#the one good kent strikes again

[heir-less]

Asked about what she was listening to in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, she said: “I just love music. Something that catches my ear on the radio — I don’t really listen to records. If it makes my feet tap then I’m happy.” She admitted: “I don’t know all their names” when she talked about rap music and the artists she liked, but was able to confirm Ice Cube and Eminem.

[katsu28]

hiii request for jamie tartt here🫡 i loved ur recent fic sm!!! could you maybe do the acacia flower or sunflower prompt? in my head i see hiding their relationship bc reader is a teammates sibling, but oopsie someone got heart eyes and started rambling haha

or literally anything else is fine too if this doesn’t strike your fancy lol<3 tysm!!!

hello!! i loved this so much, u are a gem for requesting it <3

acacia: a hidden relationship + sunflower: drunken rambling about their adoration, jamie tartt x kent!reader (no physical descriptors so imagine whatever sibling type u want!), 2k

“Are you sure we can’t tell him about us?” Jamie’s voice from where he was fixing his hair in the mirror pulled you away from your book and you glanced over at him. 

This was a question he posed to you all the time, and every single time, your answer was the same—though getting more creative with the details with every occurance. 

“Do you want my brother to gouge your eyeballs out? Cut off your dick? Possibly murder you?” 

Jamie paled, freezing in place. “Not particularly.” 

“Then no, we can’t tell Roy we’re seeing each other.” You picked up your book again, ready to resume your reading, but Jamie let out a noise resembling that of a kicked puppy’s whine. His shoulders slumped and he trudged over to you, throwing himself down on the bed in front of your crossed legs. 

Setting your book aside for good this time, you watched him make himself comfortable with his head in your lap, cheek pressed against your thigh as he looked up at you with the puppy dog eyes to match his previous whine. 

“I hate all the secrets. I have to lie to him, straight to his scary face, every fuckin’ day. D’you know how stressful that is? How stressed I am?” He huffed. You bumped your knuckles against his chin affectionately.

It wasn’t fair, Jamie having to face Roy and lie everyday when you had to do it a tad less often, but it was a necessary evil. One day, you’d tell your brother, but first you had to figure out how. 

This, among other reasons, were the downsides to being in a secret relationship with Jamie. There were tons of upsides too, no doubt about it. 

You had the privilege of seeing a softer, sweeter side of him that was reserved only for you, but you couldn’t go out in public with him. Nights in were your favorite dates, but sometimes you wanted to go to a fancy restaurant and eat expensive food and share a dessert with your boyfriend without needing to worry about the tabloids having a field day of it all. 

You could already see the headlines if the press ever caught wind of your relationship—AFC Ricmond Star Jamie Tartt Bags Manager Roy Kent’s Sister. They’d stir shit up, claim that Jamie was only with you because your brother was in a position of power over him and who knows what else. 

Most of all, you certainly couldn’t let Roy find out you were seeing one of his players, especially not Jamie fucking Tartt. They were friends now, but he’d always been overly protective of his sisters ever since you were all kids. He’d throw a fit and probably kill Jamie, then you. Well, he probably wouldn’t go that far, but you’d definitely be on his bad side until he got over himself. And you loved your brother to death, but he was a dickhead sometimes. 

“I’m gonna get early wrinkles, love. You don’t want me to have those, do ya?” 

“I think you’d look adorable with wrinkles. Like a cute little old man.” You dotted a kiss to his forehead, attempting to smooth out the crinkle between his eyebrows with your thumb. 

“That’s not funny.” 

“It’s a bit funny.” 

“Right, since you obviously don’t appreciate my problems, I’m off.” Jamie heaved himself off the bed, forcing out a rather overexaggerated sigh. You smiled innocently at him and he rolled his eyes, his own soft smile still on his face. He leaned down to press a kiss to your lips before heading for the door. “Dunno when I’ll be back but don’t wait up for me, yeah?” 

“Have fun, my love. I’ll just be here, thinking about you with wrinkles.” 

“Still not funny!” 

The Greyhounds were out in full swing tonight. Colin had somehow managed to book an entire pub for a whole night so they could drink and have a good time without being swarmed by the press vying for any morsel of gossip about one of the best up and coming Premier League clubs. Good friends, good food, even better beer—what more could anyone ask for? 

Jamie had been taking full advantage of it. That, paired with the fact that he no longer had to follow that god awful diet that deprived him of his beloved ice cold beverage, had led him to where he was right now, leaning heavily against the bar, drunk off his ass due to some sort of drinking game Jan Maas had insisted on teaching him. 

See, tipsy Jamie was fun. Very generous, would offer to buy a round or two, good for a few funny stories the next day. Absolutely pissed Jamie was a textbook oversharer. He didn’t make much sense, so everyone just mumbled a ‘very cool, mate!’ or something of the sort, made sure he didn’t topple over—those kinds of things. 

Roy was nursing his own beer next to Jamie tonight, half-listening in contained amusement as the Mancunian babbled on and on about someone. Who the fuck it was, Roy had no idea, but it was good entertainment and had soon garnered the attention of the rest of the team. Maybe this could be another one of those funny stories they could joke about in the locker room tomorrow. 

“She don’t look anythin’ like you, thank god. Imagine—imagine that! A lady Roy. Shit’s mad!” Jamie mused, amber beer spilling over the lip of the pint. “Nah, she’s the prettiest and the funniest and the coolest person ever and I love her.” 

“Who the fuck are you talkin ‘bout, bruv?” Isaac asked incredulously, looking just as amused as everyone else.

“Mate, I’m talkin’ ‘bout me girlfriend,” Jamie said very as-a-matter-of-factly, like they should’ve known that. “Duh.” 

“You’ve got a girlfriend? Since fucking when?” 

Jamie counted off on his fingers, scrunching his nose in thought. “Erm…four, five months? Maybe six?” He shook his head quickly, correcting himself. “No, not six. Would’ve done something special for six, wouldn’t I?” 

“First I’m hearing of it. How ‘bout you boys, did you know Jamie had a girlfriend?” Isaac asked, looking around. A chorus of ‘no’s and similar answers sounded amongst the others. Jamie’s brow furrowed. “It’s settled then. Who’s got the heart of the great Jamie Tartt?” 

“Good rhyme, boyo!” Colin chimed in, clapping his best friend on the back. 

Isaac looked proud of himself. “Whoa. I’m a fucking poet and I didn’t even know it.” He accepted another few praises before turning his attention back to Jamie, who looked like he was thinking really long and hard about something. “Okay, back to you. Tell us about her.” 

“I don’t even know where t’start, man,” Jamie sighed happily, resting his chin in his palm. “She’s kind and warm and—and she knows me better than anyone. It’s like…it’s like she’s an angel.” 

It was kind of weird, hearing Jamie be so open about his feelings for another person. He’d always been one to play things close to the vest, so that’s how they knew things with this secret girlfriend had to be serious. 

Sam beamed, happy as ever that his friend had found someone special. “Surely the angel from above has a name? Maybe one of us knows her?”

“Y/N.” 

The room fell silent. Everyone turned to look at Roy, who looked like he was about to start punching dicks. 

“Y/N, like…Roy’s sister, that Y/N?” Sam replied hesitantly, drawing pointed looks from every single one of his teammates. “I’m just confirming! There are other people named Y/N in London, you know.” 

Jamie pointed in his teammate’s general direction, nodding aimlessly. “Yep, her. That’s my girl.” 

Roy stood from his seat without a word, grabbing Jamie under the arm and dragging him towards the door. 

“Hey man, what the fuck are you—” 

“Just fucking shut up, will you?” 

“Okay.” 

You were about to call it quits on finishing your book and turn in for the night when the doorbell rang. When you went to open it, you definitely weren’t expecting to see your brother standing on your doorstep, practically carrying your half asleep boyfriend and looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. 

“Your prick boyfriend got proper pissed. Where do I put him?” 

So Roy knew. And judging by the way Jamie was swaying on his feet, you guessed that he’d been the one to let the cat out of the bag. 

“Erm, couch is fine. I’ll get him settled later.” You opened the door a little wider to let them in and Roy grunted his acknowledgement, hauling Jamie over to the couch and promptly dumping him onto the cushions.

Jamie didn’t even flinch when his face hit the pillows, instead just letting out a dreamy sort of sigh and smacking his lips together without even opening his eyes. You were the one to roll him over onto his side, nudging the dustbin right near his head before covering him with a blanket. 

“How much did he drink?” You asked, smoothing the walnut mist strands away from his eyes. 

“Too fucking much, that’s how much.” Roy grumbled. He wandered over towards a different area of your flat, not wanting to wake Jamie. “Jan Maas taught him a Dutch drinking game, except that fucker can actually hold his alcohol.” 

You cast a fond glance back at your boyfriend, smiling softly at his peaceful face. “Yeah, this one can’t really drink much anymore. Said it’s because of your training regimen, the no beer thing.” 

“Of fucking course you’d know.” 

“I assume Jamie told you about us.” You said quietly, picking at a loose thread on the sleeve of your jumper instead of looking at Roy. Another vague low noise of acknowledgement from him, though it sounded a bit more strained this time. “If it helps you come to terms, Jamie’s been wanting to tell you for ages. I was the one who wanted to keep it under wraps.” 

“Why?” 

You let out a humorless chuckle, shaking your head. “‘Cause I knew what you’d think. Knew what you’d have to say about it.” 

“Are you a mindreader?” 

“No.” 

“Then how would you know what I’d think?” 

“Oh come on, Roy, you don’t think I know how you are? You get…dickish. I still remember you scaring off poor Billy Montgomery in year nine!” 

“Billy Montgomery was a fucking wanker, that’s why.” 

“Yeah, I know that now,” You huffed, scowling. Roy raised an expectant brow at you. “You’ve always been outspoken about the people I date. I just—I didn’t want you to be that way with Jamie. I know you’ve had your differences, and I know you’ve made up, but…I dunno, I was just worried about what you’d think of us.” 

“Do you love him?” Roy asked stiffly. There was a tic going in the hard line of his jaw when he forced his gaze to yours, and it almost looked like he was in the middle of shitting a brick. If you hadn’t been so nervous about his reaction, you probably would’ve laughed. 

“I do. A lot, actually. He’s…everything I could’ve asked for. Everything I’ve ever wanted in a partner.” 

“Then it shouldn’t fucking matter what I think.” Roy said. “Jamie makes you happy, and that is the only thing that matters.” 

To say you were taken aback was an understatement. You’d been so worried about how you thought your brother was going to react to the news, you never stopped to consider that maybe Jamie wasn’t the only person who’d been working to change for the better. 

“Thank you, Roy.” 

Caught up in your heartfelt sibling talk, neither of you had noticed Jamie had woken up and stumbled over to the two of you until he gathered the two of you into a rather squished hug.

“My two favorite people, the Kent siblings! You guys are the best!” He slurred, nuzzling into the embrace. Roy let out a growl, but he patted Jamie’s back stiffly nonetheless. You had to stifle another laugh at how utterly uncomfortable he looked right now. “Oh fuck, I think I’m gonna throw up—” 

“That’s it, I’m fucking leaving.” Roy shoved Jamie away from him, wiping his hands off on the front of his jacket and heading for the front door. “Make sure he doesn’t choke on his own vomit and tell him he’s still got training tomorrow, I don’t care how shitty he feels!”

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[bomertheshark]

Can you do do Clark Kent (Henry cavill) x top male reader fluff to smut

Ofc! Thanks so much for the ask Anon! I hope this is to you liking 🫶. Sorry it took so long for me to answer!

Looking

Clark Kent x Male Reader

Short

Clark was an innocent enough man, he was your coworker that you didn’t think much of, about as much as everyone else who worked with him. He was kind and respectful to everyone, always putting people before him and he was a damn good reporter. The only thing was that he let people use him for his kindness.

The thing that you never would have expected was his “obsession” with you. It had started when you had actually acknowledged his work for the paper and even credited him while so many others would take the chance to claim all credit for it. For Clark he saw you from then on as a saint, and maybe it was also because he could hear what you were thinking but that was beside the point.

From then on he would start to try and work with you more just to see you, he started having lunch with you even going so far as to invite you over to his place to have dinner. This continued for months, you grew closer to him and would go out of your way to see him as well, of course you never saw any ulterior motives behind it, I mean who would from the shy, timid man known as Clark Kent.

All of this led to one night when he invited you over to his for drinks and dinner that he confessed to you he already knew you were into him now, he has planned it all. You were of course shocked but pleased, you answered by reciprocating his feelings and you thought that was that, have the rest of the time having dinner and talking about where you would go with this new relationship.

Clark had other ideas, you see under all of the shy, awkward and timid shell he was an unpredictably horny man. Of course that was probably due to his Kryptonian genes but that wasn’t the point. The point was that he had set a trap, lured you and waited for the time to strike like a skilled hunter would just to get you in his grasp and make you his.

He talked to you about experimenting that night, as new romantic partners why not have a night to explore each other and get to know each other more intimately. He led you to his bedroom and undressed before you, he was gorgeous and not to mention the fact that he was absolutely ripped.

You weren’t sure how but the night led to the moment where you learned he had a bit of a thing with you staring into his eyes as he jerks off as well as one hell of a stamina. Which led to the intense moment where you were sitting against his headboard making sure that you didn’t have any important meetings in the morning to attend to when all of the sudden Clark had sat himself back into your lap begging for your attention as he jacked off. He was begging for you to look at him, touch him, just anything.

He had grabbed your hand to bring it to his face so that he could kiss it and rub down his chest as he kept working to his release. He was so close but the moment he was almost done you checked one more thing and for him it was like he couldn’t cum anymore. “Please please look at me, look at me while I cum for you please please please…. Please!”

All you could think was “oh boy what have I gotten myself into.” Glad that you didn’t have anything in the morning, and even if you did you probably would’ve skipped it just to satisfy him.

Again so sorry this took me so long to publish!

[stardropsaloongossiptrain]

Bachelors and Having a Baby

I saw another hc blog do this and I wanna do my own take~

Sebastian --

Extremely shocked when you tell him you're pregnant, but would react with a blank face and "oh, huh. Interesting." It does not sink in for a few minutes to an hour, and then he's losing his fucking mind.

Never thought he would be a dad, and convinced himself he would be a bad one. Even if him and the farmer weren't using protection, it still blindsides him

He cuts back on freelance work to help more around the farm, especially in the last trimester. The farmer is NOT allowed to do anything more strenuous than play video games. He will prob call on Abigail and Sam to help, he's not exactly the most athletic guy in the world.

Despite his fears that he wouldn't do a good job, he certainly works to make sure they won't come true. Reads a lot of parenting books and talks to Robin a lot. Those talks heal a bit of the rift between them.

Robin jokes that she's too young to be a grandma, but Demetrius cries when he's given a World's Best Grandpa mug. Maru happily steps up as an aunt and will spoil the baby with custom made toys and a ton of STEM for baby books.

Abigail and Sam are the chaotic aunt and uncle I imagine Shane was to Jas. They will babysit (mostly Sam) but expect funny pictures and wacky situations.

Elliott --

He is overjoyed when you tell him the news. He's going to be a papa! Lots of hugs and swinging you around. He doesn't strike me as the type to seek parenthood, but would lovingly embrace it once given to him.

It doesn't hit him for a while that a baby is going to mean changing his lifestyle quite a bit. No more all nighters, he won't be able to write for hours and hours at a time anymore. He finds it worth changing that aspect of his life to adjust to this new addition, a physical manifestation of your love.

Starts to change his habits early on so he'll be better suited after the baby arrives. Fully supports when you go nest mode and will move the furniture around as much as you want.

Has had a list of names for years before you even meet him. And all of them are beautiful

Leah takes on an aunt type roll, and loves teaching the baby about art and colors.

Sam --

Panics hard at the announcement. It doesn't matter that you're married, he still feels like he's sixteen sometimes, and he's worried about getting in trouble

Jodi and Kent are overjoyed at becoming grandparents, and Vincent thinks it's cool he's going to be an uncle.

Abigail and Sebastian make fun of him for being so worried about it, and help him get ready mentally to be a dad. They may need to remind him how much he helped with Vincent.

Once he calms down and realizes his family isn't going to be mad and his friends will stick around, he's extremely excited. He helped make an entirely new person! Someone he can teach music to! Can you skateboard with a baby?

Happily becomes the stay at home dad and handles a lot of the childcare.

Absolutely writes banger after banger of goofy songs for his kid

Alex --

I think he would be the type that always wanted to be a dad, just to spite how bad his was. When you tell him he's going to be one, he's over the moon. One of the few times you ever see him cry is when you tell him about the pregnancy, and again when the baby arrives.

Immediately befriends all the moms in Pelican Town and joins their gossip groups so he can get their advice and help as you prep for the baby. They adore him. He's like their pet.

Gets into what-to-expect books and takes over farm chores basically as soon as you tell him. No, you don't need to be doing all of that. He's got it. Which, I do think he would be pretty involved on the farm. I don't think he's the type to slouch while his spouse does everything. You can trust that he'll do well.

Evelyn and George are shocked by the news. George especially didn't think they'd live long enough to see it. They both love the little one quite a bit, and despite George's general attitude, he only speaks sweetly to the baby.

Haley will absolutely bury you in baby outfits as gifts.

Harvey --

Probably the most panicked on the list. He's not an ob/gyn but he IS medically trained and knows how easily everything can go wrong.

This doesn't mean he isn't thrilled and amazed in equal measure. Sure, you knew it was a possibility, but... He's so happy. He always wanted to be a dad, and now it's happening! He gets very misty-eyed.

He starts taking over cooking to be sure you're getting all the nutrients you need. You will find snacks in your bag, all healthy.

He also wants you to cut back on the farmwork, maybe hire someone for a season or two to hold it down. He would take over if he could, but being the town's only doctor keeps him too occupied.

He will absolutely do every type of birthing partner class.

He also helps set up the birth plan. He handles your medical needs until the birth. The plan is to go to Zuzu City about when the baby is due, deliver in the big hospital where he can be by your side and let someone else be the doctor. This plan fails when you deliver early and he has to step up. Everything goes well.

Shane --

He never thought he would be a dad. He didn't think he was good enough to take in Jas, and for the longest time, he didn't think he was good enough to be involved enough to have a kid.

He's come so far since when you first met. He's still got his issues, but he has a healthy grasp on them anymore. He isn't filled with loathing when you tell him, but tears up and holds you close. He feels incredibly lucky to have someone that loves him enough to welcome a child from him.

He is excited to prep for the kid. He was around when Jas was born, so he still remembers a fair bit about the baby years.

Jas can't wait to be a big sister. She likes playing with Vincent, but it would be even better to have a brother or sister. Marnie tears up when you both tell her the news. She's already a great-aunt to Jas, but looks forward to welcoming your baby as well. If you call her Grannie she will melt.

Shane absolutely faints in the delivery room. Man thought he could handle it. He cannot.

He's a very attentive dad. He never, ever wants this part of him to feel like it's not loved or good enough.

[kentdreaming]

Ribs: a Roy Kent story

Series: Ribs

Pairing: Roy Kent x OC

Summary: Natalia's past is now quickly becoming her present. Might as well try to make light of it all.

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: swearing but that's about it

A/N: I'm so so so grateful for all of the love already for the first chapter! I'm pretty rusty in the writing world, so be patient as I get my footing again. I just love Roy Kent so much, yall. Also, yes I used an old Lorde song for the title of this series in the year 2023, nature is healing

gif from @winterscaptain

Chapter 2

His eyes were so dark. A deep warm brown bore hard into her sharp green for a moment. Natalia blinked hard, hoping, wondering, if this was a dream. A glimmer ghosted across his eyes before it disappeared behind some furrowed and bushy eyebrows. “Natalia,” He nodded quickly. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could even utter a sound, Roy had pushed past her and quickly through the photographers giving them obscene gestures and a slew of “Fuck off”s. Natalia scoffed, dumbfounded. She quickly shook it off and squared her shoulders before stepping onto the red carpet. The cameras and reporters roared when she stepped into frame. “Talia, Talia, who are you wearing!?” “Talia, over here!” “Talia–” 

She squirmed under the flashing lights and cacophony of sound. Talia tried her best to soothe herself in the moment, playing it off with her hard rocker energy and striking a few poses to appease the cameras. After a pose with devil horns and her tongue out, she began her descent toward the ballroom. 

“Is it true you’re now a minority owner of AFC Richmond!?” A reporter yelled. She stopped, flipping her hair over her shoulder for one final money shot with the response, “Yes, darling. It is true. But I must be off to donate to children in need, toodles!” 

Natalia stomped into the ballroom and was quickly overwhelmed with the crowds. Not wanting to bother Rebecca as she was clearly in her own groove, she found Ted at the bar. “I’ll have the same as him, love,” Natalia rapped on the bar beside Ted as she heard him order a triple of whiskey. “Well I’ll be,” Ted smiled, quickly admiring her outfit, “You sure do clean up nicely!” 

“Thank you, Ted,” Natalia smiled, leaning over to fix his tie. Quickly she felt eyes on her from somewhere else in the room. “Everything alright, Mr. Triple shot?” “Oh y’know when you just see through someone?” Ted shrugged. “Ah, I see you met Rupert,” Natalia nodded as their two drinks were delivered. “You know him?”

“It’s hard not to know him in these circles, but I only know him to be particularly fucking  disgusting. You ever heard how Rebecca found out about his cheating?” 

“Mm mmm,” Ted shook his head as he drained his whiskey. Natalia raised her eyebrows, taking a long slow sip, not breaking eye contact with the American. Ted took a moment to register what she meant. She felt the eyes again, but she ignored it.

“You?” Ted finally put two and two together. 

“Yup,” Natalia nodded, knocking the bar and ordering another round, “He extended me an exclusive invite to Bones and Honey, thinking he could win me over that way… Little did he know I’m already a fuckin’ member. So, I promptly showed up, squashed a morsel of that ego of his and then quickly left to find Rebecca.” “Well, I sure am happy you made that call,” Ted smiled, clinking his glass with yours, “otherwise I never woulda had this opportunity. So I s’pose I have you to thank then.” Natalia smiled, relaxed for the first time all day and patted Ted on the shoulder, “Pleasure is all mine, Ted.” The two enjoyed some chit chat at the bar and seemed to be having a good time. Roy Kent, however, was not. Not only was he sitting at the table with Jamie fucking Tartt, but everytime he had glanced in Natalia’s direction, she seemed to have been getting closer and closer to the gaffer. His hands clenched into hard fists under the table. He hadn’t seen her in decades and there she is chatting up that annoying American. He couldn’t understand why he was getting so angry. But then he saw her and Ted rise from their spots at the bar and make their way toward the table, just as he was getting ushered off to be brought up on stage. 

Natalia reached the table as Keeley Jones was making her way back. A small squeal emitted from both the small women, the two quickly hugged each other.

“Talia! You looking fucking incredible, babes!” Keeley squealed, running her way to her in her golden gown. She kissed Natalia’s cheeks and ogled her. 

“Your tits are fucking fantastic,” Keeley breathed staring at the deep cut V in the front of her dress. Natalia just laughed, rocking her head back.

Keeley quickly dismissed the young woman named Bex before having a quiet but heated discussion with Jamie. Roy was the next player to be auctioned off. It soon became clear that Keeley was now playing Jamie’s game from earlier at the auction. Frankly, Natalia was sick of it. Sick of seeing Roy being in the middle of it all. Plus, she wanted to have fun anyway. Right before Rupert auctioned off Roy to an old bitty who was promising to make his night one to remember, Natalia stood up with a paddle. “10,000 pounds,” Natalia proclaimed, the crowd quickly filled with commotion and whispers. Roy’s eyes widened underneath the spotlight. “Well, well,” Rupert smiled, a hint of distaste in his features as he realized who it was that bid, “Sold! To Miss Talia Forrest! Just a couple of Sunderland natives out on the town, then? Tell me, what does £10,000 unlock in the Roy Kent Dating Package?” 

“Who knows, but what else is a ‘washed up rockstar’ to do with all this royalty money? For the children, right Rupert?” Natalia quipped back, eliciting a scattering of chuckles in the audience, a challenge in her eyes, “Plus, Roy’s been put through enough having to consider a night with Cheryl over here. Hi there, Cheryl, darling.” 

“Natalia Forrest, everybody,” Rupert announced, “Don’t you hurt his ego too much,” gesturing to Roy to exit the stage. Roy promptly rushed off stage, moving at bullet speed, he stormed past the crowd as the auction came to a close. Without much acknowledgement, he grabbed Natalia by her arm, dragging her along with him. “Whoa, Roy–” Natalia stammered as he dragged her off to the quiet area of the abandoned sidebar. 

“Don’t fucking do that again,” Roy growled. 

Natalia’s eyes widened in shock, “Roy— I was just—“

“Between Keeley using me as some stupid fucking jealousy game with that prick and you auctioning out of fucking pity— I fucking hate it.” he bit out. 

“I-“ Natalia started, ready to be defensive. Instead she just looked at him. She hadn’t seen him in so long, and even though she wanted nothing more than to wrap him in a hug, she sighed, “I’m really sorry, Roy. I was just sick of Jamie and Keeley’s stupid fucking game.”

Roy took a moment, his eyes searching hers for any sign of deceit. But all he saw were big, apologetic soft green eyes staring back up at him. With heels, she only stood about 5’5”, but there was a time he remembered where they were roughly the same height. A pang of sadness pulled in his chest. 

“Thank you,” he nodded. 

As he turned to leave, Natalia caught his arm, “Roy wait.”

He paused, turning around to face her again, the feeling of her hand on his arm sent a long forgotten shock through his body. 

“You owe me a £10,000 date,” Natalia said smirking up at him, “So you better make it fucking worth it.” 

He gave a soft growl and stormed away. Natalia’s heart sank into her gut again as he disappeared. She was quickly distracted by the sound of Rebecca introducing a very last minute musical guest, a street busker, and she was immediately blown away by the young man’s performance. Natalia rushed into the crowd and bounced around to the music with who she was assuming was her team, and by the description Rebecca had given her earlier, danced hard with Coach Beard.

As the night wound to a close, Rebecca found Natalia speaking with Cam Cole, Ted, and Beard. Talia had just finished handing Cam a few business cards and took a photo with him for her personal social platforms to promote the performer when Rebecca approached. 

“Hello gentlemen,” Rebecca smiled nervously, “Natalia, I was- uhm- wondering if you would care to join me and–” 

“I’m fuckin’ in,” Talia responded.

“I didn’t even finish–”

“I will do anything with you,” Natalia reassured, “Plus, something tells me Keeley is involved.” Glancing over Rebecca’s shoulder to see Keeley trying to wave with two champagne bottles cradled in her arms.

Natalia turned back to the three men, “My chariot awaits gentlemen. It’s been a fuckin’ blast. Cam, please do give me a call, I see a lot of fucking potential in you.” 

“Jeez louise, Nat,” Ted laughed, “You swear just like Roy. Hey, have you met Roy?” 

“I have, Ted,” Natalia said a bit sharper than she meant, recovering, “I bid on him, remember?”

Beard gave Talia a pointed look and a feeling went down her spine. He seemed to know something “Anyways, see you lot around, yeah?” Natalia asked, hugging and leaving a kiss on each man’s cheek. 

“Don’t be a stranger,” Ted beamed, “It’d be fun to have you around more.” 

With that, Natalia dashed over to the increasingly impatient women and they found their way to a bike taxi where they squeezed close together and drank the night away. Once they had made it to Rebecca’s flat (which was one hell of a workout for that poor bicyclist), Natalia left him enough money to pay rent twice over and the three stumbled inside. “Get these bloody fucking things off me,” Rebecca groaned as she kicked off her heels, giving her ankles a soft rub. Keeley and Natalia soon follow.

“Shit I forgot how tiny you both are,” Rebecca laughed, “like a couple of elves.”

“Oi!” Keeley and Natalia yelled together. Immediately the two started cackling. 

Once the women had settled down, they drank away at the wine and all cozied up on Rebecca’s couch, which was somehow even more comfortable than the one in her office. In true teenage-girl-sleepover fashion, they all huddled around and turned on a movie that was quickly discarded for immediate gossip of the night.

“God, Rupert is such a dick,” Keeley groaned, throwing her head back.

“Amen,” Natalia drunkenly lifted her glass in agreement.

“Say,” Keeley swiveled, her big eyes a bit droopy, “What’s the deal with the $10,000 bid tonight.” 

Natalia was taken aback by the sudden switch in topic. “For the children?” She mumbled unconvincingly. 

“Oh bullshit,” Rebecca rolled her eyes, “£10,000?”

“Rebecca, when have I not thrown money out for donations?”

“Natalia,” Rebecca lightly challenged, a knowing look, and a raised brow, “Only when it benefits you.”

Fuck. Keeley gasped, “You wanna shag Roy!” 

She couldn’t tell which was the culprit, but between the sudden and drunken interrogation, and the obscene amount of alcohol running through her, she couldn’t help the faint blush that tinged the tip of her nose and ears. Keeley and Rebecca let out a couple of squeals jumping in their seats. Natalia quickly rolled her eyes, giving her the best scowl she could muster. After a moment, however, she softened, her fingers lighting dancing around the rim of her wine glass, eyes intently looking at her own movements.

“It’s not like that,” she mumbled, a soft smile on her lips. God, why do I go so soft around these two? Both other women noticed Natalia’s shift in demeanor. They also immediately scooted closer, worried but aching to know more. Talia gave a quick glance up to two pairs of very expectant eyes. With a sigh and a slight roll of her eyes, Natalia finally responded.

“Roy and I grew up together,” she admitted. It felt good to let someone else know. Their eyes widened at the new knowledge. Natalia continued, the liquor prompting the words, “Grew up in the same, shitty and rundown flats– the community would always joke that no matter how poor we all were, the place was magic to be able to produce two famous kids."

At this, Natalia let out a soft chuckle, mind a million miles away as she rambled on, “Due to both of us being just wee kids, we were expected to continue on in schooling. We were both put into the same tutoring system.” 

“Oh my god, childhood sweethearts!” Keeley squealed gently, earning a side look from Rebecca. 

Natalia responded with a dry laugh, “Hardly. A few years past and we were closer than ever,” she explained, “but then between Roy’s hard fuckin’ work paying off in the football clubs, and my music career exploding into my first tour, we drifted apart. I haven’t seen him since I was 16 during his debut game. The next time I saw him was today.” 

Rebecca and Keeley sat dumbfounded, and grateful that she was so open with them. They stared at Natalia dreamy-eyed with the childhood nostalgia. “But that ain’t the Roy Kent I fuckin’ know,” Talia stated. A deep sadness tugged at her gut, as she finished the rest of her wine. She shook her head, “Nah. The Roy I know was soft, and gentle, and always tried to make me laugh.” 

After a beat, Talia shrugged, looking at the time. Rebecca and Keeley had eventually received the message and they all proceeded to get ready for bed as they all managed to sleep quite comfortably in Rebecca’s bed. 

Roy laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t fucking sleep. Anytime he’d close his eyes, she should pop up behind his closed eyes. It was driving him fucking crazy. He growled, reaching over for his phone. He pulled her name up from his contacts and started to draft a message. He had tried and failed multiple times writing out something simple.

“Fuck it,” he growled, slamming his phone back onto the nightstand before rolling over and tried to force himself to sleep. Trainin’ is going to be a fucking bitch tomorrow.

[kelexr]

Snippet of a fic I’m writing (title impending)

Damijon/JonDami

Slow burn, enemies to lovers AU

Word Count: 2,864

Status: Unfinished

Any and all critiques are welcome as this is my first fic! I’m especially worried about this fic flowing too fast or being hard to understand, please help 😭

Any tips on how to make this fic longer would be very very appreciated

🩵

This was utterly idiotic, perhaps it was the biggest gap in reasoning his father has demonstrated to date. Damian could not even fathom how his father had come to the conclusion that this was the best way he could spend his summer vacation. Most would call it unfair, rightfully so; none of his brothers were asked to hang up their capes for ‘social enrichment.’ Yet, there he was, glaring at the gloved hand holding out his suitcase.

“It seems you have forgotten what I told Father; I’m not going,” Damian barked out, attempting to close the door on the man’s face. However, a sleek, black shoe prevented him from doing so. He scoffed and crossed his arms over his body, but did not make any moves to force the door shut.

Alfred removed his foot from the doorframe, and once again motioned the suitcase towards the younger boy, “Master Damian, it has been made abundantly clear that Master Wayne does not intend to let you miss this outing.” The butler paused for a second before adding on, “Who knows, it may even help you.”

Damian responded with an exaggerated eye-roll before continuing his yapping, “Oh please, as if I have ever needed assistance. Especially from that alien’s halfling son! The last time I had the displeasure of speaking with it, I swear I almost utilized my kryptonite.”

The man in front of him raised an unimpressed eyebrow, before a gruff voice rang out behind him, “That is exactly why you are going.” His father, seemingly coming out of nowhere, walked up to Alfred before taking the suitcase from his hands. The butler nodded in understanding before walking off to attend to the rest of the manor.

His father held out his free hand, and Damian mumbled a few curses before handing his father a lead-lined box containing a certain green rock. The older man stared down expectantly before his son let out a drawn out sigh and pulled another box out of his back pocket. 

Bruce gave his youngest son a warning look, one that would strike pure terror into most non-bats, before speaking, “Jon is a… sweet boy,” Damian scoffed, knowing of his father’s ‘subconscious’ distrust of Kryptonians, “and he would be a good friend for you to have. His family was kind enough to offer you a place in their home over the summer. You are going, understand?” He tried to end his clumsy attempt at a ‘father-son talk’ in a way that snuffed out any argument.

It may have actually worked if it weren’t for the fact he was talking to Damian Wayne. 

“Father, I'm 15! I do not need to be sent to some farm so I can mingle with its homely residents,” the older Wayne opened his mouth to scold the boy, but was not given the chance, “I made one— and the incident with the paparazzi does not count—mistake and suddenly you can’t trust me to perform the thing I was raised to do?”

“Damian,” Bruce let out a frustrated breath, “Do I need to remind you, again, why I have to do this?” He waited for an answer, but was given none, “Verbally attacking every journalist that came up to you was nothing short of immature and reckless. As Robin you are able to utilize your rage to do great things, but as a Wayne— as my son—you are expected to behave to a certain standard.” He shook his head, “If you want to be treated like you’re an ‘adult,’ start acting like one. The way you are speaking about the Kents is proof enough that you have learned nothing from our previous talks.

This is not meant to be a punishment, it’s the last option you have given me. Jonathan will be an easy friend to make and sets a great example for how you should act. I am aware of how your previous meetings with him have gone, but this time will be different.” He sets a hand on his son’s shoulder, “This time there will be no capes and absolutely no reason to fight,” he leans in closer, “if I find out you tried to run away, snuck any kryptonite in, or refused to help with chores, no Robin until you graduate.”

“But Father-”

“No,” He tightens his grip on the boy’s shoulder, “no more arguing. Dick has offered to take you. Do I have to escort you to his car, or can you manage to do that yourself?”

Just like that, Damian knew he had been backed into a corner, “No thank you.” He snatched the suitcase out of the other man’s hands before backing into his room to pull out another suitcase, one he packed for himself. Bruce eyed the pre-packed suitcase, feeling an odd sense of pride. It was short-lived, “I didn’t pack this because I wanted to go. I always have a suitcase ready.”

 Damian stomped past the so-called world’s greatest detective before remembering he was supposed to be mature. He regulated his steps and before reaching the end of the hallway called out, “Do not forget to feed my animals.” He quickly turned the corner and made his way to the stairs.

They were sickeningly extravagant with golden railings that held flowery engravings and polished, spiraling steps. Due to it being the first thing seen when entering the manor through its front doors, it is usually the only thing first-time guests want to gush about. While Damian tries to completely write off the ogling over the lavish flight of steps, he does appreciate the amount of work Pennyworth invests in keeping them clean. Really, he appreciates all the work his pseudo grandfather does to keep the house from being in complete ruins, not like he’d ever say that to his face.

Once he reaches the final steps, he allows his suitcases to roll on the ground behind him. He is vaguely aware of the fact he did not bid farewell to, well, anyone, but the idea sounds far too bothersome for him to care; he pushes open the front door, cementing his decision to ignore as many people as he possibly could. 

Perhaps his silence would be their punishment, but he highly doubted they’d see it that way. If anything, they were counting down the days he’d be leaving— especially Drake. Sure, he has formed effective partnerships with the bunch of bat-themed heroes, but that much is to be expected of a Robin. In the end, his relationship with his ‘family’ has always been one built upon tolerance; his silence was nothing more than a sign he would not tolerate their presence at the moment. There was no use dwelling on these circumstances, ones he forced upon himself. The simple truth was that he would not miss them and they would not miss him. At least, that’s what he told himself.

“Beep beep!” The man’s voice forced Damian out of his thoughts, “You need help with your stuff?” Dick Grayson asked, leaning over his steering wheel to look at the boy. He didn’t pity his older brother with a response, opting to do the task himself. He stomped down the manor’s steps, his suitcases banging following him as he went. The boy refused to spare a look at the home he was now being forced out of. He yanked open the door to the backseat of the sleek, blue Mercedes-Benz, unceremoniously shoving the suitcases into the luxury car. 

Dick watched the boy’s movements through his peripheral, “Upset?” Damian grumbled in response, pulling out to slam the door, before promptly getting in the vehicle through the passenger-side door. “C’mon, lighten up! Isn’t Clark’s son, like, your best friend? Other than me of course.” He chuckled at his own comment while beginning their journey away from Wayne Manor.

“He is not my friend! We are far from cordial at all,” The Arab boy huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked out the window, safe from having to see the home of his betrayers.

“Sure thing, D,” he motioned towards the boy, “also, seatbelt.” Damian sighed, but clicked the safety harness into place. He may be reckless, but road safety matters!

They drove for a few minutes, but, in true Gotham fashion, were quickly swept into the afternoon’s traffic. There were a few honks and screams echoing out of the vehicles around the boys, a common symptom of road rage. The boy’s green eyes lazily traced over the slow-moving cars stationed beside him, and he was left wondering why he couldn’t just get flown there. 

Dick, of course, took this chance to pester his little brother.

“I mean, you have to give the boy a chance. Remember a few years ago? He was so excited when you came to his birthday, and— oh yeah…” Dick rubbed his neck nervously, seemingly remembering why Damian wasn’t invited to any subsequent birthdays of any Kent. 

Damian smirked at the memory, still taking pride in the fact he was able to pull such a stunt off all these years later. It wasn’t his fault a superhuman was deathly afraid of spiders, but some could argue that manufacturing hundreds of nano-spiders was. Also infusing said nano-spiders with kryptonite could’ve been a bit too far, and wrapping them up as if they were a gift was— Hmm, okay, maybe he’s a jerk. However, no one could say he wasn’t a jerk with a plan.

His older brother sighed, pulling him out of his reminiscing, “That was probably a bad example, huh? I don’t think he was too upset about it, he was back to begging his dad to hang out with you within the month.”

Damian looked away from his window, and directed a confused look at the blue-eyed man driving. He knew Jonathan had been friendly with him, but he begged to see him? That’s absurd! “What are you talking about?”

“Oh you don’t know? When you two were younger, all he wanted to do was talk to or about you,” Dick laughed, “if I didn’t know better, I’d think he was crushing on you, D. Bruce saved your ass back then, always making excuses for you.” The man paused to think for a few moments, “I don’t think he’s done that for a while. When was the last time you guys saw each other?”

Oh boy, another memory? I guess you can get an actual flashback, you’ve earned it!

-

“Lois and I will be having tea and I’ve also agreed to an interview, afterwards I can drop you off at the animal shelter— how long will you be volunteering?” His father questioned as they walked up the steps of the Daily Planet. Bruce had made a habit of meeting with his best friend’s wife (it would be suspicious if they weren’t head over heels in love with their spouses) to talk over tea, coffee, and wine on special occasions.

 Damian thought for a few moments, “I suppose a few hours would be fine; however, I would like to come back at a time in which my schedule is not completely booked. Could that be arranged, Father?” He kept his green eyes trained ahead of him, his hands clasped together behind his back. He could be professional and level-headed in public, ha! 

His father nodded, opening the building’s front doors. He motioned for his son to enter, “I forgot to mention, Jo-”

“You.” Damian cut off his father’s words, spotting what slipped the man’s mind before he could even finish his sentence. The boy in front of them glanced around nervously, his eye’s movements barely visible behind his wide-framed glasses.

“Uh- M-Mr. Wayne,” he nodded his head at the man, “and Damian, uhm, hi.” The boy shifted his weight between his feet before speaking up once more, “Uhm, Mom asked me to,” he motioned to the elevators behind him, “escort you guys to her office.” 

Bruce smiled and nodded, allowing the boy to lead him, but Damian scoffed, turning his head in disgust and moving his hands to his hips, “I wasn’t aware it was bring-your-child to work day.”

Jon looks away bashfully, “It’s not! I’m only here because-”

The— slightly— older boy cuts him off with an obnoxiously fake yawn, “Don’t care.” He suddenly feels a hand fall upon his shoulder. He looks up to see a horrifying sight, even for him; his father is glaring down at him intently, baring into his soul with a fire that could kill the toughest of fighters. So much more being professional and level-headed.

“What my son means to say is, it’s a pleasant surprise, and,” he pushed the boy closer to Jon, “he’s sorry.”

“I mean to say no such thing-” Bruce gives him a single look. “I feel a slight guilt at my words,” Damian clears his throat, “lead the way, Farmbo- Kent.”

Jon smiles— he really does smile too much— turning on his heel. The boy doesn’t present himself as anything, but what can be seen on the surface; a humble farm boy who has learned to see the best in people. And in a way, that’s all he is. He stands in the shadow of his father’s billowing, red cape and doesn't complain, doesn’t resent it. Perhaps he knows that the sunshine he emits when grinning ear-to-ear is enough to drown out the shadows. He himself is a symbol of hope, and he does it all without the oh-so recognizable crest. It makes Damian feel nauseous.

He leads the pair to a row of elevators and clicks a button, causing a downwards arrow to light up. The screens above the elevators indicate its descent down to them. 10…9…8…The half-Kryptonian bounces in place, having seemingly forgotten his nervousness, now filled with restlessness as he waits, “Mom has been really excited to show you her new office! She bought a new, fancy tea, but don’t tell her I told you because I told her I wouldn’t. Anyways, her office! It’s bigger, has a better view, and it has its own mini fridge— a mini fridge! Can you believe that? She could keep so many snacks in there, and no one can-”

Much to Damian’s relief, the elevator’s chime cut the boy’s words short. Despite being a teenager, 14, he sure did ramble like a child. A few businesswomen walked out as the doors opened, deep into a conversation about recent pictures captured of The Flash; to the human eye he looked to be nothing but a red streak when he dashed by, so action shots of the man were a rarity and something deserving to be gawked at. The emerald-eyed boy refused to give them even a passing glance, reporters were vultures and he could already see the headlines:

Heir to Bruce Wayne intimidates Daily Planet Employees!

Damian Wayne; back to harassing the press?

Nature Vs. Nurture, a deep dive into a billionaire’s son.

Maybe he was being dramatic, the Daily Planet is known for its honesty and doesn’t usually stoop down to tabloids or exploiting mundane occurrences. Damian, though, knew better than to let reporters or their annoyingly persistent sons get close. Let others’ secrets spill out like an overflowing sink, but keep yours held tightly against your chest; that’s what his mom would spend countless nights instilling into him. Her methods in teaching this lesson, while cruel in most cases, worked well and allowed Damian to have an impenetrable wall encasing his heart. 

He stepped into the elevator, head held high. His father gave the boy a polite response to his previous word-dump, but it didn’t take a detective to know he was ready to relax and enjoy some tea. Jon clicked a button to select a floor, and the Arab boy made a point to ignore his quick glances when he settled into place next to him. It had been almost a year since he’d last seen him, and, despite his own growth spurt, the alien was still much taller than himself. 

The ride consisted of a silence that was, at some points, interrupted by Jon’s humming. They were carried up, luckily without having to stop for any extra passengers, and the door opened to a bustling office. A stench of coffee wafted through the air as Jon led them through the maze of cubicles. Conversations overlapped, and the clacking of keyboards was a constant annoyance. Jon, being the embodiment of sunshine he was, had to stop and greet every other worker.

It was very… stimulating. 

Finally, they reached a room with glass walls, the contents hidden by thick, black curtains. “Tah-dah! Here it is!” The boy motioned towards the room with his arms dramatically, “Have fun Mr. Wayne!”

“You won’t be joining us today?” The billionaire asked, less out of genuine want and more out of politeness.

Jon shook his head, “Mom asked me to wait in the breakroom while y’all talk.”

“Oh, alright,” Bruce thought for a few moments, “Damian you can join him.” His father gave him a push, and began opening the door of the office, “Have fun, boys.”

“Father-” The door was slammed on his face, hmm, usually he’s the one who does that to his father.

[anotherbluesunday]

✨Intertidal Chapter Release—Ch. 18✨

Lifting my phone up high in the air, I sucked in another breath. Great. Tapping the green answer icon I didn't realize it was a video call before it was too late.

"What?" I groaned, trying not to growl because it was too early for these calls and I wasn't at my mental fittest in that moment.

"Mornin'," Kent chuckled, seemingly humored by my post-dawn anguish. "Yer lookin' bright eyed and bushy tailed."

I glared at him.

"What's got ya' out of sorts, love?" he asked in a more concerned tone. "Ya' sick or hurt?"

"No..." I hesitated. Furrowed my brow and closed my eyes as I pinched the bridge of my nose to ward off the creeping headache I felt coming. "Just...I don't know. My head's fuzzy."

"Drunk fuzzy? Hungover? Or like existential dread goin' into numb kinda fuzzy?" When I groaned at the last one I could hear him breathe a sympathetic chuckle. "Yeah, I have those mornin's too."

"Maybe if I have a mimosa..."

Kent clicked his tongue. "That, love, is what we call an unhealthy dependence bordering on alcoholic behavior."

"You sound like my therapist."

"Well kudos ta' her for havin' the stones to say that."

Only Kent could make me roll my eyes with the urge to clock him while looking as good as he did while doing it.

"What're ya' doin' today?"

"Besides withering away beneath my blankets waiting for death to come and fight me for my life?" Kent smirked, humored by my answer rather than being put off the way Enid or my parents would have been. Both him and Ty shared the same flavor of dark humor which was also my flavor as chance would have it. "Nothing. Why?"

"We should do somethin'."

Wading the glowing crystalline waters of the pool hidden within the tropical paradise that surrounded us, I watched Kent swim toward me after diving in from the opposite end. Form shifting hypnotically like an abstract painting cast in bronze, topaz blue, aquamarine, and shimmering yellow, I held my breathe as he approached. Smiled more as if I had been bewitched when he emerged looking like a damn Grecian god with his hair clinging to his broad built shoulders and eyes sparkling. It didn't help that "Moonlight Serenade" was playing to match the vintage vibe of the entire area encapsulating Trader Sam's, Tangaroa Terrace, and the "grown up's" pool.

"Yer doin' that thing again," Kent teased as he floated over to where I was lurking, my arms slung up on the lip of the pool deck. Tilting his head just a bit with a playful flicker in his eyes as he grabbed hold of the handrail of the sidesteps next to me, Kent closed the space separating us. Hung there looking like a siren pulled straight out of fiction. "You'll cook me 'live with that kind of starin'."

I couldn't respond. My brain had gone dead. Or on strike because it was tired of this bullshit. Either way, the bitch had peaced out on me and my thought process was left on buffering.

Eyes constantly drawn back to his eyes, his lips, his chest, it was irrational Wynn's turn to take control of the helm. And what do you know, she steered us all into the shallows. Ran us ashore marooning me in the destructive cycle of reconsidering my stance on relationships versus fuck buddies. And it was her fault that my brain was coming up with more pro's to locking down Kent than it was coming up with con's. This would have been an easy decision weeks ago. Wouldn't have been something I would have even considered at the start of the year. Granted, I had always wanted to take a ride or two on him. But date him? That was a sure sign I had suffered traumatic brain injury. Or at least so I thought. But now?

"Winnie...?" He said quietly, as if he were about to share a secret. From the look in his eyes, he may very well be doing that. Gaze flicking from my lips to my eyes as he got in a little closer, Kent nearly whispered, "What if..." he began--the tension mounting between us pure indescribable torture. "What if I were to tell ya' that you've been on my mind for the last year?"

.

.

.

Catch the fever here using the link below. 🔥🔥🔥

[bruciemilf]

Alrighty so after reading a fic that Muhammad Ali'd my feels - I'm now thinking; 40s AU Young newspaper writer Clark Kent got a neat little drafting letter in the mail. Death and gunsmoke sits thick on his tongue.

He thinks about dodging it. He remembers he's tall an broad shouldered with youth and health roaring in his lungs. Others go with silver hairs and illnesses.

He remembers his Ma and Lois and people he writes about everyday.

He reconsiders.

He meets combat medic Thomas Wayne with blood in his eyes and burned soil in his mouth and the sound of shouts and bombs wailing around them. " Good day to die isn't it?!"

"...Better than Lasagna day!" He shouts back, and this might be the last words he ever says, and he simply can't have that, "You gotta run out of here!" He shouts, blood glazing over his lips.

Thomas is precise, thought, working thread and scissors and pumping Clark with enough Morphine to send him flying.

" My boy likes you hero types!"

" You got a son?"

" Oh, yeah! Gonna tell you so much about him you'll wish I left you here," and that's the last thing Clark recalls him shouting before a screen of pitch black punched him out of conciousness.

Death has a taste. It's bitter, and final, and peaceful, and Clark never wants seconds. But Thomas is a man of his word.

Sits by Clark's bedside, hands never clean, always stained red, with scraps of flesh or dirt caking under his fingernails, and talks so much about Bruce that Clark asks for anaesthesia.

He laughs, too, and it feels good. It feels nice to hear someone and not having to worry if it's the last, " You know he never wants to hear from me again? Cause I came here? I think he's just angry those puppy eyes don't work anymore."

" Someone has to."

" Tell him that when we get out of here; He can outstubborn a donkey but he makes really good pie. "

" My Ma could make one better. No way a rich boy makes good pie." Thomas smiles like he's just won something, close-mouthed and curving mischievously, and Clark just knows he and Ma would get along like water and fish.

Clark doesn't stop thinking about him. About Bruce Wayne, with round, pretty eyes that make Clark think of dark chocolate and sweet coffee. A shy little thing of a smile and beautiful In ways Clark's hands shouldn't touch.

And he does meet Bruce, because he makes it out of there. Scarred and hurt and hollow, but alive all the same, and Thomas sees a reason for celebration.

JUST. BRUCE AND CLARK BEING AMAZED AT ONE ANOTHER. Bruce outshining everyone at Thomas' little homecoming Gala in Clark's eyes, even retreated and puffy eyed and pouty, clinging to his father the whole time.

Let there be a sweet lightning strike when these two cross eyes. Let Bruce nervously introduce himself, a rosy, pink flush decorating his cheekbones, and let Clark feel his hand tingle with want when they separate.

" I'm, - I wouldn't have come. I don't like war."

" Neither do I," Clark smiles, rusty and strange on his face, " but I do like milkshakes and popcorn. Especially with good company." He offers up his arm to Bruce, which, he does try to backtrack-- maybe he's reading this wrong, maybe Bruce just feels pity, -- but there's a vine grip hooking around Clark's arm.

" You'll stand out this way."

" Good."

[positivelybeastly]

What's your take on bendis interpretation of beast?

To put it bluntly, I think it sucks.

And because it's me, we gotta overanalyse, SO HERE WE GO.

For starters, Bendis is just a very . . . limited, writer, in general. If you search his name on almost any comic book related forum that he's done an associated run for, you will invariably find a lot of people talking about some fairly massive characterisation slip, or some intense continuity fumble, or a run that started strong and ended badly.

Superman, the Guardians of the Galaxy, to say nothing of individual characters who have suffered under his pen like X-23, Jon Kent, or Wanda Maximoff - the man just isn't good at writing characters that aren't his own. This may be why his run on Alias is so strong, that's his character, she's acting within the boundaries he set, that's completely fine. But other characters?

If you want to see a more professional level takedown of especially his dialogue, have a look at this. It's a fairly damning examination of the tropes that drive his writing, but try the quiz at the end of the page and see how many of the characters you can identify by dialogue alone. You will be shocked at some of the ridiculously huge deviations from a character's established voice he's responsible for.

But we want to get specific, so let's get specific, shall we?

So, in order to establish why Bendis' characterisation of Beast is out of whack, we gotta establish what Beast was like beforehand. In the past 10 years before 2013, what's he been up to?

Well, Hank's well into his secondary mutation storyline at this point, struggling with a new, more animalistic form that comes with a strong bloodlust, one less finger, new senses, new drives, and a strong sense of body dysphoria/dysmorphia that I, personally, quite identified with. Hank's neuroses are still fairly strong on this, but he is getting better, in no small part thanks to . . .

Abigail Brand. Hank's partner (I don't like to use the term girlfriend or love interest for Abigail because they honestly feel a little beneath her), they have an intense, occasionally combative chemistry, but they love each other to the point where Abigail tells Magneto in dialogue that she wants Hank's children at some point, and Hank has a near nervous breakdown when she's temporarily killed in Si Spurrier's X-Men Legacy.

Struggles with ethical and moral quandaries related to mutantkind's survival, as well as the use of lethal force in superheroics. Between the Ghost Box laser strike, the Secret Avengers nuclear bomb, the Endangered Species experiments, and the Secret Invasion Legacy Virus bioweapon, Hank has been involved in quite a lot of ethically dubious things - by his standards, anyway. By the standards of Cyclops or Captain America, Hank literally hasn't done anything wrong, but Hank holds himself to a different moral standard. This is especially important.

A tenuous relationship with the X-Men, to the point where he's only come back to the Jean Grey School to spite Cyclops during Schism/Regenesis. Prior to this, he had left the team, and multiple members were downright hostile to him on first seeing him again afterwards.

So, we start off All-New X-Men #1, and what's up?

Hank is dying because his body has randomly started to mutate.

. . . Why?

Iunno, just is.

The more I think about it, the less sense this really makes, because literally every other time that Hank has mutated, there has been an insanely specific reason why. He ingested MGH, he was experimented on, Infectica/Pestilence touched him, Sage jumpstarted his mutation, etc - but here, it just sort of. Happened? And this really bothers me, because Hank's mutation is really important to his character arc. His relationship to his body and his outward appearance and how he experiences the world on a tactile, emotional level is one of the building blocks of the character.

But because feline Beast isn't drawn consistently, and people are nostalgic for 90s simian Beast, we're getting a new form just 'cause. I feel like a fairly massive rule in writing is that things never happen just because, and yet, this whole thing is happening just because.

It's also killing him. Now, this opens up a really interesting can of worms that I don't think Bendis really thought through, because this is actually a tragic, on-brand thing to happen to Hank - he hates his mutation so much, and now it's literally trying to kill him. He also fairly obviously does not trust the other X-Men to be able to help him (which is proven correct by the narrative) and is in a helpless, depressed enough state of mind that he accepts he's going to die.

I feel like Bendis didn't realise what he'd done here? He's set up Hank as this isolated character (which he is) who doesn't feel like he can trust the X-Men to help him (he can't) and who is in a depressive enough place in his life that he doesn't drop his normal workload to do anything more worthwhile with what may be his final days on Earth. He just keeps trudging on, lugging around heavy equipment to the X-Jet, coming when called, telling his friends he's fine. He's given up on fixing what's wrong.

Fellas, do we call this attempted suicide? Iunno, maybe we do?

And it's in this state of mind that Hank hears Bobby say, man, if only Scott could see himself in the past, he'd hate present Scott.

Now, I don't really accept the conceit that Hank hates Scott enough to blow open the timestream in a fit of pique. I straight up don't think it's his style, he's not been established to have the capability, Hank can occasionally be reckless but mostly with his own life, not other people's. Especially not when we have all of these exchanges to consider. But fine, Hank's in an altered state of mind, he's dying, he's panicking, he's not thinking clearly.

Bendis will promptly forget all of these facts and pretend that this is some grand plan Hank had, and no-one ever even addresses that Hank was about to die. The X-Men are all very happy he's alive again when his younger self fixes him, and no-one ever asks, so hey why didn't you mention you were dying? Which? I think? You would do?

Abigail Brand will also be established to have broken up with Hank off panel for some reason so that Bendis can have Hank make a joke about not getting any in a while.

Bendis has already blown out two of the four main storylines that Hank had through the 00s for basically no reason. Because he doesn't like cat Beast, and because Abigail would logically stop Hank from doing something this stupid and care that he's going off the rails, so they've got to go.

Friends, they were broken up in 2015. We still don't know why. We have never. EVER. Gotten a reason. They apparently still care enough about each other to finger empty eye sockets, but not enough to, you know. Kiss or hug or fuck or be on panel together.

In fact, I'm gonna fuck you up right now. This is from Kieron Gillen's series during Secret Wars.

"Abigail Brand's War Journal.

Today I answered two questions. Firstly, what had happened to Hank. Secondly, of Perfection, the zombies or the Wave; which I hate the most.

I was hoping Hank was still alive. I hate myself for that now. If Doom above listened to my prayer and arranged this, then it's my fault.

I should have hoped he was dead. If he was dead, the Annihilation Wave wouldn't have been able to capture him, and turn him into what tried to break through the Shield this morning.

Killing him wasn't easy, but that'd be just as true if they hadn't changed him. Who would want to kill Hank?

McCoy was a kind man. Kinder than me. Kinder than anyone.

He didn't deserve to end up like this.

I don't want to write anymore."

Abigail Brand is not a women often inclined to sentiment. But Hank inspired it in her because he's so kind. He's soft. He's gentle. He's loving. He's tender. He's moral. He's just.

You can hear the love in Abigail's words, just as I tend to believe that you can hear the writer (my boy Kieron Gillen) loving Hank, too. There's just such a sadness and a sense of tragedy and lost opportunities here. There's a sense of someone so wonderful and so great being lost.

Where is any of that in Bendis Beast? He's just - to put it bluntly, he's an idiot. Not a goof, not a clown, no, he's an idiot (derogatory). He doesn't have any smart plans that save the day, he doesn't provide sage counsel to people who need it, he doesn't have anything constructive to add, he's just an idiot. When Scott turns up on the lawn and calls for everyone to revolution, he just.

Growls?

I'm sorry, what? Is this the same man who has absolutely no fucking shits to give when it comes to chewing out Scott Summers or not?

Hank had no problem giving a page long monologue to past Warren about his actions and why they were necessary a page before, but the instant the target of his derision is on the lawn in front of him, he just? Growls?

Like, just admit that you don't like Beast, Bendis. Why is it that Matt Fraction, who writes a somewhat poor Beast, and Chuck fucking Austen of all people, know that even if Hank is wrong, he should still win the argument through pure rhetoric power because his most notable super power is that he's super fucking smart and he won't shut the fuck up, but you don't, Brian?

Why's Beast got nothing to say? Why isn't Beast bringing up any of the stuff that drove a wedge between them in the first place? Why isn't he bringing up X-Force? Why isn't he bringing up the multiple suicide missions Cyclops arranged for people, including his son Cable and Nighcrawler? Do you not remember those or do you just not care, like, WHAT? Even if you, the writer, do not believe that Hank is in the right, he should at least act according to character and at least try and win the argument.

But Bendis Beast is stupid, so he doesn't try.

I don't even want to talk about the Watcher issue of All-New X-Men #25, or the Uncanny X-Men #600 issue which is a lot of other characters having arcs while Hank gets his shit kicked in by a lot of people who seem to be very much tired and unhappy with him. I legitimately just don't want to cap those issues because they make me sad and I just. Don't. Like it. It doesn't feel like Beast to me.

Hey, you wanna know what the Beast-Storm relationship was like before this issue?

"Henry's voice does that funny little quavering thing. He's still worried."

These two know each other and care enough about each other that Ororo knows what his voice sounds like when he's concerned but doesn't want to push, but sure, she's just gonna fuckin' browbeat him like that. Okay. Sure.

I fucking hate Bendis Beast so much. Without Bendis Beast, we wouldn't have Percy Beast, and I hate that Beast even more, because Bendis at least knew enough that he could make Beast an idiot and not evil and the fandom would swallow it. He had to cop to mind control to justify it.

But that's all it takes, isn't it? The step from, Beast is a good guy, to, Beast disagrees with Cyclops, to, Beast is an idiot, to, Beast is a race traitor, to, Beast is a Bond villain. Every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and the road to Percy was paved by Bendis. All it takes is an inching up, and suddenly you go from Beast being given maxed out scores for Wisdom and Conscience in a 2010 handbook, to using Wolverine's brain as a fucking sock puppet in 2023.

Oh yeah, and speaking of socket puppets, you want to know something infuriating? This future Beast, who is established here to be a puppet of Charles Xavier II? He gets murdered by Magneto off panel fairly violently because I'm fairly certain that Cullen Bunn just kinda forgot that this version of the Brotherhood is two actual bad people and a load of puppets.

What a hero. Thanks, Cullen, I really feel good about it???

And you know, it's that . . . it's that basic derision for the character, that basic ignorance of continuity, that plagues Hank so much these days. There's just so much that instantly flags as wrong if you know him, if you bother to read his stories, if you actually just read the comics instead of going by Wiki summaries. If editors did their fucking jobs.

Mm, no, he's not a doctor. He's 17. Doesn't have a doctorate yet. And when he did have a doctorate, it was in Biophysics, not medicine. Henry McCoy was not a medical doctor at age 17. Try harder.

The fuck you even sayin' to me, Bendis? Try harder.

A) That's fucking creepy. B) Hank was never in love with Jean. Try harder.

Like, just.

It's the basic facts of the character, Bendis. And I can go on! I can go on and on and on and on and on but I don't want to. All I can say is?

Try.

Harder.

It's just so embarrassing, watching professional comic book writers struggle to try, and fail, consistently, to write Hank McCoy. Because when he's written well, I can buy him doing morally suspect things, because the writer has established that they are trying to challenge Hank, that they are interested in poking at where he will and won't go. Because Hank will cave to peer pressure, and do what his friends think is right. Because Hank is insecure, and needy, and dependent. Because he feels like a person, with an actual psychology.

Lemme show you some things.

Warren Ellis wrote Hank getting more blood on his hands than I can conceive of, but I never call his Hank out of character (except for the occasional ableist slur that Ellis has him drop out of nowhere) because Ellis gets why this matters to Hank. Ellis understands that Hank cares. Ellis understands that Hank does know what consequences are.

Did you just feel the ambient intelligence in the room go up? You sure fucking did. Isn't it immediate, just how quickly you feel the difference when you go from braindead Bendis Beast to Ellis or Hickman Beast? Is there not just an immediate uptick in eloquence, in brilliance, in humanity, in soul?

The things that Ellis or Hickman had Beast do are more monstrous and awful than anything he did during the events of All-New X-Men. But because they had sympathy for the character, and because they bothered to write him as anything more than a sock puppet to oppose Cyclops, he comes across so very differently, doesn't he? One of these versions of Beast invites derision. The other invites sympathy.

Fuck Bendis.

[fanficfanattic]

Win and/or Road

You know not what you have wrought. Cause both of these are dark.

Warning for some homophobic bullshit from James Tartt. And literal lashing.

Win:

“Gonna give you a choice, son-o-mine. You’ll get the buckle end-“ “Wait, what?” “-or you can earn getting the leather end. I know how much your pretty boy appearance is to you, and the buckle ain’t like what you’re used to. It’ll scar.”

“Why are you doing this, da?”

“You know why I’m here, ya cunt. Been gone for a couple of months but less than one with the American clown and suddenly you’re all soft again. Don’t know what he’s said to you, or promised you, but I ain’t raised you to step down from a fight, did I?”

He waited before grabbing Jamie by the barely longer front of his hair to yank his head back.

“Asked you a question, boy.”

“No,” and for a second his dad was visibly preparing to strike at the denial, before Jamie desperately rushed the rest of the sentence, “you ain’t raised me to be a pussy”.

“That’s right. And ya done that in front of cameras. Half of Manchester is laughing at the Tartt name. At my name. So you understand why I need to guarantee you’re sorry. Don’t you?”

You could barely hear it, but Jamie quietly whispered “yes” back at him. Normally he’d say something about mumbling. But he had more important things to consider.

“You want to hear what will let you avoid the buckle?”

“Yes, da.”

“Mind your fucking manners with me.”

“Yes, please, da.”

“I know how much you admire Kent, for all that you yap at him like an overeager pup. You coulda had him out of that game in moments, I taught you how to fight well enough.

Which means you didn’t want to actually win that fight. Don’t matter if it’s because he was your childhood footie hero” and his dad spit on the floor at his feet, “or you felt sorry for him. Or you’re more soft than I thought, eh? Got a crush, boy?”

The lines of Jamie’s back go rigid. Before he can respond, his dad just chuckles.

“Always so sensitive about that. I know you ain’t a poof for all that you dress like one. Like I said, it don’t matter why you keep putting up with Kent. Only that it’s got to stop. What am I always telling you Jamie?”

“That I’m too stupid to think so I should stop trying?” His dad let out a bark of a laugh.

“I do say that, yes, but I meant how I keep telling you that getting attached to the other players will only drag you down. Propping them up makes you look mediocre, and that won’t get you proper minutes when you’re back with City, will it?”

Jamie knew better than to stay silent this time.

“It won’t, you’re right.”

“This Richmond loan was your chance to really see what it were like without all the other players having hooks in ya. Not your fault that you grew up with first team as your mentors. But they ain’t your friends you stupid boy. And neither are those Richmond lads.”

He didn’t ask a question so Jamie kept quiet but the anxiety just built and built. Right before it boiled over, his da gently brushed his hair back into place from when he’d grabbed it.

“You know I don’t like doing this, Jamie. But I do because it’s for your own good, yeah?”

Jamie’s breath hitched because that was a lie. But one too dangerous to call out.

“Course da. I know it.”

He got a brisk pat on the head as a reward for keeping his voice from breaking.

“Good, good. And you can prove you know it by doing as I say. That’s what will earn you the leather rather than the buckle.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Admit to me, now, that you know Kent don’t belong on the pitch no more. And that you’ll help him realize it.”

Jamie’s voice sounded faint. “What?”

And in turn his dad’s voice got firmer.

“Kent. The one what we’ve been talking about this whole time? Your hero worship school boy crush? I kid, I kid. But your favorite player nonetheless.

He’s past his prime and I wouldn’t care if he were just holding back that bottom of the table joke of a club. But your name is attached to it, which means my name is attached to it. They need to put him out to pasture so you can actually keep them in the Prem. You’re the only fucking shot they have at it, ain’t ya.”

“I…what? No?”

“Did you just disagree with me? After saying yourself you aren’t smart enough to bother with thinking.”

“It’s Roy fucking Kent, da. They’d be mad to release him just on the strength of how it’d depress the team.”

“Jamie, my poor Jamie, this is why you’re only good for footie. None of those lads matter, and if they’re too big’a emo little bitches to lace up their boots? That don’t matter neither.” He picked up the belt. The metal clinking as it tipped over before swinging into the air.

“Last chance, son. You going to accept that I know best. Or you gonna fight me on it.”

“I ain’t saying that about Roy and I’m not going to sabotage his career!”

“Suit yourself. If you don’t care about your own career, why should I?”

And the belt came down buckle first.

Road:

This is the only use of “road” I had that wasn’t just referring to Nelson Road. And it is firmly in WIP territory because this whole snippet is a monolog/diatribe without any of the scene setting to make it actually readable.

“And I was learning it while the four of you were in the office saying that I was a diva and a fragile little bitch. While making jokes after I pointed out that you were the ones who had all invested in us being a team that supported each other, that you had sold me on that too. And then threw it away with the promise of something else. Something better.

I weren’t even saying it about meself! By that point I had learned. I was talking about the team as a whole. Because it turns out you were right, when we had each others backs, it was better. But everyone else had stopped. They didn’t even have their own backs, giving it all to Zava, with me trying to cover everyone else.

Not just first team, like 10* wasn’t hard enough. But everyone. Cause you shunted Colin off to the side like he were nothing. And I wouldn’t leave Jack and Declan and Jeff to fend for themselves. No one in this room alone, right coach? It’s what you said after I were already gone. So maybe you didn’t ever mean it to include me.

Good thing that at least by then I’d learned that trusting means people can still fuck up. That it means you just know they’ll find their way again. So I kept doing what was right, regardless of the fact that you didn’t care about what were right nomore. No way you could and also had given up thinking it wasn’t about the wins and losses.

Didn’t help that even as he called me names, not the fun kind where we say Colin is a menace on the road, but the kind you want to give someone you think would make the world a better off place if they died, that Roy was the only one who heard what I said. Made the jokes, sure, but then actually listened.

Richmond only got through Zava doing exactly what he were always going to do because Roy decided to diversify your strategy. To invest in making sure that anyone who wanted to still grow as a player, despite the official party line being to give fucking Zava your all, could actually develop instead of stagnate.

The real fucking joke is that I were the only one who wanted that. Because I never, even when I was the prickiest prick to ever prick, gave anything less than my absolute best. Me, the person you spent that same time talking down to and about to each other and ignoring that even at my worst? I was never that fucking cruel.

I was the only player who had taken every word you ever said to heart. Because it was important. It changed fucking everything for me. And so I put me head down and did the fucking work. So that when Zava fucked everyone over -as he absolutely did because he told the whole world over and over exactly who he was- we’d at least be no worse off than when I first came here on loan.

And Roy was the only coach who did the same fucking thing. Who took what you said and let it change him. For the better. He was the only one who saw, and cared, about the fucking club.

He fucking hated me and still saw that I was trying to be what we needed here. Despite no one else remembering what we’d built. Together. Despite no one else caring that I was drowning right in front of you just trying to keep us afloat. Just trying to make sure there was something to even come back to once Zava left us high and dry.

The person here who had the most right to enjoy me spiraling was the only one to notice it at all. Then did something about it! And I know it were only because he cared about the club, not me, but I cared about it too. More than I cared about meself. So we finally had something to agree on.”

Jamie had laughed bitterly several times over by then. But none so dark and full of self hatred as the one he couldn’t hold back at the thought of Roy and him only agreeing that Jamie’s worth was solely his ability to take hit after hit in the name of Richmond.

“I were dumb enough to think that being one of eleven meant sharing the burden as well as the benefit. Didn’t I? Got out of practice for having to carry it all. Got lazy. Got complacent. Forgot that I shouldn’t pass to someone who hadn’t even attempted to score in months. Made us both look like fools when they just turned their head looking for Zava to make the play for them.”

[zahri-melitor]

Finished Superboy (1994). It’s a really interesting run all together, in that it’s a run full of complicated story ideas, often let down in execution. The one through line is too high expectations on too young a character.

The Karl and Barbara Kesel writing team are probably my favourite on the entire book. The biggest crime is that Barbara never got more than two issues in her own name, AND that due to time and history we will never know how much input Barbara had on the initial run of #1-30. But I can see it. She’s there, too, even if it’s simply in terms of discussing plot points and characterisation.

Kesel had the best settings and side character development as well. When I think of pretty much all my favourite storylines, there’s a Kesel behind them. (Also some of the weirdest plots. Like the sentient animals and the weird hippies who commune with machines)

I want to say nobody understands Knockout except Karl Kesel but wow do none of the other writers ever get what Kesel was trying to do with Kay.

I do also like some of what Ron Marz did, but my biggest frustration is that Kesel and Marz both wanted to write about an exploited child star…but never really understood the storyline the other was advancing. Which led to some of the plot incoherence (see Marz successfully moving Tana into realising Kon was 16, and the ping pong back and forth over Tana and Roxy’s feelings towards Kon).

In hindsight I do have to wonder how much impact Eddie Berganza had on the development of the narrative that Kon’s just into any woman in his eyeline. Because it’s there, and different writers are more blatant about it than others.

Jay Faerber using his three issues just to basically do some stuff he didn’t have time to get to in Titans is the funniest shit ever. However, can’t go past Jim Harper (clone) getting to meet Lian Harper. My ENTIRE heart.

Joe Kelly was a ride, because he ping ponged back and forth between some of the most heart wrenching characterisation you’ve ever seen, hilarious visualisation of deep issues about Kon as a character, and some of the most bonkers plots in the entire run.

Like how do you have a panel of Kon and Clark mourning Pa Kent (who they think is dead) in the middle of a story where the remainder of it is a bonkers dream sequence? Oh Kelly.

Didio and Palmiotti as a team - look I don’t think any of this run is good. It’s certainly got some of the worst of Kon overlooking the interiority of the women around him. It does hit the ‘exploited minor’ point again, but in a way that felt less aware by the writing team? It was far more ‘time to grow up’ exploitation rather than the clear celebrity manipulation Kesel wrote or the ownership CADMUS displayed.

Overall? Superboy is a run that made me think. It’s a run you can’t just take at surface level as there’s often a deeper thread running under what’s been written. It did some striking things with particularly Roxy Leech and Serling Roquette over the years, much of which is underappreciated.

It’s quite often not a comfortable read. But it is a fascinating one (and should be given a more deep look by some fans).

[jesncin]

5 days long anon again. Yeah, it took a while because I kept reworking and trying to find the right words. words are hard. Plus anxiety. Constantly worrying if it would be right or sound right. Right now I'm riding the high of "it WAS fine!!" so I'm feeling more confident in sending this.

The whole "oooh superhero lied to someone how bad" when it's about their identity? One thing I clipped from the previous ask was talking about how of course a hero should not disclose their civilian ID because that would put any family or friends in danger. A reporter SHOULD understand that! Or at least a kind one. Of course Clark wouldn't be going around telling people if only because he wants to keep his parents safe. Yet you can't look me in the face and tell me that the Kents wouldn't be leery about telling people their son's origins as an alien regardless of when the story is set because technically? Illegal immigrant baby. Illegal immigrant alien baby, whom any spooky group (military/research/???) might want to get their greasy mitts on. I can see that kind of worry leaving marks on him too, even though he is trying to be kind and good.

Maybe it was "too soon" but Kal-el is talking to someone he's grown to know as both Clark Kent and Superman. Who he feels he can take that risk with. And with something... not small, exactly, but not as harmful to his life as he lives it on Earth? It's not quite a test of trust because that would be too calculated for it but it is something more honest and raw and the little voice in the back of the head going "do you understand? do I understand?".

"I've had to justify fanon to canon" is... odd. Have you had to with the Martians or is it specifically your take on Lois? I admit I haven't been able to read all the comics and random sketches yet but everything I've seen has been built on the trend of compassion and care whether it is for it or in spite of it. ...and sexy abs. (Rudy.)

Run out of steam/focus so hope you have a good night again.

Hiya 5 days anon (Here I am responding now after the strike)! And no worries, I appreciate people taking their time thinking of what to say.

Right! Even without any Superhero-level fantasy stuff- irl journalists write under pseudonyms or protect the privacy of the people they're interviewing all the time (Lois did this in Girl Taking Over!!). This notion that reporters are Kantian "Lying Is Always Bad No Matter What" people is frankly a caricature. Fun for silver age shenanigans, but not if you want your story to have any sort of depth. And yeah! Clark is an illegal immigrant baby. It shouldn't take much imagination to see why he and the Kents would want to keep that a secret (alas some stories think otherwise- I can't help but call the emotional intelligence of the characters into question at that point).

Yeah! I don't imagine Superman telling Lois his Kryptonian name as something pre-meditated, it's very spur of the moment trust. The idea is that he's not ready to disclose his civilian identity yet, but he is trusting Liando with something far more personal.

It's mostly been my Superman stuff. I don't post my Martian art on twidder especially since well. I've always gotten one or two racist comments on my Clois comics but the Private Interview comic just unleashed the floodgate for racist comments. If I get that much heat for a cishet interracial couple, you can imagine how gross people would be to my Martian stuff. There's a portion of cape fandom that just doesn't understand fanon or interpretations and are vehemently against any sort of change. So I get silly comments asking me to justify the change ("Why is Lois Black??") or backhanded compliments hailing me as "the exception to racebends". It's annoying, but in the end the comic really wasn't for them. It's for people like y'all who get it! (like Rudy)

Thank you and good day/night!

[theender36]

Recently watched Superman: The Movie (1978) for the first time in well over a decade and it really is a great movie so I got some thoughts that I want to put somewhere before I forget.

The cold open of theater curtains showing a mockup of an old Superman serial featuring Action Comics is a great nod to the character's past. Then the title flying out of the old theater screen is a fantastic visual as well as a good transition to kickstart the credits sequence accompanied by the iconic music

The set design of Krypton is phenomenal; the glowing clothes, the crystalline look, and the streamlined technology feel alien and futuristic in a unique way, although it is a little odd that everything is so white except for Kal-El's baby blanket.

The trial of Zod, Ursa, and Non has the striking combination of visuals that are the trio being held in a spotlight by spinning rings and the stern Kryptonian judges' faces being projected onto the otherwise dark dome surrounding them

Marlon Brando keeps pronouncing it "Kryptin" for some reason. Like when I'm joking about watching "The Batmins"

Genuinely very sad goodbye scene from Kal's parents

Pretty much every wide shot in Kansas is super beautiful

As is the custom, Ma and Pa Kent bring Clark up right. I appreciate the moment where Clark tells Pa about how he gets so mad at bullies that he wants to tear them apart because first off, you can tell from how he says it that he knows it'd be wrong to do that. And second, Pa doesn't yell at him for having those feelings, he tries to help him deal with them.

Clark doesn't just bail on Martha to go find himself, and he makes sure she'll have help on the farm while he's gone

The sequence of the Fortress forming itself has amazing practical effects and editing

Maybe it was because I was watching the Blu Ray version with extra scenes but the abstract montage of crystal Jor-El teaching Clark about the universe and his abilities and giving life lessons ran a little long but it was cool

Clark is very much playing up his meek, clumsy identity but him being Reporter Clark Kent as a person is not totally an act. He makes sure half his paycheck goes to Ma back home because he wants to make sure she's taken care of and he tries to be polite and helpful around the office, which tracks with who he is at his core

I think Lex being a business tycoon/scientist is pretty integral to the character but I don't mind this version's "Napoleon of crime" shtick. I like that Gene Hackman's hair being a wig in-story is hinted at when Otis is poking around the spa and he finds a spare hairpiece

I know everyone knows this already but Christopher Reeves is a perfect casting choice and he does an amazing job at making Clark and Superman superficially different but obviously the same person at heart. Even when he says something a little corny as either one, there's so much sincerity to it

Clark feeling a little guilty about enjoying being a hero is on-brand. I like that Jor-El reflects Johnathan Kent by encouraging him but also giving guidance so he doesn't lose who he is.

The moment of Jor-El saying "I've sent them you. My only son." is veering very close to the common Superman-as-a-Jesus-allegory mistake but it's the only time in the entire movie I remember it doing that, so I can't harp on it too much

Lois is just a force of nature and the only reason Clark can keep up with her as Superman is because she's starstruck

This version of Superman and Lois are down just HORRENDOUS for each other

The flying date scene is great and I think the poorly-aged flying effect is countered by the nighttime background and the chemistry between the characters. That being said, the "can you read my mind" poem is just. What. Why is this

The scene of Lex, Ms. Teschmacher, and Otis attempting to tamper with the nukes and then having to do it again because Otis screwed up is so goofy I forgot they were villains

Great moment when Superman shows he can be intimidating by just staring down Otis.

I like that Superman is saved by Ms Teschmacher because she believes in him which is a surprise to Lex because he only believes in himself

Really great effects in the scenes of the destruction from the San Andreas fault

This shot is underrated

The moments of Superman realizing Lois is dead have so much weight to them and are amazingly shot

I kind of wish they explored the consequences of him "interfering in history" because otherwise it is sort of just a convenient deus ex machina

Everything ends tied up very nicely (except the Zod squad but after two hours, nobody's thinking about that) and sometimes that's all a movie needs

It's astonishing really how much they manage to fit in this movie considering they give a lot of scenes more time than you'd expect

Overall, movie good.

[thetarttfuldickhead]

Zava retired, but they didn't say anything about paying out his contract (and freeing him from his obligations to Richmond that way), right? He left, but he'd still be their player if he did return to football...

... Unless he expressed an interest in returning and was, say, ioaned to West Ham, in exchange for them covering the cost of his contract, a la Jamie in Season 1 getting loaned to Richmond...

Hiya, nonny!

I am very much not an expert on these matters, but from what little digging around I’ve done, it seems unlikely that Zava would have any obligations to Richmond at this point. Either he terminated his contract early and paid compensation for it, or he and Richmond reached an agreement and tore up the contract on the understanding that Zava would leave the sport entirely. The latter seems unlikely, given that he just disappeared and the club only learned of his retirement via social media, but maybe something was agreed upon afterwards. Or maybe Zava exploited the fact that the contract wasn’t signed with his name but with “you’re welcome”… or maybe there was always a very special “free to leave at will” clause in Zava’s contract, because he had the leverage to push for that? Either way, I think it’s reasonable to assume that Zava has no obligations to Richmond at this point. (I might be utterly mistaken, though.)

That being said, I am hugely invested in him making a return for the final match against West Ham! That, I think, is actually made easier if Zava’s completely free of Richmond because I’m not sure they’d agree to loan him out to their greatest rival – I mean, this is not some young player needing a bit more time on the pitch than his mother club can offer him at this point, this is a superstar! One who might admittedly have performed underwhelmingly in the end, but still not the sort of player you just want to give away to someone else? And when that someone else is Rupert… yeah, I don’t see Rebecca going for it (unless they have a secret hope that Zava’s diva antics will wreak havoc with the West Ham team? That strikes me as a bit far-fetched, but who knows). But if Zava is free of his Richmond obligations, he could choose to join West Ham and, well. Then we’ll have the Zava versus Jamie showdown some of us are bloody well dying for.

Just. The team will be shocked when the hear the news, of course. (God, I cannot even begin to imagine Dani’s reaction. That poor boy.) Probably also rather dejected – how the fuck are they going to win now?

Then imagine Jamie’s face… How he’s maybe a bit thrown but he is determined and he’s a bit put out because fucking Zava again and why the fuck is the team going crazy over that idiot again but maybe he’s also a little tiny bit eager because he knows how much he has improved and he wants to beat that arrogant prick… and he’s a little nervous, too, because what if he can’t? You know Phil Dunster would fucking slay at subtly portraying all these emotions as Jamie sits quietly in the chaos erupting around him.

And then there’s an “Oi!” cutting through the din and that’s Roy Kent now, looking as annoyed as ever: “So they got Zava? So fucking what? We’ve got Jamie fucking Tartt.”

And so they do. And so they win. Regardless of what we actually get on the screen (which certainly isn’t guaranteed to involve Zava or a final game against West Ham) there’ll forever be a moment in my mind, of Zava gearing up for another insane goal, except Jamie’s there and steals the ball and outruns, outdribbles and outplays every single opponent until he’s in the perfect position to score a perfect goal. And after that Zava comes after him again and again but he can’t touch him; Jamie is (to steal a quote from Good Omens) finally and forever on his own ground, and while Zava plays only for himself, Jamie plays for a team now, and after his intial goal keeps setting his teammates up for opportunity and opportunity and Ted's total football and teamwork saves the day. (And Jamie. Jamie also saves the day.)

(I’m also fond of a scenario where instead of Roy mentioning Jamie before the game begins, Richmond is down after the first half, and Roy declares something along the lines of: “We need to start challenge Zava heads-on or we’ll be fucking slaughtered. Jamie, you need to go out there and be an utter fucking prick. Be the most Jamie Tartt you’ve ever fucking been.” Or Jamie asks for it, recognizing that the time to be a prick has very much arrived, and Ted looks at Roy, maybe a little concerned that this is a step away from their carefully cultivated total football approach, but Roy just nods, and Ted gives the go-ahead.)

(As I’ve stated previously, I don’t actually want Richmond to win the Premier League, but maybe they can still win the final game. Some other match ends in a way that has them coming in second rather than first in spite of beating West Ham, or some such.)

(It’s interesting to note, though, that if a player terminates his contract without just cause during the protected period, sporting bans might be imposed on them, which would ban Zava from playing for four or even six month after he left Richmond. Ted Lasso might not care about that, or might claim that the four months have passed by the time he joins West Ham.)

Too many parentheses there. Oh, well.

I’ll take the liberty of tagging @sabra-n and @itsalinh here, as they have been generous with their football expertise in the past. Maybe they can shed some lights on the ins and outs of terminating contracts early?

[historyhermann]

My Adventures With Superman Season One Spoiler-Filled Review [Part 1]

My Adventures with Superman is animated superhero series which mixes the romantic comedy, action-adventure, and sci-fi genres. It's the latest adaptation of Superman, a DC Comics character. DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation produce the series. Studio Mir was contracted for animation services. Studio Mir, a South Korean animation studio, is known for its work on The Legend of Korra, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Dota: Dragon's Blood, and Harley Quinn season 3. Jake Wyatt, Brendan Clougher, and Josie Campbell developed the series, with Campbell as producer. Wyatt and Clougher are executive producers along with Michael Ouweleen and Sam Register. This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, My Adventures with Superman being reviewed here wouldn't exist.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the forty-ninth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on September 21, 2023.

The first episode begins with a bang. As a little kid, Clark Kent (voiced by Jack Quaid) discovers he has superpowers. In the present, he tries to be "normal." He and his his friend Jimmy Olsen (voiced by Ishmel Sahid) go to The Daily Planet. Along the way, he meets Lois Lane (voiced by Alice Lee) and develops a crush on her. As it turns out, Lois is also applying to be an intern. All three get the job. Their boss, Perry White (voiced by Darrell Brown) shoots down Lois' ideas for stories. Lois ignores this. She meets her "source," a newspaper girl named Flip Johnson (voiced by Azuri Hardy-Jones). The reality is more terrifying: Livewire activates robots which Clark barely defeats. He only survives due to his powers and Lois's quick thinking.

At the end of the episode, Lois declares she wants an exclusive interview with Superman, where she will expose all his secrets, terrifying him. That's only the first episode! In later episodes, Clark tries to find out more about his past. He talks to Jor-El (voiced by Jason Marnocha), who speaks Kryptonese. Despite the fact he is Superman, he works with Lois and Jimmy on an investigation into Superman. He even has a magical transformation sequence. Some said it was inspired by magical transformations in Sailor Moon. Other fans argued it resembled Pretty Cure.

Storyboarder Diana Huh confirmed that Superman's transformation sequence was based on the part of Kaido Minami's transformation into Cure Mermaid in Go! Princess Pretty Cure, "specifically the part in her transformation when her back ribbons and hair were formed." She noted that she watched it on "repeat for inspiration." As for Clark, he grows closer to Lois. In fact, she even gives Superman his name. Clark's adopted mother puts together his superhero costume. All the while, those who call themselves "good guys" torture people.

This focus on identity is not unique to My Adventures with Superman nor is the relationship between Lois and Clark. The latter is key in many Superman series, including Justice League Unlimited. In that series, their romance is even known by other superheroes. They never kiss in that series, from what I remember, but the closeness between them is apparent. Another difference is that Jimmy is a Black man and Lois is a Korean woman. She also calls Clark by the nickname "Smallville."

Clark struggles with his powers. In other depictions he is older and fully aware of his superpowers. In this series, his identity struggle is complicated when Lois calls Superman a liar. It weakens Clark's resolve to tell her the truth about himself. Clark continually tries to cover his tracks that he is Superman, even ripping out a key piece from the tabloids. After she tells him that she hates being lied too, he chickens out, again, in telling her the truth. Their relationship development is better paced than dragging it out across the season. It gives them more time together.

The push-and-pull between Lois wanting to find out about Superman, and Clark's determination to ensure that Lois doesn't realize the truth defines the early part of the first season. Both have identity crises. In fact, in the second episode, he is traumatized by his adopted parents almost being killed when he visits a spaceship which is supposed to show his origins. They face challenges along the way. They fear that The Daily Planet's star reporting team (Steve Lombard, Cat Grant, and Ronnie Troupe) will scoop their story. These characters are voiced by Vincent Tong, Melanie Minichino, and Kenna Ramsey respectfully. Even so, Lois is persistent. She swipes the keycard of the warden (also voiced by Minichino), allowing them to see a prison cell.

At first it seems that the fifth episode might not be the big confrontation between Lois and Clark. He shows Lois his "murder board"/investigation board, and plans to say he likes Lois. She even goes to the extreme and chains herself to him, but he breaks free. This is dashed quickly. Later, she falls off a building to see if he will catch her! While this generated some online discourse about how she was "wrong" and Clark was "right," the truth is simple. Clark was lying to her and her reasoning makes sense. At the same time, Clark understandably held back, as he was afraid.

Social media has a key role in the series. Jimmy has a secret YouTube channel named Flamebird which covers conspiracies in Metropolis and beyond. This comes to a fore in the fifth episode: Jimmy gets a response video for every single video he has posted. Some internet troll attacks him, and it turns out that star reporter Steve is behind it all! This focus also gives Jimmy character depth, as a sort of social media influencer, and makes you sympathize with him when Lois and Clark leave him behind.

There an interesting secondary plot in My Adventures with Superman. Mist/Kyle (voiced by Lucas Grabeel) and Rough House/Albert (voiced by Vincent Tong) break out Mist's sister, Siobhan/Silver Banashee (voiced by Catherine Taber), the leader of Intergang. They accomplish this thanks to weapons Livewire (voiced by Zehra Fazal) and are able to escape. Using these weapons, they rob Metropolitan City Bank. Superman saves them all when one of their machines goes haywire. This is interlinked with the tech plan of Ivo (voiced by Jake Green), the founder of Amazo Tech. He creates a super suit named Parasite and markets it as something which turns people into their own personal Superman. Of course, this doesn't work, since the prototype is unstable.

Superman takes extreme risks to protect those he cares about and support justice. Often, he saves people across Metropolis. He fights villains like Heat Wave (voiced by Laila Berzins) and supposed "good guys" like Agent Wilson (voiced by Chris Parnell). The latter only stops at the urging of Amanda Waller (voiced by Debra Wilson). The General (voiced by Joel De La Fuente) wants Agent Slade Wilson / Deathstroke (voiced by Chris Parnell) to eliminate Superman once and for all.

While writing this review, I can't avoid comparisons between My Adventures with Superman and previous series, like Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. The latter's end marked the end of the DC Animated Universe (DCAU). Some fans call DCAU the Timmverse, after animator and director Bruce Timm. It comprised eight animated series, four feature films, four short films, and two digital series between 1992 and 2006. While I haven't watched all the series within DCAU, I see some similarities, especially with the two Justice League series, when it comes to Amanda Waller. She's a Black woman who's continually skeptical of superheroes. She even partners with Lex Luther to fund a research center supporting a superhero-hating metahumans.

In this series, Waller gives Task Force X one mission: to take down Superman. This differs from the two Justice League series, where her goal is broader. She intends to ensure that Earth can defend itself if the superheroes go "bad." Waller, in this series, along with the General and Agent Wilson, believe that Superman will bring the end of the world. They remember how someone like him killed many during an event they call "Zero Day." This military slang means a day in which a Basic Combat Training company "picks up Soldiers." I think The General meant it to be equivalent to a D-Day or "Invasion Day." The General is misguided. Superman is not like the marauding Supermen he (and Lois) sees on a record from the League of Lois Lanes.

In another major difference, My Adventures with Superman depicts Cadmus more positively. Lois and Clark go through the forest to save Jimmy. He was kidnapped by Monsieur Mallah. The latter is an intelligent ape, voiced by Andre Sogliuzzo. He is working with Brain (voiced by Jesse Inocalla). Like the two aforementioned Justice League series, Cadmus is a secret government project. In this series, it was begun 20 years before. It is where Mallah and Brain fell in love. However, Task Force X came to eliminate them. The Task Force believed that no one survived the unstable Black hole.

The reality, obviously, is very different. Mallah and Brain are almost trapped. A nearby minefield, drones, and a protective bubble stop anyone from leaving, or reaching, Cadmus. Task Force X wanted to ensure that no one could discover Cadmus. At one point, Lois and Clark are chased by robots. They are only saved when mutants, created by Mallah, attack. Thanks to Clark's actions, the black hole maintains its power and a containment field stabilizes it.

In a heart-felt scene, Mallah and Brain step through the wormhole, wanting to reach a world where they can live freely. The Brain warns them that once the person who is trying to get Superman (The General) sees him as a threat, they will never stop. This is clear from a final scene, in that episode. The General asks Ivo to help him figure out where the technology is, and to help him take down Superman. The Brain nor Mallah is evil. The former is exclusive to the continuity of this series and is an adaptation of a character which first appeared in Volume 1 of the comic book Doom Patrol.

The sixth episode of My Adventures with Superman is one of the strongest not only because of the action-packed sequences or the romance between Lois and Clark, with Clark saving Lois from dying. It shines because Clark tells Lois the truth. He admits to her (and Jimmy) that he didn't want to reveal his true nature due to a fear that Jimmy and Lois would see him as an "alien" and treat him differently. Instead, he wanted to be "normal." Jimmy, who already knew Clark was Superman, reassures him they are friends because of who he is. Lois says they want to be open with him. In the next episode, he declares there will be no more secrets, so he brings them to a spaceship, the same one which brought him to Earth, which surprises Lois and Jimmy.

By the seventh episode, it seems that the romance of Lois and Clark, is moving forward. Both lose their minds over a date, having charts, maps, and other ways to ensure it goes perfectly. These plans never come to pass. A so-called international "peacekeeper," Mxyzptlk (voiced by David Errigo Jr.), asks for Clark's help and declares that Clark is a Superman is in every universe. Meanwhile, the aptly named League of Lois Lanes, peacekeepers tasked with saving the Multiverse, come to save Lois. They declare that Clark is in danger, and Jimmy comes along. In the process, Lois and Jimmy become skeptical of the League. Clark realizes that Mxyzptlk lied to him and only wants chaos. Clark tries to do the right thing and stop Mxyzptlk from stealing.

The episode focuses on what Lois sees on a computer screen: a restricted file about Superman only accessible at League headquarters. Not only is this suspicious, but the centrality of a classified record drew me into the story. I say this is a person who indexes such records for my day job and someone who has written about archives and archivists in popular culture for many years. I liked how Lois even works with Mxyzptlk to get to the League headquarters, despite being wary of him. While there, she accesses a mainframe and gets the restricted record. Of course, her temporary ally-of-sorts is only there for his own benefit. He gets what he wants, allowing him to villainous "again." On the whole, the episode is so absurd, it's a bit funny.

The League sees Superman as evil, shooting him with guns filled with kryptonite. In some ways, the episode ends well. Lois, Jimmy, and Clark work together to take down Mxyzptlk. However, he later escapes prison. He sees Lois looking at the file which has the "truth" about Superman. He soon leaves, declaring it will be "more fun" to watch her figure it out. Lois doesn't consider possible manipulation of the record or that it only shows one "truth."

The eighth episode goes a different direction. It begins with Ivo collecting former villains and saying they need to fulfill their "debt" to society. Lois and Clark both face villains of sorts. Lois meets a reporter she idolizes, named Vicki Vale (voiced by Andromeda Dunker). She soon sours on Vale. It is revealed that Vale has an anti-Superman bias. Clark becomes obsessed with finding The General, thanks to his new power of super hearing. He ignores the pleas from Lois and Jimmy, going off on his own to face "the evil." In a local park, he takes a beating. He is kidnapped and The General calls him the "end of the world." Due to the splintering of the typical friend squad (Lois, Jimmy, and Clark), the ending sequence is different. It features the cityscape and none of the characters.

In the ninth episode, everything goes off the rails. Lois and Jimmy enlist the help of the Newskid Legion to find Superman. In actuality, he is in custody of The General. Falsely, The General believes that Superman is the enemy. He tortures him with electricity and declares that he won't let any more of "his kind" invade Earth. While Superman tells him what he knows, this isn't the "right answer." There is a powerful scene in this episode in which Clark sees what happened on Zero Day, 22 years before, as The General terms it. Many of Superman's kind come through, attacking people on Earth, until a light shines and the attack ends. Due to this incident, it makes sense he, and Waller, created Task Force X, and used the tech left behind to create new U.S. government weapons.

Superman empathizes. He realizes that not all Supermans are good, and asks why Supermen would do this. His responses takes The General back and makes him realize that he is making the wrong call. He begins to ask if Task Force X is wrong. Arrogantly, Waller shows her commitment to the task force: she claims that it is never wrong. As The General even admits, Superman was too young to be part of Zero Day and implies he is innocent. To make matters worse, Waller deactivates a camera, encouraging the villains to get out of their cells, including Ivo, who wants to "finish off" Superman, in revenge for what happened in the past.

He somehow escapes in a weakened state. He makes his way back to Lois and Jimmy. Thanks to assistance from his two friends, he defeats the Ivo Kaiju monster, which is attacking Metropolis. They call on everyone in town to turn off their power so that Ivo cannot suck in any more electricity. As a result, Superman is victorious. Jimmy lets Lois and Clark have time alone, together. Clark proceeds to carry Lois into the sky and kiss her. The General stands against Waller. She relieves him of his duties. Waller becomes head of Task Force X. The General gets a new mission: to track down and terminate Superman.

The season one finale of My Adventures with Superman goes further than showing Superman as the immigrant, "the adoptee living in a world that says being different is bad." He embraces his differences every day, with his weirdness and strangeness as his strength, as Campbell put it. Everything comes full circle. Clark becomes a full-time reporter with Lois and Jimmy. He dreams about being an evil Superman and learns something about The General: he is Sam Lane, Lois' dad! While Clark is, understandably, nervous about telling Lois this reality, Jimmy pushes him to do the right thing, causing Lois to come to his aid.

This all happens during Thanksgiving. There's family drama between The General and Lois. Clark's adoptive parents are also there. This all falls to the wayside when kryptonite inside the record weakens Clark. Although none of them are entirely sure what kryptonite is, Jimmy rightly realizes that the rock is causing the problem and puts it back. The entire scene echoes part of the She-Ra and the Princesses of Power series finale. Clark risks his life to ensure that the portal can be closed. He puts the kryptonite on the ship core, causing it to explode, and Jor-El saves him. Lois also saves his life, after he ensured that she (and everyone on Earth) wouldn't die. She stands in front of her dad, stopping him from killing Clark.

While The General listens and follows the pleas of Lois, he does not stay for Thanksgiving. It is only Lois, Jimmy, Clark, and his adoptive parents. In a funny scene, Jimmy announces that he sold Flamebird to the Daily Planet for $5.6 million and is "super rich now," surprising them all. The series ends with one final scene:, a kryptonian warrior declares they have found a new planet (presumably Earth). One commander tells him that it doesn't matter whether they destroy the ships and close the portals, saying they will kneel ultimately. That sets the stage for a season 2, which Campbell confirmed.

My Adventures with Superman somehow survived corporate fuckery. It had an uncertain future through various corporate mergers, the pandemic, and a thin budget. But, the passion of the writers and crew showed through, as Campbell noted. Such a message can't be more apt, considering the continued twin strikes by writers and actors, regardless of efforts by some to break the strike and fill their fat pockets with wads of cash. Previously, Drew Barrymore withdrew her plan to restart her show after intense criticism. Bill Maher sneered at the strike by writers. Thanks to backlash, he decided to put his show on pause. He has made Islamophobic and anti-Chinese statements, supports NSA surveillance, dislikes critical race theory, and opposed accepting Syrian refugees into the U.S., in the past.

A second season will include more moments between Clark and Lois, shipped by fans as Clois, generating fanart and fanfics. In fact, many of the over 130 stories on AO3 focus on this ship. In the words of Campbell, the second season will "blow people's minds." It will consist of 10 episodes, like Season 1. It is likely that the Kryptonian warriors will attack Earth. Spider-Man, Lux Luthor, and Lana Lang might appear. Hopefully, a second season has more outward LGBTQ+ representation in the main case. In this season, there is only, directly, a lesbian couple helped by Superman (he returns their child) and a gay couple (Mallah and Brain).

Fans who enjoy Clois are undoubtedly looking forward to another season. As for others, they may believe that the second season will reveal the truth behind Clark's birth father or infuse strong sci-fi elements "with heart," and make viewers love Superman all over again. Whether viewers see Lois as adorable, enjoy the fluid animation, humor and character designs; see Superman for gays and girls, or compare Lois with Luz, there are many reasons to enjoy this series, especially for those who like shonen action or shojo romance. Furthermore, it is relatable that Superman has been training, but doesn't have hold of his powers.

My Adventures with Superman is very animesque, from opening and closing credits which resemble anime series in more ways than one. Clark's voice actor, Jack Quaid, described it as "some anime influence...that is just so fun." Along with the aforementioned magical transformation of Superman, some said there was a reference to Ouran High School Host Club opening sequence ("Kiss Kiss Fall In Love") in the title of the seventh episode: "Kiss Kiss Fall In Portal."

As part of a thread on X/Twitter, producer Josie Campbell confirmed this. She noted other influences on the series from Pokemon's Team Rocket, the anime Gurren Lagann, and many other media. While Sailor Moon likely didn't influence the series, the fact that a Pretty Cure transformation influenced Superman's transformation has caused interesting results. For instance, some social media users called on people to watch series within the ongoing anime franchise.

In a strange coincidence, this series is airing at a time that a character, Sora Harewata-ru, in Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure, transforms into Cure Sky in a manner which resembles Superman's transformation. Cure Mermaid's transformation likely inspired both. The My Adventures with Superman ending sequence is meant to resemble "old anime EDs with the softer palette and slow pan while time passes." In Crunchyroll News, Briana Lawrence wrote an article about the similarities between Usagi Tsukino in Sailor Moon and Clark. Others pointed to Dragon Ball and Kill la Kill references, and anime tropes.

The anime influence isn't the only factor influencing My Adventures with Superman. While fans have pointed out that some of the Crew-Ra, the name for the crew of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, worked on the series, this was more limited in reality. Campbell, a co-producer, was a story writer and staff writer on She-Ra. Writer and co-executive producer of one episode, Brendan Cougar, was a storyboarder on She-Ra. He also storyboarded on Young Justice and on The Legend of Korra. Storyboarders Jasmine Goggins, Karen Guo, Diana Huh, and Jessica Zammit all worked on She-Ra.

More of an influence on this series could be, in some manner, Harley Quinn. 17 crew members of this series worked on that series, including animator Yew Yung, writer's assistant Sari Cooper, production executive Audrey Diehl, and executive in charge of production Jay Bastian. In addition, nine crew members did work on Young Justice, including prop designer Austin Reinkens and storyboarder Chris Palmer. Another eight worked on DC Super Hero Girls. The latter included effects animator Jason Plapp and storyboarder Michael Nanna. Other crew members worked on Dogs in Space, The Casagrandes, Glitch Techs, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, and the Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen Part 1 film.

The co-executive producer for My Adventures with Superman, Jake Wyatt, was a background designer for Steven Universe. Art director Jane Bak was a background designer on the same series. Bak did the same on Steven Universe Future and Adventure Time: Distant Lands. Animator Edward Artinian worked on Steven Universe too. Online listings show that some crew members were part of the crew of Pantheon and Final Space. Series composer worked on Nomad for Nowhere. Others contributed their time and labor to series ranging from Chicago Party Aunt to Invincible, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal to High Guardian Spice. The title sequence animator, Yves Bigerel, better known as Balak, is the director and writer of Peepoodo & The Super Fuck Friends.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Continued in part 2

[senadimell]

Many unformulated thoughts about The Scarlet Pimpernel, but one key point about the core relationship that was really striking to me:

It was never Percy’s intelligence that Marguerite was attracted to. It was the fact that he was utterly devoted to her.

So there’s a line in the book that says something to the effect of “she’d never been in love before and didn’t think it was something that would happen to her. She figured she was just not a person capable of loving.” But then Percy shows up and adores her, and she doesn’t necessarily reciprocate right away, but she enjoys being loved and goes along with things.

Importantly, Marguerite is established as extremely intelligent from the beginning. Percy is...not. Even before he leans into foppish shallowness, people are willing to believe he’s not sharp. There’s a discussion of his mother and Sir Percy inheriting ‘madness’ that suggests people are willing to believe he has an intellectual disability, though obviously there’s different terminology being used given the time period.

While Percy turns out to be an intellectual match for his wife, it’s not his intelligence that Marguerite falls in love with. She doesn’t bemoan how clever he used to be—she laments how he used to love her.

This is important.

Marguerite thinks he cannot comprehend how she was entrapped into betraying people to death, and while at least some of this belief in his slow-mindedness may have developed after the fact, it was still rooted in a sincere belief that he was unable to comprehend the situation that she was in, and his inability to understand broke his love for her because he believes her to be a murderer. However, while she does grow disillusioned with his foolish behavior and apparent lack of intellect, she’s not mourning the intelligent man who courted her. She’s mourning a man, perhaps a simple man, but an honest one who she thought she could grow to love.

As for Percy, his falling-out with Marguerite happens because he had to find out how about her role in an execution from other people, and then when he turned to her for an explanation, she offered none. He loved her and he hoped for some emotional intimacy or confidence in return, but instead, she closed herself off and he’s hurt and offended.

Then it all goes downhill, because as he closes himself off and cultivates an overly foolish reputation, she starts to hurt him in the hopes that it will provoke some emotional reaction. If he can’t love her, maybe he can hate her (which is cruel, ridiculous logic but pretty human). Percy responds to this by hiding every scrap of emotion and never rising to the bait, always allowing her to make a fool of him, and never fighting back, and in private, he goes to the aid of French nobility without even dreaming of confiding in his wife. Meanwhile, she snipes at him and secretly despairs until she is truly trapped and finds herself utterly without confidante.

Why does this matter? Because the Scarlet Pimpernel is a romantic superhero that all the women love. If someone falls in love with Superman while being a-okay trashing Clark Kent, it’s going to be hard to accept that love as genuine. It’s really important to the story that Marguerite falls in love with Percy again before she ever realizes he’s the Scarlet Pimpernel and before she realizes how clever he actually is.

“Rather did I speak of a time when you loved me still! and I...oh! I was vain and frivolous; your wealth and position allured me: I married you, hoping in my heart that your great love for me would beget in me a love for you...but, alas!”

and then, later on:

The lazy, good-natured face looked strangely altered. Marguerite, excited as she was, could see that the eyes were no longer languid, the mouth no longer good humored and inane. A curious look of intense passion seemed to glow from beneath his drooping lids, the mouth was tightly closed, the lips compressed, as if the will alone held that surging passion in check.

Marguerite Blakeney was, above all, a woman, with all a woman’s fascinating foibles, all a woman’s most lovable sins. She knew in a moment that for the past few months she had been mistake: that this man who stood here before her, cold as a statue, when her musical voice struck upon his ear, loved her, as he had loved her a year ago: that his passion might have been dormant, but that it was there, as strong, as intense, as overwhelming, as when first her lips met his in one long, maddening kiss. Pride had kept him from her, and, woman-like, she meant to win back that conquest from which had been hers before. Suddenly it seemed to her that the only happiness life could every hold for her again would be in feeling that man’s kiss once more upon her lips.

Percy does happen to be the intellectual equal to his wife. But that’s not how he wooed her. 

I guess the really important thing to me here is that Marguerite was really awful to Percy, and she realizes it and regrets it, and tries to make amends before she ever realizes her husband is a dashing superhero. Heck, she asks for help protecting her brother and believes he'll be able to make things okay even before learning of his secret identity. She’s willing to love him even when he’s still slow Sir Percy Blakeney. It’s not his intellect or lack thereof that offends her, but their total lack of emotional intimacy (that started with her), and she’s willing to overcome the gulf between them by being vulnerable first.