ben 10, alien force version only) / daphne blake (scooby-doo) / heather, gwen, courtney (total drama) / betty cooper (riverdale) / yennefer (the witcher show), etc.

these are just a few of the characters i’m looking for tbh, or the main ones at least. there’s quite a lot that i’d love, tbh.

as for who i'd play, i'm fine with most anyone, be it canons or crossovers or whatever. it depends on the pairing or plot, we can talk about it!

i'm fine with most themes and plots, and definitely most pairings. no real limits!

if any of this interests, like this and i‘ll message you! i mainly write through discord.

like and anon will get back to you

[ali-annals]

i could be the way forward (i know I'll pay for it) (forever is the sweetest con, pt 2)

Pairing: Jason Todd x Marinette Dupain-Cheng PART ONE Moodboard

Rating: G | Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Ao3 | WC: 1.6k | TW: -

A/N: This is part of a series called The Eras Tour (Jasonette’s Version), a collection of Jasonette-centric fics I wrote for the Maribat discord server Maribat? Get In!’s 2024 Civil War event. Not beta’d.

Years after retiring from Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng goes by many other names, switching identities as easily as she breathes…until she tries to swindle the wrong guy.

Marinette swirled her olive in the dregs of her martini, forlornly chewing on the other. The chatter of the multitude of people passing through the bar was a welcome background noise for her to tune out as she thought of her ex-partner. 

The news anchor’s voice suddenly cut through her thoughts of dark hair and teal eyes. Had he said-

“Oh, he was the sweetest boy, always so polite,” said a little old lady who had appeared on the stool next to her. She looked harmless, but she wouldn’t have survived this long in a city like Gotham without having something up her sleeve. “We all missed him greatly. He was a ray of sunshine, one that Gotham let through her smog to give us all hope.”

Marinette turned to her. “Would you mind telling me more about him and what’s happening? I’m somewhat new here.”

The party was in full swing by the time her limo pulled up to the event hall. The chauffeur opened the door for her, her date for the night getting out and offering his hand in silent escort.

They entered the hall, fashionably late and thus commanding everyone’s attention without even trying. She knew she looked good, having put her own touch on the off-the-rack dress she’d found in an adorable boutique. 

She took in the crowd as she descended the stairs, using her temporary height to her advantage. So many dark-haired men here, yet the one she wanted to see wasn’t. 

Her date led her to a small group of people by the foot of the stairs, two of which had ‘PRESS’ lanyards over their suit and dress. 

“Clark, Lois, it’s good to see you! How have you been? This is my date, Melody Dupain. Melody, these are my friends, Clark Kent and Lois Lane.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” she nodded. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Melody,” said Lois. “We just talked the other day, nothing’s changed,” she added to her date. 

“Good to hear. Excuse us, the mayor wanted a word.”

Marinette continued on her way, taking the time her date was socializing to scan the room. 

She excused herself from the conversation, heading in the direction of the French doors she’d spotted as she came in.

The cool air was refreshing after the heat of the ballroom and cloying perfumes. She found a quiet spot overlooking the gardens, underneath a garden party tent of some kind. Little drops of rain soon echoed calmingly as they bounced off the canvas top. 

“May I have this dance?”

She startled, the rain having covered anyone’s approaching footsteps.

“Dancing is a dangerous game. Haven’t you read any Jane Austen, where the characters fall in love because they danced?”

She turned, her breath catching. 

He smirked. “Of course I’ve read Jane Austen; I’m not a heathen, what do you take me for?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Watching my ex-swindling-partner attempt to swindle my dad, apparently,” he shrugged. “And just when I thought life was going to be boring again.”

“How…was everything I heard true?”

“Depends on what you heard, but probably. Although the rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated. I’m fine now.”

“Jay.”

“Look, this isn’t a great place to get into everything. How about we skip the party and go get Batburger?”

She hadn’t even heard the end of his proposition and she grabbed his hand, leading the way out.

“I’ll take you to my favourite gargoyle and we can talk there.”

“Of course you have a favourite gargoyle,” she rolled her eyes at him fondly.

He opened the door to a black Rolls Royce.

She settled in the comfy seat appreciatively, running her hands over the dash. “You finally got your fancy car, huh?”

He chuckled dryly. “Yep. First long con I ever did, and I’m still runnin’ it. Now I’m actually old enough to drive the things.”

“Please just tell me you’re not pretending to be Bruce’s dead son,” she said as they pulled into the Batburger drive through.

“No, I wouldn’t do that…well, maybe. But no, I’m the real dead son. But why are you trying to swindle the guy who has a dead son?”

“Not so dead anymore,” she retorted, waving at him. “Because I had to see if it was really you, homme stupide . I came to Gotham because it’s a wonderful place to hide, and then I found my ex-partner beat me to swindling high society, only it might not be a swindle at all! What did you even need the money for, if your dad is the richest guy in America?!”

He shrugged, paying and collecting their order. “His money ain’t my money. Also, he didn’t know I was alive, and I had some…things to take care of first.”

They climbed up the rusty fire escape to the roof of the building that housed his favourite gargoyle. Jason handed her her burger and fries. 

“Your dress looks really nice, Mar. Did you make it?”

“I restyled it,” she sniffed, biting hungrily into her burger. “Thank you for the compliment.”

“Why are you so mad? I’m not even stopping you conning my dad or giving you away.”

“Because I thought I’d never see you again, and then I did and I wasn’t even prepared for it, and now I’m thrown all off-kilter! And I can’t in good conscience hustle your dad, he’s your dad !”

“I mean, if it helps, I hustle him all the time,” he shrugged, bumping her shoulder with his.

“It really doesn’t…okay, maybe a little bit. But I’m still not stealing from your dad! This was going to be my last con.”

“What? Why?” He looked at her, startled. “Are you in trouble?”

“Not as far as I know,” she bit a fry moodily in half. “I’m tired of it. Constantly looking over my shoulder, switching up my identity, never getting close to anyone. I’ll use what I have to settle down somewhere and set up a sewing shop or something, live a boring life and find a husband and have two-point-five kids…”

“It’ll never work.”

Marinette punched his shoulder for his immediate pessimistic shut-down.

“Ow! I mean, you won’t be happy without the adrenaline rush, the danger. But,” he raised his finger, “I have an idea.”

“Do tell,” she said dryly, used to his ideas.

“Marry me.”

She coughed out the fry she’d been eating. “Excuse me?”

“I’m serious. Marry me. It’ll take care of a lot of problems for us. We can’t legally testify against each other, in case our pasts catch up to us. You’ll be richer than Croesus, you can bug Bruce all the time –and it’ll be great leverage for me: “Bruce, how could you date your future daughter-in-law”--and we can go around long-conning society with a permanent identity and no one to catch us.”

“And just how will we do that?” she asked, getting interested in spite of herself.

“I can only tell you if you agree,” he said mock-solemnly.

She punched his shoulder again.

“Ow! If you’re gonna turn to punching me, maybe I'll take it back!”

“Tell me why we’re long-conning society, Jason,” she threatened.

“Because we’re the Todd-Waynes during the day, but the vigilantes Red Hood and Mrs Red Hood (name subject to change) at night!”

She blinked at him. “That makes so much sense. Wait, why will I be a vigilante?”

He gave her a flat look. “Pixie. You told me you used to be a hero. You need the adrenaline rush, that’s why you’re currently a swindler. You can go back to heroing, get your thrills, and feel good about it while you do it, instead of sullying your conscience by swindling old men grieving the loss of their son-ow!”

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But you have to answer a few questions for me first.”

“Only if you answer three of mine.”

“You’re a horrible negotiator.”

He simply smiled serenely at her. 

She huffed. “Fine, I’ll answer three of your questions, but you have to answer as many as I ask you. You are getting the better part of the deal, may I remind you.”

“Sounds good.”

“Why do you want to marry me?”

“Ooh, loaded question, right off the bat. Well, I like you. I can trust you, we work well together, we know each other well already.”

“Why did you stay so long with me if your dad is a billionaire?”

“To take care of you. Also, it was nice to have someone around who knew me but also didn’t know me, if you know what I mean.”

“Crystal clear,” she deadpanned. “But yes, I think so. You wanted someone to know you without knowing the past you with all the baggage and pre-made judgments. I felt the same way. Why did you want to take care of me?”

“Why not? I like you.”

“Jason! You can’t just say stuff like that!”

“You wanted the truth!”

“Yeah, but I’m gonna fall off this roof in shock!”

“I’ll catch you then. As long as you’re falling for me.”

Marinette sputtered at his blatant flirting. “ You’ll be falling because of me.”

“I already am.”

“Jason Todd!”

The banter and interrogation continued until all the burgers and fries were gone. Jason sighed, leaning back on his elbows, kicking his feet over the side. “There’s something you should probably know before we do anything else.”

She eyed him cautiously. “Okay…”

“I wasn’t planning on partnering with you, but I felt like there was something between us after the first night. We got along so well after that, and it was an easy cover to keep when I had some Hood business to take care of. But we spent more time together, and I started falling for you. It wasn’t the plan, but I couldn’t stop–and I didn’t particularly want to stop, either. I love you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

She bit her lip hard, willing away the tears. “I love you too, Jason Todd-Wayne.”

[bylertruther]

pssst. there's a certain quote from dr. brenner in 4x08 that perfectly describes mike's journey in season four as he heads into season five. allow me to break it down for you!

Well, we… we haven't risked contact, but, as far as we know, they’re… they’re all safe. But I’m not gonna lie to you, Eleven. Your friends are in terrible danger.

as it stands right now, the mike-will-el trio is technically "safe", but they won't be for long. their stability and safety is entirely dependent on none of them talking about or even pondering what happened between them. as soon as any conversation begins about the painting or either confession, it'll all come tumbling down, and them as individuals with it.

With each victim he takes, Henry is chiseling away at the barrier that exists between our two worlds. Imagine, if you will, the barrier between our worlds is a concrete dam.

the dam in this case is the version of mike that he presents to the world. it contains and holds back his real self, desires, and feelings. we're first introduced to this dam at the airport.

he arrives in lenora dressed like someone else entirely and he looks ridiculous for it. argyle then calls him out on his "shitty knock-offs" directly after the super weird painting fiasco with will and tells him they'll "get [him] the good threads out here". he only goes back to his regular clothes once the illusions on all fronts (aka, the victims & cracks = will, el, and his perception of them) were shattered.

Henry is putting cracks in this dam. Cracks in dams create pressure. Left unchecked, the pressure will build and build.

will apparently has a crush on a girl and spent a lot of time making a painting for her. he then brought a painting to the airport, but apparently very much not for him—it's just one that he's been working on.

eleven has lied in her letters to mike for months and then continued to do so even to his face, and stopped only when an outside force (angela) came in and brought them all down.

will put the onus of maintaining their friendship on him, never tried to write or call him first (despite him always trying and getting the busy tone), didn't talk to him all day, spent his time moping around, and then had the nerve to get mad at him for being upset over it on his first day here.

eleven shocks him by stepping out of her "superhero" box and hitting angela. they have a "real" fight they "can't come back from" where eleven tells him he thinks she's a monster, that he doesn't understand what it's like to be bullied for being different, and calls him out on his refusal to ever say he loves her. she then gets arrested and they learn that hawkins is in danger.

mike and will seal a crack in the dam by making up, but a shootout occurs right after. their only protection bleeds out beneath his palms, but not before telling them that eleven is in danger, too. they have to bury him in an unmarked grave in some junkyard like he's nothing, no one. argyle blows up and puts everyone's fate on his shoulders. he doesn't know what to do. he doesn't know what he could've done. he feels guilty, confused, and helpless—a far cry from the leader he once was.

eventually, he pulls back the curtain the slightest bit and allows will to peer inside. he tells him about his low self-esteem, how his worth and identity is tied to being needed, and how he feels that he isn’t, how he’s “just some random nerd that got lucky”, and that he's essentially useless (by comparing himself to lois lane, saying “at least [she's] an ace reporter for the daily planet, right? but… [mike scoffs]”).

will then gives him the painting and assuages many of his concerns, uplifting him and giving him a sense of purpose again, but.. it's technically a lie, because those are not at all eleven's feelings. per the script, mike knows that eleven doesn't need him anymore, but he chooses to believe will, because he trusts will more than anyone and anything—including, but not limited to, his own self and his girlfriend—and will never lies to him. of course, what should be healing ends up being what is arguably the biggest crack of them all.

And eventually, it will reach a breaking point. And the dam will burst. And when that happens, Hawkins will fall.

eleven has been saved and they found her a tub for the mind fight. all should be well, keyword being should. of course, as fate would have it, it almost immediately goes to shit. eleven is struggling, unresponsive, and can't breathe. they don't know if she can hear them or if they can even help. mike is terrified, watching as one of his worst fears comes to life, when will taps his shoulder and guides him.

lying to your friends is against mike's moral code. that's why he's never been able to tell eleven he loves her in a romantic context, not even through writing or when she begs him to. will, after unknowingly misleading him with his veiled confession, prompts him to say "whatever [he] didn't say", aka that thing that "[he] should've said".

mike is visibly pained, panicked, and desperate as he says all that he has been led to believe is what she wants to hear. in reality, his speech to her is a response to will's confession—this is why it harps so much on her differences, on needing, and on loss. he tells her everything that will wants to hear, everything that gives will the courage to fight on, and unknowingly damns them all.

he's seen swallowing, pinching his face, and clearly struggling through this. he says he loves her over and over again, urges her to fight. he says anything, pulling from what others in this season alone have told him before, and prays that it helps.

we know that mike doesn't believe in anything at first sight. we know that he wanted to get rid of her when they first met. we heard him say that the past year was weird and not the same without will specifically. we know that mike hasn't ever said "i love you" before. eleven knows this, too, and that's why hawkins falls thereafter. eleven almost dying and mike having to break his most sacred code in effort to save her is the breakdown of his false persona, aka the shitty knock-off, and brings him scarily close to his true breaking point.

he did all that he could have possibly done with what he was given, he did everything that everyone asked of him, and we're starting to see little droplets of him come out (like the couch scene and him staying by will at the very end), but mike, the real mike that we first came to know and love, has yet to come all of the way out of hiding.

mike being true to himself is the key to saving hawkins, because he can only lead them and be their heart if he's being true to himself. we know this to be true, because his speech in season two is what led them to closing the gate and saving will and the world, and his speech in season four is what leads to the gates bursting wide open, damns them all, and fails to save eleven (she has to will henry's vines away herself).

and they still have to talk! they still have to uncover will's lies and figure out where they all stand and what that makes them! mike is a character that has been falling apart and crumbling beneath all this pressure since season three, and he spends the entirety of season four being lied to by the people he most cares about! not only that, but he's the last remaining party member that we've yet to check in on, and outside of will and eleven, he's also the one most acquainted with and that poses a threat/obstacle to henry.

no matter what, in every which way, he's a dam that's inevitably going to burst wide open, and none of us, the characters or the viewers, are anywhere close to the resolution.

[wolfsbanesparks]

You know who I think would really be amazing for a team up with Captain Marvel? Static Shock. Not only is he an electricity based superhero, but he's a teen who's close in age to Billy Batson (depending on which version, I base it off the show I watched as a kid).

It got me thinking about a scenario for them and it hit me: Chain Lightning. While I'm not 100% certain of all her powers, I know they can control Captain Marvel's Lightning to the point of returning him back to being little mortal boy Billy, so maybe Static could lend a helping hand with that somehow, see who has the stronger electrical powers. Perhaps Amy is a meta who came from Dakota (Static's city) and is his responsibility to help, too.

Also, Booster Gold.

My knowledge is limited of him, but from what I know he's quite immature and often seeks fame and attention in the eyes of other superheroes, so I was loving the idea of him working with Captain Marvel on a mission and learning unexpected maturity and serious from the Captain. Then finding out at the end Billy is just a kid and re thinking his whole self for allowing a small boy to change his views. I may have a fic in planning for them already with a neat title already chosen.

I said a lot. Wowie. What heroes/characters would you like to see team up with Captain Marvel/meet Billy??

It would be so exciting to see Billy teaming up with Static Shock! They'd be sure a cool (and kind of overpowered) duo!

The two of them vs Chain Lightning would be so cool! They'd both be weak to her powers but together they're smart enough to come up with a plan to use that weakness to their advantage.

For example, if she is controlling Static Shock's powers they can find a way to use that to trigger Billy's transformation back into Cap!

And Booster Gold! I love him more and more as I learn more about him! He time traveled from the future because he was obsessed with historical superheroes and wanted to be a cool famous hero himself. So not only would the reveal surprise him, he'd be wondering what else the histkry books didn't tell him about 21st century heroes. He is wild and immature but he and Billy would get along. I can see Billy being the adult between them for sure.

Who else would I like to see Billy team up with?

Donna Troy and Cassie Sandsmark! I think he'd get along really well with them. I remember seeing one person suggest that Zeus ask Billy to help train Cassie because he's partially Zeus' champion! Lots of cool potential there!

I think Billy should be friends with other reporter characters like Lois Lane, Iris West, Jimmy Olsen, and Linda Park. Like they all cover international stories (when not doing local ones) though work in different spheres of news reporting. I just think it would be neat if he got to have reporter adventures out of uniform with them.