#i put all my love of clark into this

[superfam]

THE SUPERMAN STARTER READING LIST

SO – you want to read Superman comics, but you’re intimidated by the near-century of history this character has. Or, you’ve read a few comics with him, but you want to go back to the basics to understand his character and the mythology surrounding him. There are so many continuities, origin stories, and standalones – where do you start? Well…

[Image ID: a cropped edit of the Superman ‘78 #3 variant cover by Lee Weeks, showing Lois Lane sitting on the letters of the Daily Planet globe, and Clark flying above her in his Superman costume, reaching out to take her hand. Hand-written next to them is: "THE SUPERMAN STARTER READING LIST", and hand-written in the bottom right corner is: "by MYTHIC / superfam.tumblr.com". End ID.]

This list isn’t intended to be a full, comprehensive guide to Superman’s decades of history, but a curated taster of Clark Kent in the comics medium. It aims to show you a variety of interpretations from different authors of different contexts, but with the broad goal of helping newcomers understand the heart of the character. Not every comic is able to sum up all aspects of Superman, and some could be argued to miss certain points, but each one has been selected for this list for the goal of conveying the history and breadth of his interpretations.

It’s intended to be accessible to both long-dedicated comics fans and people who are new to the DC universe, or even the medium as a whole. As such, new fans are welcome to enjoy each story as a standalone interpretation.

Please understand that this list is built from my own experience with the character, and I don’t claim it to be better or worse than any other – it’s just one way to approach his history. Essentially, I’m attempting to create the sort of list I wish I had access to when first reading Superman comics. I highly encourage the reader to form their own interpretations of each work.

With all that out of the way, please enjoy!

[Image ID: An edit of Gary Frank's artwork from Superman: Secret Origin. A slightly battered Clark in his Superman outfit embraces Jimmy with his right arm and Lois with his left. All three are smiling. The background, which depicts a disaster scene and a defeated Lex Luthor chained to a building, is covered in a translucent blue overlay. Hand-written next to Clark is: "ORIGINS". End ID.]

SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN #1-6 (2009-2010) Geoff Johns & Gary Frank

Just a couple years before the 2011 reboot of the DC Universe, a new definitive origin story was created for a Superman post-Infinite Crisis (a major event which had changed the status quo of the multiverse).

Secret Origin is only six issues long, and a great, efficient introduction to Clark Kent and Superman. It focuses on telling Clark’s origins from his own perspective, as a hero but also simply as a person. It also does a good job of setting up important supporting characters including Lois, Jimmy, Perry, and Lex.

SUPERMAN: BIRTHRIGHT #1-12 (2003-2004) Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu & Gerry Alanguilan

Though replaced by Secret Origin only a few years later, Birthright was written as the definitive origin story to overwrite Byrne’s 1986 reboot of the character. It was intended to bring Superman into the new century, and be more consistent with his modern interpretations. It is also influenced by the popularity of the TV series Smallville.

Birthright is longer and covers aspects of the Superman mythos in further depth, including dynamics between Clark, Lex, and the city of Metropolis, kryptonite, and Krypton in general. Due to its extended length, it also covers more on Clark’s relationship with his powers and heritage.

I highly recommend reading both modern preboot origins to experience different interpretations with different influences and intentions, even only a few years apart.

[Image ID: An edit of Tim Sale's artwork from Superman: For All Seasons. On the right, Clark lies on his bed, looking to the left with a wistful expression and with a hand on his dog curled up next to him. The background, which is his cluttered bedroom in Smallville, is overlaid with translucent grey. Hand-written to the left of Clark is: "INTROSPECTION". End ID.]

SUPERMAN SMASHES THE KLAN #1-3 (2019) Gene Luen Yang & Gurihiru

This standalone story is set in 1946, and primarily draws upon the Golden and Silver Ages as inspiration. It’s an adaptation of an episode of The Adventures of Superman radio series, “The Clan of the Fiery Cross”, which famously dealt a major hit to the KKK’s operations in America by influencing public perceptions.

The story follows Clark as well as siblings Roberta and Tommy, two Chinese-American kids who have recently moved to the Metropolis suburbs, as they uncover and fight a local chapter of the KKK. The story explores themes of immigrant identity and self-acceptance in Clark and the kids’ narratives – it presents important concepts from Superman’s history, straight from the heart of his character, in a really effective way.

SUPERMAN: FOR ALL SEASONS #1-4 (1998) Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale

This miniseries has four issues, each corresponding to a season and narrated by an important person in Clark’s life (in order: Jonathan ‘Pa’ Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Lana Lang). Tim Sale’s beautifully detailed and expressive art captures the complex emotions drawn out by having your life touched by Clark Kent, which works really well with the personal, confessional style of the narration. It’s a very intimate work.

It’s a great insight into both the triumphs and very personal struggles of Clark through the inner voices of some of the most important people in his life, and captures what makes his character work really well.

FOR THE MAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING (SUPERMAN (1939) ANNUAL #11) (1985) Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

This is a single-issue annual from right before the DC universe was rebooted, and (unsurprisingly for Moore) explores some philosophical and ideological questions regarding the Man of Steel. On his ‘birthday’, Superman falls prey to an alien organism called The Black Mercy, which feeds on its victims while keeping them complacent with vivid hallucinations of their greatest desires. Clark hallucinates a still-living Krypton, which he is a part of – but perhaps not everything is perfect.

SUPERMAN: BRAINIAC (ACTION COMICS #866-870) (2008) Geoff Johns & Gary Frank

Before retelling Superman’s beginnings in Secret Origin, Johns and Frank collaborated on this story arc which massively changes the status quo, partially by reintroducing a variety of pre-Crisis concepts including the original Brainiac and the bottled city Kandor. If you liked Secret Origin, you’ll probably like this one.

As this is our first story arc rather than self-contained story, it has more references to the ongoing continuity but is still easy enough to understand without that context. This story also prominently features Kara Zor-El as Supergirl and expands on some cosmic lore and Krypton in general.

SUPERMAN: UP IN THE SKY #1-6 (2019-2020) Tom King & Andy Kubert

This is an accessible, self-contained exploration of the extent of Superman’s moral fibre, following Clark as he attempts to save a single girl who was abducted from Earth and taken into space. It’s quite abstract at points with the questions it asks about themes of compassion and commitment, which I think is conveyed particularly well in the panelling and artwork.

[Image ID: An edit of Frank Quitely's artwork from All Star Superman. Clark in his Superman outfit is flying with his arms outstretched. The top half of his face is cut off. The background is an abstract depiction of the heart of the sun, and has been overlaid with a translucent orange. Handwritten beneath Clark is: "INTERPRETING AND RE-INTERPRETING". End ID.]

THE K-METAL FROM KRYPTON (drafted 1940, restored 2004-2011) Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster Studio

The K-Metal from Krypton is an unpublished and unfinished comic from 1940, written by Superman creator Jerry Siegel, and drafted by the studio of the other Superman creator, Joe Shuster. After being lost for decades, the story has slowly been recovered and restored by Superman fans.

Though this one is much more unconventional than the other items on the list, I think it’s extremely important to Superman’s history and generally understanding him as a character. It comes from a time when creative control of their character was being taken from Siegel and Shuster, and though it is unknown why this story was unpublished, that’s a major point of context to keep in mind.

This draft sets up the predecessor to kryptonite in the Superman comics – “K-Metal” – and also contains a scene where Clark reveals his identity to Lois, and they agree to be partners in helping others. This is a major departure from the status quo of Clark keeping his secret from Lois as she tries to uncover it, which would continue for the rest of the Golden and Silver Ages.

The restoration effort can be read online: http://theages.superman.nu/k-metal/splash.php

THE MAN OF STEEL #1-6 (1986) John Byrne & Dick Giordano

This limited series is the immediate post-Crisis origin story and reinvention of Superman. It wasn’t put in the Origins section because I think from a modern perspective it shouldn’t be an introduction to Clark, but rather something you read to understand the history of his character.

It originated major changes in the Superman mythology, some of which have become instilled in it (such as Lex Luthor and Lois Lane’s modern characterisations), and others which have been forgotten or discarded.

One major thing is the great effort this origin made to make Clark American over being Kryptonian… Byrne has expressed great distaste of portrayals of Superman which emphasise his immigrant identity, and that should be kept in mind while critically reading this work.

ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #1-12 (2005-2008) Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely

Arguably the most critically acclaimed Superman comic, this has been saved for late in the list as I believe it’s enhanced with more context of and experience with Clark. This is a series which explores the nature of storytelling and legacy, which was created with the aim of creating a timeless Superman story.

When Superman learns he will soon die, what does he reflect on? What does he change? This is heavily inspired by, and is a love letter to, Silver Age Superman.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW? (SUPERMAN #423 & ACTION COMICS #583) (1986) Alan Moore, Curt Swan & George Pérez

Written in the wake of Crisis on Infinite Earths, this is another story about Superman ‘dying’, and is essentially a great mediation on and send-off to the Silver Age incarnation of the character. It refers to itself as an “imaginary” story, and can be seen as one concrete ending for this version of Clark Kent and the rest of the Superman characters, in a medium with few.

It can be found in a collection with For the Man Who Has Everything.

SUPERMAN: RED AND BLUE #1-6 (2021) Various

To finish off our starter reading list, let’s move from Superman’s end to his future. This is an anthology of short stories from various authors and artists, exploring a spread of visions of the Man of Tomorrow.

I think it’s an appropriate end for this starter exploration of Clark Kent’s many interpretations! As with all anthologies, it has its ups and downs in quality, but as a whole I truly believe it captures the heart of this character.

Thank you for reading all this way. I really hope this reading list helps you delve into the character of Superman and inspires you to read further beyond what I’ve suggested here.

Most of all, I hope it helps at least some people grow to love Clark Kent as much as I have.

A PDF version of this reading list is available here.

#it is finally here #my stupid 1600 word reading list #if you requested suggestions then this is your fault lmao #i put all my love of clark into this #i hope its useful #and feel free to send asks with any questions i will be happy to expand #took a long time to edit my ramblings down to this stage lmao #original #reading list #supers #kal #my writing #clark kent #superman #dc #dc reading list #superman reading list #the superman starter reading list

[cyanbeetle]

Wally stumbles into middle of nowhere, Kansas

#I love to put these guys in situations #my art #dc #dc comics #justice league #jlu #wally west #clark kent #the flash #superman #martha kent #jonathan kent #please don’t tag as ship I’ll get sad #Clark isn’t actually unhappy about Wally being there but it does make things complicated #with the secret identity and all…

[afewproblems]

In My Heart is a Memory (And There You'll Always Be) Part Two

Part One

Steve spends his week in the hospital on oxygen and fighting pneumonia from his bed. A harsh wheezing sound has developed whenever he pushes too hard but Doctor Sattler isn't nearly as concerned as Steve the first time he hears it.

"It shouldn't worsen over time, but if you feel that the wheezing is becoming more frequent or that feeling of an elephant sitting on your chest comes back, you will need to use your new inhaler, today's the perfect day to learn how it works," Doctor Sattler told him with an air of nonchalance that did not match the news.

Two and two made four, the sky was blue, and Steve Harrington would need medication for the rest of his life.

Most of the time Steve sleeps fitfully, dreaming of cold grey water and kind brown eyes, but on the days he has more energy Steve walks around the ward with Claudia in between practising blowing into something called a spirometer. 

She tells him it's important to test his level of lung function and how he's improving, it should also help to reduce the wheezing sound when Steve is simply resting. He even gets one to take home with him. 

Steve listens as Claudia talks about her own son, he's eight years old and so curious about the world. It's obvious she loves him dearly.

Steve wonders if his own mother ever talks about him like that.

His mother checks in with him twice during the week. His dad has already left for his most recent work trip and Diane is planning to leave as well, at least until Sunday when Steve is expected to be discharged. 

“I’ll be gone for five days, but you’ll be here anyway, and they are taking good care of you aren’t they?” she asks, her voice uncharacteristically soft for once as she takes his cheek in her cold hand. 

Diane’s fingers brush the oxygen hosing around his cheek, Claudia had called it something weird --a canny-something-or-other. 

Diane lets go abruptly as if burned; her nose wrinkling slightly as she rubs her fingers against the palm of her hand. In one fluid motion, she stands up from her seat at the side of his bed and smooths down the blankets as she does so. 

Diane meets his gaze once, her pale blue eyes almost seem to look past him, before she hikes her handbag further up her arm.

“I’m leaving the number of the hotel with your Nurse Henry, and you’ll be home before you know it,” she nods with a forced smile and turns on her heel to slip out the door of his room before Steve can even correct her.

He hopes Claudia did get the number, that there isn’t some strange Nurse Henry with more access to his mother than even Steve is allowed. 

A small part of himself hopes that Eddie will come visit him.

It’s not likely, Eddie had seemed excited initially about showing him his Dungeons and Dragons book but how would he have any idea Steve would still be here.

That doesn't stop Steve from picturing Eddie yelling to his uncle as he bounds down the hallway, ‘Come on old man, Steve’s room’s gotta be here somewhere!’

But Eddie never materialises down the hall, armed with his players book or tales of dragons and knights.

Steve takes it in stride as much as he can.

The days blend together the longer he stays, but it isn't as though Steve has no one to talk to.

He asks Claudia more about her son and listens to the jokes the orderlies tell him when they come by with meals. Even Doctor Sattler stops by to check the machines by his bed and to watch him blow into the Spirometer.

It’s fine. 

Claudia gives him a long hug the day he's discharged. Steve isn't sure she's supposed to by the exasperated look Doctor Sattler gives her, but he says nothing and busies himself with writing something out on a small notepad.

"You be careful sweetheart, use your spirometer to practice and keep your inhaler on you at all times".

She sweeps his hair away from his face and squeezes his shoulder briefly before giving him the barest of pushes towards his mother who stands by the door.

Doctor Sattler hands Diane the two papers he's written out, "you'll have to fill these prescriptions, he'll need both of them before you head home". 

Diane nods and breathes out a clipped thank you before ushering Steve to the doors, he tries to turn to wave only for his mother to grip his shoulder firmly and walk him out.

He catches what he thinks may be concern in Claudia's eyes before the automatic doors close behind them and the familiar jingle of his mothers keys to the maroon beemer fills the air.

"We'll stop at Mevalds, you can wait in the car," Diane says as she opens the driver's side door and gets in. Steve hurriedly opens his own door as the engine starts, a small part of him wonders if she would leave him if he took any longer.

He closes the passenger door behind him, it's heavier than he remembers and a harsh wheeze fills the car as Steve breathes in slowly to halt the stuttering of his chest. 

He buckles in and looks up to find his mother watching him carefully. 

"Perhaps we should wait another week for you to go back to school," she hums, it's a voice she uses when thinking aloud but every instance of it usually happens when that thinking is about Steve.

"Why?" He asks as they pull onto the main road.

"You're making that awful noise," Diane says simply, "we should wait for it to stop, it will be distracting to your classmates".

A deep ache that has nothing to do with his lungs builds in his chest. He hadn't thought the sound was that noticeable. 

None of the other nurses or orderlies seemed to care about the new noise he made, or if they did they never said anything. Steve had been the one to ask about it,  concerned that he was the only one hearing it.

"Doctor Sattler said it should get better, but it won't go away," Steve argues with narrowed eyes, he crosses his arms over his chest and looks away towards the passenger window.

He hears Diane sigh as she signals to pull into the parking lot of Mevalds.

She turns off the engine and reaches into the back seat for her purse, leaning her hand against Steve's seat for balance.

Diane stops with her hand on the door handle, pausing as she turns to face him fully.

"I'm just looking out for you," Diane says softly, "the other children will notice eventually and the world isn't kind to people who are different Steven".

She gets out of the car, letting the words hang in the air. He watches her go into the store, already knowing he's lost. 

***

Steve's teachers welcome him back with little to no fanfare, Ms. Cuttler, the history teacher, even goes so far as to reprimand him for missing two whole weeks in front of the class. 

Steve doesn't need detention for 'mouthing off' on his first day back, no matter how unfair she's being. He manages to take his seat without speaking; he can't quite hide the angry red flush staining his cheeks though. 

Lunch is what Steve is looking forward to, he just has to make it to lunch, he can keep his head down until then.

Steve's last morning class is science. 

It's not his favourite class, but Mr. Clarke at least tries to keep it interesting for them, and he's always nice. Giving extensions on homework, half marks on tests rather than zeros with little comments in blue ink saying, 'I see where you were going with this, you almost got it!'

As soon as the bell rings, Steve grabs his backpack and books, uncaring of the homework instructions Mr. Clarke tries to yell over the clamouring kids and the last few notes of the bell.

"Oh Steve, you gotta sec?"

It takes every fibre of Steve's being not to just bolt from the room with the rest of the class, pretend he didn't hear.

It's your lungs that are screwed up now, not your ears, he thinks bitterly as he turns towards the front of the room where Mr. Clarke stands with a stack of xeroxed paper.

"Here's the homework you missed, if you can have it done for next week I think that'll keep you on track," he says with a smile that quirks his moustache.

Steve gives him a brief smile as he takes the stack of papers, "thanks, yeah I'll have it done by then," he tries for a grin, wincing at the raised eyebrow Mr. Clark gives him. 

They both know it will be late. 

Steve turns to leave again, with a forced half smile, but stops as Mr. Clarke clears his throat.

"They don't give us a lot of information about absences," he gives Steve a long look, "so all I'm going to say is if you want to chat, about anything, even if it's just homework, my door is open". 

Steve nods as Mr. Clarke gives him a kind half smile, patient like the ones Dr. Sattler or Claudia would give him after explaining how something worked. 

It's not something most adults put a lot of effort into, especially for Steve, writing him off if he doesn't understand something the first time it's explained. 

It's certainly not something his parents do for him.

"Sure Mr. Clarke," Steve mumbles as he tucks the papers into the textbook in his arms.

His teacher nods once and clears his throat awkwardly, gesturing towards the door, "Alright, you better get going," Mr Clarke says, "it's pizza day and I guarantee you the pepperoni is pretty much done at this point".

Steve snorts and takes a step back, "later Mr. Clarke," he calls over his shoulder as he makes his way past the empty desks and into the hallway, letting himself be guided by the stream of kids heading towards the cafeteria.

With the Hawkins Middle and High Schools being the only two secondary schools in the county, the buildings were naturally massive to accommodate all of the children and teens they housed on any given day during the school year.

The cafeteria was no exception.

Finding somewhere to sit was almost always impossible if you ran late to lunch, most students would give up trying to find a table and would end up settling by their lockers or sitting outside in the warmer months, but Steve was on a mission this time.

He looks around the busy room with his lunch tray, head on a swivel as he searches for a mop of curly brown hair. Eddie said he could sit at his table but he hadn't mentioned which one that was.

Steve walks along the wall, eyes scanning the tables, he begins to wonder if he had the wrong lunch period after all.

"I'm telling you, a beholder is the worst thing you could run into in a Dungeon, hands down--" 

Steve perks up at the voice, fairly certain he knows who it belongs to.

The relief is palpable as he continues forward, following the voice. A small part of Steve had begun to wonder if Eddie even went to his school, or if his muddled water logged brain had dreamed that up entirely. 

He finally spots Eddie at a table against the far back wall and has to stop himself from cheering as he makes a beeline for them, albeit more slowly than he would prefer. He's still getting winded easily and doesn't want to have to break out the inhaler the doctor gave him just yet.

There are two other boy's that Eddie is talking animatedly to, his hands gesturing wildly with a broad grin on his face.

Eddie spots him mid sentence and the effect is instant, his face lights up as he smiles and starts to wave before halting abruptly, a strange look passing over his face. 

"Hey!" Steve smiles, slightly uncertain now that Eddie's face has fallen into something unreadable. The other two boys at the table have turned to face him, their eyes scanning Steve up and down. 

The kid sitting closest to Steve, a black boy with braces and a t-shirt with something called Queen on the chest, Steve feels a spark of recognition at the name and makes a note to ask him about it later. He gives Steve a small polite smile which makes him feel slightly less nervous.

The other boy sitting closest to Eddie eyes Steve somewhat warily, he's wearing a Hawkins Middle school shirt, thick glasses with tape around the frame, and wavy brown hair that isn't as long as Eddie's but longer than Steve's mother would ever allow.

They all stare at Steve for what feels like an eternity before he clears his throat awkwardly.

"Um, my name is Steve--" he starts to say, reaching out a hand to the closest boy before Eddie stands up from the table.

"Where were you?" Eddie says, uncaring of the sudden climb in volume or the heads that turn their way. 

Steve ignores the faces turned their way and takes another step forward towards the table, a small nervous laugh bubbles up as he moves, “I was sick, remember?"

Eddie frowns, his eyes dart from Steve to the other boy directly in front of him, closest to where Steve is standing.

"I wanted to show you my book two weeks ago," Eddie folds his arms over his chest now, frowning slightly, "Ms. Allen confiscated it," he mutters darkly.

Steve winces at the tone and brings his arms around himself, taking a step back. A small part of him curses his decision to stay home another week to let his breathing find some semblance of normal.

The teen closest to Steve rolls his eyes, "if it wasn't the handbook, it woulda been something else Ed, you know Allen's been looking for a reason to punish us since you told her that you got more out of Gary Gygax than anything Mark Twain ever wrote --plus there's a literal demon on the cover,” he says with a wry grin. 

"I'm Jeff," he says with a wave before pointing to the other kid at the table, "that's Bobby, and it seems like you already know Eddie?"

Steve gives Jeff a small, thankful, smile and takes a step closer, "yeah, it's a bit of a long story--"

"A heroic tale of rescue more like!" Eddie cuts in, the familiar energy fills Steve with relief as he launches into the story.

Jeff rolls his eyes again and shoots Steve an exasperated look before patting the bench next to him, an official invitation.

Steve tries to play off the wide grin that threatens to take over his face and takes a seat next to Jeff, setting down his lunch tray with a clatter.

"So,” Eddie sits up slightly, bringing his leg up onto the table bench to curl up underneath himself, “Uncle Wayne and I were fishing, right?"

"Fishing?" Bobby cuts in with a laugh, wrinkling his nose as he looks Eddie up and down, "you?"

"Yeah fishing, not all of us can just go to the grocery store whenever we want," Eddie huffs impatiently as his ears begin to redden, he waves his hands, "anyway".

"Instead of a trout we managed to catch something a little stranger,” he grins at Steve, “he was all caught up in some old fishing line or something and--hey, you never told us why you were out on the lake by yourself?”

Three sets of eyes turn to stare for a beat though Bobby loses interest fairly quickly, averting his eyes back to the open milk carton on his own orange lunch tray. 

Steve clears his throat, unsure just how to explain his thought process that morning. 

He just had to get out of the house, he couldn’t sit there any longer waiting for his dad to finally leave--

“Well?” Eddie prompts again, the smallest of frowns pulls at his expression before Jeff snorts.

"This is not very heroic so far man, where are the X-Men, the laser battles, come on dude," Jeff grins as Eddie sputters and launches into a rant about comic books that Bobby seems to perk up at, his attention switching from the lunch tray to Eddie.

Steve breathes out a sigh of relief as the attention moves away from him.

"You don't need lasers or special powers for hero stories, Tolkien didn't need idiots in spandex, he just needed a Hobbit and a ring and made a fucking masterpiece," Eddie 

"Are you seriously comparing yourself to Tolkien right now?" Jeff asks with a knowing smirk, it grows wider as Bobby laughs.

"Who's Tolkien?" Steve says, it's not a name he's ever heard before, though they must be some kind of storyteller. Was there a new book assigned while Steve was away recovering?

Eddie blanches for a second in surprise before his face lights up, he waves his hands at the chorus of groans from both Jeff and Bobby and cackles, "Stevie, Stevie, Stevie, we have so much to teach you!"

***

As the school year comes to a close, Steve finds himself looking forward to the summer for the first time in his life.  

Summer for Steve is normally lonely.

He spends his time looking for ways to avoid his house, counting down the days when he can go back to school. Even sitting through class or trying out for the intramural leagues is better than the monotony of summer.

At least during school he had people to talk to. 

But this summer is different. 

Steve, Jeff, Eddie, and Bobby get on like a house of fire, where one of the boys is, the other three are never far behind. 

They teach Steve about Dungeons and Dragons, Tolkien and the one ring --the book certainly reads like some of the books they had assigned in class, but Eddie and Jeff looked so excited the day Steve brought it home from the library, he couldn’t disappoint them.

In turn, Steve introduces the other boys to the pool, inviting the three of them to the Harrington house on a scorching June day.

“No way,” Bobby whispers as they reach the driveway, Jeff’s mouth drops into a little ‘O’ shape while Eddie’s eyes widen in surprise before his expression shutters. 

“You’re kidding right?” Jeff asks with a laugh in his voice, “seriously, where’s your moat man?”

Steve reaches out to push Jeff’s shoulder as Bobby laughs, “shut up, it's not that bad--”

“No? Are you going to bring out a unicorn next? What else are you hiding in there?” Bobby scoffs as he takes a hesitant steps towards the edge of the driveway, as though worried the ground would fall out from underneath him at any moment. 

“Oh just wait,” Steve says, biting his lip to keep his grin in check, it falters slightly at the pinched expression on Eddie’s face, the way his eyes flick from the house to Steve, before eventually landing on their feet.

Steve opens his mouth to ask what’s wrong but he’s forced to whirl around to keep his footing as Bobby drags him up the drive, “Steve, if you do actually have a horse in there, I will still be very impressed”.

While it may not be a unicorn, Steve knows he has one other ace up his sleeve as he presents them with the crown jewel of the Harrington house, the Atari.

“Oh my god!” Bobby crows as he jumps off the last step of the basement and races towards the television. 

“You have one of these!” he hisses incredulously, snatching the attached joystick from its resting place on the top, Steve winces as the cord pulls slightly from Bobby’s exuberance. 

“I mean, it’s my dads, not mine,” Steve shrugs, he puts his hands in his jeans pockets and turns back to Jeff and Eddie, “but we can play it, he’s not home”.

Diane argues the day his father brings the machine home. 

It must stay in the basement, out of sight, determining that something so hideous has no place in their well decorated living room. 

Ignoring the fact that the only television in the house was in the basement, Diane insists on keeping the rest of the house as pristine as Good Housekeeping has taught her. 

Richard simply rolls his eyes at his wife, ‘It’s not like it matters Diane, one of the investors thinks he’s being cute, like any son of mine would waste his time with one of these, right Steven?’

Steve nods, content to keep his head down, focused on his homework, not to make waves.

‘Course dad, computer games are for losers,’ the words come easily, he’s heard them before.  He flinches as a heavy hand comes down on his shoulder and squeezes lightly.

‘God damn right’.

‘Why are we even keeping it then?’ Diane asks sharply, her tone cool as she follows him down the stairs. 

Steve trails after them to the landing; he can still hear from the wary distance he keeps while his parents continue to talk. 

"Allan and the rest of the partners are coming in two weeks for drinks, and I’m not letting that prick get one over on me”.

Diane is quiet for a beat.

Steve tilts his ear to listen intently. He knows that silence. It's something his mother usually employs while calculating all options before speaking carefully.

‘Fine, I suppose the dust will collect best down here,” Steve can almost hear the sneer that pulls at his mothers mouth as she speaks. 

‘Atta girl,’ Richard  says quietly, almost fondly. 

Jeff raises an eyebrow as he comes to stand beside Steve, “you can’t play it if your dad’s home?” 

Steve falters for a second, scrambling for something to say.

Bobby scoffs by the television, still inspecting the machine, "you know how much one of these things costs? If we had one, my dad would flip if I so much as looked at it”.

Steve settles for shrugging with a mild smile, infinitely grateful for Bobby's ability to blurt out the first thing he thinks in any given situation.

If Jeff questions it, he doesn't say anything, and instead moves to join Bobby where he crouched on the floor.

Steve turns back to find where Eddie went only to find him frozen on the last stair still.

His eyes seem to trace over the room, an unreadable expression on his face, it contorts into something sour before smoothing as his gaze eventually lands on Steve. 

"Didn't know we pulled a rich kid outta the lake," Eddie says after a beat, finally walking further into the room, his arms crossed tightly over his stomach. 

"I guess," Steve says weakly as Eddie nods and moves towards where Jeff is kneeling beside Bobby with one of the game cartridges in his hands.

A spark of annoyance crackles through Steve, licking the inside of his ribcage. If Eddie isn’t interested in playing, he just has to say so, they can do something else - work on their character sheets, go outside. The other day Eddie showed them all the best spot by the quarry for throwing rocks so that the sound seemed to echo for miles as it hit the water. They could easily go, right now. 

They aren’t supposed to be touching this anyway, it’s not like it’s a big deal. It’s not. 

Steve knows the others don’t know how much trouble he could get into for this, the risk he’s taking for even showing it to them, for having kids over unsupervised, uninvited. 

 "Well, does that thing play Asteroids or what?" Eddie asks abruptly, interrupting Steve’s train of thought. 

He nods, quietly tamping down the last fleeting sense of irritation and walks over to the shelf where the rest of the games were dumped, wincing at the impressed chorus of whoops that Jeff and Bobby let out.

It only serves to accentuate the brooding silence that has followed Eddie all morning, since they walked over the threshold of Steve’s front door.

Jeff and Bobby take turns playing the rest of the afternoon. Steve defers to them, content to simply watch his friends try out the games. They bicker back and forth, making noises at key moments to try and break each other's concentration, Steve laughs brightly as Bobby manages to make Jeff crash for the fourth time in a row by simply imitating Rod Stewart.

“If you want my body and you think I'm sexy, come on, sugar, tell me so!” Bobby croons, making his voice older and raspy as he leans close enough for Jeff to twist his head away.

“Get outta here Bobby-- oh you sonovabitch!”

Bobby cheers, lifting his clasped hands above his head, “and the crowd goes wild, what do ya say, Jeff, best two out of three?”

Jeff flops backwards onto the carpet, pretending to catch an invisible dagger to the chest, “mark my words, if you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine!”

He rolls his head to the side and reaches out, pointing towards Steve with a cry, “Avenge me!” 

Steve laughs long and loud as Jeff croaks and groans and finally sticks his tongue out of the side of his mouth with a low hissing sigh as he finally pretends to die on the carpet of Steve’s basement. 

“So, what say you, Steve?” Bobby croaks as he lifts one hand to cover his mouth, and the other to hold out the abandoned joystick as he breathes out heavily, “do you dare take up the saber?”

Steve has no clue what they’re doing, a joke from something he’s sure, but he schools his face into something serious, and takes the joystick with a grave nod.

“For Jeff!” Steve cries as the digital melody fills the air.

Finally, Steve lets himself bask in the warmth and friendship that has surrounded him for the last few months, the normal chill of the Harrington home finally absent as Bobby begins to cheer while also doing his damndest to distract Steve. 

Jeff finally sits up with another hiss, “I LIVE, to see Steve beat your sorry ass Bobby!” 

He claps his hand on Steve's shoulder with a grin, “you got this!” 

It isn’t until a throat clears behind them that the three boys notice Eddie hasn’t said a word for the last ten minutes. 

He’s standing now, backpack slung over his shoulder --when did he go upstairs?

“It’s late,” Eddie mumbles quietly, “Wayne will want me home for supper soon”.

The words seem to break the spell that has fallen over the other two boys and they both stand as if summoned from their seats on the floor. 

Steve can only sit and watch as Jeff and Bobby move towards Eddie, albeit reluctantly. 

Jeff stretches out, raising his arms above his head, “yeah, I should probably go too,” he groans out as he drops his arms back at his sides. 

“Thanks for the game dude,” Bobby says with a shrug, though he looks decidedly more annoyed at the interruption than Jeff, “beats trying to escape the heat in the creek anyway”.

Jeff rolls his eyes, “It also beats shelling out quarters at the arcade on 4th Bobby, this was seriously really cool man”.

Steve grins at the pair of them before turning towards Eddie who glares at the floor in silence until Jeff elbows him. 

Eddie breathes out loudly through his nose, “yeah it was cool, but next time we should go over your characters a bit more, especially if you guys are going to survive the next encounter I designed”.

Bobby scoffs as he grabs his own messenger bag from the bottom of the stairs, “well I’m not going back to the library, Mrs. Depencier gives me the creeps”.

“The library is the only place with enough space,” Eddie argues as he turns and makes his way up the stairs.

Steve feels the words lift him up, this is his chance, he takes a step towards the other teens, “I could host?” 

Jeff and Bobby stop, turning back towards Steve with excitement in their gazes. Jeff seems to hesitate though, turning back to back to Eddie whose face is hidden by the edge of the staircase, Steve can only make out the bottom on his legs from where he’s standing.

He walks forward to the bottom of the staircase and stops short of taking the first step, “my parents aren’t home for the next four weeks so I can have you guys over, no problem”.

Bobby punches his fists into the air, "Yes! Oh my god, huge house, no parents?" Bobby jumps down the last two stairs again and nearly tackles Steve, "this is perfect!"

Perfect, is…certainly a word for it, not necessarily the one Steve would use, but Bobby wasn't here at night. 

Not when the glow of the pool would cast eerie shadows along the treeline that surrounded the Harrington backyard. Steve never felt comfortable sitting outside by himself once the sun went down, even now in middle school. 

All it took was one snapped branch in the dark or one flicker of shining eyes for him to race back into the kitchen, slamming the sliding door shut behind him.

The locked door never really feeling like enough by himself. 

"Four weeks?" Eddie says quietly as he takes a step down, his expression seems pained though Steve can't imagine why.

"I know it's not that long," Steve shrugs, "but we could do it in an afternoon right?"

Jeff's eyebrows rise, cutting shallow creases across his forehead, he and Eddie look at one another, seemingly having some kind of silent conversation before they both turn back to Steve at the same time.

"I need three days to finish it up, but that means we can meet in between to finish your characters," Eddie offers, the words slowly break the strange sudden quiet that has fallen over the basement. 

"Tomorrow?" Steve asks tentatively, 

"I'll be here, and hey if they don't come," Bobby says with a wry grin as he elbows Steve, "then I'll kick your ass at Asteroids!"

"We'll be here jackass," Jeff scoffs as Eddie nods silently.

He has a strange look on his face that Steve can't quite place, but at least he doesn't look annoyed anymore.

"Tomorrow then," Eddie confirms, grinning as Bobby blurts out a loud, 'hell yeah' as Jeff rolls his eyes once more.

The boys do eventually make their way upstairs, though at a snail's pace as the strange tension from earlier fades away. 

Steve walks them all to the door and watches as they make their way down the long drive, taking turns waving as their voices fade into the distance.

Steve swallows hard as he closes the front door, trying not to think too hard about how many hours until he'll hear his friends voices again.

Permanent Tag List: @eriquin @luvinthefreaks @cinnamon-mushroomabomination

#in my heart is a memory and here you'll always be #childhood friends au #afewproblems writes #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #jeff #baby hellfire #we have a cameo from mr clarke #I just want to give them all a hug #instead #I'll put them through the ringer #maybe next post we will do the full prompt reveal #sorry this took so long #eddie is a task master when it comes to dnd but his friends love him for it #cross posted on ao3 as well

[hazardouslesbian]

another interesting piece to the dichotomy between Clark and Lex is they both have their issues with letting people get close to them due to their own respective traumas, but it manifests in different, almost opposite ways, which imo ends up being their downfall

Lex obviously has this air of “I’m a Luthor, I’m secretive, I won’t let anyone close to me” that he’s developed from a combination of lionel’s fucked up parenting, and a life of keeping secrets to protect the people he cares about, but actually looking at his actions the idea that he’s secretive and closed off or whatever starts to feel like a facade. In practice (especially with Clark) Lex is so desperate for connection that he lets his walls down almost every chance he gets. Like if I recall correctly in the show he really doesn’t shy away from talking about his childhood trauma whenever Clark asks. Plus Lex is pretty honest throughout the show, especially to Clark. There’s several moments from the start where other characters THINK Lex is lying, but in the beginning it’s almost always Lex being scapegoated.

And I think the idea that he’s a closed off person that’s hard to reach isn’t just something he tries to present to the world, I think it’s also a lie lex tells himself to convince himself he has any sense of power over who he chooses to let in, because in a community where he IS constantly the scapegoat choosing to let people in and connect to them opens him up too way too much opportunity for disappointment and heart break, so he has to convince himself he’s able to stay disconnected and keep people at arm’s length, but in reality I really don’t think he’s that capable of keeping people out? Like if someone genuinely wants to connect with him I don’t think he has the power to stop himself from letting that happen at LEAST in the early seasons of the show

Clark on the other hand feels like the kind of guy who should be an open book, and in a lot of ways he is! he’s earnest and kind and can make friends with just about anybody, including the widely distrusted Lex Luthor, but he’s got a secret that he’s been told his whole life he has to guard at all costs for the sake of his survival. And his fears of ending up on a lab table tortured and experimented on are reasonable so you can’t really fault him for being dishonest with everyone. But Clark clearly doesn’t want to be this secretive aloof guy, he’s lonely and displaced, the sole survivor of a world he never knew. He’s similarly desperate to be this trustworthy, friendly guy, with deep relationships with the people in his life. So he tries to compromise and instead lets people in just enough for it to feel devastating when they put together that he’s undeniably lying to them.

It nearly ruins every one of Clark’s relationships at some point in the show, but ultimately his other relationships survive it, his relationship with Lex can’t

the real reason they’re “doomed by the narrative” is Lex is so desperate to connect with Clark, and Clark is incapable of ever fully letting that happen, even though he wanted to!! and in the same way Lex tries to be okay with their “incomplete” relationship because he wants to be understanding and doesn’t want to ruin his relationship with Clark but in the end he can’t do it either!!

#smallville #smallville meta #lex luthor #sv lex luthor #sv Clark Kent #I wish I was better at words bc this feels like I put my thought in a blender and poured in on a tumblr post #hopefully it’s understandable !!! #also I feel like the common interpretation is lex has all these walls built up #and I think he DOES I just think they have the structural integrity #of a child’s paper mache art project #meanwhile I genuinely think Clark has walls of steel #SORRY THIS IS SO LONG #if u read it all I love u #I am incapable of being succinct

[kitmoas]

I have come out of hiatus because I met Lizzie and Hailee (and Emilia Clark) and truly I am a changed woman, and I miss them so much that I will be in a sad nest for the foreseeable future

#kicks feet sadly #what if I.. just put them in my pocket and took the babies everywhere #they were all so nice and smiley and I just love them #Haiz my love was so tall and warm and her hands were so pretty and she tugged me closer and we have a secret together and I loved her so muc #lizzie was the smallest lil bean and my god Tinie babie was so happy and so nice and love omg fuck #god I love them #Emilia was SWEET as fuck and I miss her already and she loved my tattoos and omg #lizzie olsen #hailee steinfeld #emilia clarke #Wanda maximoff #kate bishop #daenerys targeryan

[basofy]

i keep thinking abt the love aspect of lisa and rly wish the campfire conversations had more positive interactions /without brad in them/ cuz a common interpretation i see that i couldnt disagree more with is that everyone in lisa is an asshole when all the companions are so different in personality and morals and shiet so how come most of the interactions turn out wrong cuz the better guys are either paired with brad or getting trashed on by the meaner companions or just plain got nothing it just doesnt sit right with me 😔😔

#im all for showing that some of the ppl u recruit are awful on different levels cuz it's true #some are capable of ruining lives some are just annoying #what about the good dudes tho #wheres the convo where birdie cries his eyes out abt his sons #and bo and terry sing downtown by petula clark to him to calm him down #OK THAT LAST ONE is only cuz i rewatched that one movie today you know the one #i love the companions they invade my thoughts so much i want them all to have spotlight #pleaseeeee #lisa rpg #lisa definitive edition #funny how bo's 2 appearances are like #him realizing his bond with his bro isnt broken even if they cant see eachother and continues playing #and he partying hard with other dudes #my man's so full of love and unbeatable #i thibk it still fits into the story to have interactions where characters get along #becuz it shows how brad ruins this for them for either putting them in danger or killing them at the end #like imagine having a team of guys that are canonically friends and killing them DUDE #closest to that is carp bo and pink #lisa ramblings

[reikunrei]

i mean this with peace and love. and it’s 100% bc i’m sick and therefore have no patience for bullshit. but why is the stranger things fandom so goddamn annoying. godbless you all need to shut up

#this is not about any of my mutuals u are all perfect and lovely and big brained and great <3 #but i do see second hand mentions of things going on outside of my circle and i think #damn. what the fuckass is goin on over there #omg what's that video #'whoa that guy's got horns! that's not normal. oh well. not gonna let it ruin my day' that's me w #literally any stupid st disk horse that goes on and repeats on an endless cycle every week #i put down my sunglasses pretend nothing is happening and post about how bad i want scott clarkes dick instead #i say things

[guinevereslancelot]

imagine a supergirl story but good and original....dc get on this

#literally let me write supergirl since you dont wanna!!! #i'll doo it!! i have ideas #like coherent ones even #there is a well developed supergirl who lives in my brain and she could live in canon too #anyway this million dollar idea for free....dc feel free to use this idea...... #like imagine if she had her own city and rogues gallery and supporting characters and it wasnt all a lazy ripoff of clarks..... #it would be so easy im begging 😭 #first of all the only good job she ever had was guidance counselor do NOT make her a reporter or put her in a dang soap opera #now ur already ahead of 90 percent of supergirl content #then just. tell a coherent plot <3 #give her a good love interest for ONCE and dont let it be a walmart kryptonian or lois lane but a dude #fr her love interest should be from earth this is essential and ideally not superpowered but could still be a superhero #but no aliens! and not braniac ffs #and not a knockoff lois lane #a non powered or low powered hero who is still awesome would be very cool #let her fall in love with humanity #and give her her own rogues gallery make some new bad guys its ok i promise 😭 #anyway.....infinite bitterness i could go on forever #also dont call her linda and dont make her a danvers she is a kent she should be kara kent its fine i promise its fine #smallville was right abt that part #i will NEVER draw an in depth web comic but i might write a fic thats just the supergirl story as it should be from start to present lol #anyway dc has no ideas for her and they have never had ideas for her and it shows #having no story to tell never stopped them from telling a story tho bless <3 #this has been a shitpost #welcome back to me complaining

[buck-yyyy]

me 🤝 explaining the entirety of byler/ST tumblr lore to my girlfriend

#i’m lucky she loves me because Oh My God #‘okay and THEN there was this thing with vibrantwaters where they posted a picture of zoomed in sand and then the same day noah schnapp #posted a video of the sand dunes in peru where he was—‘ #‘so there was this thing called sock anon and then one of my mutuals married sock anon but they’re not online anymore’ #‘okay so yk scott clarke? and yk henry creel? well get this-‘ #‘and that’s when we all thought they put cgi hearts in their eyes’ #‘and don’t even get me started on all the confessional accounts’ #‘oh and back in june someone made an advent calendar for all the byler crumbs we got each day’ #‘and THEN there’s this thing called hose gate which you’re gonna want to sit down for this one’ #i love her so much #i have her blocked but just for the record- ily and thank you for tolerating my bullshit #<3 #anyways #byler tumblr

[kxllerblond]

On Clark && Organized Crime.

I really emphasize the fact Clark dabbles heavily in the criminal world (and corporate business overworld) and that he has a reputation, but also is a relatively mysterious individual-—you may have asked yourself how the fuck he manages to be some business-equivalent of John goddamn W*ck and does so while being a supernatural creature.

We've been over the HOW in terms of how he has the influence he has, the connections, etc. Clark works OBSESSIVELY, he's toxic about it to the point where the only reason he hasn't fucked his own health is because he's got the perks of being inhuman. I really hammer in the fact that Clark NEEDS to keep busy and so he dumps just about all of his waking energy into what he does and with the combination of supernatural perks && his own unmatched drive, he accomplished an insane amount in a mere 20 years that could rival just about any multi-generational crime family at this point. I touch on it a little more in detail HERE.

WHAT'S HE DO?

What does he bring to the table? What has gotten him so well connected and powerful? As one might expect from the son of a demon-— he's a deal maker, a deal settler, and a deal enforcer. He's your middleman they can't say no to and, more importantly, he's one that don't WANT to say no to. He brings other things to the table that's earned him some respect like being insanely reliable and always delivering on his promises and, of course, the fact he's got enough money and favors pocketed it makes him valuable just to be in business with.

On the less savory side of things, there are certainly stories ring leaders tell their underlings to keep them in line and many of them may or may not involve Clark and what he has may or may not have done to groups that have gone back on their word with him or went so far as to double-cross him. Rooms of gore, entire crime families wiped over night if they were lucky, killed in every way but physically if they weren't. Gnarly stuff and gnarly punishments for what Clark considers the biggest affront to him. Needless to say, with statements like that, betrayal doesn't happen much nowadays.

Got a pretty decent example of something he might get up to if you reeeeally peeved him off HERE.

BEING IMMORTAL IN A MORTAL WORLD

Arachno, you may ask, how the fuck does he exist like this for twenty something plus years and do the things he does and not be found out? Does no one ask questions??? The short answer is: he really only half avoids it and also people would rather believe a nonsensical lie than they would to accept some batshit truth.

The long answer is he has a plethora of aliases. Frankly, you could be working with or for him and not even know it. Aside from that, he sends liaisons in his stead at times, he impersonates as his own grandson, was his own son before that. Sometimes, he just goes as Mr. Thompson in person, sometimes he only communicates via voice or text. Between all these mediums of doing business, it just further lends to his wild ass reputation. Which leads us to...

THE DEMON OF WALL STREET

An annoying moniker he's earned (much to his chagrin) and is due to the culmination of his own dark reputation, the manner in which he conducts business and settles deals, and also because of the fact there are totally grandpappy crime lords out there on their last leg who SWEAR they remember dealing with the same eerily beautiful blond man in a suit that their predecessor is working with now despite how humanly impossible that would be. Some real Age of Adaline shit. Mr. Thompson does get tossed around a lot, but this title is what you'll hear most often-—especially when you're in a pinch and looking for a last ditch solution to a problem. This is where I get a lot of the OMG!! HE'S JUST LIKE JW from because, really, that's how he gets talked about-—like this scene for example.

Really, he's just some highly professional, efficient, and will-driven businessman that can be like a force of nature if you personally agitate him. Truly an angel to some, a demon to others.

GETTING IN CONTACT WITH THE DEMON

Sort of just an altered version of how you'd get ahold of him in a supernatural sense. He's got a business card with nothing but a number that usually gets passed around by people he's already worked with, sometimes it's by word of mouth. You call or text this number, you get meeting instructions, the line becomes unreachable.

#if i was a canon this would be cool as shit but because clark's an oc i know i gotta defend this shit with my LIFE #anyway besties this is literally all he does. he is ALWAYS doing stuff either underground or over. but literally every day he is in meeting #he is making them business smoves. so like with hustling like that this is totally a realistic outcome oKAY #i also really want to emphasize that he really only has things like time and stamina etc on his side. clark does this to keep occupied and #so he doesn't just strongarm shit with his powers because that would make things easy and that defeats the whole purpose of this dfkjbgd #so he really just UHHH explodes ppl or uses his powers when like he has no other choice :') #i also take a lot of inspo from BBC sherlock's moriarty (i know im soRRY) #consulting criminal sort of. if you have a problem he fixes it. easy :))) #(;hc) #cw long post #this was WAY MORE put together in my head at 9am fkjgdgf i get out of work and im so fog brained aaaaaa #anyway i love clark pls talk to me about him being a fucking boogeyman esque character in the criminal world fkjdbgdg #;important

[castrovulcant]

I absolutely love when Smallville goes into Clark Time. It's one of my favourite thing about the show.

Look at that rain. Look at the way they've animated it to stop, to pop on his jacket when he moves, to reflect the trees and clothes, the way it drifts off to show just how fast he's running. In the episode you can hear the rain pop.

I just really love the Clark Time moments.

Me, every time.

[Image description: three gifs from Smallville showing Clark and Pete in a cemetery, it is pouring down with rain and they are soaked. The rain slows when Clark goes into superspeed and starts when he stops. Followed by the sickos meme of a man pressed up against a window labelled, "me." and saying, "Yes... Ha ha ha... Yes!" /end image description]

#god i want to gif it all #i love the clark time moments #The amount of effort the production crew/IT crew/whoever it is must have put into keeping things still/moving incredibly slowly is amazing #I love it so much #Smallville is my only form of Superman media I've consumed #Or of The Flash did it #I think The Flash did #smallville #clark kent

[wings-of-angels]

thought i would hate the man of steel based on what I know of its sequel but god ITS SO FUCKING GOOD

#Henry Cavill may not be what i imagined Clark to LOOK like but he is what i imagined Clark to feel and act like 💞💞💞 #and BY GOD THE MOMENT WITH PA KENT AND THE HURRICAND MADE ME SOB MY EYES OUT #AND THE AMOUNT OF DESTRUCTION AHHHGJGJGGGHHHYYY :((( #AND ALL THE MILITARY PUTTING DOWN THEIR GUNS WHEN THEY REALISE AND HAVE HOPE SUPERMAN IS /GOOD/ #AND ALL THE TIMES THE CIVILLIANS DID A GOOD THING LIKE PERRY TRYING TO SAVE JENNY AND PETE STOPPED BULLYING CLARK #IDK GOD ITS SO GOOD AT SHOWING THE KIDNESS AND HOPE IN HUMANITY IDK #THATS WHAT SUPERMAN SHOULD BE ABOUT AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH #god im... emotional #did not covey my thoughts well here AT ALL #but it was so good #max's rambles

[loverboybrightsideghost]

1 and 11!

1- who is/are your comfort characters?

clark kent (especially now that i'm in full Superman Mode, lol), anthony janthony crowley and aziraphale, and john doe malevolent. those are the top four characters that can instantly bring a huge smile to my face when i think of them :]

11- favorite extracurricular activity?

SINGING!!! i love singing :333 i also like word searches, im really good at them.

from this ask game

#for comfort characters honorary mention to merv pumpkinhead 🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼 #i don't think word searches count as an extracurricular but WHATEVER #behold an ask! #lemondoddle #thanks for the ask :D #no but fr crowley especially is one of my favorite characters ever #john isn't a comfort character because of his character though #like don't get me wrong i FUCKING LOVE HIS CHATACTER OH MY GOD AAAHGGGSG DDD DVEVHDFB ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ #but the main reason he's a comfort character is because of his batman voice lol #and also he's just. oddly motivating. there is definitely something about arthur having a Guy in his head #yelling 'ARTHUR DONT FUCKING DIE ARTHUR YOU FUCKING DID IT!!!!' #very motivating indeed #oh and clark what can i say. bro. THE CHARACTER OF ALL TIME. #he's everything to me. i don't really kin characters but metaphorically i'm putting my hand up against his through a pane of glass #He Is Important To Me.

[adreamfromnevermore]

Headcanon that the Bats must be the most infuriating members of the justice league. And it's got nothing to do with what they do or don't know or even their general skills and egos. Everyone is very used to Batman and the expectation that him and any of his spawn are somehow going to be three steps ahead of any issue they bring to the table ever.

No no, the infuriating bit? The stalking.

Listen, this is a family of freaks and weirdos. They work so well together because none of them were normal to start with and then they ended up traumatized. It's practically common practice in that family to accept that nothing is what it seems at face value and that all of your siblings are attempting to pry into your private life and cases at any given moment. I think for them it's honestly weirder if you take what they say at face value. They speak a language holy separate from any normally socialized person and it is a language of lies and half-truths that relies on the assumption that all parties are aware of that.

They're the most infuriating bitches around.

They'll tell someone something and appear to do the opposite and when confronted will have the most convoluted but sound reasoning of why they actually did exactly as they promised too.

They regularly pick people's pockets and hack into personal information because for them? That's practically a love language. They're obnoxious and they aren't even aware of it. Someone asks them to just tell the truth and they react like they've been shot. They're probably offended when they realize that someone hasn't been at least attempting to dig into them back, like come on man. I thought we were friends but you didn't even Google how long Nightwings been around? We've already put the bar on the floor for you guys? My siblings already have a full dossier ready on you because they caught us on camera in your home city during that 2 minute conversation we had 3 months ago. They sent it to me a few hours later. I think they got Oracle to help cause usually it takes them at least 12 hours.

You think they're being nice and friendly and then you realize that they have a nice little file compiled of everything you've done in the last five years, where you went to school and every note your teachers ever made about your behavior a decade ago when you were still a high schooler and fairly normal. If asked they'd probably be willing to bring out the family tree they built for you. They know what you did last summer better than you know what you did last summer. They have pictures, pictures that should be impossible because there's no way they were stalking you then and those sure don't look like security camera footage.

In reality Bats and Superman get along so well because that man is an investigative journalist and when they first met he could not leave it alone. Bruce was charmed the first time Clark Kent started doggedly attempting to ask him if he knew anything about Gothams new cryptid. It was cute how off base he was. But he was trying!!!! Bruce was sold for life! He dropped an dossier on lexcorp off in Clarks apartment a few days later. As a gift.

#listen Bruce probably made it a training exercise #whoever can name the most heroes by the end of the week #(first and last) #gets bragging rights and a joy ride in the batmobile #batman #dc #bruce wayne #batfamily #clark kent #superman #justice league #robin #tim drake #dick grayson #nightwing #red robin #damian wayne #spoiler #stephanie brown #duke thomas #signal

[nitewrighter]

I think what I really like about Superman comics is how much effort they put into getting you invested in the lives of the civilians around Clark. Like with Batman there's this vibe of, "Ew gross I have to pretend to be a Billionaire Playboy at this party but I have to do it to maintain my cover for Costumed Detective-ing. All right here's a kajillion for this charity but damn do I wish I was punching someone and/or doing very tedious CSI shit right now." And with Green Lantern (at least the Hal Jordan stuff) it's like, "I have spent so much time in space that my life on earth has completely gone to shit so it's honestly just... emotionally easier to be regularly facing life-threatening space crime shit than to try and get someone to co-sign on my lease for my apartment that I am never at on earth." And then you look at Superman and it's like, "Perry yelled at me again and Steve hit me in the back of the head with a football and Ron called my last article 'not my best' which is devastating coming from Ron and Cat talked me into getting 6 magazine subscriptions I don't need for her son's school's charity drive. I love journalism so fucking much."

#dc #superman #batman #green lantern

[visionsofmagic]

day 13: clark kent [aftercare]

࿓ synopsis • after having a rough session with clark, you let him take care of your exhausted body.

―❦ nsfw, kissing, soft!clark, after a rough sex, f!reader, pet names, confessing, cleaning, washing, watching, fluff, i's all! • 0.6k • couldn't publish sooner, but, here we are at least. enjoy! [kinktober m.]

"agh -" you say, moaning lowly, in pain that comes from your sensitive clit as clark's fingers travel on it, cleaning you under the warm water.

“oh, baby,” he says, fingers stop for a moment, eyes scanning your face; furrowed brows, lips are getting a bite, hands hold him from the neck and chest as a source of cure and stability at the same time. “you okay? I can go slower if you want.”

he proposes as you sit on his lap, hugging him, and negatively shaking your head while one of his strong arms holds you from back so that you stay still, warm water waving from time to time as you move in sync.

sitting on the clean bathtub, you let clark take care of you after one of your roughest sex – you can see all the redness on your body which he left intentionally yet acting so innocent when he sees them, fingers caressing your soft skin gently as if he wasn’t the one who fucked you in different positions, earning a pathetic state out of you, nearly making you use the safe word because of how good he was fucking you and how much you wanted it to end even though your actions told otherwise.

fear of fainting, you stopped when he got your fourth orgasm, then, cumming all over you as he cries in pleasure, confessing how you make him so weak that he loses mind whenever he has you beside him, under him, above him – in every way he can, he loves it, he loves you.

so it’s not a surprising thing when he picked you up from the messy bed after preparing the bathtub for you to wash and get clean, got into it, taking you into his arms, making you feel smaller yet quite peaceful, letting him do whatever he wants to do to get you cleaned up, ready to rest on the bed you are sharing with him beside you.

he said sorry over and over again until you said it was okay – that you enjoyed every bit of it because you missed him as much as he missed you.

fingers gripping your chin, he makes you look at his shining blue eyes – your own reflection on them. he smiles widely, fingers moving to your hair, caressing it gently, still having that precious expression on his face, looking like a greek god yet feeling so human – one of his kind, always.

“you have no idea how much I missed you,” he says, now taking warm water on his palm, then, cleaning your naked body within it – he seems to have guilt because of what he has done to you; biting marks as he claimed you shine brightly, red marks on your waist is visible due to holding you tightly as he shoved his cock into you, the neck has pink colors because how he held it, pushing your face onto the pillow so that you could moan as much as you wanted while he had you from behind.

all because of him.

he would never hurt you, he didn’t either, yet, he seems a bit sorry. however, you know he also has prideful feelings, so, you smile softly, resting your head on his wide shoulders, saying, “they all will heal, don’t feel sorry – it was so good that I can’t wait to get better and do all those things again.”

he chuckles, kissing your forehead, and then, your whole face, “then get better soon because there are lots of things that I want to do to you, my prettiest girl.” with that, he kisses you one more time. he cleans you, drying you with the softest towel, changes the sheets, and puts you on the fresh bed, taking his side beside you – hugging you, he watches how peaceful your face looks, smiling down at you, and sleeping as he has you close enough to himself – he knows he should leave soon enough yet being with you seems as the right thing to do. he missed you so much after all – the world can wait a bit longer.

#🔥 kinktober 2023 second week #kinktober 2023 #dc #dc comics #dc x reader #superman #superman x you #superman x reader #superman x y/n #clark kent #clark kent x you #clark kent x reader #clark kent smut #superman smut #dc smut #henry cavill #henry cavill!superman x reader #WAS A DAY AFTER THE DETERMINED DAY BUT HERE WE ARE! HAVE FUN ^^