Fanfic / A Supe of a Man

A Supe of a Man Cover Picture. Art by Twinsvega

Superman: It's not about whether we can do something, but whether we should do it. Because there's nothing stopping anyone in this room apart from that. A-Train could speed into the Pentagon and unleash World War III. Maeve could carve her way through an entire army. Noir could assassinate anyone on the planet he wants. Starlight could black out New York. You and I could fly to Washington and collapse the government. No one could stop us, and that's why we need to stop ourselves!

A Supe of a Man is a crossover story between Superman and The Boys (2019) written by Luke5921 that inserts Superman into the world of The Boys.

Our story begins with a young Jonathan and Martha Kent discovering an alien vessel containing a baby Clark and adopting him. To facilitate his adoption, the Kents go to Martha's sister Mary, a lawyer who works for Vought, who immediately decides to sign Clark up for the heroism business after seeing his powers.

The story follows Clark as he navigates this dark, cynical world as he deals with sociopathic Supes, his friendship with Annie January, and how his very existence changes the lives of Vought, The Seven, and even The Boys, for better or worse.

Warning: This fic contains spoilers for the original Amazon series. Read at your own risk!

Compare with The Boys: Real Justice, a similar crossover fanfic with the Justice League, though focused on a literal crossover between the established universes rather than the straight-forward AU.

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A Supe of a Man contains examples of:

• 100% Heroism Rating:
  • Clark has probably the best reputation of any Supe within the superhero community, and very little of it is due to Vought. Even Stillwell notes that Superman has an impressive broad-spectrum appeal, ranking high with older conservatives (due to his rural background) and urban youths (for his charity work).
  • Deconstructed with Homelander. His PR is such that he's not only the most popular superhero in the world, but it also means the government won't let The Boys go after him, and even Superman himself sees that he can't move against him while he's so popular.
• Accidental Murder: Homelander drives Jonathan Kent to have a heart attack when he travels to the Kent farm in the belief that he’s Clark's father, although it likely wasn't intentional as Homelander would be more explicit if he really wanted Jonathan dead.
• Affectionate Nickname: Because Homelander thinks Clark is his kid, he calls him "son".
• Alone with the Psycho: In Chapter 11, Jonathan Kent finds himself in the unenviable position of being alone with a pissed off Homelander, who currently has deluded himself into thinking that Clark is his son.
• Alternate Universe Fic: The fic takes elements of The DCU, like Superman and Lois Lane, and folds them into the world of The Boys.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When Clark takes Ryan to the Kent farm, he asks Ryan to consider what he really wants to do if he had a choice in his future, rather than being "committed" to being a hero just because of his powers.
• Artistic License – Linguistics: El Diablo in this universe is a Latina female gang member, but her Supe-terrorist name uses a male-oriented noun. A more accurate name in Spanish would be "La Diabla".
• Babies Make Everything Better: Whatever bad blood existed between Clark and Lois immediately disappears as soon as he learns that she's pregnant with his child. He does admit that trust needs to be rebuilt between them, but he never stopped loving her, and is excited to be a father.
• Benevolent Boss: Perry White, who cares about his employees and is upset about the Daily Planet having to sell out to Vought.
• Beware the Superman: As in canon, the theme of the fic is the damages Supes cause due to their powers, lack of moral code, and no authority to reign them in. A superpowered acquaintance of Clark causes a massive amount of property damage due to being on drugs. Lois is crushed that if she tries to report the wrongdoings of other Supes she could be killed and her death framed as an accident. Superman defying this gradually brings him into conflict with other immoral Supes.
• Big Damn Heroes: As most of the Boys have been caught while trying to escape cells, they are rescued by Annie/Starlight and Lois wielding a large rifle, followed by Annie calling in Clark when A-Train attacks.
• Big Damn Kiss: When Billy finds Becca on the Kent Farm, they're both so overjoyed seeing each other that they immediately begin kissing, which leads to them having sex in the farmhouse.
• Bizarre Baby Boom: What people think is happening with Supes, but it's actually Vought dosing babies with Compound V through an intricately constructed network of bribed medical workers. The discovery of Ryan reveals that someone is trying to induce this trope with the aim of Supes replacing humans.
• Blackmail:
  • In chapter 15, Stan Edgar reveals to Clark his knowledge of Superman's alien background very subtly warns Clark he'll use that information to keep him in line.
  • In chapter 16, Annie gets A-Train off her back by threatening to leak evidence that he murdered his girlfriend to the press.
• Blackmail Backfire: A-Train responds to Annie's blackmail threat by immediately trying to kill her... which is stopped by Clark chasing him away.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Clark was extremely unhappy to learn Lois and Hughie's dubious actions as members of The Boys. Lois admits that she's not happy about the seedy things she's done, but doing everything the legal way didn't work, and she has no choice. She believes Clark can't understand because he has the powers of a god. Clark tells her that he understands, but that murdering evil Supes isn't going to solve the problems that plague Supe society and would only turn him into a murderer himself.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • Clark is a bit disillusioned to learn his aunt covers up the bad behavior of Supes. While he's still speaking and working with Mary, he's not particularly close to her.
  • Mary is on the other side of this at that moment too–after years of believing Clark was a good person and different from the other Supes in the business, the fiasco that was the orphanage seemingly confirms her hidden suspicions that he's no better than the others, and coldly tells him that she'll help him cover it up. While she eventually moves past this confusion, their relationship is never the same afterward.
  • Not only is Annie forced to give the Deep a blowjob when she joins the Seven, but she overhears rumors that leave her wondering if Clark is just as bad as the Seven (although she quickly realizes none of that could be true).
  • Clark is shaken when he realizes Lois and Hughie's affiliation with The Boys, even if he accepts that they don't like doing what they've done against the Supes. Likewise, Annie is horrified when Homelander reveals Hughie's affiliation with The Boys, although she is more immediately focused on how Clark knew and didn't tell her himself (Clark didn't have time to talk with her in private between Hughie and Lois's departure and the meeting of the Seven).
  • As a boy, Clark saw Homelander as a role model and was looking forward to meeting him in person. He's thoroughly disappointed when he realizes what Homelander actually is.
• The Bus Came Back: Lana Lang, after seemingly disappearing from Clark's life after adolescence, returns to be in his life playing his movie girlfriend in The Seven movie.
• The Cameo:
  • Sgt. Rock witnesses Superman taking out a Compound V facility.
  • Cat Grant and Jimmy Olsen show up with the press at Translucent's funeral.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Played for Drama. Lois wants to tell Clark everything she knows about the corruption of Homelander. However, she fears a conflict between Clark and Homelander could plunge the country into chaos, not to mention that Homelander is a far more ruthless opponent while Clark doesn't want to kill anyone.
• The Cape: Decon-Recon Switch. On the cusp of a true Despair Event Horizon, Clark pulls Annie back and shows her that true heroism isn't flashy saves or fighting super-terrorists–it's just helping. People like Homelander and Superman invoke the image of The Cape, but doing the right thing, even in a small imperfect way, is what truly matters. It's what inspires her to help save The Boys, and start really taking a stand against Vought and The Seven For Great Justice.
• Casting Couch: As in canon, Deep forces Annie to give him head or he'll tank her career. To throw salt on the wound, he lies to her that Superman is aware of this going on.
• Childhood Friends: Clark first meets Annie January/Starlight at a Vought sports event for young superheroes when they were kids. When he's a teenager and leader of the teen hero group the Young Americans, Clark remarks that Annie is one of the few members he's actually close to. When Clark is 21, it's mentioned that he still keeps in touch with Annie after the Young Americans have disbanded.
• The City vs. the Country:
  • Clark, the Kansas farm boy, is repulsed by the opportunism, corruption, and violence of urban life and would prefer a quieter existence on the farm. Both the Kents preferred life in a small town.
  • The City, represented by Vought, is corrupt, decadent, and superficial and many city people frequently stare their nose down at Clark for his rural roots.
• Cliffhanger:
  • Chapter 14 ends with Homelander meeting Ryan for the first time and waiting for Superman to arrive before introducing himself as Ryan's father and Superman as Ryan's brother... when Clark knows for a fact that he isn't Homelander's son and hadn't realized the other man believed that until now.
  • The end of Chapter 16 has Clark analyze a vial of Compound V Annie retrieved and discovering that it is derived from Kryptonian blood which leads Annie to ask him what a Kryptonian is.
  • Chapter 18 leaves us with Clark leading Annie and The Boys to the Superduper house, and heavily implying that Auntie Sis is this universe’s version of Wonder Woman.
  • Chapter 21 ends on Kara Zor-El abducting Ryan Butcher because she's mistaken him for her cousin, Kal-El.
• Commonality Connection:
  • Despite Homelander's jealousy of Superman, the first time they meet, the two bond over how their enhanced senses can leave them feeling like they have been Blessed with Suck as they have to be very particular about their tastes.
  • When talking with Hughie in private, Lois acknowledges that she and Hughie each have strong feelings for Clark/Superman and Annie/Starlight despite their personal issues with Supes as a whole.
• Corporate-Sponsored Superhero: As is customary in this world, Superman is forced to do sponsorships as an agent of Vought. He doesn't like being used as a marketing commodity at all.
• Crazy-Prepared: Lois has been slipping radioactive materials in the coffee of the other Boys to act as a tracker if they’re separated.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Clark manages to defeat three supervillains in a row without even breaking a sweat.
• Crisis of Faith: Clark actually helps Annie avoid this, as his example helps her gain the confidence to assert that Vought's talk of God is irrelevant so long as people believe in the message.
• Cynicism Catalyst:
  • Lois losing two roommates to a Supe's reckless sexual foreplay, and that Supe evading any accountability over the misdeed, has driven her to become an anti-Supe vigilante.
  • Clark loses a lot of respect for the superhero community when he learns how toxic it is behind the curtains, and that people like his aunt would just rather sweep it under the rug rather than deal with it.
• Dark Secret: In general, Clark is very open and uncaring about how much of his life is found out once he trusts people enough. However, the one thing he holds very close to the chest is that his family has secretly been collecting Kryptonite to keep it from becoming a standardized weapon to use on the Supe community. Something he can't even trust Lois with because of her own Blood Knight tendencies.
• Deconstruction Crossover:
  • The Kent family comes from the relatively Lighter and Softer DC Universe. Through them, one can see how relatively normal people would be disturbed and exhausted by the corruption and opportunism of The Boys universe. Jonathan and Martha are annoyed with their son being used as a tool, and Clark himself is exhausted at being used by others as a show pony.
  • When Clark is an adult, he's subject to countless rumors describing him as a hedonistic monster who has a great PR team working to keep his positive reputation intact because people (especially those at Vought) have difficulty comprehending the idea of someone as powerful as Superman not abusing his powers.
  • The subplot with Lois Lane shows how dangerous it is to be an honest reporter in the world of The Boys: Vought is rich enough to buy up any independent media outlet and clamp down on dissent. And if financial security isn't enough to silence you, a Supes could assassinate you and cover up your death.
  • The fic shows that while trying to be a pure hero, including avoiding killing your opponents, is a good ideal, it is a dangerous attitude when your opponent isn't going to care about collateral damage. Lois, having suffered from Supe corruption, is perfectly willing to kill a Supe to protect herself.
• Demoted to Extra: Lana Lang goes from being a major love interest of Clark to a self-absorbed Alpha Bitch who only appears in one chapter. Zig-zagged considering that she appeared in Chapter 20 as Clark's new co-star in the Seven movie. Whether she'll stick around is TBD.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation:
  • In the series, Butcher brutally beats Mesmer to death in a subway restroom after he rats to Homelander on The Boys' actions. In this story, Lois shoots him when she finds out he hid a camera to record what they're doing.
  • Lamplighter is shot by Deathstroke as opposed to committing suicide by immolating himself.
• Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Averted.
  • Lana's manipulation of Clark is not portrayed as a cute or adorable thing and Mary is relieved when Edgar tells Lana to scram.
  • Stillwell's grooming of Homelander is shown to be a disgusting manipulation tactic used by an amoral Social Climber, and what helped contribute to the Supe becoming the monster he currently is.
  • Annie’s drunken attempt to force herself on Clark is treated negatively, illustrating it as her hitting rock bottom. The next morning she genuinely apologizes to Clark for such a blatant breach of trust.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Anyone who understands Superman or reads the comics knows that he's not a Supe made from Compound V and that he's an alien from another planet who gets his powers from the sun. In-Universe however, everyone not in the know believe that he's a guy with a V power boost.
  • Homelander thinks Clark is his kid because of their similar powers. Again, anyone who understands Superman knows this isn't the case, as Clark is an alien from another planet, and Homelander was "made" on Earth. Although they do turn out to be related in a sense due to Compound V in this story being derived from Clark's cousin Kara.
• Drugs Are Bad:
  • Clark is repulsed at the sleazy nightclub he's dragged to because of all the people doing drugs. Justified since his enhanced senses mean he can feel the damage the drugs are doing to others. Also, one of his Supe acquaintances causes enormous damage due to being high.
  • The Supe who killed Lois' college roommates died after crashing into a mountain while being loaded.
• Dueling Messiahs: Type 2 with Superman and Homelander. They’re both powerful Supes with significant influence in their respective groups and fan bases, they both want to shake off the shackles that Vought has on them and buck the status quo, but their motivations and ultimate goals couldn’t be more different—Clark is an Ideal Hero who aims to end the Vicious Cycle of corruption and death Vought has created with the Supes and its toxic insular culture, and hopefully forge a better, freer future; John is a borderline Classic Villain who’s only in it for his own personal autonomy, and longs for a world where he can do anything he wants—including rape and mass-murder—and suffer no consequences for it.
• Eagle Land: Both sides of it here:
  • Superman represents "America the Beautiful," being a castaway from a foreign land that was fully embraced by loving adoptive parents who helped him establish his core values, eventually becoming a Self-Made Man with the power his new home bestows on him, and feels it's his duty to use his status to help others in his new home.
  • In contrast, Homelander is very much "America the Boorish," as his costume, his pro-freedom talking points, and All American Boy good looks are all purely skin-deep obfuscation from what he really is–a narcissistic, egomaniacal, intolerant bully who thinks he should be allowed do whatever he wants–including rape and murder–and still be worshipped as a hero because he's the most powerful being in the world.
  • The contrast is repeated with Wonder Woman and Soldier Boy: Diana represents a more idealized past, being a first-generation immigrant with strong anti-fascist beliefs and falling in love with a black man when interracial marriages were still illegal in certain parts of the country. Ben, meanwhile, was born into privilege and massively overcompensated for his insecurities with toxic masculinity, and carried the dated views of the past, including sexism, homophobia, and subtle racism.
• Enemy Mine: Sam Lane hates Supes. Extensively. But, he is actually willing to work alongside Superman's subversion of Vought because he sees him as the best asset he could have if a Supe war broke out.
• Enlightened Self-Interest:
  • While Mary does become fond of her nephew Clark, she only connects with him because she sees him as useful for career advancement.
  • Similarly, Edgar throws bones at Clark because he would rather work with him than Homelander.
• Establishing Character Moment: From Lois' viewpoint, Superman gets one when he personally comes to pick her up at the airport in his civilian clothes instead of sending a goon or making a huge production, refuses to ogle her despite her deeply revealing attire, and offers her coffee. In a single interaction, Clark showcases he's not the usual Vought-sponsored corporate product.
• Express Delivery: By Chapter 22, Lois goes into a very painful labor despite her not being pregnant long enough. Clark reveals that Kryptonian pregnancies are actually shorter than humans, so he expected this would happen. Lois is not amused he kept this info from her. Lois proceeds to scream and curse at Annie and Clark until the baby is finally born.
• Everyone Went to School Together: It is later revealed that Billy Butcher was an old CIA contact of Lois' before he faked his death and she became affiliated with Clark.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: A recurring element of the fic is how the cynical world of The Boys sees Clark's good guy nature as a total fabrication.
  • While Mary is not so much "evil" as she is cynical when Clark first witnesses the kind of chaos and destruction other Supes cause when he attends a party with a friend and an orphanage is nearly destroyed because Clark's friend and another Supe were high on drugs, Mary casually informs Clark that everyone at Vought basically takes it for granted that the heroes will get up to that kind of thing and she's been assuming Clark's just doing the same and dealing with it on his own. Jonathan points out to Clark that Mary has dealt with so many corrupt Supes, that she assumes Clark acts the same way.
  • Mary is also confused about why Martha and Kent don't take any of the money Clark gets for themselves.
  • When Clark starts dating Lois Lane, nearly everyone at Vought assumes he's just buttering her up to paint him in a flattering light rather than realize that Clark is everything Lois says he is.
  • Stillwell brushes off Clark's ultimatum to A-Train as grandstanding to maintain his public image instead of a genuine threat motivated by anger at A-Train killing a civilian.
  • Homelander also laughs off Clark's objection to being used as a military asset as him playing up his glowing public image more than any true morality. He also threatens Jonathan because he can't picture Clark enjoying his humble life in Kansas. After this, Homelander goes so far as to release a trio of superpowered terrorists on Los Angeles in the belief that just giving Clark a chance to "cut loose" will lead to Clark becoming more like him, unable to comprehend the strength of Clark's morality. Even when Clark threatens Homelander while warning him to stay away from Ryan, Homelander simply approves of what he perceives as Clark's more ruthless streak, ignoring the vast difference in motivation between John lashing out on an ego trip and Clark trying to protect an innocent boy from a bad influence.
  • When Clark protects Annie from Homelander, the older Supe concludes that they must be sleeping together and sees it as the intimidation tactics of an alpha male defending his mate. He genuinely cannot comprehend that their relationship could be anything other than transactionally sexual in nature.
  • While Butcher is more of a jerk than a villain, as a result of his Fantastic Racism against Supes, Butcher can't recognize that Annie and Clark are doing the best they can to work within the system rather than tear it down and acts as though it’s only a matter of time before they show the "truth" about themselves.
  • By Chapter 20, in Homelander's efforts to bond with Clark, he tries to take up the young hero's No-Killing Policy, under the rationalization that Clark is a Challenge Seeker, and that taking enemies in alive is more entertaining than just killing them.
• Evil, Inc.: Vought is a corrupt-to-the-core organization that milks its superheroes for profit while covering up their misdeeds and ignoring their emotional needs. Even Vought's Supe "college" is a glorified reality show that exploits its students while turning a blind eye to their education.
• False Prophet: Vought essentially wants to turn Clark into this, but he has privately confessed to Annie that he follows "the faiths of his ancestors", suggesting that he follows a Kryptonian religion.
• Famed In-Story:
  • Because he began his hero career at nine years old, Clark is already a celebrity by the time he's a young adult.
  • By the time Clark's an adult, Lana Lang is identified as a former Miss USA and current Miss Universe, likely due to the fame she received from dating Clark when they were younger.
• Family of Choice: Deconstructed. Homelander desperately craves familial bonds because of how he grew up and hoped to find that in The Seven. Unfortunately, they are not Fire-Forged Friends but instead, career Celebrity Superheroes who are too busy with their own agendas to care about what Homelander wants.
• Fan Disservice: Lois is forced to wear a skimpy outfit for her interview with Clerk, but her shame and anger at being objectified prevent the scene from being in any way sensual.
• Foil:
  • Homelander and Clark both dislike their celebrity status and the public relations they perform on behalf of Vought but for different reasons. Clark is a genuine good guy and loves helping people and is exhausted by the corruption and backstabbing of Vought and the pressures of public life. Homelander hates having to play the good guy because it prevents him from indulging in his psychotic whims.
  • Lois and Hughie are both notable members of The Boys who haven't been totally corrupted by the darkness around them, and both fall in love with famous Supes with heavy ties to Vought. However, Lois has a much more pronounced ruthless streak to her, possesses more experience with espionage, and isn't intimidated by Butcher's alpha male posturing.
  • Maeve is this to both Annie and Lois, and Clark to a lesser extent. Just like the former women, Maggie used to be idealistic and wanted to have a positive impact on the world. However, being run through the Vought publicity machine eventually wore her down, and she just Stopped Caring; giving in to the shallow hypocrisy of it all (and being complicit in some of Homelander’s murders). Annie and Lois, meanwhile, have both been subjected to the toxic dirty dealings of Vought, but it just made them more determined to fight back, even stepping outside the system if they have to. Annie even favorably compares Lois to what she thought Queen Maeve would actually be like–a tough-as-nails crusader for justice.
• A Friend in Need: Clark was hesitant to join The Seven after hearing and seeing their worst impulses. But, Annie is on the team now, and he wanted to be there to protect her.
• Game Changer: Ryan is not only the son of one of the most powerful Supes in the setting, but he's also the first natural-born Supe in history–something Vought has been after for decades. More than that, Superman theorizes he's part of a larger conspiracy, seemingly with the aim of Supes replacing humans wholesale in what he calls the "Superhuman Apocalypse."
• The Gift:
  • At nine years old, Clark almost effortlessly broke A-Train's under-21 world record in the 100-meter Super-Speed dash, instantly garnering the attention of Vought and dozens of sponsorship companies. He only got more powerful as he got older and fully grew into his abilities, which also exceeded anything fellow Supes of his generation displayed. Even being considered an equal to Homelander before he reached his 20s. This is justified considering that his powers don't come from V and are derived from his natural Kryptonian biology.
  • Meanwhile, Homelander is viewed as the most powerful Supe in the world, having won the Super Power Lottery, and is the benchmark all other Supes are measured against. It's even more impressive when it's revealed that V is derived from Kryptonian DNA, and the gene-splicing just took to him better than anyone else.
• Good Capitalism, Evil Capitalism: Deconstructed. As can be expected, the Kents are examples of "Good Capitalism" largely played straight–they are very tolerant, left-leaning people who use they wealth only on what they need, while donating basically everything else to various charities. Clark himself, despite wanting as little to do with money as possible, has managed his finances enough that he's independently wealthy even without Vought's checks, and could retire without noticing a drop in his living standards. On the other end of the scale, Vought-America is pure Capitalism Is Bad, with There Are No Good Executives in full effect–none of the employees have any interest in making things better, and all of them (even Aunt Mary to an extent) are presented as greedy cutthroat corporate sharks who are trying to expand the company's influence no matter the cost. Despite Clark being a Self-Made Man and a Non-Idle Rich with considerable influence, he's constantly reminded that Vought dwarfs him by several magnitudes, and they're the main reason the world is as screwed up as it is. Good Capitalism doesn't make up for the damage that Bad Capitalism inflicts on a daily basis.
• Gut Punch: While the first ten chapters are hardly light reading material, Clark still manages to avoid seeing the worst of the Supes, with even Homelander seeming to warm up to him. Then in Chapter 11, Homelander, who had otherwise been friendly to Clark, causes Jonathan to suffer a fatal heart attack.
• I Am Not Your Father: Discussed; during their Young Americans days, Annie had heard plenty of rumors that Clark was Homelander's son, and was never sure if she should've believed them. Even Homelander muses that he might be Clark's father after meeting him and sharing their thoughts on the downside of their enhanced senses; he knows that he's never had sex with Martha Kent, but that doesn't rule out the idea that Clark was artificially engineered using his DNA or someone else was the mother and the Kents raised Clark on Vought's behalf. Unfortunately, after he sees how powerful Clark is, he soon becomes enamored with the idea that the young Supe is his son, and tries to mold him into his own image.
• Idealist vs. Pragmatist: Lois is practical to Clark's idealism. When Clark angrily confronted Hughie and Lois about their membership in The Boys, Lois admits that she's not happy to resort to justifying murders, extortion, and breaking the law, but she was screwed over by a system that protects the corrupt Supes. She believes that Clark can't understand because he has the power of a god. However, Clark can be more accurately described as realistically pragmatic than a pure idealist. While he is tempted to act like a vigilante, not only could he endanger others if he lost control but murdering the likes of Homelander would be detrimental to his reputation. He simply doesn't have the support to do that. In short, while he understands Lois and Hughie need to be vigilantes, there are serious consequences, pragmatic and idealistic, if he acts out.
• I Need a Freaking Drink:
  • Jonathan is unhappy seeing his son being used by Vought as a marketing tool and often responds to his frustrations with a sip from his flask.
  • Lois and Perry both drink over the reality that they could be brutally killed if they tried exposing the truth about Supes and their deaths be covered up.
  • After Annie learns the truth about Hughie and The Boys, she gets so drunk that she goes to Clark to try and have sex with him on the grounds that everyone else in her life has fucked her over.
• Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: When Mary is talking with Jonathan and Martha about arranging Clark's adoption, she confirms that virtually nobody in Smallville knows that Martha's been diagnosed as being infertile; Mary can easily pay off the relevant doctors to edit their reports and help support the idea that Clark is Jonathan and Martha's biological son.
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite Clark existing in this universe, some canon events still happen.
  • A-Train still kills Robin, which leads to Hughie still joining The Boys.
  • The Deep still sexually assaults Annie, and he's still kicked out of The Seven in Chapter 10.
  • Supes are still put into the military in spite of Flight 37 being saved because, in Homelander's leak of Compound V, he specifically sicks a trio of Supe-terrorists to attack Los Angeles in the hopes of corrupting Clark. The results of deaths exceed those in canon.
• Inherent in the System: Another major theme of the story. Even the presence of genuine heroes like Superman, Starlight, and Wonder Woman can't solve the true problem with the Crapsack World they're stuck in–Vought and their irresponsible Supes can do damage and ruin lives, but the true antagonist of the story is the system that not only allows but encourages it to happen, and any attempt to change the system will cause it to fight back and reassert itself at any cost (as Diana found out the hard way, and Clark is slowly learning). Clark later speculates that this system was intentionally designed by some yet unseen Ancient Evil to separate Supes from normal humans for some sort of long-term Assimilation Plot.
• Internal Reveal:
  • In Chapter 11, Maeve informs Clark about Homelander's true monstrous nature.
  • Between Chapters 16 and 17, Clark tells Annie that he’s an alien.
  • In Chapter 18, Clark learns that Lois is pregnant and Lois learns that Clark is an alien.
• Irony:
  • In a world where superheroes are hedonistic Jerkasses who have slick PR teams protecting their images, the one hero who people openly believe to fit this stereotype is also the one hero who really is a hero.
  • Most people expected Superman and Homelander to come to blows, with Homelander enviously desiring to murder a young Clark. When they do meet in person, Clark is one of the few beings Homelander shows genuine friendliness to.
• Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: When Lois contemplates trying to publish what she's learned about Vought already, Perry mentions people who've attempted that in the past and how they ended up dead in a manner that was officially declared an accident but he at least knows was the work of a Supe.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: When Clark raids a terrorist base in Afghanistan, most militants surrender, realizing they can't fight a Physical God.
• Let's You and Him Fight: Butcher is very much in favor of Superman murdering The Seven (especially Homelander) and bringing Vought Tower to the ground. He takes Clark being against "indiscriminate violence" as proof he's just as corrupt as the rest of the Supes and doesn't want to hurt his cashflow.
• Like Brother and Sister: While Annie's mother has tried to not-so-subtly "encourage" a relationship between her and Clark, the two are content as friends, feeling that trying for anything more would make them tabloid material.
• Lighter and Softer: Zig-Zagged. While Clark and Lois' presence in the story tips the scales slightly more in The Boys' favor, they are still very much fighting an uphill battle against Vought and The Seven. For example, even though Superman is able to help Maeve and Homelander save Flight 37, Vought is able to spin it to help boost the appeal of Supes in the military, and the tragedy is replaced by a trio of Supe-terrorists destroying a section of Los Angeles, with the death toll being larger than the in-canon plane crash. And that's not even getting into a Greater-Scope Villain that has pulling strings to set up a "Superhuman Apocalypse".
• Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: At one point, Frenchie is able to pick a lock using the wire from Hughie's old retainer (hidden in his mouth and disguised as a permanent fitting).
• Logical Weakness:
  • Mesmer has to make physical contact with someone in order to read their mind. When he shakes hands with Lois, who is wearing gloves, he's unable to read her thoughts and thus can't find out that she's about to shoot him for trying to inform Vought of The Boys' actions.
  • During her fight with El Diablo, Annie breaks a fire hydrant, thinking a nice cool jet of water will stop a fire villain... only for Diablo to be strong enough to not only turn the water to steam but melt the hydrant.
• Long Game:
  • Stan Edgar and Aunt Mary see a teenaged Clark as a Superior Successor to Homelander, but putting him in the Seven too soon could lead to Homelander murdering a young Clark in a jealous rage. Both of them decide to send Clark to Los Angeles for a few years: Los Angeles has few serious rivals for Clark to face, he'll be out of Homelander's hair, and Clark could train to challenge Homelander and outmatch him eventually.
  • Whoever is responsible for helping Fredrick Vought create Compound V using Kryptonian DNA did so seemingly with the end goal being for Supes to eventually replace humanity altogether in what Clark is calling the "Superhuman Apocalypse". The only clue to this Greater-Scope Villain so far came from Diana's report that it was someone with a lot of money and an authoritative demeanor, like "a General."
• Magic A Is Magic A: Clark is shocked when he first gets his hands on a sample of Compound V and realizes that it includes elements of Kryptonian blood.
• Make It Look Like an Accident:
  • Perry warns Lois that this will happen to her if she tries to expose any Supes for their crimes.
  • After Lois kills Mesmer, she posts a fake suicide note on his Twitter to make it look like he's going to kill himself. Lois is sure the cops won't question anything because she was wearing gloves, she used an untraceable gun, and Mesmer was already a reclusive drunk.
• Malicious Slander: Due to the many Supes' bad reputations, Clark is subjected to quite a few nasty rumors about him being a corrupt monster. Even Annie, despite knowing Clark personally, can't help but be taken in by them.
• MegaCorp: Vought is powerful enough to sponsor large sporting contests, run a college, and manage to buy up a huge chunk of the media, including the Daily Planet.
• Megaton Punch: Clark demonstrates this during the Flight 37 hijacking, using such finely-tuned control over his super-strength that he's able to create a shockwave so precise he knocks out one of the hijackers before Homelander can kill him. He also uses this to help level the plane out so he, Maeve, and Homelander can save it.
• Morality Kitchen Sink: Slightly more nuanced and complex than the show with the additions of certain characters to the story's conflict:
  • Clark Kent/Superman is undoubtedly white as the truest embodiment of a superhero in the story, who's not only a genuine Nice Guy but a Consummate Professional–he feels that his job is first and foremost about saving people. Nothing more and nothing less. He'll play the role of The Cape because it makes his job easier, but has little to no interest in the celebrity aspects of it, and is sickened by how deep the corruption in the industry goes as he's unwillingly dragged deeper into to save lives.
  • Meanwhile, other more well-meaning Supes like Annie and the Superdupers are either weighed down by emotional fragility or borderline-useless powers, limiting their effectiveness in the conflict.
  • Adding to that are the Supes that Vought has chewed up and broken to keep them complacent like Queen Maeve and Wonder Woman.
  • And The Boys, whose intentions are for the greater good, but are forced to cross ethical and moral boundaries to essentially conduct guerrilla warfare against an all-encompassing MegaCorp and the utterly corrupt near-Physical Gods it employs.
  • There's Vought itself, and the people running it are only interested in maximizing profits. That's all. The higher executives really don't care whether the world is better or worse off if they succeed in their goals, and only care about the damage Supes cause insofar as it impacts their bottom line. And even the best of them are still complicit in covering up atrocities. And they do shoulder the most blame for why the world is in its current state by accidentally making it possible for corrupt people to rise to such positions of power.
  • And then there are corrupt Supes like A-Train and The Deep who use their privileged position to get away with murder and rape, but have some sympathetic qualities that keep them from being completely evil.
  • And finally, there are Supes like Homelander and Stormfront, who are just straight-up evil and are legitimate dangers to literally everyone all on their own. But even then they're still just the malignant outgrowths of the violence inherent in the system.
  • And that's not even counting a supposed Greater-Scope Villain who has been around since the first V trials, and is seemingly the center of a nebulous long-term conspiracy to replace humans with Supes.
• Morton's Fork: When the Daily Planet is bought out by Vought, Lois Lane is forced to keep working for the Planet despite her distaste for Vought because her contract would prevent her from working for any alternative news companies if she was fired and she doesn't have any real interest in doing something else.
• Mythology Gag:
  • When Mary playfully asks the infant Clark what his superhero name should be, one of the names she suggests is Ultraman, who's an Evil Counterpart to Superman in the DC Universe.
  • Clark's outfit as Superboy is based on Conner Kent's Civvie Spandex outfit as Superboy.
  • The Superman film made by Vought features Dakota Fanning playing journalist Vicki Vale, which is the name of one of Batman's long-term love interests.
  • Jonathan mentions that Clark dated a marine biologist in college, likely a reference to Lori Lemaris, a mermaid who dated Superboy in the Silver Age comics.
  • The deaths of Daily Planet reporter Ron Troupe and Justice League supporting character Snapper Carr are briefly mentioned as examples of how ruthless the Supes are.
  • Homelander and Superman reflect on how the world feels like it's made out of cardboard.
  • Lois joining The Boys after the Supe Great Wide Wonder killed her college roommates in a threesome gone wrong and left their bodies in orbit mirrors the plot from The Boys: Diabolical episode "I'm Your Pusher". Great Wide Wonder is even stated to have died in a similar way to how he goes out in the episode; smashing into a solid object (a mountain this time instead of Ironclad's body) at mach speeds while high as a kite off of a spiked heroin enema.
  • Superman proposes working with the U.N to create a "League of Justice", a nod to his status as a founding member of the JLA in the comics.
  • In a dark Shout-Out, Jonathan Kent dies in the fic just like how he does in Smallville; suffering a heart attack while Clark is absent during a confrontation with an enemy who seeks to establish his own "bond" with Clark. Though in this case, it's triggered by Homelander accosting Jonathan in the belief that he is Clark's father rather than Lionel Luthor making misinterpreted comments about his interest.
  • Clark explains his need for self-restraint by telling a story of how he accidentally killed his pet cat, Goldie, with his heat vision when it was snatched up by an eagle, which is what happened with his son, Jon Kent, in an early issue of Superman (Rebirth).
  • Annie uses a signal watch to attract Superman’s attention at a key point, similar to the signal watch generally used by Jimmy Olsen in the comics.
  • Superman wearing a dark outfit when rescuing The Boys can be a call-back to Superman: Lois and Clark, when he wore a dark costume to avoid attracting attention.
  • Steve Trevor being African American is actually a shout-out to Wonder Woman: Earth One where that was the case.
  • Clark's fictional love interest in Dawn of the Seven is Lisa Lasalle, his love interest from Superman: Earth One.
  • This isn't the first time Superman has had a daughter, having Kara Kent in Superman & Batman: Generations, Carol and Jane Kent in Superman: Secret Identity, and Lara Kent in The Dark Knight Strikes Again.
  • Deathstroke's hatred of Black Noir, the resident Batman Parody, echos the famous animosity the super-soldier has with members of the Bat-Family.
• Noodle Incident: When Lois initially meets the Kents, Martha decides to tell her about "the Hamburger Incident".
• Odd Friendship: Clark strikes up a surprising friendship with Homelander. Despite John's initial hatred for Clark, he forms quite a bond with him to the point where Homelander is genuinely happy being with him because of Clark's honesty and true kindness. Things that John hasn't gotten as a member of the Seven. Homelander being who he is, their amity doesn't last too long.
  About 100 feet in the air above, [Stillwell's] Homelander was deep in discussion with Superman with a look on his face that she had never seen before. It was pure joy.
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: Inverted. Superman is in his mid-twenties, while The Seven are in their thirties, forties, sixties, and nineties.
• On Second Thought: Mary has no interest in helping Jonathan or Martha adopt and raise a "kidnapped" child... until she sees the young Clark's Super-Strength and thinks the future Supe would make an excellent addition to the family.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: When Homelander starts calling Clark "son"; Clark considers it a reference to Homelander being older while Homelander is setting up the idea that he is willing to acknowledge his potential identity as Clark's father.
• Open Secret: Most informed people like Lois Lane are aware of the corruption of the Supes community. But as much as they'd like to blow the whistle, they could be secretly killed for even lightly insulting the likes of Homelander.
• Out-of-Context Eavesdropping: Annie overhears Clark confronting Madelyn about how A-Train caused the death of an innocent woman, but doesn't hear enough of the conversation to assure her that Clark is opposed to the whole idea of covering up the death and starts to wonder if he's as bad as the rest of them.
• Patchwork Fic: For The Boys part of the crossover. Beyond the live-action adaptation, elements of the original comic book (and, by extension, Episode 3 of The Boys: Diabolical animated anthology, which takes place in the comic book continuity) have also made their way here, with characters like Great Wide Wonder and Auntie Sis getting mentioned.
• Parents as People:
  • Mary loves her children, but she ultimately puts her career first. She later regrets that her children have excluded her from their adult lives.
  • Both Jonathan and Martha Kent are the Good Parents, but the stress of Clark being involved in the Supes life causes them to smoke, drink, and stress-eat respectively.
  • Becca Butcher is trying to give Ryan the best life she can, but even she realizes she's raising him in a bubble, and can't protect him from Homelander forever.
• Playing with Syringes: This is why Lois keeps her Supe love-child with Clark a secret: if Vought found out about a naturally born Supe baby without any Compound V, there is nothing they wouldn't do to get their hands on her.
• Point of Divergence: Thanks to Clark's presence in this universe, canon events that would've occurred without him don't come to pass.
  • Flight 37 is saved because Clark joins Homelander and Queen Maeve in the rescue.
  • Thanks to a much-needed talk from Clark, Annie avoids going through a Crisis of Faith.
  • Lois finds out that Mesmer was planning on selling out The Boys to Vought and kills him before he can do that.
  • Rather than Homelander and Stormfront taking Ryan away from the Vought Compound, Kara Zor-El abducts him from the Kent Farm under the belief he's Kal-El.
• Poor Communication Kills: Almost literally. When Kara Zor-El first comes out, she's speaking Kryptonian, which Clark didn't have as much time to practice since his only experience of it was learning his alien origins. Since his speaking isn't that great, Kara thinks he's an imposter of sorts, and mistakenly thinks that Ryan is Kal-El, which leads to her knocking Clark almost to death.
• Pragmatic Villainy: At one point Stillwell reflects that the original Frederick Vought- who was an actual Nazi- would never give Compound V to outright terrorists, recognizing that such people would be too difficult to control at best and could outright destroy the world at worst, preferring controlled distribution to giving it out at random.
• Psycho Serum: As in canon, Compound V. It's all but stated that one of the reasons Clark is so much more well-adjusted than other Supes is because he wasn't injected with Compound V, his powers being the result of his Kryptonian biology instead. Although here it's slightly more justified considering that V is revealed to be derived from Kryptonian DNA, so slight mental instability might be a side-effect of the gene-splicing.
• Race Lift: When Wonder Woman is revealed as a former Vought hero, she reveals that the real Steve Trevor was a black man; he was presented as white to the general public because the standards of the time wouldn't accept a white woman and a black man as a couple.
• Refuge in Audacity: Mary advises Jonathan and Martha to claim that Clark is their biological son who was born while the Kents are staying with her as it would be easier that way than arranging an adoption for a known superhuman. The Kents question how this will work when Clark's already visibly a few months old and they'll have to wait another few months to fake a pregnancy, but Mary assures them that if they stick to the story, people will buy it.
• The Reveal:
  • Lois knows about Butcher and the rest of The Boys because she used to be one of them. Lois was an original member back when The Boys were part of the CIA and was recruited slightly after Butcher; she joined the group after a Supe killed her college roommates.
  • Auntie Sis is this world's version of Wonder Woman, and had tried to fight Vought's corruption in the past but lost after Steve Trevor was murdered and they threatened their daughter.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons:
  • Madelyn assumes that Clark is Vought's attempt at creating a better version of Homelander. Vought had nothing to do with his origins as he's an alien instead of a product of Compound V, but they are subtly trying to make him Homelander's replacement as he's much more mentally stable.
  • Homelander is under the delusion that Clark is his son that Vought manufactured from his DNA, it turns out that they are technically related as V is revealed to be synthesized from Kryptonian blood. Specifically Kara Zor-El's blood, making Homelander technically Clark's genetic nephew.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!:
  • Annie does this when she chooses not to make a standard pro-Christian speech but instead makes an honest plea about how she doesn't even know if there is a God, but people don't need to be Christian to be good.
  • Butcher attempts this to go rescue Becca and plans to go into hiding with her, leaving The Boys to Lois and MM.
  • In Chapter 21, due to some unfortunate miscommunication, Kara blasts Clark through a wall and flies away to search for Kal-El.
• Sensory Overload: One of the downsides of Clark and Homelander's Super-Senses is that they feel and taste things no one would want to. Homelander can't stop tasting the small amounts of soap in his drinking glass. He and Clark (surprisingly) have something of a bond over it.
• Sexy Shirt Switch: Lois is wearing one of Clark's shirts while watching a trailer for Superman: Steel Justice.
• Shipper with an Agenda: Donna tries to push Annie into a relationship with Clark because of the publicity it would bring. This has made Annie wary of pushing her relationship with Clark out of the friend zone.
• Shooting Superman:
  • A gangster tries punching Superman even after seeing that shooting him had no effect, something that Clark lampshades.
  • When Clark stops holding back against the superpowered terrorists, he walks through El Diablo's fire blasts unharmed.
• Shout-Out: In Chapter 19, when Superman reveals his alien nature to Diana Prince, she's shocked, and her description of what she thought an alien would look like–"blue, with a tail and tentacles"–sounds a lot like the ones from Avatar.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: When Clark rescues Annie, Lois, and The Boys from a CIA black site, he wears a darker costume as he observes his usual colorful suit would draw too much attention.
• Slave to PR:
  • A complex example for Clark because while he's a corporate superhero that has to project a certain image to the public (his sponsors even get to pick what cars he owns), it's more out of begrudging obligation to his aunt Mary. Beyond that, he only really cares about his reputation insofar as it makes his job easier and he understands that his superhero persona gives people hope, but he'll forgo it if/when he can get away with it.
  • Stan Edgar would like to make Clark the face of Vought since he finds Superman to be easier to manage than Homelander and most other Supes.
  • Most people see Clark's good guy persona as an act he puts on to the public rather than any genuine morality. Stillwell can't see his outrage at Robin's death as anything but superficiality.
• Sparing Them the Dirty Work: Annie wants to keep Superman out of The Boys because she doesn't want him to risk his glowing reputation doing their Dirty Business.
• Stage Mom:
  • Maeve is stunned and impressed that the Kents are quick to defy this, refusing to use their son as a show pony.
  • Donna January, who belittles Annie for having even a little bit of candy, only sees her friendship with Clark as a tool to boost her daughter's career.
• Stepford Suburbia: Vought Security Estates is viewed this way by both Clark and Becca: a seemingly lovely neighborhood that provides only a pretense of normalcy for Ryan, but they both know it won't serve him well forever.
• Strawman News Media: Vought is all too happy to cover up the misdeeds of Supes while appealing to the lowest common denominator.
• Stunned Silence: The entire crowd at the Vought sporting contest when a 9-year-old Clark manages to win a racing contest in a fraction of a minute.
• Sucky School: The Vought "college" Clark goes to is described by him as a barely disguised reality show with inept teachers who are shocked by Clark's wanting to learn and a toxic school environment full of backstabbing among students.
• Superman Stays Out of Gotham: Invoked. Not only has Clark been assigned to the west coast to keep him away from the Seven, but Homelander has instructed the rest of the Seven to avoid Superman as he dislikes being compared to the other man.
• Superpowerful Genetics: Being Homelander's son, Ryan has inherited the full array of his powers, and has the potential to be stronger than his father. Later, it's shown that Clark and Lois' baby is already displaying heat vision even in the womb. And when Kara Zor-El is introduced, it's heavily implied that Homelander and Ryan inherited their blond hair and blue eyes from her.
• Take This Job and Shove It: Lois tries to do this when she learns the Daily Planet is about to be bought by Vought, but Perry warns her that because of the non-compete clause in her contract, she won't be allowed to work in the news for five years.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
  • While Clark hates that Lois and Hughie have chosen to be anti-Supe vigilantes, he accepts them because he is short of any real allies against Homelander.
  • Clark and the military don't have a good working relationship: Superman is frustrated with having to serve as a weapon for the government, and the army is annoyed with Clark's constant, if well-meaning, acts of insubordination.
  • Similarly, when Clark is all but forced to be on The Seven, he only has positive relationships with Annie, and to a lesser extent, Maeve.
• These Gloves Are Made for Killin': Lois wears a pair of leather gloves when meeting with Mesmer to keep him from reading her mind and finding out that she's going to kill him for trying to sell The Boys out as well as keeping her fingerprints off the gun she used to shoot him.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill:
  • Lois is aware of this in regards to Clark, which is the main reason she hasn't confronted him about the rumors of corruption among Vought's other heroes, as she's aware that any confrontation between Clark and Homelander could only end with one of them dying as there's no other way to keep Homelander contained, and she knows that Clark won't kill. Lois, having suffered at the hands of Supes, has no problem executing Mesmer in cold blood.
  • Clark's unwillingness to kill causes a bit of friction with the other Supes he works with. Maeve, who has no problem executing hijackers, is stunned to see him go out of his way to rescue one of them. He also gives Maeve a slight Disapproving Look before covering the body of the hijacker she killed with a blanket. He has a more nuanced reason for not simply killing Homelander: killing Homelander won't solve the societal problems with Supes and Clark simply doesn't have enough support in the Supe community to get away with it.
• Underestimating Badassery:
  • When a 9-year-old Clark takes part in a Super-Speed race, nearly all of the other racers dismiss him. He not only wins first place but breaks the under-21 world record previously set by Reggie Franklin/A-Train.
  • A lot of people stare their noses down at Clark for his country roots.
  • After El Diablo engulfs Clark in a large blast of fire, she thinks about how she managed to kill the Man of Steel only to be shocked when Clark walks through the blast unharmed.
• The Unfettered:
  • As far as Homelander is concerned, any kind of moral scruples or integrity are just limitations meant to hold people like him back, and tries to break Clark of that mindset so they can both be free to do "whatever the fuck [they] want."
  • The Boys are a more reasonable take on this–their goal is to take down Vought and defeat corrupt superheroes to end the cycle of suffering, but they know they're punching way above their weight-class, so they don't have the luxury of holding back.
• Wham Episode:
  • Chapter 15 reveals two things: one, somehow, Stan Edgar knows that Clark is an alien, and two, Lois is pregnant with Clark's kid.
  • Chapter 16 reveals that Compound V is actually Kryptonian blood.
  • Chapter 20: The Kents secretly store Kryptonite in their basement, creating another flashpoint of danger in Clark's relationship with Lois, and a ticking time bomb for it to come out since it affected Ryan as well. Then at the Seven movie, Lana Lang returns to Clark's life with unknown motives, and Maeve tells Clark that she wants to help in his work facing Homelander and Vought.
  • Chapter 21 reveals that the Kryptonian Vought has been using to develop Compound V is Kara Zor-El.
• Wham Line:
  • In Chapter 15, When Clark was talking to Stan Edgar about if he has a plan to stop Homelander, since Homelander discovered Stan's contingency plans for him. When Stan tells Clark that he has plans to keep all superheroes in line, adding that at the moment, the public and nation are "so recently fearful of foreign-empowered aliens crossing their borders". At hearing this, Clark realizes that Stan knows about his alien origins.
  • When Clark gets his hands on the Compound V Annie got from Gecko in Chapter 16, he analyzes it with his enhanced vision. What he finds isn't what he was expecting.
  However, no matter what spectrum his eyes examined or how deep he looked into the genetic structure of the substance before him, it just confirmed what he had first seen. The vial, Compound V, the very thing that made supes, which had caused so much damage to the world, was Kryptonian blood.
  • When Mary asks Stan Edgar why he's helping her, Clark, and their family, Edgar gives her a look as if she had touched a personal nerve, something you wouldn't see from the cold-hearted CEO of Vought. As soon as she leaves, Stan whispers his answer: "...I owe his father.".
  • In a surprising turn from her canon selfishness, when Maeve gets Clark alone for a second at The Seven movie set, she says this: "I want in."
  • Chapter 22: While highly confused by Kellex's assessment of people with Kryptonian genetic markers, Kara Zor-El does a reassessment of the person she brought along with her, and Kellex reveals that on a genetic level, Ryan has the markers of being almost like her grandson.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Clark is extremely unamused to learn Lois and Hughie are Supe-killing vigilantes and that Hughie was using Annie to infiltrate the Seven.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Clark tells Annie the truth about Compound V, he also makes it clear that she has saved people despite her doubts, citing how she helped Hughie as an example of her saving someone.
• You're Not My Father: While visiting Ryan and Becca (read: trying to rescue them from Homelander), Clark makes it clear to Homelander that he is not his son. He doesn't listen and dismisses it as lies Vought placed in the young Supe's head..
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Clark is stunned to learn from Mary that Vought runs private prisons for superpowered inmates.
• You Remind Me of X: Annie privately muses at one point that she never had a crush on Homelander when she was younger because he was so similar to Clark that it would have felt weird since she basically sees Clark as a brother.

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