What it says on the tin, pretty much. Can anyone recommend any fics that are based around Superman keeping his powers to himself and living a normal life, only with superpowers?

Not necessarily "dark!Superman" fics, if those exist (no doubt they do, given red Kryptonite). More just... Clark Kent whose morality is closer to that of a normal person, rather than being a messiah.

Particular interests include:

- Clark serving in the military.

- Tech entrepreneur Clark.

- Sportsman Clark.

Not interested in:

- Stories involving significant elements of the DCEU.

- Stories involving too much alien shit.

 

Not a fic, but Superman: Year One by Frank Miller has one issue, its second, with Clark serving in the military. The setup is exactly what you want, but Miller's narration is rather divisive these days.

 

You might well know it already, but Red Son hits some of those marks.

This iteration of Superman is a lot more proactive.

 

I mean he wasn't raised with the values that made him an independent superhero, he was raised with the values that made him a super communist. He fights for a different side, yes, but it's impossible to call him a bad guy or a selfish/neutral character because he legitimately believes in the Soviet Union. His narration mentions being raised on a collective farm, so really what else could he possibly believe? The story throws Marx a huge fucking bone and assumes that the system would work if Braniac designed it, so everyone starving and dying isn't really the issue, it's an issue of peace and security against self-determination. I suppose the most selfish thing you can do is force your ideals on everyone else, but Red Son Superman continually refuses to take over Stalin when he eventually dies, and refuses to invade other countries. I'm not going to spoil the ending in case some people haven't read it.