▀▄▀▄Beta Wolf▄▀▄▀

The best way I can protect you is to teach you how to defend yourself.

Well... one of them gets an earful. Shoutout to @void-birds for making it extra sad.

12. Brave

Dorks.

One thing I haven't seen discussed as much though is how much of fandom in general is shaped by neurodivergent people.

I mean, you have autistic and ADHD people with special interests or hyperfixations collecting information and writing detailed meta, connecting very strongly with characters and fandoms. I would not be surprised if the percentage of autistics in fandom communities was significantly higher than in the general public.

And that's not even getting into other types of neurodivergencies and how they influence fandom culture.

Back when I started being in fandom, a couple decades ago, I’d argue that damn near every single person in fandom was autistic or ADHD.  You’d only join fandom if you were obsessive and were chill with doing things that weren’t socially acceptable.  (Because being a fan absolutely was not socially acceptable at the time!  We went to ridiculous amounts of effort to hide that we were fans!)

And fandom culture was absolutely shaped by this.  The standard behaviors in fandom were those of happy autistics.  That’s how you were expected to act.  You remember “squeeing”?  The visual image of it is generally someone so happy and excited they can’t physically contain it so they make a high-pitched noise and flap their hands and - a squee is literally just a happy stim. And so many fans at the time did happy stims that we gave it a special fandom name!  So even if a neurotypical person happened to stumble in, they’d learn that the “social norm” in a fandom space is basically just “act autistic/ADHD” and assimilate.

But then... fandom got mainstreamed.  It became socially acceptable.  And then the neurotypicals started showing up in large numbers.  And instead of assimilating like they did before, when they were the minority, now that there were a lot of them they started going “what the heck is this! why are people here acting so weird!  this is embarrassing!”

...and then we got cringe culture within fandom.

No one says “squee” anymore not because fans don’t squee anymore - happy stims don’t just go away - but because the neurotypicals showed up and told us “squee” is a cringy word and concept.  Which they had ALWAYS told us out in public, but we used to have fandom as an insular autistic/ADHD-dominated space where we were safe and free to be ourselves.

You know how everybody talks about how cringy and embarrassing 2012 tumblr was?  Dude.  We were literally just acting like happy autistics, because that’s what we were.  It’s just that - like you always have - you think autistic/ADHD behavior is cringy and embarrassing.

This isn’t new.  “Cringe culture” isn’t new.  It’s just a new euphemism for the exact same ableism that’s always existed, with the only difference that now it’s coming from inside fandom.

All those posts saying “if these people were bullied more they wouldn’t act like this”?  They’re not just bizarrely tasteless jokes.  They’re because the people making those posts were bullies.  Are bullies.  Fandom used to be where the sort of people who were victims of peer abuse went - where we went to be safe from bullies and be openly ourselves - but now the bullies are in here with us.

damn, y’all are GREEDY for cherik fics .... I, of course, have more, but damn

as usual, in order of shortest to longest

Brandished Steel, Wicked Rook

Words: 1,057

Rating: Explicit

Summary: Charles’ bare skin is awash in flame and darkness as he lies there, hair splayed over his forehead and eyes as black as crow feathers, glistening. His lips are bright and wet and red. And he says, in his red way, “All hail, Macbeth.”

AU in which Erik and Charles are Macbeth and "Lady" Macbeth, respectively.

Inspired by both the original play and the film version of Macbeth (2015) directed by Justin Kurzel.

Opinion: This is a weird one because it’s very short and not something I would usually read - but at the same time, the dynamic and writing style and reference makes it feel like it was written for me specifically. Macbeth is my favorite Shakespeare play by far, and Fassbender is very good in the 2015 film. This fic makes me wish it was 60,000 words. If at some point I actually finish my current WIPs, I might force myself to write a long cherik Macbeth AU, and it would be incredibly self-indulgent, smutty, and morally grey/dark. Because I deserve it.

Spark Me Up

Words: 3,007

Rating: Explicit

Summary: "This is Erik raw. This is Erik lost. This is Erik looking at Charles like he is the only piece of wreckage in a vast ocean. The only star in the sky.

And such a look does things to Charles."

After ten years, they are both starving for each other.

Opinion: This one’s a little different. After years in solitary confinement (taking place in Days of Future Past), Erik is very touch-starved and he and Charles ..... get to touching. 

Erik is asexual in this fic and tagged as such, so if asexual characters participating is sexual acts is off-putting to you, maybe give this one a skip.

Never a Place

Words: 3,047

Rating: Teen and Up 

Summary: It takes some getting used to. Charles hasn’t seen Erik cheerful, actually cheerful without a homicidal intent of some sort in a very long time—perhaps never.

Or. Charles takes Erik up on his offer while trying to process everything. Erik is remarkably patient until he isn't.

Opinion: Erik and Charles in Genosha post-Dark Phoenix! Very cute!

You, you, you are what I want

Words: 4,803

Rating: Explicit 

Summary: "Erik was so sure Charles was interested in him as well that whenever the telepath backed away from him it felt extremely confusing."

Opinion: Got some trans!Charles Xavier and Erik being smitten. Always a good combo.

On a Beach, With You

Words: 6,495

Rating: Explicit

Summary: Charles Xavier meets Erik Lehnsherr on a beach in Israel.

Opinion: Charles and Erik meet, fall in love, and get married in like, 2 weeks. It’s cute, it’s fun, it’s well-written, the smut is good, and you kind of think to yourself “yeah normally getting married after knowing each other for so little time is a bad idea, but damn if I don’t think these two can make it”. Definitely worth a read!

Emissary Requiring Interplanetary Cooperation

Words: 15,584

Rating: Explicit

Summary: Charles is drunkenly wandering home one night when he sees a bright light in a field. To his delight, the cause of the light is a gorgeous alien in the form of a man with the biggest dick he's ever seen.

Opinion: Incredibly fun and cracky smut. Enjoy. I know I did ;)

Made To Be Broken

Words: 18,220

Rating: Explicit 

Summary: Charles makes a New Year's Resolution: “No more straight men,” Charles repeated as he began scrolling through the apartment directory for Emma’s name. “No more futility. No more pointless hoping and heartbreak. In 2013, I never want to hear the words ‘exception,’ ‘experimenting’ or ‘phase.’ If, God forbid, I hear ‘bicurious’ even once, I may take a hostage.”

Then he goes into the party, and Erik is there.

Opinion: This is one of those fics you read on a whim one night when you have nothing to do, but keep coming back to weeks after you finish it because it’s so. Damn. Good. Well-written. Shockingly emotional. Smutty. Interesting discussion of relationships and sexuality. I got caught up rereading my favorite parts while making this list. I love this fic and you will too, or else. 

A Wedding Planner Walks Into a Bar

Words: 19,451

Rating: Explicit

Summary: When Raven hires Erik to be the bartender at her wedding, he becomes quickly infatuated with the wedding planner, Charles Xavier, who he thinks is her fiancé.

Opinion: This one’s fun. A bit more chill than some of the others. Plus you have the classic idiots-in-love-don’t-realize-it-because-of-a-misunderstanding-that-could-be-easily-solved-but-won’t-be. 

We’ll Show Them All

Words: 19,529

Rating: Teen and Up 

Summary: Pacific Rim AU. Ten years later, the monsters are back, and newly-instated Marshall Charles Xavier needs to pull a team together to prepare for the coming war. That means finding his talented sister a Drift-compatible copilot -- even if that turns out to be his old flame Erik.

Opinion: This is one of those things that reminds me I need to watch Pacific Rim. It’s good if you haven’t though, and I’m proof of that. Erik and Charles are so angsty here but so in love. Plus, Raven content! Love that for us.

Five Nights In Nuremberg 

Words: 26,138

Rating: Explicit 

Summary: When Charles escapes from the mutant prison he has been held in for the last two years he knows that he’s going to need help to avoid being recaptured.

What he doesn’t expect is that help will come in the form of a mysterious German man who rescues Charles and takes him to his home; a handsome stranger who, frustratingly, doesn’t speak a single word of English…

Opinion: This one has potentially triggering content in the form of mutant camps and discrimination. Approach with caution. Otherwise, it’s very good.

Appropriate Boundaries

Words: 33,346

Rating: Explicit

Summary: Charles has been having serious problems with back cramps in the year and a half since he's been in a wheelchair. His doctor prescribes massage therapy. But when Charles meets his masseur, Erik, in some ways they begin to heal each other. So how do you cross the boundaries between professional touch -- and the personal?

Opinion: Erik and canon disabled Charles navigating sex and a relationship. It’s cute! It’s hot! It’s fun! It’s well-characterized! It’s emotional! I’m running out of words to describe these fics, I mean I wouldn’t be reccing them if I didn’t think they were good- 

April

Words: 56,225

Rating: Explicit

Summary: In the sharp, unforgiving plains of the Canadian Arctic, Erik is since long adapted to solitude and silence. Separated from civilization, dedicated to nothing but his research, he has formed a life that suits him. There is nothing he would ever want to change. So, naturally, the arrival of grad student Charles Xavier upends everything Erik ever thought he wanted, for better or for worse.

Opinion: Charles and Erik basically locked in a shack together with no one else for human contact?????? Internalized issues and homophobia?????? Fluff and angst???????? Yes???????

Thou Shalt Not East Stones

Words: 77,422

Rating: Not Rated 

Summary: Two months after Washington, Raven found Erik in a skeevy motel off the Florida interstate.

“They have Charles, Erik,” she said.

The bedframe shrieked. In the bathroom, the showerhead snapped in half and clattered into the tub.

Opinion: This one’s got everything. Humans being dicks. Protective Erik. Hurt Charles, and pissed-off Charles. Trauma recovery. Rebuilding a relationship. Love. Pain. Everything.

Also...

Ooooh the angst!! The cherik fandom has an abundance of angst fics and I could probably make a list of hundred fics to recommend, but these are some of my favourite angsty cherik fics. I should warn you though, some of these require tissues.

Cherik Angst

Everyday Love in Stockholm – tahariel

Summary: Magneto is the ruler of the posthuman world.

His only secret? Charles Xavier, the human he's kept locked in his bedroom ever since his right-hand woman, Mystique, came to him pleading for mercy for her stepbrother, who accepted her mutant form and protected her as a child. The human he started fucking after Mystique was killed in battle, despite the guilt he feels at contaminating even this last promise to the woman who was integral to his life's work and happiness.

Boden’s Mate – kaydeefalls

Summary: "Shaw has information that we need, and we need him alive to extract it," Moira says, and there it is: the job is on the table. Extraction.

XMFC/Inception fusion AU. Erik is an extractor, Alex is his point man. They're assembling a team to go after the most dangerous mind in dreamsharing: Sebastian Shaw. But unless Alex and the team can keep him in check, Erik's desire for vengeance might just rip the whole job apart around them -- and then there's the shade that haunts his dreams...

Ritual Self-Torture – TurtleTotem

Summary: Shaw is King, Charles is his royal consort and Erik is a Knight/Lord. Shaw is sterile but his kingdom can't find out, so he asks Erik to impregnate Charles.

He doesn't know Erik and Charles are in love.

The Winter of Banked Fires – Yahtzee

Summary: Charles Xavier has returned from the dead -- but is lost within his own mind. Rogue has cast aside her own power and doesn't know where she fits in the world any longer. The production of synthetic Cure means mutantkind itself is newly at risk. And Magneto, turned human against his will, is in despair until the day he feels a familiar consciousness tugging at his own

Us – Pangea

Summary: “Charles,” Erik says, and if his voice hits a pleading note then who can really blame him, “Charles, it’s me.”

It takes several longer moments before Charles musters up the strength to answer, breath stuttering horribly as he tries to breathe. He’s shaking, entire body trembling.

“Erik,” Charles says, his voice cracking, “Erik, I want to die.”

Enigma – Yahtzee

Summary: Erik dies, or finds a reversey-time mutant, or a magical time travelling device, and wakes up in the past. This time, though, it's before he ever met Charles - in fact, it's before his mother died.

He can save his mother that one time (thanks to his mastery over powers carrying back), but what does Erik do after that? Does he stick around, or escape and run to find Charles again (and hope everything doesn't go wrong)?

By Faint Indirections – kianspo

Summary: Erik is in his ~50s, and lonely and bitter. He survived the Holocaust and was only ~14 when the war ended; and even ~40 years later, living in a country that helped to end WW2 and the Third Reich, homosexuality is still a taboo topic. Then one day, he stumbles over Charles, who is young(early 20s) and bright and smart and cheeky and full of energy and beautiful. And moving in the same street where Erik lives.

Lonesome on the Shelf – ikeracity

Summary: After three years of marriage, Charles has to admit that his relationship with Erik has significantly cooled off. These days, they're barely ever home at the same time and it seems like every conversation they have turns into an argument. Charles misses the way they used to be, misses the spontaneous dinner parties and the surprise morning sex and the wake up calls in the early mornings to catch the sunrise. But it's going to take two of them to fix this marriage, and some days, it seems as if all Erik wants is to be rid of him.

A fic about rekindling marriage.

When the Spell Breaks – kianspo

Summary: Erik, a high-profile lawyer with a successful career, meets a 21-year-old grad student in a bar, and within a few short months marries him. He and Charles are blissfully happy, until Erik's boss runs a background check on Charles and discovers he's been cheating on Erik. Charles denies everything, as there was no affair, but Erik doesn't believe him and throws him out. As Charles tries to figure out how to survive and stay at school that he can no longer afford and makes a lot of bad if not plain dangerous choices, Erik has to fight his own battle of discovering the truth and winning Charles back.

The Tower and the Hurricane – dreamlittleyo

Summary:(Post-movie AU.) Five years after Shaw's death, Erik's predictions prove painfully accurate. Violence rages on both sides of the human/mutant conflict. In a world ravaged by war, it doesn't really matter who's more at fault. Charles struggles to teach his students a better way, but what choices will he make when peace really isn't an option?

The Attempt – Yahtzee

Summary: Charles knows everything about Erik, knows how obsessive and self-destructive he is, how Erik would do anything, give anything, in his quest for vengeance against Shaw. But he also knows that Erik loves him in ways that aren't exactly platonic.

I'd like to see a completely straight!Charles, out of pure love and care of Erik, initiate a romantic relationship with him. It can be because he wishes to give Erik something positive in his life or because he thinks it might help change Erik's mind about Shaw, the reason is up to author. Also, while Charles finds intimacy with Erik strange and awkward, he does enjoy the new, non-romantic layers that have developed in their relationship.

Apple Seeds – pprfaith

Summary: Charles, Erik, apple seeds and Shakespearean love affairs.

Ashes, Ashes – winterhill

Summary: Post-apocalyptic AU — When the bombs fall, and mutually assured destruction occurs, it turns out that Shaw was right and radiation does enhance mutant powers. Snapshots of the XMFC main ensemble in the time after the bombs: Erik decides to stay, Moira thinks she might be the only human left, Raven is having trouble sleeping, and Charles is losing his mind.

Warnings: nuclear holocaust: death (death in general, not a specific character), cancer, burns, medical procedure, mutant powers gone awry

Five Bullet Points – Sperare

Summary: It was supposed to be Erik locked away in a prison one hundred stories below the ground.

Charles was never supposed to be there with him.

Tequila on a spaceship – faerie_ground

Summary: In 2014, Charles Xavier gets brutally murdered and Erik Lehnsherr spends the rest of his life mourning his death.

In 3014, Captain Lehnsherr and CMO Dr Xavier are colleagues, best friends and maybe a little more besides that aboard the Magneto I.

The Tower and the Hurricane – dreamlittleyo

Summary: Post-movie AU.) Five years after Shaw's death, Erik's predictions prove painfully accurate. Violence rages on both sides of the human/mutant conflict. In a world ravaged by war, it doesn't really matter who's more at fault. Charles struggles to teach his students a better way, but what choices will he make when peace really isn't an option?

Simple and Uncomplicated – Pookaseraph

Summary: Erik and Charles had been fuck buddies for some, but when Charles is in an accident he figured their relationship would be over. Erik's visit to his bedside in the hospital changes his assumptions even as he has trouble believing Erik is sincere.

Lazarus – Clocks 

Summary: Erik is 19 when he says ‘I love you’ for the first time.

It would take five long years before Charles says it back.

Broken Eternity – CractasticDispatches

Sumnmary: It starts with being alone. It shouldn’t, perhaps, but it does because, of course, alone is what no one ever wishes to be.

Shout it Out Loud – dreamlittleyo

Summary: (Movie-Concurrent AU.) When Charles forges a telepathic link between himself and Erik, the two men find themselves bound together by more than just destiny. With the world on the brink of war, Charles and Erik struggle to cope with a psychic connection that may well be permanent.

Call Me By His Name – sinuous_curve

Summary: Charles wakes from the absence of noise.

There is an empty space in his room, beside his bed. Not quiet as in an abandoned room, but utterly, featurelessly blank. Like a box made of unblemished, impenetrable metal and Charles knows before he opens his eyes.

The Longest Word – septicwheelbarrow

Summary: "I'm Charles Xavier," he says, smiling from ear to ear. Then he gestures to his wheelchair. "Terminal spinal osteoblastoma, reaper due to collect in a year."

After some time, the man gestures at himself with a sardonic smile. "Same, one year. Lung." And then, reluctant, as if trying to keep his name to himself, "Erik."

I reject your reality and substitute my own. Doesn't really work that way, both ways.

Copy – chantefable

Summary: Charles wakes up without his memory. His sole caretaker, Erik, claims to be his husband, and tells him he's recovering from a car accident on their honeymoon.

Slowly falling for Erik again, Charles begins to regain his memories. He starts to notice strange things about his body, Erik, and their secluded mansion.

Myosotis – SomeCoolName

Summary: When Charles got back from Cuba, he lost the two things which made him stand: his legs and the love of his life, Erik Lehnsherr. Charles can get used to the wheelchair but he won't ever be able to get pass the loss of Erik.

"I wish I never met him" is something Charles says one night, maybe a bit drunk, absolutely wrecked for sure. It's a bit silly but Charles figures out his only solution is to use his own powers to erase Erik from his mind, progressively.

Except one day Erik comes back to the Xavier mansion to win him back. And even if Charles doesn't want to stop forgetting about him, Erik will do anything he can to convince him otherwise.

Das Haus am See – sareyen

Summary: The Lake House AU:

Erik is an estate planning lawyer who takes some time off to get away from the big city after his marriage fell apart. He lives in a picturesque lake house by Chautauqua Lake for almost two years, before moving back to New York City. This is in 2019.

Charles is a famous but very private author stuck in a creative rut, and moves to his lakeside estate for a short while to try and find a reason to write again. This is in 2017.

By magic or fate, Charles and Erik discover that the letter box at the lake house has the ability to send letters through time, between Charles in 2017 and Erik in 2019. Through letters that transcend the barriers of time, Charles and Erik fall in love. Charles vows to find Erik two years in his future, and Erik promises to wait for him. Two years - just two, meagre years.

But, fate is fickle, and time waits for no one.

Appropriate Boundaries – Yahtzee 

Summary: Charles has been having serious problems with back cramps in the year and a half since he's been in a wheelchair. His doctor prescribes massage therapy. But when Charles meets his masseur, Erik, in some ways they begin to heal each other. So how do you cross the boundaries between professional touch -- and the personal?

Unbound – Cesare, helens78

Summary: Thousands of miles apart, Erik Lehnsherr and Charles Xavier form a soulbond. But when that bond is severed five years later, they have to spend the next ten years trying to rebuild their lives alone.

Do You Love Me – cgf_kat

Summary: Charles and Erik have been married for 25 years, thrown together by a mandatory post-apocalyptic pairing system attempting to increase and strengthen the population. They have seven children. They have never spoken of love, but change is on the horizon.

A Quiet Riot – cloudstroke (aQuired)

Summary: Erik can't stand the fact that his father has brought home a boy less than half his age.

→adult only

I want to write more about him and his relationship with Vegeta, but yeah, like… I fucking love Goku so much. I was staunchly a Vegeta fan for y e a r s and then I started writing fanfic and I had to figure out how to write Goku. So I did a deep dive, watched DB and DBZ and DBGT and DB Super in that order for research and then… boom. Goku love blossomed and it has NEVER STOPPED. NEVER.

I just. Like. I see the parallelisms between those two and Batman/Superman. So. Much. Obviously Goku is Superman, Vegeta is Batman, lol. Bruce needs love, Clark gives him that love, easily. Same with Goku and Vegeta. Vegeta needs love, Goku gives him love. These are facts.

But dammit. The savior needs some saving sometimes, right? Clark needs to feel wanted, loved and protected too, right? Even though he’s the most powerful man in the entire universe. He needs someone there who loves him. Someone he trusts. Even if that person is—according to others—vastly “weaker.” Please. Clark knows Bruce doesn’t need superpowers to kick anyone’s ass. That brain wins over his brawn anytime. It’s what he loves about his Bruce soooo much.

Cut to Goku and Vegeta. SAME SHIT, DIFFERENT FANDOM, YO. Yeah Vegeta and Goku are both superultramegapowered folks, but like Bruce and Clark, they have a yin/yang going on here. Vegeta isn’t the only one who needs love, who needs to feel treasured and welcomed. So does Goku. But no one thinks about the strong until they finally start to buckle under the pressure. No one thinks about the hero of the day, until that hero shows a sign of weakness—any sign of weakness.

Vegeta could capitalize on it. Bruce could capitalize on it.

They don’t.

Because they get it. They understand. They’ve been there, multiple times, and they know how to put their men back together.

UGH I LOVE THESE IDIOTS I’M SORRY FOR THE RAMBLE AHHHH

NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR RAMBLING PLEASE!!!!!! And especially not when your words are such good words and a damn mirror of my own thoughts 🥺

My first 'crush' was on Batman (and simultaneously Bruce Wayne, lol) from the animated series, I was obsessed with the show - got up early every Saturday to catch a glimpse of what I thought would be my future husband. (I got smarter with the years and have ultimately given up on marrying him, now I know he's destined to marry Clark, of course)

Anyways, the point is that that's why I fell absolutely in love with Vegeta as well - they have the same dark themes and they're so badass. I felt like I could project my own traumas into them, you know? And they're - as you say - the "weaker" people from the outside perspective, but they are so not weak. Vegeta's pride and his stubbornness is just *chef's kiss* and Bruce's fucking intellect is the reason I started accepting that there are some things I'm not good at ("weak" if you will), but that doesn't make me any less awesome. That's why Bruce and Vegeta have always been my favorite characters.

But then - then I realized that the reason I loved Goku (and Clark obvi) so much, even though he's such a carefree person was because there was room to project not just my traumas but also my personality traits onto him. He's airy and light but if you take one damn second to look closer at him, he's so much more than that. There's a reason he's the way he is. He's been so fucking strong and he's always so strong. Both Goku and Clark spend their entire lives protecting others, being strong and indestructible (even when they die, they don't really die, you know?), but fuck man, they need just as much love and comfort and protection as their 'weaker' counterparts.

Give Bruce a second to think and he'll fuck Clark up, and I truly do believe that if Vegeta had the chance, he would be able to beat Goku as well (might not be in this lifetime, but yea). They're the brains of these pairings - hotheaded and brooding and dangerous and so damn clever (when they're not distraught and running on feelings alone, lol).

They wouldn't, of course, because they're in love with these dumb himbos 🥺❤️ but you get it.

Anyways, yes, back to Goku -- I just love that there's so much to this man that we don't always get to see. I mean, yea, the shows are amazing, I will (and do) rewatch most of DBZ once or twice a year just because it's so good, but fan fiction? Man, it's the best. Because we get to see inside Goku's head and we get to speculate. We get to dissect and understand this oh so strong warrior, who just needs someone to see him. Just needs someone to fucking love him and be the strong one for him, for once.

(That's why your post had me crying, man. Because you see him the same way I do 🥺)

And Vegeta is perfect for that. Because he doesn't take shit from anyone and he doesn't care about holding up Goku's mask, he doesn't care about Goku's image - he cares about the man, the Saiyan underneath it all. And fuck, that is why I love this dynamic. Because my boys - all of them - are so strong in their own way but they still need someone to love and care for them.

Clark and Goku especially, because they're supposed to be these God-like people, but underneath all that, they're just men.

I want to write more about him and his relationship with Vegeta, but yeah, like… I fucking love Goku so much. I was staunchly a Vegeta fan for y e a r s and then I started writing fanfic and I had to figure out how to write Goku. So I did a deep dive, watched DB and DBZ and DBGT and DB Super in that order for research and then… boom. Goku love blossomed and it has NEVER STOPPED. NEVER.

I just. Like. I see the parallelisms between those two and Batman/Superman. So. Much. Obviously Goku is Superman, Vegeta is Batman, lol. Bruce needs love, Clark gives him that love, easily. Same with Goku and Vegeta. Vegeta needs love, Goku gives him love. These are facts.

But dammit. The savior needs some saving sometimes, right? Clark needs to feel wanted, loved and protected too, right? Even though he’s the most powerful man in the entire universe. He needs someone there who loves him. Someone he trusts. Even if that person is—according to others—vastly “weaker.” Please. Clark knows Bruce doesn’t need superpowers to kick anyone’s ass. That brain wins over his brawn anytime. It’s what he loves about his Bruce soooo much.

Cut to Goku and Vegeta. SAME SHIT, DIFFERENT FANDOM, YO. Yeah Vegeta and Goku are both superultramegapowered folks, but like Bruce and Clark, they have a yin/yang going on here. Vegeta isn’t the only one who needs love, who needs to feel treasured and welcomed. So does Goku. But no one thinks about the strong until they finally start to buckle under the pressure. No one thinks about the hero of the day, until that hero shows a sign of weakness—any sign of weakness.

Vegeta could capitalize on it. Bruce could capitalize on it.

They don’t.

Because they get it. They understand. They’ve been there, multiple times, and they know how to put their men back together.

UGH I LOVE THESE IDIOTS I’M SORRY FOR THE RAMBLE AHHHH

NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR RAMBLING PLEASE!!!!!! And especially not when your words are such good words and a damn mirror of my own thoughts 🥺

My first 'crush' was on Batman (and simultaneously Bruce Wayne, lol) from the animated series, I was obsessed with the show - got up early every Saturday to catch a glimpse of what I thought would be my future husband. (I got smarter with the years and have ultimately given up on marrying him, now I know he's destined to marry Clark, of course)

Anyways, the point is that that's why I fell absolutely in love with Vegeta as well - they have the same dark themes and they're so badass. I felt like I could project my own traumas into them, you know? And they're - as you say - the "weaker" people from the outside perspective, but they are so not weak. Vegeta's pride and his stubbornness is just *chef's kiss* and Bruce's fucking intellect is the reason I started accepting that there are some things I'm not good at ("weak" if you will), but that doesn't make me any less awesome. That's why Bruce and Vegeta have always been my favorite characters.

But then - then I realized that the reason I loved Goku (and Clark obvi) so much, even though he's such a carefree person was because there was room to project not just my traumas but also my personality traits onto him. He's airy and light but if you take one damn second to look closer at him, he's so much more than that. There's a reason he's the way he is. He's been so fucking strong and he's always so strong. Both Goku and Clark spend their entire lives protecting others, being strong and indestructible (even when they die, they don't really die, you know?), but fuck man, they need just as much love and comfort and protection as their 'weaker' counterparts.

Give Bruce a second to think and he'll fuck Clark up, and I truly do believe that if Vegeta had the chance, he would be able to beat Goku as well (might not be in this lifetime, but yea). They're the brains of these pairings - hotheaded and brooding and dangerous and so damn clever (when they're not distraught and running on feelings alone, lol).

They wouldn't, of course, because they're in love with these dumb himbos 🥺❤️ but you get it.

Anyways, yes, back to Goku -- I just love that there's so much to this man that we don't always get to see. I mean, yea, the shows are amazing, I will (and do) rewatch most of DBZ once or twice a year just because it's so good, but fan fiction? Man, it's the best. Because we get to see inside Goku's head and we get to speculate. We get to dissect and understand this oh so strong warrior, who just needs someone to see him. Just needs someone to fucking love him and be the strong one for him, for once.

(That's why your post had me crying, man. Because you see him the same way I do 🥺)

And Vegeta is perfect for that. Because he doesn't take shit from anyone and he doesn't care about holding up Goku's mask, he doesn't care about Goku's image - he cares about the man, the Saiyan underneath it all. And fuck, that is why I love this dynamic. Because my boys - all of them - are so strong in their own way but they still need someone to love and care for them.

Clark and Goku especially, because they're supposed to be these God-like people, but underneath all that, they're just men.

This scene is peak cherik and it’s absolutely hilarious to me.Erik is like “damn that was hot.” When he saw Charles using his powers so he pats him on the thigh,like sweetie you are not subtle at all.

Charles is even worse,like he,in front of Erik and all those people in the truck,gives Erik that glance and licks his lips,sir-