#The other two Teen Titans were unlikable anyways so I don’t mind them leaving

[youngbounty]

When reading Teen Titans (2016) issue 19, it came to me that the idea of Damian having an underground bunker their foes are imprisoned and tortured could work. Hear me out on this one! It isn’t the idea that places Damian OOC, but the execution of the idea.

What if instead of Damian having this underground bunker he is keeping from the Teen Titans, if instead he shows the Teen Titans this hidden bunker and EVERYONE decides together to use it for the purpose of imprisoning their foes? This would be the consequence of Damian choosing members that are former foes wishing to redeem themselves. By surrounding himself with Titans who are all former villains, he is choosing members with weak morals. As a result, Damian’s own morals begin to deteriorate, being his team are not condemning any inner conflicts he struggles with.

As a result, over time Damian gets to a point where he justifies brainwashing his prisoners and even killing Brother Blood. Not to cover his tracks but to protect his team. Also, it isn’t just Damian alone. His team is also involved with the brainwashing and torture, including the plan and action to kill Brother Blood (in other words, Damian wasn’t alone and some of this wasn’t his idea. He and some others also begin questioning their actions, especially Wallace who freaks out over killing Brother Blood).

Afterward, Batman, Green Arrow and Flash decide to dismantle the Teen Titans, realizing that the kids are deteriorating Robin, Red Arrow and Kid Flash (once again, it isn’t just Damian and nobody blames him alone or any particular person. In fact, since Damian and Wallace are the youngest, they assume they are gaining bad influence from the older members, including Red Arrow). However, Jon pleads with them to let him speak with the Titans. Batman gives Jon 24 hours.

Jon speaks with Damian in private and there is a fight (verbal), but Damian realizes after that he and the Teen Titans have gone too far as soon as Jon mentions the brainwashing and killing Brother Blood. Jon tells Damian that he knows he’s not a bad person, but as a friend is concerned that he’s going to do something he and his team will regret if someone doesn’t speak up. Damian admits he didn’t feel right about the brainwashing or killing Brother Blood. While he was alright with locking their foes up, containing the villains became harder than he thought and thinks now this was a bad idea from the start.

He speaks with his team and decides to turn the prisoners they’ve kept to the police and blow it up. Damian tells his team they are going too far and should not be in the position of deciding law and order or life and death. Until they are in those positions, they need to round up villains and let the police handle them, even if their methods aren’t perfect. Damian even offers the option to send these villains to the League of Shadows, JLA or Outlaws to handle them.

This creates a split between those in support of Damian’s idea and those against it. Kid Flash, Red Arrow and Jinn support Damian’s idea and agree they’ve gone too far and never felt right in their actions, while the rest think doing so will only lead to their escape. Jon stands between them to prevent a fight among the team and Damian makes the hard decision to send their imprisoned foes and the opposing team members to the Outlaws.

Red Hood agrees to take in the new recruits and complimenting Damian’s bravery in letting some team members go, knowing how hard it is to say goodbye to the team you’ve grown with. This would reference Red Hood’s old team. It’s a sad moment, but this results in Damian introducing two new members: Superboy (Jon) and Nobody (Maya). Damian chooses them since Jon had saved Damian from making the biggest mistake of his life and Maya because she insists to look after her little brother. Even though the Teen Titans have blood on their hands, Damian encourages his new team to never forget what they did and learn from it. It ends with the bunker blowing up and Batman, Green Arrow and Flash telling their partners that they’re proud of them and glad to see them back on the right track.

Instead of destroying Damian’s character, it would explore more of it by tackling how easy it can be to fall into past sins through peer pressure. This changes from Damian choosing to be a little psychopath to a kid that can be easily influenced by the wrong people if he believes they are good. It also would be the two Teen Titans that left in the end that had come up with the ideas of using the underground bunker as a prison, torturing the prisoners and killing Brother Blood with the brainwashing technique being the only thing that was Damian’s idea to protect his team. Damian can even still be the one to make the final kill on Brother Blood so the rest of his team wouldn’t have blood on their hands while giving comfort to Wallace and perhaps have a deep conversation with Red Arrow or Jinn questioning if what they’re doing is right.

[smxsonic]

A Maribat WIP that I started.

I Wanted to try my hand at Maribat as a NaNoWrMo Challenge, but things kept happening. Here’s what I came up with. It’s more a Super Sons Fic and it hadn;t even gotten to any Miraculous stuff. 

Damian Wayne used to know who he was. A former Assassin, The heir to the most powerful secret organizations on the planet, The son of Batman. He had given all that up to be a Hero, a peace keeper, and still The Son of Batman. Though it seemed futile, fighting supervillain after supervillain, only for said super villains to escape and start the cycle anew. With the ability to act as their executioner off the table, Damian had been content to imprison them himself. His team did eventually catch wind of this and he took his leave of the Teen Titans… and as Robin, well in an official capacity. Right now he was as much Robin as Thomas was. 

The one anchor Damian Wayne had left was Jonathan Samuel Kent. As opposed to Damian’s childhood training to be an assassin, Jon had about as normal as any kid could have being the Son of Superman and Lois Lane. Of course that changed when he and his grandfather went into space for what was essentially a field trip. What had been years for Jon was just weeks on earth. Making him a teenager when his parents had barely aged. Then he had some adventures in the 31 century with the Legion of Superheroes. None of which he’s allowed to remember because of spoilers. He had gone back to the present day because he heard about Damian’s underground prison and needed to straighten him out. During which, he had been de-aged to 13 because of some supervillain shenanigans. Not that his parents minded, and it said a lot about The Life when ‘Supervillian’ was ample enough explanation for Spontaneous De-aging. 

The two were sitting in a Wayne enterprises private jet. Though Damian was estranged from his father, that didn’t mean he couldn’t take advantage of the various connections that came with being the Son of Bruce Wayne. 

“Does your Dad know that we’re doing this?” Jon asked. 

“Tt,” Damian made his distinctive clicking sound with his tongue, “Whether father knows about our excursion or not is irrelevant.” 

Jon lowered his eyes in bewilderment.

“Although, if you’re asking if this excursion is known to the Justice League, then yes, yes it is.” 

“I guess that explains why Dad asked me to come along.” 

Damian scoffed, “Please, Kent. You’re only along since I’ve not finished training you, and right now you’re my only backup in the unlikely event I even need backup.” 

Jon sighed. He knew that it was Damian-speak for ‘You’re the only one I trust right now.’ Even so, why did the bat-family have to be so weird with their feelings? 

“Where are we going anyway?” Jon asked, “You’ve been sketchy about that for hours.” 

“We’re investigating some magical surges in Paris. I’ll give you a full brief when we land, but apparently for this and other reasons, Constantine refuses to step foot in Paris.” 

Jon rolled his eyes, “And look at me, late on all my french lessons.” 

Damian huffed, “Don’t take me for a fool, Kent.” 

He fished a small device out of his pocket and tossed it to the half kryptonian. 

“This translation device can decode some of the most convoluted alien tongues, It should help you fine with something as paltry as French” 

Jon affixed the device to his ear. He was the only one who actually needed it. He knew Damian’s family, and one didn’t become a bat family member without learning one or two languages at least. He knew that Damian himself had like 5 languages under his belt. 

[sleepylevii]

moon’s laugh

ship: rivetra word count: 1.9k warnings: one (1) bad word genre: canon | hurtcomfort/fluff

chile! here’s my first rivetra/first aot in general fic...i just lub them a lot...a lot of u guys asked for established relationship but i lich rally could not get this out of my head i just think it’s SO cute anyways here go:)

The warmth of the open flame that illuminated Petra’s face was the only source of light at the mess hall at this time of night. Even though she knew the moon was awake and based on Gunther’s ever accurate chats that it would be full, the orb had already passed by the sole window to her right side, leaving Petra alone with her pair of candles, one in front and one to her left so that her right hand would not cast a shadow on her work. She didn’t mind the dark, though–with the nighttime always came safety. A moment to herself away from Orou’s teasing and Eld’s chattering was perfectly welcome after a day as long as today has been.

It had started off as an expedition outside of the wall that was continued from the night prior. Due to an injury in her early teens, her lower back was home to lasting pain, and sleeping on the ground, hard–and cold, too, at this time of year–was no help. Without Hange’s specially crafted medicine for her, as she’d forgotten to take it with her before they left, Petra woke up in an uncharacteristically sour mood. Without a titan in sight, the group had traveled relatively far until they’d reached the chosen stopping point to turn around. The mission was only supposed to be a day and a half, a brief expedition to scour which land beyond the wall could be suitable for farming. It was nothing short of a normal expedition until Gunther’s horse spooked and tossed him, leaving Petra bringing his horse home as he rode on Eld’s during the journey home. Hange deduced it as a concussion, though not terribly bad, once they had made it back.

It wasn’t the worst report she’d ever had to write. Levi had begun to task her months ago with writing the reports that would be sent to the king as an update for what his branch of scouts was doing, as Titan activity had been relatively low recently. Really, it had been a general offer–Petra couldn’t yet figure out why Levi didn’t want to do it himself, as he typically liked to be in charge like that–but the others complained about the task, so she took it upon herself to complete it. It’s not like she would pass up on a chance to impress her captain.

For less naive reasons, Petra was very skilled in literary talents. Her older brother taught her to read at a young age, and words kept her company as he left to join the scouts. Now, books were both a painful reminder of what was and a hope to a more peaceful future. She’d scribbled notes in the margins of pages for as long as she could remember–an analysis there, a definition from Alec there, a letter to a friend, her grandmother–all were intertwined in language. Her handwriting was precise at the worst and not unlike a printed sheet of newspaper at the best, and her abilities to describe events and plans were unparalleled within the rest of the scouts, meaning Levi was more than happy to appoint her to accomplish the chore.

However, it did mean that there were nights–like tonight–that she was up far past the sun’s setting, pencil cramped in hand, a cup of tea by her side that has gone cold hours ago. As she finished up her report and scrawled her name at the bottom, Petra folded the sheet of paper in half and secured it with twine, laying it on the table for Erwin to pick up the next morning since he was visiting. She sipped the rest of her tea, blew out the candle, and with lidded eyes, made her way back to her small bedroom.

It was dark, and even though she was tired beyond belief, Petra was sure she knew the path to her own bedroom. Fairly sure.

She rustled around the room for a moment, fatigue exhaling from her quiet grunts as she attempted to cozy herself under the covers. But there was–something?–next to her leg–no, it couldn’t have been anything. Perhaps she’d left her pillows a mess before leaving two days ago. Besides, she wasn’t actively being hurt, so she supposed that whatever the problem was could wait until the next morning.

—

Just because a day was uneventful did not mean that Levi slept well. He wished it could be that way–after knowing all of his scouts were secure in their beds, titans slumbering under the safe eye of moonlight–there he would find peace. But it was not often so, and Levi found himself tossing and turning as per usual that evening.

But such trivialities shouldn’t have ever made their way into the mind of the captain, and he did his best not to entertain them. Covers pulled tight around his chest, Levi did his best to fight off any energy left inside of his busy brain and instead succumb to the sweet embrace of sleep, trying to keep the image of a certain ginger-haired girl out of his head.

Levi wasn’t sure if he was asleep or not by the time he felt a rustling near his back and a weight pull the covers off of him, but he was certainly awake by the time the ordeal in question was over. Normally, he wouldn't have hesitated to react–maybe he was asleep–but he had, and now it was silent.

Brows furrowed, Levi cautiously turned to his left, trying to figure out what had happened while making the least amount of noise and movement possible. To his complete surprise, he found ginger locks messily splayed on the pillow beside him, Petra’s chest gently rising and falling with her breaths. The moonlight cast a soft shadow across her face and for a moment…no. He had to have still been sleeping.

“…Petra?” he murmured, the faintest hint of a whisper leaving his lips. This had to have been a mistake. Petra was sensible, intelligent, and most important, focused on her work. Not him.  Perhaps she’d notice in the morning and skirt off before he awoke, and he wouldn’t say a word about it. Still…sleep hung from his eyes and Levi found it difficult to make a decision. This was what he had wanted for weeks now, was it not? It would be selfish to not wake her, letting her know that she’d made a mistake. But Levi Ackerman was sometimes a selfish person.

He rolled back over, breaths steady, and tried not to think about the girl slumbering next to him, the way her warmth felt in his bed. Goddamn, his brain simmered. You’ll pay for this tomorrow.

—

Petra woke up to sunlight dusting her face, squinting her eyes as she cleared her throat. With the daylight came another exhausting day of trekking through the woods, eyes peeled for roaming titans, and–within moments of opening her eyes, Petra was sure that something was wrong. There was a weight pressed to her side, over her waist, and the morning seemed eerily calm. Slowly, as if a sudden movement could trigger a disaster, she rolled to her side, wincing from the ache in her back. A single night of good sleep would not fix the chronic pain that plagued her. And then–oh, God.

If it was a dream or a nightmare, Petra couldn’t tell which–just that she found herself face to face with none other than her captain, still fast asleep, his arm draped over her side. Petra thought he looked precious asleep, the ever-present scowl gone from his face–but she couldn’t pull herself away from the panic that enveloped her. What happened? Why was the captain in her bed? No…why was she in the captain’s bed? That was even worse. If she moved, would he wake up? Could she crawl out without him noticing? She wished she’d never begun having that silly little crush on him, knowing nothing would ever come of it.

“Petra?”

The captain’s eyes flashed open, squinting in the sunlight as she had just moments before. Frozen, there was nothing she could do except stare at him, his deep grey eyes piercing into hers. “Captain, I–”

“I didn’t think you’d still be here in the morning,” he murmured, face softening.

Lips parted in a semblance of fear, Petra glanced away from his gaze. “I–I’m so sorry, I was–” She pulled herself up with another wince, getting ready to scramble out of the–his–covers–“I was up so late last night; I just, I–” She felt the pressure of Levi’s fingers around her wrist. His grip wasn’t too tight, however, she was sure he could feel her pulse, beating fervently. And then–“You knew I was here last night?” The question seemed to surprise even her, as if she hadn’t quite pieced it together in her brain by the time it spilled out of her mouth.

“I–” Now it was the captain’s turn to flush, lips pursed. “You’d had a long day, I…I felt it would be rude to ask you to leave,” he said. Petra didn’t think he sounded genuine. But, he continued: “I was being an asshole. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

Petra couldn’t focus on anything except for his hands gently tracing patterns on hers, as if he was distracted as well. “You–I’m not, um, uncomfortable,” she forced out, trying to regain her composure. “I just…oh, Levi…I don’t know what to say.” She turned her head to the wall, sucking in a deep breath. After a moment’s silence, she looked at him again, still laying on his pillow. “I should go.”

It was strange to watch his face fall in such a real way. It was not like the grief that gripped him on the battlefield as a plan went wrong, nor the annoyance with his teammates when they argued too much for his liking. No–his face was soft, eyes gentle as they fell from hers to her waist, then the covers. “You don’t have to,” he suddenly said, voice barely louder than a whisper. “I–I hope I’m not being too forward. But it’s still early. You can stay.”

“Oh…” Petra licked her lips. Was this a good idea? She turned back to him, and for the first time noticed a new kind of fear in Levi’s eyes. She felt like she understood, then–he wasn’t upset at her, or embarrassed–just afraid of losing what could have been. Slowly, the faintest of smiles spread across her face, eyes fluttering. This can’t be real. “I…are you sure?”

“Five weeks sure,” Levi admitted, his cheeks coloring.

Petra slid back down under the covers, cozying up into Levi’s open arms with a hint of a giggle on her words. “I’ve got you beat,” she said slyly, eyes fluttering up at him. “Four months,” Petra said, laughing at Levi’s surprised face. “You didn’t know, did you.”

“I…I knew,” Levi said, smirking.

“You did not,” Petra chuckled. “Knowing you…you would have made a move if you did.”

Levi gasped quietly, the blunt of her words surprising him. “I…I suppose you’re right about that.” There was a brief silence between the pair before Levi rolled over, burying his nose into Petra’s hair. “I’m glad you were stubborn enough to stay up late to finish that report.”

[nerdettedreamteam]

robstar week 2020: day one

hey! i decided to participate again for robstar week and my friend @samdraws715 and i have decided to collaborate once again! i hope you enjoy this years prompts by us, and go check out her page too! she’s insanely talented! here’s to day one!

Star-Aligned/Destiny

Earlier tonight, Robin would’ve never expected to run into four other teens like himself. All of them, in some sense, were on the run and alone. But he didn’t think that in just one night they’d stop an entire alien empire from invading earth. Not bad for a hero’s first meeting.

The five titans walked together as the night had now carried on. They looked around, trying to find an available place to stay.

“If we’re going to work together, we need a private place to stay.” Robin spoke.

“Hmm…” Beast Boy thought aloud as he turned his head looking around him, his eyes finally catching on to an apartment up ahead with a “for sale” sign at the front. “Ooh! What about there?”

“Yeah, because dealing with landlords sounds perfect for people like us.” Cyborg told him. “Besides, it looks a little run down anyways. Why do you wanna live there of all places?”

“Uhhh… free Wi-fi?”

Cyborg rolled his eyes.

“Maybe we’re better off finding a place that’s a little more isolated.” Robin told them. “We all have powers, and staying in a place like this could put the people already there at risk.”

“You do have a point…” Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head. “So if not there, then where?”

Robin pondered on this for a moment. “I heard there’s some small islands outside the city… it’s a little ways away on the water, but it should be big enough for all of us for now, and I think it’s a good distance from the city. I think we should stay there for now.”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful! I am most excited to see this island and stay by the ocean!” Starfire beamed happily.

Robin’s eyes glanced in her direction. She was from another world, so it was normal for her English to be a little broken, but her enthusiasm about staying with her new friends was as clear as day. In a way, he found her positivity and her childlike wonder somewhat charming. He liked that about her.

“I… think it’s this way.” He pointed straight ahead and the others followed him. Starfire flying ahead to walk with Raven, while Cyborg and Beast Boy started talking. Robin walked behind the others stuck in his thoughts.

Why wouldn’t she leave his mind? He hardly even knows her, and he has more important things to do than to think about stuff like this, not to mention he felt weird for thinking about someone who was only a few feet away from him.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” Beast Boy suddenly said right next to his ear, which startled Robin a little.

“What?”

“The blank stare looking at the ground, it’s obvious something’s on your mind. Now spill it.” Cyborg appeared on his other side.

“Nothing’s on my mind, okay?” Robin told them.

“Mmm, you sure?” Beast Boy smirked at him.

“C’mon, drop the act, man.” Cyborg cut in. “We already know what it is anyway.”

Robin felt a short pang of nervousness hit his chest.

Beast Boy looked into Robin’s mask, then looked forward in his direction, his eyes landing on Starfire, who was too wrapped up in her conversation with Raven to notice what was happening behind her.

“Ohhhh, I see how it is…” Beast Boy teased.

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re staring at the alien girl, that’s what.” Cyborg told him.

“Yeah, and you haven’t stopped staring the entire walk so far.” Beast Boy told him.

“I’m wearing a mask, you can’t even see my eyes!”

“We don’t need to see your eyes to know that look of looovvee~” Beast Boy continued to tease him.

“I don’t even know anything about her. She’s just…”

“Cute?”

“Attractive?”

“A good kisser?”

“No!” Robin lowered his head to hide the blush that started to settle on his cheeks. “I was going to say she’s…”

“Unlike anyone you’ve ever met?” Beast Boy added.

Robin raised his hand to protest, but thought about what was said. “T-That’s not a total lie… and I don’t mean it in that way.”

Cyborg and Beast Boy exchanged looks. “I’ll take what I can get,” Cyborg spoke. “but that kiss really did do somethin’ to you.”

Robin rolled his eyes. “It was just surprising, that’s all.”

Cyborg and Beast Boy had continued on with their own conversation leaving Robin alone with his thoughts again. Eventually his thoughts lead him back to thinking about her. He didn’t even know why he kept finding himself drawn to her. Maybe it was just the kind of vibe she gave off. Sure it was almost the complete opposite of his own, but he rather liked the sweetness she had to her. On another hand, she was also a mighty powerhouse; a perfect example of looks being deceiving. She nearly had everyone else beat when they were in battle, so no doubt she could take all of them out if she really wanted to. Her fighting skills were impressive, yet, she had a kind heart. He couldn’t deny it was very admirable of her.

“Robin!” She suddenly exclaimed.

Robin was taken by surprise as his thoughts were interrupted by the girl he was just thinking about. He walked up to the front of the group and stood next to her.

“Is that the island you spoke of?” She pointed to some small land a little ways away in the distance.

Robin smiled. “Yeah, it is. I think we’ll set up camp there for tonight.”

“Sounds good!” Beast Boy said. “Let’s go!” He morphed into a pterodactyl and started to take off.

“Yo, B! Think you could give me a lift?”

Beast Boy nodded, and flew back closer to the ground for Cyborg. Without any hesitation he grabbed the changeling’s dinosaur legs and the two took off. Raven was quick to follow behind them. Starfire was about to join them, when she noticed Robin still there.

“Oh! You cannot fly, correct?”

“Heh, yeah…” Robin chuckled breathlessly. “I don’t have the rest of my stuff with me at the moment. I’m sure if I did I would have something to help me fly as well, but—“

“Would you wish for me to carry you across?”

Robin’s felt his heart rate pick up at the thought. “Ah- Are you sure you want to? I could probably find some other way across—“

“It is no trouble at all, really. Do you want to?”

Robin nodded shyly and a small smile crept upon his face. This caused Starfire to beam once again. “Take my hand.”

Robin took hold of her hand, and then she grabbed his other. “Are you ready?”

Robin nodded, and without wasting much time, she gracefully lifted into the air. Once they were high over the water, he couldn’t help but feel a teeny bit nervous. He had never done this before and knowing that only her hands kept him from falling worried him. He lifted his legs a little and tightened his grip on her hands.

Starfire noticed and giggled. “Relax, I promise I will not drop you.”

Robin laughed a little as well, but noticed that her hands gripped his back tighter as well.

The rest of the ride was pretty silent, and after another minute or so the two had landed.

“Sooooo, how was the flight?” Beast Boy asked the two.

“It was enjoyable! I quite liked it.”

“Y-Yeah, so did I.”

“Cool! Well I hope you two get comfortable because we have our camp! I guess we’ll be sleeping outside tonight though, heh.”

Beast Boy suddenly tossed the two blankets. “Raven summoned them.”

Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven sat around each other talking while Cyborg and Robin set up a canopy like structure using what they had. Once they sat back down with the others, Robin sat up straight.

“So… we’re all in agreement that we’re going to stay together right?”

“Yeah! You guys rock! Plus, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t exactly have anywhere else to go.” He sheepishly smiled and rubbed the back of his head.

The others lowered their heads without saying anything, thinking the same thing as the changeling.

“Okay, so if we all want to work together, that makes us a team.” Robin stated. “Uhhh… so, who wants to be the leader?”

Beast Boy leaned forward and pointed right at him. “You should be the leader, obviously!”

“Really? A-Are you sure?”

“Well, I think you should be anyways.” Beast Boy put his hands on his hips and smiled proudly.

“Yeah, you really know how to take control, man. I think you’d be perfect for the role! Plus, you did bring us all together in the first place.”

Starfire and Raven nodded in agreement.

Robin thought for a moment, then laughed a little and smiled. “Okay, well… I guess I’ll be the leader.”

“Sweet! Now we just need a team name.” Beast Boy started to think. “Hmmm…”

“Maybe we should wait until morning for that… the name is kind of important for the team.”

“You have a good point there, Mr. Leader.” The changeling winked at him.

“Welp,” Cyborg yawned. “Maybe we should go to sleep for now. In the morning maybe we can start coming up with ideas for a home.”

“Oh, how exciting!” Starfire said happily.

“What she said.” Raven agreed.

“Night, dudes.” Beast Boy said before he morphed into a dog and stretching out on his blanket to sleep.

Cyborg’s eyes widened. “Uh, do you always do that when you go to sleep?”

No response came from him as he was already fast asleep.

“Well okay then.” Cyborg shrugged before he got comfortable as well.

The others got comfortable and slept under the stars. Robin rest his head and closed his eyes, thinking about how unexpected today had become. He never would’ve thought he’d end up with four other heroes like himself sleeping on a tiny island over the water. Then again, life was full of surprises.

A few hours had passed, and Robin’s eyes had opened. It was still nighttime, and he had no idea what time it was. He just decided to lay there a little longer, staring up at the stars wondering where life could take him next.

A few moments later, he turned on his side to see his other teammates still sleeping peacefully. Everything seemed just as it was, except one person was missing.

Robin looked around for the alien girl. Did she just decide to leave them? His eyes frantically searched until they stopped on a figure standing right at the edge of the island. Relief flowed through him once he realized it was her. He silently made his way to her and approached her from behind.

“Hey… what are you doing out here?”

“Oh, Robin, it is only you.” She said before gently smiling at him. She turned her head back towards the sky. “I am merely looking out to see the stars. I never knew they were this beautiful to look at from Earth.”

“Yeah… it’s nice honestly.” He walked up beside her.

There was silence between the two as they both stared up at the stars. The only thing that could be heard was the water hitting the edge of the island.

“I wonder if I am able to see Tamaran from Earth.” Starfire broke the silence.

“Tamaran?” Robin looked at her.

“Oh! My apologies… it is my home planet.”

“Oh, gotcha.” Robin felt like an awkward loser for being so blunt with responding. “Do… do you miss it?” He asked her, curious to know more.

Starfire hummed. “I would be lying if I said I did not. Tamaran is a lovely place, at least I always thought so.” Starfire paused. “I know I have only just arrived, but I think I like it here on your Earth. It is different, yes, but intriguing, and you all have been very nice to me… even though I caused the wreakage of the city.”

“It’s no problem, really, I’m just glad you’re okay.” Robin put a hand on her shoulder.

Starfire smiled at the gesture. “I would also like to thank you, Robin.”

“Me? For what?”

“For bringing us together.” She looked over to Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven still fast asleep. “When I left the Gordanian ship, I thought I would be all on my own, but ever since I left it has been quite the opposite, and I am still here with all of you, and now we are to be a team of heroes.” She turned back to face Robin. “That is all because of you, Robin, and for that, I am thankful.”

Robin gazed at her with fixation. She was insanely sweet and her way with words was adorable. But once he thought about what she said, he took her hands into his own, and her bright eyes stared into his mask.

“Actually, I think us coming together was because of you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah… I mean, if you hadn’t come to Earth, we’d all still be alone right now.” Robin began as he felt his face grow warmer. “I don’t know about the others, but I’m honestly glad this has happened. I’d probably still be on my own somewhere if you hadn’t showed up.” He chuckled a little. “So, I’m happy you helped bring us together. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”

Starfire blushed and continued to stare into his masked eyes. The moonlight seemed to shine even brighter on them in that moment, and they both stared at each other, filled with hope and wondering what the future had in store for them.

[fairymadnessyeah]

BNHA Ship to Finish the Year

KodaNuki (Kodai Yui x Honenuki Juzo)

Canon

When they graduate, they end up in the same agency.

The two are good friends, but they get closer when Kodai's PR asks Juzo for help.

Due to her resting unimpressed face, Kodai is not doing well in her publicity, so they ask him, who seems to be close to her, for help.

Juzo is supposed to talk to her, to try and convince her to smile more.

At first, he talks with her, trying to make her smile for the cameras. But it's very obvious she is not good at it either.

Her smiles look fake, and it looks like she is being coerced to be in the pictures and look happy.

It takes him a while, but he finally discovers a way to make smile, funny faces.

Yui Kodai, badass hero extraordinaire, giggles like a little girl if you make funny faces at her.

And Juzo's face, that makes the task of making her laugh easy.

The next time she has an interview, he places himself somewhere the cameras can't see him but where he is in direct line of sight with Kodai.

When the interview starts, whenever it's a good moment for her to giggle or smile, he starts doing faces.

It works. Kodai smiles, and the next day, her smile is plastered all over the city. 

But during that interview, something happened to Juzo. When he was making Yui smile, he couldn't help but feel like Kodai's smile was for him, and the two were the only people around.

It's like being hit with cupids arrow.

It's fast, it's unexpected, and it hurts.

Because when he gets the resolve to talk about their feelings, he finds her getting ready for a date.

He knew she had been chatting with Iida Tenya lately, but didn't know this was the direction it was taking.

He tries to be happy for her, but he doesn't like lying to her. But that changes when he learns that she will be moving away.

So, he tells her how he feels. He doesn't do it to make her break up with Iida or anything like that, he just wants her to know how he feels.

Kodai is confused, but she moves anyway.

A year later, they reunite in a class b reunion. Juzo is single, and Kodai broke up with Iida a month ago.

The two talk during the rest of the night, and then get coffee together at her place.

They don't start dating right away, since Kodai is still not over Iida, and doesn't think she is ready for another relationship at the moment. 

Juzo understands and they sort of agree that they are something, but they are taking it slow.

Four years later, they get married.

Family

Kodai's family is just her mom and her dad.

Unlike her, the two are super energetic.

They smile and laugh obnoxiously, scream and jump like excited children. It's a little bit surprising, since Yui is not that emotional.

The two are very happy to meet Juzo.

They make a feast for their meeting, and they present it with so much love that, he can't say no when they offer more.

He goes out of that with five more pounds than when he first came in.

When Juzo went to their home, he was expecting them to be put off by his face, but Yui's parents don't care. They are like two little kids, living in their innocent little world and accepting everything at face value.

Juzo's family is composed of his mother and his two little sisters.

I don't know why I imagine him with having a dead parent. Maybe it's how he is so responsible, makes me think he has more experience.

His mom is a famous hero-suits designers. She doesn't have that much money, but is well-off.

When she goes to meet them, the moment she steps inside their home, Kodai is surrounded by two teens.

Juzo's sisters are hero fanatics, and teens, so they ask her up a storm. They especially like female heroes, so they love Kodai already.

Juzo's mom also loves her, and asks her if she would let her re-design her hero-outfit.

I imagine that Juzo's mouth is from his mom, but unlike he, she uses a mask to cover it.

I think they would have two sons.

The first one is named Oyugo (swim), and his quirk is to soften his body enough that it can turn into goo. He can't move when he is like that, however.

The second son is named Kukku (cook), and his quirk is that he can soften other stuff to the point it becomes goo. He can also make them smaller.

You might be wondering why I chose those names. Well, I first thought about Oyugo, and I kind of liked the idea that he liked to cook, and he becomes a very successful chef.

But when I created the second son, and I was thinking what I could name him, I thought: 'Wouldn't it be funny if I named him cook, but made him a swimmer, like it got mixed up with his brother?... wait,'

So, here we are.

Oyugo becomes a chef, and Kukku becomes an Olympic swimmer.

I like to think that they have Juzo's mouth, but have Kodai's unemotional face. They have the best Halloween pranks thanks to that, since it's a terrifying sight to look at that.

AU - Theater Geek Couple AU

This is a High school AU, but I didn't want to name it that, so I didn't.

Kodai is a theatre kid who is shy outside of the stage.

There is a fan-club entirely dedicated to her. She has no idea it exists.

Juzo is a geek who helps with the costumes for the school's plays. He is a great cosplayer, and uses the school's resources sometimes, but he makes good costumes.

He likes Kodai, but he is too shy to even talk to her. He thought of joining her fan-club, but it's just a bunch of guys drooling over her in a creepy fashion. He knows they come to all the plays she's been in, and that sometimes they stalk her on social media. 

He is a little afraid they might try something else, so he tells the security guy and the drama teacher.

That is how they end up talking to each other on the first place.

The fan-club starts hanging outside their door after rehearsal, so they ask Juzo to accompany Kodai to her home.

Since he has seen them and knows who they are, he can identify them easily.

At first, they don't talk much. But as Juzo keeps walking her home, they start becoming friends.

Kodai start asking about his cosplay, and he shows her pictures, and one day, she asks if she can do it too. Juzo falls a little harder for her.

They start working on a couple costume and spending more time together.

But then, the fan-club start creeping up more. They go backstage to leave roses and gifts for her, which she doesn't want. It scares her a little, and she asks Juzo to stay with her at her home, since her parents are not going to be there tonight.

He accepts, and as they see some movies and drink a cup of coffee, they start leaning closer.

They don't get to kiss though, since a flash interrupts them.

Juzo goes to investigate and finds some of the guys from the fan-club. They ran when they see him, but they drop the camera.

When the two check it out, they see that they have been taking pictures of her in her home. Nothing that they could blackmail her with, she is dressed in all of them, but it is worrying they have so many pictures.

They call the police and her parents, and they fill a restraining order.

While that is being taken care of, Juzo stays with her until her parents finish talking with the cops.

They don't talk about the almost kiss, but she does sneak a shy cheek kiss.

They go to the con together, dressed as a Titan and Levi. Yui is Levi and Juzo is the Titan.

They have fun, and they act like they are on a date. When he takes her home, they finally kiss and start dating.

All of this AU developed from the idea of Kodai and Juzo cosplaying Attack on Titan, for Juzo's mouth.

Fanon Opinion

The two are too much of a background character for me to come up with anything.

Even after the Joint Training arc, they weren't used much, or at least, Kodai wasn't used much.

I think they are a cute couple. 

They seem like those couples who have like no drama in their lives, but really they are just good at dealing with issues.

I think they would be a couple who succeeds at communication, even if Kodai doesn't talk much.

In my mind that helps, because it means that when she does talk, people pay attention, since it means that whatever she is saying is important enough to be voiced.

There's no art about them that I could find.

There is Fanfiction about her, but she is not paired with Honenuki in any of them. 

Kodai is either paired with other girls or with Iida. 

And there are a few where she is with Sero or Midoriya.

And Honenuki is paired a lot with Shihai or other boys, sometimes with girls.

The gays are taking over. YAY!

I don't think many think about this couple. They are two shy people, and people usually prefer if there is more of a difference between their two characters for a ship.

I like the two as characters, and I have nothing against them as a couple. But being honest, they are not a ship I would look content for.

Like, if it appears or they in the background, I have no problem with it. But they are not a ship I would say: 'Oh, I wonder how this dynamic is!'.

I guess my problem is more to do with importance. They are extras in the manga, so I don't really care much about them. 

I mean, they are background characters.

I wish we could have more about them, and the rest of class B. 

[bisexualsforprompto]

Teen Titans AU Part 6

Hi! I’m so excited I was able to update at the end of the day today (phew barely made it). Hopefully you like this chapter, it’s mostly setting up for the plot (and climax soon) but I also added some Daminette fluff. Here you go!

VI

“Are you kidding me Kori?!” Asked Damian, “We’re not going back to the tower! We have to find Deathstroke!” Starfire shook her head at Damian, internally she was freaking out, she even wished Dick was here to help her lead this. “Damian, if we go now we’ll be underprepared and Slade is aware of your rashness, he’ll be expecting us. We’ll be pummeled and Marinette will go back with that psycho.” Kori responded. Jamie nodded at Starfire’s statement and sat down on the couch with Garfield. Team meetings normally weren’t so tense and they probably wouldn’t have been if Marinette was there to keep the peace, but Kori sent her to her room. The poor girl had gone through enough and she needed sleep. Damian and Jon were understandably furious but Jon saw Kori’s point, “She’s right you know.” He turned to his friend, who had his normal annoyed expression. Jon continued, “If we try to find them now we’ll be going in blind. I don’t want to send Mari away, but they know she’s here. What should we do Starfire?” Kori thought about it, “I-“ she was interrupted by a scream, Marinette’s scream. “I’ve got it.” Damian said running as fast as he could to her room after checking the camera they put in her room just in case. Nobody was in her room, she was just having a nightmare. Damian understood, sometimes he’d have nightmares about his grandfather. But Ra’s wasn’t coming back unlike Marinette’s tormentor. He quickly opened her door and tapped her until she woke up. “Did-did I do it again Damian?” She said with tears in her eyes. “Don’t worry Marinette, he’s not coming back. And if he does I’ll kick his ass, I’d die before I let anything happen to you.” He whispered into her ear. He felt relieved that the other Titans were in a meeting and couldn’t hear him talk to Marinette. He squeezed her tightly as she sobbed into his arms. “Dam-Damian?” She said looking up at him staring at him with her wide blue eyes. He couldn’t do anything when he looked into her eyes, he was intoxicated. Bluebell eyes continued to stare at him and he looked back at her with his piercing emerald ones. “Yes malak*?” She breathed deeply before asking, “Could-could you stay with me tonight? I feel safer with you.” Damian couldn’t say no to her, he already knew that, “Yes, I will.” He remembered he was a gentleman though and added, “Where would you like me to sleep?” Marinette paused and gathered up some courage, “could you stay here?” She said motioning to the bed she was on. “Are you s-sure?” Damian asked. He didn’t know what to make of it, he knew he would never take advantage of her, but he was surprised that after the Agreste kid she wasn’t afraid of sleeping in the same bed as a boy. Marinette nodded, “I-I am. I trust you Damian.” Damian nodded back to her and laid down. He didn’t mention that she had also trusted that idiot cat partner of hers, but he knew he would never hurt her and if he did, even just emotionally, he would never forgive himself. Damian held marinette as she slowly drifted off to sleep, he ruffled her hair soothingly, “I swear nothing will ever happen to you as long as I’m alive.” He whispered and he too, fell asleep.

The morning sun peeked through the windows of Titans tower. The team, aside from Damian and Marinette were awake for most of the night. Garfield turned on the TV to see if there was any news about the whereabouts of their blonde model. If this kid was really as famous as Kori had mentioned he knew there’d be news about him, and sure enough an anchor with dark hair and chocolate skin was talking about it, with a picture of the smiling blonde model on the TV.

“If you have any tips about where Mr. Agreste might be, call this hotline right now. Now to Mindy with an interview with one of Adrien Agreste’s classmates.” Lila and the interviewer panned onto the screen as Jon walked in. Lila spoke in perfect but choppy English,

“Oh I just hope he’s found soon! I don’t know what Id do without him, we’re such great friends, unlike some people…” The interviewer took Lila’s bait, “Who would be ‘some people’?” Lila put a hand to her head dramatically, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She’s been obsessed with Adrien since day one, she probably kidnapped him, or worse. She was always so jealous that he’d rather spend time with me instead of-“ Jon growled at the liar on TV, “Turn it off.” He told Gar. “But-“ “Turn it OFF!” Jon yelled. Garfield obliged and the other Titans trickled into the room, except for Marinette and Damian, they were still fast asleep. “Should we wake them?” Tara asked, motioning towards the camera that was taping Marinette’s room. It showed the bluenette and Damian sleeping side by side, with Marinette’s arms placed on Damian’s chest. “No.” Kori said, if the stakes weren’t so high she would even call the display cute, “They deserve a little rest.” Tara nodded and sat next to Gar on the couch. The two had gotten much closer since Marinette arrived, Gar had even told Jamie that Tara and he had kissed. Jamie wasn’t sure what to make of it, but he was happy for his friend. The team sat on the furniture as Starfire got up to make breakfast.

Damian was awoken by the ringing of a cell phone in his pocket. “Just five more minutes.” He heard Marinette mumble. Adorable, he thought. He slowly got up from the bed and answered the phone. “Yes Alfred?” He said in a hushed whisper, as to not wake up Marinette. She sat up anyway watching Damian speak. “No? Is anyone hurt? That’s good. Yes, I think that would be a good idea… today? In TWO HOURS?! Yes, yes sorry Alfred. I’ll be there, do you mind if I bring a friend? Good. We’ll be there.” After hanging up Damian sat on the bed stroking Marinette’s soft, beautiful hair, “My family has offered us their house in Gotham for the time being until we have a good plan to find Deathstroke and Agreste. They could use a little help with Gotham villains, and I think a change of scenery might be good for you anyway...We’d leave in two hours, on a plane. Is that ok?” Marinette nodded, she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little happy about going with Damian to another place, far away from Adrien. She thought it would be a good distraction to meet his family. “Ok, malak. Unfortunately you’ll have to get changed and we’ll have to leave almost right away.” Marinette looked puzzled, “Damian? What does ma-malak mean? I heard you say it last night too but…” Damian chuckled a little, “It means angel in Arabic. (*courtesy of google translate) You don’t mind me calling you that do you?” He asked, suddenly self conicous. He only called her that because he thought it described her perfectly. Marinette blushed, “I don’t mind, not at all! I-I-I ummm. CHANGE! I should change!” Damian held in a smile as the bluenette sprung out of bed and ran to her bathroom.

When Marinette was safely in her bathroom, she pulled out clothes from her closet (don’t question it) and woke Tikki up from her makeshift bed in the closet (Tikki wanted to let Mari have some space). “Oh my gosh Tikki, I’m hopeless.” Tikki giggled, “Is this about Damian?” “What how’d you know?!” “It’s obvious, you look at him lovingly, he actually smiles around you…” Marinette turned fifty shades of red, “I- uhhhh. I’m going to change now!” She shut the closet again and changed quickly into some warm clothes, she didn’t know a lot about Gotham except that the weather was generally colder there. She opened her closet once more and pulled out some luggage and packed as fast as she could. She took her purse and motioned Tikki inside. She grabbed her luggage and walked out of the bathroom. She didn’t see Damian, so she assumed he went back to the main room. She headed there too. The Titans had congregated in the main room when they got wind that Damian and Marinette would be in Gotham for a while. Jon didn’t want her to leave but he knew it was safer since only the team and the batfamily knew about them leaving. He wanted Marinette to be safe above all else.

Damian had packed and gathered in the room at record speed, Marinette was close behind. “So I guess you heard…” she said. The team nodded. Marinette was never any good at goodbyes, even temporary ones. Damian looked at his watch, they would have to leave soon if they wanted to get to the airport on time. “I wish you all the best in Gotham, you two.” Kori said. “You’re going to love Gotham,” Garfield jumped in, “Very inspirational.” Marinette nodded, it was awkward, these people had seen her at her worst and seen her laugh so hard she cried. She took a deep breath, “I know it’s only temporary but I’m going to miss all of you so much.” Jon sighed, it was going to be even harder to let her leave. “Don’t worry Mari, we’ll chat all the time. Maybe video calls?” Jon looked at Damian for his approval and he nodded. “I’m sorry Marinette, I know it’s not ideal but it’s the best temporary fix we have while we come up with a plan to beat Slade and Agreste. Plus, I’m sure my family could benefit from the help of a certain spotted heroine.” That made Marinette smile slightly just like Damian thought it would, nothing cheered her up like helping others. Jon pulled Mari in for a tight hug, Garfield, Jamie, Kori, and surprisingly Raven followed suit. Tara stood by Damian and when Marinette was released from the group hug she walked up to her and gave her a small farewell and good luck hug, nothing long but Marinette could tell she cared. Damian said a quick goodbye to his team and walked out of the tower, luggage in hand, with Marinette.

Damian took the Titans smaller car that was used for personal reasons, not Titans business and drove off as the two heroes waved goodbye to their friends. Marinette looked at him as he drove, she was content to let drive in silence, it felt like she didn’t need words at all with him but then she suddenly remembered, “Damian, what villain does your family need help with?” Damian sucked in a bit of air, “The Riddler and his son, normally they’re not much of a threat, but they’ve escalated and are appearantly planning something big. My ‘sisters’ are on a girls trip so my father asked for me to come back and help.” Marinette nodded, “it’ll certainly be a desired pace from Adrien.” She seemed to wince at his name, “and I can’t wait to meet your family, if they’re as g-g-great as you I’m sure I’ll love them.” She blushed. Damian blushed too, she thought he was great! He pulled himself out of his thoughts with a coughing fit, “We’re here.” Damian said pulling up at a small airport. Damian stepped out of the car and opened the door for Marinette, causing a whole new wave of blushes. They walked into the airport together and when they were cleared through security, traveled to the gate just in time for boarding. The Wayne’s had bought them tickets in first class that were next to each other. A TV and a small set of earphones were attached to the back of the seat in front of them. Marinette took the window seat and looked out the window as the plane started to take off, she looked slightly nervous. “Is this your first time flying malak?” Damian asked. “Y-yeah, at least for the first time when I was awake.” Marinette responded. Damian placed a hand over hers, “Is this ok?” He asked. Marinette smiled, “Thank you.” They sat in a comfortable silence for a while until they experienced turbulence. Marinette shut her eyes tightly and Damian came up with an idea. “How about we watch a Movie? It’ll get your mind off the flight.” Marinette nodded and reached for an earbud as Damian reached for the other, their hands touching briefly sending sparks and blushes through the teens’ bodies. They placed their respective earbud in and Damian searched for a movie. Marinette saw her favorite on the dashboard, “How about Enchanted?” Damian looked puzzled, “Sure. I’ve never seen it but-“ Marinette looked at him with wide eyes, “You’ve never seen Enchanted?! That’s it we’re watching it.” Marinette pressed a thumb to the movie and it started to play. Marinette seemed pretty engrossed as the movie went on and Damian found himself looking more at her than the movie. Soon it was over though, and they landed. “You were right Damian, that helped a lot.” She said looking gratefully at the dark haired boy. Damian gave her a slight smile, it was nearly impossible not to smile when she was around. Damian took her hand gently and led her off the airplane, she was awed by the sight of the city and thought of new sketch ideas right away. Gar was right, the city was inspirational. Damian looked at her and her dumbfounded expression and smiled a bit more, “Welcome to Gotham Marinette.”

Tag list:

@zebrabaker (sorry I don’t understand why it’s not working).

@2sunchild2

@northernbluetongue

@mochinek0

@violatiger8

@beaversuenightly

[p-eppermintea]

Absence

AO3 LINK

Pairing: Erwin Smith / Levi Ackerman (Eruri) Characters: Erwin Smith, Levi Ackerman Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Warnings: N/A Word Count: 1650 Tags: Hurt/Comfort-ish, Levi dotes on Erwin a bit, Canon Compliant, One-Armed Erwin Smith, Erwin feels sorry for himself, Caretaking, A little bit of flirting, also they argue Excerpt / Summary:

After losing his arm, Erwin seems absent.

After losing his arm, Erwin seems absent.

He spends more time than not staring into space. He hardly bathes, he neglects to shave, and he spends all day in bed. Between filling out the paperwork only he can fill out, not eating as many meals as he should be, and sleeping for far too long each day, he doesn’t really do much. A few people even swear that they’ve seen him cry a little bit.

It’s incredibly unlike him.

It’s incredibly unlike Levi to give a shit, and yet… He can’t help but fuss over Erwin a little bit; or as much as he can without getting on his own nerves, never mind Erwin’s. He hates seeing him like this. It’s only been a week since his injury, and Levi is already losing his mind.

It starts with Levi asking him if he’s okay every now and then. Erwin either just sits in silence, says a simple, “yes,” or tells him outright to leave him alone. It takes far too much willpower than Levi would like to admit to actually leave. Eventually, he takes to sitting on a chair outside Erwin’s chambers. Just in case he needs him. And if anyone finds him asleep in that chair a few times, they’re smart enough to not mention it.

He starts bringing Erwin tea. Just whenever he was having some himself. At least, that’s what he tells himself. It’s not like he’s ever needed an excuse to see him. These days, he drinks more tea than he usually does.

It escalates to Levi just hanging around in Erwin’s chambers. He’s run out of excuses to stay, so he just does it anyway. It starts off as Levi going in there to clean the place until it’s absolutely spotless. He scrubs the floors for hours at a time. He dusts each one of the books and their shelves, and then reorders them. Twice to be sure. Eventually, the whole room is clean enough to be able to eat off of any surface – not that he would, anyway.

He really can’t stand how filthy things have become recently.

It takes a lot of convincing, but he finally coaxes Erwin out of bed in order to bathe him. He’s incredibly thorough even when it comes to cleaning Erwin, much to the other man’s dismay. Levi doesn’t mind it too much, though. He’s already resigned himself to it; after all, he’s had to bathe Hanji more times than he would like to admit.

Erwin just sits there as Levi drags the sponge across his back in slow circles. His throat feels tight as Erwin lets him move him back and forth every now and then to clean different parts of him. The empty space where his arm once was is unavoidable. He thinks about what Erwin must’ve been thinking whilst his arm was being torn off. He must’ve been in agonizing pain, and yet they still completed the mission under his command. Looking at the man in front of him now, it’s hard for Levi to believe that they’re the same person.

Levi builds up a lather of shaving soap on Erwin’s jaw. He shaves Erwin’s face slowly and carefully, focusing mostly on the satisfying scratch of the incredibly sharp razor against his facial hair. It’s the kind of casual intimacy that he sometimes finds himself craving more and more the older he gets.

He gets half-way through when Erwin pulls back and smacks his hand away. The razor slips out of Levi’s hands and clatters onto the floor with a distinctly metallic clang. “Get me a mirror,” Erwin grumbles, “and I’ll do it myself.”

It’s a small improvement, but it’s an improvement, nonetheless. Levi does as he’s told.

So, yes. Maybe Levi cares about Erwin.

He worries sometimes that he cares maybe a little too much; and Erwin seems to have noticed that there’s something different. The longer he’s in there, the more Levi fusses, and the more Levi fusses, the more irritable Erwin gets.

He understands why. When Levi hurt his leg after fighting the Female Titan, he would’ve killed anyone who even so much as tried to dote on him. The only people he allowed any sort of leeway were Hanji and Erwin; and even then, his patience wore thin.

Maybe they’re not so different from each other after all.

It’s not until later in the evening, after Erwin’s bath, that he seems to snap.

Levi carefully hands him a cup of tea, stands quietly next to his bed, and drinks his own tea in silence. He watches Erwin, while Erwin himself looks anywhere but in Levi’s general direction.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he tries.

In one clumsy motion, Erwin throws the teacup across the room, barely missing Levi’s head with it. “I don’t need your fucking sympathy!” he shouts. The ceramic cup smashes into thousands of pieces against the wall, and hot tea drips down onto the floor in a dark puddle.

Levi whirls around and looks at the broken pieces on the floor. After all the cleaning he did earlier that day, too. He turns back to Erwin with fire in his eyes. They look just about as mad as each other. “Okay, asshole,” he hisses. He very nearly throws his own teacup right back at him, but he sets it down on top of a book sitting on the bedside table. “What the fuck do you want, then? To just stay in bed for the rest of your life, feeling sorry for yourself?”

“I want you to stop treating me like I’m a child.”

“Then stop acting like one,” Levi shouts right back. He yanks the cravat off from around his neck and throws it at Erwin out of pure frustration. It hits him in the face and lands limply on his lap. “You lost an arm, not your fucking mind. Get over it.”

Erwin stares, somewhat shocked, at the cloth on his lap with his mouth slightly agape. His face is hidden to Levi, and his mood is completely unreadable until his shoulders start shaking.

Fuck, is he crying?

Levi steps forwards, reaching a tentative hand out towards him. Perhaps that was too far. “Erwin…”

Suddenly, Erwin throws his head back and barks out a hearty laugh. He doubles over and laughs into his hand as his shoulders heave uncontrollably.

For some reason, it just makes Levi even angrier. “What are you laughing at?!”

This just makes Erwin laugh even more, and he clutches his side. He seems to calm down, wiping at the tears in his eyes. “Nothing,” he says. “It’s just good to see you acting like you normally do.”

Levi crosses his arms and aims a swift kick at Erwin’s mattress. He sits down heavily on his seat next to Erwin’s bed. “Fucking freak,” he mutters. It’s good to see him smiling, though, and he almost smiles himself. Almost.

He snatches his cravat back from Erwin’s lap and carefully ties it back around his neck. He can sense Erwin watching him in silence as he takes his time tying it meticulously. When he looks up, Erwin is looking right at him. He looks at him right back. Erwin may be a little gaunt, with dark circles under his eyes and missing a part of himself, but he’s still there. That’s still his commander.

Finally, he says, “You may be right. There’s still a lot to do. I can’t sit idly by, even when I’m like this.”

Levi scoffs. “Of course I’m right,” he mumbles. “We can’t both be dumbasses.”

Erwin laughs again, soft this time.

Levi picks up his tea and passes Erwin the book that’s sitting on the bedside table. “Quit staring and do something useful with your time.”

Erwin opens up the book and sets it down on his lap, using his hand to hold it open. It’s a book of poems – one of his favourites from his adolescence. He starts to read out loud, filling the quiet room with his voice. It’s soft and gravelly from far too long of not using it.

Levi just sits and listens while Erwin reads. He holds his teacup in his hands for a long time after finishing his drink, too engrossed to move and interrupt. Erwin reading to him is soothing, and his eyes eventually start to droop. It’s been a long time since he’s gotten any amount of sleep.

He doesn’t realise that his eyes are closed, and that Erwin has stopped reading, until he feels a hand on his knee. When he opens his eyes, Erwin is leaning towards him with furrowed brows. “Maybe it’s time for you to go back to your own chambers. Get some sleep.”

Levi is almost tempted to keep up his stubbornness and stay put. He decides to leave Erwin to it, though. He seems okay right now. He can leave for just a little bit. He stands up and stretches his arms above his head while Erwin folds over a page in his book and sets it down on the bedside table. “Erwin,” he says.

“Yes, Levi?”

“If you need anything, tell me,” Levi says firmly. “I’ll do anything you need me to do.”

“Would you?” Erwin asks. Flirtation lies heavy behind his bright blue eyes. It’s an extra step back to normality.

Levi pauses for a second. He looks up at Erwin from underneath his lashes. “Anything,” he confirms.

Erwin smiles. Levi smiles back, just barely. “I’ll be sure to let you know.”

Levi turns on his heel and heads out of the room. He feels bad for going, but he figures he’ll grant Erwin a bit of solitude, just this once. Just before he closes the door behind him, he hears Erwin moving in his bed, and the soft thump of his feet hitting the floor.

Two small steps in the right direction.

[taiblogcomics]

No Rave Reviews for Ravagers

Hey there, characters named after songs. Man, I looked ahead, and the next Teen Titans story arc is a long one about Wonder Girl. And, like... Cassie has been such a drag this whole series. I don't really want to focus on her right now. I mean, do you~? And so, let's do something a little different this week. I'm-a use my reviewer's privilege and drop in a substitute. One I've been teasing for, like, at least a month or so~

Here's the cover:

Hey, we've got an all-new team of characters spinning off from Teen Titans! How do we sell our first issue? We put boobs on the cover, that's how. I mean, honestly, nothing else is gonna sell this series. Three of these characters are basically all new, and the ones that aren't, we'd rather see in a better series than this. Nobody liked them in "the pages of Teen Titans", and no one's gonna like them here~

By the way, the cover also mixed up Thunder and Lightning’s names. Lightning is the blue-haired girl, and Thunder is the dude with the subwoofer in his chest. So, great job making us care about the characters, comic, when you couldn’t even care enough to get their names right~

The comic opens with the group bursting out of the ground to escape. Caitlin suggests that, based on the topography, they’re in Alaska now. That’s quite a journey from Antarctica. And right away, we see that not only is the cover trying to get you on a "sexy sells" sort of way, it's not even true. Caitlin Fairchild does not appear in anything as skimpy as on the cover. She is wearing a full-body suit with gloves and boots. Other than a couple tears in the fabric, she's completely covered from the neck down, and stays that way for the entire comic.

Now, I know why they did it, and I do mean other than to try to get you to buy the comic by titillating you with the cover. It's because in Gen13, it was a running gag that Caitlin's clothes would get destroyed during fights. Now, obviously I'm glad that's not the case here, but the point is that it's trying to make you think this is the same character as the previous series, when it's really not at all.

Anyways, Caitlin is also our narrator for the book. The group of them burst out of the ground, and are already constantly bickering with one another. This is a recurring theme throughout: none of them can stand each other. Caitlin's actually the only one who's likeable, because she's the only one saying "Look, we were all in a shitty situation, but that doesn't mean we have to be shitty people. We gotta work together, so we don't die, because we're still in Alaska." Nobody else wants to listen to her, especially Ridge, and the group points out that she looks like she'll be fine. Caitlin then suddenly loses about two feet of height and all her muscle mass. Her power is being able to get temporary super strength. Hey, as long as it's not ripping her costume up to do it.

Despite the fact that she's the only one making sense, none of the rest are willing to listen, and in fact several of the rescuees just fuck off out of the story. Beast Boy and Terra are the first to do so--so the only other recognisable heroes have left, and thus any draw the story had regarding said heroes--as do a couple minor characters named Windshear and Brighteyes. Ridge then gets pissy with Caitlin trying to suggest he's the reason no one wants to stick around, because he's one of the Ravagers who used to torment them. He in turn hates her, because she's one of the scientists who turned him into a monster. Not personally, mind you, she just worked there. Unlike him, who did torment kids personally. So, you know, completely justified, right~?

She convinces him to at least not snap her neck then and there, and the group is interrupted by a squad of some of Harvest's generic soldiers turning up. The soldiers immediately surrender, and while "we were just following orders" is not an excuse, the soldiers are laying down their weapons and not making any hostile actions. So of course, Lightning decides they should execute them. We actually get a little more characterisation for Thunder here. Apparently using his powers causes him pain, so he is very reluctant to do so. Lightning's powers work best when they're working in tandem, though, so his dilemma is that attacking the soldiers also hurts him. Not emotionally, though, so Lightning doesn't care.

Meanwhile, with those nothing characters Windshear and Brighteyes, they're flying along when they suddenly get spotted by one of Harvest's ships. Brighteyes uses her surprisingly literal power as a distraction, but it doesn't work. So Windshear? Just to increase the effort to make everyone in this issue unlikeable, he chucks Brighteyes at the flying vehicle and flies off on his own. This doesn't help either of them, though, as Warblade simply kills Brighteyes through the windshield, and Rose WIlson jumps out of the ship to land on Windshear, murdering him too. Somehow she doesn't get killed in the process and actually ends up back on the ship.

There's a long tense scene of both Caitlin and Thunder pleading with Ridge and Lightning not to murder all the surrendering soldiers, mostly based on the notion of "we can be better than them". It's fine, especially in helping make Thunder a more likeable character, but it doesn't feel like anything you probably haven't seen before. The group's ready to move on, which is just in time for the ship that Caitlin's been remotely calling closer to show up. Ridge points out that it's one of Harvest's ships, and that brings back bad memories, and gets pissy all over again. And like, first of all, no duh it's gonna be one of Harvest's ships, whose base did you just escape from? And secondly, you're in Alaska. Any ship is better than being in Alaska!

So because Ridge was pissy, karma swings back around again and the flight ship plows into the ground and explodes. Why? Because this is actually the ship that Warblade and Rose are piloting. I'm not even sure how that works, if Caitlin thought she was remotely piloting a vehicle but Warblade thought theirs was flying... I dunno. But anyway, Warblade and Rose pop out of the explosion and proceed to murder all the other survivors, leaving only our four protagonists. To get away from them, Thunder's powers turn on and begin carving away into the ground. It actually carves off the cliff-face they've been backed onto, like a Road Runner cartoon, and plunges them into the sea below, ending the issue.

My god, this issue is not good. The cover has all sorts of problems, which I pointed out. But even besides that, none of these characters are likeable. Like, don’t get me wrong, you have to have conflict in a story. But you can’t have nothing but conflict, and that’s what this feels like. Beast Boy and Terra were right to fuck off out of the plot early (unfortunately for them, they’ll be back). It’s just not a fun story, and that’s a bad sign when it’s a book about teen superheroes~

[aftermathdb]

DEATH BATTLE Review: Weiss vs. Misturu

Y’know, I had a gag planned when that required Weiss to be introduced after two other RWBY Characters that I don’t think I can do anymore since Weiss got introduced before them. Maybe I can do a deleted scenes thing later…

Two Ice Queens battle for the true reign over the ice castle!

Weiss′s Preview.

The world of Remnant is full of many things that make it famous. From the vicious creatures of Grimm, to the Huntsman and Huntresses that are sworn to fight them, and many many more. But in this world, you’d be hard pressed to find a person who has never heard of the Schnee family.

And like any famous family, these guys are like royalty. And their princess, is Weiss Schnee.

Like many children born to great families, Weiss’ home life wasn’t that fun. Her father had high expectations for her, and she was set to just run the place… Whenever that happens. But, in defiance to her father’s wishes, she got out and joined Beacon Academy, an illustrious school where everyone can learn how to fight monsters. And once she joined a team, she put the ‘W’ in team RWBY.

But Weiss can’t just get by with money. So like most Hunters (Which is what I’m going to be calling them so that I can save some space), Weiss got herself a weapon, which Boomstick nicknamed Merc-Nasty.

This rapier is nearly three feet in length, and, much like nearly every other weapon in the show, it doubles as a gun (insert “it’s also a gun” joke here)!

Myrtenaster comes equipped with a six-slot Dust chamber. And unlike the dust in our world, the Dust in this world is special. Similar to the materia from Final Fantasy or Crystals from Storm Hawks, these all come with their own stats and effects.

Weiss is a fan of combining water and wind to create Ice Dust

But, if you’re going to fight giant shadow monsters, criminals, and godzilla dragons, you’re  going to need way more than just a stick to fight them with.

Think of Semblances as “X-Men” powers. They’re all unique in their own ways. However, Weiss’ Semblance is a bit different. In the sense that instead of it being unique, it’s actually inherited through her family line. Kinda like the mark of the Joestar (Before you ask, no. No Jojo character is up next. I’m upset about it too).

Weiss’ Semblance lets her do all sorts of crazy stuff. From manipulating gravity, to time dilation, to manipulating dust.

But most impressive of all, is the summons, which lets Weiss act like Yuna from FF X and bring out monsters she’s beaten to fight alongside her.  And the most powerful one of all, would be knight, the Arma Gigas… Which means “Giant Armor” in Latin.

But yeah. Weiss’ family is pretty dysfunctional, and kinda abusive at times. Her Colonel Sanders-looking dad up there cut her out of the family line, leaving her piece of shit brother as the sole heir to the company.

But if there are any physical weaknesses Weiss has, it would probably be her durability.

Aura is finite, and takes time to recharge. Sure, you’re basically invincible when you do have it, but when it’s out, you’re out.  And compared to Best Girl Yang (Fight me), Weiss’ durability isn’t that great. And since using her Semblance also burns aura, she’s more likely to run out sooner rather than later.

But Weiss is pretty tough. She once managed to survive a train crash. Judging by the size of the fragmentation, and applying the appropriate mathematics, the amount of force Weiss withstood comes out to be about…

Not good enough?- Then how about the time she knocked over a giant mech that was designed to fight giant leviathan grimm?

Judging by the size of her partner beside her, Weiss’ output of force should come around to about…

And it’s unlikely that Weiss is doing this using only dust. So, by using the water,  we can get an estimate as to how much energy is being used for this attack.

For those of you wondering, this translates to over 230 tons of TNT!

Forget Dust. Weiss could make a killing on giving people renewable power alone.

Weiss might not be the strongest of her team, but with her newfound family, she’s certainly proven that she is far more than just a name. And she’s out to prove that this life is hers.

Misturu′s Preview.

In the early 2000s, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in Japan who hasn’t heard of the Kirjio group, a global conglomerate that was involved in nearly every aspect of daily life. .

And just like any other major company like this, they had a family. And this princess, was known as Mitsuru Kirijo

One day, Mitsuru’s Grandfather was experimenting with some sort of mental world called “The Mind Place.” Officially known as “The collective unconscious.” Because companies doing shady business deals is apparently something we should expect. When is news going to break out that Disney does have their founder’s head in a jar?

Anyways, the Mind Place connects every living being’s subconscious mind. Things known as “Shadows” lived there.

These things are basically demons. But if you want to see an inner demon, you find a person’s “Shadow Self.”

Surprise surprise, Grandpa Kirijo decided to try and get to the shadows for himself. But, as per usual, summoning demons never works out… Unless you play an Archfiend Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh, in which case, go nuts.

So, everything kinda went to shit because of it, and not only were the shadows released into the world to attack an unsuspecting populace, this tower thing here:

the Tartarus, arose. It’s basically the citadel between worlds. The earth was changed with a new “Dark Hour.” A period of time where everything freezes at Midnight.

Most people don’t really notice though. Time resumes as normal when it’s over, and almost nobody really notices.

Almost.

Some people can keep moving around in this time. Mitsuru is one of them. since she felt bad about her family’s company screwing everyone over, so she decided to fix it.

And while her rapier skills are certainly good, on account that she’s in the fencing club at her school, a small sword like that isn’t exactly enough to take down a bunch of evil shadows… Wait, hang on. Do both of these franchises have Heartless ripoffs?- Moving on, Mitsuru also has various abilities that she can use.

And on top of all of it, she even got a Stand Persona, named Penthesilea, which later grew into Artemisia.

With Artemisia by her side, Mitsuru has a lot of powerful ice spells that she can call upon in battle. So it’s basically a Stand except they don’t have that rule of “Only a Stand can defeat another Stand” thing going for them… Huh, note to self: Have Jotaro and Mitsuru get into an argument about terminology. Also unlike Stands, Personas can be defeated, but they’ll come back after a short time.

Similar to Stands, Personas also kinda reflect damage back to the user. But since it’s more linked to the personality rather than the soul or fighting spirit, it’s more mental stress if anything else.

Artemesia gives Mitsuru all sorts of awesome stuff. Like ice powers that could give Elsa a run for her money. It also grants Mitsuru enhanced strength, speed, and durability. In addition, it also makes her completely immune to the cold and ice-based attacks. I’d ask “Why the fur coat?” But, as we all know, Everyone needs a fur coat (And it’s a pretty nice coat). She can also sense her surroundings via analytical clairvoyance, which makes sneaking up on her pretty hard.

But, like all great heroes, nobody really does it on their own. Mitsuru created the S.E.E.S, or the “Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad.” A group of Persona users that were basically the Teen Titans, if they had Stands instead of superpowers. And, as an added bonus, it’s an after school club, so bonus extra credit!

And you might be thinking “How would one summon a Persona?” Well, since this franchise wasn’t done ripping off Jojo (I looked it up, Stands and the Stand Arrows were introduced about three years prior to Persona 1), they decided to uh… Use the Evoker… Which… Fair warning…

(I think I’ll take the Stand Arrow instead).

The idea behind the Evoker is that it evokes a strong traumatic experience to awaken a person’s Persona, similar to how Mitsuru’s first experience in summoning hers was also traumatic.

To add to the unsettling nature of this, you don’t just have it shot at you. You aim it at your face, and pull the trigger. DEFINITELY taking the Stand Arrow over that.

Anyways, with all that power, Mitsuru’s pulled off some ridiculous stuff.

Here’s an added bonus: One Persona user that could outrun a bullet fired from a Magnum. So it’s reasonable to say that Mitsuru could do this too.

If that last feat wasn’t impressive enough for you, Personas can move even faster. One of them reacted to and caught an arrow within milliseconds. And since Mitsuru defeated this user and Persona in a fight.

But if you’re looking for a durability feat, then look no further, because Mitsuru once survived an explosion.

This one to be exact.

This is easily the longest series of images I’ve had to upload in a row. And isn’t Boomstick a Poultry Scientist?- Why’d he say “I’m a scientist now.”?

Ahem, moving on. Artemisia also once helped out in icing these creepy puppet things:

Now, using the surrounding air and accounting for Nitrogen (As it makes up a good chunk of the air we breathe), we can get some calculations for this feat.

The energy output, after the calculations are done, comes to around…

Okay, forget Weiss supplying people with Power, Mitsuru’s where it’s at. Maybe she could slow down out polar ice caps from melting.

And after ending the Dark Hour and redeeming her family name, Mitsuru continued battling for people everywhere. One shadow at a time.

Not too shabby.

The Battle Itself.

Torrian and Kristina are here for animation, Weiss will be voiced by Kara Eberle and Mitsuru will be voiced by Corey Pettit, music (Winter Sonata) by Therewolf,  and audio by Chris Kokkinos.

So, we just jump right into the middle of the fight. No explanations, no story build-up, no nothing. It’s just like RWBY Volume 4! Ha ha! … Sorry, I, I just, I had to get that in there… God, that was a garbage volume.

So, with swordplay looking to be about even, both sides are basically going to be relying on their other skills for this bout. Y’know, a fencing tournament getting out of hand would have been an interesting story for this fight.

So, a bit of talking later, and the fight just picks up. And it occurs to me that they should have used this as the example fight for why the “FIGHT!” soundbite shouldn’t return. Like, c’mon guys.

Back on the fight, Weiss uses her ice powers to try to give Mitsuru the cold shoulder, but as we’re already aware, that’s not very effective.

And out comes Artemisia, which Weiss manages to parry some of the attacks, and opts to get the hell out of dodge after a quick burst of fire.

The Wasp up there is then sent to fight Mitsuru’s Persona while Weiss opts to fight Mitsuru directly.

But, let’s face it. The Rapier Wasp is a Bug Flying type. So Artemisia takes it down.

And with Weiss distracted, Mitsuru then gives her a kick to the face. That’s the face of someone who was wondering why she was just standing around when there was someone trying to kill you right in front of you.

But Weiss isn’t a fan of being kicked in the face, so she uses her gravity glyphs to make some distance.

And with that distance comes…

The Arma Gigas! Let’s be real, we wanted this fight so that we could see this knight fight Artemisia. After a couple of combos where neither side seems to make any headway, Artemisia then fires some frigid projectiles towards Weiss.

Her Knight, being a gentleman, takes the blow for her.

Weiss charges (with added assistance from her time dilation glyphs) and manages to actually stab Mitsuru.

Unfortunately for her, Mitsuru doesn’t go down that easily. And she uses Artemisia to knock them both down.

Finishing blow in 5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

Imperious Queen of Executions indeed.

Verdict + Explanation.

So, to Weiss’ credit, her versatility put up a decent fight. But she was pretty outclassed in other categories aside from speed thanks to time dilation.

But with Mitsuru’s analytical clairvoyance, that speed gap gets a lot smaller. To the point that Mitsuru’s the one that can outpace Weiss. Not that it matters, Artemisia outpaces Weiss a few times over.

Now sure, the time powers seem like an insta-win, right? Well, maybe that would give Weiss a win in some scenarios, but not all of them.

Since Weiss is extra reliant on Ice Dust, and her other Dusts are fairly lacking, Mitsuru didn’t really have to deal with fire at all. Especially since Weiss doesn’t have the best track record with fire (As we’ve seen from that fire geyser from before).

It also doesn’t help that the explosion from earlier is pretty up there in terms of destructive power. Power that isn’t really that low for anything Weiss had to really beat it out.

Using calculation provided by Boomstick (Yes, you read that right), the calculations can be made through the height of the bridge.

This puts the explosive yield to about.

And this is even accounting for the fact that the person setting it off wasn’t even planning on killing Mitsuru too.

Also, remember those big ice structures that each of them made?- Well, comparing them directly, Weiss’ energy output doesn’t come close. Even if one were to cut Mitsuru’s stat in half, on account that she had help for this feat, Weiss falls short. About a hundred times short to be exact.

At the end of the day, Mitsuru had the power, skill, and durability to take Weiss down. Sure Snow White there had versatility, but at the end of it all,

Overall impression.

I heard from a friend of mine (And I  read  it on the Persona Wiki) that Personas can’t really be seen by non-persona users. Whilst this doesn’t really make much of a difference since it was more exciting to see the Arma Gigas directly fighting Artemisia instead of having it flailing around while the Persona just chipped away at it, it would have been nice to have seen this acknowledged.

Also, I kinda had like… Ten jokes that I could have used for my own end quip, but I’ll just post that to my Deviantart account as a list.

Overall, the results are solid, the animation is good, and it feels well-made. Sure, Weiss’ death could have been a bit more brutal (I would have liked to have seen her shattering with the ice), but as far as underwhelming deaths go, this one wasn’t that bad.

6.9/10. It would have been higher, but we didn’t get a “Bites the Dust” reference for Boomstick’s end joke (The song, not the Stand).

Next Time…

MORTAL KOMBAT! DO do do do dodo doot do do doot do doot do do do!

By the Gods I have been wanting to use Johnny Cage for the story. And having another Nintendo rep is always a plus. This… Is gonna be fun!

Is there a fight that you want me to review? - Send an ask/request, and I’ll look into it!

Do you want to read my fanfic based around DEATH BATTLE itself? click here!

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you next time for…

Falcon Punch vs. Nut Punch

[darkspellmaster]

Young Justice Theory: Terra and Deathstroke’s relationship

Fair bit of warning, this is going to get a bit squicky, so a heads up for anyone easily upset by a comic nearly 30 years old that has some rather...nasty...implications. 

That being said in my other theory post I was covering the likely hood of the Judas Contract coming into play. One of the bigger parts of that story line is the relationship between Tera Markov and Slade Wilson and how it affects them and her brother Brion later in the story. 

As I said in my other post, I think that Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke, is in charge of the LoA and probably sitting with the Light now. I also surmised that Tara is probably working with him out of a sense of loyalty or possibly infatuation, one that was born probably on a savior complex that she has thanks to the treatment she’s been put through due to her uncle. 

Now while I don’t know exactly how this relationship will play out I do think it’s going to be darker than other versions that have been put to animation. However due to the factor that there’s some...less than ideal implications in this post, you’ve been warned once more about the history of these two characters and their relationship. 

Exactly what is the relationship of Terra and Slade at this point?

This is not going to be an easy area to talk about because of the nature of the relationship in the comics. Tara and Slade have very complex issues both born out of desires and needs. Though with Tera’s we were never given the full story because she wasn’t supposed to have one, persay. We were supposed to like her and feel, much like the Teen Titan’s, betrayed by her, as her character was supposed to be a dark mirror to one Kitty Pryde of X-men fame, and a subversion of the bubbly teen girl that joins the older cast of characters. 

However because Tera’s story and the complex emotions that this tale wrought with fans of the 80s, it’s been adapted several times over and in a lot of cases we got to see More of Terra’s story and how different forms affect her. 

So in Teen Titans, Terra was given a more “I need you to love me as a dad” type story with Slade, which for the most part sticks with most cartoon adaptations of the story. However, with the recent movie adaptation of the Judas contract we get a Terra that is a bit more interested in Slade.

In  this version Slade rejects her off and pushes her away, showing that he has a greater sense of morality and noting his other children in the story.

It’s important to understand where Slade is coming from in this tale, as his connection to the Titans runs deep, as it seems to run the same way with the core team in Young Justice. In comics Slade’s eldest son Grant became the Ravenger who worked for H.I.V.E, a group of assassins that worked for the H.I.V.E. Mistress who was Queen Bee (and later Adeline Wilson, Slade’s ex wife) and took on high profile contracts for murder and terrorism. 

Grant, who was a fan of Deathstroke, not knowing that was his father, became the Ravenger after his apartment was destroyed when the Titans were trying to save Starfire. As Ravenger he intended to take out the Titan’s team and allowed for them to give him powers like his father. However, unlike Deathstroke who also was experimented on -and who wound up in a coma because of it but somehow that helped him, Grant’s powers were unstable and killing him. Slade warned him not to go after the Titans in his condition, but Grant did not listen. During a fight with the team his powers burned out and killed him. He died in his father’s arms, leading to Slade swearing revenge upon the Titans. 

We know that Slade has been in the series since season 1, though his extent was limited there. It was only during the Season 2 time jump that we began to see a difference in the character and his expressing wanting to join the Light and sit at the table. (A small theory here though is that Slade maybe doing this in order to get revenge on everyone that ended up killing Grant, including Queen Bee, and YJ.) 

The importance though here is that Slade has been shown to be a caring father, one that even when facing his son and daughter in battle has been willing to protect them from others even as he’s trying to defeat them. These two being Joseph and Rose Wilson (Jericho and Ravenger II respectively). If indeed Grant died in the in between of the seasons, than it becomes a clear cut case on what the hell Slade is up to. However we don’t know that for sure at this point. 

Slade’s desire for revenge tends to override most of his own moral code, though in a lot of cases we’ve seen him show a desire to keep the kids out of it. 

Regarding Terra though, in most cases the writers mostly ignored or changed over the relationship between these two, leaving it more along the lines of the movie where Slade doesn’t try things with her at all even as Terra throws herself at him.

Yet…given that Greg has said they are going darker, and given the ambitious nature of this Slade over his various counterparts, I wouldn’t hesitate to think for a moment that he would be willing to have a sexual affair with this young girl.

Yes, you heard right, Slade and Terra were having a intimate relationship while she was either 14 to 16 years of age. He was basically allowing her to have him physically as a reward for her work with the TT.

From what we know at least when Terra was first created by Marv and George the idea was to create the Anti Kitty Pryde who was a big deal at the time in the X-men. Terra held the charming sweet girl look around the Teen Titan’s and wound up getting close to Beast Boy.

However around Slade she was a rather different person.

(Of note in a specific scene where she is talking with Slade she specifically mentions camera contact lenses, and who on the YJ crew has been using those recently. If you said Dick Grayson, you are correct. On top of that the image of Terra that we see in Black Spider’s introduction has red eyes, making me wonder if it’s night goggles, her powers being used, or the contact lenses she mentions here.)

Anyway, Tera in the Teen Titans here came off as someone much older than her own age. She drank, smoked and talked like someone in her thirties. Or at least she was attempting to. We know at this point in time Slade and Tera were in some sort of relationship. Though Slade’s own feelings for the girl is a mixed bag.

Various writers tend to skirt their relationship, but in some cases they pretty much lay out what was going on. Tera appealing to Slade’s loneliness, though in a number of cases it seems like she’s the one pulling the string in the relationship.

On the one hand we can at least, due to some writers, know that Deathstroke may have not been at all comfortable with sleeping with an under aged girl at the time. However his own desire to make the Titan’s pay for the death of Grant over rides this in most written adaptations, or, more frequently having it become a case where he regrets his choices with Tera and connects it to his own issues and at least doesn’t exactly brush it off. Though a lot of writers seem to skip over this, and play it out as Slade just manipulating her.

The bigger question becomes, at least with this version of the story, given that YJ is allowed to show death and blood now, will they be allowed to cover this aspect of the Judas contract?

(Using TJC movie version here for reference) 

Tera, as far as we know, hasn’t been fleshed out as of yet. We only have Brion’s word about wanting to find her. We know that she’s probably with Slade, and, let’s be honest here there may be some issues in regard to Tera seeing him as a savior figure. On top of that Slade kinda looks a bit like her dad, or an older version of Gregor in this version of the show.

So there may be more going on in her mind in regard to her feelings for this man over what we see in the comics. We know that, given what Sensei says, there’s the implication that Tera was unhappy at home and that Brion wasn’t helping matters in being off in his own world rather than realizing her issues before him. There’s also the added issue that, as we see with Terra later in the story, she has a mental break down when she’s betrayed by who she thinks is the man that she loves. (Namely this isn’t Slade it’s actually Jericho using his powers of possession to take over his father’s mind.) 

The problem right now is how to actually show how they are around one another. As I said before most versions play it more either as a father/daughter like relationship now. Or if they do have the implications of her wanting him, Slade tends to push her away as he has in other media, outright telling her to get off, or put on clothing. 

Yet we know that the show is going to get darker as the story goes on, and if Tera has chosen to be with Slade, there needs to be shown exactly why and what is keeping her there. A full on  relationship with him would certainly be something, especially if it’s going to be used to counter the growing relationships in the show, such as Brion with Halo, or M’ggan and Conner. By using them as two very lost people using one another to fill holes in their lives, it does give us a look into how broken Brion’s family has become by this point and why it’s going to be hard for him to go back.

Likely too, if Tera did feel that she was being ignored and not loved, Slade’s romance with her may be filling a need that she has and allowing her to feel more secure. Again, if I’m right about her being “saved” by him she may feel that he’s the only person that understands her or truly loves her. This could come down to (since we don’t have Jericho in the show…yet) Brion and Slade vying for her attention to stay on their side. Brion begging his sister to come back and Slade offering the path to the possibly desired world that she wants. This could lead her to choosing her own death and having it were Brion can’t save his sister, and leading him to want revenge on Slade for her death.

Given how Brion tried to kill Slade in Final Crisis itself, leading to him to slit his own throat so that he wouldn’t be taken over by Slade, we can assume that Greg would not at the very least have a fight between these two men over his sister’s death. (Regarding this Geoforce chooses to do this in the very alley way that caused the near death of Joseph Wilson, and rendered him mute from a partial throat slitting from a villain that was after Deathstroke for his activity as an assassin.)  Not only that, but one thing that isn’t discussed a lot is what Slade tells Brion about Tera and how close he was to her. Slade realized that Tera has a psychosis, something that pushes her to become irrational later and attack others when she feels betrayed.

During that time Terra pulls apart everything to kill Slade, the Titans and herself, not out of a feeling of guilt but because she felt like she was used and the fact remains that at least in the comics she was already insane. 

Tera’s clear over confidence is something that can be seen in her brother as well, since he’s willing to go to Infinity Island with just a two others to save his sister. I have a hunch that M’ggan will be taking up the role that Raven had in this story at the very least, given that Deathstroke has had a run in with Megan before and knows of her and her ways of dealing with things.

It’s interesting to note that at least in the comic Tera always seemed to overestimate the Titans, and I have a feeling that this Tera is going to do the same for YJ, though exactly how or why remains a mystery to me. I can assume that she may do her trick for the Outsiders that we have formed here, with the ramifications leading to Brion to wonder if he’s going to be unstable like her due to the work that Dr. Jace did on him.

I’m also guessing that Tera probably will have to come to some realization over just being simply betrayed here by Deathstroke given how his personality is in this story.

How this all works out…

In the end there is no doubt in my mind that we’re going to see Brion taking more of Beast Boy’s role in this story. Changing it more to a found family aspect vs. how your real family is. I have a feeling that with that, we’re going to see Tera used as a counter to the love that Brion is getting from the other friends that he’s made, and how she treats him.

I’m also going to guess that, without Jericho to take over his father, and given how Deathstroke was in the last two seasons, we’re going to see him pretty much turn his back on Terra after he points out that she’s useless now to him causing her to cave in the LoA, but not before Slade escapes leading to probably the big fight between Slade and Brion later in Part two with the two clashing over Brion feeling that Slade helped murder his sister and probably hurting his new found friends.

I also feel like Tera will be the one that will fight against Halo and probably push her to the limit of her powers. I honestly think that there’s going to be a clash of wills, ideals, and psychology in this story. And I would not be surprised if we see a teen Joseph, and a young Rose, at some point to show that Slade is more than just a killing machine.

We know that there’s going to be a match between Slade and the others as we see Forager coming after him in the trailer.

Only question now is when will we get to see this, and will Tera join the team and if so…how long before she turns against them. Because she will, it’s just a matter of when and why.

Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if word got back to Slade after the attack on Infinity Island that Brion is looking for his sister and he hatches a plan to use her to get to Team babysitter’s club. Betting also that between season 2 and 3 Grant was killed by YJ at some point, or at least their actions lead to his death and that may be what is driving Slade to make all the choices he’s making right now.

This should be a very interesting test to see how well Greg and Brandon handle this level of dark in the show.

[aquaburst3]

Since I’m kinda bored, I want to try this as a thought exercise. If in a one in a billion chance I was ever put in charge of a Teen Titans style animated show, this would be the line up and how I would characterize everyone. Like Young Justice, there will be a lot of alterations to characters to make them fit this new universe. 

Robin/Damian Wayne: To start things off, as for why I picked him, let’s face it, Dick and Tim are always the choices for team leaders for the Teen Titans. Hell, I can’t even think of an example of a TV series without either them as the team leader. Don’t get me wrong. Dick will always be my favourite Robin and one of my favourite characters in general, but seeing someone else be the team leader aside from those two would be a nice change of pace. I would still have Dick, Jason and Tim be a part of the show, but as side characters who are apart of Damian’s life rather then being main characters.

On top of that, having the team leader be the son of a great hero and villain would open up more opportunities for stories. Damian would have to struggle a lot more about which side of himself to choose and confront his grandfather. It would also give him the opportunity to grow into a leadership position as the story goes on rather then starting off as a natural at it.  Damian also adds to the theme of having the children of great heroes and especially villains that I’m going for here. 

As for his backstory, it’s pretty similar to what it is in the comics. Damian is the son of Bruce and Thalia, being raised by his grandfather to be the heir to the League of Assassins. His mother shipped him out to be with his father when he’s 14, planning to use him to rip apart Bruce’s plans from the inside. Instead taking his father down, he decides that he wants to change to be worthy of being Batman one day. But Damian has a long way to go, being a smart fighter, but lacking in...well...pretty much everything else. 

When Damian’s 16, Dick pushes him to join his old team as an attempt for him to make friends. This doesn’t go over well, getting into arguments with the other members like Beast Boy, Tempest and especially Zachary Zatana. Due to circumstances, including teaming up with Kaldur and Wally on an unplanned mission, who weren’t members of the other team, he makes up a team on his own that he’s the leader of. No more of Dick’s hand-me-downs. He has his own crew with a similar mindset as him. 

As for how I would characterize him, I would make him like a mixture of s0 and DM Yami from YGO in order to make him more likeable. Far less of a brat and Gary Stu at the start then his comic book counterpart.  Someone who has a conscience and has a good heart, being a caring and loving boy, but his methods of carrying out his actions are messed up due to his upbringing.  He can also be arrogant with a regalness about himself. But as time goes on and he spends more time with the team, he leans more towards the DM Yami side where his true self shines through more often. He calms down on the killing, but he can still be rather prideful, hot-headed and hides his emotions. His messed up side can creep up once in awhile as well. Oh, and he loves to draw and animals.  

 He also has a far healthier bond with his adopted brothers compared to his comic book counterpart, being the closet to Dick and Jason. However, he feels like he’s in his Robin predecessor’s shadows. He’s not as charming and sociable as Dick. He’s not as street savy as Jason. He’s not as intelligent or good of a detective as Tim. So where does that leave him? 

Also, Zackary Zatara, or Zatana’s younger cousin, is his rival on the other team. They often clash due to their similar and yet different personalities. 

Looks wise, he would have dark olive skin, black hair and brown eyes. He’s still very short for his age, which others tease him about. 

I would age up Damian to be 16. Just so he is a bit older, so that the series can tackle darker stories and has a bit more of a logical explanation for why he’s a badass.  (To be honest, I suck at writing child characters.) 

Aqua Lad/Kaldur/Jackson Hyde:  His origin would be more like his comic book counterpart then his YJ one. Instead of growing up in Atlantis, he’s an half Altantian boy, who grew up in New Mexico. He figures out about his powers during his teen years after he defends his adopted mother from a villain, being discovered by Aquaman before joining the team.    

Characterization wise, like his YJ version, he’s the calm and levelheaded one on the team, who is able to keep the peace between everyone. He took up the unofficial “second in command” roll on the team. Unlike his YJ version, he is less confident, since he’s first starting out. He speaks far less formally compared to his YJ counterpart as well.  

Like his reboot comic counterpart, he’s also LGBT. He takes his looks after his pre reboot counterpart. (So he has black hair and dreadlocks instead of a white fade, but still has dark brown skin and eyes.)  

Red Arrow/ Emiko Queen:  Her backstory is that she’s the daughter of Shado and Oliver Queen, being born back when they were dating and before he found out about Shado’s affiliations. She was raised by her mother to be an assassin just like her. Wanting to find out about the truth about her father, she seeks out Oliver and confirms that she’s his kid, saving him from assassination. Enraged about this, her mother holds her hostage, taking her with her in a helicopter, which was about to explode. She escapes and goes back to live with her father.  Not wanting to get her half-brother’s way, she decides to join the team to carve out her own path. 

Personality wise, she’s headstrong, determined and outspoken, which puts her at odds with her teammates. She is also more methodical and down to earth compared to Damian. 

Kid Flash/Wallace R. West:  To get this out of the way, he’s not the same character as Wally from Young Justice. He’s the son of Iris’ older brother, Daniel West/The Reverse Flash, making him Wally’s cousin. (Comics are confusing) 

Anyways, his backstory is that he was, at first, rebellious and got into trouble with the law a fair bit, resenting Barry for imprisoning his father. It wasn’t until he has a chat with his father, who’s in prison, that he tries to set his life straight again. He teams up with Damian on a mission, deciding to make a new team with him. 

Characterization wise, he’s pretty similar to how he is in the comics or like Jonouchi/Joey from YGO. He’s fun loving and cares deeply about his friends, being serious when he needs to be, but can say thoughtless or careless things and can be quite reckless. 

Looks wise, he has short, black hair; brown eyes and dark brown skin.

Djinn/Layla: A newer character in the DC universe, but I’m changing her backstory. Layla, who has flight, mind reading and spell casting powers, is a Moroccan girl. Her brother forced her to use her powers to further his agenda.  She ran away, using her powers in some small way to make amends for the horrors her magic has wrought. The last thing she wants is for her brother to find her. 

Characterization wise, she’s like a mixture of Raven and Star Fire. She’s optimistic, outgoing and socially clueless like Star Fire, but holds back parts of herself and has done horrible acts in the past that she regrets like Raven. 

[secretlystephaniebrown]

I'm new to the Batman comics and was wondering if you could answer a question? I saw another blog talking about Batman adopting kids and how it helped him recover which I follow for the most part. But then they said he relapsed after Jason. What happened to Jason? I don't mind spoilers, it helps me get through the darker parts.

… oh gosh you poor soul. 

Okay so um. 

Well first of all let me start off with saying that if you can find it, you should track down the animated movie Under the Red Hood. It’s a very solid, if streamlined, adaptation of everything I’m about to tell you, and it probably will do a better job than I ever could.

Let’s continue this under the cut, because this got long, and I have pictures, some of which will be… unpleasant, as will be the topics discussed. Warnings for violence, death, and references to sexual assault below! 

Now, since you’re new to comics, I’ll give you a quick rundown. 

(Batman (1940-2011) #368)

Jason Todd was the second Robin, and he had the misfortune of being the first attempt to make the role a legacy. 

He was a very controversial figure. Dick Grayson was widely beloved, and while Jason had his fans, he also was present in a time in comics when many people, both among the readers and the writers for DC, believed that kid sidekicks weren’t dark enough, and fans of Dick often found Jason to be unlikable and too edgy. Jason smoked, he was lower-class and drew attention to a lot of the less palatable parts of Gotham, his mother died of a drug overdose, and he became Robin by stealing the tires off the Batmobile. 

(Batman (1940-2011) #408)

And infamously, towards the end of his run as Robin, he might have possibly killed a rapist who would have gotten off otherwise because of diplomatic immunity. 

Batman (1940-2011) #424

… yeah. That was a thing. 

A lot of Jason’s “bad Robin” stuff which he has become slightly infamous for was in fact retconned in after… everything else, but, as seen in this story above, Jason was a character who was pushing a lot of traditional boundaries in Batman comics, and the violence and temper were there from the beginning, but it was presented as something that Jason was relatively in control of, and that Bruce was helping him with.  

(Batman (1940-2011) #411 - for context, Two Face killed Jason’s father)

But Jason had some bright spots; he joined the Teen Titans briefly, he was Robin present for For the Man Who Has Everything, one of the most famous comic stories during that time, and had a pretty decent relationship with Dick Grayson (which… they retconned later.) 

(Batman (1940-2011) #416)

And then, in 1988, one bright DC executive decided to try a gimmick to drum up publicity for the upcoming storyline Batman: A Death in the Family. (Because those always work out well.) It was decided that in the upcoming story, they would have a phone poll, to see if Robin lived or died. 

The vote was taken, and the people spoke. Jason was to die. 

(I’ll note here that there’s a LOT of controversy about the vote; apparently there was a robo-calling scam, people were charged per-call so younger readers couldn’t vote, people weren’t sure if the question pertained to Dick or Jason, and some people voted just to see if DC would actually do that.) 

So Jason undertook a rather fascinating story where he discovered that the woman who had raised him wasn’t his birth mother, and began to track down his birth mother. After a few false leads, including Lady Shiva, he eventually tracked down his birth mother, Sheila Haywood, who was a volunteer doctor in Ethiopia. Jason and her had a relatively cute reunion, before it was revealed that Sheila was involved with the Joker, who was blackmailing her. 

Batman (1940-2011) #427

Jason, against Bruce’s advice, revealed his identity as Robin to Sheila and offered to help. She then lured him into a trap, where the Joker beat Jason to near-death with a crowbar.   

(Batman (1940-2011) #427)

While she smoked a cigarette.

Batman (1940-2011) #427 

The Joker double-crossed Sheila, because he’s the Joker, and left her and Jason both to die in the warehouse with a bomb. Despite his injuries, Jason tried to rescue Sheila and get them both to safety, but he wasn’t fast enough. 

(For the record, anyone who blames Jason for his death here can fight me. He was trying to help his mother, and it bothers me a lot that most interpretations cut out this angle.)

(Batman (1940-2011) #427)

Sheila, possibly having some regrets, managed to tell Bruce that Jason had tried to save her before she died. Jason had no such opportunity to exchange last-words with Bruce. 

(Batman (1940-2011) #427)

Bruce had arrived at the warehouse just in time to see it blow up, which shook him to his core, and for which he blamed himself.

I can’t emphasize enough how huge this was to comics at the time; the death of Robin was a major shakeup to the status quo, and for years Jason Todd was defined as one of the three perma-dead characters in comics. (The others being Bucky Barnes and Uncle Ben.) 

The Joker then… went off and had a wacky sideplot about getting diplomatic immunity by becoming the ambassador for Iran, and then he tried to blow up the United Nations. It was… weird. 

But back to Jason, his death severely shook up Bruce for years. 

Batman: Gotham Knights (2000-2006) #45

His costume literally haunted Bruce in the Batcave in the form of the memorial case, and Jason’s death affected Bruce’s relationships with the next three members of the Bat Family; Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Cassandra Cain, while the Joker became cemented in his place as The Man Who Killed Robin. 

Batman: Gotham Knights (2000-2006) #44

Batman (1940-2011) #629

Brucefrequently hallucinated Jason, and his fears of losing anotherRobin/Batgirl/protege (compounded by the fact that The Killing Joke happenedjust beforehand) lead to extremely over-protectiveness towards Tim, and shaped hisentire relationship with Stephanie Brown prior to her run as Batgirl. Butthat’s a post in and of itself.

Jason came back from the dead in Under the Red Hood. (The movie version of which kind of… simplified Jason’s death by cutting out the bit about his birth mom. But the details vis-à-vis the Joker and the crowbar remained the same.) In the comic, we don’t see how Jason got resurrected, but it was revealed in a later comic that, in a major event called Crisis on Infinite Earths, a character named Superboy Prime punched the walls of reality and resurrected Jason Todd. 

Batman (1940-2011) Annual #25

Yes. Really.

Anyways, Jason then had to dig his way out of his own coffin in one of the most horrifying sequences ever. 

Batman (1940-2011) Annual #25

Jason then wandered Gotham in a catatonic state, living on the streets and scavenging for food, until he and his still-retained fighting skills were recognized by someone, who called Talia al Ghul. Talia tried to help Jason recover on his own, before realizing that wasn’t going to work, so she shoved him in the Lazarus Pit (against her dad’s wishes), which solved the catatonia, and, depending on your interpretation, possibly made Jason violent and angry. 

Most more recent adaptations/continuity reboots chose to place Jason’s resurrection solely as a Lazarus Pit endeavor, which I’m iffy on, simply because Jason digging out of his own grave was an image that really stuck with me when I first read the comics. 

After escaping from Ra’s, Jason started to figure out his new place in the world. Jason discovered that the Joker was still alive, and that there was a new Robin. 

Batman (1940-2011) Annual #25

Red Hood: The Lost Days (2010-2011) #4

This enraged Jason, who set about on a multi-year journey to learn the “skills that Batman never taught him”, before making his return in Under the Red Hood. (Which, I should note, occurred almost directly after the infamous War Games saga, where another Robin, Stephanie Brown, was killed. This isn’t actually addressed in the story itself, but on a meta narrative level, it’s interesting to note.)  

Batman (1940-2011) #635

Jason became a Crime Lord known as only The Red Hood, which was the Joker’s original nome-de-guerre. He played a series of mindgames and plots, before finally revealing his identity to Bruce. His endgame eventually lead to him kidnapping the Joker, beating him with a crowbar, giving Bruce a gun, and telling Bruce that he’d either have to shoot the Joker, let Jason kill the Joker, or shoot Jason. Bruce found a way around that, because he’s Bruce, but Jason vanished afterwards, leaving Bruce dealing with the fact that his greatest failure, to save Jason, had literally come back to haunt him. 

Jason went on to be a villain/anti-villain of various flavors, featuring in Battle for the Cowl, and the preboot’s Batman and Robin by Grant Morrison, before getting an image shift in the Nu52, primarily in Red Hood and the Outlaws, which shifted him into anti-hero territory. 

But that’s another story entirely. 

Hopefully this has answered your questions! Panel credits all go to @renaroo, who’s always the best to call up for screenshots.