#6 Little Things

Homelander who doesn't understand the joy of doing the little things for the sake of it. Everything is either about brand, efficiency, or his image. So when you're bringing some of that effortless joy into his life it takes him a little while to follow.

Like movie nights with the big lights off, just some of the more moody lamps on, snacks and drinks, tucked into each other. Sure he's having a nice time. But he pulls the blanket off his side when you throw it over the both of you (sideonte: i'd use his money to buy those really thick huge knitted blankets in like the biggest size imaginable).

"I'm not cold. Are you cold?" He instinctually pulls you closer, arm around your shoulder pulling you to his chest, his other hand tucks in under your legs, pulling them over his lap so you're as close to him as possible without literally being on his lap. (though he does this too)

"Nope, just want to get cosy." You pull the blanket around both of you, giving him a smile and kiss on the cheek (which he makes into a lippy kiss ofc) to bribe him.

And not that Homelander hasn't seen people have their comfort habits but he doesn't tend to partake in it. Snuggling under a blanket is hardly strange but he doesn't do so unless he's going to bed.

He does end up settling into the cosy vibes, pulling up the blanket around both of you anytime it slides off, now it's both of yours cosy time!

Next time you get him to really live the ritual. You get matching PJs (possibly even US themed just to ease him into it lol - but also I think he might eventually let you get some other silly and cute matching sets) and cosy up on a better couch, out with the leather sofa, i want one you can extend into a whole ass bed.

Homelander shaker charm!🦠

Chibi Homelander! 🦅🇺🇸🩸

(version with hands)

2nd design is def my favourite, might get him printed 🫠

john-- no, the homelander was sent out on his first mission; freshly out of the oven they baked him in for too long, the smell of obedience letting them know he was ready.

husks in lab coats welded homelander together, trained him to eliminate threats of harm so he'd be powerful, a symbol of strength, a solid product. a bomb in testing, no care to the shrapnel that permanently scarred his metaphorical skin, slicing deep enough to separate parts of himself. the pain would be slightly lessened on the days he won. praise briefly melting the ice in his heart. winning, too, was his soft blue blanket. safety, the world spinning a little slower for a moment. defence was a reward he could finally present to himself.

then they paraded him out on his first mission, to be a hero, to save the world. he only knew how to save himself. expected to do the opposite of what he was assigned for-- to hold back the monster they forced to bite back. there, stood familiar enemies, weapons loaded, same horror in their eyes. there, was a familiar threat. his trauma, deeply imbedded into his personhood, pulsing through every nerve that twisted inside him, the violence he was forced to commit to survive, took a hold of the wheel; speeding too fast for the other parts of himself to show up or even care, and he eliminated. the. threat. that usual winning feeling of release never brewing.

John and Homelander are not different people, they are not different characters. There is no innocent child John trapped inside a Homelander shaped shell. Homelander is not some foreign spirit possessing the body of innocent lab-rat John. Homelander is John. period. In just the same fucking way that ‘effect’ cannot exist in isolation from ‘cause,’ Homelander cannot exist in isolation from John, because every awful thing that Homelander is, is the direct causal result of every awful thing that happened to John.

Because Homelander literally could not be Homelander if he was not John.

Saying “feel for John, not for Homelander” cowardly and strategically avoids confronting the scary fact that even ‘bad’ people, people who you hate, might actually deserve empathy and equitable justice when they have been unjustifiably wronged. And it does so by taking ONE person and dividing them into two separate individuals: The Innocent (who you can advocate for without guilt) and The Guilty (who you can hurt without thought).

It’s so much easier to hate something when you purposefully strip it of its humanity and pretend it’s another character. This is the death of nuance btw.