if i ever finish this i'll post it on ao3 but for now, here's the unfinished version ig
sg fic where lena is really into ducktales
When they first started dating, Lena never took Kara to her apartment. Well, to be more accurate, in all their years of friendship, Kara has never been to Lena's apartment.
Except for the one time where there was an attempt at her life and Supergirl had come to save her. But that happened in the middle of the night, and Kara was so focused on making sure Lena didn't die... it wasn't exactly the best time to give her a tour of the place.
She hoped Kara wouldn't notice her obvious excuses and avoidance, but she knew she would at some point. There's only so many "let's go to yours this time" one can hear before realizing "this time" is every time.
She shouldn't have let the situation go on for so long, should have done something before it got to this point. But after months she finally did it, she invited Kara over.
And now they're here. Kara is here. Just outside her place. The door is open and Lena is just staring at her girlfriend, trying to read her.
She's been here before, seen it before, knows how it goes. First comes the shock, then the confusion and finally the rejection.
Yes, it only happened once, but it was more than enough for Lena to know not to let it happen again.
———
They've been dating for two months now. It's not completely official since they haven't talked about labels yet. But they've been going on dates for a while, and agreed to be exclusive. So that counts, right?
And Lena has been to their place for the first time just last week — The furniture was black, white and grey; the decoration, minimalistic. The only colorful things were a framed painting of a red circle in the middle of a white canvas in the bedroom, some green from the plants in the kitchen, and a dark blue bathroom sink.
Lena felt comfort due to the familiarity. After all, her place could have had the same description just a semester ago. But over those six months she's been dipping her toes into a different style of decoration.
She started small, with just a framed poster in the hallway and some fridge magnets. But it felt bigger than that. She hasn't invited anyone over yet, not even Sam, who she'd been talking to about all this.
Maybe now is the time. So she invites them to spend an afternoon over at her appartment.
———
"Lena? Are you okay? Your heart is beating really fast right now." Lena takes in her surroundings. Kara had guided her to her couch and is now kneeling in front of her. With a worried expression on her face, she takes Lena's hands and caresses them. "What happened?"
So the thing is: some years ago Lena realized that, as an adult, who lives on her own and has barely any contact with her family outside of work spaces (and now that they're dead, none at all), she could finally figure out what her own interests and tastes are and indulge in them as much as she wants.
And to her that means maps of fictional places, replicas of archeological sites and of statues from different places across the world, and birds. Many birds. Mainly ducks. Duck plushies in her bedroom, duck magnetic pins in her fridge, a duck matryoshka with each layer in a different shelf. There are also some owls, pelicans and seagulls.
One day, around 2018, Lena was babysitting Ruby while Sam had some errands to run — it would take some hours, and she couldn't take Ruby because the girl was sick. Her goddaughter had asked her if they could watch some cartoons while eating breakfast and that's how Lena got introduced to the colorful, adventurous, whimsical world of DuckTales.
At first she wasn't focusing on it, just hearing the audio from the kitchen while cleaning the dishes, but when she went to the living room and actually payed attention to the cartoon she found herself relating to some of the characters — they're all smart and badasses after all. But one specifically seemed to have been created using her as inspiration: witch, trying to break free from her horrible family's shadow (in this case, literally), her name is Lena, for fuck's sake! The obsession was instant. Lena has had special big strong interests before, but nothing like this.
Lena takes a few deep breaths to calme herself down. "Yeah, I'm okay now."
Kara stands up and sits by her side. She moves her hands from Lena's and puts them on her girlfriend's knee once she hears her heart has gone back to its regular rhythm. "What happened just now?"
Lena puts her hand on top of Kara's. She sighs, "I suppose it's time we talk about this..."
———
(in here im gonna put another flashback. lena's ex being judgy of her and her things)
———
other moments that would happen later in the fic:
Lena, about ex: our relationship had other problems, but I guess that was the last straw for me
—
Kara: you know, i never understood the concept of "guilty pleasures". why would someone feel guilty about something as harmless as enjoying a piece of media? what, just because it's made with a younger demographic in mind, or it's not the best technically speaking, or whatever else the reason might be
—
Kara has never seen Lena sing before, but as soon as the theme song starts, Lena hums along
—
Kara gives Lena a duck keychain. it takes a while for her to feel comfortable to actually use it
at the risk of being saccharine, i truly believe that fandom culture at its best is built on a series of assumptions:
+ loving the things you love without shame is good actually
+ but also there's no contradiction in criticizing and/or improving on the things you love when they fail you in particular ways
+ it's good to learn from other people with other perspectives about blind spots you may have that prevent you from seeing particular failures
+ play, especially creative and communal play, is one of the great joys of life
+ life should be full of things that you do for the sheer joy of it and not for any "productive" reason
+ joy is compounded when it's shared
+ doing things together is (often) better than doing things alone
+ collaboration is better than competition
+ friendships are built on shared interests
+ art and shared interests can build cross-cultural and cross-generational communities
+ getting to know people who are very different than you--who come from different backgrounds, have different experiences, and see the world in different ways--is another of life's great joys
+ mutuality and reciprocity are the keys to community-building
+ connection with other human beings is the entire point of art
+ specificity, depth, and details create intimacy and good art
+ texts and narratives are created not only by the original writers/creators but by how readers/audiences react to and interpret them
+ there are a multitude of ways to interpret a given text/narrative
+ it's both fun and enriching to discover how other people react to texts/narratives differently than you do
+ gratitude, praise, enthusiasm, and other forms of feedback are the both best the compensations for the time you spend on creation and are the best fuel for more creation
+ infinite diversity in infinite combinations
+ etc.
obviously fandom doesn't always live up to these principles. but it can and often it does, and that's why i don't feel like the ~25 years i've spent in various fandoms was a waste of time. that in fact my fannish participation has enriched my life and made me a better person than i would have been without it.
all of these are in radical opposition to the assumptions that underlie mainstream society (at least in the anglophone world, i don't want to make assumptions about societies i don't live in):
+ everything is markets
+ everything should be optimized
+ everything should be monetized
+ everything should be at scale
+ everything should be shallow and bland enough to appeal to the lowest common denominator so as to reach as many people as possible so as to make as much money as possible
+ anything that doesn't help you accrue money and/or power is a waste of time
+ liking the "right" things will make you seem cool, which will help you accrue social capital or build a personal ~brand~ which you can then use to make money or accrue power
+ competition is the only thing that drives innovation
+ innovation is important because it helps you accrue money and/or power
+ if you aren't being compensated for the time and effort you put into something, you have wasted your time and you are falling behind
+ etc.
i find this worldview absolutely repulsive and at odds with everything i think is good in the world. even things that are fine in moderation and in certain contexts (markets and competition are okay within limited bounds) become cancerous when they are at the bedrock of how you approach life.
every time we take joy in leaving someone else a comment on a fic or a piece of fanart and it makes someonehappy
every time we read a piece of meta from someone who's sharing an insight into something we mutually love
every time we choose to spend time on creating something so that other people can enjoy it for free
every time we make each other laugh or smile or feel better on rough day
every time we learn something we didn't know about the world from someone we might never have had a chance to meet if our mutual love for a thing hadn't brought us together
every time we do any of these things, we are pushing back against those repulsive, predominating assumptions.
i'm not saying that fandom is going to save the world. it isn't. that requires actual political organization, unionizing, creating democratic and power-sharing institutions, educating ourselves ourselves and others, recognizing and working to dismantle hierarchies, building coalitions, finding the courage to admit when we're wrong, finding the courage to give other people second chances when they try to do better, etc.
but i think that practicing reciprocity and fun with other people gives us the energy to do the hard political things. i don't think we're ever going to be able to do those hard political things if we don't have communities (of whatever kind) that remind us what everything is for and that life, as hard as it can be, can also be joyful.
and fandom can absolutely be one of those communities when it's done right.
Victoria Javadi who went to college at 13, Trinity Santos who was in an accelerated program, Dennis Whitaker who was the first in his family to go to college, and Mel King who is the sole guardian of her sister.
Pittlings vs unbelievable responsibilities and high expectations oh im crying
stormborns
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