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crack_van2008-06-04 05:58 am
zarabithia.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2008-06-04 05:58 am
Earth and Sky by jen_in_japan (multiple; PG through NC-17)
Hi all. *waves.* I'm ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pervyficgirl and I'll be reccing DC Comics fics for the month of June. Nightwing/Red Arrow and Superman/Nightwing own my soul, but I'll try to keep my recs diverse. Still, strong women and slashy men are my weaknesses, so that will probably make up the majority of what I rec.
Fandom: DC COMICS
Pairing: Superman/Batman
Length: Epic story. At least two novels long.
Author on LJ:jen_in_japan
Author Website: N/A. Her stories are listed in her LJ sidebar.
Why this must be read:
This story is my favorite Superman/Batman story that I've read, and considering how large the Superman/Batman fandom is (and how many talented authors play in the sandbox) that's really saying a lot about how well crafted this story is. The best compliment I can give it is that it reads like the greatest comic you've ever read, tweaked only slightly to allow Bruce Wayne to be more human and the protagonists to be together. But the characters are both simultaneously very real and very recognizable as their canon counterparts. This story takes the "Absolute Power" arc of the comics in which Superman and Batman were kidnapped by time travelers as children and raised together to rule the world.
The first arc of Earth and Sky shows us more of that world (including the slashy bits, of course) than what the comic gave us alongside the aftermath where Bruce struggles with the memories of that world. It's Bruce's characterization here that really makes the story. Jen's Clark Kent/Kal is awesome as always, of course, but it's her Bruce, so real and fragile, while simultaneously trying to be so strong for them both, that sells the story.
The second arc has the duo kidnapped again as adults and forced to fight together as "Nightwing and Flamebird." The strength in this story is the increased bond between Superman and Batman, but also the rich Kryptonian history that Jen weaves throughout the story.
Bruce stood before the easel. He was holding a palette of paints, thick and oily, in one childish hand, and a brush in the other. The canvas was already black. He paused before it a moment and started to paint onto the black.
The scene he painted was from about six months ago. An alley. Two bodies. A small boy on his knees, his shoulders slumped, staring out from the canvas. Bruce carefully painted razor-sharp pain into the lines of his face. The light from the streetlamp was an acid yellow that cut the eyes. His mother's coat was a green so deep and sharp that it hurt to look at. His father's suit was the gray of bitter ashes. The boy's eyes were a searing blue of agony, sword-sharp and pure.
He painted each scattered pearl with a white of hallucinatory intensity. Each pearl seemed lit from within, incandescent.
Bruce paused again. Something was missing. What was it? One color. He looked down at his palette, but there was no red on it. How could he paint this scene without the red? Fortunately, he realized, his brush was conveniently equipped with a blade on the other end. He turned the brush around and brought the blade across his left wrist. Crimson welled out. He let it pool in his cupped hand, and dipped the brush into it. Vermilion streaked the painting, pooling around the preternaturally sharp edges of his parents' shoes, the insanely white pearls, the cobblestones etched with screams.
There wasn't going to be enough red.
He flipped the brush around and put the silver blade to his other wrist.
Earth and Sky
pervyficgirl and I'll be reccing DC Comics fics for the month of June. Nightwing/Red Arrow and Superman/Nightwing own my soul, but I'll try to keep my recs diverse. Still, strong women and slashy men are my weaknesses, so that will probably make up the majority of what I rec. Fandom: DC COMICS
Pairing: Superman/Batman
Length: Epic story. At least two novels long.
Author on LJ:
jen_in_japanAuthor Website: N/A. Her stories are listed in her LJ sidebar.
Why this must be read:
This story is my favorite Superman/Batman story that I've read, and considering how large the Superman/Batman fandom is (and how many talented authors play in the sandbox) that's really saying a lot about how well crafted this story is. The best compliment I can give it is that it reads like the greatest comic you've ever read, tweaked only slightly to allow Bruce Wayne to be more human and the protagonists to be together. But the characters are both simultaneously very real and very recognizable as their canon counterparts. This story takes the "Absolute Power" arc of the comics in which Superman and Batman were kidnapped by time travelers as children and raised together to rule the world.
The first arc of Earth and Sky shows us more of that world (including the slashy bits, of course) than what the comic gave us alongside the aftermath where Bruce struggles with the memories of that world. It's Bruce's characterization here that really makes the story. Jen's Clark Kent/Kal is awesome as always, of course, but it's her Bruce, so real and fragile, while simultaneously trying to be so strong for them both, that sells the story.
The second arc has the duo kidnapped again as adults and forced to fight together as "Nightwing and Flamebird." The strength in this story is the increased bond between Superman and Batman, but also the rich Kryptonian history that Jen weaves throughout the story.
Bruce stood before the easel. He was holding a palette of paints, thick and oily, in one childish hand, and a brush in the other. The canvas was already black. He paused before it a moment and started to paint onto the black.
The scene he painted was from about six months ago. An alley. Two bodies. A small boy on his knees, his shoulders slumped, staring out from the canvas. Bruce carefully painted razor-sharp pain into the lines of his face. The light from the streetlamp was an acid yellow that cut the eyes. His mother's coat was a green so deep and sharp that it hurt to look at. His father's suit was the gray of bitter ashes. The boy's eyes were a searing blue of agony, sword-sharp and pure.
He painted each scattered pearl with a white of hallucinatory intensity. Each pearl seemed lit from within, incandescent.
Bruce paused again. Something was missing. What was it? One color. He looked down at his palette, but there was no red on it. How could he paint this scene without the red? Fortunately, he realized, his brush was conveniently equipped with a blade on the other end. He turned the brush around and brought the blade across his left wrist. Crimson welled out. He let it pool in his cupped hand, and dipped the brush into it. Vermilion streaked the painting, pooling around the preternaturally sharp edges of his parents' shoes, the insanely white pearls, the cobblestones etched with screams.
There wasn't going to be enough red.
He flipped the brush around and put the silver blade to his other wrist.
Earth and Sky