And it honestly makes me so mad whenever he’s referred to like that

Because to Clark, Krypton is a concept. It’s an idea. It’s like how we grow up with myths like Atlantis—we have never and (most likely, in our case, but I’d like to hold out hope lol) will never experience it in real life.

And Clark was never really Kal-El; he was always just. Clark Kent. The human boy from Krypton.

And then you have Kara.

Kara Zor-El, who grew up speaking Kryptonese.

Kara Zor-El, who grew up celebrating their holidays.

Kara Zor-El, who grew up eating their food.

Kara Zor-El, who, on the day that she left Krypton, had school the next day.

Kara is the last person alive who remembers a dead planet and actually lived on it.

Whereas to Clark, Krypton was a story, an ideal, a concept, to Kara, it was her entire world.

And she’s just. She’s such a heartbreaking character.

Because, think about it; she was fifteen years old. The ground was shaking. Buildings were collapsing. People were screaming, people were crying, people were scared, people were confused, and people were dying—her people, her friends.

And her parents told her to get into a pod. Told her that she needed to protect Kal-El. Their last request to her was to make sure that he was safe.

And they sent her away.

And she wonders why? Why her? Why, out of everyone, was she chosen to get to live, when everyone—everything that she knew was going to die, and there would be no one left to remember it but her?

And then she’s knocked off course.

And she spends two decades—two long, agonizing decades—alone in the dark.

And then she finally she finally manages to make it to Earth. She hasn’t aged a day—she’s still fifteen years old, and she’s lonely, and she’s confused, and she’s terrified, and she hurts, and she wants to go home, she wants her parents, she wants her friends. But she knows. She knows that she’s never going to see them again.

And when she gets to Earth, she’s still alone. She doesn’t understand what anyone is saying and no one understands her. And she doesn’t find Kal-El. Because Kal-El doesn’t really exist. She finds Clark Kent, all grown up. Clark Kent, older than her. Clark Kent, who doesn’t need her to protect him.

And…she failed. She failed her parents.

She wasn’t there. She didn’t see him grow up. She didn’t protect him, she didn’t keep him safe.

And her home, her family, everything she ever had and everything she ever loved is…gone. But she’s still there.

And she must resent her parents, because who wouldn’t? If they hadn’t sent her away, it wouldn’t have made a difference in her cousin’s life. Really, the only difference that it would’ve made is that she wouldn’t be alone. She wouldn’t be suffering. She wouldn’t have to live knowing that everyone else was dead. She wouldn’t feel the guilt of it.

But she does. She does and she misses it and she misses them and she dreams of it. No matter how long it’s been, she’ll still dream of Krypton, and she will until the day she dies.

Let's not make "healthy" Viktor edits this is coming from a person who is chronically ill.

Be careful asking me this because I can quite literally ramble for hours about this (<- DID ramble about it in someone's dms for 5 hours)

The au is based off of the song Starlight Brigade, from my favourite album Together Through Time. (Also partially by Starship Velociraptor but not as heavily) Watch it and you can even see the scenes I redrew.