#c: superman & batman: generations

[martyrbat]

"a few more white hairs since the last time we saw each other!" | superman & batman: generations #4

[ID: Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne against a solid, light blue background. They're both visibly older and are in their costumes with Bruce having his cowl off. Clark has his arm around Bruce's shoulders as they smile at each other. Clark's hair is down to his shoulders and is entirely silver while Bruce's hair is mostly black with grey streaks in it. END ID]

[longwuzhere]

Some cool Easter eggs I caught watching My Adventures with Superman that I want to show to people so they can be in on it with comic book readers

My episode 1 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 2 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 3 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 4 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 5 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 6 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 7 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here and here

My episode 8 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 9 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

(SPOILERS if you haven't seen the show yet):

We start things off with Jor-El and Clark meeting and like the last time, Jor-El speaking in Kryptonese much like how Jor-El in the comics did in Man of Steel #6 (1986)...

as seen in this panel (W&P: John Byrne, I: Dick Giordano, C: Tony Zuiko, L: John Costanza) where Clark meets a ghostly projection of his father at night speaking Krypton's native tongue to him. BTW Man of Steel (1986) is a fantastic read. Highly recommend finding it at your local comic shop.

After Lois, Jimmy and Clark get promoted from interns to reporters at the Daily Planet we see the three of them will be having Thanksgiving with the Kents. Ma Kent shows Lois the newspaper she framed that all three of them wrote much like how her comic book counterpart made a scrap book out of the newspaper headlines of Clark's various heroic adventures in Man of Steel #1 (1986) as seen here in the panel (W&P: John Byrne, I: Dick Giordano, C: Tony Zuiko, L: John Costanza).

The camera then moves and see see kid Clark and the things he did back then. The baseball photo kinda reminds me of this fantastic moment in Batman/Superman #3 (2013) by Greg Pak, Yildiray Cinar, Matt Lackey and John Kalisz, and Rob Leigh:

On Earth-2 Clark and Bruce met as young kids after the car, Alfred drove broke down and both had some fun playing baseball. It's a very cute flashback that highlights no matter where in the multiverse, a Superman-Batman friendship is constant.

Lois's father shows up to the Thanksgiving dinner and I got double confirmation now that it is General Sam Lane. I talked more about his deal here.

Later in the episode we have the awkward parents and their children who are dating each other moment and General Lane here asks if Clark was in the military. In one non-canon series, Superman Year One by Frank Miller and John Romita Jr., Clark signs up for the military after high school. Kind of a weird miniseries, not the best Superman comic, not the worst at least.

Things go from bad to worse when the area where Clark landed activates thanks to the presence of Kryptonite from the League of Lois Lanes sphere that held it and we see that symbol on the robots that the giant ship sends and on this person at the end of the episode. If you know your DC universe, that symbol belongs to Brainiac and we can conclude that the one with the symbol on their head is Brainiac as well.

Brainiac makes his first appearance in Action Comics #242 (1958) (cover art by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye). At this point Brainiac was a "twelve level" intellect alien who shrunk cities for his collection to help repopulate his dead planet, one of the cities is Krypton's capital city, Kandor. Several retcons later we learn that Brainiac is a robot created by the Computer Tyrants of Colu, Brainiac's home planet to spy and conquer worlds. The Brainiac that has a closer connection to Clark and his Kryptonian people kinda like what MAwS is doing was in Superman the Animated Series...

where Krypton was very depended on their AI, Brainiac who then screwed them all over when the planet was about to explode and saved his metal ass and has then became a thorn at Superman's side in the cartoon ever since. MAwS is doing something similar as we see Brainiac's symbol on the robots that were deployed from the ship and the very robotic looking body Brainiac has at the end of the episode.

As we see Clark try to stop the portal and ship, he breaks into the hull and battles the robots in it. As he's getting pummeled, AI Jor-El helps neutralize the robots. It's kinda the same idea that what Man of Steel (the movie) was trying to go for when Lois was on Zod's ship and AI Jor-El was helping her navigate throughout the place. As I said before in the last post, Shin Ultraman is a better Superman movie (and a highly recommend watching) than what Zack Snyder was trying to do in Man of Steel.

We wrap up episode 10 with the Kents, Lois, and Jimmy enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner and we see that Jonathan was able to get the turkey to temperature so Clark heats it more with his heat vision. Superman sometimes does this do heat very mundane things like coffee as seen in this panel of Super Sons #9 (2017) (W: Peter Tomasi, P&I: Jorge Jimenez, C: Alejandro Sanchez, L: Rob Leigh). Highly recommend reading Super Sons and watching the animated movie too!

Congrats to Jimmy on selling Flamebird for $5.6 million. I talk more about flamebird here. Missed opportunity to have it be $5.2 million cuz DC's love of the number 52, but whatever.

The final scene of the episode gives us this moment where Brainiac tells this Kryptonian Warrior a planet they can conquer. The warrior then states that Earth will kneel. The most infamous Kryptonian that likes to mention conquered people kneeling is General Zod and so this character here might be Zod. No confirmation yet but I'm like 99% sure. When we get a confirmation, I'll talk more about Zod later.

And with that we are done with season 1 of My Adventures with Superman and if you made it this far be sure to check out my other easter eggs post:

My episode 1 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 2 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 3 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 4 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 5 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 6 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 7 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here and here

My episode 8 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My episode 9 easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

[donnatroyprincessofthemyscira]

ComicList: DC Comics New Releases for Wednesday, August 16, 2023, by Charles LePage.

Absolute V For Vendetta HC (2023 Edition), $125.00

Batman Detective Comics Volume 1 Gotham Nocturne Overture HC (2022), $29.99

Batman One Bad Day Complete Box Set, $159.99

Batman One Bad Day Ra’s al Ghul HC, $17.99

Batman Superman World’s Finest #18 (Cover A Dan Mora), $3.99

Batman Superman World’s Finest #18 (Cover B Darick Robertson & Diego Rodriguez Card Stock Variant), $4.99

Batman Superman World’s Finest #18 (Cover C Rafael Albuquerque Blue Beetle Movie Card Stock Variant), $4.99

Batman Superman World’s Finest #18 (Cover D Ariel Colon Card Stock Variant), AR

Batman Superman World’s Finest #18 (Cover E Meghan Hetrick Card Stock Variant), AR

Batman Superman World’s Finest #18 (Cover F Dan Mora Foil Variant), AR

Batman Volume 2 The Bat-Man Of Gotham HC (2022), $24.99

Batman White Knight Presents Generation Joker #4 (Of 6)(Cover A Sean Murphy), $4.99

Batman White Knight Presents Generation Joker #4 (Of 6)(Cover B Mirka Andolfo), $4.99

Batman White Knight Presents Generation Joker #4 (Of 6)(Cover C Walter Simonson), AR

Harley Quinn Black + White + Redder #2 (Of 6)(Cover A Chris Samnee), $4.99

Harley Quinn Black + White + Redder #2 (Of 6)(Cover B Joelle Jones), $4.99

Harley Quinn Black + White + Redder #2 (Of 6)(Cover C Annie Wu), AR

Hawkgirl #2 (Of 6)(Cover A Amancay Nahuelpan), $3.99

Hawkgirl #2 (Of 6)(Cover B Derrick Chew Card Stock Variant), $4.99

Hawkgirl #2 (Of 6)(Cover C Kaare Andrews Blue Beetle Movie Card Stock Variant), $4.99

Hawkgirl #2 (Of 6)(Cover D David Talaski Card Stock Variant), AR

Icon Vs. Hardware #4 (Of 5)(Cover A Rahzzah), $4.99

Icon Vs. Hardware #4 (Of 5)(Cover B Edwin Galmon), $4.99

Icon Vs. Hardware #4 (Of 5)(Cover C Sean Damien Hill), AR

Knight Terrors Catwoman #2 (Of 2)(Cover A Leila Leiz), $4.99

Knight Terrors Catwoman #2 (Of 2)(Cover B Tula Lotay Card Stock Variant), $5.99

Knight Terrors Catwoman #2 (Of 2)(Cover C Corin Howell Card Stock Variant), $5.99

Knight Terrors Catwoman #2 (Of 2)(Cover D Dani Black & White Card Stock Variant), AR

Knight Terrors Catwoman #2 (Of 2)(Cover E Corin Howell Black & White Card Stock Variant), AR

Knight Terrors Nightwing #2 (Of 2)(Cover A Daniele Di Nicuolo), $4.99

Knight Terrors Nightwing #2 (Of 2)(Cover B Francesco Mattina Card Stock Variant), $5.99

Knight Terrors Nightwing #2 (Of 2)(Cover C Jason Shawn Alexander Card Stock Variant), $5.99

Knight Terrors Nightwing #2 (Of 2)(Cover D Vasco Georgiev Card Stock Variant), AR

Knight Terrors Nightwing #2 (Of 2)(Cover E Francesco Mattina Black & White Card Stock Variant), AR

Knight Terrors Punchline #2 (Of 2)(Cover A Gleb Melnikov), $3.99

Knight Terrors Punchline #2 (Of 2)(Cover B Dustin Nguyen Card Stock Variant), $4.99

Knight Terrors Punchline #2 (Of 2)(Cover C Ejikure Card Stock Variant), $4.99

Knight Terrors Punchline #2 (Of 2)(Cover D Lucas Meyer Card Stock Variant), AR

Knight Terrors Punchline #2 (Of 2)(Cover E Gleb Melnikov Black & White Card Stock Variant), AR

Knight Terrors Superman #2 (Of 2)(Cover A Gleb Melnikov), $4.99

Knight Terrors Superman #2 (Of 2)(Cover B Jon Bogdanove Card Stock Variant), $5.99

Knight Terrors Superman #2 (Of 2)(Cover C John Giang Card Stock Variant), $5.99

Knight Terrors Superman #2 (Of 2)(Cover D Mikel Janin Card Stock Variant), AR

Knight Terrors Superman #2 (Of 2)(Cover E Pete Woods Card Stock Variant), AR

Knight Terrors Wonder Woman #2 (Of 2)(Cover A Jae Lee), $4.99

Knight Terrors Wonder Woman #2 (Of 2)(Cover B Sebastian Fiumara Card Stock Variant), $5.99

Knight Terrors Wonder Woman #2 (Of 2)(Cover C Jeff Dekal Card Stock Variant), $5.99

Knight Terrors Wonder Woman #2 (Of 2)(Cover D W. Scott Forbes Card Stock Variant), AR

Knight Terrors Wonder Woman #2 (Of 2)(Cover E John McCrea Card Stock Variant), AR

Monkey Prince Volume 2 The Monkey King And I HC, $24.99

Nightwing The Joker War TP, $19.99

Penguin #0 (Cover A Belén Ortega), $3.99

Tales Of The Titans #2 (Of 4)(Cover A Nicola Scott), $4.99

Tales Of The Titans #2 (Of 4)(Cover B Christian Ward Card Stock Variant), $5.99

Tales Of The Titans #2 (Of 4)(Cover C Max Dunbar Blue Beetle Movie Card Stock Variant), $5.99

Tales Of The Titans #2 (Of 4)(Cover D Riley Rossmo Card Stock Variant), AR

Tales Of The Titans #2 (Of 4)(Cover E Dani Card Stock Variant), AR

Tales Of The Titans #2 (Of 4)(Cover F Chris Smanee Foil Variant), AR

Teen Titans Go Box Set Volume 1 TV Or Not TV, $29.99

Vigil #4 (Of 6)(Cover A Sumit Kumar), $3.99

Vigil #4 (Of 6)(Cover B Nimit Malavia Card Stock Variant), $4.99

Vigil #4 (Of 6)(Cover C Anand RK Card Stock Variant), AR

Wonder Girl Homecoming TP, $19.99

Wonder Woman By Brian Azzarello And Cliff Chiang Omnibus HC (2023 Edition), $150.00

Wonder Woman Volume 4 Revenge Of The Gods TP (2021), $19.99

Wonder Woman War Of The Gods Special Edition #2 (Of 4)(Cover A George Perez), $4.99

ABRAMS BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

DC Super Heroes The Multiverse Unfolds HC, $19.99

[thevindicativevordan]

After this year superhero movies box office performance (except Spider-Verse and Guardians), do you think there's still a future for the genre? We know, that Spider-Man, Batman, Avengers and maybe X-Men will be fine, but what about everybody else?

Billion dollar question there. At this point I think we can all agree that the Golden Age of Superhero Films, where any C-Lister could potentially make bank, is over now. Going forward only the big names are going to bring in the returns the execs want. Only question is who are the big names now? MCU's brand is in the toilet as evidenced by the Marvels cratering now that there's no Endgame hype to boost the numbers. Spider-Man and Batman will be fine, those two are the most popular heroes in the world.

Avengers... without the big names I think you might be surprised at how badly the team performs. An Avengers team led by SamCap and the Phase 4/5 crew is going to tank at the box office, the general audience doesn't care about those guys. X-Men meanwhile couldn't even get over the billion dollar mark at the height of Marvel mania and with good reviews. An all time great Wolverine movie in Logan only did as good as Man of Steel. X-Men has historically been the top dogs in the comics, but maybe that won't be the case for the films. Similar to Superman, that franchise has struggled in recent years, and the people pining their hopes on the mutants to "save" the MCU might be setting themselves up for disappointment.

As for DC outside of Batman, that all depends on Legacy. If Superman flops, Gunn's DCU is toast and no one else is getting another shot any time soon. Maybe in 5-10 years they'll try Wonder Woman and Aquaman again since those two were the surprise successes. Flash was one of the biggest bombs ever, he's on the bench for a while. GL is still waiting for another chance on the big screen. Gunn needs to hit a home run and keep hitting home runs to rebuild the DC brand because Marvel seems set to continue dumping out mediocre content in the short term which will only heighten any superhero fatigue that already exists. The budgets need to be set appropriately, so that a superhero movie can make Black Adam money and not be considered a bomb. I do not think we will see any Captain Marvel/Black Panther's any time soon where a previously unknown B/C-Lister somehow makes over a billion dollars. From here on out it's slim pickings.

[hkandiu]

🎄A challenge for me, a gift for you! 🎄

Hello everyone! While I do have a few holiday stories I'm working on, I wanted to give myself a fun holiday challenge again - to give you a gift! I’m looking for this to be in three main fandoms:

-Naruto - my main fandom, so a wide range of characters but admittedly I'm not strong in the founders era, and don't followBoruto

-Marvel - Stucky/Stony/IronPool/WinterIron are my experienced pairings as well as platonically general Avengers

-DC - Superbat, plain and simple for a pairing, but could do a range of Batman/Gotham characters for platonic

(Those are my strongest pairings etc in those fandoms, but other secondary characters/pairings are welcomed too!)

The challenge for me is that I'll basically stick to like 1-2 hours to write it/maybe stay under 4k because lordy knows I can write veerrry long ones!

Ratings won't be higher than T and no adults will be romantically matched with children. All will be posted to ao3 in one multi-chaptered story, and I'll let you know what chapter yours is etc.

So, if you're game, send me a message in my ask box or in reply to this post with a pairing or more, or one or more characters (if you want gen/platonic) and one or more of the prompt numbers below (some kept from last year, others are new), and I'll whip up a short story in November/December! Anonymous requests welcomed too!

😍Big thanks to those of you who did this the last two years, I really appreciate it!😍

Prompts: Also feel free to specify if you want a type of AU, version of the characters (specific portrayal of Superman/Batman or perhaps Captain America/modern Bucky etc?) and any other info or details you'd like to share for it

1  Disaster date

2 Secret Santa

3 Furever family/pets

4 Teamwork

5 "Your taste in [insert] is terrible!"

6 Idiots in love

7 Decorating for the holidays

8 Rainy or snowy day

9 Drunk confessions

10 "Should we follow them?"

11 Holiday beverages/foods (or general cooking/baking etc)

12 "That's it, I quit!"

13 No sleep

14 They keep running into each other

15 No good very bad day/mission

16 "You wouldn't dare!" & "Wouldn't I?"

17 Someone gets locked out and asks to spend the night at someone else's place

18 Person C gets involved for Persons A and B because they sure won't/can't do it for themselves!

19 "You decided on what?!"

20 Fortune telling (do they believe it, or not?)

21 "Would falling in love with me be so terrible?"

22 Based on a song of your choosing!

23 Mistletoe

24 Fake/pretend dating

25 "Did you get home safe?"

26 Workplace/missions/training shenanigans

27 Winter activity of your choice

28 "X" times they did and one time they didn't (or vice versa) of an event of your choosing

29 Rest day/day off

30 Call the medic!

31 Warmth

32 Staircase wit (thinking of perfect response after the event/conversation)

33 Your choice of a quote

34 Scheduling conflict

35 Wishes

Feel free to ask questions too! Thanks for reading! 🍥

[bonebrokebuddy]

-Alright I’ve been tagged by @stealingyourbones to do the WIP Challenge. Rules Here!

Feel free to ask me about any of them and I’ll be happy to let u know what it’s about! :D (please i need encouragement to write about them and I don’t want them to be left in WIP hell forever)

Most of these didn’t previously have titles so I’m going to make them up as I go with some having brief summaries.

As I have chronic carpal tunnel so many (but definitely not all) of these are generally short prompts or fic outlines I need to iron out but many have surpassed 3k so I can safely declare some as fics. And there’s a Lot of stuff here so sorry that this is super fucking long but I’m still not including a shit ton of ideas so I can keep it under 100 for now.

I focus a lot on world building and ideas just keeps expanding to the point where I feel like I can’t write it out without having to explain everything else & so I tried splitting them into the smaller ideas & hopefully that’ll help!

@die-erlkonigin6083 ur being tagged now:

Ok so my written ones:

- Stuck In An Adventure: (Wally West getting stuck in a The Adventures of Superman reminiscent universe (radio show that ran from 1940-1951)).

1) Fawcett City: Through A Child’s Eye:

1.a) Sovereign Nation

1.b) Child Logic: A Brief Rundown of How Things Work in Fawcett City In This AU.

1.c) F’s in Math: Fawcett City Education Standards

1.d) Childlike Misconceptions (x40 I have so many ideas about this)

1.e) Fawcett City Food Culture

1.f) Plan to get Captain Marvel back into continuity in a way that's entertaining, makes sense, and would keep it relevant in the DCU while being able to keep more of it’s original Golden Age tone and make the worldbuilding so much cooler.

1.g) Currency of an allowance

1.h) Robbing Bank Customs

1.i) Issues With The Education System

1.j) Magic Taught In Fawcett Educational Programs

1.k) Medicine & Injury Differences In Fawcett Citizens

1.l) Ambient Knowledge of the Radio & Past Lives: Billy Batson

2.a) Booster Gold. An Exploration into a Modern Version Adaptation of His Online Rise to Fame and His Downfall

2.b) Booster Gold: TikTok Sensation (this is kinda fused with the one above but is more lighthearted in tone)

3) Booster Gold: The Backstory and Rant About an Underappreciated and Massively Relatable Hero.

4) Billy Theorizing Back.

5) Linda Finding Out She Had Twins (but retold based on a real story)

6) The Daily Planet’s Gossip Mill

7) The Worries of the Daily Planet Employees over the one & only Clark Kent/ The Daily Planet thinks Clark’s a Meta but for Different Reasons Than You Might Think.

8) Jimmy Olsen Needs Therapy

9) The Softness Behind A Mask

10) Office Gossip

11) An Electric Charge: All Powered Up

12) Psychic/telepathic Clark (apparently this was a fairly uncommon but still very much existing fan theory that I just thought of independently. But once I found out that it already existed, I lost hope and stopped writing it but it's Very much a theory I enjoy and love that explains literally most if not all of Clark’s abilities.

13) “You mean, you Don’t actually look human?!

14) SO MANY KRYPTONIAN BIOLOGY IDEAS:

14.a) FUN (x so many just give me a number and I’ll give you a certain amount of short prompts for kryptonian biology ideas)

14.b) Inconvenience for the Kents

14.c) Braces

14.d) Biology Discussion

14.e) Different Nutritional Needs. Turns Out Invulnerable Teeth Mean You Can Eat A Lot Of Weird Shit

14.f) Humans stood on two legs to punch things. Why the fuck did kryptonians have the same

14.g) Eyes: Windows To The Soul The Size Of An Orange

15) Man of Steel, Unable to Feel: The issue of Clark’s the association of pain with touch.

16) A brief complaint on the lack of depictions of Batman’s Diet and Workout Regimine in fics because there’s so much comedy potential

17) A Meal Even The Flash Won’t Eat: Bruce’s Protein Shakes

18) Inside-out Space and Time (Dissecting the rock of eternity & it’s ability to travel time without the Speed Force)

DP X DC:

18) Critique on DP x DC twin AU

19) Guide on realism in twin interactions for twin au fics & how twins actually work.

20) Jason Todd’s Fenton Family Reunion

21) Discussion of Theme Similarity of 90’s Superboy and the Danny Phantom Cartoon.

22) A Summoning Going Dead Wrong (an ask commandeered from @stealingyourbones that got stuck in WIP hell and is FINALLY nearly done. I just need someone to unfuck my formatting & it’s all set.)

23) Wait What Do You Mean There’s Two Of You?

24) DP x DC What Do You Mean You Thought This Was A Nuclear Blast Zone?: Explaining the Metagene’s Existence in Amity Park, How Amity Park Was Hidden from the DC World, and the Discovery of It Not Being A Wasteland.

25) A Brief Reminder of Death and Revival: Blood Blossoms in Gotham

Based off of this post (which I am making a reply to but i gotta generate more ideas that fit with the theme first. Got the lore part done tho which is nice)

26.a) Wally West trips into the Backrooms.. wait why’s it all floating and green?

26.b) Speedsters can get healed by GZ

26.c) Speedsters get hurt by GZ contact

26.d) Speedsters gain extra powers when in contact with GZ

26.e) Too Much Of A Good Thing: Ectoplasm Overload (Flash Family)

26.f) How The Fuck Is This Working: Bafflement of the Fenton’s Building Conventions (Flash)

26.g) Lichtenberg AU Flash x DC (x2)

27) Familiar Branching Scars: Lichtenberg AU Captain Marvel x DP where I go way into specifics of magical theory and magical lab procedure than I should’ve

28) Danny’s Not Alive: The Issues That Come With Collecting a Ghost’s DNA

29) Ambient Ectoplasm Quality Warning: Health effects can be immediately felt by sensative groups. Healthy individuals may experience difficulty breathing and throat irritation; consider staying indoors and rescheduling outdoor activities. Please retreat to the GZ for your own safety.

30) tired TA Peter Parker who works a job at a university sponsored lab doing microfluidics

31) College Wally West complaining to his friends about his lab job & the difficulties trying to be a “real scientist”

32) They didn’t tell you being a Clone would come with an inferiority complex and the necessity to tell everyone around you that Not The Same Person Don’t Compare Us (yet I still I want to stand by their side and not in their shadow). (Kon-El)

Brainworms i need to write but have them recorded in my audio app & not transcribed yet:

33) Dash & Booster Gold, Ex-Star Quarterbacks

34) Frozen in Time (DP and the Flash Family)

35) I’m Not the Black Flash!

36) Ghosts In Space (do x dc)

37) The Contrast of Life and Death (Flash Family x dp)

38) Inhuman amounts of Speed. (Flash)

39) Opposing Forces: Same Energy (flash family x dp)

40) Metagene: How the Activation of an Integrated Virus Changes That Much Shit if it Activates

41) A Ghost and An Alien Walk Into A Bar…ow

42) A Ghost from the Future: A Mentor in the Past (Bart Allen)

43) Billy Batson: learning magic theory

44) Jimmy Olsen: Traumatized Beyond Belief (Taos discussion about how the character is handled)

45) Jimmy Olsen: A Neglected Superfamily Core Member By The Fans

46) A Parental Bond and Parental Worry: Clark Kent & Jimmy Olson

47)  Trust and Betrayal: Clark Kent Losing a Child’s Trust

48) Help I Think I Accidentally Adopted A College Student What Do I Do

49) A Brief Dissection of the Broad Symbols the DC Hero’s Stand For and Goals they Want: Personal Characterization Help

50) Anger Feels The Same As Happiness (The Feeling Is Just As Intense) (Bart Allen)

51) Shadows of the Future, Traces of the Past: Bart Allen is Not Okay (YJ cartoon)

[collectorscorner]

CC Blogger - New Arrivals @ Collectors Corner : Wednesday 3/3/21

Collectors Corner Parkville - HQ : OPEN for IN STORE SHOPPING with Strong Safety Measures in Place (Hand Sanitizing Stations, Masks Required for All, Social Distancing Required, Limited Capacity, CURBSIDE Pick Up Optional) - According to Baltimore County Guidelines. 1-410-668-3353.

CC Parkville - 2020/2021 STORE HOURS, Sunday 12-6, Mon-Tues 12-7, Wed 9-8, Thurs 11-7, Friday & Saturday 11-8

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CC Bel Air - 2020/2021 STORE HOURS, Sunday 11-5, Monday/Tuesday - Closed, Wednesday 11-8, Thursday 11-7, Friday/Saturday 11-8

Complete list of items shipping to the stores, some items may be limited in availability. If you see anything you want to purchase on the list and are not a subscription member at Collectors Corner, just contact us and let us know if you want an item held at the stores. email - collectorscornermd@comcast.net

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PUBLISHER/TITLE/PRICE

AFTERSHOCK COMICS Undone By Blood The Other Side Of Eden #1 (Cover A Sami Kivela), $4.99 Undone By Blood The Other Side Of Eden #1 (Cover B Charlie Adlard), AR

AWA STUDIOS Bad Mother TP, $9.99 Casual Fling #2, $3.99 Chariot #1 (Cover A Jeff Dekal), $3.99 Chariot #1 (Cover B Mike Deodato Jr.), $3.99

BOOM! STUDIOS BRZRKR #1 (Of 12)(Cover A Rafael Grampa), $4.99 BRZRKR #1 (Of 12)(Cover B Mark Brooks), $4.99 BRZRKR #1 (Of 12)(Cover E Blank Variant), AR BRZRKR #1 (Of 12)(Cover F Red Blank Variant), AR BRZRKR #1 (Of 12)(Cover G Lee Bermejo), AR BRZRKR #1 (Of 12)(Cover H Rafael Grampa Re-Colored Variant), AR Buffy The Vampire Slayer #23 (Cover A David Lopez), $3.99 Buffy The Vampire Slayer #23 (Cover B Mona Finden), $3.99 Buffy The Vampire Slayer #23 (Cover C Becca Carey Ring Of Fire Variant), $3.99 Buffy The Vampire Slayer #23 (Cover D David Lopez), AR Girlsplaining A Sorta Memoir HC, $17.99

COFFIN COMICS Lady Death Lingerie #1, $20.00 Lady Death Masters Mike Krome #1 (Premiere Edition), $20.00

COMIC SHOP NEWS Comic Shop News #1750, AR

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TOYS - T-SHIRTS & COLLECTIBLES Marvel Comic Miles Morales Bust, AR

[jp-todd]

Watched the Snyder cut and here are my main criticisms (I did watch the Whedon one way back in 2017 and pretty sure I blocked it out from absolute rage):

1) THATS NOT HOW MOTHER BOXES WORK. They don't combine together to destroy worlds??? They're basically just sentient supercomputers that can combine with matter and teleport. The only "Unity" I can think of is that alien species in that one episode of BTAS.

2) I have a lot of issues with the characterization of Batman and how Gotham citizens in general act.

a. Several comments are made like "I didn't think [Batman was] real," an officer gives a sketch of a parademon that looks like Batman and insinuates it might be Batman attacking these citizens. And it would make sense for a new batman but they comment that Batman has been fighting crime for 20 years so it doesn't make sense? Especially for people who live in Gotham during the years Batman has been fighting crime to make these comments.

b. I generally don't like a lot of live action batman's because they always try to make him dark and grim and depressed and completely ignore the whole part of his personality where he cares so fucking much. This point is more a criticism of DCEU batman as a whole not just Snyder Batman

c. BATMAN WOULD NEVER JUST INFORM SEVERAL PEOPLE HES NEVER MET HIS SECRET IDENTITY. Like his man, who according to the writers and directors lost a Robin (they differ between whether it's Jason or Dick) would know secret identities are important! That you or someone you love could die if someone got a hold of that information and used it for evil. He doesn't know who the fuck Barry, Arthur, and Victor are and doesn't know whether to trust them with that info. Also he doesn't even let half the Justice League know who he unless he has to in most comics!

d. Honestly I could scream to high heaven about the characterization of Batman, Alfred, Robin, and the Gotham Rogues in the DCEU for a looooonnnnnggg time. Let me know if you are interested in my thoughts and maybe I'll do that.

3) Barry Allen has Wally West's personality and it generally annoys me that so many studios are doing this. They take the original superhero (ie. Peter Parker/Barry Allen) and replace their personality with the next version (Miles Morales/Wally West). I also feel like they depowered him a lot. Like his healing factor is soooooo slow, much slower than it should be.

4) They name dropped the Lanterns and the proceeded to do NOTHING with them. I'm sorry, the Lantern corps aren't going to come help when Darksied (who they 100% know about) is trying to take over Earth? Not even the Lantern who's sector that is??????

5) Martian Manhunter randomly shows up disguised as Martha Kent for like no reason????? Please explain???? No??? Okay I guess..... Is he gonna come help save the world? No? Okay????

6) Okay I absolutely love the Death of Superman/Reign of Supermen storyline and I'm generally so annoyed we didn't get a glimpse of Kon/Lex trying to clone Supes.

7) If the farm is foreclosed upon, why is all their shit still there??? Like they showed her leaving and moving away at the beginning????? I'm confused.

8) I generally feel if there were more movies made before this movie, several parts would make more sense/be more impactful such as when Superman comes back. That would have been a heart wretching to see Superman not remember any of his friends and colleagues and fight them. But the scene you end up with is just kinda a well what did you expect? And the characters would have been way more fleshed out if there were more movies giving us their origins/personality/goals/events in their life. Like Barry says as he's going back in time "Got to break the rules" which means he has been told by someone (Speed force god?) or there has been some event which he understands this is wrong (Like Flashpoint!)

9) I did not like Darksied coming to the planet to conquer it 5000 years ago and just leaving and accepting defeat??? Also where is Granny Goodness, Barda, the Furies, all the other Apokolipsians and New Gods??? They would help try to conquer Earth!!! (Also Darksied, bruh, put a shirt on, it's making me uncomfortable. I DONT LIKE IT)

10) I fucking hate Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Lex would have never been caught and thrown in a psych hospital but like why the fuck is he in Arkham????? Is there no mental hospitals in Metropolis??? And why is he hiring Deathstroke to kill Bruce Wayne? And Deathstroke doesn't know who Bruce is??? Is there no League of Assassin's in this universe????

In conclusions, it's so much better than Whedon's shit show and I think it's great we get to see what could have been. I do honestly think with more movies leading up to this movie would have fixed most of my criticisms but all in all, it was decent.

(but like watch Justice League: War, it's better)

[amys-the-wise-1]

Don’t be a Couladin

For those who are complaining that diversity requires straight white men... Let me give an analogy here.

TL;DR -  Should you create? Hell yes. Have at it. I'm a firm believer that the more, the merrier. But also acknowledge that you have additional privilege that many marginalized voices lack.

********************

There are 100 Aiel Warriors in a hold. The Roofmistress makes 100 bowls of stew for everyone. The first served are the 51 Aethan Dor. Second behind them are the 49 Far Darais Mai. The Roofmistress is abundantly generous, saying that the Red Shields can have more in their bowl because “they’ve always gotten bigger portions” to where those 100 bowls turn into just enough for 3 bowls of stew to be shared among the 49 Maidens.

This is seen in Aiel society as acceptable sharing, especially by the Clan Chiefs. The Maidens complain to the Wise Ones who do what we can to make things anywhere close to equitable. It’s never truly equitable but it’s a start.

You, a Shaido Seia Doon with a huge chip on his head and a bee in his ear, complains that you’re entitled to be given 3 bowls of stew, taking it from the Maidens, on account that he thinks he’s being slighted and insulted by not receiving the first servings, He says that Maidens can subsist on old cheese and stale flatbread, which he then demands that they make space for him so he can partake of the cheese, flatbread, and water, leaving little to nothing for anyone else.

All because he feels disrespected, not included, and not the center of attention.

He won’t take from the Red Shields because they are viewed as being equals but he will demand what the Maidens give up their share, their voice, and space, because he deserves it, and should be treated like an honored guest - even after insulting the Roofmistress. He insists that his demands for the food, water, and shade are fair, that he’s received such from other Holds, and that the previous Roofmistress catered to his every whim.

In short, it’s narcissism, that Coladin’s wants override everyone else’s needs. His self-importance over-rides everything else, much to the detriment of other people in need.

Feeding a constantly insatiable appetite where it’s never enough to feed your demands of media consumption when others try to have a small morsel isn’t acceptable. Others are allowed their own voice, their own niche, their own media for consumption.

You think it’s about representation. Nope. It’s about Power & Control. It’s about feeding into a personal need for over-abundance - and refusing to share or make space for others.

You’re upset that the narrative has shifted, to where others don’t hold you as the center of their attention, that you aren’t the focus of, well, everything.

That's not how it works.

While it's not a Zero sum game, it's also a selfish distraction and takes attention from those who are looking for content from others who aren't straight white males. It's being narcissistic in that you demand being the center of attention, that anything you create be given priority because you perceive that you aren't included and your viewpoints should be represented when... it's far from true. Your demands are an attempt to drown out others who are intentionally searching for content created by those who aren't straight white males. But you are demanding that you be included because you perceive that additional content that is made isn't catered to you and your wants. You insist being included when you already have benefits of being favored.

You insist that the perceived contract continue, that you continue to be favored and your wants catered to. You demand that everything should be what you want - and leave nothing for anyone else.

You demand that you are the Car’a’carn when you were rude, disrespectful, and far from humble towards those who do hold the keys to the Hold - even when you’ve been denied by Wise Ones the trip to Rhuidean.

The paradigm changed years ago.

Let me give more examples. Of the 13 largest financially successful movie franchises... only 1 (Yes, one!) has a protagonist that is someone who isn't a Straight White Male. That is... less than 8%. (It's Fast & the Furious, with Vin Diesel, who is mixed heritage.))

Even top 20 of most successful money maker movies... 4 are with Black men as protagonists (and 2 of them are of the Fast & Furious series.) The other two are the Lion King remake and Black Panther. 

No women protagonists were on the list. No Black or Asian or Indigenous women were on the list.

Video games.... catered to white men. Biggest name published writers... majority are straight white men. It’s a rare one that you can customize your PC as something other than default. (Thinking Mass Effect and the coming Baldur’s Gate 3) 

Most games (*the exception being Minecraft) are geared towards “I’m the hero of the story” and the expectation bleeds over into the entitlement of “I should be the focus of all media I consume” and if you aren’t catered to, the white guy isn’t the hero but an actual villain, the tantrum is enough to change the course of movie history.

Almost every Chosen One protagonist is... straight white guy. Frodo. Luke. Superman. Batman. Captain America. Iron Man.

Namely, all the lucrative media is geared towards... straight white men, written by straight white men, for straight white men***.

(Yes, I recognize that Jack Kirby and Stan Lee are of an immigrant heritage.)

So demanding, yes demanding, that even more media be catered for you, a straight white male, when the bulk is geared towards you, is entitled, especially when the goal of that tweet was to highlight those who aren't... .straight white men. It is a tweet for those who are specifically looking for media catered to their particular needs & wants be over-ridden and distracted from, to say "What about me? I should be included, too."

Should you create? Hell yes. Have at it. I'm a firm believer that the more, the merrier. 

But also acknowledge that you have additional privilege that, by being a straight white man, have the benefit of knowing that other men will automatically listen to you over someone who is A) Not Straight B) Not white and C) Male.

Even those doing YT content creation - thinking of a particular Goh’blin and Neh’bliss and a sassy Aes Sedai under their wig.... while they aren’t straight, they are white men. Their voices come in loud and clear when it comes to catching the ears of those who are important - and those with legit questions (including accessibility issues) are drown out by those louder privileged voices.

See a pattern? I certainly do and I’m not a Dreamer, even if I do walk the dream.

So now that I’ve expended precious dreamwalking time to explain this honestly, I hope the ones who complained vociferously will reflect on why it’s important, necessary, and vital to make space for those who aren’t, well, you.

[smashpages]

Winners announced for the 2019 Eisner Awards

The winners were announced last night for the 2019 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards.

Tom King and Mitch Gerads, partners on the Mister Miracle series from DC, took home five awards between them. John Allison’s Giant Days and The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang also took home multiple awards.

The Eisner Awards also inducted 10 people into the Hall of Fame last night: the judges chose Jim Aparo, June Tarpé Mills, Dave Stevens and Morrie Turner, while voters chose José Luis García-López, Jenette Kahn, Paul Levitz, Wendy and Richard Pini, and Bill Sienkiewicz to join the class of 2019.

Other awards given out last night included the The Bill Finger Excellence In Comic Book Writing Award, which was presented to Mike Friedrich and the late E. Nelson Bridwell, and the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award, which went to Lorena Alvarez.

The 2019 recipients of the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award were Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, for his work on Ricanstruction: Reminiscing & Rebuilding Puerto Rico, and comic artist Tula Lotay, AKA Lisa Wood, for creating the UK-based Thought Bubble Festival. And La Revisteria Comics in Argentina won the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award.

You can see all the Eisner winners below, in bold.

Best Short Story

“Get Naked in Barcelona,” by Steven T. Seagle and Emei Olivia Burrell, in Get Naked (Image)

“The Ghastlygun Tinies,” by Matt Cohen and Marc Palm, in MAD magazine #4 (DC)

“Here I Am,” by Shaun Tan, in I Feel Machine (SelfMadeHero)

“Life During Interesting Times,” by Mike Dawson (The Nib), https://thenib.com/greatest-generation-interesting-times

“Supply Chains,” by Peter and Maria Hoey, in Coin-Op #7 (Coin-Op Books)

“The Talk of the Saints,” by Tom King and Jason Fabok, in Swamp Thing Winter Special (DC)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

Beneath the Dead Oak Tree, by Emily Carroll (ShortBox)

Black Hammer: Cthu-Louise, by Jeff Lemire and Emi Lenox (Dark Horse)

No Better Words, by Carolyn Nowak (Silver Sprocket)

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310, by Chip Zdarsky (Marvel)

The Terrible Elisabeth Dumn Against the Devils In Suits, by Arabson, translated by James Robinson (IHQ Studio/ Image)

Best Continuing Series

Batman, by Tom King et al. (DC)

Black Hammer: Age of Doom, by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, and Rich Tommaso (Dark Horse)

Gasolina, by Sean Mackiewicz and Niko Walter (Skybound/Image)

Giant Days, by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julaa Madrigal (BOOM! Box)

The Immortal Hulk, by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, and Ruy José (Marvel)

Runaways, by Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka (Marvel)

Best Limited Series

Batman: White Knight, by Sean Murphy (DC)

Eternity Girl, by Magdalene Visaggio and Sonny Liew (Vertigo/DC)

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, by Mark Russell, Mike Feehan, and Mark Morales (DC)

Mister Miracle, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads (DC)

X-Men: Grand Design: Second Genesis, by Ed Piskor (Marvel)

Best New Series

Bitter Root, by David Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Green (Image)

Crowded, by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, and Ted Brandt (Image)

Gideon Falls, by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino (Image)

Isola, by Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl (Image)

Man-Eaters, by Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk (Image)

Skyward, by Joe Henderson and Lee Garbett (Image)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

Johnny Boo and the Ice Cream Computer, by James Kochalka (Top Shelf/IDW)

Petals, by Gustavo Borges (KaBOOM!)

Peter & Ernesto: A Tale of Two Sloths, by Graham Annable (First Second)

This Is a Taco! By Andrew Cangelose and Josh Shipley (CubHouse/Lion Forge)

Tiger Vs. Nightmare, by Emily Tetri (First Second)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9–12)

Aquicorn Cove, by Katie O’Neill (Oni)

Be Prepared, by Vera Brosgol (First Second)

The Cardboard Kingdom, by Chad Sell (Knopf/Random House Children’s Books)

Crush, by Svetlana Chmakova (JY/Yen Press)

The Divided Earth, by Faith Erin Hicks (First Second)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13–17)

All Summer Long, by Hope Larson (Farrar Straus Giroux)

Gumballs, by Erin Nations (Top Shelf/IDW)

Middlewest, by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona (Image)

Norroway, Book 1: The Black Bull of Norroway, by Cat Seaton and Kit Seaton (Image)

The Prince and the Dressmaker, by Jen Wang (First Second)

Watersnakes, by Tony Sandoval, translated by Lucas Marangon (Magnetic/Lion Forge)

Best Humor Publication

Get Naked, by Steven T. Seagle et al. (Image)

Giant Days, by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal (BOOM! Box)

MAD magazine, edited by Bill Morrison (DC)

A Perfect Failure: Fanta Bukowski 3, by Noah Van Sciver (Fantagraphics)

Woman World, by Aminder Dhaliwal (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Anthology

Femme Magnifique: 50 Magnificent Women Who Changed the World, edited by Shelly Bond (Black Crown/IDW)

Puerto Rico Strong, edited by Marco Lopez, Desiree Rodriguez, Hazel Newlevant, Derek Ruiz, and Neil Schwartz (Lion Forge)

Twisted Romance, edited by Alex de Campi (Image)

Where We Live: A Benefit for the Survivors in Las Vegas, edited by Will Dennis, curated by J. H. Williams III and Wendy Wright-Williams (Image)

Best Reality-Based Work

All the Answers: A Graphic Memoir, by Michael Kupperman (Gallery 13)

All the Sad Songs, by Summer Pierre (Retrofit/Big Planet)

Is This Guy For Real? The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman, by Box Brown (First Second)

Monk! by Youssef Daoudi (First Second)

One Dirty Tree, by Noah Van Sciver (Uncivilized Books)

Best Graphic Album—New

Bad Girls, by Alex de Campi and Victor Santos (Gallery 13)

Come Again, by Nate Powell (Top Shelf/IDW)

Green Lantern: Earth One Vol. 1, by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman (DC)

Homunculus, by Joe Sparrow (ShortBox)

My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)

Sabrina, by Nick Drnaso (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

Berlin, by Jason Lutes (Drawn & Quarterly)

Girl Town, by Carolyn Nowak (Top Shelf/IDW)

Upgrade Soul, by Ezra Claytan Daniels (Lion Forge)

The Vision hardcover, by Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, and Michael Walsh (Marvel)

Young Frances, by Hartley Lin (AdHouse Books)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, adapted by Ari Folman and David Polonsky (Pantheon)

“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, in Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection, adapted by Junji Ito, translated by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)

Out in the Open by Jesús Carraso, adapted by Javi Rey, translated by Lawrence Schimel (SelfMadeHero)

Speak: The Graphic Novel, by Laurie Halse Anderson and Emily Carroll (Farrar Straus Giroux)

To Build a Fire: Based on Jack London’s Classic Story, by Chabouté (Gallery 13)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

About Betty’s Boob, by Vero Cazot and Julie Rocheleau, translated by Edward Gauvin (Archaia/BOOM!)

Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World, by Pénélope Bagieu (First Second)

Herakles Book 1, by Edouard Cour, translated by Jeremy Melloul (Magnetic/Lion Forge)

Niourk, by Stefan Wul and Olivier Vatine, translated by Brandon Kander and Diana Schutz (Dark Horse)

A Sea of Love, by Wilfrid Lupano and Grégory Panaccione (Magnetic/Lion Forge)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

Abara: Complete Deluxe Edition, by Tsutomu Nihei, translated by Sheldon Drzka (VIZ Media)

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, by Inio Asano, translated by John Werry (VIZ Media)

Laid-Back Camp, by Afro, translated by Amber Tamosaitis (Yen Press)

My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder, by Nie Jun, translated by Edward Gauvin (Graphic Universe/Lerner)

Tokyo Tarareba Girls, by Akiko Higashimura (Kodansha)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips

Pogo, vol. 5: Out of This World At Home, by Walt Kelly, edited by Mark Evanier and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)

Sky Masters of the Space Force: The Complete Sunday Strips in Color (1959–1960), by Jack Kirby, Wally Wood et al., edited by Ferran Delgado (Amigo Comics)

Star Wars: Classic Newspaper Strips, vol. 3, by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson, edited by Dean Mullaney (Library of American Comics/IDW)

The Temple of Silence: Forgotten Words and Worlds of Herbert Crowley, by Justin Duerr (Beehive Books

Thimble Theatre and the Pre-Popeye Comics of E. C. Segar, edited by Peter Maresca (Sunday Press)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman Deluxe Edition, edited by Paul Levitz (DC)

Bill Sienkiewicz’s Mutants and Moon Knights… And Assassins… Artifact Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Dirty Plotte: The Complete Julie Doucet (Drawn & Quarterly)

Madman Quarter Century Shindig, by Mike Allred, edited by Chris Ryall (IDW)

Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise Gallery Edition, edited by Joseph Melchior and Bob Chapman (Abstract Studio/Graphitti Designs)

Will Eisner’s A Contract with God: Curator’s Collection, edited by John Lind (Kitchen Sink/Dark Horse)

Best Writer

Alex de Campi, Bad Girls (Gallery 13); Twisted Romance (Image)

Tom King, Batman, Mister Miracle, Heroes in Crisis, Swamp Thing Winter Special (DC)

Jeff Lemire, Black Hammer: Age of Doom, Doctor Star & the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows, Quantum Age (Dark Horse); Descender, Gideon Falls, Royal City (Image)

Mark Russell, Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, Green Lantern/Huckleberry Hound, Lex Luthor/Porky Pig (DC); Lone Ranger (Dynamite)

Kelly Thompson, Nancy Drew (Dynamite); Hawkeye, Jessica Jones, Mr. & Mrs. X, Rogue & Gambit, Uncanny X-Men, West Coast Avengers (Marvel)

Chip Zdarsky, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Two-in-One (Marvel)

Best Writer/Artist

Sophie Campbell, Wet Moon (Oni)

Nick Drnaso, Sabrina (Drawn & Quarterly)

David Lapham, Lodger (Black Crown/IDW); Stray Bullets (Image)

Nate Powell, Come Again (Top Shelf/IDW)

Tony Sandoval, Watersnakes (Magnetic/Lion Forge)

Jen Wang, The Prince and the Dressmaker (First Second)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

Matías Bergara, Coda (BOOM!)

Mitch Gerads, Mister Miracle (DC)

Karl Kerschl, Isola (Image)

Sonny Liew, Eternity Girl (Vertigo/DC)

Sean Phillips, Kill or Be Killed, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies (Image)

Yanick Paquette, Wonder Woman Earth One, vol. 2 (DC)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

Lee Bermejo, Batman: Damned (DC)

Carita Lupatelli, Izuna Book 2 (Humanoids)

Dustin Nguyen, Descender (Image)

Gregory Panaccione, A Sea of Love (Magnetic/Lion Forge)

Tony Sandoval, Watersnakes (Magnetic/Lion Forge)

Best Cover Artist (for multiple covers)

Jen Bartel, Blackbird (Image); Submerged (Vault)

Nick Derington, Mister Miracle (DC)

Karl Kerschl, Isola (Image)

Joshua Middleton, Batgirl and Aquaman variants (DC)

Julian Tedesco, Hawkeye, Life of Captain Marvel (Marvel)

Best Coloring

Jordie Bellaire, Batgirl, Batman (DC); The Divided Earth (First Second); Days of Hate, Dead Hand, Head Lopper, Redlands (Image); Shuri, Doctor Strange (Marvel)

Tamra Bonvillain, Alien 3 (Dark Horse); Batman, Doom Patrol (DC); Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Multiple Man (Marvel)

Nathan Fairbairn, Batman, Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman Earth One, vol. 2 (DC); Die!Die!Die! (Image)

Matt Hollingsworth, Batman: White Knight (DC): Seven to Eternity, Wytches (Image)

Matt Wilson, Black Cloud, Paper Girls, The Wicked + The Divine (Image); The Mighty Thor, Runaways (Marvel)

Best Lettering

David Aja, Seeds (Berger Books/Dark Horse)

Jim Campbell, Breathless, Calexit, Gravetrancers, Snap Flash Hustle, Survival Fetish, The Wilds (Black Mask); Abbott, Alice: Dream to Dream, Black Badge, Clueless, Coda, Fence, Firefly, Giant Days, Grass Kings, Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass, Low Road West, Sparrowhawk (BOOM); Angelic (Image); Wasted Space (Vault)

Alex de Campi, Bad Girls (Gallery 13); Twisted Romance (Image)

Jared Fletcher, Batman: Damned (DC); The Gravediggers Union, Moonshine, Paper Girls, Southern Bastards (Image)

Todd Klein— Black Hammer: Age of Doom, Neil Gaiman’s A Study in Emerald (Dark Horse); Batman: White Night (DC); Eternity Girl, Books of Magic (Vertigo/DC); The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Tempest (Top Shelf/IDW)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/ Journalism

Note: There was a tie in this category

Back Issue, edited by Michael Eury (TwoMorrows)

The Columbus Scribbler, edited by Brian Canini, columbusscribbler.com

Comicosity, edited by Aaron Long and Matt Santori,  www.comicosity.com

LAAB Magazine #0: Dark Matter, edited by Ronald Wimberley and Josh O’Neill (Beehive Books)

PanelxPanel magazine, edited by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, panelxpanel.com

Best Comics-Related Book

Comic Book Implosion: An Oral History of DC Comics Circa 1978, by Keith Dallas and John Wells (TwoMorrows)

Drawn to Purpose: American Women Illustrators and Cartoonists, by Martha H. Kennedy (University Press of Mississippi)

The League of Regrettable Sidekicks, by Jon Morris (Quirk Books)

Mike Grell: Life Is Drawing Without an Eraser, by Dewey Cassell with Jeff Messer (TwoMorrows)

Yoshitaka Amano: The Illustrated Biography—Beyond the Fantasy, by Florent Gorges, translated by Laure Dupont and Annie Gullion (Dark Horse)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

Between Pen and Pixel: Comics, Materiality, and the Book of the Future, by Aaron Kashtan (Ohio State University Press)

Breaking the Frames: Populism and Prestige in Comics Studies, by Marc Singer (University of Texas Press)

The Goat-Getters: Jack Johnson, the Fight of the Century, and How a Bunch of Raucous Cartoonists Reinvented Comics, by Eddie Campbell (Library of American Comics/IDW/Ohio State University Press)

Incorrigibles and Innocents, by Lara Saguisag (Rutgers Univeristy Press)

Sweet Little C*nt: The Graphic Work of Julie Doucet, by Anne Elizabeth Moore (Uncivilized Books)

Best Publication Design

A Sea of Love, designed by Wilfrid Lupano, Grégory Panaccione, and Mike Kennedy (Magnetic/Lion Forge)

The Stan Lee Story Collector’s Edition, designed by Josh Baker (Taschen)

The Temple of Silence: Forgotten Worlds of Herbert Crowley, designed by Paul Kepple and Max Vandenberg (Beehive Books)

Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise Gallery Edition, designed by Josh Beatman/Brainchild Studios/NYC (Abstract Studio/Graphitti Designs)

Will Eisner’s A Contract with God: Curator’s Collection, designed by John Lind (Kitchen Sink/Dark Horse)

Best Digital Comic

Aztec Empire, by Paul Guinan, Anina Bennett, and David Hahn, www.bigredhair.com/books/Aztec-empire/

The Führer and the Tramp, by Sean McArdle, Jon Judy, and Dexter Wee, http://thefuhrerandthetramp.com/

The Journey, by Pablo Leon (Rewire), https://rewire.news/article/2018/01/08/rewire-exclusive-comic-journey/

The Stone King, by Kel McDonald and Tyler Crook (comiXology Originals)  https://cmxl.gy/Stone-King

Umami, by Ken Niimura (Panel Syndicate), http://panelsyndicate.com/comics/umami

Best Webcomic

The Contradictions, by Sophie Yanow, www.thecontradictions.com

Lavender Jack, by Dan Schkade (WEBTOON), https://www.webtoons.com/en/thriller/lavender-jack/list?title_no=1410&page=1

Let’s Play, by Mongie (WEBTOON), https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/letsplay/list?title_no=1218&page=1

Lore Olympus, by Rachel Smythe, (WEBTOON), https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lore-olympus/list?title_no=1320&page=1

Tiger, Tiger, by Petra Erika Nordlund, (Hiveworks) http://www.tigertigercomic.com/

[martyrbat]

[ID: two close-ups of Superman holding a whiskey glass. He has shoulder length, flowing silver hair and his face is visibly older. END ID]

gilf! clark but the g stands for grandmother

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

ASM vol 5 #25/826 Story 1 Thoughts

Wow!

Now THIS is how you do a milestone issue...even though the milestone was last issue but whatever!

In some ways this issue reminded me of a lot of DC’s recent milestone issues for the Trinity. Wonder Woman’s 75th Anniversary special, Action Comics #1000, Detective Comics #1000.

By this I mean you have multiple artists contributing and the story feels like vignettes.

The difference though is that most of these vignettes are in fact part of the same story.

The downside of that is that it does make the main story ‘Opening Night’ feel somewhat disjointed because there are 3 or 4 endings. It could’ve been easily fixed by simply presenting the Syndicate pages and the Gleason pencilled pages as their own stories (which functionally they are) or at least as clearly labelled epilogues.

That’s a nitpick though because the main story over all was fantastic, no pu....actually pun very much intended. Why not Spencer likes his puns and meta jokes and there was plenty of the latter in this issue. Case in point Kindred’s jabs about continuity.

Let me get some minor negatives out of the way.

The changing artists really, really didn’t complement one another exempting Kev Walker and Ottley’s work. Ramos’ artwork wasn’t well integrated with the rest of the art at all, as was the case with his work in the Heist arc back in the earlier issues. Gleason’s work I will give a little more of a pass too because as presented it feels so much like it’s own separate story and has consistent art within those pages it’s not really a problem. But with Ramos and Ottley it’s very jarring.

Now it is the lesser evil because I’d rather have Ramos draw some pages and panels rather than the whole issue. Reserving him for, let’s face it, the less important B-plot of the main story whilst Ottley does the heavy lifting on the main story is a great compromise.

Other small complaints I have involve Mary Jane herself and her storyline.

For starters...Carlie Cooper is back. Now she isn’t used badly, it’s just...I hate that character. I don’t think many people have many positives to say about her and there is baggage associated with her. So if she is destined to become MJ’s go to buddy then that’s going to grind my gears (especially when we consider she let MJ risk her life by dating Otto in Superior, what a jerk!) and I’d infinitely prefer a wholesale new character or an old established character (Liz, Glory, Jill Stacy even?).

Buuuuuuuut on the flipside Carlie was better suited to being MJ’s sidekick in this story given she got involved in some of the action. Possibly even seeing her get zapped was Spencer putting in a piece of catharsis for the many fans he knows honestly hate this character.

Secondly we got MJ’s acting career. Now there are three little problems I have with it that might not even be problems. Let me explain.

a)      MJ claims she lost her Secret Hospital job because of the nature of her life. I took that very much as an implication associated with her connection to Spider-Man. Problem is...she didn’t lose her job because of Spider-Man. Her role just happened to be cut back and eventually if I remember correctly she either quit following a deranged fan assaulting her or she was outright fired. Now in defence of her comment and of Spencer, the line doesn’t explicitly mention Peter or anything like that so it could easily be taken as her life being in general crazy regardless. Bear this in mind for something else I’m going to bring up

b)      MJ claims she never liked being famous. That really struck me because of course MJ wanted to be famous from day 1. Now you could easily argue that when we first met MJ she was younger and had yet to experience fame, so now she feels differently. Buuuuuuut she was a model in her adulthood. She pursued acting as a soap star, and as a movie star and as a stage star and took a job at Stark industries and at various points was modelling during those jobs. Soooooooooo what gives? I mean....maybe you could say she hated aspects of being famous but the speech seems weird and inconsistent in and of itself even. I’m hoping I’m just missing something

c)       MJ says she had trouble fitting in and then over did it in social situations. I dunno if that’s really true. It could be bad phrasing on Spencer’s part but really MJ always did fit in, her facade helped her to fit in, it was partially engineered to help her to do that. Is that what he means though?

d)      MJ becoming a famous actress again gives me mixed feelings. Spider-Man is the everyman and whilst temporary fame that comes crashing down is one thing, if she is long term famous it kind of meddles with the everyman aspect of Spider-Man. An aspiring actress, even a low key soap star is different a more if you will ‘domestic’ form of fame. But that’s more a criticism of where this might lead so it could wind up being fine.

One final, final little problem I had was another example of worried where this MIGHT lead. In Kindred’s lair we see a wall depicting different Spider-Heroes and so now I’m facepalming that the climax to his storyline will be a huge crossover event affair that demands I read Miles and Gwen’s and Jessica Drew’s titles.

Again a nitpick at best, at worst something to worry about in the future not the present.

Everything else in the main story was beautiful.

MJ’s connection to acting is restored. Wonderful. It’s my preferred profession for her because it taps into Peter’s double life and her own history with her party girl facade.

The speech was well written and delivered and I liked the meta aspect of her giving it whilst disguised as a famous super hero wife!

Spencer continued to find a way to handle the old criticism lobbied against MJ/the marriage that it Mary Jane simply waited by a window (even though I think that’s fine sometimes) or just got stood up on dates all the time by having MJ have friends she can hang out with. This is one aspect where Carlie, because she is in on the secret, helps a lot I must admit.

Spencer also renders Mary Jane very well rounded.

Look I LOVE seeing instances where Mary Jane shines as cool, as bad ass and the like, but sometimes if handled poorly it can come off as idolizing her.

Spencer avoids this by giving MJ flaws.

She’s jealous of Melanie’s success which she sees as something that could have been her’s.* She has tiny doubts about Peter’s sincerity. She admits she struggles to fit in and feels uncomfortably exposed in the limelight.

But she’s also, brave, self-sacrificing, resourceful and, most importantly in this story, a good actress (apparently being able to impersonate Melanie’s voice...or maybe that’s something no one thought about because this is a non-audio medium).

The effect is to make Mary Jane truly the hero of the story, not just because she is ‘taking point’ in the main story but because she feels complex and nuanced, just as Peter is.

My quibbles above aside, Spencer really is a good Mary Jane writer and for Spider-Man that’s an important consideration for a writer (just as being a good Lois Lane writer or good Alfred writer is for Superman and Batman). He’s done her justice 99% of the time he’s written her and it says an awful lot about him and his priorities for this title that he’d give the lion’s share of a milestone issue over to her.

It also says a lot of his abilities to make good stories out of well...clean up duty.

Let’s be brutally honest here the majority of Spencer’s issues have revolved around stories really designed to fix things after BND and Slott’s run.

Back to Basics fixed Peter and MJ’s relationship and mostly reconstructed Peter’s character by having him own up to the diploma debacle and zero in on who the man was and who the spider was by literally separating the two.

The Heist reconstructed Peter and Felicia’s relationship and fleshed out why MJ and Peter were getting back together as quickly as they did.

Those poorly drawn Bachalo issues fixed Ned Leeds not being dead.

Hunted fixed Kraven not being dead and Shed and more stuff with Felicia

Now this issue has fixed MJ and Peter’s future’s to some extent. Peter is back at ESU and MJ is back to acting. Not only does she now have a Stark free job situation but it’s a job that’s her home away from home as I discussed a bit above.

The issue also does some clean up with Curt Connors, restoring the pre-Hunted status quo and by extension facilitating something else comfortingly familiar by having Connors teach Peter.**

Speaking of Connors, I can’t recall off the top of my head (having not eaten breakfast yet) if Connors had safehouses before now to keep him safe from his family. I know that has been the case in other stories, such as the Forever Young novel from a couple of years ago, but in the comics I can’t recall. If not then it’s a great thing for Spencer to integrate. If so it’s a great thing for Spencer to have remembered and gives Spider-Man a meaningful subplot to work with whilst Mary Jane takes the limelight in the main plot.

Now let’s move onto Mysterio. As I predicted last issue the doctor was Rinehart but I was mistaken in believing it was the real Rinehart. Spencer, and Mysterio, were so good at their jobs that I was successfully fooled into thinking Mysterio really had died last issue. The idea that Rinehart was really Mysterio and Mysterio was really someone else never occurred to me and was an ingenious twist.

But like all good mysteries it had clues right there for us to see as last issue signposted the disappearance of Mysterio’s former doctor,  who we now know was tricked into becoming Mysterio so beck could escape. What sold it was the inner monologue of Rinehart talking about Beck as a separate person. This would’ve been a cheap trick under a lesser writer but Spencer justifies it by claiming Mysterio was method. Just brilliant. As was tying in MJ’s agent and new found fame to Mysterio and his film script.

We also get some more tantalizing tidbits about Kindred. He doesn’t like killing innocent people if he doesn’t have to. The idea of him being an established villain now looks much less likely. And did you notice that when we first see him in the issue...he’s sticking to the wall...surrounded by spiders...and later has them crawling out of his bandages...and is targeting other Spider people...hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm????????????????

That about does it for what I call the ‘main main story’, we move now onto what should’ve been epilogues.

There isn’t much to say about the Syndicate pages beyond they were good for what they were, they eloquently tie into the main story and set up the next arc.

Much more interesting are the Gleason pages, and not just because the art looks so nice and so much better than Ramos.

On the one hand I am wary of Spider-Man comics bringing in too much of the shared universe because it messes up a lot of the drama and stakes. But as a little side story meant to set up something else that’s fine and what a set up.

Spider-Man 2099 is back!

Now I feel like I should really catch up on his solo book. I kept buying it but stopped reading it around Civil War II!

I honestly have NO IDEA where this is going beyond thinking it might have something to do with Kindred’s interest in all the other spider people??????

Beyond all that...not much to say.

I’m not going to tell you that I recommend you pick this issue up because....c’mon...you know you already did...and loved it!

   *Importantly, if Spencer intended it this way, MJ missed out on Melanie’s success because of something not  connected to Spider-Man. I was worried the story was going in for this idea that being with Peter has cost Mary Jane a successful career, but in this issue, through Melaine we see that wasn’t the case.

MJ’s life led her to quit a role that was already being reduced but it wasn’t because of Spider-Man stuff at all.

This is not just refreshing and healthy for their relationship, it’s also realistic. Take that every bullshit AU about MJ being famous by not dating Spidey!

**By the way I was going to criticise Connors having both arms in human form but then I double checked issue #2 and that was the case there too. I keep forgetting that he has both arms now it’s just so weird to see.

[aethucyn]

All the Comics 2019

Series I read as they came out:

Archie Assassin Nation Batman Universe Black Panther By Night Catwoman Die Exorsisters Ghosted in L.A. Ghostspider Giant Days Gwenpool Strikes Back Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy Invisible Kingdom Laguardia Last Stop on the Red Line Lazarus: Risen Lois Lane The Magnificent Ms. Marvel Man-Eaters Monstress Ms. Marvel Once & Future King Paper Girls Pretty Deadly: The Rat Redlands Sabrina the Teenage Witch Sleepless Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider Spider-man and Venom: Double Trouble Steeple Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl The Unstoppable Wasp West Coast Avengers The White Trees The Wicked + the Divine

Graphic Novels & Trade Paperbacks

The Life of Captain Marvel Margaret Stohl Carlos Pacheco Batgirl Vol. 4: Strange Loop Hope Larson Sami Basri Jessica Jones: Blind Spot Kelly Thompson Mattia De Iulis Doom Patrol Vol 2: Nada Gerard Way Nick Derington Kim Reaper: Grim Beginnings Sarah Graley Batman Vol. 8: Cold Days Tom King Lee Weeks Hilda and the Troll Luke Pearson Batwoman Vol. 3: Fall of the House of Kane Marguerite Bennett Fernando Blanco X-23: Family Album Mariko Tamaki Juann Cabal Andre the Giant: Life and Legend Box Brown How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less Sarah Glidden Get Your War On David Rees March Book One John Lewis & Andrew Aydin Nate Powell Barbarous Vol 1 Ananth Hirsh Yuko Ota Barbarous Vol 2 Ananth Hirsh Yuko Ota March Book Two John Lewis & Andrew Aydin Nate Powell March Book Three John Lewis & Andrew Aydin Nate Powell The Real Folk Blues: A Cowboy Bebop Fanbook Anthology ed. Zainab Akhtar Batman Detective Comics Vol 2 The Victim Syndicate James Tynion IV Alvaro Martinez Off Season James Sturm Kiss Number 8 Colleen AF Venable Ellen T. Crenshaw Cleopatra in Space: Fallen Empires Mike Maihack Batman Detective Comics Vol 3: League of Shadows James Tynion IV Marcio Takara The Hero Business Season Two Bill Walko When I Arrived at the Castle Emily Carroll The Weather Man Jody LeHeup Nathan Fox The Girl Who Married a Skull & Other African Stories ed. C. Spike Trotman ed. Kate Ashwin ed. Kel McDonald ed. Taneka Stotts F*ck Off Squad Nicole Goux Dave Baker The Breakaways Cathy G. Johnson Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me Mariko Tamaki Rosemary Valero-O'Connell Batman Vol. 9 The Tyrant Wing Tom King Tom Taylor Mech Cadet Yu Volume Two Grek Pak Takeshi Miyazawa Sincerely, Harriet Sarah W. Searle The Legend of Korra: Ruins of the Empire Part One Michael Dante DiMartino Michelle Wong Avatar The Last Airbender: Imbalance Book Two Faith Erin Hicks Peter Wartman Snotgirl: vol 2: California Screaming Bryan Lee O'Malley Leslie Hung Skyward: Vol 1 Joe Henderson Lee Garbett Shuri: Vol 1: The Search for Black Panther Nnedi Okorafor Leonardo Romero Crowded: Vol 1: Soft Apocalypse Chrisopher Sebela Ro Stein Ted Brandt I Hate Fairyland: Vol 1: Madly Ever After Skottie Young I Hate Fairyland: Vol 2: Fluff My Life Skottie Young I Hate Fairyland: Vol 3: Good Girl Skottie Young I Hate Fairyland: Vol 4:  Sadly Never After Skottie Young California Dreamin' Penelope Bagieu Runaways: Best Friends Forever Rainbow Rowell Kris Anka Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles Mark Russell Mike Feehan My Brother's Husband Gengorah Tagame Rice Boy Evan Dahm FTL Y'all ed. C. Spike Trotman ed. Amanda Lafrenais Gothic Tales of Haunted Love ed. Hope Nicholson ed. S.M.Beiko The Immortal Hulk: Or is he both? Al Ewing Joe Bennett X-23: X-Assassin Mariko Tamaki Diego Olortegui Ant-Man and the Wasp: Lost and Found Mark Waid Javier Garron Power Man and Iron Fist: The Boys Are Back in Town David Walker Sanford Greene Iceman: Thawing Out Sina Grace Alessandro Vitti Iceman: Absolute Zero Sina Grace Robert Gill Song of Aglaia Anne Simon Batman Detective Comics: Vol 4 Deus Ex Machina James Tynion IV Alvaro Martinez Harley Quinn: Broken Glass Mariko Tamaki Steve Pugh The Immortal Hulk: The Green Door Al Ewing Joe Bennett Power Man and Iron Fist: Civil War David F. Walker Flaviano Cosplayers Dash Shaw Bad Machinery: The Case of the Modern Men John Allison Is This How You See Me? Jaime Hernandez a city inside Tillie Walden The Immotal Hulk: Hulk in Hell Al Ewing Joe Bennett Slowly but Shirley Catalina Rufin Stage Dreams Melanie Gillman Homunculus Joe Sparrow Verse Book One Sam Beck Laid Waste Julia Gfrorer Gorgeous Cathy G. Johnson Cosmoknights Hannah Templer The Hard Tomorrow Eleanor Davis Pumpkin Heads Rainbow Rowell Faith Erin Hicks Funky Town Mathilde Van Gheluwe Pleading with Stars Kurt Ankeny Avatar The Last Airbender: Imbalance Book Three Faith Erin Hicks Peter Wartman The Love Bunglers Jaime Hernandez Spider-man Life Story Chip Zdarsky Mark Bagley Are You Listening? Tillie Walden November Matt Fraction Elsa Charretier Rusty Brown Chris Ware Dangerously Chloe Volume 3 David Lumsdon Jason Waltrip The Astonishing Ant-Man: Small-Time Criminal Nick Spencer Ramon Rosanas Doctor Aphra: Aphra Kieron Gillen Kev Walker Moonstruck Grace Ellis Shae Beagle

Minis

Maids no. 1 Katie Skelly Frontier #18 Tiffany Ford Two of Us Jessi Zabarsky Visiting Alivia Horsley Sobek James Stokoe Resort on Caelum Wren McDonald Boogsy Michelle Kwan Frontier #19 Hannah Waldron Maids no. 2 Katie Skelly Frontier #20 Anatola Howard Minotaar Lissa Treiman Pass the Baton Hana Chatani Cry Wolf Girl Ariel Ries At the Edge of the Stream at Dusk Jen Lee Cavity Michelle Theodore Hsthete Melanie Gillman David, I Love You Eileen Marie The Cutest Curse Laura Terry Churn Amelia Onorato An Eye for an Eye Kimberly Wang Women on Paper: 3 Stories Anna Christine Liminal State Maria Photinakis Melusine, The Collector and the Gift of the Pearls Edie Voges Infinite Wheat Paste Issue 3 Pidge Anew Dillon Gilbertson Anastasia Longoria Big Wally James McGarry Sam Bennett Frontier #21 Derek Yu Frontier #22 Tunde Adebimpe

Graphic novel is a stupid term that often encompasses things that are not novels, but I used it as a blanket term for anything comics I read that were bound rather than stapled. Minis are shorter works, stapled, and generally self-published by the artist, or done by a small press like Shortbox or Youth in Decline. I was totally lazy about crediting creators on series because my actual list for that is a grid, keeping track of each issue. Similarly, when listing creators on trades, I tended to only list writer and artist which is enough for some books, but sometimes there are many more, inkers, and colorists and letterers, and maybe I’ll do better next year.

Support your local library, your local comic shop (especially Hub Comics if you’re in the Boston area), and indie comic shows like MICE. 

[terresdebrumestories]

Clark Kent, of Krypton - 1/4: Kal-El

FANDOM: DC’s cinematic universe. RATING: Mature. WORDCOUNT: 20 404 (Fic total: ~98k words) PAIRING(S): Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne (main focus is on Clark, though). CHARACTER(S): Kal-El | Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Jor-El, Lara Lor-Van, Kara Zor-El, Zor-El, Martha Kent, Alfred Pennyworth, Diana Prince, Barry Allen, Arthur Curry, Victor Stone, John Stewart, J’onn J’onn, plus a quick cameo by Lois Lane. GENRE: Alternate Universe (canon divergence), transition fic with romance. TRIGGER WARNING(S): A great deal of anxiety and self loathing, especially in parts one and two. Some descriptions are heavily inspired by my experience of dysphoria-induced dissociation. SUMMARY: Batman crashes on Krypton a few days before the Turn of the Year celebrations and Kal-El's life takes a sharp turn to the left, on a path that will ultimately lead him to becoming Clark Kent.

OTHER CHAPTERS: [II. Shadow] [III. Superman] [IV. Clark Kent] ALSO AVAILABLE: [On AO3] [On Dreamwidth]

AUTHOR’S NOTES AND THANKS: Seven months of work and nearly a hundred thousand words! How's that for a first foray in a fandom, uh? I'm actually pretty proud of myself on that one, and I hope you all will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! But before we start, there's a number of people I need to thank:

@susiecarter​, for getting me into this pairing (seriously, go read her stories!), cheerleading me through the writing process, and then betaing the whole monster in absolute record time!

@stuvyx​ for the AMAZING comic pages which you can find here and here, and for the banners used in the official @superbatbigbang masterpost. Go shower her with praise for her work! :D

The Mod Squad @superbatbigbang, whose instructions and work were impeccable and easy to understand even for me and my silly brain

The OfficialMovieSoundtrack channel on YouTube, for compiling the complete Wonder Woman score: I listened to this more than any other music while writing CKoK.

The jewish nerds of tumblr, who’ve been (and still are) spreading the word about Superman’s origins and the character’s original meanings and principles, which in turn had a rather large influence on Clark’s personality in this fic. I hope the bits with Martha will come off as respectful as I tried to make them.

And lastly, a tiny thanks to DC and Mr. Snyder, for deciding to cast Henry Cavill and his jawline as Clark Kent but also making him just not-how-I-wanted enough (and in the right way) to spark me into telling this story.

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” Lord Bel-Lor exclaims in lilting Council, with a hiccup of delighted surprise. “I would have expected the whole of El to know of this by now.”

 Kal-El, strategically stationed close to one of the potted plants meant to shelter the refreshments table from the dancing area, presses his lips together while the young Zod dignitary tries very hard not to sound too eager about incoming gossip. Kal swallows around a lump in his throat, but remains silent. His aunt and uncle’s Turn of the Year ball is one of the most important events of the year, and it wouldn’t do for him to cause a fuss.

 He stands in place, fingers tightening around his drink, and darts a quick look around. Lady Ona-Set has found her customary seat a few feet to his right, advanced age and a rather poor sense of rhythm having long ago banded together to keep her from the dance floor. Further to the left, close to one of five internal balconies, Lady Ra-Ny and her spouse have gathered a small but agitated-looking group of Worker dignitaries from Lot and Zod’s delegations. They seem to be engaged in a rather heated debate, hushed as it is. But the rest of the guests have, for the most part, elected to dance or make good use of the balconies allowing them to gaze over the minuscule shapes of their lavish homes, several thousand feet below.

 There was a time when El’s elite lived closer to their rulers. A long time ago, the Citadel of El was filled with habitations floor to mountain-high ceiling: the royal family lived in the last few city-wide floors, the lords and ladies shared the following quarter of the space, and the common people divided themselves between the Citadel grounds and the Outside. Then the Lords and Ladies of the Principality rebelled against King Hyr-El, who resolved the situation with a bloodbath first, and the destruction of a solid third of the Citadel’s inner buildings second.

 Ever since then, the Stateroom of Peace has floated, alone, in the vast emptiness left by the old families’ houses; the new Citadel Lords and Ladies made new homes on the Citadel Grounds, and pushed former merchants to become Mountain Lords and Ladies in city-domes of their own. The Stateroom—which, as its name implies, is used for every Guild Council meeting and many other official occasions—also serves as a ballroom for religious occasions such as the Turn of the Year, during which all of Krypton celebrates yet another cycle of close collaboration between Rao, the Helping God, and his brother-husband Vohc, the Builder. These are, at least, the Stateroom’s official uses.

 There is, however, a third—and chiefly preferred—activity that takes place here: gossiping. Kal has been privy to much of it throughout his near-thirty years of life, and he is largely unsurprised to find his family once again at the center of attention as Citadel Lord Bel-Lor proceeds to share the latest news of the Citadel Princes and Princesses of El.

 It goes like this: two days before this very ball, a mysterious spacecraft crashed on Lady Mon-Ka’s property. The precise patch of land in question, bordering the Citadel, had been deemed unfit for cultivation and left in disuse for quite some time, rarely visited and even more rarely monitored. Perhaps that was why no one raised the alarm—or perhaps, as Lady Kam-Leang remarks, Lady Mon-Ka was simply suffering from the effects of the energy depletion afflicting all of Krypton, and could not afford to keep her sophisticated surveillance system in a functioning state. Whatever the reason, no one at the time thought to investigate the craft.

 “No one, that is, but the Shadow of El,” Lord Bel-Lor says with a storyteller’s instinct for dramatics.

 Kal drains his flute of liquor in one go while the Zod dignitary dutifully asks about the Shadow of El. Lord Bel-Lor declines to delve into much detail, aware as he is that extensive knowledge of the Shadow won’t garner him any favor at court, but there is more than enough there to earn several exclamations of surprise and one shocked ‘No!’. The Shadow of El, he explains, is a disturbance to the peace, a master criminal helping other criminals escape well-earned justice...but alas, the people of the Citadel have taken a shine to them.

 “Something to do with old legends,” Lady Lin-Na says in a disdainful tone. “You must have heard of the Dark Sun.”

 “Only in passing,” the Zodian admits. “I hear they are causing some trouble.”

 “Inconsequential,” Lady Lin-Na dismisses, several other voices humming in approval, including her husband's. “But they did find their name in one of our old legends, in which Rao must go through a magical sleep, and a darker version of him—Rao’s dream self, if you will—takes it upon themselves to help protect the world during the sun’s long absence... Because the Gods may not interfere in the affairs of mortals in person, the Dark Sun casts a Shadow of themselves on Krypton, so that it may fight the monsters trying to take over the world.”

 Several voices try to be the first to express their disapproval and disdain towards the very idea, Council and Ellon overlapping in the conversation until Lord Bel-Lor clicks his tongue to reestablish silence. Kal-El picks up another drink—his third this evening—and ignores Lady Ona-Set’s judgmental glare as he sips at it, knuckles white around the stem.

 There is no true way to tell what exactly transpired in that disused field. What is known, however, is that by the time Lady Mon-Ka was made aware of the smoking ruins on her property, the Shadow of El had scooped the spacecraft’s pilot out of the wreckage and taken them to the Citadel. They appeared on the main external balcony with an alien in their arms and the light of the sun behind them, striking Lara Lor-Van and Jor-El almost dumb with awe. And the Shadow of El commanded them to take care of the alien, for the spacecraft had reached Krypton on the day of Vohc’s comet, and its pilot might therefore be an envoy of the God.

 Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, known throughout El for their piety, took the alien in. By the time Kal-El emerged from his labs six or seven hours after dawn, groggy and sporting wrinkle marks from his pillow all over his face, the entire household was scrambling to accommodate both this badly-injured and unexpected new responsibility of theirs, and the ire of Zor-El, Citadel King of El and rather exasperated older brother, who had no patience for his younger sibling and sister-in-law’s latest religious fancy.

 “I fail to understand,” the Zodri dignitary says in hushed tones while Kal braces himself for the inevitable turn of the conversation from this point on, “why Citadel royals would comply with a criminal’s instructions.”

 “I forget sometimes,” Lord Dar Ran-No says with a smile painfully obvious in his tone, “how little of our internal politics is understood outside of El.”

 Kal listens to the giggles that follow the word ‘politics’ and resists the urge to mime gagging into his glass. It isn’t so much Lady Ona-Set he worries about—she has little affection for Bel-Lor, or any of the Citadel Lords for that matter—but rather the foreign delegations taking part in the celebrations. What the Zodri envoy is about to discover will make its way into every available ear before the end of the night; no two ways about that. Kal can almost hear General Dru-Zod teasing Zor-El about it already. At the very least, however, he does have the power to avoid bringing even more attention to himself with an untimely departure. With a deep breath, Kal forces himself not to empty his Ulian liquor in one go, choosing instead to soothe the tense ache in his neck with a slow overview of the room.

 The dancing is slow tonight, even by court standards, and most of the guests are still busy digesting the vast array of refined dishes they spent the better part of three hours sampling over the luxurious buffet. The light, as red as El’s famed sunsets, sparkles over jewelry and shining fabric. Lady Ra-Ny, her spouse and their group have retreated to one of the internal balconies, Warrior-looking men scattered in close proximity while Zor-El stands in the middle of the group. All over the dance floor, people laugh, voices loud and smiles sharp with the delight of mostly harmless gossip.

 Behind Kal, the chuckles have faded, and as Dar Ran-No feigns reluctance to share his knowledge, Kal prays in vain for the ground to open up and swallow him.

 “Something you must know,” the Citadel Lord says in a delighted tone that makes Kal slouch even further than he usually does, “is that Their Majesties have never been the sort to resist...scientific curiosity.”

 More giggles, and Kal overhears two voices sharing the title of a certain book in hushed Ellon.

 “A very specific sort of scientific curiosity,” Lord Bel-Lor chimes in, improper meaning exactly as clear now as it always is.

 More laughter. Kal doesn’t quite screw his eyes shut, but he does look down at the ground, feeling redder than the sun. In his armpit and in his ears, blood pulses with the sharp painfulness of shame, and he forces himself to relax his grip on his flute of liquor or risk breaking it. It takes everything he has to use a polite tone to send away the servant offering him a drink, instead of begging them to leave him alone.

 “I must admit,” the Zodri dignitary says with what sounds like genuine curiosity, “I am quite incapable of guessing what you are driving at.”

 “Do you truly not know?”

 “To be fair, Lord Bel-Lor,” Lady Kam-Leang says in an indulgent tone, “the young man doesn’t look much older than the Prince himself.”

 “Prince Kal-El? What does he have to do with his parents’ scientific endeavors?”

 At least two people snort at that, loud and undignified, and Kal’s face heats up even further, stomach sinking fast and low in his belly. Dar Ran-No’s voice sounds tight when he explains, in the usual embarrassing amount of detail, what exactly Kal has to do with his parents’ scientific endeavors.

 “That is revolting!” the Zodri dignitary exclaims, in a strained hiss that sends cold shivers down Kal’s spine. “Who would even conceive of something so—so—”

 “I believe it has been called primitive.”

 Kal somehow restrains himself from muttering unflattering things into his drink, but only just. To his left, Lady Ona-Set sits with her eyes closed, head tilted toward Kal, mouth hanging slightly open; but the lady shows no sign of drooling. Old she may be, but the gene for degenerative hearing has been eliminated from the collective gene pool for almost seven centuries, and she has always had a reputation for gossiping. No need to encourage that particular trait with entertaining dramatics on his part, especially when she can’t possibly be having any trouble hearing when Dan Ran-No continues:

 “Primitive or no, it was in direct keeping with their previous endeavors...and neither of Their Majesties has ever made a secret of it. When the—what was the word they used for it? I forget.”

 “The birthing,” Kam-Leang supplies, voice curling with a sort of fascinated distaste around the archaic word. “That was what they called it.”

 “Right,” Bel-Lor acquiesces with a scoff, “the birthing. Both Prince Jor-El and Princess Lara Lor-Van had been religious before, you must understand, but after the—uh—the birthing, they became quite convinced the child was a miracle of the Gods. A gift from Rao himself.”

 “Surely they didn’t—”

 “Oh, yes, they did,” Bel-Lor all but squeaks; Lady Kam-Leang and her husband both hush him.

 Kal winces at the sound, fully aware that this particular piece of gossip has lost none of its power in the twenty-nine years since his birth. He doesn’t even need to put any particular effort into picturing the looks on the Ellon nobles’ faces: wide eyes and delighted grins, vaguely hidden behind fluttering fans and flutes of sparkling Nyen wine. They have sported it at regular intervals throughout Kal’s life, and he can only assume the Zodri envoy likewise looks very much the same as every other dignitary ever has: as enraptured as his predecessors were by the scandalous yet fascinating story of the last natural birth of Krypton. There is, however, more to this story, and this time Kal does down what is left of his liquor before they speak again, wishing for all the world he’d thought to grab some of the fermented torquats Dru-Zod brought along as a gift. At least he would have had something good to chew on while waiting out the night’s agony.

 “They tried to have the child blessed by the priests of Rao—”

 “They were, of course, refused,” Lady Kam-Leang states with piercing finality. “The official reason was that to give the child such a name was an affront to the Gods no priest could ever be tempted to forgive—”

 “Truly?” the dignitary asks, genuinely puzzled. “I fail to see the problem with it.”

 “Because you are unfamiliar with Ellon,” Dar Ran-No says, “or you would know ‘Kal-El’ is the light of the sun.”

 “Although,” Lady Kam-Leang remarks, “things would perhaps not have been so bad if they hadn’t gone further still. For years afterwards, Their Majesties and their followers—yes, they do still have a handful of them—insisted on calling their offspring a miracle. A herald of great things to come.”

 Kal is...acutely familiar with that line. It is old habit, by now, to swallow the bitter shame that comes with it.

 “I heard rumors,” Lord Bel-Lor continues, “that Their Majesties wished to attempt birthing a second child, but it seems the Gods intended for the prince to be a one-time phenomenon.”

 “Some people in the Guild of Believers have whispered that this must be a divine punishment for the Els’ arrogance. I do not know that I agree,” Dar Ran-No says in a slightly pinched tone, “but the lack of a second ‘miracle’ did certainly temper Jor-El’s dreams of having a messiah for a son.”

 “But of course,” Bel-Lor adds, picking up where his fellow Citadel Lord left off, “if the other rumors are true, and Their Majesties are being plagued with a much more biological problem….”

 At least one person chokes on a drink. Another one, perhaps two, coughs. Kal assumes the high-pitched, quickly-aborted laughter belongs to the Zodri dignitary, although he wouldn’t be able to swear to it. Face burning even as the rest of him turns to ice, he makes a tremendous effort to keep his gaze on the ground and take deep breaths until the corners of his eyes stop stinging. Inside his chest, his heart throws itself against his ribs like a wild animal trying to escape a cage, and Kal has to blink several times before he can bring the patterns on the floor back into focus.

 The balconies are overcrowded, the object of too many mocking eyes and surrounded by the imposing silhouettes of Nyen Warriors. But they are the only place where Kal can hope to find a little fresh air—and peace, if he can be allowed to make use of the one occupied by his uncle and his friends, rather than any of the other four—until he has remained here for the full four hours required of him, and is allowed to retreat to the safety of his labs.

 He braces himself and, carefully avoiding Lady Ona-Set’s suddenly alert gaze, begins to make his way around the ballroom.

“Good morning, Kal-El,” Krypto says when Kal emerges from his labs, with no sleep under his belt and Kryo on his heels. “Their Majesties wished me to remind you of the king’s visit tonight.”

 Kal nods, always more tongue-tied than he’d like in presence of his mother’s hunit. Krypto has always been pleasant to him, programming far too stringent to allow even for the impression of disrespect in its tone; but it is an extension of Lara Lor-Van, and that is enough to keep Kal on his toes.

 “I remember,” he tells the hunit, “thank you. In fact, I was on my way to wash up and rest. I should like to be fit for polite company tonight.”

 “Good,” Krypto says the same way it always has, the one that makes Kal feel like he’s still a little boy. “Lady Lara also wishes you to know the doctors have officially released our guest from bed rest.”

 “Oh,” Kal says, heart rate picking up. “I suppose that is good news.”

 It will mean one more person to keep in mind, one more presence to navigate around in the palace, and Kal’s head aches just thinking of it—but it is still good that the alien didn’t die. They cannot, after all, be held responsible for Kal’s issues.

 “Quite,” Krypto replies in its usual toneless voice. “Their Majesties ask that you remember the name of House El must not be tarnished. Dinner should be served at the customary hour.”

 Stomach sinking to somewhere in the vicinity of his knees, Kal nods around the lump in his throat, head lowering almost of its own volition. He stands still as Krypto, ever unaffected by displays of emotion, extends him bland wishes for satisfactory repose and floats away towards the main rooms of his family’s apartments. The Lesser House of El may have lost much of the respect they once enjoyed, after Kal’s birth, but their living quarters do still occupy a solid third of the Citadel’s upper dome. Even living here his whole life, Kal has gone numerous stretches of several days—once as much as two weeks—without encountering his parents. The sight of Krypto leaving him to go and report their conversation to his mother is as familiar an image as Kal has ever known.

 He stands alone in the corridor for a moment, breathing in and out at consciously regular intervals while Kryo asks if he’d like a massage to be added to his personal agenda for the night. He nods, of course: a little help relaxing can’t hurt, after all, and he is going to need every ounce of confidence he can get today. That, and his sore arms will definitely thank him.

 “Your heart rate is elevated,” Kryo says after a short silence.

 “I know,” Kal says, heart picking up its speed again as he tenses in anticipation of Kryo’s predictable remark:

 “I am compelled to let you know your current readings are quite far above average.”

 “I know,” Kal says again, and breathes in deep to avoid snapping at it.

 It isn’t the hunit’s fault, after all, that these reminders were programmed into it. Some things, Kal has changed over the years; but he never did figure out how to make the hunit less judgmental without messing up its programming beyond repair, and so the tone has stayed. It's proven useful in the long run, in that Kryo's unaltered demeanor hides all the things that aren’t the way Kal’s parents wanted them to be, but it doesn’t mean the hunit is never annoying. Kal has practice with this, though, and so it is simple—if not effortless—to keep his tone in check when he says:

 “Don’t worry, Kryo, I’ll be fine tonight.”

 “You are a prince of El,” Kryo says, automatically beginning one of the most irritating conversational routines in his repertoire. “You are—”

 “Bound to interact with strangers from time to time,” Kal cuts in, “yes, I realize.”

 “Irrational behaviors due to feelings of inadequacy—”

 “Kryo. You are well aware I dislike it when you talk about me like this.”

 Kryo goes quiet, but doesn’t apologize. Contrition is not a state hunit were ever designed to emulate. They are far too matter-of-fact for that. Kal, for his part, breathes in deep again, and forces his shoulders to unwind as he finally walks away from the access stairs to his labs and strides toward his rooms. He has Kryo perform a general scan to locate the rest in the household—only in the part of the Citadel assigned to Kal’s parents, however—and is all but scolded for it. The other hunits of the palace are complaining, it seems, about the frequency of pings of that nature they tend to receive.

 “It is never a good thing to render house hunits dissatisfied.”

 Hunits are devoid of emotion, incapable of satisfaction or dissatisfaction by design. What Kryo is truly saying is that Kal’s use of household scans is above average and will therefore be reported; but the emotional vocabulary makes the whole thing sound just a tad less pathetic, and so Kal sighs and nods rather than correct the hunit. Besides, his higher reasoning functions are begging further out of this conversation with every step he takes toward his bed. No point in trying to argue in these conditions. He is in the middle of a jaw-cracking yawn, his entire being crying out for sleep, when the black-and-gray silhouette of his parents’ guest stops him.

 The alien, standing by the guests’ library, is tall by Ellon standards, though the people of Zod might find them of average size. Their anatomical model is familiar enough to be reassuring: four limbs with hands and feet, shoulders on the broader side but still within the limits of what Kal would call normal. The muscles seem too well-defined to be natural, although Kryo maintains that all staff accounts state the alien looks perfectly Ellon-like under their clothes. Kal has never seen them out of their clothes, though, and so the impressive shape of the alien’s body retains all its power as far as he is concerned.

 The main difference between him and the alien lies in the head. Where Kal’s is somewhat round at the top—though perhaps a little squarer than average around the jaw—with the ordinary short round ears of Kryptonians, the alien’s has two protruding appendages at the top, aligned approximately above where ears would be. They jut out of the alien’s cowl in menacing straight lines and narrow to frighteningly sharp-looking points. Kal...believes Kryo when it says the alien doesn’t actually possess ears—or horns—that look like this. The hunit is, after all, unable to lie to him. But that knowledge doesn’t quell the eerie feeling of strangeness that tightens Kal’s chest every time he looks at them.

 The alien’s most noticeable feature, however, is not so much their silhouette as their stance. There is no hint of groveling in it, none of the wary tension displayed by visiting envoys from neighboring planets. Not that those envoys cower, exactly, but they are always clearly conscious of the galaxy’s painful history with Krypton, and therefore never fully at ease. This alien—Vohc’s alien, as Kal has heard some call them—carries themselves with the easy authority of a Citadel Lord in the king’s confidence. Back straight, head high; no hint of doubt in their own worth, their own place, their own right to remain.

 The sight of it shrivels something already small and wrinkled in Kal’s soul, makes him want to shrink back in the darkness and hide from the alien’s presence...for, sent by Vohc or not, this alien certainly does seem capable of things Kal couldn’t even dream of; and the thought of being found wanting compared to someone who, according to the court, does not even have the decency to be from the known universe, let alone Krypton, is… distressing.

 It is, therefore, unfortunate that acting on that self-effacing impulse would bring more shame to Kal’s house than his continued failure to prove himself worthy of attention.

 “Good evening,” Kal manages after a deep, steadying breath, pulse hammering away so hard he can feel it in his clasped palms. “May I help you?”

 In front of him, the alien’s head tilts to the right in what must be—might be; hopefully is—a sign of incomprehension, and Kal almost gives into the impulse to slap himself in the forehead. The alien is not from any recognizable planet, let alone a known species. They did not respond to any of the local languages stored in the House’s courtesy translators, never mind Council or Ellon. Why, then, Kal would be silly enough to assume they would understand is certainly a mystery for the ages. Not the first of its kind, it is true, but painful nonetheless.

 Swallowing a sigh, Kal draws on his vague memories of learning Council as a child and starts again:

 “I am Kal-El,” he says in Ellon.

 He waits for a few seconds, taps his fingers to the middle of his forehead, and repeats: “Kal-El.”

 “I am Batman,” the alien says.

 The words are clearly unpracticed on their tongue, the gesture all wrong. No one in El would tap their chest to indicate personhood, after all. Still, these things can be forgiven; it is the alien’s grammar that poses a significant problem. None of the politeness markers fit their position: a nobody—for all anyone knows, at any rate—addressing...well, essentially another nobody, but of royal blood. Many at court would have had Batman’s hide for that sort of an affront, accidental though it may be.

 Batman is lucky, though: Kal has dealt with much worse than people addressing him as if he were a lower-ranked but still respected guest. It is easy, then, to quell the sliver of pleased surprise—and the subsequent shame at how readily swayed Kal is—rising in his chest; to muster a stiff smile and a nod and, when Batman does not seem willing to communicate any further, flee toward his quarters.

It takes Kal a long while before he can fall into a nap, and then it takes an even longer time for him to wake up properly once the evening comes. It isn’t that El’s simple tunics of straight lines and slashed sleeves take all that long to put on, really. It’s just...well, frankly, it’s just that Kal is somewhat clumsier than average. He tends to bang into furniture and trip on his own feet more than other people do, and existing in a near-constant state of sleep-deprived grogginess does not help. Science is worth it, he knows. It doesn’t make it any less awkward to step into the Fire dining room almost three minutes late and watch six pairs of eyes turn to him.

 Kal’s uncle, King Zor-El, is a proud man, taller and bulkier even than his brother Jor—a rare build, for Thinkers. He sits in state at the head of the table with an ease Kal knows he would never be able to replicate, gaze a strange mixture of fondness and disappointment. Force of habit, perhaps. Either way, Zor-El does not say anything about Kal’s tardiness. A simple raise of his eyebrow; the pinched look on Kal’s parents’ faces, the amused gaze that passes between Sol Ka-Zod—Kal’s aunt—and her stepdaughter...all of these are familiar enough to be set aside. Not easily, not quite. But they are set aside, and that means Kal is free to look around the rest of the room, and marvel.

 The Fire dining room is one of the smaller, cozier rooms of similar function in the Lesser House of El’s apartments. At the back, a fire burns year-round, for the rooms closest to the center of the dome tend to be colder, and fire has always been Rao’s way of welcoming guests. In front of the fire sits the table, around which Kal’s family has arranged itself amidst the flowing lines of curved columns, floral motifs carved into the very bones of the building.

There, to the right of Kal’s usual chair, sits Batman. Their back is still as impeccably straight as it was this morning, their shoulders just as steady, their jaw just as strong. This time, however, the slant of their lips, below their cowl, curls into something...well. Perhaps not quite a smile. Not a smirk, either. But there is the seed of an expression there, Kal is fairly sure, that could become either of those things; and it is such a novelty compared to the usual reactions he garners that as he seats himself Kal can’t help but blush, looking down at his hands until he feels in control of himself again.

 The meal is well underway by the time Kal comes back to himself, silten salads half-eaten and roasted keltar being rolled into the room. To Kal’s right, Batman has taken their gloves off to eat, and their hands look very much like Kal’s hands—a little bigger, maybe, in keeping with their owner’s size, but nothing strange. Nothing that would be out of proportion for a Kryptonian, at the very least. They catch the eye somehow, at least as far as Kal is concerned. Batman’s silhouette was so imposing this morning, so surprisingly regal for someone people have barely hesitated to classify as a barbarian; it is hard not to be surprised when it turns out they eat like a regular person.

 It wouldn’t do to stare, however, and striking up a conversation right now would mean talking over the main guests, an ill-advised course of action.

 “I don’t think the Melokariel Proposition will ever be accepted,” Kal’s father is saying when Kal finally dares to raise his eyes away from his plate. “Nor do I think it should.”

 Kal darts a glance over the table, unsurprised to find his cousin raising her eyebrows quite high into her glass of Ulian liquor. The reaction is, Kal supposes, understandable. As the first in line to take over the throne of El, Kara has been invited to every single one of her father and uncle’s twice-weekly dinners since the tender age of twelve, and is therefore even more familiar with Jor-El’s way of gearing up for a fight. Or, well. A debate, as he calls it.

 Notorious for his incompetence and disinterest in politics, Kal returns Kara’s gesture nonetheless. He might not know the ins and outs of this Proposition as well as she does, but he does know his parents, and the thought of another family argument beginning is about as annoying as it is stressful by now. At least he knows he won’t be asked to participate. Kal’s horrendous lack of social acuity, cultural refinement, or specialization has been exposed, discussed, debated, and condemned more than enough for a lifetime; he isn’t keen on sparking that particular conversation again by asking about the Proposition or, Rao forbid, trying to change the topic. He will get through this in silence, like he always has, and count himself lucky for it.

 “Ever the retrograde, brother,” Zor-El says while a servant takes his empty plate and replaces it with the largest keltar of the lot. “If I were to listen to you, we would be working our way back to the days of primitive savagery.”

 There is no need to look up to know Zor-El has nodded in Kal’s direction, the circumstances of his birth ever a sore point for the family. He dares a glance to the right instead, and blinks when he finds Batman looking down at the table coil they were handed along with their meat. There is nothing strange about the tool that Kal can see, though accidents do happen, so he turns back to the left when his father, having most likely run through his usual defenses of Kal’s conception—helped along by his wife, of course—snaps:

 “In any case, the fact that Krypton does not possess the necessary resources to—”

 “We have talked about this before, Jor,” Zor says in a warning tone. “Krypton will not debase itself by going around begging colonies for their scraps.”

 “Ex colonies,” Kara points out, mild but clear. “The Green Lanterns saw to that.”

 Queen Sol Ka-Zod elbows her stepdaughter in the side, but Kal has never seen his cousin heed that particular warning before. His aunt cannot be faulted for the gesture, as it is unseemly for an heir to the throne to dissociate herself from the ruling monarch so openly—even if only at the family table; but then again the only thing worse than that would be for Kara to have no opinion at all. As it is, the jab passes, and the conversation returns to its topic of choice for the past nine months or so: the Melokariel Proposition.

 Kal, knowing no one will think to ask for his opinion on the topic, takes a look to his right again, and freezes. Batman, despite maintaining as dignified a posture as can be, is making an unimaginable mess of their food. Bits of it have strayed from their plate; the rest stains both their hands and their forks...and that is when Kal realizes this should have been an entirely predictable outcome. What were the chances, after all, that Batman learned to use proper cutlery on whatever backwater planet they came from? The cost of forgetting your manners—and therefore, your place—is high on Krypton, however, and Kal is too well-aware of this to sit there and do nothing. He reaches over, ready to take action, when Zor raises his voice:

 “Mining the core is the only way to survive,” he says in a tone full of rebuke, catching Batman’s attention without effort.

 “So say Peacekeepers,” Jor retorts—too loud, too fast. “They have always been quick to demand and slow to think, but—”

 “Jor!” Kal’s mother exclaims, half reproof and half horror, at the same time as Zor warns:

 “It would do you good to remember which Guild your queen came from, brother.”

 Despite the fire, the atmosphere of the room grows chilly, and Kal has to force his fingers to relax as he closes them around his fork and table coil. He tilts his head to the side when the alien looks at him, left hand extended palm up toward Batman, coil hanging between his thumb and forefinger, and asks, “May I help you?”

 Batman looks at Kal for a few moments—or at least, they keep still, with their optical lenses pointed in the appropriate direction—before they nod. Kal nods in return and, in a practiced gesture, lifts the keltar’s nearest limb with his own fork, loops the coil around it, and slices it off the animal’s body by spreading his fingers. Batman makes no sound, and does not give any indication that they watched Kal's actions particularly closely, but when Kal outfits them with a coil of their own, Batman imitates the gesture almost perfectly, and then repeats it with diligence. There is something surprisingly circumspect in the way they move, as if trying to master the gesture in as little time as possible. It seems strange, to Kal, who tends to observe things for far too long before he makes a move, but it works in Batman’s favor, and they are eating cleanly in no time. Just in time, in fact, to hear Kal’s father snap:

 “If Tsiahm-Lo does vote in favor of the Proposition, he will truly lose the right to call himself the Wise King of anything, let alone Laborers!”

 “Jor-El!” Sol exclaims, obviously shocked.

 Even Kal’s mother doesn’t dare speak in support of her husband after that sort of claim, and it is easy for Kal to feel the assembly tense—even down to Batman—as Zor leans forward and says in a low voice:

 “I would guard my words if I were you, Jor. There are those who would consider such a statement dangerously close to treason.”

 The table is grimly silent for a moment, fragile balance poised on the edge of a knife, as Kal watches his father reconsider his words, swallow, and say:

 “Forgive me, everyone. I don’t know what came over me. Obviously, I misspoke.”

 On the opposite side of the table Lara, Sol and Kara all look distinctly relieved, though Kal can’t quite manage to relax his shoulders. He hunches in on himself a little closer instead, ignoring the way Batman’s attention seems to have moved away from their food and toward the conversation on the more interesting side of the table.

 Kara is the first to speak again.

 “If nothing else,” she says in a firm tone, “I don’t believe anyone should consider the Proposition without also considering its alternative.”

 The rest of the table mumbles their assent, until Sol and Lara join in and, soon enough, the debate veers away from the Melokariel Proposition itself and onto the merits of Krypton’s old colonial programs. Kal, who has little interest in joining that discussion either, presses his lips together and turns back to his food for the rest of the meal. Batman requires almost no further help, except when dessert comes and they seem more than a little perplexed by the singing flowers set atop the cakes.

 “You can eat them,” Kal says when Batman clears their throat and tilts their head toward their plate.

 “You?” Batman repeats, head tilted, while gesturing with their hand like they’re bringing something to their mouth.

 It isn’t the gesture Kal would use to signify eating, but context makes it easy to interpret. Kal repeats the verb for Batman’s benefit, rectifiescorrections their pronunciation to something more understandable than their first attempt, and starts thinking.

 There is no telling when—or if—Batman will leave Krypton. The Shadow of El passed along no word of anyone else in the alien’s spacecraft, and no one has reached out to El looking for a lost companion since the day before yesterday. There is a possibility—how much of one is impossible to tell, but the chance is real nonetheless—that no one is coming to rescue them. If so, they will need to integrate. They cannot possibly be expected to remain incapable of communication forever, and the odds of anyone volunteering to take them to a neighboring planet are minimal at best. As for waiting for his parents to think of Batman’s well-being...Kal would frankly rather not. And yet Batman will need to adapt and find a place in Ellon society.

 They will need to speak, Kal realizes. To learn the things they don’t know, to figure out the rules and customs of this place—for otherwise they leave themselves open to ridicule, contempt, or worse. As a man with experience dealing with two of these things, Kal finds himself loath to leave Batman to deal with them alone. Not when he knows he can, perhaps, do something about it.

 Kal is no expert linguist. In point of fact, he isn’t even a teacher. He is willing to help, though, and willing to spend some time trying to figure out the best way to help Batman around...which, he guesses, makes him the only choice available. It might be a bad idea. He has other things to do, after all. Responsibilities he cannot shirk. He is a Citadel Prince of El, though, and those responsibilities do extend to taking care of guests.

 He might not be the best choice for this, but if no one else will make time for the task, he will.

Raising his head at breakfast the next morning only to find Batman standing in front of him with the same serious expression they have always displayed is a surprise for Kal. He would say that he hadn’t expected the alien to seek him out quite that fast, but the truth is he hadn’t expected Batman to seek him out at all. Besides, it is long past breakfast time. Kal is still there, it is true, but that is only because he tends to work all night and barely emerges from his labs in time to ingest something before he collapses on his bed and sleeps most of the day away. Batman can’t possibly have missed that fact. Can they?

 Whatever the reason, the alien does not seem ready to stop looking at Kal in a way that makes him feel as though his use of his table coil is being assessed and found wanting. This is not, it is true, an uncommon sentiment for Kal. Most of his life has been spent in self-conscious discomfort. But the familiarity of the sensation does nothing to prevent a blush from rising into Kal’s ears until he feels like they are about to catch on fire.

 “Excuse me,” he tells the alien in an attempt to relieve some of the tension, “may I help you?”

 Batman remains stock still for a moment. Nothing in their expression shifts exactly, except perhaps for a certain sense of...looking for something. ‘Hesitation’ seems like too strong a sentiment, somehow, though it comes closest to what Kal perceives. Deliberation, then. Batman indulges in a few more seconds of it before they nod and take a seat in front of Kal. Behind him, Kal feels Kryo hover closer, perhaps out of a sense of misplaced protection, but the hunit does not do anything else.

 Meanwhile Batman has extended a hand and is pointing at Kal’s table coil, saying something in what Kal assumes is their birth language. He blinks, still a little too groggy to process this in a timely manner, and he is fairly sure he sees Batman’s lips tighten—a sure sign of exasperation on a Kryptonian—before they point at Kal:

 “I am Kal-El,” they say. Then, pointing at themselves: “I am Batman.”

 They point at the coil again then, and Kal blushes harder when he realizes the question was actually quite simple, and he should have understood it right away. He pushes past it, however, and answers with flaming cheeks:

 “This is a table coil.”

 “This is a table coil,” Batman repeats, pronunciation quite close to Kal’s.

 “Table coil,” Kal repeats nonetheless, just to make sure the alien will understand that only these two words designate the object they are asking about.

 That, and to make sure Batman won’t mispronounce it and accidentally refer to a very intimate part of the anatomy by accident.

 Batman, as has been the case so far, proves themselves a diligent learner, and manages a perfect rendition on the second try. Kal beams. He doesn’t stop to think, then, that Batman may not have been asking for a full vocabulary lesson when he points at his fork and says:

 “This is a fork .”

 “This is a fork,” Batman repeats, eyes fixed down on the table.

 Kal nods, grin widening despite himself, a thin bubble of pride growing in his chest.

 “This is a glass .”

 “This is a glass.”

 Kal walks Batman through several other eating implements—a plate, a spoon, a napkin—ever more pleased when Batman keeps getting the pronunciation right in two, sometimes three attempts at the most. They name all the items set on the table, eventually, and Kal imagines things will stop there for a moment, but then Batman points at the table itself and says, “This is….” with a tilt of their head.

 “This is a table,” Kal informs them. Then, because he can’t think of a better way to explain the question, he seizes his glass again and, with a tilt of his head similar to Batman’s, asks: “What is this?”

 Batman nods at that, mouth slanting...well, not into a smile, maybe, but a more relaxed angle, at least. Something that seems to hint Batman has finally found something worth considering in Kal, and, well. It would be a lie to say it does not affect him. There is something—giddy, almost, but also rewarding about this. About knowing he is useful here and that what he is doing right now will be—perhaps ‘appreciated' is the wrong word. Batman would be well within their rights to consider teaching them the language a demonstration of basic courtesy on the part of their hosts. Even so, whatever Batman learns and remembers this morning will be useful to them in the future. The sentiment is exhilarating. It loosens Kal’s shoulders, make him more willing to smile as he tries to mime the concept of a room in order to explain the word ‘parlor’.

 By the time they stop, almost an hour later—and then only because Kryo reminds Kal today is the day of his annual health examination—Kal has had time to fill his chest with so much satisfaction at a job well done he feels almost no self-consciousness at the gesticulating he has to engage in to explain that he needs to leave. Batman nods, somewhat less stiff than they usually seem to be, and then says two words—at least it sounds like two distinct words—in their language.

 Kal, caught off guard, nods back, close-lipped and tenser than he would like to be, and doesn’t look back as he leaves the room at an appropriately sedate pace, Kryo hovering at his elbow. He is in the process of trying to breathe his heartbeat into something more acceptable when the questions—the sudden uncertainty—become too much to handle, and he asks, “That probably meant thank you, didn’t it? No reason for them to—”

 To what, exactly? Mock Kal? Judge him? Insult him? None of these possibilities make any rational sense. Context, and Batman’s attitude, both point towards the alien’s words being some form of thanks but—but what if it wasn’t? Kal is familiar with his mind's tendencies. Its ability to twist even the most innocuous things into catastrophes has been a part of his existence for as long as he remembers, and he knows better than to listen to it without reserve.

 But still, a persistent part of him asks, what if he made a fool of himself this morning and did not realize it? What if Batman was only indulging him and could not hold it back any longer? What if they found Kal the dullest, most profoundly boring creature they have met in their entire existence, and are now determined to avoid him at any cost? The chances are slim—very slim, even—but….

 “You are panicking again,” Kryo says in its usual dispassionate tone.

 Kal does not hush it, but he does think about it. These concerns of his are...irrational, most of the time. He knows this. Not always, though. Kal has made a mess of things without meaning to before, has been found wanting in many and varied respects—numerous times, even—and Batman...well. It did seem, for a moment there, like Batman didn’t completely despise spending an extended period of time in Kal’s company. That is a good sign. But others have pretended as much before, and Kal should have remembered that; should have paid more attention to what he was doing, put more care into remaining—unobtrusive. Yes, that would be the right word. He knows how dull he is after all, should keep it in mind lest he keep making the same mistakes he made today—too solicitous, he’s sure, treating Batman like an imbecile or...or whatever else he did, really. It will come to him, he knows.

 “Kal,” Kryo points out again as they round a corridor towards the palace doctors’ offices, “you are panicking again. Calm down.”

 Never has that particular command been of any help in the past, but Kal has long since given up on trying to get it out of Kryo’s programming. He bites down on his instinctive rejection of the advice and breathes in deep instead. Then he asks, “Would you calculate the probability of what Batman said meaning ‘thank you’, please?”

 “Situational elements suggest an 85% chance that that would be an appropriate translation of their words,” Kryo replies. “The scarcity of available data means linguistic calculations might take as long as four weeks to process. Do you wish me to proceed?”

 “No, thank you,” Kal says.

 Eighty-five percent, he tells himself even as he knocks on the door to the doctor’s office. That doesn’t sound so bad. Granted, there is still a fifteen percent chance he misread the situation entirely. A fifteen percent chance Batman was seeking him for very different reasons—although he cannot fathom what those reasons might have been—and he only managed to annoy them beyond belief. Fifteen percent chances are more than enough to send his heart racing; more than enough to half convince him he should, perhaps, consider shutting himself off from the world for good, if only it would ensure he never made that sort of mistake again.

 “Good morning, Your Majesty,” the head physician says when she opens the door.

 She gives Kal a familiar once over, takes his expression in—and this time, Kal knows he is not imagining the exasperation. Sighing, he follow her lead and tries to steel himself for the upcoming assessment and the myriad of little embarrassments that come with it.

  The examination goes well enough, except for a few awkward bruises and wounds Kal has to admit he got from lugging heavy objects around in his labs—“If you’ll beg my pardon, Your Majesty, I know people lighter than these plants of yours,” the doctor says. Kal gives her an awkward smile and changes the topic; something new to be needlessly embarrassed about. The plants are nothing big, truly, nothing anyone would find really remarkable. Kal is known for being chiefly interested in botany, though, and most people do not associate this with sprained ankles or bruised ribs; so every instance of someone finding out must be followed by an uneasy reminder that Kal does not live a dangerous life at all but is, rather, ridiculously clumsy...and getting clumsier as the years go by.

 Still, he does escape the doctor’s office eventually, relief more than palpable in every single one of his veins. Then he gets to his laboratories, settles down behind the floor-to-ceiling, one-way window, and proceeds to lose himself in work.

 He is in the middle of a—lengthening—break several hours later, when Kara’s voice rings from the top of the stairs and bounces against the spherical ceiling of the comparatively minuscule room:

 “I might wish to update your security protocols,” she says, her footsteps gradually losing themselves in Kal’s small forest of growing plants. “They barely reacted when I approached the door.”

 “Of course they did,” Kal says without looking away from his current notes, “they know you. Besides, it wouldn’t do to give anyone the impression I’m trying to hide something in here, would it?”

 Kara hums from where, if the rustling is to be trusted, she is poking at Kal’s morose-looking keva vines. Not that he takes poor care of them—he hardly does anything else with his days, after all. But Krypton’s atmosphere has been profoundly changed by the ever-more-intensive mining projects grinding away at its soil, filling the air with more dust than many plants find it possible to survive. Some biomes have been able to adapt on their own in the northern parts of the planet, where mining activity has been subdued by the lack of remaining material worth the effort. But El is one of the least-affected Principalities. The worst of the work is yet to come, here, and while the king—in his wisdom—has remained steadfastly convinced no problem could arise from an intensification of industrial production, Kal has always been more...anxious.

 It was easy to combine this with his scientific curiosity and indulge in the sort of pet project none of his family members could truly disapprove of, despite his lack of formal education on the topic. Kara, for her part, has never quite seemed to understand Kal’s enthusiasm for his test subjects, and barely bothers to feign an apology when she accidentally snaps a leaf off a luat bush.

 “They seem to be doing better,” she says with a polite smile even as she places the broken leaf back into the luat’s force-field, the atmosphere set to mimic a seventy percent air pollution rate. She wipes her hand clean with a nearby rag before she continues: “Perhaps you are finally succeeding.”

 “We did move from a five percent survival rate to ten,” Kal replies without mirth.

 “Ah. Well...at least there is progress?”

 Kal tilts his head in concession, and then stiffens when Kara finally walks up to his desk and leans over his shoulder. The working lights, brighter than any other in the lab, must obstruct her view: she reaches for Kal’s papers, and although his first instinct is to grab after them, he knows better than to attempt it. Kara has, after all, been training all her life never to take no for an answer. Not at face value, in any case. Kal hesitates. Fidgets. At last, when he is sure Kara must have completed at least her second reading of what notes he has, he can’t help but ignore the skepticism in her expression and ask:

 “What do you think?”

 Kara’s lips purse into a doubtful expression, and she chews on her tongue for a second. Curbing her answer to sound more diplomatic, then. Perhaps Kal should warn her to get rid of the tell.

 “I can’t say that I have much expertise in linguistics,” Kara says at last.

 Biting down on a sigh, Kal reaches for his notes again, and meets no resistance from his cousin. He eyes his teaching plan for what must be the hundredth time today, and thinks.

Batman’s species is unknown on Krypton. Taking care of them has worked out all right so far, but nothing says they won’t be confronted with unexpected problems later on. They must be able to satisfy their basic needs on their own, which means they must be able to obtain food, drinks, sleeping accommodations and hygiene products. This implies naming said items, and learning how to ask lower-ranked individuals for services and thank them appropriately afterwards. Other things will come, such as asking for and understanding directions to various places, greeting individuals of various ranks and, of course, learning to make some form of conversation with the royal family without provoking an incident.

Kal is in the process of revising what he should focus on first and which verbal form to prioritize—desperately trying to remember his first lessons in any language in the process—when Kara sighs, sits on his desk next to him and asks:

 “How long do you believe this will take?”

 “A few months, I suppose?” Kal hazards. “They seem to be a fast learner, and they have more pressing motivation to learn Ellon than I did to learn La’u—”

 “I never understood why you even chose to learn La’u when you didn’t have to,” Kara interjects with a wink.

 Being ten years Kal’s senior means Kara was well into her La’u lessons by the time Kal started grasping the basics of Council, but he did hear his tutors rejoice about his prowess enough to imagine the sort of pains it must have caused Kara to learn it. Frequency-based languages are a struggle for anyone more used to words, but the fact that La’u uses deeper frequencies for more polite speech can hardly have helped Kara and her light voice. In any case, Kal himself struggled enough with the language that he cannot fully blame his cousin for her surprise.

 Still, the specifics of La’u are not the point, and Kal continues:

 “Hopefully they at least know what conjugations are, but we cannot be sure, and if they do not, it could add months of teaching in order for them to grasp the basics. And after that—”

 “After that?” Kara exclaims, but Kal is surveying his teaching plan again and only half paying attention to his cousin when he says:

 “Do not worry, I only intend to teach them Court Member forms, at first. That should serve them well enough until—”

 “Kal, I wasn’t—don’t you think you are taking on quite a lot of responsibility with this?”

 Something shrivels in Kal’s chest, a hopeful seed squashed to the ground by a distracted boot, and he hunches in on himself before he even realizes it. He does attempt to deflect the question with a shrug, but Kara would not be Kara if she could be satisfied with a non-answer of that sort.

 “Kal. You are a Citadel Prince. You are a busy man—”

 “I do believe you are confusing our timetables,” Kal mutters, unable to keep the bitterness from his voice.

 “Even so,” Kara insists, after clearing her throat, “your plants take up quite a lot of time and work, especially the nocturnal ones.”

 “I am well aware,” Kal tells the piece of paper he wrote Batman’s lesson plan on, “but even so, I am not half as busy as you are. I think I should be able to handle this.”

 With a shake of her head, Kara clicks her tongue and rises from the desk, walking to the disused elevator shaft that crosses Kal’s lab and knocking on it with her knuckles. “You know I believe in this project of yours, Kal. There is a reason I wanted to get involved. I know you will continue to give it your best effort—but I also worry you might be taking on responsibilities that are not yours.”

 “Batman is a guest under my family’s roof,” Kal points out, trying to keep his tone mild despite the sudden spike of irritation in his chest. “I do have responsibilities—”

 “There are plenty of tutors in our service—”

 “I’m quite aware,” Kal replies with more bitterness than he thought he had in store for the memory of his old teachers. “I remember my time with them, and I would rather spare Batman that.”

 “I know you did not enjoy your basic studies,” Kara starts, “but perhaps if you hadn’t been so difficult, things wouldn’t have been so hard for you.”

 Kal gapes for a moment, breath stolen by the sharp stab of pain in his chest at Kara’s words. She means well, he knows. And perhaps...perhaps, in some ways, she is right. It is possible—not probable, but possible—that Kal caving in to his teachers’ demands to specialize in the learnings of one Guild would have made his youth easier. It isn’t the done thing, after all, to ignore traditional limits the way Kal does. To defy genetic marking and engage in activities best left to those who were engineered for them. Still, what was he supposed to do?

 The very source of his fame is that Kal does not have any Guild markers in his genome. That he is, in fact, the only Kryptonian to have lived without them in centuries and, if the way his life has gone so far is to be taken as an example, for centuries to come. Why Vohc allowed him to be created—why Rao did not do him the mercy of never allowing his mother’s pregnancy to come to term at all—is a mystery for the ages. Still, the fact remains that he would never have been accepted in any Guild, no matter how well he studied. Believers, Workers, Thinkers…none of them would have wanted him. Why else would Kal’s teachers have scoffed when he asked if he would ever be allowed to learn any of the Guilds’ languages?

 It is most likely that Kara believes what she is saying. She has always been kind to Kal, and treated him as an equal, if something of an incomprehensible one. But the truth is that Kal’s tutors were ever unprepared for him—and he was a son of Krypton. How they would react to an alien, Kal would rather not find out. Not, in any case, if it means taking the risk of making Batman feel the way Kal did during his training.

 Taking a deep breath, Kal forces himself to straighten his shoulders as much as he can and, sidestepping the ever-delicate subject of his former tutors’ treatment of him, says, “Perhaps you are right. Even so, I have already invested time and effort in this project. I should very much like to bring it to fruition. I have talked with Batman—”

 “Is that his name?”

 “It is. Though we cannot know for sure whether they are a he—or if this concept even exists where they come from.”

 Kara concedes the point with a nod.

 “They seem to be an interesting person,” Kal continues. “I would like to get to know them better, but I cannot do that unless they learn to communicate with us and I spend some time with them. Teaching them Ellon seems like the ideal way to accomplish both of these things.

 Silence falls around them, and Kara fixes her gaze on Kal for a long time, a skeptical moue firmly set on her lips.

 “Very well,” she says at last, sighing in defeat the way she would never allow herself to if Kal were anyone else. It fills his answering sigh with gratitude. “Although I fail to understand what makes him—them—more interesting than any of the other aliens you have met and failed to befriend before.”

 She kisses Kal’s forehead before she goes, not noticing how still he has gone. He has to be still. He would cry if he weren’t, the shame of his own inadequacy catching up with him with the force of a laser blast. He tries to explain it later, only to himself—only in the privacy of his own head—but he can’t quite put it into words without finally breaking down into sobs: the way it felt to have Batman see him as a simple stranger, rather than a well-established failure .

 It is, sadly enough, a practiced routine to ignore Kryo’s bland inquiries about his health.

  It takes Kal some time, after his and Kara’s non-fight in his lab, to realize she must not have come to see him so they could discuss his newfound interest for the art of teaching. In fact, it takes him a full night of reflection—earning him several bruises and possibly a cracked rib that could otherwise have been easily avoided. Kara is busy all of the next morning, and Kal uses that time to sleep like the dead for a while longer, before he goes to visit her in the upper levels of the royal palace.

 “I understand,” she says when Kal is done apologizing, eyes on the floor as if he were still a little boy of ten trying to live up to his adult cousin’s expectations. “I suppose I wasn’t at my best myself.”

 Kal nods, struck mute now that he has said his piece, and waits for Kara to set what she was working on aside and add:

 “I wanted to ask what you thought of the Turn of the Year Ball. You did not dance much.”

 “You know I mislike it,” Kal says with an embarrassed shrug. “It accomplishes nothing save providing the court more fodder for gossip.”

 He glances up just in time to catch Kara’s knowing look, and feels himself blush. It shouldn’t be an embarrassment, for her to know what the court has to say about Kal. He has been a source of gossip for longer than he can remember, after all, and she must have been aware of this long before he ever began to suspect there was something wrong with him. Still, discussing a source of humiliation is not the same as being aware of its existence, and for a moment Kal finds himself quite unable to speak.

 “I understand,” Kara says with the same soft tone she always uses in these conversations of theirs. “I imagine you wanted some fresh air after that.”

 “I tried, but the main balcony was rather occupied,” Kal remarks, forcing himself to take his hands out from behind his back, only to twist them together again at his front. “Lady Ra-Ny was there.”

 “Well,” Kara says, her tone as mild as her eyes are sharp, “she does like her space. Did you see who else was there?”

 “Lord Ko Li-Van of Ul, Lord Nej Tar-Plak from Po—along with his lady wife—”

 “Ce-Qod? I thought she was too sickly to travel.”

 Kal gives a nonchalant shrug, dragging his eyes back down to the ground, heart hammering in his chest.

 “So did several others in their assembly,” he says. “One must assume she made an effort for the sake of the opportunity to meet your father.”

 “Indeed,” Kara replies, thoughtful.

 Kal glances up and finds her looking down at her work, though her pen hand is not moving.

 “It seems quite a lot of Worker Princes and Princesses were hoping for the honor of meeting our king, this week. One can only wonder why.”

 She looks up then, straight into Kal’s eyes, and he shrugs.

 “Perhaps they were simply hoping to present him with well-wishing gifts for the Turn of the Year. I did hear some of them trade ideas among themselves. I believe Shadow’s limbs were invoked more than once; or, failing that, some form of garment patterned with Dark Suns.”

 “Well, thank you, Kal,” Kara tells him after a long silence, features and shoulders as stiff as stone. “You always do pick up the best gossip.”

 Kal, who knows the way his cousin looks when she needs to think on something, nods, and makes his way back to his family’s level of the palace.

  Once he is back in his family’s dwellings, Kal decides it would be best not to put off his teaching project. The prospect of approaching Batman might be mildly terrifying—though the memory of their willingness to tolerate Kal helps—but it is a necessary step for anything to happen. Besides, teaching or no teaching, it would not do to leave Batman to their own devices like an inconvenient visitor one tries to get rid of, having been followed home.

 He finds Batman, after some searching, in one of the smaller libraries of the palace, not too far from the guests’ quarters. Neither the apartments nor the library have seen much use in many years, and the silence around them is enough to set Kal’s nerves on alert, but Batman looks unbothered by it. They've taken a seat by one of the curved windows, relaxed pose incongruous in contrast to the stiffness of their clothes—perhaps Kal should see about having something else made for them—with a book on their lap and something close to a scowl on their mouth.

 Kal steps closer, and recognizes the cover of The Adventures of Flamebird . The character is a rather popular hero in El legend: a servant of Rao who went around the world helping those they could—for their gender was never revealed, if indeed they had even had one—and did so well on their quest that the Sun God himself gave them a home atop the highest mountain of the world and allowed them to call themselves Xen-El: Xen of the light, under the protection of the Helper God himself. The story itself was nothing truly original, merely a collection of legends that had lived in El for millennia before Kal’s great grandparents were even conceived...but Kal spent many a solitary hour poring over this book, devouring Flamebird’s adventures, their discovery, and their friendship with Nightwing, who rose in service of Vohc and became the first true Thinker of Krypton.

 The book itself, in fact, shows the wear of such a love. It is creased and bent where multiple sets of hands were cajoled into holding it open for Kal...and later on, from many instances of bringing it along on official travels or solitary explorations, until the order was finally given to find it a home in the guests’ library. Kal’s lips twist with the memories. There are entire sentences of the work still carved into his mind. They are not, unfortunately, the ones his parents wanted him to learn—these were lost to time, but Kal retains the vague impression of certitude coming from them, the edge of despair creeping into their voices until they could no longer cling to the hope that Kal would, one day, reveal himself as Rao’s heir and lead El back to its former glory. Nonetheless, some parts of this book Kal could recite without looking at them, and he cannot help but smile when he sees such a beloved item in the hands of someone he hopes to come to know and respect in the future.

 Batman must be attempting to teach themselves Ellon with this book. It is a commendable effort, and something Kal might have attempted in their situation, but if the alien’s face is anything to go by the experiment is not quite yielding the expected results. Then again, as far as Kal knows, Krypton’s alphabet is quite unique in the galaxy, so unless Batman is somehow familiar with something similar, it is hardly a surprise that they are finding it hard to make sense of.

 Stepping closer, Kal clears his throat and says, “I might be able to help with that.”

 It is unclear whether Batman was already aware of Kal’s presence or if they simply have commendable control of their body’s reactions. Either way, they give no sign of surprise that Kal can see. The window does offer quite the vantage point over the library, it is true. Its round frame dominates a circular room, covered floor to ceiling with the yields of thousands of years of book collecting. The truly rare editions, made of organic fibers rather than the synthetic paper everyone uses nowadays, are of course stored in the master library. Still, this particular collection is nothing to blush at, and Kal inhales the dusty smell of many books collected together with a form of reverence, even as he waits for Batman’s response.

 The alien, for their part, hasn’t moved at all since Kal entered, as if waiting to see what might happen next. The image puts Kal in mind of a predator surveying its hunting ground...although, perhaps, with more benevolence than most. It would seem...unlikely, to most, for a royal guest to keep track of people’s comings and goings around here. Then again, those same people would also deem it impossible for Kal to notice half as much as he does, and so he does not entirely dismiss the possibility.

 He endures Batman’s scrutiny instead, resisting the urge to flush and hunch in on himself even further than he already does. Thankfully, after a long moment of contemplation, Batman says something in their own language—Kal could slap himself for expecting anything more, really. Of course, Batman wouldn’t be able to answer. That is the entire point of this conversation, isn’t it? Rao, Kal. Keep up.

 “I would,” Kal starts, and winces again. Simple words, in this situation, must be best. He tries again: “I want to help you speak Ellon.”

 Batman stays silent again, the cowl obscuring their expression in a way that leaves Kal at a complete loss. He does not have the strength to wait as long as he did the first time around, though, and so he steps forward, points at The Adventures of Flamebird and its colorful pages, and says, “This is a book.”

 He might, possibly, have imagined the way Batman’s lips quirk into the not-quite-smile Kal is beginning to suspect is their best approximation of an encouraging expression. Regardless, no rebuttal or rejection comes, and Kal allows himself to sigh in relief when Batman dutifully repeats the word. Then, Batman gestures for Kal to sit down next to them and Kal takes a place on the windowsill with rather more giddy enthusiasm than he’d expected to feel.

 “May I?” he asks, hand hovering over the book.

 He waits for Batman to push the collection into his hand and flips through the pages to the beginning of Flamebird and the Secret Lake . There, he points at the illustration and says:

 “This is water.”

 “Water,” Batman repeats with a small nod.

 Kal beams at them before he can think better of it, then flips through a few more pages to the part where Flamebird serves one of the old Lords of Krypton to prevent a servant from losing their place in the palace; points at the picture of a glass, and asks:

 “What is this?”

 “This is a glass,” Batman says.

 Kal grins again, and goes through several more illustrations, naming objects and checking back on Batman’s memory at regular intervals. It is easy to find the material he needs, the book so beloved it feels like he might be able to find specific pages without even looking. At some point, he drops it in his excitement, and thanks Batman when they pick it up for him, but otherwise a solid half hour is spent on nothing but new vocabulary. Until, that is, Kal realizes he cannot possibly expect Batman to memorize all of this without any sort of support.

 He manages to refrain from apologizing—although only because knows Batman would not understand the words—as he rises from his seat and goes to fetch Batman something to write on. He is not, technically, supposed to use the blank books stored at the bottom of the shelves, but then no one ever does, and he does not think they have been counted even once since he was born. He finds one with a black cover and the El coat of arms in silver embossing on the front, the lined pages inside ideal for a long list of vocabulary, and brings it back up to the windowsill.

 “Thank you,” Batman says, and Kal gasps and blanches.

 “Oh Rao, no, no! You can’t address me this way, you have no idea how much trouble—”

 Kal cuts himself off, face and neck heated enough to cook on them. Of course Batman has no idea what they've done. Kal should have anticipated this, even: they did run into this particular problem before. Kal...well, he does not mind what is technically disrespect. Quite the contrary, in fact. But others? Oh, others definitely will mind, quick though they are to forget Kal is a Citadel Prince when their lust for gossip overtakes them. Batman, of course, is unaware of the problem, and does not have enough understanding of Ellon for Kal to explain it to them as of yet, not without running the risk of confusing them for a long time to come—which means the situation calls for some social gymnastics.

 So, Batman is an alien. In theory, this would make them lower-ranked than any Kryptonian, let alone an Ellon in their own Principality. They are, however, also a guest of the royal family, however reluctant their hosts. This, in turn, will protect them from quite a lot of negative reactions, despite Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van’s disgrace. Servants’ modes of speaking are, of course, quite out of the question; but Batman cannot be allowed to address Citadel Lords and Ladies like equals either, or they will end up in a world of trouble. Which means they probably ought to talk like a Mountain Lord then, or at least as if close to them in status. It is, after all, unlikely that they will run into anyone ranking any lower than that while they are staying in the palace, and if they are to visit other parts of El...well, hopefully, they will wait until they can communicate better before they attempt it.

 “Let’s try again,” Kal offers, once his grammar is decided. “’Thank you’.”

 “Thank you,” Batman repeats, something in the way they move making Kal wonder if they have picked up on some of the social cues involved.

 Regardless, they do not seem eager to question the new, quite different version of the phrase, and Kal beams again, hard enough to push the embarrassment of his earlier mistake almost out of his mind. He ignores the lingering traces of it for the time being in order to pull Batman’s notebook open, pen a rapid sketch of a glass in the left hand margin, and label the drawing in his most careful schoolboy handwriting. He hands Batman the pen when they tap his wrist, and repeats the word when asked, impressed when Batman adds notes in what looks like two different alphabets of their home world.

 They archive the rest of what Batman has learned so far in the same manner, Kal flipping through the pages of The Adventures of Flamebird between words, finding his favorite illustrations without much effort, even though it has been years. After the words come sentences, and Batman puts them through the same process as the rest, writing down both the way they are to be pronounced and what Kal assumes is a translation below the Kryptonian letters. Then, after a while, Batman speaks again, in that strange language of theirs.

 Kal turns back to them, only for them to point down at the book and repeat whatever they were saying. The words, obviously, are entirely opaque, but the sentiment behind them seems easy to interpret, and Kal decides to go out on a limb in order to answer.

 “This is one of my favorite books.”

 He clutches the book to his chest with a wider smile than he remembers sporting in years, excited to meet someone whose reaction to the stories does not range from fond amusement to open disinterest for a collection of children’s tales.

 “Favorite books,” Batman repeats, and Kal beams again, closing the book to point at the cover.

 “They are Flamebird,” he tells Batman. “The legends say they were the very first El of Krypton.”

 Batman looks—not invested in the topic, perhaps, but mildly interested, if their mouth is any indication. No more disinterested than before, at any rate. And Kal—Kal has had few occasions to discuss a book he is passionate about in his life, his family not much for fiction. This, most likely, explains how he manages to spend over three hours talking Batman’s ears off about the book and why, in the end, even the mortifying certitude he must have bored the alien almost to tears isn’t quite enough to prevent him from seeking their company the next day.

  Batman progresses much faster than Kal expected. It takes them only two weeks to remember the numerous words Kal plied them with during their first lesson—something of a mistake, perhaps, to throw so many words at them and expect they would remember them all so soon—and then only about a week after that to grow quite at ease in asking for what they need at the dining table. Where before Kal used to remain silent while his parents or the rest of his family discussed one topic or another, he is now able to put this time to good use helping Batman improve their mastery of Ellon with an enthusiasm he does not remember feeling for the rest of his work before.

 He does not neglect his studies, of course, and Kara eventually stops feeling the need to ask if he is still fit to take care of his nocturnal plants. He does, however, spend most of his afternoons in the guests’ library with Batman, learning bits and pieces of Batman’s language through their alphabet of sound, and engaging in more and more complex discussions about Flamebird and the various legends surrounding them.

 He convinces Batman to let themselves be measured—with their uniform on—during the second week, and presents them with a black and cowled variation on the latest fads in Ellon fashion, the slashed sleeves of their new tunic opening up to reveal lighter gray underneath, and the strange motif of Batman’s original outfit embossed on a breastplate similar to what even Kal has taken to wearing on a regular basis.

 “Thank you,” Batman says when they receive the gift, although Kal is rather unsurprised to find their expression as mild as ever.

 “You are quite welcome,” he says. “I know the old one is cleaned every night, but I also know how uncomfortable it can be to wear the same thing every day.”

 He cannot be sure Batman truly glances up at him at the words, covered as their face is, but he does get the impression of it nonetheless. They have, after all, been spending almost all their time together these days—save for the one evening his uncle received a small group of Worker Princes and Princesses in the Stateroom of Peace, and Kal put his family’s absence to good use, excusing himself early to work on his nocturnal specimens. Such proximity makes it easier to understand someone’s expression, limited though their shared vocabulary may be, and so Kal is, perhaps, not caught as wholly off guard as he could have been when Batman asks, “Is this Nightwing?”

 Despite having anticipated the question, Kal blushes. It is one thing to draw inspiration from a legendary hero for a friend’s outfit, it is quite another to have them pick up on it. Not that Kal is too concerned about anyone else understanding the reference, seeing as Nightwing had fallen into disrepute long before he was born.

 “Perhaps,” he hedges, though it does not feel like Batman believes him.

 Nightwing was once as popular a legendary character as Flamebird, at least in El. He was, after all, the very first Thinker, and Thinkers are El’s favored Guild. Many Els have been engineered to be Thinkers in the past, and Kal’s family members are no exception. Why, his father even married into his own Guild, a rather unusual choice for royals. But where Nightwing, and his patron God Vohc, was once revered and respected as a leader of the people and a Builder of great things, later centuries turned him from ambitious to proud, from charismatic to authoritarian, from an instigator of beneficial change to an agent of chaos.

 In El, at least, it is Rao who now presides over the Gods, guiding them with his light to follow the rituals set thousands of years before by early Ellons. Flamebird, too timid and too tangled in the story of Nightwing, has also been largely relegated to the role of fairytale character, following in Rao’s footsteps with unwavering loyalty and teaching the young how to make their parents proud. A worthy goal, Jor-El used to say when Kal was little; and Kal’s destiny, his mother would add. To make them proud. Not that it did them—or Kal—any good but then the future is a hard thing to predict, and Kal did not turn out to resemble Rao in the slightest.

It was, perhaps, quite inevitable that Kal would never meet anyone who shared his preference for the older versions of the tales.

 “I like it,” Batman says at last.

 The tears catching in Kal’s throat are a surprise but he does, thankfully, manage to keep them from falling.

  Weeks turn into a month, and then another beyond that. Batman continues to progress in Ellon at astonishing speed, his—not their, as he tells Kal at the end of his first month on Krypton—ability to pick up on a word’s meaning and the complex grammatical structures of Ellon beyond anything Kal has ever heard of. Not, of course, that many people are willing to discuss much of their lives with him, language learning included, but still. He did read a few books on the theory of language acquisition, after all, and from what he sees either Batman comes from an especially quick-witted species, or he is even more exceptional than Kal suspected.

 Eventually, Kal’s parents start talking to him a little. Nothing more than idle conversation in between more important errands, but it is still progress, and an occasion for Batman to practice his skills with someone other than Kal. It...worries Kal, in the beginning. A selfish reaction, he knows—but Batman is smart, with a dry sense of humor Kal can’t help but grin at, and prone to engage in the sort of verbal sparring that makes Kal feel more alive, somehow. Talking to him—existing next to him—is a breath of fresh air. It is the very first time Kal has met someone who doesn't merely tolerate him, but rather, for some reason, seems to appreciate him.

 So it is...understandable, perhaps, if not honorable, that he fears losing this once Jor and Lara start addressing Batman over the dining table. He won’t do anything to stop it, of course. Knows better than to keep someone he has come to care for more than he ever planned to from making new friends and building himself a life on Krypton and in El...but there is still a part of him that sighs in relief once it becomes obvious something about the Prince and Princess of El’s conversation displeases Batman. Not much. Not enough for him to shun them entirely. Just—just enough for Kal to pick up on it and feel selfishly, shamefully glad.

 Kal is, in all honesty, not as good a person as he wishes he could be.

 Nevertheless, Batman does not desert Kal, and when the time comes for him to be invited to one of King Jor’s minor receptions, he appears on Kal’s doorstep long before they are to join the rest of the palace’s occupants for the descent into the Stateroom.

 He looks—well, Kal has always known Batman looked good, even in the strange, almost goofy outfit he brought from this Earth of his. Shoulders like his cannot be disguised by what is clearly thought of as a set of armor. The softer fabrics of El’s ceremonial outfits, however, the elegant work of the decorative breastplate and the geometrical embroideries—all of these combine to reveal a body no one would have to blush at. A body Kal may well be thinking of a tad more often than he is supposed to, hidden as it is behind its layers of clothes.

 “I would offer my assistance,” Kal says when he has made sure he isn’t staring, “but it seems to me like you have everything under control.”

 “Contrary to what everyone seems to think, there are things I am quite able to handle on this planet.”

 Kal chuckles despite himself, and hides the smile that lingers on his face by busying himself with the fastenings of his tunic. It has only been a week since Batman started talking to him as an equal and while Kal should, by all accounts, maintain a proper distance between him and someone so insignificant in Kryptonian society, he finds he does not want to. What does it matter, that Batman is a nobody from nowhere, if he is Kal’s friend?

 “Well, the outfit suits you well,” Kal tells Batman as he finishes putting his breastplate in place.

 “Black does seem to be my color,” Batman agrees, a dry blankness to his tone that makes Kal smile again, “even when everyone else satisfies themselves with the darkest khaki s I’ve ever seen.”

 It takes a bit of time for Kal to understand what khaki means and provide a decent translation. When that is done, though, he cannot help but agree with Batman as to the rather monochromatic state of Kryptonian fashion. Most fabrics that Kal is familiar with are dark and muted, as if the light had been leached out of them, so that the solid black and gray of Batman’s outfits seem almost bright by comparison. It is a good look on his friend, though, and Kal finds himself toying with the idea of saying so as they move to join the rest of his family at the entrance to the Way Down.

 “It is a fancier name than it needs,” Kal admits, rubbing at his neck in embarrassment, once Batman asks about it. “But it is the only way to reach the Stateroom of Peace from here, so….”

 “The only way?”

 “There are the service elevators, I suppose,” Kal says with a shrug.

 There used to be five of those, actually, disseminated at various points around the palace, until the lower botany labs were built and one of the shafts had to be closed; one of Kal’s ancestors disliked the coming and going of servants so close to them. Nowadays the serving staff use the four remaining—small and uncomfortable—service shafts, deliveries are made through a specific balcony, and Kal’s family uses the Way Down, voices echoing against the room-wide walls of polished metal. The feeling of it is rather like sitting in an egg meant to welcome forty adult Kryptonians, and Kal cannot help but wonder how much of his discomfort every time he goes down rests on that particular architectural choice and how much is simply due to what he knows he will have to face downstairs.

 “You live in a fortress,” Batman says after a pause.

 His gaze is still firmly set forward, his shoulders unmoved. Yet there is something in his tone that squeezes at Kal’s heart, a sort of tightness he isn’t sure he can figure out on his own. It leaves him nervous and tense, more hunched than he would like as he fiddles with the hems of his sleeves.

 His father, when he notices it, pulls Kal's hands apart without a word.

 “It is unbecoming,” Kal’s mother says with a shake of her head. “You must rid yourself of this habit, Kal.”

 Kal leaves his cuffs alone and mumbles an apology, though he can’t help but try and explain himself.

 “No one is as fond of these occasions as they would like to appear,” Jor-El replies as the seven of them step into the elevator, “but you cannot shame our House with that sort of ridiculous behavior.”

 Resisting the urge to wrap his arms around his midsection—a much bigger embarrassment than simple fiddling—Kal nods at the ground. It is, in all honesty, a good thing that Batman is here. Kal has no desire for his friend to realize how pathetic he can be just yet—or perhaps ever—and so it is easier to keep his shoulders straight than it would usually be. Besides, while Kal has no illusion about the interest people may find in him—very little, if any—Batman still hasn’t tired of him. In fact, the alien has treated him with something not unlike a form of fondness, like tolerating a faulty but well-worn hunit. It isn’t much. Kal knows it isn’t much. It is, however, better than he remembers ever knowing elsewhere, and it helps him keep his self-consciousness at bay as he takes a small step away from his family and toward Batman.

 They both stay quiet during the ride down, Batman having learned by now not to expect too much conversation from Kal’s parents. Brilliant scientists they may both be, but they are not teachers, nor very patient. And so, despite the keenness of Batman’s mind, behind that strange cowl of his, he has been forced to content with Kal as his only company...until, that is, rumors of his progress reached the Citadel Lord and Ladies, and he was invited to this latest function.

 “Are you always this nervous?” Batman asks just before they exit the elevator.

 Kal would like to have the conversational skill and the confidence to answer ‘often enough’, but in truth it is not that much of an exaggeration to say, “Yes.”

 Batman, thankfully, is not prone to clicking his tongue, shaking his head or, indeed, acknowledging his emotions or opinions in any voluntary way at all. This is good, because while Kal is slowly learning to read the alien—the man, he should probably call him—it makes it easier to pretend Batman doesn’t think he is being ridiculous for this. Kal squares his shoulders instead, breathing in and bracing himself just as the doors to the Stateroom open and the members of the royal family are introduced by order of importance.

 The Stateroom, far too vast for this fairly intimate assembly, has been divided in two for the night. At the front, closest to the exit of the Way Down, stands the royal table, at which Batman, Kal, and the rest of the family will sit on display for all the court to see for the duration of dinner. Then the assembly will move to the back of the room for the evening’s first dance—a mandatory exercise, Kal has been informed—and the other points of interest. There are professional dancers, two magicians, three jugglers, and one woman whose business is in fire; Kal would rather spend the evening admiring them all than dance for even a few minutes, but that is, unfortunately, not an option.

 By Kal’s side, Batman seems decidedly unperturbed by the crowd, the noise, and the myriad of occasions one has to embarrass themselves in this sort of public setting. He moves the way he has always done, head held high as a king’s, back unbowed, step unafraid. He behaves, in fact, more like a prince than Kal knows how to.

 As soon as the first nobles have paid their respects to the king and come to engage the mysterious resident of the palace, Batman slips into an almost liquid version of himself. His mouth stretches into a smile, the set of his shoulders mellows, and even his voice softens enough to become almost unrecognizable. It is like watching the man become another part of himself entirely, and Kal would gape if he were not as aware of their audience as he is.

 He follows Batman at a distance instead, watching him charm Citadel Lord after Citadel Lady, easy and practiced despite the still-obvious gaps in his vocabulary. It is a talent Kal could never cultivate, and a deep sense of shame settles in his chest, almost obscuring the pride he feels in his friend’s talent. The assembly, predictably enough, pays him little mind. Kal is used to that treatment, however, and while it is never pleasant it is easier, with Batman here, to push past the stopping power of indifferent disdain and listen to the gossip circulating in the room.

 If, that is, multiple talks of financial transactions can be considered gossip. Kal is...too well-known as an incompetent to join any of the conversation, but mining projects seem to be all the rage in El, and more than one Lord or Lady is already considering what to do for the king’s birthday, in six months’ time.

 Slowly, Kal trails Batman through the dining half of the Stateroom, wondering if this was how Kara felt when she was first allowed in polite society twenty-five years ago. They make small talk with many people, Batman coming up with a new way of calling Krypton grandiose for each pair of ears that would not accept anything less, and answering countless variations of the question: “What is your favorite thing in El?”

 No one, Kal notices, asks whether Batman misses his home planet at all. Not that he would answer—in Kal's experience, attempts to make the man open up about his emotions go about as well as punching the wall of the Citadel and expecting a door to open. Still, Kal cannot help but think the asking of that question matters, perhaps even as much as the answer. He might be biased, of course. Trying to bolster his own importance. Even so, he is glad he had the mind to ask this, at least once.

 They make their way back to the front of the room, where the dining bell will soon call them and the rest of the royals. Cold golden light shines over the room in waves, like a winter sun filtered through water. It gives the whole scene an eerie look, as if seen in a dream, though Kal does not remember it feeling like this before. Eventually, he and this mellowed version of Batman catch up to a small group composed of Kal’s family, all caught in conversation with General Dru-Zod.

 “You don’t like him?” Batman asks, tone flat enough to almost turn it into an affirmation.

 “I don’t believe he is very fond of me either,” Kal mutters in return, trying and failing to sidestep the question.

 He is under no illusion that Batman missed the evasion, of course. Still, the man has the kindness not to laugh at the childish sentiment, though Kal can’t help but feel like he wants to. Batman approaches the conversational circle, but Kal knows where his own place in this particular configuration is and stands by a nearby table instead, just far enough behind his parents to affect ignorance should any courtly eye wander his way. He can’t be sure Batman glancing at him through the lenses of his cowl is anything more than a figment of his imagination, but he does give a little shrug just the same. Just in case. It is good, after all, for Batman to have more interesting things to do than content himself with Kal’s company all day. This evening will do him good, and if it means he makes better friends than Kal in the process, well, it will have—it will be alright. Perfectly fine.

 As it is, though, none of the speakers pay Batman much attention, and Kal watches General Dru-Zod as he clinks his glass against Zor-El’s first, and Kara’s second.

 “To a most excellent deal,” he says.

 The small circle sips on what Kal assumes is one of the Zodri wines the general is so fond of, unbothered by Batman’s empty hands. The silence settles around them as they savor the taste, Kal’s uncle swishing the wine around his mouth before declaring it absolutely delicious. Kara sways after her second sip, closing her eyes and saying, “Forgive me, this is perhaps a little strong,” as if Kal hadn’t seen her drink men twice her size under a table.

 “Strong wine for a strong future,” Dru-Zod replies, self-assured. “This proposition is a boon from the Gods!”

 “This proposition hasn’t been signed yet,” Kal’s mother counters in a quiet, yet firm voice.

 Around her, the air tenses. Batman, caught between her and Dru-Zod’s piercing gaze, remains unmoved, while Kal’s shoulders bunch together even as he looks away. He knows these people’s faces well enough by now: there is no need for him to look at them to imagine the pursing of his cousin’s lips, the frown on his aunt’s face. The tightness of his uncle’s jaw when he hisses, “Sister.”

 “I am but speaking the truth,” Lara replies, still in an undertone. “You and all your Laborer friends may rejoice all you want, but none of your pretty gifts will amount to anything if Tsiahm-Lo changes his mind at the last second.”

 “Gifts have nothing to do with his decision,” Kal’s aunt replies in a mild, somewhat miffed tone. “His Majesty is perfectly capable of making his own choices, and no one here has any close contact with him.”

 “Not directly,” Kara remarks.

 Kal almost hears the air grow tense after her words. He cannot fathom Batman’s expression has changed much...nor that anyone else looks very pleased. Not with the heaviness of the silence around them. Still, he keeps his eyes turned away from his family, sweeping in wide arcs over the Stateroom and its crowd of milling nobility, the performers entertaining the crowd until the royal family finally feels the need to eat. Lady Ona-Set, robes swishing around her, wanders between tables, no doubt lamenting the excessively modern arrangements of cutlery.

 “Nevertheless,” Jor says with a tone of finality, “it would do Tsiahm-Lo good, rethinking his position. The Melokariel Proposition is pure folly, and my father—”

 Lady Ona-Set must have stirred some dust: something tickles at Kal’s nose and he finds himself sneezing three times in rapid succession.

 “Perhaps we should not speak of this where a foreigner can hear,” Kara interrupts Jor, switching to Council.

 “Perhaps you are right,” Dru-Zod replies, “although there is nothing much more to be discussed. Krypton has been stagnating for far too long, and this project will serve to revive it.”

 “You are a fool if you believe that,” Jor retorts with enough feeling to turn Kal’s head towards him, “and so are the Wise—”

 “Jor!” Zor and Lara hiss at the same time.

 On his chair, Kal stiffens. It is not done, to openly disagree with the Wise Council. Their hearing is quite keen and their new militia, specifically trained in Kandor to help unify the planet under one rule, has lengthened the reach of their arm. El holds some power in Krypton’s politics and retains its own police force, still—as does Zod and the distant Principality of Quod—but even Kal has heard whispers of how briefly prisoners taken by the Council’s militia remain in Ellon prisons. When, that is, they visit them at all. Even for royals, it is not done, to openly disagree with the Wise Council.

 For a moment, Kal thinks his family members will attempt to resurrect the topic and keep the conversation going. They spend a long time looking pensively at their glasses instead and then, without a word, the king leads his entourage up to the main table.

 The meal starts quietly enough, but the conversation on Kal’s right picks up again by the time the first dishes are brought out. To his left, Batman eyes the various foods with a tight pinch to his lips, and Kal smiles, even as he points out his favorites as well as one thing he is not very fond of but believes Batman might enjoy. They are well into the meal—in silence, for Batman is not one for idle chatter—when Batman asks, “What does your grandfather have to do with the Melokariel Proposition?”

 Kal almost chokes on his glass of water, and has to reach for a napkin with some urgency to cover the blunder. He is flushing, he knows it, and his heart is pounding hard when he answers with a question of his own.

 “Whatever do you mean?”

 “Your grandfather,” Batman repeats without looking away from his food, perfect profile insufficient for Kal to figure out what he is thinking. “Your family was talking about the Melokariel Proposition earlier. Your grandfather was mentioned, but I fail to understand how he is related to it.”

 For the barest moment, Kal gapes. He is, after all, widely known for his disinterest in the Melokariel Proposition, and his utter inability to change that fact. That Batman would have questions about it had never crossed his mind, let alone that he would come to Kal of all people for answers.

 “I’m afraid,” he says with some difficulty, cheeks burning with too-familiar shame, “you misunderstand me. I meant I don’t know what the Melokariel Proposition is.”

 Batman’s head turns toward him. The man’s eyes are invisible, and yet Kal still wishes he could squirm away from them.

 “The Melokariel Proposition,” Batman repeats. “I have been here more than two and a half months, and I’ve heard it discussed at least twice a week since then.”

 “Then,” Kal admits, shoulders drooping almost of their own accord, “you have a better mind for these sorts of things than I do.”

 There is no change in Batman’s posture, no indication in his expression or on his face that what he has just heard displeased him. This does not in any way prevent Kal from feeling like a great divide has suddenly opened up between them.

  Kal collapses at the door to the elevator shaft in his labs with a grunt of relief, and takes a couple of minutes to get his breathing back under control. His outfit rearranges into more palace-appropriate garments with a tickle, the slick feeling of dirty water and blood sending his stomach reeling. He wishes sometimes that he could just use one of the regular elevators for these outings of his. The scrutiny that would bring him, however...it would be ill advised, at best. And an unnecessary complication besides. So, abandoned shaft it is, though the necessity of the scheme does not prevent Kal from snorting, from time to time, as he tries to picture his parents’ expressions should they learn of this habit of his.

 “Avoiding servants?” Kryo asks when Kal slowly pushes himself to his feet.

��“Always a success,” Kal replies, and does not watch Kryo bob up and down in acknowledgment.

 His entire body is sorer than it has been a while, bruises growing on top of bruises. Tonight was not a good night. Multiple incidents; he’ll have to tell his family tomorrow. A dozen plants dead. Significant structural damage—well, no, that he can’t share. They would want to see it if he did, and it isn’t as though Kal could show them. In any case, it will be at least three days until Kal can afford to leave his work again.

 Three days might be pushing his luck a little, Kal knows. Two would arouse less suspicion. But the truth is, this is not an effort Kal is willing to expend, not when his only wish is to lie down and sleep for an entire week undisturbed. He may have to, at some point—Batman still has questions about the workings of El in particular and Krypton in general, and Kal is still the only one willing to answer him. Even that, though, has lost quite a lot of its appeal.

 Teaching Batman about his surroundings used to be a breath of fresh air, a dream of spring in the middle of winter. Ever since the ball, though, Batman has been—it feels like something broke. And—it makes sense. Somewhat. Kal was—he has never been an interesting person to begin with. A subject of morbid fascination, maybe. A specimen for the study of Krypton’s society. A cautionary tale for those foolish enough to dream of following into Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van’s hubris-filled footsteps, reminding them that wishing for Krypton’s next great leader will only get them someone like Kal.

 An interesting person, though? Not really.

 The thought twists at Kal’s gut, but he swallows the hard truth nonetheless. Tears won’t change things that are, and so he gulps them down and makes himself face the facts while he walks to the showers at the back of the labs. He is uninteresting. That, he knew. But at the very least, Batman used to find him—useful. Tolerable, maybe. A companion of limited worth, but still preferable to complete solitude and then...well, then, Kal did not see Batman for almost two weeks.

 Three weeks in, and they have finally resumed their usual study sessions, but it is easy to see the tone of them has shifted. There are as many questions as there have ever been, as many topics to touch upon. Batman still teaches whatever English Kal is willing to learn. But where before these moments flowed like long exchanges between friends, it seems to Kal Batman is now merely perusing a list of references, gathering information to examine it at a later date. Seeking pointers to guide his solitary studies rather than answers from someone he trusts. It is—it makes sense. Kal should have known it would happen. Batman has figured him out and moved on. He should have known. He should have. He should.

 But he did not, and tonight more than ever the thought twists inside him, clawing at his throat and the corners of his eyes in a way it hasn’t in the three months and some weeks since Batman crash-landed on Krypton.

 It is no use, spending so much time thinking of this. Kal knows this, and tries to push the thoughts out of his mind as he steps under the shower. Clearly, Batman was unwilling to bother with someone uninterested by the topic of the Melokariel Proposition. That is that; no more to say on the subject.

 Although it does, of course, beg the question of why Batman has become so invested in that project in the first place. What does an alien who did not even come from this galaxy care about a strictly Kryptonian affair? Everyone, after all, keeps repeating the truth that no neighboring planet will be affected, let alone Batman’s distant and unknown solar system. Why, then, has the man developed such curiosity about it? That he did not know of Krypton’s existence even while passing by it close enough to crash on it after an accident, Kal can believe. Light-speed spacecrafts are all equipped with automated pilots, and Batman did say he was traveling on business, attempting to reach friends who had required his help. The lack of help, too, is unsurprising. Batman did not have any way to communicate for a long time, and no one—not even Kal, he realizes, wincing—thought to offer help in getting him back home.

 But why would he grow so passionate about the Melokariel Proposition as to reject Kal on the sole basis of his lack of interest in it?

 “Would you like me to order some breakfast to be brought up?” Kryo asks when Kal emerges from his shower in a hurry and immediately shoves himself into his now-anthracite tunic.

 “In two hours, please,” Kal replies. “I have something to do, first.”

 It must be the space making him paranoid. It must be. There is too much of an echo, down there, too much darkness, like a cave of insanely regular proportions. Still, the doubt clings to Kal’s skin as he strides across the space, drooping leaves brushing at his face and arms as he goes on, wishing desperately for answers—or, failing that, for some way to stop thinking altogether...two things he might, in fact, be able to find in the same place.

 The Adventures of Flamebird has always been a source of comfort to him, well-worn pages and cover a soothing sight of their own by now. It would do him good to hold it, to lose himself in the myriad of tales it contains and the distant, unknowable lands of Krypton in its earliest days. It would ease his mind; soothe him enough, perhaps, to let him sleep and forget the night’s casualties, at least long enough to survive. And since the book has been residing in Batman’s bedchamber for several weeks now, perhaps Kal will manage to seize whatever feeble courage he has and ask some of the questions that, he can tell, will not leave him alone otherwise.

 He has no desire to do it. Kal is many things, but brave is not one of them, and the fear of losing whatever shreds of Batman’s friendship he still has stops him in his tracks at the bifurcation between the guests’ quarters and the royal apartments. He is, however, a Prince of El. Not the most glorious of them, and not a particularly good one, either; but if he suspects something strange is going on in the palace, it is his duty to examine it. He must do this, and he must do this fairly—he cannot let his desire for friendship blind him to whatever reasons Batman might have to research a planet-wide project involving so much energy...and if those reasons come with ill intent, then Kal will have to stop the man. Friend or no.

 Kal knows his duty, he truly does, but he cannot deny that relief washes over him, a few minutes later, when Batman does not answer the knock on his door. For a brief moment, the urge to forget about all of this seizes him, and he almost turns back. But tonight has been a bad night, and a dozen pe—plants have been lost by his fault. Four of them only saplings. He should have—done many things. He did not, and now they are lost, and that knowledge is what spurs him on to push Batman’s door open. The book can wait, though Kal will miss its presence tonight; his questions cannot.

 Making no noise across the carpeted floor is an easy feat, with shoes as light and supple as socks. Even then Kal is wary. Batman, he has learned, sleeps lightly. And, these days, most likely in short stretches. The first, Batman has admitted to him directly. The second, Kal is forced to assume from what he has seen of the man. He naps at random times, and is irritated and bad-tempered when left to sleep longer than he meant to. He has the uncanny ability to fall asleep anywhere, without needing to adopt an even vaguely horizontal position. All of these are symptoms Kal recognizes from his own poor sleeping habits, ways to get some rest between his nightly work and the demands of a princely life. It is neither healthy nor agreeable, but Kal has grown used to it, and he is at least capable of recognizing the signs of it in another, when faced with them.

 All of this, of course, can mean only one thing: something has come to disrupt Batman’s sleeping patterns since he distanced himself from Kal. Something that probably can’t  be the fault of any other Kryptonian, for Kal is still the only one to speak to Batman with any regularity, and he knows perfectly well no work was given to the man besides making sure he does not accidentally insult his hosts, or his hosts’ guests. The question now is to find out what, exactly, that something is.

 Kal, stomach heavy as a stone, crosses from Batman’s living quarters into his bedchamber without a sound, relieved to find the man asleep with his back to the door. He is snoring, too, soft and regular, and Kal allows himself a relieved breath before he creeps closer, knowing Batman well enough by now to realize nothing of importance in his Kryptonian life will be kept out of his reach.

 Batman’s Earth outfit rests on a dummy by the bedside, mended torso, yellow belt and all. To the right of that, immediately left of the bed, the crimson glow of the moon washes over a pile of books—some Kal recognizes, some he doesn’t—with some kind of sharp-looking weapon and, at the top, a bracelet of some kind sporting the all-too-familiar symbol of the Green Lanterns. Kal can’t help but stare at it for far longer than he should before he grabs it, shoves it into a brand-new inside pocket of his tunic, and has to put all his focus into exiting as quietly as he came in.

 He stops outside of Batman’s quarters for a moment, grateful for Kryo and its never ending watch as he tries to sort through his thoughts. A Green Lantern! In the palace! If anyone knew this—no. Better not think of it. Not, at any rate, until Kal has decided what to do about this information. He is not thinking clearly, he knows. Cannot possibly handle this information with the amount of care and objectivity it requires on his own, not without several days to ponder it, and he does not have that kind of time. This in turn can mean but one thing: he needs counsel, and not from Kryo, which does not know the meaning of affection. No, he needs someone whom he can trust, and someone who will understand, at least in part, the dilemma he finds himself in.

 With a clear path in mind at last, Kal sighs, braces himself, and sets off toward the upper levels of the royal palace.

  Kara’s pillow slaps him in the face with enough force to disorient him for a moment, and Kal only owes the lack of a second blow to the sharpness of her reflexes. She hisses imprecations at him for a while, until he pulls out Batman’s bracelet and cuts her short. Without a word, Kara reaches for the item, scowling when Kal pulls it out of her reach on reflex. She sits up straighter and asks:

 “Where did you get this? I swear to the Gods, Kal, if you contacted the Green Lanterns—”

 “Do you truly think I would be so foolish?” Kal hisses back.

 There are those on Krypton who have managed to get in touch with the Green Lanterns and remained on the planet, but Kal has never contacted any of them directly, though he is working with them after a fashion. The Green Lanterns’ name may only serve as a curse in the higher circles of Krypton, but the general population is hardly fond of them either.

 “Then where in Vohc’s name did you find this?”

 “Batman’s room, as a matter of fact,” Kal admits.

 Kara mutters something that sounds a lot like ‘Rao help us’ with the deepest scowl Kal has ever seen on her face. He supposes he cannot blame her for it. She looks him straight in the eyes then, still frowning, and Kal has to force himself to hold her gaze, to show her without words that he is not entirely careless but merely out of his depth.

 Eventually, Kara’s face goes through a complicated movement and, with the twist of her mouth that signals questions too delicate to be dealt with immediately, she asks, “Are you sure no one else knows?”

 Kal nods with a sigh of relief. He can’t know for sure what Kara’s advice will be, but whatever happens next, at least he can have some control over the situation, and maybe—hopefully—spare Batman the worst outcomes. Colluding with the Green Lanterns would send him to jail, at best—and not an Ellon one, at that. Kal may not be an expert on the topic, but he knows his uncle: there are not many things in this world that tighten Zor-El’s jaw with a mere mention, and the people who leave El for Kandorian cells tend not to come back.

 “Good,” Kara says.

 “Do you think the Lanterns could have sent him here on purpose?” Kal asks, heart in his throat. “I don’t think so, but I—I don’t know that I can tell what I wish to be the truth apart from what really is.”

 Kara clicks her tongue as she scoots to the edge of her bed and crushes Kal into a brusque hug.

 “They would have to be stupid to do that,” she says after she releases him. “Much though Krypton’s power may be….”

 “Diminished?”

 For once, Kara’s distinctly unimpressed look leaves Kal mostly unaffected. Krypton has been steadily declining for several centuries now, and the Wise Council’s reach has only grown upon Krypton these past decades, not beyond it.

 “Let’s call it that,” Kara begrudges after a beat. “Nevertheless, we are still a force to be reckoned with. It would be foolish of them to come look for trouble our way when we have respected the terms of the Treaty. Especially with Leaark and Axor at each other’s throats, at any rate.”

 Kal does not know what is going on between those two planets exactly, although he understands some kind of blood feud is involved. Still, it does not take a genius to grasp why the Green Lanterns would be keeping an eye on that rather than spying on a long-dormant enemy who has made no effort to communicate with the rest of the galaxy since the Independence Wars. The thought releases something in Kal’s chest, but only for a short while.

 Just because Kara sees things this way, after all, does not mean her father would agree, to say nothing of the Wise Council. Kal wouldn’t expect them to care whether a friend of the Lanterns came to Krypton by design or by accident. And Batman...well, even assuming he was lying when he said he knew nothing of Krypton when he landed there, his species, his planet, and even his solar system have no presence in Krypton’s database. There is nothing, intergalactic law or otherwise, to forbid Batman from associating with the Lanterns from Earth, so why should he be punished for it?

 But then, of course, there is also the matter of his latest activities.

 “I think,” Kal says with a heavy heart, “we still need to keep an eye on him.”

 Relating his reasoning to Kara only takes a few minutes, but Kal still feels like he has been speaking forever by the end of it. It is the right thing to do, he knows. Even for Batman’s sake—it wouldn’t do to let him involve himself in something as fraught as the Melokariel Proposition without at least a warning. That thought, however, does not do much to ease the feeling that he is betraying a friend, and he knows he has been too obvious in his worry when Kara loops an arm around his shoulders again.

 “Perhaps you should have a conversation with him, and take his version of things into account before we decide what to do about him. If he is planning to do harm to Krypton, we will need to stop him...but I see no need to punish him if he is only an unlucky traveler a little too curious about things he does not understand.”

 Kal nods, too afraid to voice the thought weighing on his mind: Batman seems too smart not to have any notion of what he is doing. Kal is still hoping all of this is an unfortunate misunderstanding, but already his heart sinks with the possibility of tragedy.

 “He hasn’t been friendly toward me since your father’s latest ball,” he admits, glad that he manages to keep the tears clogging his throat out of his voice. “I doubt he would listen to me even if I tried to broach the topic...and it is too risky to have that conversation in the more public places of the palace.”

 “Well,” Kara sighs, settling back under the covers, “the other you, then.”

[musikat18]

MusiKat’s Winter Wonderland Birthday Challenge!

Welcome to my 2018 birthday challenge! It may not be snowing for me this year, but as a winter baby, I thought it would be fun to make this year’s theme Winter Wonderland!

Check below the cut for rules, deadlines, and prompts!

Rules:

1. Select a prompt and a character to write a reader insert of any length you’d like. You can choose up to three prompts to use within a fic. There are both Winter Word and Winter Scene prompts, but limit yourself to three in total in combination from either of the lists.

2. More than one person can write the same character, but there will not be doubling up on prompts.

3. If your fic is going to be more than 300 words, please insert a read more, just as a common courtesy.

4. When you finish and post your fic, tag it with “winter wonderland birthday 2018″, make sure to tag me in it, and message me your fic as well. Tumblr can be quite janky on the letting-people-know-about-tags front, and I want to make sure I can see it!

5. All fics are due Tuesday, December 11th...my birthday! If you need an extension, please shoot me a message at least the day before.

6. Try to avoid smut or heavy angst. This is a lighthearted birthday challenge, so try to give it a happy ending. :)

Character List:

Star Trek 

Jim Kirk (TOS/AOS)

Spock (TOS/AOS)

Leonard McCoy (TOS/AOS)

Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (TOS/AOS)

Nyota Uhura (TOS/AOS)

Pavel Chekov (TOS/AOS)

Hikaru Sulu (TOS/AOS)

Christine Chapel (TOS/AOS b/c listen there’s no reason for Chapel not to have an AOS counterpart just write her wherever the fuck you want she’s a queen)

Data (TNG)

Geordi LaForge (TNG)

Deanna Troi (TNG)

Beverly Crusher (TNG)

Worf (TNG)

Julian Bashir (DS9)

Garak (DS9)

Benjamin Sisko (DS9)

Jadzia Dax (DS9)

Kira Nerys (DS9)

Y’all like almost everyone is fair game. Everyone. Every Trek is fair game. Just. Save me the word count and know everyone is fair game.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Tony Stark

Steve Rogers

Thor Odinson

Bruce Banner

Clint Barton

Natasha Romanoff

James Rhodes

Sam Wilson

Wanda Maximoff

Pietro Maximoff

Stephen Strange

Peter Parker

Peter Quill

Gamora

Drax

Scott Lang

Hope Van Dyne

Loki Laufeyson

T’Challa

Shuri

Okoye

Brunnhilde (Valkyrie)

Nakia

M’Baku

Vision

Logan/Wolverine

Jean Grey

Ororo Munroe/Storm

Scott Summers/Cyclops

Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler

Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver

Raven/Mystique

Professor Charles Xavier

Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto

Wade Wilson/Deadpool

Y’all get it

DC Extended Universe

Clark Kent/Superman

Bruce Wayne/Batman

Diana Prince/Wonder Woman

Arthur Curry/Aquaman

Barry Allen/The Flash (stick to Ezra Miller, maybe? I...I kind of like him more than Grant Gustin….)

Victor Stone/Cyborg

Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn

DCTV

Sara Lance/White Canary

Ray Palmer/The Atom

Mick Rory/Heatwave

Zari Tomaz

Amaya Jiwe/Vixen

Leonard Snart/Captain Cold/Citizen Cold

John Constantine

Ava Sharpe

Nate Heywood

Kara Danvers/Supergirl

Alex Danvers

Lena Luthor

James Olsen

Winn Schott

Anissa Pierce

Jennifer Pierce

Grace Choi

Star Wars

Luke Skywalker

Han Solo

Leia Organa

Lando Calrissian

Anakin Skywalker

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Padme Amidala

Ahsoka Tano

Jyn Erso

Cassian Andor

Bodhi Rook

Rey

Finn

Poe Dameron

Kylo Ren

General Hux

Captain Phasma

Rose Tico

Urban Boys

Danny Gallagher

John Kennex

John “Reaper” Grimm

Eomer

Gavin Magary

Black Hat/Vascar

Siberius Vaako

Vincent Stevens

Harry Ballard

Cupid

William Cooper

Skurge (I put him here and not under Marvel even though Bones is under Star Trek b/c let’s be real Marvel did about shit for his character in the movies)

Pine Boys

Nicholas Deveraux

Jake Hardin

Will Colson

Franklin “FDR” Foster

Jack Frost (because fuck why not voice acting counts)

Jack Ryan

Cinderella’s Prince

Toby Howard

Steve Trevor (it’s a two-pic deal my dudes I’m not counting on him coming back after 84 so let’s put him here)

Dr. Alexander Murry

Rex Hanson

CONGRATULATIONS YOU SURVIVED THE CHARACTERS LIST

Good god was that long...

Anyway.

Prompts:

Winter Word

Blanket

Blizzard-- @queenmismatched

Boots

Coat

Cough-- @bookcaseninja

Dogsled

Draft

Earmuffs-- @musicmandy1991

Evergreen

Flannel

Frostbite

Gingerbread

Gloves

Heater

Hypothermia

Ice Skates

Icicle-- @yallneedtrek

Jacket

Log-- @hellomissmabel

Melt

Mittens

Pine Cone

Polar

Quilt-- @bookcaseninja

Reindeer

Scarf-- @sebastianstanfavpita

Snow

Thermometer-- @outside-the-government

Wind Chill

Wool

Winter Scene

Holiday Party

Gift Exchange-- @kjs-s

Family Dinner-- @skosmo

Ice Rink-- @the-goddamn-queen

Shopping Plaza

Café

Airport-- @sebastianstanfavpita

Walk in the Park-- @musicmandy1991

Hotel

Parent’s/Friend’s Home--- @sebastianstanfavpita

Gift Shop

Kitchen

Concert Hall

Neighborhood Street

Cabin-- @outside-the-government

Train-- @hellomissmabel

Snowy Hill

Ski Lodge-- @queenmismatched

Snowy Woods-- @starshiphufflebadger

Sleigh Ride

[collectorscorner]

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DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT Bettie Page #4 (Cover Q Jung-Geun Yoon Virgin Variant), AR Bettie Page #4 (Cover R Kano Virgin Variant), AR Bettie Page #4 (Cover S Joseph Michael Linsner Virgin Variant), AR Mars Attacks Red Sonja #5 (Cover L Arthur Suydam Virgin Variant), AR Red Sonja #22 (Cover Q Jae Lee Virgin Variant), AR Red Sonja #22 (Cover R Joseph Michael Linsner Virgin Variant), AR Sacred Six #5 (Cover Q Jae Lee Virgin Variant), AR Sacred Six #5 (Cover R Lucio Parrillo Virgin Variant), AR Vengeance Of Vampirella #13 (Cover P Lucio Parrillo Virgin Variant), AR Vengeance Of Vampirella #13 (Cover Q Oliver Virgin Variant), AR

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INSIGHT EDITIONS 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons HC (New Printing), $24.95

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MANGA CLASSICS Manga Classics Pride And Prejudice SC (New Edition), $19.99

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Scott Campbell), AR Eternals #1 (Cover Q J. 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