seriousfic

Because I have this epic plot bunny of Scott getting the Anti-Life Equation and it being an actual big deal instead of some lame retcon. Like, when you break it down, Scott is an abused child. He was supposed to be raised by Highfather, who is such an archetypal model of parenthood that he's actually named Highfather, but he got screwed and had a childhood that's the worst of all worlds. An abusive father (Darkseid), mother (Granny Goodness), and foster system (the Orphanage). And then you add in the Anti-Life Equation and it's this big honking metaphor for the cycle of abuse--he has the power to take control and abuse anyone, to make them the scared little boy in the relationship--but done in a very Jack Kirby/Doctor Who way where you're not looking at it head-on, but coming at it from an angle so you're not just wallowing in misery.

And this way, the entire quest to destroy the Anti-Life Equation isn't just some plot coupon hunt, it's him trying to come to terms with his abuse (and since my story has him reuniting the JLI and romancing Barda over the course of the series, he literally needs his friends and wife to beat this thing). Whether he's interacting with Superboy or Nightwing, there's this subtext of legacy and heritage and abuse going on which any decent writer could make hay out of.

And the Equation isn't some curse superpower -- I think those are kinda bogus, if the character wants not to unleash it and the audience does, like with the Hulk destroying shit, because you're supposed to sympathize with the main character, not go "Shut up and Hulk out already!" (maybe that's why both Hulk movies failed). But I see the Equation as working like Confession in LotS--you use it once and you've mind-raped someone forever. You can't take it back, and so you have this ultimate power placed in the hands of a guy who wouldn't use it on his worst enemy because he knows that will make him as bad as Darkseid, not in some lame "I can't kill the Joker!" way, but in that Scott sees freedom and knowledge and tolerance as solutions, and Darkseid sees control as the only answer.

I don't know, I just think there's potentially something very primal and powerful there, while at the same time being a thick enough metaphor to still build some fun around it.

I was also thinking that having Kalibak be Scott's biological brother, personally raised by Darkseid, might be interesting. Way back when I watched the Superman cartoon, I actually thought that in the trade, Kalibak was Izaya's son and Orion was Darkseid's son. And among the "children of Darkseid," Kalibak is the weak link... he's just this dumb bruiser. But if you make him this counterpart to Scott who has embraced control and completely turned his back on the New Genesis heritage, suddenly you've got a proper arch-nemesis (something Scott unfortunately lacks. Much as I love Granny Goodness and the Generals, they're B-list, and Darkseid himself is a bit above Scott's paygrade. There needs to be a solid "Darth Vader" between Jabba the Hutt and Emperor Palpatine on the sorting scale of evil).