Listen.
I don’t give a fuck what the show does. Jack is my marshmallow now. Plot be damned, I’m going with “innocent until proven guilty” and even if he’s the best manipulator on the planet I really don’t give a fuck.
I’m sticking him in fanfic. He’s going to be weird pals with Claire. He’s going to date Clark. He’s also probably going to date Adam while I’m at it. He’s going to be a normal kid. Unless he’s like… idk, crown prince or something or a mershark or whatever I want.
I don’t care what canon says, he’s my duckling and you can pry him from my cold, dead hands.