#zed danvers

Y’all, I have been needing a dose of soft and cozy, and by commissioning the wonderful @magicalstripedhorse I got just the fix I needed! Just look at these two! My heart absolutely melts for them.

Y’all, I had the absolute pleasure of commissioning @ekingston and so I get to share with you this exquisite art of Zed out at an event as Superboy! The glasses are off, his hair is down, and he looks stunning! 

Happy pride!!! I will happily share some thoughts!

I may have talked about this before, but Zed loves singing. He gets really drawn into voices, and has a particular fondness for deep vocals (warm bass gives him chills). It is also an area of frustration, because his voice doesn’t match what he wants to sing, and he’s struggled with being self conscious of it.

He has very much enjoyed the trope of a woman dressing as a man that appears in media, with two of his favorites being Mulan and She’s the Man. He was, however, always a little sad when they didn’t maintain their persona at the end of the movie.

I enjoy the idea of Zed being autistic, but that not being something that Kryptonians address. So him coming to Earth meant that he had more resources to examine that in himself. Earth is really harsh on his sensitivity to noise, and he has often resorted to humming to try to block out everything that is overwhelming him (Alex knows the melody to a few Kryptonian lullabies because of this). On the flip side, Earth has been really great for his tactile sensitivity. He was very rules oriented when he was learning Earth customs, and that made him very stiff in the early years, as he was trying to hold onto a very black and white approach to situations. He’s definitely begun to loosen, especially as his awareness of his struggles broadened.

Nia has opened his world up to queer culture. She was the first one to take him to see a drag performance, and his pride in himself really flourished around her. They also have a habit of making casual jokes about swapping parts. Like Zed groaning about his chest, all “I’m so done with these, you want them?” He’s a lot more openly queer around her, rather than trying to ‘pass’ as cis.

Y’all, I had the absolute pleasure of commissioning @justshamie and so I get to share more art of Zed being oh so handsome! Today he’s being casually flawless—walking in his own skin feeling effortless—and I couldn’t be happier! 

Zed relies a bit too much on his strength - much like Kal does. Even if transitioning has made him physically stronger, Kara is a bit more nuanced in her fighting, and is able to hold her own with superior technique. So the fighting is constant, rough, extremely physical - since neither can keep the upper hand for long.

Lena and Lena, of course, are watching the sparring session, because super-vs-super fights are fun and interesting to watch! ... they didn't expect to get, uh, so worked up watching though ;) (Maybe this scenario has been done before! Zed is new to me, but I already love him <33)

Oh juicy!!

Okay, so, a few things jump to mind:

1. I would dig a little into the nuance of things when it comes to differentiating Zed and Kara fighting. I don’t think Zed *relies* on his strength so much as he unconsciously leans toward the bold. I have not written the chapter of Boy from the Stars (Zed’s origin story/closest to show-canon version of his story) that covers Clark, but Zed does struggle with being measured against him. He has a lot of internalized pressure and anger wrapped up in the fact that he will never be ‘Superman’, and it manifests in compensation. Zed, like Kara, can best Clark in a contest of pure strength, but he puts a lot of anger behind his fists.

2. There is no question in my mind that the Lenas would love the escalation of sparring. Zed and Kara would absolutely get into it, and the image of them both bloody and panting, blonde hair darkened with sweat, grinning like punch-drunk fools. And what do you know, they’ve both worked up an appetite!

3. It’s not the scenario you’ve proposed, but I have considered the idea of Zed visiting a canon compliant Kara, and realizing that Kara and Lena are not together (while he is engaged/married to the Lena from his Earth), and all sorts of emotions rising out of that. Just one of those fun ideas I tease myself with.