okay so i was kinda confused about the apiary thing and saw the powerpoint and fell into a rabbit hole and i now i wanna know are lois and bruce both have the queen role in clarks head
So Bruce is DEFINITELY a Queen in Clark's bee-brain, yes, Bruce is the QUEENEST of queens. Probably in Clark's brain he is the JL's or Gotham's queen. LOIS, however, he probably thinks of in the role of either an Arcadia or an Ivanhoe, because he thinks of her as an investigator--i.e., a hunter/gatherer of necessary resources ( a.k.a. information ) for the community that is Metropolis, so that Metropolis is operating with all the relevant information as often as possible--OR as someone who is defending Metropolis by exposing the truth of things, and therefore a warrior/worker who is part of the mechanisms of keeping corruption and crime at bay. Maaaaaybe he could parse her as a Kloka because investigation to article COULD be seen as a "resource management" thing, but I feel like Arcadia or Ivanhoe are likelier.
Not that Clark KNOWS any of these words, but yeah. Like, those are just the things he is feeling on an instinctive level, basically.
I kinda think Clark parses his "hive" as being Metropolis, and therefore himself and Lois and Jon as members of that specific hive. Smallville is the hive he came from originally and is still very attached to and cares about but couldn't have been what he's SUPPOSED to be in, and Gotham is a hive of its own.
Just while he does not consider himself or Lois as Metropolis's queen, he DEFINITELY considers BRUCE as Gotham's.
. . . come to think, probably part of Clark thinks of LEX as being Metropolis's queen and he is SO TETCHY about how BAD he thinks Lex is at it, and that is probably a not-insignificant part of why they both get under each other's skin so much, hahahaha.
Lex: how DARE people think Superman is more important to Metropolis/the world/humanity than ME, I am SO much more important than Superman, he is an INTERLOPER here ANYWAY.
Clark: YOU ARE LITERALLY IN CHARGE OF THIS WHOLE DAMN PLACE, OH MY GOD, WHY ARE YOU SO INSECURE ABOUT IT, I'M JUST HERE TO HELP OUT. you know what, I am not even gonna GIVE you a baby, you don't DESERVE a baby from me!! you can have a baby when you get OVER yourself, MAYBE.
Lois, taking more notes in red pen: uh-huh, honey. wanna expand on that thought process, maybe?
Clark: /TEN-HOUR RANT/
Lois: . . . I think I'm gonna need a bigger notepad.
But yeah, Clark both considers Metropolis one giant hive and therefore a place with MANY smaller groups/factions/sectors having kids for the hive to thrive via, and he is also really, REALLY a Wife Guy for whom "acts of service" are SO very much his love language, so Lois is not a queen in his brain but he very much DID still want to get her a baby, haha. The reason he's so extra about getting specifically BRUCE a baby is that it's been, like, a decade-plus of Bruce repeatedly getting babies from OTHER PEOPLE and not asking HIM for any, but Lois married him and was in the process at least TALKING to him about the possibility of them having kids someday and therefore letting off some of his weird-about-it steam, because in his mind she was asking him FOR a kid and telling him what kind of kid she'd like. And then they had Jon, and she LOVES Jon, so Clark's all good there; Clark's the BEST . . . thing-he-doesn't-know there is!! THE BEST. HE LOVES HIS WIFE SO MUCH YOU GUYS, SHE'S SO GOOD AT COMMUNICATING WHAT SHE WANTS IN A BABY.
Meanwhile, BRUCE'S communication skills . . .
Bruce: I work alone and I want no dependents or significant others or partners or children in my life ever. I will deign to allow an occasional co-worker once a blue moon and that is it.
Clark, Sad Bee Eyes but probably also currently parsing Bruce as Ivanhoe anyway: okay . . . I guess . . . . . . if you're super super SUPER sure . . .
Bruce: I'm sure, yes.
Bruce, five minutes later, holding a tiny acrobat made of rage and vengeance who is trying to gnaw his arm off so he can go murder a grown man in cold blood: I only met Dick Grayson five minutes ago but if anything ever happens to him I'm killing everyone in this reality and then myself.
Clark: . . . so like HE'S--
Bruce: my ward and partner. that's all. he kept trying to go out on his own, so I'm just keeping him from getting himself killed running off after mobsters and giving him an outlet for his grief and anger that he can direct into something productive while also being mentored and protected by a more experienced vigilante.
Clark, his bee-brain reorienting and thinking "wait, Godiva?? is this Godiva, maybe??": . . . okay, I GUESS that makes--
Bruce, five minutes later, holding a grumbly homeless preteen who he may or may not have technically kidnapped off the street: I only met Jason Todd five minutes ago but if anything ever happens to him I'm going to have a major shift in my crimefighting methods and paranoia levels and my ethics in regards to how I treat my partners and allies and maybe try to commit a murder you'll have to personally prevent me from committing and never ever ever EVER go to therapy about it.
Clark: . . . . . . . . .
Bruce: also I adopted him. he likes reading and cooking and one time he hit me in the gut with a tire iron. it bruised. :)
Clark, with AGONIZED BUZZING all up in his bee-brain: OH COME ON--