#I Love STAS Kara so much | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thevindicativevordan · 3 years

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What's your opinion on the DCAU Superman? Tim Daly or George Newbern?

Daly over Newbern for a lot of reasons, mainly that Justice League Superman sucks.

Have an interesting relationship with this series. Namely that it was my introduction to the character and his wider mythos. I grew up watching this on TV, for some reason I never got any BTAS episodes. So this definitely helped make me into a Superman fan. My parents have told me that it was because of watching this series that I demanded Superman pajamas which I always tried to wear since they came with a little cape on the back. Thought the Saw movies were about Toyman because of how similar the two looked to me. Seeing John Henry Irons in this probably encouraged me to read Reign of the Supermen down the line. In short this series was a big influence on me growing up. Yet I have to say, I don't think it's the gold standard for Superman adaptations anymore.

Now Superman: The Animated Series brings a lot of ideas to the table. Some of them I like and some of them I don't, but it's important to be fair to Timm and Dini about one thing: they were working under the restrictions of Post-Crisis DC. The rules of that era had a number of restrictions that they had to work around, such as bringing in a Kara Supergirl who couldn't be Superman's cousin or from Krypton. So even though a more "grounded" take isn't to my taste, I don't hold that as being "bad" necessarily. Do think that they should've gone with their initial gut instinct of nerfing him back to Golden Age power levels (they seriously considered having this incarnation unable to fly). Clearly they were more interested in quasi-realism, and I do think Superman can work in that mindset. Just needs to be reset to what he was at the very beginning when he dealt with "real" problems.

Revamping Superman more to Timm's liking in Gods and Monsters resulted in a Superman that I enjoyed more because you could tell there was much greater enthusiasm for the character. Their approach to Superman in STAS felt like a compromise between stuff they wanted to do, and stuff they felt like they had to include in order for it to be a Superman show. The results were a mixed bag.

What I Liked About DCAU Superman

There is actually much that I think the creators did well. Superman himself is solid if rather flat characterization-wise. Daly does a great job at voicing a Superman who is cast in the Byrne model. As Superman he is suitably heroic and courageous. As Clark Kent... he's basically the exact same personality-wise, just a little more subdued. Not my favorite take on the divide between the two, but well-done here. There is some slyness to his Clark that I love, such as his "confession" to Lois about his secret identity. I love that bit, very cheeky and deadpan as befitting Superman's sense of humor. Have to say though, I think Daly's post-STAS return to the character is a lot better. He's got this warmth in movies like the Superman/Batman team-ups and Justice League Doom that feels much closer to my ideal voice for the character. It's because of those movies that I hear Daly as the voice of Earth 0 Superman in my head when I read his dialogue. While they didn't portray Superman as smart as I would have liked, he's not a complete idiot either. He breaks out protective suits when he has to face Parasite, Livewire, or Joker. Of course the suits get shredded but at least the creators didn't force him to be a moron to make their plots work, and JL has episodes like the one where he's flung into the future and loses his powers to show that it's not the powers that make him Superman.

Delany is fantastic as Lois Lane, she's the voice I hear for Earth 0 Lois. Great for all the usual reasons an actress portrays a great Lois (DCAU Lois is snarky yet compassionate and fiercely committed to her pursuit of the truth), the largest contribution to the wider mythos DCAU Lois made is I think she started the trend of Lois having purple eyes. Really like that attribute, it's a real shame we don't get to see this Lois and Clark get hitched. Does DCAU Lois ever even learn his secret? I don't think so but I could be misremembering. Only misfire is that Timm and Dini needed to assert their self-insert's alphaness by having her get into a fling with Bruce. Yes I recognize it was probably a play on Delany also voicing Phantasm, but if you don't think Timm at the very least had a hard-on at the idea of Batman fucking "Superman's girl", you clearly haven't been seeing the DC movies he makes once the restrictions are all off (and the fuckery was always there just low-key like the Bruce/Babs romance).

Rest of the supporting cast vary. Jimmy had one cool moment that I remember when he was leading the Resistance to Lex and Superman in Brave New Metropolis. Otherwise he was just Superman's Pal in a rather nondescript fashion. Love the mullet though! Perry was there but not really relevant. Ma and Pa were wise and old, clearly cast in the Byrne/Donner model. Jor-El and Lara were cool, the DCAU was the first to have Lara be the one with the S-curl right? I love that so kudos to the DCAU for putting forth that idea. Kara In-Ze was a great way of getting Supergirl while still paying lip serve to the editorial rules of the time. John Henry Irons rocked as Steel, damn shame he didn't get more to do because I loved him. Bibbo was cool. Dan Turpin and Maggie Sawyer were great, probably the best supporting cast members outside of Lois. Really bold of the creators to sneak in Maggie's girlfriend/wife (even if she couldn't be acknowledged as such due to the censors) in the scene where Maggie is in the hospital. Seeing Turpin die hit especially hard, Superman failing to save someone? That blew my mind!

Now the villains were usually pretty great. Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor and Michael Ironside as Darkseid are absolutely up there with Hamill Joker in terms of being the definitive voices for the characters. DCAU Lex pretty much set the bar for the modern Lex Luthor, combining the best of Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis into one take. Lex is a scientific genius who used his brains to get rich and has crafted a public persona of being a philanthropist. More or less, if you're wondering how we went from Byrne's older Kingpin lite Lex to modern young Lex, the DCAU is what facilitated that change. Darkseid is phenomenal here, cunning and threatening. Whenever he showed up you knew shit was going to get serious. Kirby's New Gods probably get their best showcase here in the DCAU, on account of Timm being a Kirby fanboy. New Genesis gets to show up and actually be relevant! Kudos to the creators, they did a good job with the Kirby creations. STAS is definitely what cemented Darkseid and the other New Gods as being part of Superman's world in popular perception.

DCAU revamped Metallo, Toyman, and Brainiac, and I thought all of those were well done. Making Brainiac a Kryptonian AI built by Jor-El was actually a really neat way to connect Superman and Brainiac together! Morrison's idea of "Brainiac" being the Kryptonian internet equivalent that Jor-El built in the New 52 which merges with the Collector of Worlds feels like it had its roots in DCAU Brainiac. Maxima was a much better character here than in the comics, which is kind of crazy given it's Timm. The new villains they created were usually cool, I've written before about Livewire and Volcana. Lobo was great, such a piece of shit in an entertaining way. You could tell he really got under Superman's skin which is exactly how it should be. Bizarro was great, much better handling of the "clone" take than what Byrne did.

Overall the best summary of the series is that it's more consistent than Batman: The Animated Series. Nothing in STAS is as bad as I've Got Batman In My Basement or the Catwoman episodes, but there's nothing quite on the same level as Heart of Ice. Not to say there aren't some GREAT episodes though. The Late Great Mr. Kent for example is absolutely worthy of the accolades thrown it's way. Weird to say, but it's STAS that technically started the shared universe even though BTAS came first. Other heroes with powers first made their debuts here: Flash, GL (albeit Kyle not John), Aquaman, etc. It's this show, not BTAS, that really has a bunch of plot points come back in the JL seasons. Batman may have kicked the DCAU off but Superman is where the real building blocks got laid.

Also I'll throw one point in Newbern's favor here: I like that Superman's temper is portrayed as his fatal flaw. I like that he struggles with it over the course of Justice League. Wrath is what I consider to be Superman's Deadly Sin (like Pride is Batman's), and this incarnation of the character definitely showcases that.

What I Didn't Like About DCAU Superman

Alright so what went wrong? Well you may have heard that DCAU Superman is a jobber. This is very, very true. I'm not someone who really gives a shit about if Superman can push a planet or if he struggles to lift a car. Power levels aren't the most important thing to me, I'm fine with a weaker Superman who needs to wear a space suit out in space. But I need him to not constantly be flopping on the floor after he gets hit by a light breeze. Early seasons of JL really didn't know how to handle the cast, and it's something they got better on over time. There's one huge jobbing moment that I'll talk about later because it's the perfect encapsulation of how this guy went wrong.

Some of the villains I didn't like. Heresy to some but I don't like Gottfried's voice for Mxyzptlk. Gotta admit that's a me thing since I don't think Mxy just being a nuisance is the best use for him. Jax-Ur and whatshername were lame. Again the creators had to work under Post-Crisis rules so I don't hold it against them, but those two really should've just been Zod and Ursa. They're clear stand-ins but lack either the hamminess of the Donner takes or the nuance of later versions. Luminous is an interesting concept, a villain who manipulates light is a great challenge for Superman, but the execution feels undercooked. If I were to use Luminous it would basically be taking the name and the powerset and changing everything else.

These are all sort of minor nitpicks, nothing dealbreaking right? When it comes to the non-character aspects of Superman, I try to be more flexible. But there's a serious problem with this take on Superman that is baked into the show, and it's something that entirely lies in the opinions of the people handling Superman.

The fundamental problem of DCAU Superman is simple: the showrunners don't know what the appeal of the character is. Timm and Dini truly just don't know why people like him. They understand that people do like him, and they try a variety of methods to make Superman appeal to kids, the Superman fans that already exist, and themselves, but they just can't do it. Fundamentally they see the character and his world as lame. As an example Timm has made a lot of comments about how Superman's Rogues Gallery sucks which piss me off. It's not that I disagree that his Rogues couldn't be better, look how many posts about his Rogues I've written where I've "fixed" them to my liking, but Batman's Rogues weren't all awesome from Day 1 either. Timm knows this, look at Mr. Freeze! That's a character who sucked so hard he shows up in Limbo (place where all the uncool and forgotten characters go) in Morrison's Animal Man run! Hard to believe but he was a terrible character that people thought was lame before Timm and Dini reinvented him, and gave him a cool new design for the DCAU.

James Gunn isn't a big fan of Superman either, but he took Bloodsport, revamped him, and now people like Bloodsport! So I don't have much sympathy for Timm when he whines about stuff like that, it's clear he simply didn't want to put forth the effort. No reason "weak" Rogues such as Terra-Man for example couldn't have appeared in the DCAU and been revamped. The Legion of Superheroes cartoon did exactly that! Hell Timm and Dini did do a good job with Metallo, the idea of him losing all physical sensation as a result of his new body was an inspired change! I like that idea a lot personally, so they did have it in them to revamp the villains they didn't like into something cooler. There was a passion and excitement present you could see in the work on Batman, a desire to touch on every aspect of his Mythos possible, that just wasn't present in STAS.

One truly bitter fruit of DCAU Superman is that he's the start of all these fucking evil Superman stories nowadays. Darkseid mindcontrols him and sets him loose on Earth at the end of STAS, something that is admittedly well-executed, but results in him being a grumpy asshole for most of JL. Turning evil twice, TWICE, of his own free will in alternate universes, the main nailbiter of the Cadmus arc is whether mainline Superman is a big enough asshole to break bad due to Lex Luthor's goading like Justice Lord Superman. Brave New Metropolis Superman tossed morality in the trash after his Lois died, and main universe Lois has to point out to him that fascism is bad. Hell main universe Superman needs the same damn talk in JL, Lois has to explain to him that people don't like the League throwing it's weight around with zero restrictions. His response? "We come on a little strong sometimes, but it's for the peoples own good". Remind you of anything? Maybe two very high profile takes on Superman in film and video games? It's easy to tell that the heads were far more interested in the idea of Superman going bad then they ever were in a baseline take on Superman.

To be fair to Newbern, he plays that really well which is why he's such a good fit for Injustice. But his take is far too grumpy and bitter to work on a heroic Superman, which is why I'm always going to pick Daly over him for a more straightforward take. He just can't sell Superman as a good guy underneath all that anger to me, which can be blamed in part on the writing I suppose.

"But Vordan," you cry "you hypocrite, didn't you say you liked that Newbern played Superman as having a temper? Didn't you say Wrath is his Deadly Sin?" Yes I did, but here's the thing: that shouldn't fucking overshadow compassion as his main attribute. Love the Hulk, but Superman isn't the Hulk. If you're going to play up Superman's anger issues we need to see more of his compassionate side also, otherwise we end up with DCAU Superman: An angry toddler essentially who can barely control himself. He's an incredibly bitter dick throughout JL, and the heads just flat out refused to showcase him as anything but that. The best illustration of this is the contrast between what the "iconic moments" are for the two headliners of the DCAU: Batman and Superman.

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Batman's iconic moment is his comforting of Ace. This is a beautiful moment that truly captures Batman's character. For all the talk of Batman's ruthlessness and preptime, he tosses aside the weapon and instead chooses to take a gamble on Ace's compassion. Why? Because this Batman wants to help people. He wanted to help his Rogues get better, it wasn't just about glorifying in the brutality of what he did. He wanted to protect people, to help others overcome their trauma in a way he could not. To be there for Ace, a child, in her darkest moment was exactly what Bruce crafted Batman to be.

This moment of compassion is what sticks with you even though we know Bruce is going to end up a bitter old man dying alone because he drove everyone away. It makes that ending feel sad instead of well-deserved because Batman wasn't a dick at the start. Slowly over time as things got worse and worse, he became what he is in Beyond, but the old Batman is still there. Understanding that Batman is more than just being dark and edgy is why DCAU Batman is so good.

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Superman's iconic moment is the "World of Cardboard" speech and then punching Darkseid. People gush over this, but what exactly is it if you analyze it? Basically it's a speech where Superman talks tough, throws a punch... and still loses the fight. A jobber to the end, he has to be bailed out by Lex Luthor after Darkseid uses the "Agony Matrix" or whatever the fuck it's called. While hilarious that Superman gets taken down by "magic electricity" essentially (God is that fitting), this is such a frustratingly perfect encapsulation of the DCAU take on him. Superman screams about how ANGRY he is ALL THE TIME, how he just wants to SMASH, and now he's going to SMASH REALLY REALLY HARD!!!!! Except they can't even let him accomplish that, the cool moment is immediately undercut by him jobbing because the writers would probably die if they didn't remind you that they think Superman sucks.

Compare the two and you tell me, who comes off better? That Batman is by far the more popular of the two should tell you what the kids growing up watching the show thought anyway. Now we get stories about how Superman is one bad day from losing it, and I don't think that's at all disconnected from how the DCAU portrayed him. Not enough humanizing moments, not enough stuff where Superman gets to show how much he cares for the people he protects. The writers are too busy pushing back against the idea of him as being "corny" (something they probably think is true themselves) and trying to make him darker that they end up breaking him essentially. Truthfully it's Batman who is the guiding hero of the DCAU, with Superman as the loose cannon who fucks everyone over.

Ultimately the DCAU did a lot of cool storytelling, but that it's take on Superman himself went south is a dealbreaker for me. Characterization of Clark is the final arbitrator for me in terms of whether I like a work or not, and this take just doesn't do it for me. That DCAU Superman was basically the last major focus on Superman in animation has definitely played a role in his fall-off. Thankfully we're getting a new animated Superman show which doesn't appear to have Timm or any of his cronies involved. Hopefully that will be a much better showcase of Superman and his world.

#superman #dcau #batman #bruce timm #paul dini #superman the animated series #justice league #lois lane #lex luthor #john henry irons #jimmy olsen

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soulbore · 5 years

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“Alright.” She calmly stands up, fingers wiping down pants, wrists still sore from handcuffs and eyes still weary from too little sleep over the past year. What else is new? It’s a shame she couldn’t get a decent cup of coffee before all of this. “Danvers Big, Luthor, Teal’c. C-4. A lot of it. Plant it around as many key points of the ship as possible. No arguments from any of you, set a timer. Keep Teal’c close, he’s the only other one that knows around a Goa’uld ship.” Cat pops open another crate and starts tossing out a few zat guns. At least these will do some damage, swinging her own gun around her shoulder to rest along taut shoulder blades. “If any of you are idiotic enough to get caught, we’re making sure this overly tacky ode to Liberace is blown to high hell. Kara, Junior--” Lips thin, thinking that there’s likely only one other person other than herself that might be able to get through to Skaara. “You’re with me.”

Kara literally lost it in a laugh cause Ken'tha was only a foot or so long. Kara was always amused when she was with the team as well, as she was the tallest, next to J'onn of course. Kara moved over to sit down on a log that was made to be her bench, watching her dig.

The envelope wasn’t what she was expecting, but she took it from Cat’s hands as she opened it and glanced over to Cat. The information was intriguing, though she couldn’t help but wonder what a mirror had to do with anything, especially in a warehouse. Kara pulled out the pictures and information on it, noticing the scribble of Lena’s writing and looking over each picture.

“This… This isn’t goa'uld tech,” Kara said, as she looked at Cat. “Ken'tha said its nothing made by Goa'uld knowledge,” Kara stared at the large mirror, enraptured by what she was gazing at. “This is… nothing like I’ve ever seen. It’s clearly something ancient, look at the stonework around it, and look at the other items here in the picture,” Kara said pointing to the objects. “This is…these are artifacts from different time periods, this is… its a collection. A laboratory of some sort.” Kara clearly loved what she did, even if she hadn’t been on earth, her clear excitement never died. “This could be some culture that use to study our ancient cultures. Just like we are studying other cultures across the world now. The mirror, it could be some sort of device, like a TV or hologram. If we could just figure out how to activate it. who knows what they might know!” Kara said as she looked at Cat, pausing for a moment.

Maybe she got a little too excited…

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Cat's eyes have long since settled in the girl instead of the photographs, watching the way her brows raise and her hands move. Watching the way her eyes light up underneath the sunlight of another planet, painting her features in the hue of a forest. It's been a long time. "What makes you think they're studying us? What makes you think they're artifacts from Earth and not just other gift from the gou'ald?" Cat leans up against the nearby wall before holding open the door for Kara, curious if she's here to see the rest of it. To see what kind of life Kara has made for herself.

She imagines it, sometimes. Coming back here. Going anywhere. But it's not exactly kismet so there's nothing wrong with a living a little vicariously.

"Because of the other useless trinkets throughout the room? I know people would love to see me on TV, Danvers, but a mirror being a set is a bit of a stretch, don't you think?" Still, it's a further theory than anyone in the mountain had grasped at.

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Kara paused as she looked over to Cat at the question. For a second thinking it was clear but then remembered every time Cat always told her to explain. “Okay, see how the objects are positioned on the table,” Kara said, putting the picture in her hands. “A collection would often been seen on shelves, perhaps behind something to keep its value protected. Or even positioned in a way that was near something else that is religious, like a greek statue with offerings around it. But this,” Kara pointed toward each artifact. “They are on a table, positioned in a line. You see it often when studying other things, like rocks or some sort of scientific study.”

Moving into the house, she sat down at the table she had, spreading out everything that had been in the envelope. “I would know more if I could go there. See it for myself.” Kara turned to look at Cat and then back to the picture. “Well, these objects here. This one is a statue of Bastet, an ancient greek artifact, probably belonging to a family who might have paid homage to her. This is an african mask, around the 15th century. And this, this is a medieval Aberdeenshire Game Board. Pretty much things of everyday human life. But the mirror, the symbols, its not of any human earth linguistics I have ever seen, but its not goa’uld either. It must be part of the race that once lived on that planet, or perhaps they still do and no one saw them.” Kara put her hand up against her mouth, thinking carefully back to all her studies on Krypton and then everything she had done on earth and what she had learned thus far from the stargate program.

“It looks like a mirror, but it could have knowledge locked inside of it, like we found on the island before, when we saved Earnest. It might have something that could help us against the Goa’uld. Or it could be some sort of ancient dialect, or… it could be so many things! Honestly, its astounding,”

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“Uh huh. Yeah, no where,” Cat drawls, “In there did you clearly state, ‘Oh, yes, Cat, this is obviously a weapon of mass destruction that’s going to eradicate our enemy before the war’s even touched our soil’. No offense,” Cat drops the bag on the ground with a heavy sigh, shoulders barely slumping before they straighten, hand coming up to tap at cracked lips, desert-scorched. A little pale now that she’s not underneath the warmth of the sun. Arms cross now that they’re free. “To junior. Because I would much rather it be a defense system.” A low hum, looking over Kara’s shoulder, “Not that it seems to have done them any good given the fact that the entire floor was empty. Maybe the Goa’uld wiped them out, too.”

She’s quiet for a long moment, brows barely knit before she looks back up towards Kara, tongue tracing her lower lip. A swift nod.

“What are the chances of it actually being useful? We’re tugging at scraps, here, already.” And she can feel it, crawling up her gut--settling between her ribs. That sixth sense of we’re fucked that’s already gotten her through enough life and death situations to where she immediately listens to it. “If I get you there, would it actually help you tell what it is?”

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"What?" Kara said, confused for a second before it dawned on her what Cat meant. Man, its been awhile since she's done this, but it did feel like old times. "No, no, I don't think its a a weapon or a tool of any sort of destruction. It not even defensive, by its look. If it was, I believe it would have be out somewhere else, like a protective shield or something like this. I think its something else..." Kara said, as she tilted her head slightly. "Ken'tha has never seen anything like it, its got to be something..." Working with pictures was difficult. She could get an idea, but it just wasn't as good as in person.

"Perhaps, but if it was something that could hurt the goa'uld or destroy them, they would have taken it, or destroy it themselves," Kara pushed her lips to the side, reaching up to brush her hair behind her ear thinking. Studying the symbols she could see. But the dialect wasn't anything she had ever seen before, it wasn't goa'uld, nor was it egyptian or latin, or any base language. Not was it Kryptonian or Callicite, it was racking her brain to try and go through every language she knew. "I can't say for sure," Kara admitted, looking at Cat. Because she didn't know if it would be useful.

"I think I could know more, if I was there. Pictures only do so much, but being there, I could definitely get more information."

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“We’ve been there.” Cat shakes her head, trying to make her point clearer: “If it’s not a weapon or a shield, it’s not worth going somewhere we have a direct line of contact to. The SGC might find you. No, probably will find you, and trust me, in a strained environment where we keep not running into weapons or shields—where it’s just thousands of artifacts we don’t care about because it’s not the next atom bomb—you’re the last bet they have against figuring out how a Gou’ald ticks. And I don’t mean,” It’s not sharp, just factual, fingers barely curling into her elbows, leaving small moon-circles of dirt in their wake before hands fall. “In the promotion kind of way. Forget it.”

She shrugs, fingers brushing off the dirt on her arm like it’s the most casual statement of the day. Because she hasn’t spent a year in a glorified prison just to throw Kara to the wolves on a hunch.

“I’ll have Winn poke it again and stare blankly at it for a few more hours. He’s particularly good at that.” Eyes flick down to the picture, lips barely pursing, “It’s a shame we don’t know who it’s from. Who built it. Maybe we could find them. Hmm…” Another shake of her head, sliding the cap back over damp hair, offering a slim smile, “We could use a bigger bully on the school yard in our corner.”

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“You’ve been there. Your team. Not me,” Kara reiterated, as she pointed at the picture. “This could have valuable intel, intel you haven’t had. For all we know, this could be a key to a tool you could use. I need to go! And if you won't take me, then I’ll go myself. I’ll just send whatever I find through the stargate and then come back here. But I’m going,” Kara grumbled as she pushed her lips together. “I don’t care what they do to me, Cat. But this is our…. Your world we are talking about. If this has something, anything, to help save it. I’m going to do it, even if earth thinks I’m an enemy of the world,”

Kara put the stuff into the envelope as she got up and found the bag she needed and was starting to pack things into it. “No,” Kara said, as she looked over at Cat. “He’s goods with computers, he’s not an anthropologist, he won’t know what to look for,” Kara finally finished gathering the few things and looked over to her. “That’s EXACTLY why I need to go. If this is the key to a new race, a race that could put up a fight against the Goa’uld, like the Asgard, then we have to try. I have to try!” She left the envelope for Cat and glanced over to her.

“If I find anything, I’ll leave it there at that planet. Look in the same room you took this picture on the table. It will be there. But I have to go,”

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Shoulders lean into the wall, looking seemingly nonplussed by Kara’s sudden enthusiasm. An eyebrow slowly arches to touch the dip of her sunglasses, letting out a slow hum before she slides them down and then figures if she’s here she might as well look to see if Kara has any food. Is the food on this planet even edible? She’s been to so many, now, it seems a little negligible. It hasn’t killed her yet—

She pops up something that looks almost like an apple…if a cheap off-budget props department on a B Sci-fi movie made it.

“Love the enthusiasm, honorary flygirl.” The apple pauses over her lips when she remembers that time she was suddenly forty going on one-hundred and twelve and figures she’ll wait. The faux-pple is settled back in its happy little home, twisting around to fully face Kara with a hint of amusement clear on lips, even though her eyes are shaded.

“I can’t wait to see how you get there without the dial address. You don’t mind if I wait here to hear how that little adventure goes, do you? It was a long trek, I could use a nap. Not beauty sleep, obviously, I’ve got that in spades.”

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Oh… She hated that. She paused as she let the bag slowly slip from her shoulder and refuse to look at Cat just yet. “That’s not fair,” Kara whispered as she took a deep breath and turned around. “Really, that’s not funny. At all,” Her arms crossed over her chest, looking at her even though she had this amusement in her eyes as if she had done something humorous. Kara wasn’t humored.

“Please, Cat,” Kara said as she leaned against the table. “I don’t care what the people of earth do, but we aren’t going to earth. If I can figure out what this is about, if it can help you, isn’t it worth the trip?” The question lingered as she let a breath slip from her lips. “Look, I’m useless out here. Why is it going to hurt to go and see what this can do. If its pointless, you can just tell me ‘I told you so’ and bring me right back here. If its not pointless, what is there to lose?”

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"Oh, it's funny." Cat leans forward just a little, fingers curling, but the smile falls in lieu of something serious, coming a little closer. "You say that because you've never been tortured." There's a weight to it, the sort of comment that might be bright any other day if it wasn't so true--something a graveness that comes from experience. It's a romantic notion, fighting for freedom and truth and the people you care about, until you're faced with the repercussions of it. "You'll care what the people of Earth do. Your people."

Cat will care. Bigger Danvers will care. Luthor--J'onn--Marsdin. The idiot Winn kid. There's a lot more to lose than a stir crazy archaeologist puts weight on, likely.

Curling fingers flex--stretch--curl--and then stretch, again, before she suddenly dips down to pick back up the pictures, not wanting a trail to where they're going, or have been. All she has is a hunch. "You're right, what's a little treason between old friends." The dryness is back, lips thin as she once more shoulders her bag, idly wondering the chances of enjoying the sunshine on the way out before nodding towards the door. "Just because I clearly thrive on telling you I told you so. Let's go, march."

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Quiet settled on Kara’s lips as she wondered if she had pushed past the wrong boundary. Cat wasn’t smiling any longer, she looked took a breath. “Being tortured scares me, more then anything, but what scares me more… is losing you, Alex, Lena, the whole team,” Kara sat down beside Cat, quiet for a moment as Cat seemed to let it twist inside of her head. She grabbed the other papers and pushed them over to Cat as well.

“There’s Colonel Grant,” Kara commented, leaning up against the table staring at her when she reached over and tried to take her hand but stopped and just took a breath. Kara wasn’t sure what boundary she crossed, she had done something wrong. But she really needed to do this. Kara reached over and gave her a small bag. “Here, some food,” She said, as she picked up her gown and moved out of the house, letting Cat lead the way now.

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"You had that too conveniently at hand. I knew you were waiting for me." It's a dry quip, fingers tucking open the small sack and eyes lingering before she follows after. It's a shame, she thinks, that she doesnt have the opportunity to see Kara's life here. But maybe there's no other Grant than Colonel Grant, after all, rifling through.

There's no comment on what Kara might lose, or what Cat might imagine loss to be. Instead, she plucks up faux-pple number two in front of Kara and smirks. "Chances of this killing me? Hmm, well, what does it matter, anyways? I like to live dangerously." A fact noted by the obvious: they're heading back towards a Stargate she was being fired at right before entering maybe ten or so minutes ago. She takes a bite. Hums at the unusual taste, letting it sink on her tongue, ignoring how close Kara's hand has been. "We'll have to take a detour before going there. If anything does happen, we're going to make it hard for anyone to be able to track you back to the Nox." Cat has a few planets in mind. "How have you been?" Eyes stay forward, "Really."

━━━━

Kara smiled, as she gave a small shrug. "So, I had a feeling someone would come by sooner or later, at least I hoped. But, I have a huge store of food so, I eat a lot," Kara chuckled as she glanced back. "Next time, let's stay a little longer and talk about domestic things." A little comment, cause honestly, she wanted to just have a moment of normal.

then again when was any of this normal??

"Its not, would I really let you eat anything that would kill you?" Kara questioned, shaking her head in amusement. She paused at the stargate, staring at it for the first time in a long time. She hadn't been this close in awhile, taking a breath. She opened up her bag, looking at the weapons she had that Ken’tha had taken before she ran with Kara’s body. “That’s good. They don’t deserve to be harassed, they are a kind people,” She moved toward the dial device (seems the Nox already knew they were leaving) and paused as she looked over to Cat.

“Really?” Kara repeated as she took a breath. “I want to go home. I just want to have everything go back to how it was. But, honestly, I’m fine. I really am, I’m making this work. The Nox help, honestly. They’re very empathetic,” Kara won’t mention how many times she’s cried because she lost Krypton, then she lost Earth, she lost her family and friends, and then her second family and her friends. She was tired.

Rao, she was really tired.

━━━━

"You might let me eat something that turns my head...oh, I don't know. Perpetually blue. Makes my lips swell up like Pam Anderson. Who knows." But Cat takes another bite, regardless, twisting around on her heel to gesture towards that vague blur of...whatever it is hanging in the distance, a silky cloud of opaque a little far out of eyesight. Maybe that's how they do it. They're always just a little farther out of eyesight. "Hmm, maybe. Next time. Gun?" The last part is called out into the sky, gesturing with her hand for a few seconds before it materializes next to her ankle. "Thank you." A little short--huffed through nostrils before she moves over to the DHD, palm pressing until the chevrons engage, the loud whir familiar. Distracting enough.

It's been a long time since cat's been the 'talk about domestic' type. The thought make her chuckle, continuing, "Maybe I'll bring over an issue of Vogue. It's been a bit since I've had an excuse to wear a dress." Normally, these days, her finest accessory is around her ankles. Thanks to Luthor, its tucked on the edge of camp a few planets away. "But if we're being optimistic, a girl can dream." The final Chevron engages, finally taking looking back over at Kara, watching muted sunshine paint her features. "I'm...glad." She settles on, voice calm and humming. Maybe just as glad that glasses are tucked on her nose, obscuring her eyes from an ever-observant pair. The last thing she needs is Kara reading her like some ancient Babylon manuscript. "That they've made it easier for you. Who knows, maybe we'll find something that wins the war." Cat tucks her newly materialized gun by her hip. A chuckling laugh, "Sounds about as likely as me getting the chance to wear a dress, anytime soon, doesn't it? But, hmm...a chance is better than none, isn't it?"

━━━━

“No I wouldn’t!” Kara nearly spoke up without thinking when Cat took another bite and realized her leg was probably being pulled. That is what the humans called it, right? “Promise, I’m not going to turn you into a blue blueberry like willy wonka,” okay, the thought made Kara giggle a little bit, because it was one of the movies that Eliza showed her when she was a kid. She looked over at Cat as she had her gun back and she was sure her sense of security returned. Though here on Nox, there was nothing to worry about.

A grin crossed her lips as she looked over to her. “I’m sure you look great,” She said and then raised a brow. “One day, right?” Eyes watched each chevron entered until the bright blue wave erupted and Kara stared for a moment in awe. It never ceased to amaze her. “I’m sure the Nox wouldn’t mind if you stayed for a little bit, if you ever get a chance,” Kara chuckled and gave a shrug. “I’m going to hold you to that. When we win, you get to wear a dress. There’s always a chance,” A simple challenge, but always something that she enjoyed. “Come on, let’s go!” Kara said as she stepped through the gate, a little too eager to travel again.

━━━━

“Stay on some peaceful, non-violent planet where I don’t constantly have to look over my shoulder? Sounds a little.” The gust of wind dances up hair, fingers curling around metal, lips barely twitching upwards, settling the half-eating faux-pple in the bag. Leave no trace, Thoreau would be proud. “Boring, don’t you think? Even at Thanksgiving I have to step around a landmine or two, no--no. I’m not the type the Nox are looking for. But I could always call Stevie Nicks to fill in--she’d love it.” There’s something about the wind here that reminds her of the softly settling breeze in green trees in Istanbul and it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch of the imagination to feel like she’s home. No guns, and all.

She steps through before Kara can and raises her own, ready, feeling the chill of ice on her bones. The immediate snow whipping through the air--wind. Something undoubtedly boring and full of science about the displacement of thermodynamics that she could just hear Luthor prattling on about in the background, a small little bubble of warmth following them past the explosion outwards before blue sinks back into the portal, both of them on the ramp.

The warmth doesn’t last long. It’s immediately freezing and Grant tosses Kara her gun, casually shouting over the wind and ice, knowing they have a few pit-stops to pluck back up her gear — “Hope you remember how to use it—” before she rushes over to the DHD, slamming in coordinates before her hand can freeze to the platform, dipping down to knees in order to roughly knock off the platform in front of it, sliding a small little hanging device off of the edge of the plug-in for the panel before replacing it. Slipping it into her bag, cooling fingers untangling that rope. Waiting until that boom happens one more time, a rush of blue expanding outwards before it settles, a shimmering portal once more highlighting the darkened snow—

One down, three to go.

Cat pushes Kara through it since it’s hard to see in the settling flurry of snow, not really giving her the chance, otherwise, really. A little like old times.

The next planet’s heat is enough to cause whiplash in nerves and Cat nods towards a small little clearing of purple trees down ahead, “Pit-stop.” Continuing, tugging up the rope and leaving mini-Danvers with the gun. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think your real desire to help is the opportunity,” In the time she’s talked, she’s popped open this panel, as well, hissing at the heat of whatever kind of metal this is searing the edge of her fingertips underneath the sun, rummaging around for a few seconds before the small little black attachment has disappeared inside. “To see me in a dress. Oh, not that I blame you. Annie Lennox and I have several things in common, Kara—a questionable phase in college, a distaste for producers--” She hops upwards, slinging the rope around her shoulder, “And we both look fantastic in dresses and suits, alike. Dress blues do great things for my bedroom eyes.” For the first time, she moves forward to pat Kara’s shoulder, hand lingering, suddenly serious, “You alright? It’s been a while since you’ve been through.”

━━━━

"After being constantly busy, a little peace never hurts," Kara said, as she looked at her. "Don't tell me you haven't enjoyed a moment of quiet just reading a book or sketching or anything?" She questioned, almost baffled and then stared at her. "You...what?" Sometimes, Kara forgets that Cat isi n the military. "Well, you deserve a normal thanksgiving. Though I do not quite understand why humans do Thanksgiving," Kara moved as she followed Cat through at first.

The gate was cold, once again, as she took a breath letting the warm air warm her lungs again. Except when she breathed in it was freezing cold and Kara wasn't prepared or dressed for this. She caught the gun, and nodded, shivering within seconds as her outfit was think and ill crafted. Before Kara had a chance to think she was pushed through the gate and tripped onto the metal platform, staring up at the gate as Cat came through.

"Next time, warn me about the cold. I'm not exactly dressed for that," But what was a chill was now sweat as she turned to look at the purple treeline (it reminded her of the forest of Krypton) and shifted the gun in her hands (she was always better with a pen rather then a weapon). A blush came to her cheeks that she hoped would be an excuse that the planet was so hot, and chuckled. "I didn't mean, its not like, its just...." Kara stumbled over her words, as she reached up and rubbed her temple a little. "I, uh, da....what?" Kara nearly fell over if not for the fact she was on her two feet. Every inch of her paused as she felt her shoulder touched and shook her head. "I'll be alright, its a little dizzy, its has been awhile,"

━━━━

A slow eyebrow arches upwards at the impressive tongue tie and it's this moment that Cat will never admit she missed Kara, a little. It's not like she made Luthor or J'onn nervous. Or...have emotions. She forgot how easy it was to rattle the other woman and wonders, not for the first time, what kind of weapon of mass destruction that gou'ald could really be with this as its cover.

But, then again, Cat also knew Kara Danvers was more than met the eye.

Fingers curl--squeeze around the shoulder--before she pulls away. "Breathe, Kara. I can't have you hyperventilating." The hand moves up to pat her cheek twice, as well, before pulling away, entirely, heading towards those trees with rope in hand. "I left a few things I have a feeling we're going to need." Their emergency button, return home button being one of them. She'd rather not meet the other end of the eye without it opening if they do wind up having to go back to earth. "You didn't exactly give me much of a chance to warn you about packing before you started leaving. Someone had cabin fever."

Cat knows what that feels like. Which is likely why she doesn't linger on the subject of relaxing very long.

"No, I've been stationed away the majority of the year." But Kara doesn't have to know the why. Need to know. And Kara likely carries enough guilt for both of them, already. Cat doesn't want to pile onto it. And she doesn't linger on that, either. "But I'd still rather be dodging actual landmines than having a conversation over martinis with my mother. And I thought you were the archaeologist, if you suddenly can't tell me the extensive backstory of a holiday, I've lost my faith." Lips twitch, heading towards the trees.

━━━━

"I never said I didn't understand the background and reasoning behind Thanksgiving, just it seems a little irrelevant at the same time. But then again, Americans do love their food," Kara mused lightly, and then shrugged. "And I like the food to so... Apple pie is the best home cooked desert I have ever tasted in my life." Hence the apple-like fruit she loved to collect on Gaia while she was there and living.

Kara shifted her dress, moving with her toward the tree as she shifted the gun to hang off a strap on her shoulder. The first thing she did was pull out her gou'ald weapon instead, fitting it onto her hand, each gold tip on a finger as she looked over toward Cat.

A breath came from her lips, one, two, three. "What can I say, I was ready to go do something. Even when I do have to go back, at least I had one more adventure," She smiled, and she truly meant that. Kara wasn't one to just sit at home, pick plants and live in the forest house. It was nice, but it wasn't something Kara could do forever.

━━━━

"We love our food, guns, and occasionally pretentious nationalism and freedom--it's what we're fighting for." Her voice might be dry, but her eyes haven't fallen from their surroundings for a moment, listening. Watching. When their feet crunch along underbrush, there's something familiar in it and cat is quietly thankful for each side step in count because it's just two sets of footprints, each time.

Any soldier who claims they like a fight hasn't been in enough of them to understand how exhausting they are, and after enough detours to find the federal DOT a run for their money, she'll avoid them as much as possible.

Shoulders tense for a moment at the sight of the glove before fingers flex around the rope, the trees coming a little clearer into sight, the scent of an unfamiliar forest settling in lungs. Right. Kara supposedly knows how to use one of those. The last couple of times cat had been close enough to see one, it wasn't pleasant. "You know, if you don't come back…" Lips part. Purse. The smallest sigh before she continues on, serious, "If Earth is stupid enough to shun you, there are other places you could go. We only took you to the Nox because we knew they would keep you safe and wouldn't let anyone take you back to Earth. It was our only option. It doesn't mean it's yours."

━━━━

Kara didn't know much about the guns and nationalism, she was never truly a part of it here. But perhaps in Krypton, she understood that before. It was a long time ago, it almost felt impossible to remember. She was silent from that moment, just letting the sentence hover on the air instead. She followed her to the area, watching her pull on the rope, gathering what she needed.

A breath sucked through her lungs at the fated words. Kara really honestly didn't want to think about that. Honestly, there was nowhere safe. The Nox was the only true safe place at the moment. Ken'tha told her about the assassins, and each world she has gone to, the distaste of goa'uld anything was pretty much hated .

"It is," Kara stated, nothing else to truly be spoken. "Its okay, I've accepted it. Like I said, they are kind, far kinder than any other planet could be," She took a breath, pushing a smile to her lips to prevent any show of sadness behind it. It's the last thing Cat needed to worry about, and there was no point in worrying about something that couldn't be fixed.

━━━━

“That’s what happens when an entire planet turns away from violence.” Cat hypothesises, anyways. Back still tighter than it ever used to be when she was younger. But it’s not like she has to explain that to Kara, of all people. She can’t quite remember how the air in any room might feel, anymore, without eyes that immediately snap up to the exits. Eyes linger on Kara for a long moment before she tugs off the rope from her shoulder before wrapping a round of it around her wrist, “Peace is a luxury we can’t afford.” Her voice is quiet, that crunching of her boots stopping next to a tree, hefting up the edge of the rope before tossing it over a branch hidden by shimmering, purple leaves. The rope is a hefty, familiar weight as warming fingers start to work the end she just tossed over into a harness by her hips. “And neither can you, right now, since you’re officially guarding my six. Try not to stare too hard at it.” A sharp tug on the rope before she’s climbing up both hanging strands, disappearing up into the tree for a few moments before a bag suddenly appears next to Kara, falling from one of the higher branches, and Cat once more materializes next to it, this time with hair tucked inside her hat and a familiar jacket curved around shoulders. Fingers curl upwards in gesture, “Alright, I want my gun back, since you’ve--have you had that this entire time?” The rope is shoved into the second bag. What a few bigwigs wouldn’t do for that tech, alone. Forging ever on-wards: “If you were someone that could stay on a peaceful planet for longer than anyone told you to, you would have stayed on Krypton. It’s funny what a good heart and an unwillingness to stand aside can do.” It’s hardly a judgmental statement, even as the eyebrow arches upwards. Because Cat, clearly, would prefer Kara stay on whatever planet the Nox homeworld is without the P in front of it, but that’s the funny thing about injustice and believing that the universe would benefit far greater with Kara Danvers’ contribution in it instead of without it. “What about the Tok’ra?”

━━━━

Kara smiled softly, the comment something she agreed with. But the other thing made Kara nod her head. "I know," Her fingers flexed with the device on her hand, and while she had the gun, she's had more time with this one rather then the gun (plus she was never a fan of the sidearm). "I got it,"

After a few minutes, Kara gave back the guna and then looked down at her hand. "Yes?" Kara said, not quite sure why it was a surprise. A little thought passed her mind and then gave a shrug. "I... wear my heart on my sleeve." The thought brought a small smile on her lips before thinking about that. "I'm not sure the way the Tok'ra work is something I can work with myself," Kara said. The Tok'ra were very much the kind of people of the ends justice the means.

Including some of the things they have done. Kara wasn't sure she could deal with living among them with some of their views. "Its fine, Cat. Really, don't worry," Kara smiled as she touched her shoulder.

━━━━

“Cute.” Lips barely twitch upwards underneath the familiar rim of sunglasses. It seems to dance up her cheeks like sunshine might, if the shade wasn’t obscuring it beneath the rims’ lofty weight and though the flicker is imperceptible in eyes behind their shield, it’s evident in the faintest way her shoulder tightens and then relaxes underneath Kara’s hand. “You know,” Her hand comes up to a wrist, curving around the faintest dip of a pulse beneath unfamiliar metal. If the goa’uld’s tech is even made from metal. “It’s funny.” She squeezes before hefting up the gun, “I remember saying the same thing to Olivia about the Air Force. It seems like we all do things our conscience wouldn’t allow under the guise of the right thing. I don’t like the Tok’ra, either.” She acknowledges, humming, “But you don’t have to like yourself in a war. We all just do the best we can. There’s always a better to strive towards, don’t get me wrong. I could never just sit by. But if you want to,” A shrug, starting the trek towards the gate, “Enjoy the fake apples. The peace looks like it’s done you well.” For once, it’s not sarcastic. “Come on, we’ll gate to that mirror of yours.”

━━━━

Kara barely caught the smile, just barely there as she shifted back to her side, moving her hand away as she noticed the tension at first. Kara had always wanted to talk about it but she doesn’t. It's just...Cat. Though Kara still wonders. Kara pushed her lips to the side and nods a little, because Kara wouldn’t change herself just to fit in somewhere. What kind of person would she be, and what would that say about the way she wanted to do things. But honestly, she was learning things from the Nox, and when they had visitors as well.

“It's not about liking myself. It's about keeping my morals intact. If I waver on that, I lose who I am, what I stand for. Maybe I’m being too stubborn, I don’t know. Maybe I’m just too young,”

But Kara paused, looking at Cat as she walked toward the gate not quite sure how to respond to that. Because while the peace was nice, she was still itching to help. To get back out there and help. She didn’t want to….just sit around and do nothing. That’s why she was doing this. Kara nodded her head as she followed, watching Cat enter the new gate dialup

━━━━

“Clearly just too young!” Cat readily agrees over the boom of naquadah flooding the space in front of them in a large puff of blue before it retracts, a shimmering pool of something not at all close to water hovering in front of them. “That’s what the Nox say about all of us humans, isn’t it? Or, hmm, well,” A gesture towards Kara’s stomach before realizing Junior’s probably wrapped around her spine, instead. It’s not the first time she’s wondered, since she found out, just how much of Kara she knew, and how much of it was...Ken’tha. It’s been a year, and she’s still getting used to the idea. A little faster than the rest of the SG had, but it’s admittedly taken time, whether she admits that, or not. Even now, she can’t help but wonder--

Well, that’s a little pointless, isn’t it? Wondering doesn’t do anyone any favors.

What does liking herself mean to Kara--to Ken-tha--to a Kryptonian, or a Goa’uld, or a human.

“I’m sure they’d say it to you, too. Not the Kryptonian. Or the Goa’uld. You’re not really like either side, are you? Either of you...both of you. Whatever you, you are.” A huff through nostrils at her own words being minced, a rarity. Continuing, “Maybe everyone’s young, outside of the people who refuse to enter a war, even when there’s a choice to. I don’t see the Nox standing here willing to help. You’re leaving, aren’t you? Young. Unwise. Uncultured. How brutish. Or...maybe,” It drawls out, “You’re just holding onto that idealism of yours. Nice to see it hasn’t changed, apparently. That’s fine, the rest of us are completely content living in a universe full of grays and good intent that falls on its face the moment we pull a trigger. Alright, ,” She hefts up her favorite method of good intent, metal glistening under sunlight. Her wrist gestures towards the portal with a flick of the gun, calmly walking up the ramp, jacket once more settled on shoulders--unscuffed as much as the rest of her outfit is. “Lady with the gun first.” Muttering before she disappears through the portal, maybe a reflection of her own: “I always get the fun job.”

━━━━

Kara had to hold back a laugh, the fact that Cat readily agreed with that thought a little too fast. When Cat gestured to her stomach, it confused her at first before it clicked what she was meaning. Honestly, Kara didn't know about herself. Kara knew she was Kryptonian. Her psyicology said that, and her religion and concepts and culture was all sitll Kryptonian. But Ken'tha, she was goa'uld, but she wasn't like the goa'uld. She was something else.

They, were something else.

Could Kara even claimed to be a Kryptonian anymore? Honestly, it was something she tried not to think about. She didn't fit into a pretty box, but then again what world, what culture, what customs and traditions truly fit into a box when they were all ever changing? "Its hard to say what we are. Ken'tha and I, I think we are something that has never happened before. The Tok'ra aren't really goa'uld, though scientifically, they are the same species. But Ken'tha wasn't born into their world. Nor was she truly a part of the Goa'uld. She's...different." But that was another story for another time. Focus on one concept at a time, Kara. A chuckle left her lips as she followed her toward the stargate, once more traveling through it, this time it not bothering her as much.

Kara's eyes honed in on their surroundings, jumping back into old habits of being alert and trying to learn the surroundings quickly. "Where are we now?"

━━━━

Boots are tilted on the ground, crouched near the DHD by the time Kara follows through. The gun is tucked up in her palms, at the ready, hand up in a signal before it lowers. Habit. A habit that doesn't really die, stomach clenching and unclenching when all she hears is silence. There's no guarantee, after all, that this is as abandoned as they're now assuming. Cat doesn't like leaving things up to chance unless she's three glasses in at a roulette table.

But, then again, one of the perks of being under constant lock and key is that she's horrendously sober all of the time.

"That's on a need to know." The comment is flippant--smiling--rising up when she's positive that nothing is about to shoot either of them. The bunker is expansive and still mostly empty, sheets covering various artifacts they haven't bothered devoting time to studying. "P3R-233. This way to your museum. Hopefully some of this is actually useful." And there's that clenching, again. Her gut taut, anxious. The same reason she thought it was a hunch in the first place. A serious question. A hint of a well-buried journalist peeking through Atlanta the edges. "What makes you think you're both different?"

━━━━

Kara glanced around, a smirk on her lips at the comment before pausing as she moved over and lifted up the canvas over the other artifacts. Kara’s eyes were bright, filled with amazement because all of this was like an archeologist’ dream. But against all want, she put the cloth down and moved over back to Cat’s side, ready to see the bigger thing, the mirror in that picture. “Well, think about it,” Kara said as she looked for what might be similar to the picture. “Ken’tha is a goa’uld,” She paused as Ken’tha still didn’t like being called that anymore. “But, she’s not really a goa’uld anymore. Kind of like the Tok’ra do not see themselves as goa’uld anymore either. Been they became Tok’ra hundreds of thousands of years ago, and have since deviated from that past, changing. Ken’tha was born into the goa’uld ranks, she was the greek goddess, Ken. The Goddess of Love, but she was to take on the new godhood of… ironically my namesake. Kara, the Kryptonian Goddess of love. Except she didn’t. She revolted. She’s not a Tok’ra, but she’s not part of the Goa’uld culture either. She’s… different,” Kara wasn’t even sure if any of this was making sense, but she was trying her best to explain.

“And I’m Kryptonian, by body, yes, and I still follow my culture even now. But, I’ve lived on Earth for so long, and I’m bonded with Ken’tha. We are one of the same, in a way. So, she is neither goa’uld nor am I fully Kryptonian anymore. I guess, basically, we are what we want to be.” She said finally as she paused at the doorway.

“Wait, isn’t this the room in the picture?”

━━━━

“The one and only.” The gun is tucked against her hip--never very far from her person, these days, unless she’s apparently traipsing through Nox-guarded meadows--and it stays that way, even as she comes closer to the mirror. Anyone who thinks she doesn’t have a reason to be apprehensive about things like this hasn’t been stabbed through the stomach by a sentient crystal being from another planet. She’s a little rightfully leery, in her book. “It’s almost like we can’t all be chalked up to where we were born.”

How many years had Cat thought Kara was human? How many years would it have mattered? There’s a long, lean alligator of a woman a few planets or so away whose fingers are slender when hidden and eyes nearly red underneath shadows but the colonel is left wondering if she’s ever known any of Kara, at all. Maybe she has. Maybe she hasn’t. But maybe no one knows much of Cat, either.

But that’s a little pointless to wonder, too, voice calm and a little carefully bored despite the firm grip on her gun. “So...what do you think about your brand new television set?” Without a word, she tugs off the cloth over the mirror, eyebrows raising. “You know, there’s a chance it could just be that everyone else is as vain as people on Earth everywhere.”

━━━━

“I’m still Kara,” She looked over at Cat, as if reading her mind. “I know there is no way to prove that Ken’tha isn’t in control, but it really is me.” Kara wondered if perhaps that was a stupid thing to say. By saying that, she might just instill doubt into the woman more. But, she had been working with them for a year, and Ken’tha preferred to stay quiet. Ken’tha didn’t like to take over, anything she had to offer she did so by their mind blending. “Okay, maybe that was dumb. Since I have no way to prove it…” She whispered to herself, because now she wondered how many thought that.

Did her sister think it?

That thought just made it hurt more.

She paused as she moved toward the mirror, staring at it with awe intent. “This, is amazing,” She said, as she turned and looked at the table. Her eyes scanned everything, but one thing stood one. She picked up the device, her hand brushing over it a few times, as the light turned on briefly before fading. “This is not like any of the artifacts here. And the entire room, it's definitely a lab. I have one back at the institute,” She said, looking all around but then back to the mirror. “But these two things, there the only ones that aren’t connected to them. This is amazing, it must be some sort of device, perhaps a recorder, or something else,” Kara started talking as she walked around the large stone mirror, and paused in front of it, leaning forward just slightly, and waving her hand over it. “Huh, but it's not a mirror at all,” She spoke more to herself, as she was better at thinking out loud.

She looked down at the device that was still powered on, looking much like the blue glow of the stargate. Then she reached up to touch the mirror, wondering if it would do anything. “I think that, that dev--” When she turned around, no one was there. “Grant?” She questioned, stepping away from the mirror, and searching around, stepping out of the room. “Cat Grant!” Her voice echoed, confused. What had just happened?

What transpired left Kara stunned, confused, but mainly, knowing she had to tell General Marsdin. She had to tell Cat. She had to tell them all, otherwise…

Earth was doomed.

Traveling back was a bit more difficult then coming through, and when she finally came through the mirror, her ivory outfit was tarnished with her red blood. HEr arm was severely wounded, the side of her face bleeding as well. Even with Ken’tha, this would take time to heal, and any regular human would die from it. She held the piece of paper in her hand as she looked around, not seeing Cat. If it had been the full day as she had in this alternate reality, then Cat would have had to leave. She held no fault. But she was about to do something that Cat would most likely lecture her on. There was no other choice. Her hand left bloody prints over each symbol. Earth. She was going back to earth. She reached into her bag, pulling out another thing she conveniently didn’t turn over and punched in the digits that she was a friendly. However, she collapsed to her knee, as she took a breath. Resolve the only thing helping her move forward despite the amount of pain she was in.

The chill of the stargate only lasted a second as she tumbled out the other side, her bag rolling down the metal ramp, and the hand holding the piece of paper in hand. Her vision was fuzzy, she could barely see anything, but she could make out the silhouettes of her former team. And then everything simple went black.

━━━━

Final straw. It’s a cute little two-word phrase Colonel Catherine Jane Grant is intimately familiar with. The last day a haze. Her fingers are bloodied and hair still strung with grease, but the rest of her remains hunched on the bed, fingers twirling a fountain pen between tips above her palm.

The position she’s currently in is familiar, too, given the fact that chains are hanging from her limbs, body curled on the edge of a cot. Her cell and home for the past year.

“You tied my hands.”

“Well that’s a shame, Olivia. I didn’t even buy you dinner first.”

“Cat, for fuck’s sake, this isn’t a game—”

No, it’s definitely not a game. They’re closing down the Stargate program, Cat’s being shipped to something close to Guantanamo, Kara is still missing and despite her immediately coming back to try to mobilize a unit—

“You could stare harder, Luthor, or just snap a polaroid and put it on your wall.” Cat calls from the bed, feeling the Captain lingering. Hesitant. But there’s no sign of a smile, or a sharp quip, or anything short of something pressing.

“It’s Kara.” Luthor offers and Cat immediately sits up on the bed, handcuffs rattling in a way that makes the airman to the right stiffen.

“At ease, bagboy.” Her voice is sharp and at least Lena has a little bit of sympathy because she returns the phrase loud enough for it to actually matter, the airman turning the other way. Cat’s fingers wring knees before she shifts closer. As close as she can, anyways, because Luthor shouldn’t look so pale, unless they found her and— “Is she—”

And then Lena explains the rest of it. Which is how Cat finds herself, an hour and a half and a fidgety airman unusually compliant later, sporting a black eye in the middle of the medical bay next to Kara’s bed and Danvers. Who should probably be recused from duty, but isn’t, despite the fact that Kara’s tied to the bed far tighter than Cat is.

“How’d you get the black eye?” Marsdin asks from the doorway, the room clear in medical save for the three of them.

“I’m told I’m mouthy, but I have no complaints other than this raging migraine. Imagine that, I didn’t even get to see who did it.”

Maybe it’s the final straw of Liv’s that allows her to stay in the room until Kara wakes up, Cat’s arms crossed as she twirls her pen, chained to the bed next to her.

“Must have been some hell of a television.” Cat greets. No longer caring that the room is bugged. That all the rooms are bugged. That knot in her stomach taut and…furious and far too glad to see she’s alive to care. “Why the fuck did you come back here?” Comes out before she asks, “What the hell happened?”

━━━━

It took some time for her body to recover, that she was unaware of what was even happening at first. Her head was pounding, the headache must have been from hitting the metal so hard, or just the pain she had to deal with. Kara blinked her eyes, when everything came rushing back. Cat, Alex, Lena, Teal’c, they were all… dead. No, not here, but there. Whatever that world was. Her arms jerked up, before realizing they weren’t going anywhere. She was pretty much locked down in the bed, and it took a few seconds to put two and two together.

“Cat, you have to tell them!” Kara tried to speak quickly but all she got was a groan after her lips, as her shoulder was still sore. “It wasn’t a TV. Why would you… It was a plane of existence. Like, you were there, and Alex, everyone. Just, not the way you are here. It was some sort of different world, an alternate world unlike this but… Cat, they are coming. The Goa’uld, they are going to make a strike.” Kara looked down toward the restraints (why did they think this was necessary? She’s never tried to kill any of them!) as she threw her head back, clearly annoyed with her situation. Alex was already by her side, as she looked at her sister, and she could see the worry in her face. And then she noticed Lena across the bed as well.

“You all have to believe me. That piece of paper, that’s the key. I don’t know what it is, I didn’t have time. The Goa’uld…. they killed everyone. All I know is that, what they were saying…” Kara paused as she stared at the ceiling, closing her eyes. “It translated to ‘They are coming’.” She curled her fingers into a fist as she took a breath. “I know what my sentence is,” she looked at all of them, because Mayborne and whoever else would love to get their hands on them. “But it won’t matter if there is no Earth to come back to,” Kara stared at the entire team, then looked back at Cat.

━━━━

“Kara--” Cat tries to interrupt, but she just keeps on going and Cat finds her lips pressed thinner and thinner. Pale underneath the garish contrast of her eye. “Slow down.” Her voice has dropped any sense of nonchalance, something sharp and steel in her gaze and jaw. The sort of thing that might make both soldiers by the bedside thoughtlessly tighten out of habit, and her own chains don’t rattle, this time, as she sits up. “You’re telling me you transported somewhere--to somewhere where we all died which, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re all here--and you think this is going to happen to us because…?” The question hangs in the air, a hint of frustration barely peeking through underneath it. “What, like the mirror sent you to an alternate universe? We’re not in an H.G Wells novel, Kara. Ignoring the...particularly large space portal outside.”

“Well, it is possible--” Luthor supplies and Cat holds her groan behind teeth, holding up a hand that rattles underneath cuffs to stem it.

“Who is they?” She cuts over before she can get a science lecture, focusing solely on Kara. “For all you know, you just got knocked out, teleported somewhere by someone like the Asgardians, and all of what you saw was some kind of freudian nightmare dream. Which, in case anyone has forgotten, has also almost happened to us, before. Without the teleporting.”

━━━━

“Thank you,” Kara said toward Lena, at least she seemed to follow what she was talking about. “I’m not talking about some story or book, Cat. I literally went to a different world in a different time. That wasn’t a mirror, it was a transportation device.”

A pause in her voice, as she leaned her head back (she couldn’t do much when her wrist and legs and neck was strapped down against this bed like she was some serial killer). “I don’t know ‘who’ is they. Just that it was said, over and over on a message. And they were repeating those symbols on that piece of paper I brought back.” Kara turned her head, giving a look to Cat as if she had just said something that made no sense. “A nightmare dream. A nightmare dream that caused me to pretty much bleed out and pass out?” She pointed her hand toward her arm which still hurt, but her finger was directed toward that direction.

“It wasn’t a dream Cat. IT was real, I was there. You have to trust me. Please,”

━━━━

“What piece of paper? What symbols?” Eyes flick up to Luthor, an eyebrow arching. That information was decidedly lacking before the black eye.

“I believe Kara Danvers refers to this piece of paper.” Teal’C—because of course he does, since he loves withholding information until the last minute, apparently—performs some kind of magic trick, a piece of paper suddenly held up between them. Cat’s eyes flick back to Luthor, who immediately grabs it and starts pouring over it, before Cat calmly looks back towards Kara. “It was clasped in her hand before she lost consciousness. I did not see the benefit of leaving it with Senator Kinsey.”

“No one sees the benefit of leaving anything with Senator Kinsey, Teal’c.” Grant agrees, gaze still settled on Kara. Assessing. Thinking, despite what follows. “There’s nothing we can do, Kara. There is no SGC. No stargate. The program is being dismantled, Teal’c over there—you remember Teal’c, don’t you? Wave, Teal’c—“ Teal’c, obviously, does not wave, “Is going back to Chu’lak, Luthor over there is going somewhere I no longer have clearance to know about, and your glaring, delightfully broody sister is probably going to have the benefit of watching you be tortured because you were too stubborn to stay on planet Flower-child.”

Cat doesn’t point out where she’s going, instead continuing, seriously:

“They’re not listening to reason. Or me. You should be focused on getting out of here.”

“What was the recording?” Luthor asks, paper practically glued to her nose it’s so close, clearly not listening to the conversation. Cat’s glance upwards is as dry as her voice might be and there might be a mumbled response quietly to herself of “Sorry...ma’am.” And damn if the curiosity didn’t kill the Colonel, those thin lips pressing thinner. Sighing.

Oh, what the hell.

“Let’s say, against, oh…all.” A heavy-winded sigh, Cat’s eyes moving up to the ceiling before looking back, once more, “Better judgment and common sense, I trust you…why. “Pointed. “ Do you think something bad is going to happen here?”

━━━━

Kara had to take a breath, because her mind was reeling over everything that had happened and all she can do think that they had to do something. And they had to do something now! While they discussed the whole paper, she just laid there, trying to let the previous hours come into understanding. Alex’s hand touched her shoulder, as Kara looked over at her, worry on her mind. Kara would have touched her hand, but there wasn’t anything she could do besides look at her.

Eyes turned back toward the group. “No stargate...What…” Kara pushed her brows together because this was their number one defense against the goa’uld and shutting it down…. “Stop,” Kara said, not wanting to hear anymore about where everyone is going. “It kept repeating they are coming,” Kara said, looking at Lena and then over toward Cat. “Yes. What happened in that alternate universe. The Goa’uld ships came to earth, and they were destroying ever human life on earth. They weren’t taking prisoners, they were simple eradicating everyone and everything. Starting with the big cities. Washington, Philadelphia, even Egypt,” Kara thought back to it and finally spoke again.

"It was a transmission that came from their earth, the alternate one. They said they received it 3 months before the invasion. It said "Beware the destroyers. They come from-- and the rest is broken." She looked over at Cat and pointed at that. “Whatever it came from, whoever it came from, it came from the planet where that mirror was on. They know something that we didn’t know. But I’m pertty sure what I saw, the invasion. Its coming to us. So, screw any court martial that might be coming your way, screw the senator, I don’t care about any of that. If we don’t do something, maybe go through the stargate with those symbols I wrote down on that paper, then all this experimental, court martial, going to a different unit. It won’t matter if we are all dead,” Kara said, as she threw her head back, ignoring the headache she was getting.

“I don’t know how, but we have to go. That is the key,”

━━━━

Cat is quiet, lips still pressed in that thin line, eyes tracking every dip and valley of Kara's face that she had only just seen for a minute before she was gone for a minute.

The empty planet. The planet that they were just on that didn't have a single soul, with no transmissions, no fancy symbols, no one there warning them. There was no radio crackling on their Earth, and Kara was recently discovered to be a goa'uld, a viable national--global--threat of species who impersonate, infiltrate, and twist the world's best until they're bent at their knees in subjugation.

"You expect me to tell everyone on this team to ignore a presidential order--to go against everything we respect on some fever dream you had on another planet regarding an invasion that may, or may not happen." It's drawled, face unmoving before she sits a little further upwards, cuffs rattling as she looks between her team.

Risking everything on a hunch? Betting on the fact that Kara is not only of sound mind, but that it isn't just a trap to lead the goa'uld right to them? Betting on Kara, period.

"Well, you heard her, let's go." She gestures towards the cuffs and then Danvers, the only one here with the keys. "I'm not ordering any of you to do this. I can't order any of you to do this, anymore. We don't know what will be on the other end of that gate, but you bet your ass I'm not going to risk it being true. It's likely a one-way mission, either way. No one here has to go." Eyes flick up to Luthor--Teal'c, whose brow arching matches her own--Danvers before settling on Kara.

They could tell everyone Kara and Cat escaped, overpowered them. But Cat has every intent of going to the guns locker. If they're heading towards a fleet--an army--an...anything that isn't a High school dance, she's going to be prepared to save Earth from it.

She hopes there's nothing on the other end. That it's just a wild goose chase.

But if it's not--

Her voice is strong, firm. Unwavering. She'll bet every hunch on Kara Danvers and her little tag-along. What else does she have to lose?

"I'm with you and Junior."

━━━━

Kara looked over at Cat, waiting quietly as she didn't seem to speak. Only the clink of the cuff as Kara knew she passed the wrong boundary. "Um... When you put it that way..." Okay, maybe that wast stupid. She didn't have proof, she was just going on what she saw. She didn't know why, but she was just absolutely sure those charons were where they had to go.

She expected a shout of no. Instead, she got something completely different. Alex was already smirking, working on the straps and releasing Kara, tossing Lena the key to release Cat at the same time. Kara sat up, rubbing her wrist, her hand pressed against her shoulder which was pretty much healed now. "Thank you, Cat" She silently thanked Ken'tha for helping her heal, as she got up, and grabbing a jacket and a change of clothes that was in the corner. "Col Grant, with all do respect, your crazy if you think I'm going to let you and my sister go without me," Major Danvers responded, raising a slight eyebrow toward Grant.

"I'm good with a gun as I am with medical," Alex added and moved over, standing next to the bed and Kara came back changed in something a bit more ready for a mission then the gown she was stuck in. "How do we get out of here? You guys help me escape last time,"

━━━━

"In my experience, Major." Lips twitch upwards, "The words 'with all do respect' are a politician's and soldier's way of saying 'fuck you'. Hopefully," Grant rolls now-free wrists, nodding up at Luthor without another word, pointing, signalling towards the door. Luthor immediately moves. Now that they've decided, they won't have time for anything else. First step, make it through the gate. Second step, blow everything up on the other side, likely. They're good at improvisation. "You won't have to showcase just how good you are, Danvers. Tactical espionage 101, Kara. Have someone on the team accidentally, or intentionally, who knows with Luthor, flirt with that nerdy IT guy of yours for months." She probably just smiled at him. "And happen to have enough brains to get us through the gate. Danvers, take care of your sister, bring her to the gate. Call in a medical emergency two floors up, that will clear the bay. Teal'c, we're loading up. Explosives, the big kind. If you're good to go, all of us load and stay in formation to the gate. No one hurt anyone on the way out. We're all the good guys. Questions?"

She hops up like it's just another Tuesday, slipping the pen into her pocket before moving towards the exit, not actually waiting for a rebuttal, tossing over her shoulder before popping into the nearby armory unit, tossing a few guns back. "Good. Clock's ticking."

━━━━

Alex pushed her lips together and shrugged a little. So maybe that was a bit of a fuck you, but in a way that she would never let these two out of her site. She was their doctor, Kara was her sister, and she would protect them at all cost. "Wherever you two go, I'm going," She nodded. "Yes sir," Alex added.

Kara listened in as the two agreed with the plan. Easy enough for Kara, she wasn't exactly what you called Stealthy. "Find my bag," Kara said to Cat, because the items she had in there would be useful for all of them. Alex glanced at Kara, knowing what she meant and looked at Cat. "They were put in the armory with the rest of the weapons. Not hard to find," She added. Once everyone had the job figured out, Alex reached over, grabbing a medical bag she could take with her.

Both Kara and Alex headed down the hall, Kara had her hair pulled up and under the hat, making it less lightly for anyone to notice. Alex put her hand on Kara's shoulder, as the door open. The gate was already starting to move, knowing any second that the alarm would be going on.

━━━━

Being a still-respected individual stripped of title and prestige wasn’t as big of a band of red as it used to be. People are so used to her barking orders at them, by this point, that the majority listen before hesitation kicks in--logic. Memory. All of them going ‘oh, yeah, Cat Grant saved our lives, that one time, but she’s an enemy of the state, now’ a few minutes too late. Enough minutes that both Teal’c and Cat have managed to get into the armoury by the time an alarm sounds above them, lights flashing. Enough that she can toss a few guns a few airmen’s ways so that even when they hesitate, they keep moving.

“Look at me, later! We’ve got a base to defend! Move!” A smirk towards Teal’c a few moments later, “I know, I’m good at that. I like to think in that alternate world of Kara’s, I was constantly yelling at people, it’s really where my management skills shine, don’t you think?”

Teal’c’s eyebrow raise.

The sound of boots continuously passing them by is music to her ears and it’s not long before Teal’c is hefting up two bags and Cat swings by to grab not only Kara’s...but a hat, as well. There’s no telling what planet they’re about to wind up on, after all, tucking the hat down and calmly starting to walk towards the gate room.

Having to knock out two soldiers before they can shoot Luthor is small play given the fact that they’re essentially trying to jailbreak the most defended national secret in the States.

Which they’re doing, exactly two minutes, later, listening to the sound of Marsdin and Senator Kinsey in the gate room behind them, locked in, as Grant blockades the door and Luthor gets their authorization device ready.

The gate’s opened with a boom and Cat tosses Kara her bag, saluting towards the open windows in front of them before the windows slam down.

“No second guesses, SG-1.” Grant pats Danvers’ shoulder--solid--a member, now, if there ever was one, before curling fingers over the other Danvers’ shoulder. The one that’s not wounded, anyways, as a welcome back.

Before pushing everyone towards the open gate because she has no intent to get shot at by the airmen and marines on the other side of the door.

━━━━

And, if on cue, there went the alarm. Kara felt her feet itching, looking up and mouthing a small sorry to Winn, because he didn't deserve this. Maybe she could make it up to him one day. If they made it out of this. With was a big if. Eyes looked up toward Marsdin, not sure what to do at the moment so instead focused on the gate. Both Kara and Alex looked at each other and then at Cat with one single movement. A nod of agreement.

They were sisters, and blood didn't matter. Moving through the gate, they all moved through and then Kara looked behind, watching it closed. This... wasn't like any gate they had gone through, and then Ken'tha whispered into her mind.

Goa'uld ship.

"Its a ship," Kara said, as she stared at the area and then behind her at the stargate. "A goa'uld ship," She didn't know how it was possible. From what the others had said about the stargates, is that all coordinates could only be accessed by a specific location. If it moved at any point, the charons wouldn't work anymore. She reached into her back, grabbing the golden hand device, pulling it onto her wrist and fitting each finger and looked back at the others. She didn't have to say it, she was sure they all knew.

This was bad.

━━━━

A ship.

Cat immediately moves towards the nearby window, space expansive and endless with its cool, creeping touch. The walls around them are practically cavernous and shining in their dramatic hues of golds and reds, excessive and decadent and cold. Sterile. Space actually seems more welcoming in comparison, lights twinkling, unfamiliar, behind thick, thick glass.

Definitely a goa’uld ship.

“Luthor.” It’s drawled out, as much of an order as it can be, the sound of Captain Science scurrying towards the stargate immediately, sending back through the MALP before the ship jerks forward and the gate cuts off. Suddenly intent on getting her people off this floor. “Luthor.” Repeated.

“It’s not working, ma’am, the chevrons--”

“Quiet!” A noise. Loud. The walls open suddenly, swiftly, and Cat hates the Goa’uld’s dramatic flair for design and secret entrances, tugging Luthor down and gesturing to the Danvers to do the same, fingers rifling through a nearby crate before people get closer.

It only gets worse from there.

A meeting of Goa’uld. A succession--an heir. And, worse, Skaara. Innocent, kind Skaara, who’s now holding Apophis’ son around the thin glass of his neck, voice deep and eyes cold. They’re invading Earth.

Cat’s forehead rests on the crate for a long second until the gate once more de-activates, knowing it likely won’t work again and, after another long moment, they’re all alone in what’s likely a loading bay for a military ship, again.

#pulitzerpanther #→ kara / replies.#→ general / close starter.#→ EV 01. kara and cat.

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poppyssupergirl · 6 years

Text

See It In a New Light

A few Danvers Family feels for you on this fine Sunday.

Read it on AO3 if you’d prefer.

It’s been a very hard day. Hard enough that she’s in the DEO, under the sunlamps, Eliza holding her hand. Her left side twinges. Her right side twinges too, but her left is the twingiest. Twingiest? Twingedest? English is weird and doesn’t have rules, twingiest it is.

Her head hurts too. Actually, there’s not much that doesn’t hurt.

“You know,” Eliza sighs from beside her, “Sometimes, I really do wish you’d never started on all of this.”

She sounds tired and Kara can’t help but agree, sometimes. Like when Alex is dragging her out of the line of fire, or Lucy’s shouting over the coms but there’s too much blood in her ears for her to understand, or when J’onn puts on her suit and always, always tucks her hair behind her ear before he leaves.

She just nods though and closes her eyes. She’s too tired to fight for all the people she’s saved right now. She’s just tired.

Eliza squeezes her hand, gently, before continuing. “I know the people on that plane matter, and I’m glad they’re all alive, I just wish you didn’t have to be the one to do this.”

But who else would? Who else could?

“I probably wouldn’t have if Alex hadn’t been on there.” And she would have regretted it too. Sitting in that bar, watching a plane crash, hundreds of lives, gone. But still, she probably wouldn’t have.

Eliza’s thumb stops its gentle rubbing. “What?”

Habits are hard to break. She’d been told for so long… “I mean, you and Alex and Jeremiah kept telling me to not show myself, to keep everyone safe. I really wouldn’t have put you all in jeopardy if Alex hadn’t been in danger. And after that, I couldn’t just keep hiding and watching people die because of my inact-”

“Kara, stop.” Eliza’s grip tightened and Kara wouldn’t even normally feel it if not for the bruises splayed across her hand. “What do you mean, ‘Alex was on that plane’?”

Kara blinks and frowns and that hurts too, but she tips her head to the side to see Eliza staring down at her and oh- oh, Alex hadn’t told her. It makes sense, she didn’t want to worry Eliza, but Rao above, she could have stopped any argument Eliza’d come up with if she’d just told Eliza the reason Kara’d finally come out of hiding.

“Eliza, I saved that plane because Alex was in it. I couldn’t let her die.” Eliza just keeps staring. “The plane was sabotaged because Alex had information from working with the DEO.”

She squeezes Eliza’s hand and Eliza deflates. Her shoulders slump and she sits back in her chair like all the fight’s been knocked out of her. Maybe Alex never would have told her. Maybe that would have been for the better.

She can’t sit up yet, might not be able to until tomorrow, but she doesn’t let go of Eliza’s hand while she processes the information. It hadn’t been a rash decision to save that plane, well it kind of was, but there hadn't been any other option available. That kind of information puts the last two years into a different light.

Hopefully, a light that eases the remaining tension between Eliza and Alex.

“Thank you.” Is all Eliza says.

They don’t talk after that, just sit together until Kara feels the warm pull of sleep. Her side twinges again, the less twingey side this time, and she goes to sleep with not a single regret.

She wakes up when Alex walks in a few hours later. It’s not so much the noise Alex brings as the smell. Particularly the smell of potstickers. Kara’d joked that they should have tried bringing in potstickers when she was under the effect of the Black Mercy. Alex hadn’t taken kindly to the joke, but she had pulled Kara into a cuddle pile for their entire Disney movie marathon. It’d been a nice evening.

Alex must still be a little cranky over the whole ‘Kara kind of ignoring her and taking on the Ronnoo by herself’ thing cause the bag of potstickers lands on her bruised leg. “Owww, Aleeex, I have a bruise there.” But hey, she’s also got potstickers there and she doesn’t feel like she’s going to die if she sits up, so, things are already looking up.

“Yeah, you’re a bruise.” Alex huffs and Kara hears her go to sit down but there are three packages of potstickers in here and wow, Alex really does love her.

“You don’t have to sta-” Alex pauses and Kara shoves a potsticker into her mouth before glancing up. “Mom?”

Eliza’s wrapped around Alex and Alex’s eye are comically wide with concern. She starts patting Eliza’s back and Kara sorta chokes on her potsticker.

It’s kinda hard to eat and cry at the same time.

“I love you, Alex.”

“Oh. Okay. I love you too, mom.”

Alex sends her a look and Kara just shakes her head before turning a bit. They deserve some time just to be together. She tries her best not to sniffle before shoving another potsticker in her mouth.

She gets through two of the packages before Eliza pushes the sunlamps back so they can all crowd onto Kara’s bed, Eliza between the two of them. Alex goes with it and they all squish a little closer together.

It’s warm and good and Kara just wants to stay here for the rest of the day. For the rest of the week even, with the smell of home around her. She’s half asleep again until she hears paper rustling and-

“Hey! Those are my potstickers!”

“Ya snooze, ya loose.”

#Danvers Sisters #Danvers Family #Eliza Danvers #gimme dem feels #no ship #I'm sure someone else has written this but I wanted to give it a go

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spandexinspace · 6 years

Note

ok my notifs are still fukced but i think u reblogged the dc asks. u should answer all of them

Haha, yeah, probably my fault, I reblogged it but then I removed it (I also sent you an ask earlier but idk if you received it or Tumblr ate it?). But let’s do this thing!

1.“Duet” from the Flash or “Mayheim of the Music Meister” from Batman the Brave and the Bold?

Mayhem of the Music Meister. Great stuff.

2. Do you like the arrowverse? If so what’s your favorite show?

Nope, not at all.

3. First comic read?

Either the tie-in comic for Teen Titans (Teen Titans Go, ironically enough?) or the tie-in comic for the Legion cartoon.

4. What introduced you to the DC universe? Was it a show, comic or movie?

The cartoons. I used to watch the DCAU at my aunt’s house because I was only allowed to stay up late enough to watch them when we were over at her house, and then later on I would watch the TT cartoon at my own house because it was on at a more resonable time.

5. Favorite character?

I mean, probably Querl.

6. Favorite canon ship?

Salu/Ayla, I think. Maybe Pink Lightning. I don’t ship either of them super hard but they’re good ships.

7. Favorite non-canon ship?

Querl/Lyle, to absolutely no one’s surprise.

8. Pre-N52 or N52?

Pre-n52 so hard. Not much good came out of the n52 and it killed a whole lot of good.

9. Rebirth or N52?

Early Rebirth? Like, the first year to year and a half were great, but right now it’s starting to become very meh again. Snyder and Bendis are not good, King is incredible hit and miss and Johns’ shit is taking too goddamn long and hogging so many good characters.

10. Death in the Family or Death of Superman?

I’m not a huge fan of either of them, to be honest. I guess DitF is at least a little shorter?

11. Favorite live action movie?

I haven’t watched the older stuff, but probably one of those. Or nothing at all.

12. Favorite animated movie?

It’s a tie between Crisis on Two Earths and GL: Emerald Knights.

13. DCEU or DCAU?

DCAU all the way, it is so much better even at its worst.

14. Favorite member of the trinity?

Superman. I love his supporting cast and how much of a straight laced farm boy he manages to be even as one of the world’s most powerful men.

15. Dark trinity or trinity?

Trinity.

16. Outsiders or Titans?

I haven’t actually ever read a full Titans run, I just can’t seem to get hooked on them. Not that I’m a fan of the OG Outsiders either, but the second team were pretty great while they lasted.

17. Teen Titans or Young Just Us?

I have read most of YJ, so due to the above mentioned reason it’d have to be them. I didn’t really love YJ either, which is weird because it feels like I fall in love with almost every teen team Marvel puts out, but most of DC’s just don’t seem to stick in the same way.

18. Favorite animated show?

Batman the Brave and the Bold. It’s funny and has a lot of re-watch value even though it might not be the deepest show.

19. Favorite superhero family?

I guess the Doxs don’t count on account of producing like 1.2 superheroes in five generations.

The Superfamily. Good people, nice family interaction and appropriate amounts of uninvited stepfathers.

20. Young justice(show) or Teen Titans(show)?

TT is good nostalgia, but it hasn’t aged all that well. Faux anime isn’t a good look in 2018. YJ is more fun to watch right now but is slightly less enjoyable as a whole.

21. Do you watch Teen Titans Go?

I’ve seen some episodes, but I have since stopped caring.

22. Favorite Robin?

Tim.

23. So you prefer Superman and Wonder Woman or Batman and Wonder Woman?

No.

24. If you had total control what would you change?

Almost everything? As of right now I’d probably limit Snyder and Bendis’ control over anything but a very small sliver of the universe, either find an additional artist for Gary Frank or a way for him to speed up his artistry, cancel Superheroes in Crisis or whatever it’s called and launch a few new books (Booster Gold and L.E.G.I.O.N., off the top of my head).

25. Batgirl or oracle?

Oracle.

26. Whos your favorite batgirl?

No one.

27. Batgirl and the birds of Prey or Redhood and the Outlaws?

RatO, marginally.

28. Favorite comic run?

L.E.G.I.O.N.+R.E.B.E.L.S. or DnA’s Legion Lost.

29. Favorite comic artist?

Francis Manapul and Olivier Coipel.

30. Favorite comic writer?

I’m not entirely sure to be honest. Bedard and Johns are good, and Giffen is great when he’s on top of his game.

31. Do you like the joker?

Nope, not in the least. He should be dead.

32. Who do you think is the most overused or overrated characters?

Batman, the Joker and Harley Quinn share that title. None of them are really interesting enough to warrant the popularity they have and I don’t get what people see in them, especially not the latter two. You’ve got droves of cool sci-fi characters who do all kinds of shit, but for some reason people want to read 50 different and usually not particularly good books about them instead.

33. Batman the animated series or Superman the animated series?

STAS.

34. Legion of Superheros or Batman Beyond?

LoSH and I will fist fight anyone who says anything else.

36. Justice league or Justice league Unlimited?

I kind of view them as the same thing, and they both have high and low points. JL does have Comfort and Joy though.

37. The Batman or beware the Bat?

Haven’t seen either.

38. Who do you think is the most overlooked or underused character?

Vril and his unwilling group of not-friends. They could have been a good counterweight to the GLC that appeared from time to time, but instead they seem to have gotten thrown into limbo. (Yes, they had awful sales but it’s not my fault that people have shit taste.)

39. Do you watch Gotham?

No.

40. Do you like marvel?

The company or Billy? Yes on both accounts though.

41. Jon kent or Damian Wayne?

Jon, even if he can be a bit annoying at times.

42. Renee Montoya or Vic Sage

Vic, but they’re best as a team.

43. Kate Kane and Renee Montoya or Apollo and Midnighter?

Apollo/Midnighter

44. Barry Allen or Wally West?

Barry, though I don’t care that much.

45. Kara Zor-El, Stephanie Brown or Cassie sandsmark?

Kara.

46. Kord Industrues, Wayne Tech or Lex Corp?

Lex Corp is more fun as a company? Because Lex is a huge bastard who actually uses his company for something and interacts with it and his underlings on a regular basis.

47. If you could have any characters powers who’s would you have?

Shape shifting akin to how the Durlans do it.

48. Favorite villain?

Brainiac or Lex. Brainiac is cool because of his aesthetic and general behaviour, but Lex is just the best kind of petty bastard on a personal level. Brainiac is a somewhat predictable character while Lex can do almost anything as long as he thinks it will hurt or piss of Superman.

49. DC Bombshells, Injustice or Kingdom come?

Bombshells is pretty, Kingdom Come is actually readable.

50. Injustice or the Arkham Asylum?

Injustice has Querl? I haven’t played either though, they’re not my kind of thing (because they’re not the same four rpgs I’ve replayed 11 times already).

51. Justice League or League of Assassins?

The JL, all the way. How is that even a competition.

#dc comics #this became very long and I have lot of opinion #fade-steppin

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speedforcefanatics · 7 years

Note

1-50, jk only if you'd like. If not just answer the ones you'd like to.

ooo boy. I guess I’ll just pick some of the ones I feel like I can answer the easiest haha.

2. Do you like the arrowverse? If so what’s your favorite show? I like it enough, but there are a lot of things I don’t like about it. Mainly just its CW-ness lol. I’ve only watched The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, though.

4. What introduced you to the DC universe? Was it a show, comic or movie? I’ve always loved the Flash and that kind of stemmed from my love of the color red, but I think Justice League the animated series was my first real exposure to the DCU.

5. Favorite character? Wally West.

6. Favorite cannon ship? Wally West x Linda Park

8. Pre-N52 or N52? Pre-N52

9. Rebirth or N52? Rebirth.

12. Favorite animated movie? I remember liking Crisis on Two Earths, but it has been a while.

13. DCEU or DCAU? DCAU. I don’t really like what they’ve been doing with the DCEU, even though Wonder Woman was pretty good.

14. Favorite member of the trinity? Wonder Woman.

16. Outsiders or Titans? Titans.

17. Teen Titans or Young Just Us? I think I like both equally, tbh.

18. Favorite animated show? JLU

19. Favorite superhero family? Flash Family, of course.

20. Young justice(show) or Teen Titans(show)? Teen Titans! I have fond memories of that show and watch the DVDs to this day. Even went as Beast Boy for Halloween one year!

21. Do you watch Teen Titans Go? Not really, but I don’t hate it like many do. It knows what it is, and I appreciate that about it.

22. Favorite Robin? Dick or Tim.

23. So you prefer Superman and Wonder Woman or Batman and Wonder Woman? Neither. Superman should be with Lois and Batman doesn’t have nearly enough trust in his heart to maintain any kind of healthy romantic relationship.

24. If you had total control what would you change? I would bring the extended Flash family back and give them a book dedicated to their adventures, Wally would have his own Flash book and Irey would have her own book centering around Max Mercury training her as the new Impulse while Bart supervises from time to time. Just generally more Flash stuff lol. WALLY AND LINDA WOULD BE TOGETHER WITH THEIR KIDS AGAIN.

25. Batgirl or oracle? Oracle.

26. Whos your favorite batgirl? I really don’t know? They’ve all got a lot going for them.

28. Favorite comic run? Mark Waid’s Flash run.

30. Favorite comic writer? Mark Waid, Brian K Vaughn, G Willow Wilson.

31. Do you like the joker? No.

32. Who do you think is the most overused or overrated characters? Batman and to a lesser extent the Robins. I have prepared myself for the hate I’ll get for this.

33. Batman the animated series or Superman the animated series? To be completely honest I wasn’t a huge fan of either. But I know how important BTAS was for animation in general and I’ve seen more episodes of that than I have of STAS, so I guess I’ll go with BTAS.

34. Legion of Superheros or Batman Beyond? Batman Beyond.

36. Justice league or Justice league Unlimited? JLU, even though both were great.

37. The Batman or beware the Bat? The Batman (only cuz I hated the style of Beware the Bat.)

38. Who do you think is the most overlooked or underused character? Booster Gold maybe? But that is honestly part of his appeal.

39. Do you watch Gotham? Nope, and I’m not interested.

40. Do you like marvel? Yeah! I’ve always loved both Marvel and DC, although to be fair, I’ll give anything a chance and there’s really nothing I hate.

41. Jon kent or Damian Wayne? Jon Kent! Not a fan of Damian. I would like to see Connor return at some point, though.

42. Renee Montoya or Vic Sage? Renee.

43. Kate Kane and Renee Montoya or Apollo and Midnighter? Kate and Renee

45. Kara Zor-El, Stephanie Brown or Cassie sandsmark? I enjoy all of these blonde butt-kickers.

46. Kord Industrues, Wayne Tech or Lex Corp? Kord.

47. If you could have any characters powers who’s would you have? Just give me Batman’s money. I don’t need anything that has to do with Batman, I just want the money. No gadgets, no business responsibilities, no childhood trauma. Does that count? I think that counts.

48. Favorite villain? I really like Hunter Zolomon’s Zoom from the Geoff Johns run of the Flash. His motives were interesting and he was genuinely threatening while also coming from a place you could understand, even if you didn’t agree with his actions. I also like Eobard Thawne if only for the fact that he’s basically just a hater who won’t freaking die. Like, no matter how many times you kill him, he will not be dead, and that’s hilarious.

49. DC Bombshells, Injustice or Kingdom come? Kingdom Come. I hate the Injustice universe with a passion.

50. Injustice or the Arkham Asylum? I’m not much of a gamer, but I like the different Flash skins in Injustice 2.

51. Justice League or League of Assassins? Justice League!

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sanversinsane · 7 years

Note

Sanvers prompt of Maggie's reaction to finding out Alex jumped off a building

It was a few days after the Daximite invasion. The city was quiet other than the sound of trucks cleaning up the damage in the streets.

The feel for everyone was still pretty somber. Especially for Kara who was trying her best to stay strong, but was still heartbroken.

Winn, the fun loving guy that he is, knew they all needed something to bring up the mood. And he knew exactly what that something was.

“Super friends game night.” He suggested at the DEO. “Come on; we need this.”

Kara shrugged and forced a smile. “I’m in, but my place is kind of a mess right now.”

“We can do it at mine!” Alex chimed in. “I’m sure Maggie won’t mind hosting, pretty sure it was our turn anyways.”

“Perfect. So tonight at Alex’s! I’ll let James know.” Winn smiled.

Kara was trying her best to have a good time, and for a while she was. They played clue but Maggie won, every time, within the first 3 minutes.

“I’m a detective, I detect.” She laughed as she stood from the floor and grabbed another round of beers for everyone.

They played Life. They played Monopoly, but quickly stopped when they realized Kara was almost in tears because she had played with Mon-el. They played Cards Against Humanity which made them all laugh for a little while.

“Oh, we have that new Janga!” Alex jumped up from her spot next to Maggie and bolted for their shelf in the living room. “It’s like old Janga but it has questions on every block, and you have to answer when you pick one!”

“Sounds fun, I’m in.” James smiled as she came back with the box.

With the tower set up the game began. About halfway through Winn poked a loose block and it wiggles free from the tower. She gently pulled it out and cheered for himself.

“Just read it Scott.” Maggie laughed.

“What is the most badass thing you’ve ever seen?” Winn read. He thought for a moment and then smiled. “I’ve seen a lot of badass things, but honestly, Alex nose diving off the building the other day, while shooting her gun was pretty freakin badass.” He looked at Alex who’s eyes had gone wide.

“She what?” Maggie spoke.

“Maggie, I wasn’t…I didn’t…”

“You jumped off of a building?”

“Well…it was mor-”

“Alex Danvers, did you, or did you not, jump off of the DEO roof?” The room was silent as they watched this encounter. Alex knew she was in trouble the minute her first and last name came out of Maggie’s mouth.

“Babe, it was my only way out.” Alex answered.

Maggie pounded her fist of the coffee table, causing it to shake and the tower to fall. “Fuck Danvers.” She grunted as she stood and ran her hands through her hair. She took a breath before looking at the group sitting on the floor. “I think you guys should go.”

“No guys it’s still early, we’re having fun, sta-”

“Alex.” Maggie said. The look in her eyes said everything Alex needed to know.

Alex sighed. She could feel the fight coming.

“I’m getting kind of tired anyway.” Winn said quickly standing from his seat.

“Yeah same.”

“Anyone want a flight home?” Kara asked, as she was the only one that the drinking didn’t effect.

Before Alex could blink the living room was empty. She took a breath before turning to face Maggie.

“It really w-”

“You jumped off of the fucking roof?!” Maggie cut her off.

“I told you, it was my only way out!” Alex replied matching Maggie’s loudness.

“Bullshit Al, there’s always another way.” Maggie huffed as she began to pace. “We talked about this, you promised you would think before putting yourself in danger like that.”

“I did think! I assessed my options Maggie, that was my best one.” Alex threw her arms in the air. “I knew Kara would be there to catch me, and she was, I’m fine.”

“I don’t care if you had 20 flying Superheroes ready to catch you, you can’t just jump off the roof of buildings.”

“Maggie, I could go jump off the balcony right now and Kara would be here to catch me with no warning.” Alex sighed. “We were on the phone, she knew what I was going to do. I knew she’d be there.”

“But what if she wasn’t!” Maggie yelled. She huffed and sat down on the couch. “I just…”

“I know.” Alex replied as she sat next to Maggie. “I’m sorry. I promise you Mags, it was my only option. I never would have done it if I didn’t have full trust in Kara”

“I trust Kara too, but babe….” she looked at Alex, fear was the most readable emotion In her eyes. “The roof?”

“Well technically it was the balcony but same difference.” Alex shrugged causing Maggie to muster up a small amused smile.

“Why do you love danger so much?” Maggie sighed as she laid her head on her fiancé’s shoulder. “You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.”

#sanvers #sanvers fanfic

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morleybell · 7 years

Note

top 5 otps and notps?

hmmm.

OTP.

1. Bellarke (The100)2. Klaroline (TVD) - well kinda dead but if i get caroline saying klaus name i’m happy3. Waurel (HTGAWM) - well Wes is dead so its dead4. Stelena (TVD) - though I know it’s dead and DE is endgame5. Stydia (Teen Wolf) - i stopped watching TW because of Sta/ia but I’m watching final season just for them

Tbh the only shows I watch now is The100, HTGAWM (well used to, now that wes is dead I’m giving up) and TVD just because I want to see the ending (I still have hope for Klaroline. If Stero/ine isnt endgame then I will watch TO praying for Klaroline, if they’re endgame - well I won’t.) I have other old ships like from OTH etc and from TVD i shipped a lot of couples (forwood, steferine, stebekah, kolvina). I sometimes watch Supergirl - i love sanvers and i hoped for lena/kara since the ep kara saved lena but well she is with mon el now. Jake/Brooke from scream but this ship is dead too. I loved Coliver from HTGAWM but s3 ruined them so badly for me and I won’t watch s4 for sure. (basically all my ships are kinda dead.) ahh and I watch Riverdale and I’m in love with Beronica.

NOTP

1. C/exa (The100)2. De/ena (TVD)3. Stero/ine (TVD)4. F/aurel (HTGAM)

that’s my top 4, i dont have any other ship i dislike so much.

#ask #anon #answered

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recentanimenews · 5 years

Text

THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Goes Hunting in Episodes 134-140

Hello, everyone! Noelle here, and I'm your host for this week's batch of episodes as we all tackle the original run of Naruto! During last week's harrowing stretch, we got started on the fateful match of Naruto vs Sasuke, and the wild moments that came with that. It's the showdown we've all been waiting for, and the general consensus seems to be that it didn't disappoint.

While this time we finish up this great battle, we also transition into the first of the massive stretch of filler, this time in the mysterious Land of Rice Paddies with the all-new Fuuma clan. Sasuke may have left, but Naruto and Sakura are determined to seek him out once again.

Let's get started!

Naruto’s been able to convince a lot of people to see his side of things, but in the end, he can’t persuade Sasuke to return. How does it feel to see Naruto fail at what he set out for, especially for something so important?

Kevin: For me, the more important point is actually the aftermath. Yes Naruto failed, and it was even at something extremely important to the main cast, but no one just moved past the mission. Shikamaru legitimately considered retiring from being a ninja, Sakura is realizing just how weak she is compared to everyone else. Even in Shippuden, several years and at least dozens of episodes later, Naruto keeping his promise to Sakura is one of the driving plot points for at least an arc.

Kara: I kind of suspected it. From a writing standpoint I like it: seeing Naruto’s friendship and determination fall flat sets some new stakes (and fortunately, it just makes him more determined). If he wants to be Hokage someday, he’s going to have to deal with all sorts of people and situations, and a lot of them are going to test his devotion to his own “Way of the Ninja.” From a fan standpoint, it’s sad; from a writer standpoint, it was a very good choice and is going to end up being very rewarding.

David: It would be unconvincing for him to eventually achieve his goal and not fail at points along the way; in that sense, this is one of the best ways to get that across. I think it’s also worth noting how Sasuke also “failed” by not killing Naruto like he believes Itachi would want him to do, though that situation is even more complicated so it’s arguable how similar those situations are.

Paul: I expected Naruto to fail to convince Sasuke, since his failure is necessary to the drama, but even so some part of me wanted to see him succeed. It feels tragic, in the classical Greek sense of the word.

Joseph: It was a really tragic ending to an awesome arc, but I love the way it paves the road for the future of the story. Like Kevin said, the aftermath and the bounceback make it all the more effective.

Jared: Sometimes you have to fail in order to succeed later on. If this was just Naruto being able to achieve whatever he wanted, that wouldn’t make for a good story. It makes me excited to see how he bounces back overall and how he learns from this.

Carolyn: Overall, I appreciate that Sasuke didn’t go back with him. I feel like him going back would be the obvious, expected route to take.

Danni: I don’t know. I kind of feel like he did win, in a sense. While he didn’t manage to bring him back, his fight with Sasuke affected Sasuke’s heart enough to have him reject Itachi’s way of finding power. Sasuke didn’t fall completely into the darkness, and that’s why Naruto will be able to win him back later, I imagine.

We go into the start of a massive stretch of filler after a truly dynamic fight. After such a high-stakes clash, is the tone of the filler too different? Or did you need a break after all the seriousness?

Kevin: Honestly, the break is pretty welcome. Sure, it gets significantly lighter a bit too quickly, but some levity is nice after “I intend to kill you to unlock greater power so that I can kill my brother, the person who murdered my entire family.” Sasuke versus Naruto was the emotional climax of Naruto, and keeping up the more serious atmosphere might’ve been possible, but the longer it went on the more exhausted the audience would get.

Kara: I’m so scared to say anything because I just looked at our viewing schedule and this filler goes on for approximately 87 years. I’ll say that at the time of this writing and speaking for right now, I’m okay with the filler. I reserve the right to become increasingly less okay with it as it goes on.

David: For now they’ve kept it close enough to the tone of the main story while also keeping things light, so I’m still enjoying myself. Ask me again in a few weeks.

Paul: Since I haven't read the original manga and I haven't seen the Naruto TV anime before, I didn't know we were entering a filler arc. In terms of pacing and content, the Land of Rice Paddies seems far superior to the Land of Tea. It may not be canonical, but there's lots of Ninjutsu weirdness and betrayal going on, and that feels like a natural extension of the main story-line rather than a digression.

Joseph: So far I am actually loving this first filler story. Land of Tea was rough, but I dig the character designs here and it’s just enough of a continuation of the story to matter to me, even if a lot of it is illusory.

Jared: I think you need to essentially have this kind of tonal change after an emotionally exhausting encounter like Naruto vs. Sasuke is. It helps too that the transition into this new arc wasn’t as rough as the Land of Tea one was.

Carolyn: I don’t mind the shift from serious to silly, but I can’t really get into the new people. I think after such a big arc featuring the main characters, we need some time with Naruto and Sakura just kinda chilling.

Danni: I like that Jiraiya seems poised to take Sakura under her wing as well now, but it doesn’t seem like she’s getting much actual development in spite of it. I’d really like to see that change.

Before this, Orochimaru’s schemes were more subtle, tending to be a mastermind behind large happenings. Here, we see that his manipulations also heavily affect the villages and land surrounding him. Is this a welcome change?

Kevin: I’d say it manages to be welcome and unwelcome at the same time. It’s welcome because it shows just how much influence Orochimaru really has. If he wants to, he can bend entire countries to his will. It’s unwelcome because by showing that he actually is causing that much change opens up plot holes like how the Leaf can’t find him, when entire clans work for him.

Kara: That’s actually a good point about plot holes. I hadn’t considered that at first. At the same time, I’m always interested to see more outside of our one or two standard settings, because this alternate ninja universe is so wild to me. Anything that lets us see a bit more of what’s going on, how these different situations affect people who aren’t directly involved, is pretty neat. It does give a feeling that All Roads Lead to Orochimaru, though.

David: “Countries” in this context seem extremely small, to the point Konoha is basically just one big city, so I don’t see it as too big an issue that Orochimaru could spread his influence and still be on the loose. He probably has a whole chain of underground tiled showers for every occasion.

Paul: Orochimaru feels more like the genuine article when his machinations warp the entire social and political structure of a small country. To me, Orochimaru will always be the “Dirtbag Jeff” of the Naruto universe, but seeing entire populations made miserable on his behalf at least makes him seem like a more capable villain.

Joseph: If only this land had some kind of police force! The fact that Orochimaru can run so rampant with so many powerful ninja around seems ridiculous when you think too hard about it, so it’s much more fun to just think of him as a standard big ol’ baddie and sit back and observe how sick his actions are in the way they affect others.

Jared: I don’t know if it’s necessarily a change or just more to the fact that villains who have a network like Orochimaru has, tend to be manipulative jerks who push people into awkward situations in order to appease them. Plus it’s a way to show off what he’s been doing outside of just sitting in his chair chatting with Kabuto.

Carolyn: Orochimaru has been shown to be incredibly manipulative. It doesn’t surprise me at all that he could operate on a large scale in plain sight. I actually like that narrative.

Danni: Yeah, like others said before, you’d think if he’s this well known for destabilizing ninja clans and starting new villages, no one would have been surprised when he showed up out of the blue.

The fillers this time focuses on the Fuuma clan, and their desire to restore their clan to glory. Do you sympathize with their plight? Why or why not?

Kevin: Maybe if we had a little more backstory about the clan showing them when they were prosperous and then their descent into criminal activity and then being tricked by Orochimaru, I would sympathize with them more, but they honestly just seem like pawns in a larger game and as a result are more of an afterthought as Naruto and Sakura try to find Sasuke.

Kara: New villages always take a little time for me to adjust to. We kind of throw all our chips in with Leaf, so when we come to new places, we get a sort of surface-level idea of what’s going on in the first few episodes elsewhere. Also I’m so hesitant to trust anyone or anything in this setting because you never know who’s wearing a mask, who’s a double/triple agent, who’s a resurrected corpse, who’s using substitution/disguise jutsu, etc. Having Sasame as our link to the greater story is a help, though. I like her, and (even counting her attempted double-cross) she seems very straightforward in what she wants to accomplish.

David: I totally agree with the sentiment that it would be easier to get into these kinds of stories if we knew more about the “before” of these families and lands. Hard to care too much about fighting for the status quo when we don’t really know what the status quo was.

Paul: I get where the Fuuma Clan are coming from, but I don't exactly sympathize. As Jiraiya of all people points out, in this world a ninja is “one who endures”, so even though the Fuuma Clan's power and influence may have dwindled, that's no reason for them to work for Orochimaru, who will indubitably only manipulate them, experiment on them, and then cast them aside when they are no longer useful.

Joseph: I didn’t really sympathize with their plight, but I did enjoy their character designs. They were much more interesting than any characters in the Land of Tea, especially Kagero, who I absolutely loved.

Jared: There’s probably a slight bit of sympathy towards them given that we know how Orochimaru can just be and put people into bad situations, although given how their plight is just kind of dumped on you, it doesn’t make you feel entirely sympathetic. Still, this is more of an investment than the Land of Tea arc gives.

Carolyn: As noted, I didn’t really get into their story, I think just the timing of it is off for me. But I do appreciate that Orochimaru has a lot of negative influence that could impact just about anyone who comes in contact with him. I understand where they’re coming from.

Danni: Not really? We know next to nothing about them or the land they served in. Literally all we know about them is Orochimaru messed with them a bit.

Sakura has been in the background for quite some time, and this arc is trying to push her into the forefront. How do you think this is being handled?

Kevin: So far, not very well. Yes, she understands better that she is weak compared to her teammates and that she may be bringing them down. Okay… GO DO SOMETHING. Instead of just sitting around thinking about how useless you are, actually go and learn new jutsu or train or just generally do something to be less useless!

Kara: Okay, just an aside, did Sakura’s face and tone when she said she was going to heal Sasame’s shoulder seem kinda creepy to anyone else? I don’t think it was deliberate, but I swear she looked more like she was going to take a bite out of Sasame’s neck for a second there. That aside, I appreciate what this arc is trying to do, but it’s taking its sweet time to do it. Sakura is smart. We were reminded of this over and over in the early episodes. She is extremely capable and has a good heart and all the other stuff she needs to now start doing things. I feel like right now her role is Person Who Told Naruto To Look After Sasuke and like. I wanna see a bit more than that.

David: What I mainly enjoy is that they are seeding her interest in medicine here. I hope they continue setting up future developments in small ways like that.

Paul: From what little I've seen of this arc, Sakura hasn't been treated very well. After she was left behind in the mission to retrieve Sasuke, I want to see Sakura take the same sort of bold, decisive, heroic actions that her male peers are allowed to pursue. That hasn't happened yet.

Joseph: I think it’s great that she’s being forced into more situations here, but the hilarious side effect is them illustrating just how disconnected she’s been. She’s all THIS IS JIRAIYA? And FROGS TALK? GROSS! Like, alright, hi, welcome back to class, Sakura.

Jared: It’s strange because it feels like the show just doesn’t know what to do with her as I thought we’d already been through Sakura having a moral dilemma of whether she thinks she’s capable or not. Granted, it’s not like she’s gotten to do much of anything in the last, what forty or so episodes? It’s like the show wants you to think she’s just been sitting at home dreaming about Sasuke since the end of the Chunin Exams and that’s it.

Carolyn: Honestly, I still feel like she is being given the short end of the stick. She’s saying she needs to be better like Naruto. To pull her own weight as if she is a failure. I feel like it’s more bad female character writing than Sakura’s established personality being at fault. She’s been proven to be one of the hardest workers in the series.

Danni: Quite poorly. Even when she saves Naruto it’s not really of her own doing. Someone else had to come in and say “Hey use this” for her to be able to do anything. It’s a real letdown, honestly.

Lastly, what are your highs and lows of this week’s batch of episodes?

Kevin: High - The end of Naruto versus Sasuke, specifically the look on Sasuke’s face. There are so many conflicting emotions with his character in that scene that I’m honestly amazed anything was able to capture how much he was going through. Low - The majority of Orochimaru’s hideout. Orochimaru himself was actually a pretty good scene, but the traps, psychological manipulation (did Naruto really never tell anyone that Sasuke used his Curse Mark, which would’ve informed Sakura that Kabuto really was lying?) and even some character actions (like Jiraiya sitting down and having a drink while on a mission) didn’t really seem to add up.

Kara: High point was predictably the end of Naruto vs. Sasuke, even with Sasuke’s weird glow-up and back-hands. I also love that this whole thing is a lot more intricate than just “Sasuke kill Naruto” — it doesn’t work without an acknowledgment of their friendship and that’s just so cool. Low point is Jiraiya back at it again takin’ money from kids and sleepin’ around. Although I will give a hand-wave/secondary high point to that scene in the alley where everyone literally drops because they realized they’re messing with the wrong dude.

David: My high is the entirety of episode 139, which had some of the tightest directing and animation I’ve seen from this show so far period. Really wasn’t expecting that out of some random set of filler episodes. My low point is all the weird ways the show kind of infantilizes Sasame when we first see her, but that luckily gets resolved relatively quickly.

Paul: My high point was the conclusion of the fight between Naruto and Sasuke, where after their ultimate techniques have collided and the resulting Chakra storm has dissipated, they exchange a sorrowful look, as if silently questioning how their lives have come to this point. My low point was when Kagero (disguised as Kabuto) re-enacts Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on herself in an effort to stop Naruto's heart. That was super gross, and I'm still recovering mentally from all the bone stuff with Kimimaro.

Joseph: I actually have to also say that, beyond the obvious choice of the end of the real story (for now), episode 139 was a highlight. It had some of the best animation of this batch and some really good comedic smears, and I love trap-loaded hideout hijinks. The low point, I guess, would be the very start of the filler. I couldn’t tell what Jiraiya’s motivation was, and at first I thought he was just tricking Naruto and Sakura to distract them and take them somewhere away from the action. Which maybe he did? But Orochimaru is there? But it’s probably an illusion after all? I dunno, it seemed kind of awkwardly conveyed in general.

Jared: High point would definitely be the end of Naruto vs. Sasuke. Although I wouldn’t consider it a high point, the idea that Orochimaru’s hideout is this strange labyrinth of traps is probably funnier than it should be. Low point would be Jiraiya continuing to be a skeeving creep at times and also the general idea that I’m curious how this show is really going to handle having very dramatic moments moving forward. With us going into filler, all the main players kind of go into a holding pattern since we know nothing is going to happen to them. You certainly can’t tease that Naruto is going to die when it’s obvious he won’t. Maybe the rest of these episodes will surprise me, but I’m very curious about how they’ll handle this with all the filler.

Carolyn: My high and low point would be Shikamaru crying after being told his mission was a failure. Poor guy.

Danni: High point is easily the entire episode concluding the fight between Naruto and Sasuke. I got pretty emotional because of how well-executed it was. My low point would be the continuing casual misogyny of Shikamaru! Stop it, dude!!!

COUNTERS:

Ramen: 1 bowl Hokage: 0 Clones: 90 + 1 variable scene

Total so far: Bowls of Ramen: 45 bowls, 3 cups “I'm Gonna be Hokage!”: 52 Shadow Clones Created: 457

That's all for this week! Everyone's welcome to join us for this rewatch, doubly so if you haven't yet watched the original Naruto! Watch Naruto today!

CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 127-133: Naruto vs Sasuke

Episodes 120-126: The Sand Siblings Return

Episodes 113-119: Operation Rescue Sasuke

Episodes 106-112: Sasuke Goes Rogue

Episodes 99-105: Trouble in the Land of Tea

Episodes 92-98: Clash of the Sannin

Episodes 85-91: A Life-Changing Decision

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

Here's our upcoming schedule:

- On June 7th, DAVID LYNN will keep foraging into the land of fillers.

- On June 14th, PAUL CHAPMAN will continue on with our filler journey.

- On June 21st, KEVIN MATYI will push onward into what the fillers have to offer.

Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! See you next time!

Have any inquiries or thoughts on Episodes 134-140? Let us know in the comments!

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Noelle Ogawa is a contributor to Bubbleblabber and Cup of Moe. She can be found on Twitter @noelleogawa.

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