Just fly away
At reflectedeve's recommendation, I am reading Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, which is kind of breaking my heart with the sympathetic Lex point of view. I love how the art depicts Superman as roboticly superhuman, with a menacing grimace and red eyes, since we're seeing him from Lex's point of view. Also, I love Superman hovering outside of Lex's penthouse/office - that's totally personal canon to me in Smallville futurefic, as it's a very effective metaphor.
Inspired by the sympathetic Lex perspective this morning, I decided to try and track down the finale of season 7, which I'd heard involved Lex attempting to destroy Clark to protect humanity. I think that scene may have broken my perception filter, because, first, Clark tells Lex he never did anything to hurt him and Lex's response is that Clark never trusted him - Lex has never gotten over that. Then there is pulsing purple light, which I'll overlook because I've seen the Fortress of Solitude and there's not a lot you can do with all those crystals to make it less gay. So then Lex brings down the Fortress and he.....takes Clark into his arms and tells him he loves him like a brother, and then he stays there while the place falls down around them, holding Clark. Honestly, there is no way in which it's not gay for your enemy to sacrifice himself to hold you while be brings you both to your snowy end. I find that deeply gratifying.
ataratah has coined the very useful literary term "Stella" to talk about moments where the story only makes sense if a moment or relationship is meant to be read subtextually. A Stella is:
1. A plot device or narrative element that only "makes sense," or fulfills it's purported purpose in the narrative if what is subtextually implied by the narrative is meant to be interpreted by the audience as text.
2. A plot device or narrative element that heightens the subtext indirectly.
I.e. In Due South, Ray Vecchio's marriage to Stella Kowalski serves as a foil to Ray Kowalski and Benton Fraser's decision to remain "partners" only if the audience reads Ray Kowalski and Benton Fraser's relationship as romantic.
The finale of Arctic is a Stella. Sometimes, I'm not sure all of Smallville isn't one giant Stella.
This is a fraught week ahead, and so I am devising a coping mechanism that involves reading the summaries and TWoP recaps of Smallville episodes. Season 7 is, as far as I can tell, the red kryptonite of crack storytelling, and Smallville isn't exactly the sort of show where I'm concerned about spoilers, so I'm going to embrace my confusion and just dive right in. It looks like in the first episode of the season, Lex nearly drowns in a car that goes off a bridge. Huh, wow, I thought that happened in season one! Fascinating.
I feel like there ought to be a sympathy card I could send to all the bandom people for whom Panic is a major canon source that says something like, "I'm sorry you're band split in two! Maybe it will mean twice the inspiration?" Although perhaps there should be the optional someecards-like snarky version that mocks the way the pairings split and calls Jon Walker a home wrecker or something? I don't know, the snark isn't my cup of tea, and frankly, if it was My Chem who had split in half, I think I'd be having a creative meltdown, so, my heart is with you all in this time of musical upheaval.
Inspired by the sympathetic Lex perspective this morning, I decided to try and track down the finale of season 7, which I'd heard involved Lex attempting to destroy Clark to protect humanity. I think that scene may have broken my perception filter, because, first, Clark tells Lex he never did anything to hurt him and Lex's response is that Clark never trusted him - Lex has never gotten over that. Then there is pulsing purple light, which I'll overlook because I've seen the Fortress of Solitude and there's not a lot you can do with all those crystals to make it less gay. So then Lex brings down the Fortress and he.....takes Clark into his arms and tells him he loves him like a brother, and then he stays there while the place falls down around them, holding Clark. Honestly, there is no way in which it's not gay for your enemy to sacrifice himself to hold you while be brings you both to your snowy end. I find that deeply gratifying.
ataratah has coined the very useful literary term "Stella" to talk about moments where the story only makes sense if a moment or relationship is meant to be read subtextually. A Stella is:
1. A plot device or narrative element that only "makes sense," or fulfills it's purported purpose in the narrative if what is subtextually implied by the narrative is meant to be interpreted by the audience as text.
2. A plot device or narrative element that heightens the subtext indirectly.
I.e. In Due South, Ray Vecchio's marriage to Stella Kowalski serves as a foil to Ray Kowalski and Benton Fraser's decision to remain "partners" only if the audience reads Ray Kowalski and Benton Fraser's relationship as romantic.
The finale of Arctic is a Stella. Sometimes, I'm not sure all of Smallville isn't one giant Stella.
This is a fraught week ahead, and so I am devising a coping mechanism that involves reading the summaries and TWoP recaps of Smallville episodes. Season 7 is, as far as I can tell, the red kryptonite of crack storytelling, and Smallville isn't exactly the sort of show where I'm concerned about spoilers, so I'm going to embrace my confusion and just dive right in. It looks like in the first episode of the season, Lex nearly drowns in a car that goes off a bridge. Huh, wow, I thought that happened in season one! Fascinating.
I feel like there ought to be a sympathy card I could send to all the bandom people for whom Panic is a major canon source that says something like, "I'm sorry you're band split in two! Maybe it will mean twice the inspiration?" Although perhaps there should be the optional someecards-like snarky version that mocks the way the pairings split and calls Jon Walker a home wrecker or something? I don't know, the snark isn't my cup of tea, and frankly, if it was My Chem who had split in half, I think I'd be having a creative meltdown, so, my heart is with you all in this time of musical upheaval.