Kara/Alex
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Kara Danvers/Alex Danvers |
| Alternative name(s): | Alex/Kara, Kalex, Danvers Squared, SuperAgent |
| Gender category: | Femslash |
| Fandom: | Supergirl (TV series) |
| Canonical?: | No |
| Prevalence: | Rarepair |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | See Kara & Alex for their platonic relationship |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Kara/Alex is a femslash ship in the Supergirl (TV series) fandom involving adoptive sisters Kara Danvers and Alex Danvers.
History
Kara/Alex was one of the first Supergirl pairings to appear in the fandom for the Supergirl TV show; almost immediately after the pilot leaked in October 2015.[1] The pairing has always been one of the rarer ones in the fandom; the largest in Season 1 by far was Kara/Cat, and in Season 2 the predominant pairings were Maggie/Alex and Kara/Lena.
Season One: Tropes and Story Beats of Note
- In the pilot, Kara "comes out" as Supergirl by rescuing a crashing plane because Alex is on it. This is a direct reference to Clark catching Lois' crashing plane in Smallville, immediately establishing the pairing as equal in importance to that relationship[needs reference]. While in canon this is most likely intended to simply signal the importance of this relationship, and on another level to "romanticize" or raise their platonic bond to the level of the Clark/Lois pairing (quite formidable, given the pairing's nearly century-long history in mainstream media), Clark/Lois is undeniably one of the het ships and it is also undeniably a romantic ship. The fandom, as always, took that and ran with it.
- Alex's concealment of her employment at the DEO, when revealed, causes a rift between the two. This dishonesty/reveal/rift beat (especially around a secret identity) is a story beat commonly used for romantic relationships[needs reference].
- Alex is the figure who "saves the hero" on multiple occasions: Coming to her rescue when Supergirl faces Vartoxx in the pilot and personally rappelling down from a helicopter to pick her up, reassure her, and bring her back to the DEO for treatment; in "For The Girl Who Has Everything", she takes on the role commonly reserved for the love interest in being the one to break her out of the Black Mercy's telepathic hold; and in "Better Angels", Alex personally flies Kara's pod up into space to retrieve her after she saved Earth from Myriad, saving Kara's life.
- It's revealed in "Falling" that Kara herself didn't always view Alex as a "sister", and she still carries doubts and reservations over that, as well as Alex's jealousy of her abilities and advantages, her acceptance of Kara as her sister, and her motivations for lying to Kara about the DEO.
- In the Season One finale "Better Angels", Alex is the only one Kara doesn't say good-bye to in person because if she did, she'd "never be able to leave". When she's preparing to fly Fort Rozz into space and about to die, their good-bye (and Kara's subsequent rescue by Alex) is the climactic moment of the finale.
Season Two
Wank. Harassment. Receipts to follow.
Season Three
More wank, although there was still enough support for the Kara & Alex relationship after Season Two that the show made some initial efforts to focus more on Kara and Alex's relationship. However, fan bitterness over the events of SDCC 2017, dislike of Melissa Benoist for the same, Kara's display of depressive angry outbursts at the beginning of Season Three and its perceived signaling of the primacy of the Kara/Mon-El relationship, no Supercorp and minimal Katie McGrath, and some Sanvers fans' anxiety over the impending breakup of their ship--all led to an outpouring of wank that saw the previously fiercely-defended "sister relationship" called things like: "unhealthy"; "abusive"; "unrealistic"; "no one needs to see that"; and calls for Alex to leave Supergirl and get "her own spin-off".[citation needed]
Common Tropes in Fanworks
This article or section needs expansion. |
- Alternative Universes, including fics where these two were not raised as adoptive sisters.
- Alien kink/biology is common given Kara is an alien. These fics can include works featuring pregnancy.
- Red Kryptonite can lead to Kara confessing her feelings for Alex, or PWP scenarios.
Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanfiction
- Danvers times Danvers by silverwriter01, When Alex is testing out a new weapon to transfer DNA (one of her many potential plans to save her father), she accidentally shoots Kara in the ovary. Thinking absolutely nothing would happen, Alex never mentioned she shot Kara with a vial of her DNA. Yet something does happen: Kara misses her period.
- When Stars Fall by Artistia, How would Kara/Supergirl be different if she grew up a Grant?
Fic Recs
- 16 Great and Long Kalex Fics by femslash historian
Fanart
Fanvids
- In another life, I would be your girl by Victor Françoso
- The Sky and the Satellite by notonthisplanet
- "She Used to be Mine" by VenusKaMG
- Wolves by supergirlshero
Archives and Fannish Links
- Alex/Kara works at AO3
- Alex/Kara works at FFN
- Tumblr tags: kara x alex, alex x kara, kalex
- Kalex Community at FFN
- Kalex tag at Femslash Historian
- Kalex tag at Femslash Historian Fic Recs
- FYeahAlexKara (also reblogs various other Supergirl & other fandom femslash stuff.)
- Kalex Week
- Secret Kalex Santa
References
- ^ The first Kara/Alex fic in this fandom appeared on AO3 on 31st October 2015. Only one Supergirl (Kara/Jimmy) fic was posted on AO3 before this. By 1st January 2016 there were 14 Kara/Alex works on AO3, and 19 Kara & Alex works. The only pairing more popular was Kara/Cat, with 67 femslash works and 15 gen works.