#why is supergirl trending

[meiloorunsmoothie]

the mental debate:

would i have preferred that jeremy played j.m. barrie on broadway (with the a.r.t. version of the production)

knowing that we likely would have lost winn?

[sketchywave]

Why. Why. It's 2023. Why.

[lovequinn]

i am so very sorry to whoever superman's social media manager is because KFBSKDBSKDBSJSJS YIKES

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

A/N: Proposal trend now?

I headcanon that Steve knows exactly how to play D&D, he just likes to fuck with the kids. Eddie picks up on that pretty quick into the relationship. He decided to let Will in on the secret and told him that he wanted to create a one-shot adventure that he wanted to be DM on. He let Will know why, and the teenager eagerly agrees to help write it.

So when it comes time to play, the throne is left open. Eddie was confused because he thought for sure that Will was going to DM, but he sat down with the rest of them. Max and Robin were there to play, too. (Steve had to get on his knees and play. He didn't have to beg with El.) The door to the drama room opened, and Steve strolled in wearing a Hellfire shirt that Eddie had given him. Steve grinned at their confused faces and plopped down into Eddie's chair. The boys exploded into protests, claiming that he didn't know how to play.

"Get ready to eat your words, Henderson," Steve would reply.

They were deep into the game, and the guys were stunned.

"You know how to fucking play! All this time!" Dustin yelled, and Eddie giggled. "You knew! Traitor!"

Eddie sat at the head of the table, right by Steve, where he could get a clear view of him. Let's just say he got distracted throughout the game, something that Steve had planned on happening. Eddie's character ended up being separated from the party and into an empty room littered with candles, exactly how the drama room was set up now. That's when Steve integrates himself into the story, and Steve asks if Eddie would like to do something very illegal with him. Eddie eagerly agrees.

"Lord Steven, gets down on one knee and takes his hand," Steve said, doing exactly that. "He asks him a very important question. Will you marry me?"

"Yes! He eagerly accepts! Wait, hold on, is this real? Is this you really asking me?" Eddie asked.

"Yes, Eddie, I'm really asking you," Steve laughed.

"Then hell yes!" Eddie exclaimed and swooped down to kiss him.

The rest of Hellfire burst into cheers as they stomped their feet and clapped their hands. Robin cried and hugged the both of them.

"If I am not your best man, I will kill you!" Robin exclaimed as she wept.

"Oh my God! This is so awesome!" Dustin exclaimed.

"I can't believe you proposed to me with D&D, what the fuck? How did you get more perfect? How is this possible?" Eddie said as he wiped away the tears.

"Well, I couldn't have done it without Will's help," Steve replied.

"And you didn't ask me?" Dustin asked, pouting.

"And have you sitting there grinning like an idiot? I love you, man, but your face would have given the whole thing away," Steve replied, and Eddie giggled.

"Yeah, you have a point," Dustin said.

"Congratulations!" El and Max exclaimed as they hugged the both of them.

"Thanks, Red, Supergirl," Eddie said and was surprised when Max hugged him. "You wanna be flowergirl?"

"This is the thanks that I get for letting others see me hug you?" Max asked. "I fucking will not be flowergirl."

"Okay, my groomsman then," he replied.

"Can I wear a suit?" She asked.

"Hell yeah, Red," he replied.

"You know, I was wondering why there was a video camera in the corner," Lucas said.

"There's a video camera? You filmed this, Stevie?" Eddie asked, his arms wrapped around his waist.

"Yeah, well, Wayne figured that you would have known something was up if he showed up to the game, so he made me promise to film it," Steve said.

"Did you ask for my hand?" Eddie asked with narrowed eyes.

"No, I told him that I didn't really need his permission, but it would be nice if I had his blessing, which he gave me," Steve replied, blushing. "He said there was no one better for you than me."

"No shovel talk?" Eddie asked teasingly.

"He said that I didn't need one," Steve replied.

Eddie cupped his face and kissed him deeply.

"I can't believe I get to be with you forever," Eddie said. "Fuck. Let's go home and make a baby."

The rest of Hellfire and the party hollered as they put their fingers in their ears.

"If I have to hear about Steve’s breeding kink ONE more time. . !!" Robin exclaimed.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

So, a bit of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow news. Apparently as part of DC finally getting on the Marvel Infinite Comics train, i.e., introducing digitally exclusive vertical scroll comics on their subscription service, titles such as Batman: Hush, All-Star Superman, and the aforementioned Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow will be reformatted to launch as webtoon-style offerings on DC GO.

Further musings under a read more because IDK how long I'll ramble about this. XD

On the one hand, I guess this makes...some kind of sense, from a brand synergy standpoint. The titles they've picked to launch alongside the new originals are all connected to upcoming film projects (All-Star has been cited by James Gunn as an influence on the new Superman movie, and obviously WoT is being adapted as a film. Less sure about Batman: Hush, but I'm sure there's some sort of Batman project in development, this is DC/Warner Bros after all.)

So. presumably, these picks are going to bring the titles to a new audience that maybe doesn't read comics as like. Physical books. Okay. Sure. They wanna get that younger webtoons demographic. Okay.

BUUUUUT.

DC already has some Webtoon exclusive comics actually on Webtoon, a free service that requires very little effort/buy-in from younger readers. You can pay for content on the app/site, but you don't have to.

DC GO is being bundled into the DC Comics subscription service which is like. 75 USD annually for their basic tier, 120 USD annually for their fancy plan. It's 8 dollars monthly, I guess, which I suppose is fairly competitive...(but it's still twice the cost of paid manga app options.)

I guess what I'm saying is: I'm curious if this is going to work well, the way they've set it up. You can already read/buy the titles relaunching on the subscription service as-is, without the vertical reformatting. As for the originals titles...there's already some negative buzz around the Nightwing comic in particular, so I can't imagine that these are designed with your average adult comic fan in mind. Which is not a bad thing, mind you! But again, like...you have the Webtoon deal. Why are you not putting your new Webtoon style offerings on Webtoon?

(Answer probably has something to do with having to share the profits, honestly.)

(OR, possibly, they are realizing that popularity on Webtoon does not translate directly into physical comic sales so they'd prefer to get the money where they can i.e. digital subscription service cost.)

ANYWAYS. To bring it back to Supergirl; I guess I'm glad that a Supergirl book is part of a set of launch titles, and I'm kind of curious to see how they'll chop up the art to fit the vertical scroll. Like...how are you gonna turn the double page spread of Kara riding Comet into something that will fit the dimensions of a mobile phone without severely compromising either the text or the image??? We'll have to see, I suppose!

(...Okay one last nitpick if you're going to make Nightwing an underwear model in your fanfic-y webtoon it might behoove you to make the underwear actually look good which, based on the preview images, they have not. They have not done that. XD)

(...also Birds of Prey just did the whole 'DC characters go undercover as underwear models' thing now that I think about it. An...interesting...trend...? XD)

[greenjacketwhitehatdocmui]

The Unnecessary "Death" of Finn Connors, or Why Jon Kent Needed a Secret Identity

Yes, this is a Jon Kent ramble. There will be criticism (not hate) and there will be logic applied. If this isn't your thing, feel free to move along.

So...why didn't someone make up holographic disguise glasses for Jon like Kara had? (Source: Supergirl # 8, Rebirth Era)

I mean, it had to be better than the disguise that lasted all of, what, four pages? it went from this:

To this:

From a writer's perspective, "faster than a speeding bullet" probably means "faster than a trigger finger." There were several ways that I could think of off the top of my head that "Finn" could have defused the situation.

He could have reacted faster and rushed the shooter at human speed, maybe using super-breath to knock him (and his aim) off-balance.

Does he have super ventriloquism? He could have mimicked the voice of campus security right in the shooter's ear and distracted him.

An invisible burst of heat vision above the sunglasses (why isn't he using heat-resistant lenses? They've come in handy for Clark many times.) is a classic way to get someone to drop a weapon. And yes, heat vision can be invisible until it's intense enough to be visible.

A super-compressed "bullet" of super breath to the shooter's forehead could have the impact of a punch. Done correctly, it's very discreet.

It took me five minutes to come up with four options. Jon can process things much faster than most.

But no, Jon had to go the direct route and shred his chance of having some semblance of "normality" along with his disguise. Why?

Because Tom Taylor said so. Because Jon only moves as fast as he needs to and is only as powerful as he needs to be for the plot to progress. And the effort put into possibly exploring the "Finn Connors" secret identity and conflicts was minimal. It was a throwaway, much like Val-Zod and Red Tornado in this scene of "Adventures of Jon Kent" # 2:

It seems to be a trend: Lead up with something promising or interesting, then reveal that it wasn't necessary or worth putting effort into.

And it's a shame that Finn Connors "died" an early death, the charade revealed before it could have any impact. Because "Finn" would have served an important role in the post-Bendis identity reveal:

Finn Connors could be around ordinary people. He could have been friends with average people with various opinions. It's a valuable experience that his father had.

And before the fans tell me that Jon is in college and is around ordinary people now...go ahead and name one. Name one person that Jon is around now who is not tangentially part of the superhero community.

No, I'm sorry, Jay does not count. Even without the intangibility power, Jay is far from normal. His mother was the President of Gamorra.

Yes, Jon is with people who understand the whole super hero business. Yes, he can commiserate with them. But it's important that he never lose touch with Joe/Jane Average on the street. He must never forget the ordinary people he's sworn to protect. And being around superheroes all the time can make one lose perspective.

(And before anybody says that he learned a lot on Earth 3 like, say, fine control of his powers, keeping a secret identity, etc., that we just don't know it yet--I don't think we ever really will. Nobody is going to fill in those blanks that Bendis so graciously left in his wake.)

So, alas, poor Finn Connors. Tom Taylor never gave us a chance to show the positive effect you might have had as Jon Kent's secret identity. For want of creativity and a special pair of glasses, something that could have been really great was lost.

So, do you think that Finn Connors would have been a good step? Let me know.

--Doc

[cardcaptorsakura96]

Taxes, Tax, Taxes- Chapter 9

Fandom: Supergirl

Characters: Kara Danvers, Clark Kent, Samantha Arias, Lena Luthor, Lillian Luthor, Ruby Arias, Oliver Queen, John Stewart, Diana Prince, Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen, J'onn J'onnz, Alfred Pennyworth, Lois Lane, Cat Grant

Summary: What if superheroes had to pay a property damage tax every time they had a fight in the city?

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8

Lena stared at her computer screen baffled. She knew that the commercial she put out would gain attention, especially with the amount of money put towards it. However, she didn’t expect anything like this. She felt Kara and Sam’s eyes on her waiting for her response. They all agreed to gather four days after the commercial was released and go over the report the social media and marketing analysts had about the commercial. 

Lena turned to Sam hesitantly and asked, “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

Sam let out a low whistle and said, “Yeah, I knew it would be high, but not this high.”

Kara smirked and said, “I remember saying it would go this way. You two need to pay up.”

Lena looked up at Kara. She was all bright-eyed and smiling. She found that Kara’s smile conflicted with that smugness of hers, but she definitely earned it. No one could have predicted this outcome not even the production team behind the commercial. Lena sighed and rolled her eyes. She went into her purse, took out $500, and handed it to Kara. 

“A bet is a bet,” muttered Lena. 

Sam went into her purse and grabbed a $20 which Lena balked at.

“I thought you betted more,” said Lena shocked and feeling a little bit betrayed. 

“Supergirl made a passionate speech at the end about the commercial doing well that it made me waver in my decision,” said Sam as she handed the $20 to Kara.

Kara chuckled and said, “I don’t get why you guys are so surprised. You have a video centered around two powerful women in their own respective fields helping sick children in a hospital. Why wouldn’t the video go viral?” The only way it would have been more successful is if we added cats to it.”

Sam quickly took out her notebook, started jotting down notes, and said, “Actually, that is not a bad idea.”

Lena sighed and said, “Don’t encourage her.”

Sam gave Lena a deadpan stare and said, “We need to milk this publicity for all its worth. Plus,  kittens are instantly viral. Why not?”

Lena shook her head. She wasn’t sure about the cat part, but Sam was right. The commercial took off in a bigger way than she had imagined. They originally started with the video to get an idea to see what people’s perception of Lena would be. Her marketing team initially suggested waiting two weeks to see how the video does with viewers. While they felt that Supergirl may be a draw, they were worried that Lena’s name still may be a distraction. They were cautiously optimistic that the video could get 100,000 views. Everyone did except Kara. She thought that they were all crazy for not being extremely excited about the venture and thinking that it wouldn’t spread like wildfire. She estimated that the video would have over 200 million views after two days and insisted that they met sooner to strategize their next moves. Lena initially humored her thoughts and agreed to meet four days after the video’s release to discuss the video’s prospects. But as she sat at the desk looking at the numbers, she wished she didn’t doubt the super as much.

Lena shook her head, turned to Kara, and said, “The video far exceeded your expectations. It is currently at 750 million views after four days.”

Kara smirked and said, “I told you that people would like SuperCorp.”

Lena muttered, “I still can’t believe that word is trending.”

“You have that reporter from Catco to thank about that. She has been promoting you two heavily on the company’s blog the last two days,” mused Sam.

“You mean Kara Danvers?” asked Lena. 

“Yeah, that is the one,” said Sam.

“I am kind of surprised that she promoted that so heavily. Didn’t she win a Pulitzer last year for her expose on the drug rings in National City?” asked Lena.

Kara shuffled nervously from side to side and said, “Maybe, she really believes in the work that we are trying to accomplish.”

Lena stared at the super warily. She always had a confident demeanor, but now she looks almost timid. 

Before Lena could say anything, Sam said, “That may be it, but regardless, we should capitalize on this viral sensation before it runs cold. I already ordered a bunch of team SuperCorp shirts with the first logo that Supergirl designed. Those should be ready in two days.”

“You did what!” exclaimed Lena. 

“I know that it is a little excessive, but people are already making their own SuperCorp shirts online and selling them on Red Bubble. Also, don’t be mad, but I also had shirts made with the phrases Hold Me Like That, I Want To Be The Girl With The Red Dress, Hot Kryptonian Coming Through, and Supercorp is Couple Goals.”

Lena started rubbing her head and asked, “I’m afraid to ask, but why those in particular?”

Sam smirked and said, “The most viewed parts of the video were when Supergirl held you close at the beginning of the dance, when Supergirl dipped you at the end of the dance, and when Supergirl came out of the pool wearing her bikini. Those three clips are also trending online with those phrases as well.”

“This video is supposed to be bringing awareness to children and to the facility,” muttered Lena.”

Kara came and patted Lena on the shoulder which caused her to blush. She looked up at the super who looked down at her smiling genuinely. 

“Before this video came out, there were only articles and videos on the potential dangers that the hospital could cause to the community. There were tons of conspiracy theories about the hospital being a front to abduct children and experiment on them. Now, the video is swaying people’s perspectives. I have read a ton of articles over the last four days that not only humanized you but made people want to actually visit the hospital and make their own opinions about the place,” said Kara. 

Read the rest on AO3

[yourlocaldisneyvillain]

⭐⭐⭐ talk away!!! pls talk about whatever suits your fancy, maybe what kinds of traits and themes draw you to a character/story idea, or what themes or traits you notice reappearing in a lot of your works?

oooooh hi hello!!!! thank you for sending this and enabling me lol

okay, so as for what i'm drawn to -- i definitely have a Thing(TM) for poor soggy little meow meows lol. i like my female characters to resemble wet orphan kittens abandoned in the rain lol, but also have a very strong side to them that is in direct opposition to their soggy-meow-meowness lol. i really enjoy that duality. i enjoy that in all sorts of characters, and when it comes to fanfic i do read m/m and only very occasionally m/f pairings, but i am very rarely -- if ever -- inspired to write for them. i guess the formula for what compels me to write something is the combination of 1. soggy woman i wanna keep in a jar 2. is it something i want to read and feel there isn't much of in the world?

i exclusively write f/f pairings and woman-centred storylines -- not bc it's the only thing i enjoy in fiction, but bc it's the sort of thing i wanted to read when i was young and there was just so little of it, and i found it almost exclusively in fanfiction, with some exceptions such as sarah waters novels that i really enjoyed, but weren't translated in my language when i was a kid so i did struggle with them a bit (i would really wanna reread those now that i have a better grasp of the english language and am no longer a tween lol, i wonder if my opinion on them would change). i like to write from experience, and my experience is that of a rather odd gay woman moving through the world, so i like to channel that in my fiction. i feel like i'm Qualified(TM) to write it lol.

i'm about to be an old man shaking my fist at the world and demanding people get out of my swamp lol, but i feel like even though there has been a huge change in the amount of wlw storylines media we are Served every year (when i was a teen i feel i could count them all, that's how few movies/books there were, and at one point it was like okay..... i've seen it all lol or at least all that was accessible to me). and even though the media landscape has changed drastically in the last 10 years, i still feel like there are such few stories that really resonate with me? and we are generally being bombarded with very meaningless stories/media, just regurgitating the same shit over and over again (disney live action remakes are a good example of that trend, saying that as someone who was always a fan of disney if you couldn't guess by my username lol, and hasn't seen any of the remakes bc i simply Do Not Care, stopped caring around 2014 when maleficent came out). if you asked me to name a wlw story, or even a woman-centric story that doesn't involve a male love interest, that i really, truly enjoy, i feel like i'd struggle a bit. we get a lot of storylines in media that, imo, lack substance, and are often audience pandering (idk why supergirl came to mind, but it's a good example i feel). and tbh, the audience isn't picky. most people will just watch whatever lol, and honestly good for them but i Cannot lol. it needs to Hit A Spot for me. as for books, there is a better choice there i feel, but a lot of it is ya novels and i am simply not interested in that lol. no shade, but it's just not something i like to read. i want an old hollywood style romance with lesbians. i want phantom of the opera, i want the Drama(TM), i want a fucking hugh grant cheesy movie with lesbians. and so that's what i like to write -- just things i always wanted but never had lol.

i feel like in my works the Themes(TM) that appear a lot are:

1. loneliness and finding something or rather someone that quenches the thirst for company in a way that matters (i have always found irl that there's a lot of people who listen but don't hear what you're saying, and since i was a child i was always searching for people who will genuinely try to understand where i'm coming from and not just immediately try to put me in a box in their mind so they can Place Me somewhere and understand me in their own language. can you try to understand me in mine?)

2. pondering of morality, what's right and wrong and is there such a thing, rejecting and questioning societal norms.

3. a lot of kinky lesbian sex lol, through which i like to explore the psyche of the characters (or sometimes i'm just horny lol and sexuality and kink is something i like to think about a lot, esp bc my formative years were so traumatic in that aspect)

4. very character driven plots/characters changing their own fate or what *should* happen to them

5. the Intricacies of interpersonal relationships/developing a deep connection with someone and generally exploring emotional connection

6. this will be most prominent in the thing i am yet to post but is almost written, but i do enjoy some horror elements, gothic horror to be specific! i guess it's all the gothic novels i read in my youth :))

[takaraphoenix]

What I'd really, really want from DC is a multiversal anthology series, in the style of Urban Legends or the current Action Comics run.

Listen, I love the fact that alternate Earths get whole mini-series runs and we get to explore them in more depth! But it does feel like this trend of establishing Elseworlds on such a larger scale has come at the cost of "smaller" Elseworlds.

Genuinely my favorite thing to read about the early comics was when they would just... dip into a completely random alternate Earth for a whole issue. Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane did that brilliantly, there were so many fun "What If?" takes on their stories. Even the Superboy run back in the day showed Elseworlds - like what if the Els crashlanded on Earth with their son.

I love that. I love few things as much as the idea of canon divergences, and I wish they would bring random and different Elseworlds back. Just go over and dip into a world where the Els survived, or where Lex Luthor is a good guy, or where a fun line-up of characters who usually don't interact get to be a team of sorts in the way the Young Justice cartoon did.

And while I do want to visit new Earths, I also want to revisit established Elseworlds in this.

Go back to Kingdom Come for an issue, show us more of those next gen Teen Titans or how baby Jon grew into Hyperman.

Revisit Bombshells and show us how Bruce's training under Selina went or explore the epilogues she told him for all other heroes more thoroughly.

A oneshot about Kara and Helena from Earth-2 back in their Supergirl and Robin era!

Heck, bring the TV shows in too. Why not. Put a oneshot for DC Super Hero Girls in there, or give Legends of Tomorrow a proper ending in a oneshot, show us a story from the Titans TV show, bring back the classic Teen Titans cartoon verse for a story.

There is such a rich multiverse that already exists, and so many unexplored Earths, and an anthology series visiting various worlds would be such a fun format to explore.

[throughalleternity]

🍉🍓🍎🍒🥭🍋🍌🍏🍇 (lol I sent you a whole fruit salad, but in my defense all the questions are great)

🍉 Do you prefer to write short fics or long fics? Multichaptered works or single ones? Why?

Short one shots! I'm just not interested in telling a long story. Way back, I thought it would be really cool, and then I quickly realized that it was hard and that I was much more suited to writing one of two short things a year as the mood struck lol. And most of my favorite fics are oneshots, and I like writing what I like to read!

🍓 What’s a fic you’ve written you feel is underrated?

Ehh I try not to compare anymore, especially since a lot of things come down to luck and fandom-specific trends. And a lot of what I write is niche and I like that! Makes it all the more satisfying when someone likes it.

🍎 Is there anything you straight-up won’t write?

Sure, there's a bunch of stuff I wouldn't write. There are some topics I won't because they're emotionally difficult for me (and not in a cathartic way), but a lot of it is just because I wouldn't trust myself to finish it or do it well enough to be happy with it. Like, I won't write anything that needs tens of thousands of words to dig into (though I do think there's a surprising amount you can do with very few words).

🍒 What’s your favorite character dynamic to write? (Can be romantic or platonic, specific or general!)

I definitely lean towards romantic, but really what I like is soft intimacy! It's just easiest to show that using romantic dynamics since that's what we're used to, so that's what I've done, but it would be cool to branch out a little more.

🥭 Rank from most enjoyable/fun to write to least: Fluff, Smut, Angst, Crack.

Fluff, Angst, Smut, Crack. Pretty in line with what I've written!

🍋 What’s your favorite spicier trope to write?

The lemon lol. My favorite spicier thing to write is the same as my non-spicy stuff, in that it's something relating to trans experiences, which isn't so much a trope as much as a theme, but. One specific thing I've enjoyed is writing fic without using the more gendered words for body parts, since that was (and I think still is?) pretty uncommon. But it's definitely something that some people prefer in real life and what I like sometimes, so I like getting to show that.

🍌 In your opinion, what’s the funniest joke/reference/pun you’ve made in a fic?

I.. don't think of myself as being particularly funny (see the 🥭 answer) 😅

🍏 Is there something you overuse, whether it’s a certain phrase, trope, or piece of punctuation?

I could comma splice for days (though I actually think I've been doing that less!) (Hm, maybe parentheses is another one.)

🍇 Is there a particular scene/episode/book/etc that you want to just write a million fics about, over and over? Which one?

Not really a specific scene! Or a specific fandom necessarily... Supergirl is going to be hard to move away from (it's the fandom I've gotten the most involved in) but I do like having variety. I'll probably be daydreaming about those characters for a long time though.

Thank you for the fruit salad!!

[ekza-art]

about mileven and lumax romantic relationships

As funny as it sounds, Mike only LIKES THE IDEA of having a romantic relationship with a girl. The main feelings that led him to fall in love at the age of 12 were the desire to take care of El (since caring for someone is a key quality of Mike's personality) and his sincere admiration for her superhero powers (and it is important that Mike always compared her not with female superheroes, but with a general group of superheroes such as X-men or with male characters -- Green Lantern, Superman -- while even Argyle called El "supergirl").

I'm talking about "the idea" here because Mike has no idea what it really means to be in a romantic relationship with someone. From childhood, he is closed in his own world, consisting of parents and the Party. Parents cannot give him a good example of relationships, because they have not had these relationships for a long time -- they are cold to each other. Mike communicates with his sister only in the form of petty quarrels (although Nancy in seasons 1 and 2 is also just exploring this topic). The Party, for obvious reasons, cannot give him any information.

In opposition to him, we have Lucas and Max, who can build relatively healthy (adjusted for adolescence) relationships with each other. But they, unlike Mike and El, have a number of differences that allow them to do this.

First, they can be friends even without romance. Lucas and Max can be friends based on common hobbies. Mike and El do not have common interests: for the whole of season 1, we were shown that El was not interested in what Mike told her about his life, and further, until the end of season 3, this trend will continue.

Secondly, Lucas and Max constantly quarrel and are not afraid of these. In their quarrels, the couple gets used to each other's differences, find out their personal boundaries, and the fact that they return to each other again and again after these quarrels shows us that teenagers still want to be with each other despite the differences. Mike is afraid to quarrel with El because of her superpowers. He knows what she is capable of, and consciously keeps this relationship as much as possible in the "safe zone". We can see how frightened Mike can be by El's displeasure during their breakup at the bike park. For the same reason, he previously lies to El about his grandmother on the phone, as he is afraid to face her displeasure face to face.

Thirdly, Lucas has before his eyes an example of parents who love and support each other, from whom he can ask for advice in a relationship. And parents will share their experience with him. I can’t say that his parents’ relationship is perfect, but the Sinclairs know how to find a compromise and at the same time continue to love each other, unlike the Wheelers. Max's parents divorced when she was young and her family is quite dysfunctional. But we were shown that she has a pretty warm relationship with her mother no matter what. Plus, both Lucas and Max have been an active part of society since childhood (unlike El).

That's why in season 3, Lucas is Mike's "romantic guide" without whom Mike is completely lost. But all the mechanisms that Lucas uses in his relationship do not work with El, because El is not Max, and Mike is not Lucas.

And so Mike continues to stagnate all 3 and 4 seasons, not understanding what to do. He takes other people's opinions about his relationship with El (Hopper, Lucas, Will), and thus relieves himself of responsibility for them. He shows his complete unwillingness to be in a serious relationship with someone -- and especially with El, since the girl herself does not understand what relationships with people are, and even more so "romantic relationships" with someone.

[lost-on-t-umblr]

why is supergirl trending out of the blue did someone die? did kara and lena get married without telling me? what's going on

[thecasualcomicsreader]

Legion of Super-Heroes: Archives Vol 1 - Pt1

So, the Legion of Super-Heroes is one of those things in comics I was always kinda vaguely aware of. I knew they existed and they where an established legacy thing, but that was kind of the gist of it. I also knew they had particular ties to Supergirl specifically, but I wasn’t aware of the exact relationship they had with her in the comics proper. My only real exposure to them was through the DCAU, specifically the episode “Far From Home” from Justice League Unlimited. Notorious in my young brain for being the reason why Supergirl, my favourite character in the DCAU as a kid, was no longer in the show. Devastated would be an understatement. haha

However, they recently poked back into my brain as I was searching for something to read, something I could sink my teeth into for a while. I haven’t read a comic in quite some time at this point. As of writing the last thing I had read through was the original run of the Teen Titans months and months ago. It’s a fun read if you’ve never looked into it, by the way, I recommend it! Some of my favourite things to go back and re-read are, by far, hero team origin stories and the consecutive adventures and how they evolve thereafter through time, reboots, and particularly DC’s penchant to have multiverse warping events every Tuesday.

I stumbled upon a collection of their stories through the years in a collection through the “Archive Editions” print. Which is, essentially, an omnibus before the term was properly used by DC.

I thought “this could be fun, these guys look a little goofy.” Though, I didn’t want to go in completely blind. Because even if I knew, vaguely, who they where I wanted to lay some groundwork in my brain. So, I headed to google and found a wonderful site that has a general archive of the team’s history through a fansite called “CosmicTeams.” It’s genuinely a wonderful fan site archiving a particular chunk of DC history. Please go check it out!

I’ll get more into it later, but essentially these characters are a Silver-Age team of heroes that where created using the most popular trends of the time.

As I read through I realized that these guys are enormous dorky goofballs in the most endearing way possible. At least as far as the original incarnation is concerned. So, my interest was piqued. I love a good team of dorks. So I jumped right in.

So, finally, we’re here. Cracking open the book to what I hope is a fun new adventure!

THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES!

The Archive starts out with a nice forward by Mike Gold to properly lay some groundwork for the historical context. At the time of this archive’s publication Mike Gold was Group Editor and the Director of Editorial Development at DC. The forward also makes a footnote that he was also the consulting editor for the Archive Edition series itself.

Gold’s forward starts off by recounting his nostalgia for comics. That at the age of 7, long before the rise of proper comic shops, he knew the exact time when his local news stand would place the fresh comics of the week on shelves. He’d be so excited to go get the fresh comics he’d harass his parents until they relented and let him go.

He goes on to explain the particularly fickle time that the comics industry was currently in 1958. He goes on to explain how there wasn’t a lot of superhero comics on the shelves and that a lot of comics publishers where in hot water or starting to close up shop. It seemed as though costumed heroes where on the oust.

Particular to this was the ending of the “Adventures of Superman” show which had run an impressive 104 episodes. It had been so popular and impactful that it had spun off the Superman comics itself into a number of individual running titles. “Superman” proper, “Action Comics,” “Superboy,” “Jimmy Olson,” and “World’s Finest.” But it wasn’t yet certain what the future was going to be with the Superman show ending.

But, a new way to interact directly with fans was starting to be introduced. The letters column. Though not a new concept for comics, it’s use now was the birthplace of something new and special. Through the various anthology titles DC had at the time people could write in and share their thoughts and opinions. Essentially becoming backseat editors. This also led to what could potentially be considered the birthplace of recognized comics fandom.

One of the first examples of this, curiously, came through Lois Lane. The year before the Superman show ended a Lois Lane comic had been introduced. A single run to see if there was interest in more Superman spin offs. DC was hesitant to make more Lois comics, despite the original print selling well, because they thought the sales came exclusively because of the popularity of the show and not Lois individually. Which, is a funny excuse, because her simply being a woman leading her own comic might’ve been the real culprit as to why they questioned it. but, regardless, because of the writers column and people’s outpouring for more Lois comics she received her own continuous run.

We would see this again with another woman, a “woman of steel.” As 1958 would also be the first proper Superman issue to feature a “Supergirl.” Not Kara proper, but the outpouring for Supergirl to be a continuous part of the comics was so strong that Kara herself would be introduced in full the following year in 1959. We would see this same trend continue with the likes of characters like Brainiac and Bizzaro as well.

Just on a side note PLEASE check out Supergirl’s first appearance in Superman #123. Jimmy Olson makes a super woman from a magic totem that looks like a Ninja Turtle to be Superman’s partner that they would color to look like Jimmy later on. It’s crazy. Check out Casually Comic’s videos on it. It’s so stupid, it’s so much fun.

This leads into the topic at hand, more or less. The creation of the Legion of Super-heroes!

The letters column allowed for DC to funnel in information on what exactly fans liked to see. Which turned out to be time travel plots, team ups, origin stories, and the ground roots of an ongoing series. For the first time in comics history, or so it seemed, the fans where in direct control and DC was willing to play ball with them.

Mort Weisinger, a DC editor at the time, and his team of writers set off to give the fans exactly what they wanted. In Action Comics #247 the world was introduced to the Legion of Super-Heroes. Where three super powered teens from the future come to the past to meet Superboy and make him a member of their superhero club.

It was an instant hit and the Legion would go on to feature in a number of Superman titles around the time before officially launching into their own ongoing series. They would also be the direct inspiration for numerous superhero teams to follow.

Now, without further ado. The first appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes!

Adventure Comics #247

So, one day teenaged Clark Kent is just walking around Smallville when some random teen calls him Superboy. Which totally freaks him out, but he elects to ignore it. Then again, as he’s flying around some other teenager calls him Clark Kent. Which, again, freaks him out, but he elects to ignore it again. Then, a third time, a teenaged girl tells him to send “her regards to Mr and Mrs. Kent” which freaks him out to the point he wonders if his secret identity was revealed. But, in actuality, the three teens are from the future and where just playing a prank on Clark. Information he accepts without question.

They reveal into their costumes and their superhero names. Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Boy! They tell Superboy they’re apart of a superhero club… and I just…

I CACKLED when I saw this. A good open mouth, head back, cackle. Their costumes are pretty typical, for the time, but the fact their names are written, in full, on their chests in basic text and the literal “super hero club” badge is just *chefs kiss* it’s just so good. It’s just SO funny.

Outside of that the actual costumes are never actually seen again, as far as I’m aware, starting the very next issue that they are featured in they’re in their more recognized, typical, attire. Which is kind of a shame for Saturn Girl specifically because I actually much prefer this costume for her. Aside from the goofy full name in comic sans on the chest, it actually looks really good and surprisingly modern. Of the three her color scheme is also the best in my opinion.

The three go on to tell Clark that they want him in their superhero club and if he’d come to the future with them for initiation. To which Clark agrees since things are pretty peaceful in Smallville at the moment and they get into a bubble ship and speed off 1000 years into the future.

They show Clark around the future for a bit. Taking him to a “martian ice-cream parlour” and showing him that his parent’s house has become a historical monument.

They also… take him to their high school history class where the teacher has a fully functioning Superman robot? The robot malfunctions before it can show off Superman’s heat vision but Cosmic Boy is like “No worries we have the real Superboy right here” and the teacher, not acknowledging that Saturn Boy just admitted to time displacing Superboy, tells Clark to get a move on and do the heat vision so his students don’t fall behind. To which he does.

The trio then take Superboy to their “superhero clubhouse,” which is a half buried rocket building with “Super Hero Club” written on a white board above the door. lol

Once inside the clubhouse they explain to Clark that to join their club he has to best each one of the three in an individual challenge to prove he deserves membership. To which Clark is like “easy!”

They REALLY nail home the point that each member only has “one super power” too. Like it’s mentioned all the time how they only have one power. During each challenge it’s like “I can beat them, they only have ONE power!”

The first challenge is against Saturn Girl. She and Superman are tasked with saving a “priceless museum piece” statue that has sunken to the bottom of the ocean.

The two race off to go face the challenge. While Clark gloats to himself that he’ll do this “before she even gets there” he picks up that the Superboy robot from earlier had malfunctioned and was causing havoc at the school. Clark seeing this as a more important thing to do than saving a statue races off to save the day. While confronting it he realizes he can’t just smash it, it has an atomic motor and it’d explode and hurt people. So he has it chase him into the science centre where the science teacher deactivates it with a “nuclear ray.” Which just kinda looks like him holding up a mirror.

By the time Clark returns Saturn Girl has already completed the challenge of saving the statue. By using a “thought-beam” to get a sea monster to bring the statue to the surface. Thus winning.

Cosmic Boy rags on Superboy for losing to a girl and Clark refuses to explain that he, instead, rescued an entire school from a runaway robot because it’d sound like a “weak alibi” for losing. The next challenge is against Cosmic Boy. He and Superboy must go put out a forest fire caused by a rocket that exploded but, uh-oh, as they’re racing there Clark picks up on another crisis! A satellite is falling from space! So he diverts to go stop it. He catches it and literally tosses it like a basketball into a volcano crater on some unexplained planet.

When Clark rushes back to the challenge Cosmic Boy had already finished it. He had used his power of magnetism to collect meteors to overflow a lake and flood the forest to put out the fire. Thus Clark loses again.

I do feel like flooding an entire forest would’ve caused MORE harm relative to the damage done by the fire. But, hey, I’m not in the League of Super-Heroes am I?

Once again Cosmic Boy rags on Clark for losing the challenge and once again Clark doesn’t just simply tell him what actually happened, because reasons. He, again, claims it’d look like he was using an excuse as to why he lost.

As pointed out by Saturn Girl when they return to the clubhouse, he’s lost two challenges against them and their ONE POWER. So Superboy is determined to win his final challenge against Lighting Boy.

A rocket that set off for Mars has a leaking fuel tank and any attempts to contact it to inform it have failed. So the two have to race off and inform them to turn around before they get trapped in space.

Now here’s the situation that really confused me and I just couldn’t see Clark’s reasoning for ditching the challenge. Because he picks up on an INVISIBLE EAGLE that escapes from the hole of a roof of a building that can only be described as looking like a giant orange. His fear being because it’s invisible rocket pilots would unintentionally fly into it without seeing it. But, like, I would assume the eagle is like any other eagle despite being invisible? It wouldn’t go near the rockets if it can help it. Likewise, despite being a big bird, I would assume the rockets of this age would be sturdy enough to hit a bird and be fine? But here I am questioning the logic of the Silver Age to begin with. So who’s the real illogical one here?

But, I digress, because Clark’s solution to this problem is even more confusing! He doesn’t know how he’ll locate the bird, it being invisible and all, so he decided that he’ll go and get an iceberg? Which he holds above the the city, so that it can form frost of the eagle so he can see it. Which, I guess, credit where it’s due because it works and Clark returns it to the city. But there’s no way this was the bigger issue compared to a rocket full of people about to be lost in space. Right?

Either way, Lighting Boy saves the rocket by creating what is basically a giant neon sign made of electricity, so big that the rocket will have no choice but to see it and turn back. Although, no one really seems to bother to check and see if it actually worked or not though.

Once they get back Cosmic Boy just outright refuses Clark membership because he lost all three challenges and then all thee basically go on to berate him and make fun of how there’s no way he’s a “real hero” and that the 20th century must’ve exaggerated his abilities. To which Clark takes with a smile as to not let them see him crack. To which he eventually turns around to walk out and just completely cracks. Sobbing about losing and them making fun of him. To which Saturn Girl stops him and explains that he’s actually in the club after all! Which, I don’t know if I’d want to be in their club after that. But, she goes on to explain that they intentionally set up all those crises to divert his attention from the main challenges so that they could truly test if he's a hero. But it’s presented as if it was some light hearted prank, but they basically tricked Clark into thinking he lost horribly and berated him until he cried. So, like, it just feels very mean spirited.

But before he can receive his badge of membership the Legion gets a distress call! A giant heat lamp in South Pole City has broken and is toppling over! Clark says he’ll go and save the day global warming be damned! He proceeds to use a magnetic meteorite to straighten out the lamp before it topples and uses salt he got from the city in the atmosphere to cause heat lighting to keep the city warm until the lamp is fixed. Then he gets back and immediately asks Saturn Girl why she was wondering why he didn’t use his Super strength to straighten the lamp to which she responds “you read my mind!” Thus Superboy, successfully uses all three of their powers to save the day. Pranking them back in his own way. They all have a good laugh and the League gives him his award. Which he shows to his very unimpressed looking father upon returning to his time.

I will say, I can fully understand why these kids got popular back in the day. They truly exemplified what was popular for readers at that time in the Silver Age. So it’s kind of a no-brainier as to why they kicked off like they did.

But, I can’t wait to see how the Legion of Super-Heroes evolves from here! Please join me when I cover their next appearance!

[kriosv]

My personal kinda rant thoughts on GODS AND MONSTERS DCU.

Now, this is going to sound critical and negative, but that's just the part I want to share in this. I am still super excited and optimistic and will always find something to love in this universe

The announcement that really soured my view of the whole phase was The Authority. Gunn described it as a passion project. It is not a passion of mine. Purposefully pushy superhero stuff has been far to prevalent for decades. Not that I can't enjoy it. I have a rule; when consuming media that wants to push a genre in an extreme direction, I ask myself, who I watch this without the extreme violence/sexuality/edgyness? That's why I really enjoyed Invincible but not The Boys. Because I would still watch Invincible if it was just a normal superhero show with no gore or shocking violence.

So, I might enjoy the Authority. But it being described as a passion project made me skeptical. Alongside other references Gunn made, it gives me a sense of someone who wants to make the edgy, deconstruction superhero comics into the mainstream.

I'm hoping for new announcements to tamper these fears. Some specifics:

Paradise Lost: I like Game of Thrones. But the idea of Wonder Woman coming from a place inspired by Game of Thrones or Amazons Attack, makes me fear that we'll get a very common interpretation of Wondy I don't like. The character I liked fine in Injustice 2 as a villain, but too often made the protagonist. If they contrast Paradise Lost with a caring Wonder Woman Movie, I'll love them both.

Damian Wayne: he is my favorite. He is #3 on my favorite superheroes of all time. However, making him the introduction to the bat family could start a trend of all the batfam being the darker side. I like the way the robins are portrayed now in retroactive stories, being cyclical. Dick(fun), Jason(Dark), Tim(fun), Damian(dark). An oversimplification, I know, but the idea I want to get across is the contrasting view. If we get a Nightwing or Young Justice in the DCU, great. If they don't make them all dark.

Supergirl: I haven't read Tom King's run. I know of Tom King's work and it's not my taste. I've seen the darker, more tragic/broken side of Kara before, and it's not my taste. This is just a personal taste one, I like the happier Superfamily. Superman is my #1 hero, and a large part is his humanity and good attitude. The superman family isn't as consistent in tone as batfam, but I like the contrast of Conner and Jon(my #4). Unfortunately, Kara has been both sides of this cycle gerself. My hope, is that Kara meets a kind, gentle Superman, who helps her so she isn't as dark

Gods and Monsters: I really like the story that this is referencing. The problem is, it's an elseworlds story. A story where villain take up the JL mantles as anti-heroes. It works great as an elseworld story, but it looks like Gunn wants to make this the mainstream. I said previously what I'd like to contrast the announcements, but it looks like that isn't Gunn's vision. Here's hoping Gunn has some people working with him who feel the way I do, so we xan have some genuine heart in the DCU, and not just deconstruction and dark humor.

(Once again, I'm looking forward to the deconstruction and dark humor, just want a counter balance)

[anotheruserwithnoname]

Games can fool...

There’s been a trend on Instagram and elsewhere for the last few years of people uploading gameplay clips of driving around the fictional world of Grand Theft Auto V and the comments being filled with comments from people unaware the video is from a game (even if it’s posted by a GTA fan account!). I saw some comments on one today where people were (in all seriousness) asking why these dangerous drivers weren’t being arrested. (They called Lester Crest and had him bribe the cops for GTA$5,000, that’s why. But I digress.)

Of course not everybody knows the game and can immediately recognize locations, business and road names, vehicles and non-player characters. But it’s interesting how easy people can be fooled sometimes. And we haven’t even gotten to AI-created videos. Though as long as people in these videos keep looking like Eldrich Horrors, it’ll be a while.

But to be fair, GTA V and GTA Online (both celebrating their 10th anniversaries later this year) have gotten very realistic looking. So much so, there are videos where people have gone and put original LA locations side by side with the game and ... they get pretty close. Here is but one example:

I play GTA Online regularly. I’ve posted this before but after several years playing a character that looked like Jon Cryer’s version of Lex Luthor from Supergirl, I started GTAO over with a female character after some recommendations (funnier interactions, harder to get shot - that one was B.S. I can tell you - and more of a personality). Here’s a selfie I had her take last week.

One of my favorite things is to take her a place where other NPCs gather, activate a “hide from radar” option we have, and have her mix in until other players come along. I love it when they decide to start attacking NPCs at random. Yes, that is a thing. They don’t expect one of them to suddenly pull out an “Up n’ Atomizer” (affectionately known as a “boopy gun” for the sound it makes) and launch them across the street! LOL

[facepalming-since-chernobyl]

Was horrified to see scumbag trending on Twitter just now and too afraid to click and find out why but apparently it's because they announced his replacement in Merrily We Roll Along, sounds good to me!

"Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein were cast way back in the summer of 2019 when the project first began filming. Jenner did shoot scenes for the film, though he exited the project shortly after domestic violence allegations surfaced against the actor from his ex-wife, Supergirl star Melissa Benoist."

We love karma and she has just started doing her magic to the asshole :)