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[chiefavenuepainter]

Fixing the Parasite

Premise

Parasite can absorb 2 different types of energy. The first is the type he's always done, the energy everyone has in their body, Supermans solar energy, electricity etc. But this type of energy is the equivalent of junk food for him, it adds mass but no real strength.

His preference would be the second type of energy, Soul energy as I'll call it. Remember in Birthright where Clark can see the glow life gives off? He's absorbing that (you can tie this to the emotional spectrum if you want ig). Imagine how horrifying it would be for Clark to see a body, still with a beating heart and still breathing,but empty on the inside, this makes Parasite far more horrific

Included in your soul energy is your emotional state, this presents a problem for Parasite. If he snatches someone from the side of the street and eats them, there's a good chance they're generally pretty happy since they live in the city of Superman and they're all inspired and hopeful from that. Hell, even if he keeps them tied up they'll still probably stay strong knowing Superman will save them. While regularly energy is just fattening, positive soul energy is actually harmful, as seen in Camelot falls absorbing this energy imprints of Parasite, you eat a happy person and suddenly he's filled with joy. Thus Parasites main goal is to spread negative emotions across Metropolis in order to make everyone tastier and make himself stronger.

Impact on stories

This improves the set up of Parasite stories in 2 ways 1)he can't just do the boring thing of attacking a power plant anymore, they (Maxwell and the writer) need to get creative

2) Parasite and Superman are now at war over the soul of the city, superman spreads hope and Optimism and brings out the best of us, Maxwell spreads misery and brings out the worst

Henchmen

My Mutual @TheNerdSpider envisioned Maxwell Jensen as the head of a pharmaceutical company before becoming Parasite, as a way to make people (such as Rudy Jones) dependant on him. I would to explore this idea more in regards to Parasites henchmen. I believe giving villains such as Metallo and Parasite henchmen goes a long way in making the them not appear as jobbers, but they need to be thematically relevant. In Metallos case I envision his army of nationless soldiers, filled with those who were moulded into weapons by the army and then thrown away when they became inconvenient to keep around

For Parasite I'd lean on the vampire thing and essentially make them Zombies. Rather then fully draining someone he'll only do it partially, this turns them into a zombie who's now entirely dependent on Maxwell, he's taken away all their potential so now all they can do all day is slave away for him in hopes they can receive a slither of power from their boss.

I'd also make it so Parasite can pass on his stored soul energy, so he could fill Superman with angry or jealousy or Lust during a fight, bringing out the worst in him

That's all I got hope you liked it 🫡

[chiefavenuepainter]

Brainiac, Mongul, Darkseid and Zod are all characters who can be written to be similar to eachother. This does make sense, they're all very powerful alien tyrant's who wish to impose their ideals on the universe. However I think historically they have been distinct from eachother and I'd like to offer my takes on these 4 (which are obviously built based off their comic appearances) that show they can be distinct from eachother.

Their origins

Zod- a general on Krypton born into power

Darkseid - always Darkseid, the platonic embodiment of evil

Mongul- the latest in a long line of Mongul's from the planet war world, a product of his culture and upbringing the same way Clark was

Brainiac - the last survivor of the planet Colu (minus it's capital he has preserved), a victim of extinction like Clark

Aside from a little overlap with Zod and Darkseid these are 4 distinct origins that provide foundations for distinct characters

Goals

Brainiac- to preserve life, to prevent living beings from destroying themselves as he, a superior being knows better then them, they are free to do whatever they like in their bottles. He wishes to prove Superman could be just like him if he cut off his ties to humanity and joined him on this path

Darkseid -to obtain the anti life equation so he may eradicate all free will in the universe so he is the only thought in the universe

Mongul- a warmonger who lives for domination, he conquers world's and appropriates their cultures to make his own stronger.

Zod- lives for Krypton

All 4 have ideas of Imperialism and culture but approach it in unique ways

Brainaic keeps the cities he collects sterile and unchanging, he's technically protected life but he's lost his understanding of it, life can't flourish like rjat

Mongul - tyrant who believes in survival of the fittest, he takes the strongest aspect of your culture and incorporate it into his own

Zod- Kryptonian supremacy and culture above all else, the universe shall bow before krypton

Darkseid - seeks to eradicate culture all together

Mongul - represents what would happen if Superman used his powers for tyranny, but can also push him to be more creative with his use of them, as well as showing how Clark was shaped by his upbringing

Darkseid is ultimate evil in the universe to contrast the ultimate good

Brainiac represents what superman would become if Clark Kent died, without his humanity he'd still try to protect life but without any compassion he'd become an unloving Tyrant who doesn't allow the lesser beings to truly live

Zod is what would happen if he chose Krypton over earth rather then balancing both (earth-man and wraith show what could happen if he entirely showed his human side)

So yeah these 4 are pretty different as long as you approach it with care.

[chiefavenuepainter]

Metallo

Metallo in my opinion needs to embody 2 ideas, toxic masculinity and the American way.

PKJs work with him lays a solid foundation of his childhood, he was a regular kid who gained a desire for power in order to protect himself (I'd cut the sister though since I think she makes him a little too sympathetic. Maybe Roger as an older brother who left years ago, just to have in your back pocket in case you need a replacement)

This desire is only cultivated by the military where he's able to be used as a weapon and receives love and admiration, especially from Sam Lane, all in the name of patriotism. Both are the father and Son the other wishes they could have had.

He develops a nice guy persona now, despite being a killer he's still kinda meek, but he'd view himself as deserving as a prize with Lois because hes such a nice guy.

Seeing Lois reject her and go off frolocking with the alien would bring out something ugly, he's already been praised for attacking non Americans so what's Superman to add to that. He'd be the first volunteer in the mech suit, killing Superman would show everyone including Lois just how great he is. The fight would leave him crippled and hating superman even more

I think he needs to drop the Kryptonite. It's a crutch that distracts from good stories, make him powered by Kryptonian tech instead which works the same thematically.

Once he becomes Metallo anything good inside him is left corrupted. He's used as the army's most powerful weapon against anyone they point him at, Corben embodies the worst of the American way, using the facade of bettering the nation as an excuse to hurt others.

Past that I'm not sure what I'd do, obviously he'd need to break off from the military, who's fault that is I'm unsure. Eventually give him a mother box to help him keep up against superman and honestly let him take up the cyborg Superman mantle as a way to insult the man he thinks stole the life and woman he thinks he deserves. He'd go against superman Lois and his nation in his mad lust for strength and being taken seriously as someone strong the way his dad never did.