Here For The Subtext

GENRE: COMEDY

He’s relaxing

Neil Banged out his tunes today, on a train you have the comfort and relaxation to bang out your own tunes

No

Lena squared herself up after she stepped from the elevator.

This has taken considerable work. She’d had to arrange for her absence from boarding school to go unnoticed, or at least, unremarked upon. If Lillian got wind of her running away, she’d have been skinned alive. Perhaps literally. Since her adoptive father’s death, she’d actually looked forward to school, and to being away from Lillian’s abuse. Lex was now the only thing keeping her from Lena, and Lex was preoccupied with his project.

Her brother had been away for school for some time, but they had summers off together at least. When Lex took over the company when he turned 21, he grew distant and aloof, spending more time with his friend Clark or at work than with family.

With his absence came Lillian.

Still, she had managed to build a support network. Frank, her bodyguard-slash-driver was Lex’s man, but he was useful. Lena had spent months buttering him up to participate in her plan: she needed wheels.

In the meantime she’d acquired blackmail material. The head master at the school gave her a broad latitude after she implied that she might expose certain proclivities of his. That gave her the time away she needed. She’d carefully negotiated a higher allowance from Lex in exchange for accelerating her studies in anticipation of beginning her undergraduate studies at sixteen, which was a triviality for her anyway.

Lena walked down the hall, heart pounding against the backpack clutched to her chest. Each step felt heavy, alive with portent.

She could turn back now. She could turn her back now.

What if she was wrong? Paranoid, addled, as crazy as her mother, just like Lillian said? What if she was about to not only blow up her whole life, but slander her brother. If this went sideways, she didn’t know what exactly would happened to her, but Lillian had once, while tipsy on whisky from Lionel’s stash, told Lena that if not for Lex, she’d have Lena garroted with piano wire and buried on the estate, and like any bag of trash, no one would notice she’d been disposed of.

When she told Lex, her hands shook like leaves. He looked at her for a long cold moment and she worried that he’d slap her or scream or throw her out of the house, but he simply said, “I’ll talk to her about it.”

He did. She never made another threat.

He also brought her a wooden box, ornate and polished. Lex sat next to Lena and opened the box, showing her the contents, lying on red velvet. A five shot snub nose revolver and two speedloaders.

“I’ll teach you how to use this,” Lex said, grimly. “I know you’re smart enough to know if you need to. If anyone tries to harm you, kill them. I’ll clean it up.”

Lena had been terrified of it for months, even as she enjoyed the shooting lessons from Lex, given in a remote part of the estate near a burbling creek, the shots cracking the morning peace and shaking dew from leaves.

She had the gun in her backpack, and her hands were shaking.

The other contents of her bag were a weapon far more devastating. She was about to fire it and she’d have to accept the consequences.

Finally, she stood outside the door. Apartment 18B. The name on the lease was Lois Lane, but according to Lena’s reconnaissance, Clark Kent had been living with her virtually full time for the last six months, not long after something changed in his relationship with Lena’s brother.

Lena’s hand hung before the door for a good minute before she knocked, weekly. She hadn’t considered what might happen if they were simply not home. Her legs felt watery and her eyes burned. She knocked again. She was committed now.

The door swung open and Lois Lane stood before her. She was beautiful in an understated way, obscured by limp hair in a chaotic bun, rumpled clothes, and the stink of coffee on her breath.

“Who- what? Kid, what do you want?”

“I need to see Clark Kent. Is he here?”

“Who’s asking?”

“Lena Luthor.”

There was a gust of wind behind her, and Kent stepped into view.

“Lena?” said Clark. “Lex’s little sister? What are you doing here?”

Lena’s throat went tight. She swallowed hard, and as she anticipated, his demeanor changed. He softened. He craned forward slightly, studying her intently, and his brows shot up when looked at her bag.

He was checking her vital signs and he’d spotted the gun. In the bag.

“He knows you’re Superman,” Lena choked out, “and he’s going to kill you.”

Lois glanced at Clark with a stunned, stunned wide expression. Then, she grabbed Lena and yanked her inside, slamming the door. Lena squeaked.

“How do you know that? Lex knows? Did he tell you? What do you mean he wants to kill Clark?”

“Hey,” Clark said, crouching beside Lena to bring himself to her level, resting a comforting hand on her slight shoulder. “Take a breath, Lena. You’re safe here.”

In Lena’s plan, she was going to begin explaining, starting with how she deduced his identity and lay out what she discovered in his files. That was her plan, but no plan survived first contact with the enemy.

Lena began to sob.

Superman knelt beside her and removed his glasses, and enveloped Lena Luthor in a warm, protective hug. She sobbed harder, burying her face in his shoulder.

“Jesus Christ,” Lois whispered.

She drew the gun out of the bag and checked it with professional, practiced familiarity, dumping the shells into her hand.

“I think she’s telling the truth.”

Clark nodded.

Over the next hour, Lena was swept to Lois’s big couch and sat in the middle while the pair sat on either side of her. When she was hungry, Clark went out to get her favorite guilty pleasure meal, a big greasy burger and fries, and a milkshake too. Between bites, she explained everything, telling them about her brother’s insane plan to turn the sun red.

They believed it all. Lena had receipts.

Eventually, Lena was exhausted, everything had been said, and she sat with dull shock on the couch and stared at the black mirror of a blank television set, marveling at how small and helpless she looked, like a drowned rat.

“Why don’t you lay down for a while?” Lois said, gently. “Here, I’ll put something on the TV for you.”

Lena didn’t make it ten minutes in before she was asleep, curled tightly on one end of the couch with a pillow under her head.

She woke sometime later. It was dark now and she heard voices on the far side of the apartment.

“I called Bruce. He said he’s in, and he’s bringing reinforcements. I’m going to try to get a Green Lantern on board. We have to move fast. Nevermind me, if Lex does this, millions of innocent people will die. We’ll have to move fast.”

“What about the girl?” said Lois. “She can’t go home now. We have to get her somewhere safe.”

“I have to get you both somewhere safe. I should probably come up with a reason to get the building evacuated. One Lex realizes he’s been caught out, he’ll come after both of you.”

“You’re right.”

“I want you to go out,” said Clark. “Make it look like you’re heading out to a convenience store. Bruce is sending Alfred to pick you up, he should be here in an hour. I have somewhere else in mind for Lena.”

“Where?”

“It’s better if I don’t tell you, just in case.”

When he emerged from the back bedroom, Clark Kent was resplendent, clothed in the persona of Superman.

“Lena?” he said, gently. “We have to go. I’ll take you somewhere safe, where your brother won’t find you.”

Lois joined him. “You’re going to put on some of my clothes, and I’m going to check your hair. You can’t take anything with you. Lex Luthor might have been tracking you the entire time.”

Lena’s stomach dropped. What if she was right? That might be a move Lex would play, tracking Lena so that he could use her against his enemy. Lex had become cold, single minded. Lena was wondering how long it would be until she was disposable.

“Okay,” said Lena.

“I’m going to have to fly you.”

Lena did as she was told. She put on an outfit that belonged to Lois, a hilariously oversized Gotham U sweatshirt and leggings. When it was time, Superman bundled her up in his cape.

“I’m scared of heights.”

“I would never drop you,” he said.

Lena screamed when he took off. She was glad for the cape, glad she couldn’t see the ground. She curled up around him and pressed her eyes tightly closed, wondering exactly how fast they were going.

The landing came surprisingly fast. He’d alighted on the grassy lawn of a lovely beach house. Lena smelled something baking and heard voices inside. Clark knocked on the door.

A girl, a little older than Lena, opened the door. Golden curls spilled over her muscular shoulders, and she wore an oversized pair of glasses that did nothing to dull the endless depths of her blue eyes. There was something profoundly sad behind the curiosity in those eyes. She looked at Lena with mild confusion.

Lena stared back. There was a wild stirring in her stomach, and she shifted uneasily on her feet.

Then, the girl addressed Clark in a rapid, clipped, and utterly strange sounding language.

It hit Lena like a shockwave.

They were speaking Kryptonian.

“Lena,” said Superman, turning to her. “This is Kara Zoe-El, my cousin. The last daughter of Krypton.”

The old school lack of transparency on tumblr is amazing because you assume the people you follow must all be equivalent to you and then you see someone write “I brought my youngest to college today” and someone else write “my mom wouldn’t let me listen to Ariana Grande when I was a kid” and then your head explodes

and we need that! keeps us humble. 

Then I'm just like WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE AN ADULT

It goes the other way, too, because WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE A CHILD?!!

I'm 16, that's like, barely a child

I'm in my 30s. You are baby

I'm older than both of you in a trenchcoat.

honestly one of the best things we can do for ourselves is realize that people of different ages than us can still be the same kind of person as us. it's humbling and it gives everyone involved a sense of continuity, and it busts those stupid generational stereotypes media is so fond of.

people

Immortals are getting bolder

Sometimes self-care is, actually, NOT getting onto the computer and little treats and watching youtube videos. Sometimes those things are self-care, but sometimes they're also avoidant behaviors.

Sometimes self care is waking up and just. Fucking getting in the car. And driving to the bank. And the store. And buying the cat litter. And changing the cat boxes you've been avoiding because your brains been stuck in a hole. And picking up the trash you've been piling up. And getting a load into the wash. And mowing the lawn before the village council sends you a formal complaint and potential-fines warning.

Like its hard and annoying to do because it sucks. It sucks so much. But if I don't start working on this pile of bullshit I've let build up because it stinks and i was stuck in deer-in-headlights mode, I risk letting it turn into fuckery. I do not have the patience for fuckery that I once - foolishly! - thought I had.

This mentality helped me so much. Framing my "chores" and mundane tasks as self care and something I can do for myself, really helped me. On a good day I feel like I can genuinely enjoy basic to-dos because I get something nice for myself afterwards, even if that nice thing is just a better living environment. And sometimes it's still too hard, and that's okay too.

How do you know she’s the one?

When they reached the giant Christmas tree downtown, Lena stopped to look up at its lights and tinsel. Sam waited at her side, knowing that whatever troubled Lena would come out in time. It’s usually how their late evening walks would go. Lena would ask her to come for a walk, they’d wander around downtown and eventually end up by the park, and then Lena would share what she needed.

Tonight, Lena turned to Sam with furrowed brows. “As a Luthor, everybody wants something from me.”

Sam tilted her head and took a steadying breath. If she needed to go beat up someone for Lena, she’d do it in a heartbeat. Though Sam was pretty sure her punch would only hurt her hand if ‘she’ was who Sam thought it was.

But Lena surprised her. “She just wants me.” Tears filled Lena’s eyes as if she couldn’t fathom this.

“Oh, honey.” Sam opened up her arms. Lena stepped into them and held on tightly, her tears hidden by the press of her face against Sam’s coat.

“It feels too good to be true,” Lena whispered. Her shoulders trembled with her silent sobs.

“Lena, you deserve to be loved and cherished, okay?” Sam rubbed Lena’s back, gently. “From what I’ve seen of her, she seems to worship the ground you stand on.”

Lena pulled back and wiped her eyes. “I might have ran when she confessed,” she admitted, quietly. “I panicked.”

“Then what are you doing here with me?” Sam lightly pushed her shoulder into Lena’s. “Go tell her how you feel. Then kiss her senseless.”

“Sam!” Lena choked out a laugh-sob.

“Oh come on, Lena, the way you two gaze at each other? Practically eye-fucking right there.”

Lena lightly swatted her sleeve. “You’re incorrigible.”

Sam grinned. “And that’s why you come to me to chat.”

Lena huffed but the smile was back. She looked less shaken and far more calm, which was a relief. Sam had been really worried when Lena had showed up, pale and shaken, to ask for the walk.

“So what’s stopping you from telling her how you feel?” Sam figured it best to give Lena a little push.

A deep sigh rippled through Lena’s thin frame. “I’m a Luthor,” she said, softly. “She’s a Super. Everything I touch seems to cause more harm than good.”

“Oh, stop that.” Sam frowned and prodded Lena’s shoulder with her finger. “You’re being ridiculous now. You’ve done so much good. Not just with your company, but also the many times you helped save the world. Saved Kara’s life. Saved mine. What you touch? It’s caused more good than harm. Far more good. You’re a hero, Lena. Not just to me but so many others. So take those negative self-thoughts and throw them in the ocean, please.”

Lena looked at her for a long moment. Slowly, a smile spread across her face. “Thank you for that. I needed to hear it.” She straightened her shoulders and looked up at the tree. “Do - do you really think-”

“Yes, Lena,” Sam interrupted with a roll of her eyes. “You deserve love and care and you deserve her. And if she’s told you that she wants you for you, then there you go. There’s your answer. So what are you waiting for?”

“I don’t know.” Lena’s shrugged with one shoulder. “Sabotaging myself I suppose.”

“Don’t make me drag you to her apartment and shove you in there,” Sam threatened.

Lena did laugh then. “Okay, okay. I’ll head over.” She pulled Sam in for another hug. “Thank you.”

“Welcome.” Sam patted her back. “Now let’s finish this walk, so you can go get kissed by your girl. Then you can call me and tell me every filthy detail.”

Lena threw her head back in a full body laugh. “Fine.” Turning, the pair headed back to their vehicles. Behind them, the tree lit the area in a sheath of rainbows, and above them, the moon illuminated the path like a blessing.

horrible news: in order for you to finish a wip, you have to work on that wip and not the 2543524 other wips you were brainrotting over instead of that one. more investigations at 7.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Imagine them filming those scenes, lmao.

The Marvels (2023) + text posts

i can c: 

basically it’s kinda, i love space things so i wanted to something, like, space themed?? lol but also keeping in mind that kara’s god is a sun god and she gets her powers from the sun i thought it would be cool to have her chest symbol sort of be that on her suit. 

It came a bit from this au(another dress idea i was thinking of for it) i had been thinking about for a while where Kara became more like a deity, where she was just Supergirl all the time. Not that she was suddenly evil being or anything but more where she somehow lost that human part of her and became the symbol people held supers up to, almost divine beings. 

Boys have their Patrochilles and the sacred band. We girls have our Peggynat.