#anyways I LOVE HIM. LEX LANG >>>>>>>>>>>><

[c0smiccom3t]

he deserves the boops on the snoot,,, precious guy,,,,,,

[fairyroses]

This is the scene where Lana and Lex really meet for the first time, and we find out that Lana had seen Lex before in a compromising position. So, I think it’s an interesting dynamic because, you know, Clark obviously worships— sort of idolizes her and worships her from afar... and so Lex is the only one who can sort of call her on things, and she can give as good as she gets. Which I think is good and it gives you another dimension to Lana.

– Al Gough, Smallville 1.02 “Metamorphosis” Commentary 

[zahri-melitor]

DCU Holiday Bash II #1

The Present. Connor Hawke and Kyle Rayner. Kyle takes Connor last minute Christmas shopping for the JLA, and they run into someone holding up the mall as his girlfriend is annoyed at him (and who decides to hold a knife to a nun). Connor lectures on how Buddhism says existence is impermanent and suffering, and Kyle continues to want to buy presents even after Connor tells him words of appreciation would be better. (They're such an odd buddy couple here)

The House of Peace. Batman. This is the Hanukkah story about a synagogue in Gotham kept alive by the donations of one night of service. A thief steals the donations (and breaks the oil). Batman beats up the thief and returns the donations box; a small boy Danny in the congregation runs home to get oil to light the lamp.

Present Tense. Darkseid. It's the time Santa delivers coal to Darkseid for Christmas! What is there to say about this story? Darkseid remains naughty. This story remains perfect.

"You're making it tougher to get here each Christmas, I'll give you that!"

Twas the Night Before Kwanzaa. Black Lightning. I think this is the first compilation Kwanzaa story. I actually love the art for this one, but the plot feels simultaneously too explainy AND stereotypical (black gangs, hey?)

The Gift. Superman. Clark drops off a beaten-up robot at the door of LexCorp, and Red Haired Lex (as it's the mid 90s) gestures 'who, me?' Santa, or 'Santa' (aka the Kents) gives Clark a new cape as his is all ragged after the fight.

I Left My Heart at the Justice Society Canteen. JSA in 1944. MAJOR flashback here! Basically it's about the JSA running entertainment for the troops in Gotham. A laundry officer ensign identifies two spies who try to plant a bomb in the canteen, and gets to meet the whole JSA crew. That laundry officer ensign? JIM GORDON. Which, ALMOST still makes sense, timewise, in the 1990s, but not really (since it makes Jim 70 or so). Oh comics.

Anyway personally the most interesting aspect of this was Jim hanging out with Dinah Drake for a bit, in anticipation of the Jim Gordon and Larry Lance friendship in the future.

A Christmas Carol. Sgt. Rock. Basically this is just visions during the war of concentration camps, so keep shooting those Nazis! Eh.

The Old Lane. Dick/Babs. I LOVE THIS STORY. Dick and Barbara have a standing date to hang out together on New Year's Eve. Babs is somewhat annoyed at Dick but he turns up with Chinese anyway, which they eat on the roof of the Clocktower looking out over the city, swapping stories of words they've misheard (Dick: Mistletoe - missiles flying from toes; Barbara: Auld Lang Syne - Old Lane Sign) and they've told each other these stories before. Which is backed up by...Barbara gives Dick a box with mistletoe in it for Christmas/New Year's, and Dick gives her a streetsign for Old Lane.

[evilwickedme]

What's your opinion on Lana Lang from Smallville? And Clark's obsession with her. Very strange!

Oh my gosh anon thank you so much for asking :) I have an entirely healthy amount of feelings about this show

Anyway Lana Long is top five worst characters I've ever had the displeasure of watching. So jot that down

Ok it's a little more complicated than that. Because the thing is early Smallville had a formula going on, you know? The kryptonite freak of the week would show up, wreak havoc, Clark would stop him, maybe learning how to use a new power in the meantime. And they also had a formula for the villain motivation - generally it was a metaphor or direct result of something related to puberty or growing up, although sometimes it was just LuthorCorp Bad™. Yeah, they had episodes that broke the formula, but that was the show for the most part. And generally, if the villain was a guy, he was fucking obsessed with Lana (sexual), and if the villain was a girl, she was fucking obsessed with Lana (jealous). Not every time. But a lot.

The show leaned hard on this aspect of Lana being the girl next door, the fact that she was pretty and popular and yet seemed so attainable due to her being Nice™. And when a show is as formulaic as early Smallville is... Honestly, that's fine. It grates on my nerves cause I can't stand her, but I honestly think that it isn't her fault this early on. She's got her own dynamic with every character and Clark having a crush on her makes total sense for his character.

The problem starts in season four.

Season four is where Smallville really started being a serialized show, with the ongoing plot taking front and center just as often as a freak of the week if not moreso. We're introduced to a new cast of characters, a whole world that Lionel Luthor is a part of, we've got Kryptonian mysteries going on, and we have the introduction of my beloved Lois Lane.

Which means, at the very least in the audience's mind, Lana Lang has some serious competition now. Because ffs, we know Lois is endgame. We knew Lois is endgame when we watched the pilot. We're watching a Superman origin story - at the end of the story he's going to be wearing a red cape, know his Kryptonian origin, go to work at the daily planet, and have a deep love for his coworker Lois Lane.

And Lois Lane is likeable from the very beginning. She's a little crass, but she's funny, she's clever, she's kind. The very first thing she does in the plot is find an amnesiac (basically possessed) Clark and take him to a hospital. Tom Welling and Erica Durance have insane amounts of chemistry. And there's just a general feeling that we're getting closer and closer to Superman, rather than just Clark Kent, farm boy with a crush on Lana Lang.

But they don't write Lana off the show. They keep her there for four and a half more seasons. And here is where the real issues start.

Firstly, Clark's crush was a little creepy sometimes from the very beginning because honestly, the early two thousands really thought that watching your neighbor with a telescope was romantic. But with Lois as competition, his crush for Lana has to become that much more intense, to explain why he doesn't just drop her and go with the obviously more enticing choice. And Lana herself has to morph, change into something a little more complex than "nice girl with a little ambition".

So the writers focused on aspects of her personality that we'd already seen, and amped them up to 100. Her curiosity becomes nosiness. Her ambition becomes bossiness and ruthlessness. And worst of all, they write her into a love triangle with fucking Lex Luthor.

Don't get me wrong, there's something so interesting and compelling about the friends to enemies arc that Lex and Clark have going on. It's just that when Clark and Lana are 14, Lex is fucking 21. It is in no way appropriate for Lex and Lana to get married. And it would've honestly been unimaginable with Lana's early characterization. But by season six, she's an extremely unpleasant person. But the writers don't want to give in to Superman's Destiny™ quite yet, so Clark still has to be interested in Lana, and the love triangle is a major component in the friends to enemies arc between Clark and Lex anyway, so Clark's crush on Lana becomes more and more unbearably intense until it is entirely an obsession.

And the thing is that Lois is still there. The writers do a phenomenal fucking job convincing us that Clark and Lois are so good for each other, years before they get together. But with Lana warping reality around her or whatever, they forget to write Clark moving on from her. And by season eight when it finally looks like Clark and Lois are going to get their shit together, Lana walks in and distracts Clark, again.

And the thing is, yes, I find Lana unbearable, and yes, I ship clois because I think they really are perfect for each other and they've chosen to stick by each other and be each other's pillar in life. But the biggest sin in my eyes is that the writers forgot to let Clark choose Lois over Lana. By that point, they've written themselves into such a tight corner that this version of Clark can't just get over Lana and choose to move with his life - they have to force her away from him, make him physically unable to be anywhere near her without literally dying. And yeah, on the metaphorical level that makes me happy - she is poison for him. But on the basic textual level I can't help but say hey, what the fuck.

This is a show about choice. About how our choices make us into heroes and villains. There are universes where people made different choices, and Clark is evil there. There are other people besides Clark also choosing to be heroes. Lois chooses to trust Clark, even though he never told her his secret, and Lana chooses not to. But the writers never let Clark choose Lois not just on her own, but against Lana. And that, more than her pretending to still be a "good girl" even while married to fucking Lex Luthor, more than her personality in general, more than the narrative's obsession with her three years at least after she should've been written off the show, is why I dislike her so much.

Anyway yeah fuck Lana Lang

[guillotinekim]

So my last bit of Smallville commentary saw me nearing the end of season 3. Since then, I've made some decent progress. I just recently completed season 6 (and started a couple episodes of season 7) and I've returned to once again dump my scattered thoughts and unsolicited opinions into the Tumblrverse (prepare for an essay because brevity was never my ministry).

*ahem*

Season 4 was...??? Here's the thing though: I started off liking it. Prior to that season, I guess you could say they'd established a working format where every episode featured a new meteor infected superhuman (or in the words of Chloe, a "meteor freak") creating unrest in Smallville, which would then lead to Clark hunting them down and dealing with the situation in some way or the other. I was getting tired of that, so it was a refreshing change of pace to see an ongoing arc take center stage. But actually working my way through the season was a journey that ended with me harboring less than positive thoughts.

I mean...the magical stones of Kryptonian origin scattered across the globe? There was a flashback episode in the third season that featured a youthful Jor-El frolicking around Smallville and falling in love with an ancestor of Lana's (shocker) that made me realize it was asinine of me to assume Clark was the first Kryptonian to ever set foot on earth. But even if I entertain the idea that some other alien from Krypton made the pilgrimage to Earth umpteen years ago and left behind those glorified paperweights...it's still not adding up for me.

Maybe I misinterpreted something here, but I feel like there were multiple moments throughout the season insisting (or insinuating) that it was Clark's "destiny" to locate all three stones and bring them together. But hear me out: if Lana Lang has a sorceress ancestor from the 1600s that not only knew of the existence of the stones, but was actively searching for them at the time, we can assume that these stones have been on Earth since at least the 17th century—which is well before Clark was born (NB: I don't know much about Kryptonian aging so this is an educated guess I made. In the flashback episode that shows Jor-El's time in Smallville, Jor-El evidently hadn't yet formed a relationship with Clark's mother...which means that Clark wouldn't have been born yet...and the events of this episode clearly take place much later than the 17th century). How could it specifically be Clark's destiny to find the stones if their arrival on Earth predated his existence?

And then the wild goose chase that takes place throughout the season as everybody and their mother (literally) attempts to find these stones? Clark? Lex? Lionel? Jason, Lana and Jason's mother? And last but not least, the Countess...because how could anyone ever forget the side storyline where Lana gets POSSESSED by the spirit of her ancestor, Countess Isobel Thoreaux, and is now sharing her body with a witch from the 17th century???

Then, when Clark finally manages to get his hands on all three of the stones and unite them...they fuse into a gem that teleports him to the Arctic (?) and after Clark chucks it as far as I assume his alien strength will allow him to throw, it collides with a mountain...the mountain gets decimated and in its place sprouts the famed Fortress of Solitude. (Side bar: Comic enthusiasts please let me know...is that how it really happens in the source material? Does the Fortress of Solitude really just...grow like a plant?)

So ALL of that...that entire arc...all the insanity behind trying to find these stones that allegedly promised so much power once reunited...all of it was just a way to introduce Superman's Fortress of Solitude? Somehow, an icy fortress of Kryptonian knowledge never crossed my mind as the reward for all of that effort. In retrospect, I suppose a hub containing a plethora of advanced alien knowledge could be both powerful and dangerous if used correctly...but it just felt really anticlimactic.

Anyway. The absolute best thing to come out of season 4 was the introduction of Lois Lane. I love the approach to her character. I like that she's got spunk and can defend herself. The whole damsel in distress shtick is a trope that gets old with me quickly. It's done with Lana often. Even after Lana picked up martial arts, it's like sometimes she forgets to use it or something? But I digress. I like that Lois kicks ass and never seems to doubt her own ability (in fact, one could argue that she overestimates her ability from time to time). I love that she's witty and snarky, yet suffers from discomfort triggered foot-in-mouth syndrome. I like that the person the audience knows she will eventually become isn't who she is right off the bat. It allows for her character to be developed over time. A passionate journalist who's in love with Clark Kent pretty much sums up my knowledge about this character. But when she's introduced to the show, she and Clark clash immediately and she has zero interest in journalism. As far as the love interest thing goes, they already did that "love at first sight" stuff with Lana. It's nice to not have to see it again. Having Clark and Lois go from basically hating each other to forming a reluctant friendship (which everyone knows will eventually end in them falling in love) is both refreshing and entertaining for me. Now mind you, my knowledge of the comics is restricted to a few random Golden Age issues, so for all I know this could've just been the result of the writers staying true to the current (at the time) source material...but regardless, I liked it. However, the build up to the start of her career at the Daily Planet was handled...oddly.

Since her first season on the show, Lois Lane has made it clear every chance she's gotten that journalism is not her thing. And since then, I've been waiting patiently to see what it is that eventually changes her mind. Because surely, if solving the mystery of her own cousin's "murder" wasn't enough to make her consider a future in investigative reporting, whatever finally does the trick will be monumental, right?

Wrong.

Lois makes the life changing decision to completely change her career path after almost being struck by an airborne barn door. And that's...the entire story. It's also a little ridiculous to see a bona fide reporter position at the Daily Planet just fall into her lap when Chloe, a character established from day one as having journalistic ambitions and actual writing talent is starting from the bottom and answering phones. I hate when main characters get things handed to them just because. I wanted to see Lois fall in love with it and really work for it. But this is cute too I guess?

Seasons 5-10 are the seasons I've really been looking forward to, because my basic knowledge about Superman says he's meant to live in Metropolis. So I've been waiting to get past the characters' high school years because I hoped that I'd get to see some maturation as far as Clark's character development and that I might get to see the life-changing move from Smallville to Metropolis, where Clark will spend his adult years.

He hasn't moved yet, but following the death of his father, he seems to be thinking a lot more about the consequences of his actions (CRAZY that his father dropping dead is what it took for him to start doing this...was accidentally killing your mother's child not a good enough incentive? Like hello? The lights are on...but is anybody actually home?).

But let's switch gears for a moment here and touch on Ms. Lang. So far, one of my biggest takeaways as I work my way through this series is that Lana-centric episodes and storylines are typically...not great. From the storyline of her discovering that she has a living biological father—a development that ends with him being written out of the show in the span of a few episodes—to the episode where the writers decided to basically make her a suicidal (?) junkie, writing where she's concerned is more often than not pretty questionable. I mean, did we need to turn her into a vampire?

Then of course there's the ongoing Clana saga. Jason dies in season 4 and following news of his death, Lana jumps straight into a relationship with Clark and it's weird. Granted, she and Jason broke up prior to his death...but as I recall, she also broke up with Whitney before he died and yet she still underwent a period of mourning upon finding out that Whitney had passed away...which is a normal reaction to finding out that someone you used to be in love with is now dead. This time around, no such mourning period is had. She just goes full speed ahead into a relationship with Clark. But of course, it doesn't work out (again) because Lana wants a partnership with full trust and transparency and Clark is still inventing every excuse in the book as to why he "can't" tell Lana that he's a crime fighting alien.

So they break up.

...And then you blink and Lana has romantic feelings for Lex.

Don't get me wrong...I like the idea of Lex coveting everything about Clark's life...from the stable family unit down to the fierce love and undying loyalty he's managed to get from Lana Lang. It adds to the incentive for his descent into villainy. But his feelings for Lana have come across as one-sided for a long period of time. The reciprocation on Lana's end feels very sudden.

Next thing you know, Lana moves out of the dorm room she shares with Chloe at Met U (and possibly also drops out of college altogether because I can't remember the last time she attended a class or mentioned anything academic related) and into Lex's mansion????? Then to add insult to injury, despite the fact that lying is the ultimate deal breaker for Lana and caused the demise of her relationships with both Jason and Clark...Lex is a pathological liar and no matter how many red flags Lana sees that confirm this, she just doubles down on sticking beside him. When she confides to him that she's seen a spaceship and witnessed an alien attack, he has his company sieze the ship for research purposes, then proceeds to try to gaslight her into thinking she imagined the entire encounter. She finds out he lied and forgives him? He has cameras set up in her bedroom without her knowledge. She finds out, makes him "promise" to remove them and then just...continues living there? She has strong reasons to believe he has a secret level in LuthorCorp where he imprisons and unlawfully experiments on meteor infected Belle Reve patients that were supposed to have been discharged. He of course, lies about having any knowledge of this and not only does she not show any sign of wanting to investigate this further...she announces that even if it were true, she'd be cool with it (a complete dismissal of her character's moral compass)??? Mind you, throughout all of this she's still trying to find out Clark's secret. Nevermind the fact that they broke up and she's now living with a whole other man who lies like it's his day job. Somehow, it's CLARK'S secrets that she needs to uncover the most.

But despite how neutral I am to Lana Lang and how uninvested I've been in almost every single Lana storyline featured in seasons 1-6...they finally got me with the pregnancy-marriage storyline. Between that and the level 33.1 storyline, I feel like a turning point was reached. Season 6 marked the first point that I saw Lex as a villain. Here I was thinking Lex had merely paid off a doctor to lie about her being pregnant (which would've also been awful, just to be clear)...imagine my shock when I found out she'd also been drugged. There is absolutely no coming back from drugging your wife to simulate pregnancy, going through the motions of preparing for the arrival of a baby that you know damn well is NOT in her uterus and then taking her off of the drugs so that her body can experience the sensation of a miscarriage. And adding kidnapping and torture to the mix certainly doesn't help his case.

In the midst of that nightmare storyline, I found myself rooting for Lana for the first time since...ever really. I've been exhausted by Clark and Lana's back and forth dynamic for multiple seasons...but her finding out Clark's secret and then staying in that hellish marriage to protect him actually made me start to wish they could get a happy ending and work out? Which is pointless because I know they never will. And remembering that little detail makes me think maybe the writers spent a little bit too much time on Lana. There's only like 4 seasons left. They should've found a way to wrap up their story sooner and focus more on Lois. It's way too late in the game for the transparent, loving relationship that Clark and Lana are finally getting. It creates too much investment in a pairing that was never meant to last.

Lastly, I've reached the point where I'm starting to recognize people more often (either because I know the character or I recognize the actor playing the role) and it's exciting. For one, the celebrity guest appearances? Bow Wow playing a villain and being introduced by "Fresh Azimiz" playing in the background? Lucas Grabeel playing a young Lex? Eva Marcille and Christina Milian??? And then of course, there are all the episodes featuring guest appearances from the future members of the Justice League. Those have been serious series highlights for me. The Arthur Curry (AC) appearances were my favorite simply because I'm always amused to see the same actors bouncing from one superhero series to the next (sometimes even crossing franchises). I guess when AC bid Smallville adieu he changed his name to Hank Hall and became a Titan? 😂

All in all though, it's safe to say I'm enjoying Smallville. Flaws and all. Even when presenting the audience with absolute tomfoolery, the show's just got a certain charm to it that really draws you in.

[atty-goldstein]

Pulp x Hatchetfield Crossover

Because I had a Hatchetfield dream while listening to Pulp at work

Duke is John Herschel and Rose Stratford’s great great great great great grandchild. He’s in the direct line and has definitely heard the stories of his ancestors’ adventures, and that’s why he’s not that freaked out about Miss Holloway’s magic. Why would he be, John and Rose have experienced time travel themselves anyway. Also. Look at them.

And if I think about it, the world would’ve believed that Herschel died in 1835, he can’t exactly claim he never died when it turns out the gang was shot forward into the future. People would at least expect him to have aged if he never truly died. To me, that sounds like a situation that calls for a name change. Perhaps Keane?

Zach and Zoey Chambers are also descendants of John Herschel and Rose Stratford. Because it just makes sense that a couple played by Curt and Mariah should have descendants who are siblings played by Curt and Mariah.

Also I wanna draw parallels between Rose going “this is my life, but it isn’t my fate, to be stuck in a booth on the corner of Broadway selling periodicals” and Zoey wanting to leave Hatchetfield to go to Broadway because she believes in her own talent and skills.

As for the actual British Curt character, Jonathan Brisby, I wanna say he’s also a descendant, but from a more distant line. It’s kinda funny.

If Samuel and Margaret presumably get together, then I wanna say Xander’s their descendant. And I don’t care that Nick Lang said it’s not canon but I want Xander to have inherited his powers from Margaret.

Maybe the Traveler is also a Lady in White, perhaps a more primordial one than Webby, since she literally does wear white and gold and she has powers to produce life and manipulate time and space, as any Mother Goddess archetype does

Maybe Miss Holloway is related to the Traveler in the same way Margaret is related to her. It’s how she’s able to wield light magic and time travel as well. And something something about how Margaret appears to have forgotten her true origins, and how people forget Miss Holloway every 15 years as part of a deal

And while it’s confirmed that the Fosters’ lineage had the Gift through Willabella Muckwab,  who’s to say they’re not also from the lineage of whatever Margaret and the Traveler is.

Especially taking into account how similar Hannah’s powers are to Margaret’s, and the parallel of them having their powers unlocked shortly before white-clad goddesses appear to them,

And how both the Traveler and John McNamara appear to Margaret and Lex respectively, and tell them their full potentials can be unlocked through the love in their hearts. Oh and not only does the Traveler send people through time, she also sends them through space. And Lex has teleportation powers.

And maybe, to spite Chester Thomas, it's Benjamin Park who has a descendant who becomes President. And that's Howard Goodman.

[the-army-brat-and-the-nerd]

Hey just finish rewatching smallvile. In your opinion, when did Clark fall in love with Lois?

Hey! Thankyou for the question!

I have no idea where to start with this...So kindly prepare yourself to be subjected to my endless ranting here... (HEAVY Smallville spoilers)

If you ask me, in my so-called universal perspective of "Clois theories" (it's not a theory, it's plain hard truth!)- for Clark Kent, it was love-at-first-sight. It's so painfully obvious to everyone except Lois, of course! *rolling my eyes*. But if we consider Smallville we can and yet can't, at the same time apply this one in theory. Anyway- it took a while for Clark to come to terms with that.

In my opinion- it was always there- the spark is just downright palpable in Gone, in Facade , Requiem(he was prepared to assault that kid when he refused to give him Lois' location!) and nearly every other episode of the series. I guess Clark never gave it a second thought because (duh) it was Lois Lane *he* was talking about, and for him- she seemed to be (she is) rude, bossy, sarcastic, quippy, and way too much for him to handle. Doesn't mean he wasn't smitten though. (It's like that huge grin is reserved ONLY for her)

It might seem all bantering and bickering and teasing from one angle, but for me- I felt he was really free with her. (I mean- you bicker, playfully quarrel and tease a person only when you feel close to them, right? If not, we just probably put this mask of niceness, and formality) It was one of the best things- we got to see that he felt he didn't have to hold much back with her.

And then comes season 5...how am I supposed to explain? He was definitely in some weird way affected that Lois took this teeny-weeny liking for AC, and then in exposed he just trespassed all the gentlemanly qualities instilled in him by his beloved parents (to not stare intrusively at women) and was simply gawking at her. Season 6- Hydro (specific points) and he realized that he liked her? (honorable mention to Crimson and they probably recalled all the "masked feelings in sarcasm" part) But he is still in his denial phase, so he brushed it aside and decided he was in a written commitment with Lana Lang. He must have inwardly cursed himself a lot too (Remember- though Lana was on the verge of marrying Lex Luthor, doesn't mean he was going to give up on the ambition he had in his 6- year old mind!).

Moving on to season 7- those Apocalypse scenes just hit hard..

The episode was just epic in all levels- it just made Clark see things differently, for a minute, and he was unknowingly enjoying the whole prospect of being Lois' knight in shining armor. Season 8.....Odyssey, Instinct and then, committed....

I'm still not used to this scene- he was 100% expecting to be electrocuted there, but it kinda in a way, made him question all that he felt...until they decided with this:

(I did scream "IDIOTS" into the screen)

Anyway, after that minor blow in Bloodline, comes the biggest Siren of the century a.k.a, Bride

They were being stupid and tender and nice and I was like this is it...until- the Universe conspired once again against them.

He ventured for what was a safe zone for him, instead of plunging into the unfamiliar- and well, stuff took the melodramatic route once again...After all that, there were these "moments" all around Hex, Stiletto and Doomsday. However, the absolute epiphany dawned on him with the monorail incident in Savior and then this:

It was a huge moment because, come on:

Yeah- I think he fell somewhere along the way, but decided to accept it, somewhere around this phase. (We could see the mutual pining all over Rabid, and then there's Echo...) Yeah well two weeks without Lois Lane and he was all miserable (he even changed into that dark, gloomy suit of his. Even Ollie insisted on finding him a tailor to stitch him one with happy colors LOL) . Anyway by Crossfire and Pandora, he just got this high powered boost...and well I couldn't be any more ecstatic.

Thanks for asking, and again- sorry it was this long! (Witnessing the heaviest, longest slow burn ever left this impact on me)

[frostysfrenzy]

I don't know why I've been thinking about the many relationships of Lana Lang lately, but I have. And boy did she get thrown through the ringer. But some were better than others. Allow me.

So Smallville starts, Lana's with Whitney. It's the start of the show, we got no clue who this guy is. But you know, he protected her, he was good to her most of the time (nobody's perfect) but it wasn't always comfortable.

To me, Whitney was a high school senior, since he was already a hotshot starting QB for the football team and getting uni recruits left right an center. Add that with the fact that the guy enlisted in the army at the end of the season, and I'd feel safe betting on senior. Couple that with freshman Lana Lang, with the implication that they knew each other (and maybe even loved each other??) for a long time. I'm sorry but any way you shake it, that's just a tad weird. Sorry... Anyway....

Skipping Clark for now, moving to Jason. In this case, uni student, hs senior. It doesn't really bug me from that standpoint, (first year uni/high school senior isn’t all that unheard of) but obviously they had to hide it because of the nature of student/coach (authority figure in the school). The chance meeting, ‘love at first crash’ joy, it all seemed so perfect. Everything else with his mom and the witches and the stones just kinda... happened, threw a wrinkle in things. Other than the school policy, there's no problem with this one for me. Was it safe for her in the end? No. Was it fun while it lasted? Personally, yeah.... and I do stand by that they did love each other, they just weren’t really ready for that kind of life, not to mention all the witchcraft and family feuds amd missions that Jason succumbed to. And let's be real. Was Lana ever safe? No. Not really. But I can get behind the ship.)

I don't even want to start on Lex. Let's forget season 6 for a second and think about Nicodemus. You want to talk about uncomfortable age gaps? Try freshman maybe sophomore Lana with do we even know how old he is? Lex Luthor. In season one. I know it was one scene and she was high off her ass on weird flower dust but still *cringes* (credit to Lex for not accepting her invite)

Onto their actual time, season 6. For me, their relationship (at this stage in the show and their lives) was one of those in theory it isn't horrible (maybe a little) just the way it was executed wasn't cool. She may not have been manipulated into starting the relationship, although her post Clark vulnerability could have aided in it. Then she was manipulated into every other part of the relationship (like, oh I don’t know, being pregnant??!!!) (which in turn sparked the engagement and wedding. Ok yeah the wedding was forced by Lionel but hey) I’ll just say she wasn’t treated well, to say the least. Even at the 20th anni interviews, Kristin and Michael were like yeah that rather messy. 

Last but not least, Clark. Was it a mess? Sure, but that doesn’t mean it was all terrible. They were always (especially pre Lois) portrayed as a soulmate type pair, they always thought about each other, went back to each other. Literally, all 3 of those previously mentioned guys, her next bf was Clark. Obviously trying multiple times might be an indication that it’s not meant to be, but whatever. And while I don’t disagree with the popular fandom opinion that it should’ve been abandoned far sooner, it honestly would have felt really weird to me had she not found out the secret. Season 7 was their most open time (for like two episodes, sure, but hey, who’s counting?) Point is, she still loved him even though she knew he wasn’t always truthful, she just couldn’t shake him, despite everyone’s questioning her on it. The only reason she ultimately left him was because they physically couldn't be together anymore. Their ending was forced, but they left on personally good terms, which really hadn’t happened since Whitney. And she left to protect the one she always loved. Obviously Lana wasn’t The One for Clark, but I do think, in Smallville at least, he was The One for her. He was the best chance she had. 

[darkcrowprincess]

Episode 2 season 1 of Smallville reaction part 1:

I've watched episode 2 of Smallville season 1( don't expect me to do this for every episode of the unknown amount of seasons I'll actually watch. Hey however long this show keeps my interest I'll watch an episode) first off the bugs in this episode were fucking creepy(except for the butterflies 🦋 of course. And fireflies)

Also what is with every guy in this town having a thing for Lana Lang. Yeah she's pretty like a princess, but I do not understand why theirs idiots dueling for the death for her. Clark I'd understand( but of course it's a small town American. No lgbtq) because it's Clark. Feel for the guy. Plus his dad is not helping cheering on his school bully who gets to play the sport he wants. 😤 I love the Smallville opening theme. Kinda wish their was a full version with the full song. Plus maybe clips of Lex and Clark kissing 💋 😘( I know, I know. But let me dream ok). The sword fighting in the last episode was hot and I'd like that they added it to this episode. Do they show clips in the episode in the theme song?

Anyway speaking of Lex 🥰😍

First glimpse we get we get of him in this episode and he's staring at Clark ❤❤❤❤❤ Please tell me theres more of these moments. Though too bad Clark was staring at Lana. I love that Lex shows his protectiveness towards Clark right away. Yes theres definitely curiously. But I love that he's genuinely worried about what happened to Clark in the cornfield. Yes I know he's superman🦸‍♂️ but it's cute seeing Lex worried about him. Lex and Johnathan's dislike of him gives me dad doesn't like boyfriend vibes and that's how I'm going to interpret it. This show and it's monster of the week vibes so reminds me of Supernatural( gasp 😍 would clex than be compared to Destiel. Clark has symbolism to an angel from last episode. Lex can fight with a sharp sword. And that's kinda like Dean).Clark your too good for this world. Saving an asshole who basically left you to die in a corn field. It's barbaric. But he's superman. Not very helpful advice from Johnathan Kent, but what can you do. Though I'd think it's really cool if I could fly. Though all those powers together can be a overwhelming. I squeal everytime we see lex's castle. I love it. Why aren't their more beauty and the beast au's for Clex. Also lex and his snooping. Man he's good. Plus he works fast. 🥰😍❤❤ Lex being protective over Clark. Love it! Will post more later.

[sonnetthebard]

Hot Chocolate Boy is Ethan's cousin Oliver -S

OHOHOHOHO

- ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY

- I love this

- (I... may have some info saying this is false. Again, I had friends in the audience of a certain performance of Black Friday in which Matt Lang was exposed to fans and spilled some tea on HCB that Nick has literally had to ask people to not share)

- (also very much wish I didn't)

- Anyways, let's continue

- Cousin Oliver is clearly someone that annoys Ethan

- HCB is clearly someone that annoys a lot of people

- So it tracks they're the same person.

- HCB is like... three or four years younger than Ethan

- He's diabetic and hypoglycemic

- Also has ADHD

- Ethan babysat him sometimes when they were younger.

- And he genuinely did have to walk him on a leash

- Like, you could not trust that kid alone

- He gets hyper on sugar

- But he needs it.

- A wonderful little paradox

- But Ethan is also the *only* person who gets to insult Ollie

- Ethan calls Oliver 'Ollie' btw

- Anyone else who tries will either get a very strong glare and a talking too if Ethan's in a good mood or... beat up if he's not.

- Oliver wants to be Ethan

- Like, starts to copycat him a lot

- It doesn't bug Ethan. He just helps him along

- Like, kid wants a leather jacket? Ethan will give him his old one.

- It's really sweet

- Oliver and Hannah get really close

- Oliver even asks Hannah out at one point.

- They date, Ethan is *very* unsure of how he's supposed to feel because he knows they'r eboth great but he also feels a strong need to protect both of them.

- Lex is maybe the only person who doesn't get annoyed by Oliver at all.

- Anyways, his dynamic with Ethan and the people Ethan holds close is impeccable, and they grow more and more inseparable every day.

I loveeeee this (RIP it actually being the case-)

[thevindicativevordan]

My Superfamily Set-Up

By and large I’m fairly happy with the upcoming Infinite Frontier status quo for the Superfamily. Granted that’s in part because I’m still convinced Kara will get an ongoing or mini in 2021, probably to coincide with her show returning, and PKJ hinted at plans for Steel on Twitter. But Kon has escaped the Titans dumpsterfire for a little while, and I’ve heard good things about Thompson as a writer as well. Kenan is popping back up in a one shot written by Yang that will hopefully herald more appearances in Batman/Superman. Jon is still co-protagonist with Clark in the main books, Tanya is in the Future State Shazam book and also a candidate for the FS Justice League book, so hopefully she’ll be in Titans Academy, and Lois is poised to be a big player in the upcoming Checkmate mini by Bendis. So fingers crossed, all the core members of the Superfamily will be in stuff come end of 2021.

Now that said, were DC to suddenly realize that I alone can save Superman, and asked me what kind of status quo I would like (whether for a mainline or Elseworld book makes no difference to me), this is the basic set up that I would go with:

Superman - I’d do a traditional status quo. Superman is disguised as Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter, married to Lois Lane, etc. I’d have Ma and Pa go back to being dead since I still am not a fan of them being alive. Note that this isn’t a reaction against Bendis, I loved Bendis’ run, but I do want to play with the traditional status quo a little bit before diving into something different. Especially since so many Superman writers have traditionally completely wasted the potential of Superman’s status quo.

Lois Lane - Similar to Superman I’d go with a more traditional status quo at the start. She works at the Daily Planet, she and Clark are married, she’s the best reporter in town, etc. I would eventually have her take over as editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet from Perry, I thought that was a great idea the New 52 wasted, and I love the idea of her and Cat Grant being rivals with the Daily Planet and Catco competing. 

Jon Kent - I’d restore kid Jon and toss him back to the Super Sons, not because I think what’s been done with him has been bad, but mostly because I don’t want to write him as Superman, I want to write Clark. Jon seems to be being set up to be co-Superman, and I just don’t have any interest in writing that. To restore kid Jon without destroying Bendis’ run which I enjoyed, I’d explain that teen Jon is actually the “evil” Jon we saw from the Super Sons of Tomorrow future. He went back in time and rescued his kid self from Earth 3, and explained to him that he wanted to prevent that future from coming to pass, but that he needed to take his younger self’s place to do so. Kid Jon agreed, after all he was terrified of becoming evil in both Tomasi’s Super Sons of Tomorrow and Bendis The Man of Steel, and has basically been in hiding watching the events and also studying Hypertime so he can learn how to avoid ending up evil. 

Clark and Lois would blow up at the Jons for the lie when Teen Jon judges he’s changed things enough for his kid self to return, but both Jons could point out that both Clark and Lois have kept secrets when they deemed it necessary from each other and Jon. That would be a neat conversation to have, and a way to continue the untraditional family dynamic that Bendis set up. You could keep teen Jon as a time anomaly until Hypertime catches up with him and restores him to his timeline, with him continuing to be Superman as penance, while kid Jon goes and pals around with Damian in Williamson’s Robin or whatever.

Superwoman/Kara Zor-El - I like the idea of Kara “graduating” to the Superwoman name. It’s open right now given Lana’s retirement, and I think it would suit Kara. I would keep Kara in National, it’s her own little corner to play in, but I would keep that development from (I believe it was) Andrea Shea, where Kara gets fired from Catco because she’s a terrible intern due to always running off to be a heroine. She and Kal talk, Kara admits she doesn’t really want to be a journalist, and so she goes and interns at STAR Labs. I hate how DC keeps turning all the members of the Superfamily into Clark clones. It’s goddamn stupid and I want them to please STOP. Why the hell would Kara want to go into journalism anyway? We’ve never even seen a damn journalist on Krypton! It’s a stupid thing they did on the TV show because they wanted to swipe Clark’s stuff. Let Kara be the scientist of the Els, the one who carries on the family tradition. What form that takes is something I’m open too, I liked Venditti making her interested in history in his annual, maybe make Kara an anthropologist? That would be hilarious. 

Also give Lena to Supergirl, they can be best friends, enemies, lovers, I don’t care. But Lena is wasting away in a vault under Lexcorp last we saw, and that’s a damn shame considering how popular CW Lena is. I’d also add Natasha Irons (who I’d rename Mastersmith) and Tanya Spears (Powerhouse) to Supergirl’s supporting cast, they could play off each other as three supergenuis women).

Kon-El/Conner Kent/Scion - I’m really excited to see what Thompson is going to do with Kon on the Suicide Squad, but here’s what I would do with him. Kon would finally be able to shake off the Superboy moniker and leave that to Jon. Instead he’d take the name “Scion” as a reflection of his origins, and a tie-in to his new status quo. In the wake of Death Metal, Lex Luthor would abruptly step down as head of Lexcorp, stating that he needs time to redefine himself in the wake of his latest attempt to justify himself as the true hero by serving Perpetua, ending up with him needing Superman to save the day again. While he is away, he’s turned over complete control of Lexcorp to his sole heir: Conner. Conner is now head of one of the evilest megacorps in existence, and is one of the wealthiest men alive. Conner knows this is just another maneuver by Lex in his neverending crusade against Superman, but he’s determined to not just be another pawn. He accepts control, renames Lexcorp Superman, Inc. His mission will be to transform the megacorp into the force for good it pretends to be. Conner will have to take on not only Lex loyalists and traitorous underlings who would love to be CEO themselves within Lexcorp, but new megacorps who have flocked to Metropolis in hope of establishing themselves, now that the former Master of Metropolis has abdicated his throne. Threats within and threats without, but armed with the powers/morals of Superman and the charm/brains of Lex Luthor, Kon is just cocky enough to think he can handle it.

John Henry Irons/Steel - It will be a big year for John Henry Irons. His private company Steelworks is about to go public and make him a billionaire. Lana Lang has accepted his marriage proposal and they’re due to be wed. His niece Natasha has left the nest and is off working at STAR Labs. Irons is posed to finally resurrect the decrepit Suicide Slum and allow it to catch up to the rest of the City of Tomorrow. However there are problems: new megacorps are moving into the city in the wake of Lex Luthor leaving, people are disappearing from Suicide Slum with dark rumors are spreading about the reasons why, and the people of Suicide Slum are accusing Irons of planning to gentrify the borough. Making matters worse, weapons that Irons designed as a young man are appearing on the streets of Metropolis, attracting negative attention from the media and putting Steelworks at risk. Irons is going to have to suit up and take up the fight all over Metropolis, from the darkest levels of the Undercity, to the bright deceptive board rooms at the top of skyscrapers in the city’s heart. Irons will have to reckon with his past to secure his future, and confront the evil Metropolis would rather pretend doesn’t exist.

Kenan Kong/New Super-Man - Look just give Yang a damn Kenan book and let him go wild. Right now is either the best or worst time to give Kenan a book given the situation with Hong Kong, but if anyone is equipped to deal with it, it’s Yang. I’ll just add that I would love to see Kenan on a Global Guardians team, but I’d also love to see Justice League of China as a spinoff book of the main Justice League. Kenan is as close as DC has come to their own Spider-Man/Invincible take on Superman, Jon sadly hasn’t really differentiated himself from his dad while Kenan is VERY different. I would love to see Kenan pushed more and would buy a new book in a heartbeat. Also put out a damn New Super-Man omnibus Jim Lee, for God’s sake can’t you abuse your power to push the character you wanted created and is actually good unlike most of Wildstorm? You’re shoving Grifter back into everything but not Kenan? Christ.

So yeah that’s the Superfamily status quo I’d establish. Keeping my Clark and Lois ideas close to my chest for now, but I might go into more detail later.

[effervescent7]

Lana, Lex, Clark, and Lionel debate

This is a Lana Clark Lex and Lionel debate

X 6 years ago

"Clark means more to me than you ever will" No Lana the only person who means more to you than anyone is yourself.

LO 6 years ago

STFU REJECT

X 6 years ago

@LO STFU Lana fanboy.

Supernova 2 days ago

That's why Lana did all of that volunteer work for blood drives. Or helped Adam when he pretended to be homeless. Wanted to use Lex's money for halfway houses and immigrant slavery. You know this Lana-hate which THANK GOODNESS is almost over is just out of spite.

[1] Link

X 1 day ago

@Supernova She was the show's worst character. Treated like a perfect saintly Mary Sue who could do no wrong even though she can and had done plenty of wrong. She was a hypocrite who supposedly hated being lied to and having secrets kept from her only to lie and keep secrets herself. Her entire relationship with Clark was her trying to force him to tell her about his powers then having a tantrum when he wouldn't. She got jealous when men she fancied kissed other women even if she was with other men at the time. Even when she was with Whitney she gave Clark and Chloe a jealous look when she saw them kissing. Because Lana apparently believed that men had to pine for her until she was ready for them. Characters who were complete strangers to her would call her amazing out of nowhere even though she wasn't which was just the original producers projecting their obsession with the actress and character. Her and Clark's relationship was lust not love. They only liked each other for their looks and because they wanted to have sex. Anything Lana did wrong was ignored or portrayed as right. Like kidnapping the reformed Lionel and having him held hostage by a crazy woman for forcing her to marry Lex, when she was with Lex she threatened to have the college fund of the daughter of a LuthorCorp employee cut off unless said employee gave her the box from Brainiac's ship, she pretended to set up a clinic to help Kryptonite powered people but instead just used it to spy on Lex, nearly killed Lois while trying to kill Lex. People hate Lana because she's the worst character in the show, never had a clear set in stone character, was played by an actress hired for her looks not her acting ability, in other versions of Superman Lana Lang is just Clark's high school girlfriend. Therefore Lana should have left the show for good when she went to France at the end of Season 3. Instead they kept her around until Season 8. She was one of the most evil characters in the show yet was treated as if she was pure and innocent. At least Smallville's other villains were shown to be what they were.

A 8 hours ago (edited)

Only lust not love? When there were together they often go on normal dates, which they talk about of you listen to the dialogue. Apparently they always either go out to dinner, horse-riding, or dancing. They don't even sleep together for years of being friends. Anyway Clark is the major gaslighter in the show, gaslighting means making someone believe something isn't true even when they know it is. That is all Clark does to Lana and Lex throughout the first 3 seasons every-time someone threatens them about Clark. Lex tries to talk to him after being told by multiple people that Clark has a dangerous secret (like Lana) and just asks Clark outright. "Friendships built on secrets are destined to fail" and Clark says "good thing we don't have that problem". This is actually gaslighting. Making someone believe that something didn't happen, which can actually drive people out of their minds. "There's nothing more to me than what you see" to Lana who actually saw him use his powers "You'd still be the same Clark Kent." Which is what she says every-time she asks about the secret which is really in 3x02, gunpoint 3x03 after being kidnapped over the secret, and 5x10 because he suddenly stopped when they were going to sleep together. Then of course Clark blames her for moving away to college. And wait she actually think she asks about his health, because at this point she went to Lex and told him to stay away from Clark because he's "just like the rest of us". As for secrets in season 4 Lana admits everything which she had already told her current boyfriend and Lex about. She tells Clark after they become friends again. Why tell someone something if you aren't even talking to them? Then we see in 5x10 that Lana brings up aliens and tries to talk about the spaceship with Clark, before it's revealed that she accepted Lex's offer. Because Lex truly thinks aliens are going to invade and take over the world. Once Lex is revealed, you really expect her just to lie back and know that he's doing a ton of messed up stuff and not go after him? Lex is evil, but let him be? Going after an evil person doesn't make someone evil. And oh Lionel- didn't he kill his parents and a ton of innocent people over the years. Didn't he abuse his family? Who cares! But you seem to forget that Lana did save Lois' in Gone and Arrival. As for Lois, Chloe does confront her about that. But no Lana is not evil, she goes through therapy and reformation before returning because of some mental issues from being with Lex. And is your comment is less an accurate view of the show and more a rant.

X 7 hours ago @Ambrosia 777 She was right to go after Lex but didn't care how many innocents she hurt to get to him. And Lionel had redeemed himself after switching bodies with Clark cured him of a liver disease that was killing him and spent the rest of his life protecting Clark until Lex killed him. As bad as Clark's lying and secret keeping was he was doing it to protect people and make it so they didn't get put in danger or killed by his life as a hero.

A 6 hours ago

But she didn't plan to hurt Grant or Lois. Grant only didn't want to expose Lex because he worked for him. Anyway Lana had mental issues, she needed to work through. A fake pregnancy and finding out all of those things she defended Lex from were actually real broke her. But then and I read that blog post, she really did torture. herself because she didn't want to be that kind of person. Anyway the Black Box was supposed to protect the world from an alien invasion, until Lex wanted to start using it to make weapons. Then she disagreed, because she didn't want innocent people to die. Because she's not a Lex copy.

A 6 hours ago

Oh no I'm not a Clark hater at all. But I really hated how he pretended like Lex and Lana were imagining things and all of those people that kept telling them about him were lying. I know Clark is a good guy, but that took a toll on his friendships with them. They tried to prove they would care about him no matter what he was or why all of those things were happening. If a ton of people tried to kill me, then said yow know Clark has a secret. I'd want to know. And it's not like they argued with him about it, they asked directly. Straight to the source. Far better than just ending the relationship because Clark had a secret identity. Until Lex flat out started stalking him and that whole thing in Mortal which I will not excuse.

L 2 days ago (edited)

​ @A  All that truth scarred him off. Adults blindly hating a teenage girl and insulting the actress don't need attention anyway. To think that Lionel spent his entire life killing people and being a wife beater, to earn sudden forgiveness and still treat Lex like crap. While Lex turns into this kind of misguided monster. And Lana spends 1 year doing questionable things to protect the world from aliens or Lex and she's evil! Don't get me started on that teenage crap this grown man commented at first.

L 3 hours ago

And where does this “whining” all the time come from?! She asks twice in season 3 after Clark runs away and doesn't ask again until season 5. Compare that to Chloe seasons 1-3. I think Lana-haters know they just exaggerate and hate the character because they're insecure or immature. Especially when it's a grown man saying these hateful things.

X 3 hours ago

@L  Horrible things Lex and Lionel did were acknowledged as horrible. Horrible things Lana did were either ignored completely or treated as if they were right. Not liking a badly written and acted character isn't insecurity or immaturity. And there are plenty of women who hate the character of Lana as well. You liking her doesn't mean everyone has to.

A 9 minutes ago

You don't have to. Some of the things you said about Kristin and Lana in other comments read that way. And I truly think Lex and Lionel were evil because they had no reason to do those things. But Lana truly believed Lex when he said the Black Box could stop and invasion. And was mentally shook when he was revealed to be a bad guy who does all of these things she thought he wouldn't do, so she went after him. I'm just saying she's not evil or monstrous and ignoring the plot or reasons to hate Lana is unreasonable. And Isis was used to help meteor-freaks after she changed and stopped going after Lex.

L 4 minutes ago (edited)

@A that explained it way better than I did. If someone believes they are stopping a huge evil are they evil? Especially when compared to people who do worse things for their own amusement.

[apffee]

My Thoughts Rewatching TGWDLM and Black Friday:

*btw the section for tgwdlm is much shorter than the one for black friday because it’s less new so more people have already said almost all there is to say about it i guess*

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals: - in the first scene the same phone rings about 32/33 times wow (i counted) - when charlotte is talking about sam singing in the shower, let it out plays real quiet and it's cool - i’ve always wondered what emma was gonna say before join us and die, and to me it seemed like she was gonna talk about paul’s crush on her and maybe reject him (she was acting remorseful, like she was sorry for being about to hurt his feelings maybe), idk if anyone tweeted nick lang about this yet but i wanna know - emma seems to jinx herself every time she says "we made it" or along those lines, like in the helicopter she says "we got outta there!" and before inevitable she says "paul! we made it!" - fuck nora :)

***

Black Friday: - the sniggles deserve betterrrr also lauren sniggle <3 - mnfnmggghfht them <3 paulkinsss <3 - silent night playing while we enjoy paulkins - "oH SHIT A BABY" - emma has beanies shopping bags so she either still works there and brought snacks or she just went there with paul idk - paul like "it's christmas time in hatchetfield isn't that fun" and im having flashbacks - i love paul's awkwardness but emma, he's your boyfriend ok (ok? ok. ok.) - emma copying bae like - how does lauren turn into an entirely different person with emma and linda ik it's acting but I CAN'T ENVISION THEM TOGETHER AS THE SAME PERSON - if i think about videos and streams of lauren, it seems like emma's personality is kinda similar to lauren's own personality huh - i think this part with emma and paul is so funny not just cause them and their wonderful delivery but also cause the paulkins content is more condensed in smaller amounts of time since they aren't the protagonists anymore, so it's more funny at once, while tgwdlm is probably more funny in total but it's more spread out - i love emma’s adorable laugh snort thing when tom tells her about the surprise it's so lovable <3 - tom just getting in emma's face when he says "he was sledding. WITH HIS MOTHER" ;-; - they just sneak off while tom sings like - what if emma has a different hairstyle in each musical? anyway lauren is so pretty no matter what her hairstyle is but her hair looks even more amazing down in general, i should probably stop now or i'll keep rambling on about lauren - but like lauren and jon are so cool i'm just more attracted to lauren in general but they're probably my two favourite starkid and YES I AM BIASED, SO WHAT? - tom teleports to the parking lot of the mall during what tim wants - tom: what tim want? tim: JUST ASK ME WHAT I WANT - why does linda look over when sherman says "omg its becky barnes" like u just spoke to her and hate her guts lmao why do u care -adore me plays when linda belittles becky bout stanley -webby: hey hannah do the thing ethan's doing with his hands hannah: *does it and gets scolded* webby: *wHeEEeEzeee* - paul in wdywp "i want what everyone wants, money, a partner, kids someday, maybe.." and linda talking to wiley "i want what everyone wants, to be loved" - linda is holding one of her boots, why did one come off? the camera doesn't show below her waist while she's talking to wiley so idk - lauren lopez as jingle the elf doing a bugette voice is attractive as hell - tom: "i'd do anything for him" me: awwww thats sweet! tom: "even if it means pounding the guts outta some little twerp!" me: :/ - what would happen if tom managed to give the doll to tim? tom: take this doll son. tim: i don't want that lmao? tom: W-WHAT? tim: i want u but ur distant and sad now :c tom: :'o - sHE'S hEaVY! D: - do ya think it's a coincidence that wiley AND xander call the president the nickname howie? maybe xanders dead and this is a fake idk lol - the sniggles are still cute in made in america (especially lauren sniggle) and lauren looks so good with her hair like that actually her hair always looks good why DOES HER HAIR ALWAYS LOOK SO GOOD AND HER NOSE AND (this is just a rant about lauren now whoops) - at 1:42:55 when wiggly is talking to john the "look what happens nightmare time" riff (i think its a riff) plays hmmmmm; also someone else mentioned how the light in not your seed is green, so i think grace chasity (yeah apparently it’s chasity) is the connecting thread in all these things and since she is likely the protag in npmd its probably important. oh also maybe grace and jane are connected somehow? idk just trying to think of stuff that could be in npmd - when wiggly gasps after his hiccup laugh thing it's so uncomfortable and creepy i love it good job jon! - you have pOonies?? - i threw em in the FUCKING TRASH! - you killed the pOoNIES! -"she can go on her own" NO LEX HANNAH NEEDS YOU ;o; -lex: reach? like this? *gun flies towards her and smacks her in the nose* ARGH! - lex: patiently waiting for tom to finish singing - i remember something about either the song a meteor hits or just the wiggly jingle scratch track or something being to the tune of if i fail you, so thats cool - jon is so damn feral as gary and it's wonderful i'm having so much fun - gerald's such a good dramatic device - she's drunk AGAIN? what would you know about becky being drunk linda? im imagining drunk becky and linda talking in a bar idk how else linda would know about that eh - behold the wonderful shriek of lauren lopez - i can sing the range of adore me and califorMIA since im an alto and yet lauren can do her high octaves as well as my own comfotable octave she's just destroying the song wiggle and my belief in what singing ability i have with her TALENT!!! - *obnoxious laugh* bECkY BaRNeS! - lets just appreciate jon and lauren sneaking off stage and doing a quick change into their paul and emma outfits in like 40 SECONDS WHAT also everyone else saying their lines slower so they had more time to quick change - "taaahm?" (i love lauren's midwestern accent) - emma and tom never got to talk about jane :'( but also her grateful little smile when he says it and ghfighdfisdfskh emma and paul <3 - why does emma always want to go to hidgens tho lmao like how trustworthy is he really? aw but i guess emma doesn't have anyone else in hatchetfield except paul and jane's family :'( - PAUL SMILING AT EMMA TO COMFORT HER AWWWWWW I LOVE THEM SO MUCH (2:14:02) like i don't mind about how well lauren and jon know each other because their acting is so good that it gets me so invested in paulkins <333333333333333 - i wanna see the paulkins hug D:< i can just see emma in her cute ass bobble beanie hat thing coming over and then the camera pans away WHY - i love that at the end everyone's just squinting at the sky in confusion and paul's just doing a bug-eye face of shock like O-O - ok at the end of tgwdlm it was sad and scary that emma was still in character and screaming for help but i'm just imagining as everyone bows in a line emma just screaming and staggering around again even though this is black friday and it would be really weird but my brain's also weird - tim died alone in the car :( - fuck nora

[evilwickedme]

I s2g if you lure me into watching a Smallville I will not forgive you before Yom Kippur and you'll just have to DEAL WITH THAT

LISTEN this show has been my comfort show since I was like ELEVEN it goes from the most cringe overacted overwritten cliche thing you've ever seen to touching and emotional and back and forth and back again and I have So Many Feelings about it and yeah it's ten seasons and season 9 and 10 are the best ones and season 4 fucking sucks despite having Jensen Ackles in it (sidenote he plays a character named Jason and he also played Jason Todd {my beloved} in under the red hood and that's really funny to me) and Lana Lang is there till season EIGHT despite Lois Lane being introduced in season four and I can't stand her so I just have to suffer whenever she's on screen but this show is ultimately so sweet and hopeful and yeah it does the annoying superman-as-christ thing in the pilot but the THEMES in this show the destiny vs choice the fact that Clark was sent to earth to be its protector but he CHOOSES to be of the people and to care about people and the way that's stated in the fucking pilot when Lana asks him "are you man or superman" and he answers "I haven't figured it out yet" because it's not either/or he needs to be both in order to be the Superman we all know and love and the fact that Lana only wants Clark and Lex only wants Kal El but Lois wants both and I'M GOING TO LOSE IT I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH

Anyway so yeah I found out last week it's on Prime Israel so I've been rewatching and I cannot recommend it enough <3

[ghostsontelevision]

ok black friday official review SPOILERS under the cut. hopefully they fixed it so cuts work on mobile but if not uh. scroll fast i guess.

okay to start off? the songs? bangers. jeff blim really said every song on this soundtrack is gonna slap. i don’t think there’s a single song i disliked? wiggle is a standout, feast or famine rules, adore me rules, hell even the little song becky and tom sing when they’re looking for hannah is just. insanely good.

angela does a REALLY good job as lex, like she embodies this shitty disillusioned teen so well and she and kendall have great chemistry as sisters. she and rob also have really good chemistry, i love the bit where he goes “oh i guess i forgot cuz im just SO stupid” and she like, laughs and pushes him off, they have a lot of cute moments

(side note: i know with tgwdlm the theories as to why paul and emma never kissed was either lauren doesn’t like to kiss onstage or the lang bros don’t like making people kiss onstage, i think with black friday we can safely confirm the langs have no issue with making people kiss onstage LOL)

tbh all the acting is stellar as expected, i haven’t seen enough people talking abt how jaime kills it as sherman, so i’m gonna say that jaime kills it as sherman.

for something everyone’s been saying: lauren as linda monroe is SO good. i saw some people saying she was written confusingly, which i didn’t get at all? she seemed very straightforward to me. but yeah she was a delight every time she was on stage, it didn’t hurt that she got two of the best songs.

the running bit with gerald was good without ever seeming overdone, implant the way linda says “cinnabon” into my brain pls

i also really liked becky! i thought we got a lot of well written female characters this time around. i thought she balanced being a genuinely loving and empathetic character with also being the only character to have done a non-black-friday-related murder. her killing linda was very satisfying, i liked their dynamic

if becky becomes the new charlotte and i have to sit through 20 million “starkid unpopular opinions :)” videos talking abt how becky sucked and was annoying i’ll riot. charlotte and becky defense squad

i can’t just go through praising every character lol but also dylans return to starkid is worth the hype. it feels like he’s grown leagues since twisted

(hey langs? is literally ANYONE in hatchetfield happily married or is everyone either divorced, widowed, or being abused? are paul and emma going to have to invent good marriages?)

(wait mr. davidson and his wife are good nvm)

(i hope in the black friday verse mr. davidson communicates with his wife abt his needs in the bedroom)

the plot was pretty good, like things made sense and all that. i was a little worried abt an ensemble cast but tbh it’s really not that bad, like everyone’s easy to keep track of and no like, character development feels rushed or anything

tbh the only things that bothered me were lex never finding out that ethan dies (tho i get that there just wasn’t time for it since she and hannah don’t reconnect till the end) and that i personally wasn’t crazy abt the president segments? i would’ve rather just like, had mcnamara undercover at the mall and he like, finds hannah or lex and that’s when he explains everything. maybe wiggly shows up when like, hannah falls asleep or something, we’ve already implied she has a connection to the black and white so just push that more.

(tho tbh then the whole wiggly’s connection to america -> made in america doesn’t happen, so maybe the presidential scenes are a necessary evil who knows. tbh i liked the entire black and white bit)

(also starkid finally includes a fuck america song that makes sense in the narrative hell yeah)

i think the langs are pushing a like, everyone dies at the end of every hatchetfield show kind of thing, which is why it’s really heavily implied everyone gets nuked at the end, but i think you could’ve gotten the same tone by just emphasizing that wiggly mania is ALL over america, and we don’t know if any other place survived, if wiggly found another person to come through, etc. like you don’t need ww3 on the horizon to make it bleak

idk just imo ending act 1 with characters we’ve never seen before seems like a weak choice

(the obama impression was fuckin good tho)

also i’ve never been so confused by an act 2 opener but as soon as i realized what was going on i was delighted

santa claus goes to high school > workin boys do not @ me

(honestly its funny as hell to me that the langs probably KNEW santa claus goes to high school was coming when everyone was losing their shit over workin boys like. could yall demand a full musical of something that isn’t a 2 minute joke pls)

oh my other plot nitpick is why did becky have that syringe but i’m willing to handwave it as she came here straight from work and accidentally left it in her pocket

i liked the tgwdlm callbacks, some of them felt a little gratuitous but overall they were good. the SHRIEKS of joy when emma mentions hidgens were hysterical.

overall it was really good! i think tgwdlm is still my favorite just because the plot feels a little tighter but honestly black friday might surpass it on the strength of the soundtrack alone. its absolutely in my top 3.

OH ALSO THE CHOREOGRAPHY after my initial watch i put the digital ticket on a few times while i was drawing just to get the most out of the 72 hours i had it and i always stopped what i was doing to watch that one lauren-james-robert bit in deck the halls of northville high. you know the one.

anyways it was good 9/10

EDIT: also i forgot but i... think the langs forgot abt the lgbt character? rumor has it mcnamara had a monologue that got cut where he confirms he had a husband but it didn’t make it into the show so idk. maybe it’ll be in the youtube version

[mentalmimosa]

finding you there instead

Prompt: i ran away from home and knocked on the wrong door but you want to take me in anyway

“Tell me again where you’re from,” the man said, sitting back in his chair.

“Kansas.”

“Yeah, I got that. I meant, who are your people? And why in the hell have you run so far from them?” He tilts his head, this Mr. Wayne, and the gray in his hair tumbles into the light. “You do something wrong, kid?”

“Not...not wrong,” Clark stammered. “I mean, do you mean…? I haven’t killed anybody. Or robbed a bank or anything.”

Mr. Wayne laughed, a deep, dry sound like a match set to paper. “I didn’t think you had. You don’t exactly have the look of the jailbird about you.”

“I, er--? Oh.”

“No, you strike me as good, upstanding citizen, Kent: truth, justice, and apple pie and all that. And I can’t quite square that with you banging on a stranger’s door in the middle of the night and rousing the whole household.”

Clark’s face went rose again, the same color he’d been wearing since a butler had answered the door--an honest-to-god butler! Like something out of the pictures or something--and frowned with confusion at him when he’d asked for Mr. and Mrs. Lang. “I’m sorry, sir, again, in the rain...I guess I misread the numbers, or--I don’t know, I’ve never”--he felt a well of tears surge behind his eyes and good grief, that was the last thing he needed: to turn on the waterworks in front of this man who’d been kind enough so far not to boot him back out to the street. He looked down at his hands sodden in his lap and said: “I’ve never been to Gotham City before. Or, uh.” He swallows. “Anyplace bigger than Smallville, really.”

The ice chimed in Mr. Wayne’s glass. “Smallville? That’s in Kansas, I’m guessing.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tch. Don’t call me sir. I’m not your father, kid.” Another chuckle. “Or your drill sergeant. Mr. Wayne’ll do just fine for the short period of our acquaintance, hmmm?"

Fear in his heart now; he shuddered at the sound of the thunder and the fierce, driving rain. Mr. Wayne noticed.

“God, you are a mess, aren’t you? You’re dripping all over that rug. Alfred is gonna want to have words with you in the morning.”

“Alfred?”

“My butler. The man who let you in from the cold.” Mr. Wayne shook his head and set down his glass. “He with whom I need to have a serious talk tomorrow about his penchant for Little Orphan Annie.”

There was water in Clark’s socks, his underwear. Even his brain felt sodden. He swayed a little on his feet. When had been the last time he slept? It felt like he’d been running forever--his whole life, practically, but it had come to a head over the last few: Lex’s body under his in the dry grass at last, the thrill of it, the way Lex’s hands had combed through his hair as they made love, the claw marks he’d dug into Clark’s back. They’d been so careful, always, but somebody had seen them that day and someone had gotten word back to Clark’s father and they’d had it out in the barnyard, his dad pale-faced and horrified and Clark angrier than he’d thought possible; it felt like fire was coming out of his eyes. Of all the evil in the world, all the terrors recited on the radio of men marching in Europe and whole cities dying, his father thought that Clark would go to hell for this ? For loving a boy instead of a girl and not having the goddamn sense to be ashamed about it?

“You must have known it was wrong,” his father had said, his voice shaking in the sunlight. “I know you do. We’ve raised you better than this, Clark. The Good Book says--”

“The Good Book says that our highest calling is love.”

“Between a man and a woman, son! What there is between two men isn’t love, it’s--” Here his father had grimaced, as if the very thought of the words carried a bad taste. “It’s the basest kind of sin.”

“Then I guess I’m the basest sort of sinner! Is that what you want me to say, Dad?”

“No,” his father had said, very quietly. “I want you to apologize to your mother and promise never to see that Luthor boy again and then we can settle this matter, hmm? And move on.”

He’d met his father’s gaze and seen grief where he himself felt only fury. “I don’t have anything to apologize for. And you always said, Dad, never make promises you’re not willing to keep.”

His father had held his eyes for a long, awful moment, and then looked away. “You’re not a child anymore, Clark. I can only guide you, I realize that. I can’t tell you what to do.”

There’d been bile in his throat then. “But I’m not welcome here, is that it?”

“Never said that. Never even thought it. But this is my house, mine and your mother’s, and if you’re gonna choose to live your life like this, I don’t rightly know how good it would be for you to stay.” His father had shaken his head. The sag in his shoulders had broken Clark’s heart. “Still, this is your home, son. It always will be. Soon as you get yourself sorted out, there’ll always be a place for you here.”

And so he’d done the foolish thing, the impetuous one, and he’d run.

He’d packed his knapsack and stuffed Lana’s address in his pocket and headed for the road in the darkness, the crescent moon his only light.

Five days, he’d been moving, five days without good solid sleep, with only Automat food to live on, and he was tired, Clark Kent, good grief, was he--half asleep on his feet in Mr. Wayne’s fancy living room.

Then there was a hand on his face, cool and strong. “Hey, kid. You still with me?”

“No,” Clark said, honest, and Mr. Wayne laughed again, the whisper of his silk robe shaking.

“You know,” Mr. Wayne said, “I ran away from home when I was about your age, 17 or so.”

“I’m 18.”

“Ok, so, like I said. About.” His hand was still on Clark’s cheek. “Except unlike you, I ran all the way across the country. To California. The land of orange groves and an ocean bigger and bluer than ours.”

“Oh.”

“And do you know what I did out there, Kent, after a couple years of struggle? I made a goddamn fortune or two and kept enough of it in ‘29 to survive, and look at me now, huh, enough money to live on for lifetimes.” He sighed and Clark was close enough to feel it, the way that sound rippled through Mr. Wayne’s body, the sound it made in his broad, barrel chest. “So who knows, maybe that’s where you’ll be 20 years from now--here, I mean, with a nice house and a big door and some kid who comes knocking on it looking for a friend and finding you there instead. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll listen to your better angels for once in your life and not kick him out.”

Mr. Wayne’s eyes were dark now, shadowed by the fire, and looking up at them, into Mr. Wayne's sharp, handsome face, Clark felt something in him stir, something that seemed big and winged and wild that reminded him of Lex, of the sound of the wind in the tall grass, the smiling burn of the sun.

“What I’m saying,” Mr. Wayne continued, “is that you can stay here tonight. And after you get a solid eight and Alfred puts some breakfast in your belly, in the morning, I’ll help you find your friends. How does that sound?”

Clark’s fingers were balled into fists; he hadn’t realized it until right then. It felt as if he were fighting something bigger than himself, bolder, some fool instinct in him that for all his bedraggled was absolutely dying to touch. “Very generous. Very kind.”

Mr. Wayne smiled and ran a long thumb down his cheek. “I’m neither, kid, on the regular. But for you, tonight, I’ll make an exception, hmmm?"