"The Kents didn't have an alarm system for him to disable"

October 28, 2020 6:38 PM

"Clark Kent invites Bruce Wayne and Diana of Themyscira to his parents' house for Christmas. It goes, in general, pretty okay." "Christmas in Kansas" by unpretty is a cute, sweet, funny fanfiction piece about Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman with tags "Christmas, Fluff, PTSD, the only real violence is in flashback form, aka that one scene that every single thing with batman has to have". An ebook with a pretty cover is available (although you can also download from Archive Of Our Own as ePub/MOBI/AZW3/PDF). Part of unpretty's "DC universe where moms are awesome and raise their kids right. Now with more melanin and queerness."
posted by brainwane (21 comments total)

OMFG Unpretty is so so so goddamned good.

One of my faves - Martha Kent, dealing with time travelers come to kill her son.
posted by Myca at 6:52 PM on October 28, 2020 [8 favorites]

Brainwane, you've been filling my life with so many good stories lately. <3
posted by ocherdraco at 7:12 PM on October 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

Christmas at the Kents usually has the potential for really strong story telling. There are a few out there where Clark invites J'onn (Martian Manhunter) J'onzz back to the farm to experience a traditional holiday that are really sweet.
posted by sardonyx at 7:59 PM on October 28, 2020

Ok, did not expect to tear up at the gift exchange part. Wow, this was good.
posted by KingEdRa at 8:11 PM on October 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

That was just so darn cute!
posted by ninazer0 at 8:44 PM on October 28, 2020

That was a bolt of pleasant warmth in an otherwise lousy year. Thanks for that.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:20 PM on October 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

The Batman: Brave and the Bold cartoon (which is really good, and in its own way a match for TAS) has a nice episode with Batman and Red Tornado at Christmas. It's silly and sad at the same time, and suggests that young Master Bruce might have actually been kind of a jerk kid, before his introduction to tragedy, and that might be something he greatly regrets as an adult.
posted by JHarris at 9:44 PM on October 28, 2020 [2 favorites]

This was a really lovely read, thank you! And it was great revisiting the Martha vs Time Travelers one.
posted by freethefeet at 3:24 AM on October 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

Folks who haven't already read a bunch of Kitty Unpretty's DCU and Batman work: I also recommend to your attention some more funny work by her:

"Bruce Wayne Banned From Walmart: a Snapchat Compilation" (podfic)

"Gotham's Favorite Son" about how Bruce Wayne is beloved in Gotham

"Nominal" ("Don't ask why Batman is sad unless you're willing to give him the time to consult his spreadsheet.")

"Gone Fishing" in which Bruce and Clark try to take a fishing vacation
posted by brainwane at 7:11 AM on October 29, 2020 [5 favorites]

Utterly delightful. Thanks for the warm fuzzies, and the links to where to find more!
posted by Ann Telope at 8:21 AM on October 29, 2020 [2 favorites]

That was so very sweet. Thanks so much for posting it.
posted by ceejaytee at 8:56 AM on October 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

Oh, and unpretty is also the author who did weedhorse69 (previously).
posted by brainwane at 9:21 AM on October 29, 2020 [5 favorites]

That's a nice story - thanks for the link. These days, all fanfic references to Batman make me think of "The butts match!" from Tumblr.
posted by rmd1023 at 9:36 AM on October 29, 2020 [4 favorites]

Oh man, weedhorse69 got me just now. Guess I'm going to start reading adorable Justice League fanfiction.
posted by sleeping bear at 2:51 PM on October 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

Not to the end yet, but

"That was a very oddly misplaced apostrophe."

Hah.

Thank you for posting this, brainwane!
posted by kristi at 8:42 PM on October 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

There's definitely a panel in whatever issue Superman meets Kyle Rayner for the first time that omits the caption where Clark decides he must never reveal that he knows Kyle is weedhorse69--to Kyle or any of the Justice League.

"Except Diana of course."

Clark could never pass up the rare chance to really surprise a woman who is 2000 years old.
posted by straight at 8:27 AM on October 30, 2020

One of the great little touches on the spreadsheet one is the scrollbars, and how many items they imply exist unseen off the bottom of the window.
posted by JHarris at 3:12 PM on October 30, 2020 [1 favorite]

I found this listing of her fics by topic to be helpful. (It’s not a full list, but has lots of goodies.)
posted by ocherdraco at 6:43 PM on October 30, 2020 [3 favorites]

That is just delightful
posted by AD_ at 2:08 AM on October 31, 2020

weedhorse69 has a pretty great cameo in one of Unpretty's other faux-tumblr fanfics
posted by straight at 8:01 AM on November 1, 2020

Took a while but I finished 'em all. Very nice.
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:27 PM on November 22, 2020 [1 favorite]