#bee.texts

[villain-byteniwoha]

big fan of clark not being a fan of bruce wayne. all of the tacky one-liners and come-ons roll off of clark's back with barely concealed disgust.

he had a history with tasteless billionaires and he's just about had it with them and their ilk, thinking they own the world just because they had the money to buy it. the clash of his humble midwest upbringing and lex luthor's animosity spelled bruce wayne's doomed first impression at some party or other, where clark gets a face full of wayne's pearly whites, alcohol for cologne, and batty-eyed flirtation. clark gives up hope for a scoop and leaves the party as soon as he's able to.

but then, he falls down the rabbit hole: wayne industries and other properties, learning they offer the best-paying jobs, are a top-rated company, for a reason, all the benefits and the charity works, supporting smaller local businesses. and bruce wayne may be ditzy but he grew up from a tragedy that took his family and now, he's growing a new one. clark figures, rich or not, no person's life should be this dramatic and plastered on newspaper—that means it's deliberate.

and, of course, the after: his partner-in-justice, with a penchant for the shadows and doing thankless work, coinciding with that fake, glittery persona. it made sense in a way it never would've made sense before now. bruce wayne is batman, and batman is bruce wayne.

so, of course, the next time bruce wayne is seen flirting with clark kent at some party or other—now burdened with the knowledge of who exactly bruce is, clark blushes and stutters and begrudgingly accepts his fate.

[villain-byteniwoha]

i love this take and i agree with anon like. on their own, diana, selina, and/or talia all fascinate me and i'd love to explore more of their characters but when paired with bruce, it suddenly feels off? and while i blame this on the general (often shit) quality of writing when it comes to female characters, there's also the underlying fact that superbat just feels more consistent

because they're meant to parallel one another, right? they're on opposite ends of cliche tropes (rich city boy/humble country boy, orphaned at a young age/grew up with doting parents, night and day, sun and moon, etc.) those core motifs and traits rarely get lost, and even if their characters get butchered in some series or other, at the end of the day, we all know what batman and superman stand for.

and while they're painted to be polar opposites, they still stand together.

something i absolutely despise when it comes to any franchise is when the narrative so obviously, desperately wants to push a romance that it often neglects the context it exists within to pursue that romantic aspect, and it's usually at the woman's expense. knowing this trend disillusions me from most m/f writing altogether tbh

so for superbat, who've been developing this relationship (which is varied, complex, with so many ups and downs) for literal decades, it almost seems natural for them to end up together, in a way.

op brought up a point at the end there about them being similar and it reminded me of these pages (don't ask me where i got these, i just have them downloaded)

and again, it's this selfless thing between them. they motivate each other to be better, they see one another for their flaws, they see good. it's so uniquely them!! it's interesting, it's touching, it's fucking insane ngl and it's just one of the many facets of their relationship

The thing is... I understand Clark/Lois and Clark/Lana, and Superbat feels coherent to that.

I do not tend to understand Bruce's canon-y ships. I don't quite get WonderBat (which is sweet, but why do they fascinate each other?) or BatCat (Catwoman feels like a sexual icon. I don't get why Bruce Wayne, expert at making himself a sexual icon just as well, would be taken in by that) or Talia/Bruce (She seems a bit... square minded for Bruce?? She's a heir to a legacy, like he is, but she doesn't... need to search for what that means. Ras tells her what to do.) Superbat makes more sense to me than all of Bruce's actual ships.

Am I tripping? What are your thoughts on this?

you come to me, a superbat blog, to ask me if I think it's better than the other Bruce ships? 🤣

in all seriousness, superbat works because their canon friendship is so deep and varied. they are often written in contrast or comparison to each other. they work together nearly 24/7. they hang out together outside of work. even their private lives intersect, despite best efforts. if you write a romantic relationship for the two of them, you're really just building on an already-built foundation. and that foundation is so much more rich and complex than any other relationships the two will have, save maybe Clark and Lois.

the reason they work, in my mind, is that they think they're different, but when those differences are thrown in relief, they're really more similar than they think. they're both good men trying to be something beyond one person, one human or alien. and they both share the belief that the other is a better person, deep down, than they are.

[youarebeing-deceived]

[lucifersdickriderdotnet]

hello new friends!! just updated my #navigation so you can all find my fics easier!!

thank you to everyone who's been liking my posts and following recently! I appreciate the support!!

please know you can send me asks at any time through the chat, clip this button at the top of my blog!!

[atzfilm]

hi everyone! i won't be updating cdl this weekend due to a family emergency, and im not quite sure when ill have the energy to do so. i apologize for everyone looking forward to it, sincerely ♡ love you all!

- 🐝

[villain-byteniwoha]

don't push me (cause i am close to the edge) by LinguisticJubilee - i bawled. soulmate au where humans have words and kryptonians have a "heartsong." it's the exact brand of obliviousness/not actually unrequited love which I EAT UP !!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Changing Tenses by susiecarter - i absolutely adore susiecarter, i probably have half of their superbat works bookmarked lmao but this one!! is my favorite take on the whole "bruce wayne falls in love with clark kent post-batman vs superman" i bookmarked this with the tag "ough bruce wayne… your heart's a mausoleum… fitting you'd love a dead man" which just about sums up the feels of it

Four Days on a Farm in Kansas by FabulaRasa - i looooooooove the format/timeline of this as well as the introspection(?) aspect, particularly in how clark handled kara and kon. plus the climax is OUGH it's FEELS i love it sm

there ain't no star that shines by amosanguis - "petty hs reunion revenge where you show the bullies how much better your life is now" is one of my guilty pleasures and this!!!! portrayed it so well, you finish it feeling satisfied

A Game of Misunderstandings by JustGettingBy - one of the very first superbat fics i read (granted. i started like last week) and it's by far my favorite identity porn fuckery. like, it's on the right side of ridiculous to tickle my funny bone 10/10 would read it again

liquid courage by scarletazure - I GO FERAL FOR THIS LEVEL OF SOFTNESS FOR SUPERBAT but the best absolute highlight for this is definitely clark's relationship with the batfam as a whole. like that is fam alright that's FAM

fallin' for him was like fallin' from grace by Resacon1990 - five plus one and it's clark kent peeling back the layers to bruce wayne I AM UNWELL they make me weep

Whoever Falls First by liodain - FIGHT SCENES!!! i very rarely read anything action-based but the fight scenes!!! choreography!!! tension!!!! ough it's remarkable it's memorable it's amazing

Undercover by Mithen - it's not identity porn if they know the other person's in disguise BUT i love the comedic building and pacing of this on top of the plot happening in the background. it's so fun and silly to have superbat play around as people other than clark kent and bruce wayne yknow?

A Sense of Identity by DaaroMoltor - thee first superbat fic i have saved on my bookmarks and it's. IT'S PHENOMENAL ok like. i love when they fall in love the normal way !!!!!!!!!

superbat has taken over my brain. does anyone have fan fiction recommendations?

[haiitanis]

maybe I will eventually finish a fic

[nuclearplushie]

Today while walking out of my dorm I saw some South African exchange students excitedly taking pictures of the snow and each other in the snow bc apparently they’ve never seen it in person before and it was the most precious thing I’ve ever witnessed

[villain-byteniwoha]

there is something so fundamentally satisfying about a character who's convinced they will never, ever be loved (and that they don't deserve it either) paired with a character who's seen the goodness in them, and not only fell in love but is full on determined to shower them with love and devotion.

[villain-byteniwoha]

I think one of the funniest parallels in Stormbringer has to be the way Dazai and Chuuya... used one another as an excuse to cling onto life/humanity. It happens in similar settings too!

We have Dazai, who's presented with the most perfect death imaginable: a way to die quickly and painlessly. But then Mori, the mentor figure who forced himself into that role in Dazai's life, says:

"Your perfect death will end up as double suicide with you and Chuuya." And that's enough to make him turn around and act serious LMAO by the mention of death with Chuuya, or maybe even just Chuuya dying, this boy suddenly wanted to live (as if Chuuya wasn't the reason he found interest in life at Fifteen... I see what you're doing, Asagiri)

Then we have Chuuya, who's been backed into a corner. He could easily snap Professor N's neck to get back at him for... everything. And we have Verlaine, the mentor figure currently forcing himself into that narrative, pushing Chuuya to descend to that same hatred. But then Chuuya says:

"I'd never think the same way Dazai does."

Bro no one's mentioned Dazai in this context, why is he in your head, why's he in your little speech about holding on to your humanity?

Stupid.

[villain-byteniwoha]

My favorite headcanon for soukoku has to be their secret codes. Specifically how either Dazai or Chuuya would spout the most random string of (bullshit) words in between debriefs while their other half nods along and their Port Mafia audience all tilt their head questioningly; except, these codes have not been discussed beforehand. They're just making shit up for shits and giggles and laugh their asses off when any of their subordinates dare ask, "what's the watermelon juggle strategy?"

Added caveat though is that when they do actually come up with codes on-the-spot, they click immediately. Dazai says, "Pork belly rotation." Chuuya knows he means take out the enemies in the center first before any outside stragglers. When Chuuya says, "Choker." Dazai knows he means he needs one more day post-Corruption to recuperate. If they're both compromised and tied up. Dazai is talking in German and Chuuya is arguing back in French; when they swap back to Japanese, the enemy grunts hear Dazai sigh. "Fine, let's call it the Mackerel. Can we move along now? My wrists are starting to hurt." Chuuya immediately wipes out whoever chose to mess with them.

Double Black just know each other that well.

[villain-byteniwoha]

the phenomenon that is learning a media through its transformative fan creations needs to be studied. mind you, i have not touched a single dc comic. before december, I hadn't even watched a single batman movie in full—but i still know enough from the broad strokes, the common knowledge. the defining traits of bruce's children, where they came from, what his relationship is like with almost each member of the justice league. hell, i spent new year's eve with batman movies playing on the tv while we cooked food. i spent the actual new year drunk and debating with my brother about the merits of the batman 2022.

it's amazing how one spark of interest can cause such a massive shift in my life.

and it's all thanks to this fucking tweet !!!!!!!

[villain-byteniwoha]

imagining bruce wayne in my favorite tony stark situations... like, in some time travel episode, bruce lands in the past and he comes face to face with his dad. they shake hands and bruce tells his dad his last name is kent. he finds out the date is weeks before he's born, with a very pregnant martha wayne waiting for thomas at home.

they have a conversation about being fathers, how bruce assures thomas he'll do fine. he has this nearly teary monologue about how he misses his mom and dad so much, how they still influence his decisions.

at the end, when clark finally gets through the portal to pick up bruce, thomas shakes his hand and says. "oh you must be bruce's husband!"

just funny times but also. feelings. because bruce holds it in until they're back to the present, then the dam bursts.

[villain-byteniwoha]

superbat costume swap permanently altered my brain chemistry so much because the S stands for hope. we know this, it's an iconic line. clark says this in multiple iterations specifically to lois; an olive branch plastered plain and simple on his chest, symbolizing his planet and everything he never even had the chance to have before he lost.

what are the implications of carrying the sigil of another house? the bat, which in and of itself is just a bat, but stands for so much more than that; it is bruce wayne's legacy, which he first raised in honor of his parents (his vengeance). bruce raised a family after the fact, and each member of his clan carried the bat sigil one way or another. sure, it's to strike fear in criminals' hearts, it's being one with the night, etc. but—

here is clark, donning the house of wayne's bat.

i like to think it meant more to him than he let on...

[villain-byteniwoha]

damian lamenting over the fact that he has a crush on tim, and jason laughing his ass off saying "it's tradition to get butterflies over the robin that came before you" or something

and damian going "what? there's no way you were attached to grayson, he told me you hated him!"

and jason scoffing "that's from dick's perspective, of course he thinks i hate him, he still feels guilt from my death! how the fuck can a 15 year old not have a crush on dick grayson when he gives you the robin mantle?"

and damian screaming "grayson handed the robin mantle? to you?!"

[villain-byteniwoha]

mmmm thinking about how soukoku canonically imprinted on some random game on some random arcade on some random street in yokohama during the very first time they had to work together.

they're 15 at the time; dazai still hasn't accepted mori's offers of joining the port mafia while chuuya still harbored an intense hatred towards the port mafia. fuck, at that point, dazai was still actively looking forward to mori's painless death medicine. chuuya was still the sheep's leader.

they had no idea where that single collaboration would lead them. they just knew that fighting via violence was not allowed and to resolve this one hiccup, this one argument, they settled on a bet.

they had no idea that they'll keep making that bet for the rest of their partnership......