#just thinking about tim telling yj about who his is a little after the team forms | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

starwalker03 · 1 year ago

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I have plot bunnies. Was wondering how time traveled WMLP Dick would explain having a healing factor like Slade's (Good luck with that Dick) ended up day dreaming into a new au and living up to my namesake. So idea: A government is trying to recreate the experiment that got Slade his powers and make their own unit of Deathstrokes. Dick or the team is investigating human tracking and human experiments. Dick infiltrates the facility but gets caught (suspend your disbelief here). Evil scientists decide to use Nightwing as a spare subject. Most of their subjects are dying anyway, and he's around the right age and health standard. May as well get some more data before they kill him. Slade who came to shut down the experiment for more personal reasons, finds Dick before the Team does.

I have this image of Slade finding Dick curled up in a cell. The roots of his hair are turning sliver in patches. Dick puts on a brave face and tries to barter his way out but Slade can see how exhausted he looks and guess what happened to him.

ooooooooooooooooh yes. mhm mhm yes very much.

I love a good plot bunny. nom nom nom. This is going in the sladick server for sure lmao.

Nightwing in the YJ show is always so fun to mess with because he is definitely Nightwing, like he's not some strange other version of the character with the same name. The story is very different, his role as a hero is very different, his experiences are very different, but he is still quintessentially Nightwing. I tend to blend all my canons together a lot to make stories but the YJ canon is really fun to mess with on its own sometimes, especially with nightwing.

He's just so young and like, different (?) to how he is in other storylines. like Nightwing of YJ is not Nightwing of Teen Titans. they're just not the same. and what we see of his relationship with Batman is so interesting. And then on top of that the timeline for the batfam is so weord to mess with because within five years Dick becomes Nightwing, Jason becomes Robin, dies, Tim becomes Robin, and there's no actual proof that Dick left Gotham for his own city, so for some reason he became Nightwing but stayed in Gotham but Bruce still went and found a new Robin? like. what?

ramble aside, Nightwing being captured and experimented on and saved by Slade before anyone else is so fun. I'm imagining this as like, post season two maybe? or actually no, cause by then he's quit as team leader. so imagine just before season two, maybe Kaldur has already started going undercover in the Light, and Dick gets captured. It falls under the radar a little because he's very independant and things with the light and the reach haven't started to boil over yet, so they assume he's got caught up in some other mission. unless of course he gets kidnapped on a mission. the absolute panic of that. THey've already lost one leader (Kaldur) under mysterious circumstance and now they've lost Nightwing too? Wally and Artemis having already retired from heroing and hearing about their friend going MIA is a Thought. M'Gaan and Conner being out somewhere else doing some other mission.

ooooh wait. in season two Dick has had to fall back on a support position as leader of the team, because they have had to start splitting up on multiple missions and the only way to effectively lead everyone is to be at the mountain on comms and computers. this would be a fun explanation for that. Him getting kidnapped and experimented on, Slade finding and saving him, helping him heal and figure out what's happened to him, and Dick skedaddling as soon as possible because he doesn't want to get double kidnapped and he can tell Slade is very close to doing exactly that.

showing up at the mountain after running from Slade, who has been giving chase... oh that's fun. makes me think of a series by mizufallsfromkumo called Gravity.

Anyway. He's barred from field action for a bit while the league makes sure he has a psych eval and stuff, cause that sounds like a procedure they'd have in place after someone is kidnapped and captured. And because of that no one learns about the fact that he's kinda sorta a supersoldier now and he wants to keep it that way. and then the season starts and he finally gets back in the field and everything. and when Slade shows up in the show he immediately spots Kaldur'Ahm and is like 'yeah there's no way this turned evil shit is real' and he hunts down Dick while he's on patrol to be like 'well hello there. so this can go two ways...' because he now has leverage.

him using Kaldur as leverage to make Dick strike a deal with him, so this time there's no running away. Dick showing up as renegade months later and no one putting two and two together because he's wearing a mask and he's not supposed to be a supersoldier.

I've realised I already have two different fics that follow a very similar plot to this lmao. one is from whumptober 2021 and the other is just only a few chapters in and I haven't had a chance to get back to it lmao.

What Kind of Man? is the idea of Dick handing himself over to Slade as payment for his silence about Kaldur and Artemis. Oh, Well, Call Off the Dogs, We Found Her in the Woods involves Dick getting kidnapped and experimented on to make him a supersoldier (and will eventually involve Slade).

Also if this is an idea you vibe with I would reccomend the series I linked before (although I think it's been discontinued? it's unfinished at the least) and also An Active Imagination by @withthekeyisking-writer. oh! and Dia a Hero by Foreverwhelmed.

I swear I had more recs to give... Oh! hang on...

Black and Blue Looks Good on You by Soul Tinkerer

and Persuasion (which is on hiatus) by Averia.

okay that's all I got rn byeeeeeee

#dc comics #fanfiction #dick grayson #young justice #angst #deathstroke #nightwing

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msfcatlover · 2 years ago

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Which Robin is Superman’s favorite?

Hmmmm… well, I’d say the variables would be how well he knows the different Robins, Clark’s own struggles with grief, and the fact that hero-worship is a very awkward thing to deal with. In the order they became Robin, my reasoning is:

Most people default to Dick, and I’d say as long as Superman was a relative newcomer on the scene when Dick was Robin, that’s a very valid take. Clark got to watch Dick grow up, was a huge role in Dick’s life, and clearly loves the kid somewhere on the grand spectrum of nephew -> bratty little brother -> adorable step-son. In continuities where Superman didn’t come onto the scene until after Dick was Nightwing, it’d be an easy slam-dunk thanks to Dick being the most affable, outgoing, team-minded, and (seemingly) level-tempered of the Robins; in those timelines, the only hurdles are that Clark technically didn’t know Dick as Robin, and there’s also Damian in the picture (who we’ll get to later.) I think the main stumble for Dick is continuities where the World’s Finest are both already well established by the time Bruce takes Dick in, because that’s when Dick’s hero-worship of Clark is going to be at its very strongest.

While Jason is a little star-struck when he first meets Superman (see: the full page of baby!Jay just saying “Wow!” over & over,) Superman isn’t his favorite hero, so I think Jason would have an easier time getting over that hurdle to treat Clark like any other hero. (Do we see evidence of this in canon? No, not really. I’m standing by it, though; Dick was an adorable beacon of awkward sunshine upon meeting Superman, and you will not change my mind.) In that case, Jason probably wins out, for having all of Dick’s sunshine with a lot less of the baggage, and Clark getting to see Jason also grow up, at least for a little while; however, it’s a very close race between Jason & Dick, and really comes down to how uncomfortable Dick’s early hero-worship made Clark. Of course, in continuities where Superman came onto the scene post-Jason’s death, the only Jason Todd Clark ever has the chance to know is RH!Jason, so… yeah, Jason’s coming in dead-last in those rankings. (I think they’ve had all of one? Significant canon interaction since Jason came back? Which I’m pretty sure is in the Outlaws series people keep telling me not to read. Also, it’s BS that DC keeps ignoring the veritable font of drama & emotion in how their characters could interact in favor of *gestures at the last decade of people being very angry about every choice DC makes* this.)

Poor Tim’s never going to win this one, I’m afraid. Given how pissed Clark got about Dick taking up the Bat-mantle after Bruce’s death, I cannot see him being okay with Tim becoming Robin if Clark knew Jason. If Tim’s the first Robin Clark meets, than Tim is the Robin who keeps leading the Teen Titans/YJ squads through/into trouble, and Clark doesn’t have the context to realize that’s normal. If Clark first meets Tim post-Red Robin, than Tim’s going to be measured up against the rest of his family, and Tim’s just not as good at making people like him as Dick is. Given time, Clark will eventually grow fond of Tim, but Tim’s fighting too many hurdles to ever win this.

Has Clark??? Ever??? Actually spoken to Steph??? Have they interacted at all in canon??? I feel like he’d adore her, if she just had time to make Robin her own and carve out her own space in the hero community. But DC didn’t give her that, so. No. At most, Steph is a tangential member of the Batfam to Clark, and y’know what? I think that’s a damn shame.

(While we’re on the topic: I haven’t read any of Cass’s time with the Titans or Outsiders, has Clark ever interacted with her? She’s not a Robin, but I’m curious.)

Damian is an abrasive little brat, but he’s Jon’s best friend, so Clark would have more exposure to Damian than almost anyone else outside of the family, and would have time to adjust to Damian’s… idiosyncrasies. I think in any world where Superman gets a late start in the game, Damian would win out by that fact, but in any other world there’s always going to be a part of Clark wishing Damian was more like his brothers—they were so much easier to to interact with!

(I still know almost nothing about Duke.)

So in worlds where Superman starts around the start through the late end of Dick’s Robin career, it’s a toss-up between Dick & Jason, and in worlds where Superman starts any time with Tim or later, it’s either Dick or Damian,

But you know what? In my heart, in the world where Steph got the chance she deserved, where she had all the sunshine Dick & Jason did as Robin, all the irreverence towards authority (especially Batman) as she ever had, none of the baggage any of the others carry (Dick & Jason in hero worship, Tim & Jason in taking on the mantle without Dick’s permission, Cass’s communication struggles, and Damian’s… everything), all the charm that makes us all love her got to shine through, and her own special brand of Robin snark got to be appreciated, she jumps right up there into both those rankings.

Give Robin!Steph more love, time, and adventures 2k23.

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incoherentbabblings · 3 years ago

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I was wondering. Has Steph ever interacted with Conner, Bart or Cassie or any of the YJ in general? If so what do they think about each other and vice versa?

There isn't too much because - tell me if you've heard this one before - Stephanie isn't allowed to have meaningful relationships outside of Gotham, but you can extrapolate a few things to say yes they are friendly. It's just never really shown in any meaningful way in the panels. She's friendliest with Cassie and Conner, but it's not hard to assume Bart too because honestly they're a pack animal and you can't have two without the third. So like... brief overview of Steph with YJ/Titans:

She was an extended member of the original YJ team, popping up in the last arc as a member called by Cassie to aid the team. She's seen dancing with Conner at a party. That's all very good. Shallow, but sweet (side note: don't ask what Courtney is talking about in this panel I'm just assuming nothing good).

2004-2008 DC really had it in for Steph, so the only two instances of interaction we have is 1) Conner being violent to her and threatening her because she has the audacity to not want to speak to him. I cut Conner some slack because he's going through a life crisis and is about to die in a few months but at the same time... none of that was Steph's problem. Like damn Conner you can't just go shaking girls off 13 storey buildings and yell at them even if you are feeling lonely.

When Steph comes round with Tim to help him resign from the Titans, Cassie assumes she's there as part of a recruitment drive the Titans are undertaking, and has no problem with her joining. They do have two very awkward non-conversations but honestly Stephanie is just a really awkward person in general who isn't very good at making friends on the best of days, so the whole 'my teammate brought his suddenly not dead ex with him who I haven't spoken to in two years to a meeting' is a supremely awkward set up I'd say.

Steph apparently had a good enough relationship, perhaps through Kara, for other Titans and JSA girls like M'gann or Courtney to pop up and help her right at the end of her Batgirl run. We never see this develop. So, a cool moment. Earned? Ehhhhhh.

Because Steph is not present for most of the New 52, we dodged that bullet, however Cassie is shown mourning for Steph after Tim goes kaboom in early Rebirth. But it's not exactly the words of a close friend. 'That Spoiler girl,' she says.

In YJ, clearly we missed some character relationship stuff, because Kon, Bart and Cass are all delighted to see Steph (or Earth 3 version of her), which... I don't know where that came from, but eh. Who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth. Cassie in particular seems over the moon to see her. Blondies stick together hehe.

The fact that Kelli is smiling too like she has never met Steph once which just makes me think Tim was running his mouth whilst YJ were reality hopping big time.

Finally, in Urban Legends, we get confirmation that apparently Kon and Steph text and call each other independently. Maybe all they do is talk about Tim, maybe they have a relationship outside of their pathetic little meow meow pal, who knows, but it's something.

So! Current status is: they're casual friends, but fuck you if you want to see it develop on panel. Just take our word for it. They like each other.

Honestly I'll take it. Anything for Steph to have some kind of relationship with her peers that isn't Tim or Cass.

#dc #stephanie brown #cassie sandsmark #conner kent #bart allen #ask and i'll babble

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ectonurites · 3 years ago

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thoughts on Cissie kissing Tim out of nowhere in Young Justice #17?

I swear to god some of u ppl read my mind I was JUST thinking about that yesterday

But I was thinking about it in terms of ‘how id make this about Cissie having a crush on Cassie but being closeted’ for the sake of a cissiecassie fic i one day want to write as opposed to necessarily how it went down in canon, but I will talk about both ❤️

So. Anyways. That kiss huh, it feels super out of nowhere, right? Lets look back at the whole scene

(Young Justice (1998) #17)

Cissie has this really emotional private moment with Cassie, a playful one with Bart, a tense one with Match pretending to be Kon, and then when Tim tries to do a normal goodbye (as basically the only one not trying to pressure her to stay/come back) she just... grabs and kisses him.

Now lets pretend we're back in December 1999 when these issues came out- and hop over to that month's Wonder Woman issue that starts off with this little disclaimer

(Wonder Woman (1987) #153)

What do we find out there? That Cissie apparently has a secret crush on one of their teammates.

(Wonder Woman (1987) #153)

So with the way things go down in YJ #17, it's pretty heavily implied that she was talking about Robin, and the YJ thing was just her making her confession bluntly as she leaves- a 'now or never' type thing. Overall it's kinda random still because before this stuff it really didn't seem like she had a thing for him (compared to how Cassie's thing for Kon was blatant) but 🤷‍♂️

I think it's interesting that she kisses him after specifically saying this stuff though:

(Young Justice (1998) #17)

Robin (who at this point none of them have seen unmasked AND don't know the name of) is arguably the person they know the least about- seems a little odd that she'd make such a point of calling out how little they know each other before confessing feelings she apparently has for the most closed off member of the team via a kiss.

WHICH is part of what leads into my queer hc reading of all of it:

Cissie does not actually have a crush on Robin, it was just something she said to get Cassie off her case at some point*, and Cissie kissed him as an impulsive thing because she wanted to make a dramatic exit that would leave everyone more confused than anything else, as a distraction from feeling sad (because as evidenced by the tears, Cassie in particular was sad) and this opportunity just presented itself (especially bc Cassie had urged Tim to say something to her- Cissie could easily think 'Cassie thinks I like him and is trying to use him to sway me into staying, doing this and exiting will make a big scene and show how serious I am about leaving')

Obviously that wasn't the actual intent as it was written, the intent was probably more something like 'oh surprise drama! Cissie had a secret crush on him the whole time!' BUT I can interpret things how I want to for fun <3

*I imagine the conversation going something like this:

Cassie: Okay- well I told you who I like... do you like someone on the team? Cissie, thinking about that time she fell asleep holding Cassie's hand in YJ #7: It's none of your business, Cass. Cassie: Oh come on! You totally do- you gotta tell me, we're best friends, right? Cissie, panicking: Um... Okay, but you have to guess. Cassie: Bart? You did tell him that one time- Cissie: [laughs] Oh god no- he's like my little brother. I just did that to shock his senses. Cassie: Wait... is it... is it Superboy? Is that why you don't want to tell me? Cissie, rolling her eyes: Trust me, if I liked him, I already had plenty of chances. He's all yours. Cassie: Then it's Robin! The whole man of mystery thing does it for you? [laughs] Cissie, realizing she has to say yes now or else Cassie might realize something's up: Well, yeah, he's gotta be cute under that mask- I bet he's got pretty eyes. But... promise not to tell?

#cassie: of course! related but unrelated- do you want in on me & kon's bet about if he has acne under the mask?#dfhgj

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catxsnow · 4 years ago

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BROTHERLY DISTURBANCES W.W

Request: can i request a wally and batsis!reader trying to make out in peace but keep getting interrupted by her brothers?

Warning: fluff, kissing, implied smut

A/N: I love Wally West with my whole heart okay. He deserves better and I hope he comes back in season four of YJ 😩

Word count: 2.2k

It was great that your boyfriend and your brothers got a long. Wally and Dick were best friends long before you even met him. Jason liked the speedster too - you were sure it was because he reminded him of Roy a little bit. Even Tim liked Wally - mostly because Bart was one of his best friends.

Least to say, they were all happy that it was Wally that you were dating, not some asshole. You were glad that you didn't have to go through that awkward stage of your brothers intimidatingly asking your boyfriend what he wanted with you. Wally already knew them all, they knew exactly what kind of person he was.

Dick the most. Their time together on the Young Justice team proved a friendship that would never end. Having him basically be part of the family with dating you was even better.

You and Wally started dating after his endless flirting with you. At first, it had just been a joke to piss Dick off, before he realized that he genuinely had feelings for you. He was trying to spend as much time with you as he could get - and as a speedster it seemed that he had all the time in the world.

It took you a long time to cave to his pleads of asking you on a date. The second you did, it was like your whole world changed. Your brothers got closer to you, Wally was more loving than ever, you were happier. Dating Wally made you a better sister, and a better person.

The downside of them all being friends, was that you were often interrupted by them. Dick was always stopping by your apartment to hang out with Wally or you. It was nice to see him, but there were times that you wanted to get into a classic sibling throw-down with him as well.

Today, was one of those days.

For the first time in a long time, you and Wally both were free of university classes and missions. You got the chance to laze around in your apartment and just enjoy the presence of one another. Wally always complained about how slowly the days passed, but you knew that these were his guilty pleasure days.

The smell of fresh cookies filled your apartment, upon Wally's request. Rain pattered against the window, filling the empty noise. Wally sat in the arm chair in your small living room with you on his lap. His hand grasped your thigh as he met your lips. His favourite part about days like these? Getting to kiss you as much as he wanted.

Wally dragged out his kisses for as long as he possible could. It was one of the few times he despised speed. You smiled into the kiss, wishing that you could spend every day like this. Hands tugging through Wally's messy hair, the heat of his body radiating to yours. Nothing could ruin this moment.

Except for Dick Grayson.

You regretted giving your brother a key to your apartment. Especially right now, when he barged in without knocking. You nearly jumped off of Wally's lap, startled from his sudden entrance. Your fear turned to disappointment very quickly, and it seemed like Wally's did too.

"Cookies," Dick grinned, grabbing one off the plate and shoving nearly the entire thing into his mouth. He finally noticed that you and Wally were sitting on the chair, and awkwardly smiled at your angered look. "Bad timing?" It didn't take being a detective to realize what you were previously doing.

"When do you ever have good timing?" You glared. Wally tapped your leg, gesturing for you to get off of his lap, to which you complied to. Your arms were crossed over your chest as the two friends dabbed it up. In all your time together, it seemed like Wally was never mad at Dick for something like this, always you.

"What're you doing here, Rob?" Wally asked, using Dick's old nickname. His mouth was full of a half eaten cookie and you were sure the plate was going to be gone within the hour. As much as you loved Wally, he was a lot to cook for.

"Was in the neighborhood, thought I'd stop by," Dick shrugged. He swung his arm over your shoulder and when you didn't return his hug, he tightened his grip and completely messed up your hair. Of course, both boys thought it was hilarious to see you so frustrated about a simple fix.

Your peaceful day had come to an end as Wally and Dick settled on the couch and chatted about everything and anything. Their friendship had come first for longer than you were dating Wally and longer than you were siblings with Dick. It was often times hard to compete with that and over the years, you had just accepted it.

It was hours that Dick had stayed over, him and Wally laughing and having fun like the good old days. You loved seeing them happy like this, but you also just wanted your alone time with Wally again. Finally, Dick had decided that he used up his time and that it was time to head back to his own home.

The second that Dick left, Wally sped over to you and latched onto your waist. His lips crashed onto yours, missing your taste just as much as you had missed his. At that moment, your bed - even the couch - seemed too far away. Wally settled with setting you up on the kitchen counter, standing between your legs.

You trapped him in his place, legs wrapped around his waist. Wally's hands rested below your shirt, gently rubbing the pads of his fingers on your skin. He pulled his lips away, just long enough to utter, "I love you."

"As much as you love my brother?" You teased. Wally playfully glared at you, you always teased him about how close he and Dick were. He grabbed the bottom of your thighs, carrying you to your bedroom. You laughed the whole way there, even more so as he literally threw you on the bed.

Wally didn't hesitate to join you. He hovered over you, legs entangled as he kissed you again. His hair tickled the underside of your chin as he trailed down your neck. Hands grasping at your shirt, but not wanting to pull away long enough to tug it off of you. Finally, he pulled away the material.

"Babe, I don't think I'll ever stop admiring you," Wally grinned. He took every chance he got to flirt with you, and you had to admit that you loved it. This time, you rolled your eyes at him, and pulled him back down to meet your lips. He didn't seem to complain about that either.

A sudden, familiar gush of wind made you freeze. You were well accustomed to Wally speeding in and out of a room, along with the mess of loose items that followed. However, with Wally hovering over you, there was only one other person that would be speeding in and out of your room at that speed.

"Please don't tell me..." You trailed off, already knowing the answer. Wally sighed, handing you back your shirt that he had just removed. The two of you straightened up your clothes before leaving your room and back into the kitchen.

Bart was raiding your fridge, food already shoved in his mouth while none other than Tim was sitting in your favourite chair.

"You look great in red (Y/N)!" Bart complimented while still chewing. You could feel Wally's glare, and before he could do anything to his relative, you grasped his hand. You hoped that he hadn't noticed you shirtless, but of course being a speedster he easily noticed everything in a room before you could blink.

"What do you want, Tim?" You asked, looking over at your younger brother. "Bart if you take that last slice of pizza I'll personally send you back to your timeline myself," you snapped. Bart wearily looked between the pizza in his hand and you before setting it back in the fridge and closing the door.

"Haven't seen Kon in a while, thought he might have come here," Tim explained. It wouldn't have been the first time one of your super friends came and crashed at your apartment for a couple nights. Tim looked up at Wally's ruffled hair and your shirt that was on inside-out. "Sorry for the bad timing." Just like Dick.

"Kon isn't here," Wally answered the obvious.

"A simple text would have sufficed instead of showing up," You snapped. It seemed like everyone was making the effort to ruin your day with Wally. However, family was family and as much as you hated them you couldn't be annoyed for long. They all meant their best, even if it wasn't valuing you in the moment.

"Am I not allowed to come visit?" Tim asked. Of course he was. Just like Dick, you did enjoy Tim's visits to your home as well. Also like Dick, you weren't in the mood for anyone else to come by your home. The hours of the day were ticking down and you knew that by the next day, you weren't going to get the option of peace again for a while.

"Hi, Tim. Thanks for stopping by, great catching up. You too, Bart. Really great visit, missed you both, bye!" You sarcastically vote as you ushered both the men towards your front door. They tried to complain as you did so, but you had slammed the door right in their faces, followed by an obvious click of your lock.

"Really, babe?" Wally chuckled at you. "Just can't get enough of me today, huh?"

"Do you want me to invite them back in? Stay for dinner? Less time that you get to see me nak-"

"Nope!" Wally changed his attitude very quickly. He sped over to you, hoisting you up in his arms and raced back into your bedroom, this time closing and locking the door in case you had any more visitors. The tension between the two of you escalated dramatically throughout the day and it was killing you not to break it.

Wally's finger's danced along your skin. They roamed up your thighs, under your shirt, anywhere that he could reach. All day he had been waiting for his and all day he had been denied. It wasn't just you who was craving his kisses, he was craving yours as well. He needed this moment with you, otherwise he was sure he was going to explode.

Your kisses were no longer slow and tender, they were rushed, needy. Both of you were petrified that someone else was going to come along and ruin your moment. The perfect day that you had envisioned was no more, the last few hours of the night were fading just as you had dreaded.

You were right to fear as well. Wally barely had his belt undone when yet another knock came from your front door. His eyes filled with dread at the sound. "Think we can ignore them?" Wally asked, still kissing along your jaw. You didn't answer, just tilted his chin so you could kiss his lips.

However, the knock didn't stop. It got louder, and louder until you couldn't bare the sound of it anymore. Whoever it was, they had no patience in the slightest. "Fuck," You muttered. You grabbed the closest shirt on the floor and shoved it over your half naked body. Wally flopped against the bed, rubbing his eyes in frustration.

You whipped open your front door, fire in your eyes at getting interrupted once more. Just as you had dreaded - and expected - it was Jason at your door. His arms were crossed and he had a duffel bag over his shoulder, one that held his Red Hood suit.

"Patrol?" Jason asked. There were several times that he came to you asking if you wanted to scour the city with him. Most times, you wanted to. This time, you barely gave him notice.

"No," you deadpanned. The door was maybe a little too harshly slammed in his face. There was no way that you were going to waste the last bit of time with Wally to go out in this city to fight criminals. You wanted this night to yourself and you had even gone out of your way to tell Jason that you were taking the night off. He must have forgotten.

"Babe, I know I've said it before but you look so good in my clothes," Wally complimented as you walked back into your room. You hadn't noticed that it was his shirt that you picked up rather than your own. "Another one of your brothers?"

"Jason," you scowled.

"I thought I had a big family," Wally joked. He pulled you back into your bed so your legs straddled his thighs. Both hands were intertwined as he stared up at you. "How many more interruptions can we expect? My body can only handle so much more."

"Well, if you include Bruce, there's still a chance of five more," You shuddered at the thought. "I don't care what's happening out there. I'm not leaving this bed again. Even if it's Beyonce that comes at my door."

"Babe, I like the way you think."

#wally west #wally west imagine #wally west x fem!reader #young justice #young justice imagine #dc imagine #dc one shot #dc #fluff #kid flash #kid flash imagine #kid flash x reader #wally west x reader

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woahajimes · 4 years ago

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i just think that even with powers, the team of young justice in the same high school is such a wonderful concept because they’re teens and they most definitely have the potential and right now i can’t place many words together but like.. i MUST elaborate on most aspects of these little shits being high school freshmen/sophomores.

Bart literally writes everything with just a pencil and then you have Kon who just likes to write in blue/red/black pens, tim is a mix of blue/pencil/ocassional-marker -he-steals-from-cissie, Cassie writes with like.... purple and blue pens,,, Greta just has a black pen but her notes are literal heaven because she steals everything from cissie and cissie is 1000% the sorta bitch that has her markers categorized by color but then bart borrows them and mizes up the caps and also cissie has gel pens and her handwriting is pretty af so like everyone copies of of her

As unlikely as it sounds, Bart does NOT cheat at tests, because then max would like... give him SO many lectures and it’s SUCH pain in the ass so he just doesn’t (this does not limit chaos). Cassie doesn’t cheat because nO but then Cissie and Kon???? they’re buddies in that sorta thing and you know EXACTLY what i mean when i say that Kon has written answers in the skin that shows from his ripped jeans (the ones that he always gets in trouble for wearing, because as much as the school protocole just says ‘jeans’, they do NOT mean ripped jeans that have paint on them), and Cissie on her thighs and under the uniform socks, and they do the whole bandaid trick, and they even have their own weird sign language that takes WAAAAY too long to like even send the word ‘wassup’ because it goes letter by letter but its subtle so it works

fucking HOME EC is kon’s favourite subject and you’d think that kon would be in like... woodworking because most guys are in woodworking but NO kon went in home ec because ‘the chicks are there’ but NOOOO KON JUST LIKES BAKING AND HE GOT SHAMED ONCE FOR NOT KNOWING TO SEW A BUTTON ON HIS SHIRT SO NOW HE WANTS TO LEARN and guess what he absolutely LOVES it and he’s in with greta because cissie is with cassie and tim in woodworking, and besides, they don’t even have the same classes

they always make like cookies and kon hates it because he can’t eat his mf cookies in peace because he has home ec right after the lunch hour and while cassie does like to go out of class bart and cissie just eat all the cookies and leave kon to split with tim

FUCKING VOLLEYBALL TEAM BITCH but also literally all sports the school has to offer because Kon LOVES his jock reputation (that also bakes cookies and is kicking ass at home ec) and tim desperately needs to deal off anger with sports because the big bad wolf drake demands he also gets involved

Cissie quit the cheerleading team like the first month but greta loved it, and cassie just hates it SO much but he likes watching practices because girls (oh and greta gets really excited all the time and they love it)

,,,volleyball yj,,, is something i MUST HAVE OKAY PLEASE DON’T TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME I JUST SAW THIS BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF ART SO I MUST ELABORATE OKAY also volleyball’s the only sport i semi-know how to play so like bear with me but i havent played in like a year so shut up (here’s the link)

KON JUST DOESN’T KNOW A LIFE IN WHICH HE DOESN’T SPIKE THAT BOY LITERALLY WILL SPIKE ANYTHING YOU THROW AT HIM OKAY i don’t make the rules (but you know who does? cassie. cassie makes the rules because she’s scary and the rules include no fucking powers on the court--unless they’re losing then kon can use his tAcTiLe TeLeKiNeSiS)

CASSIE IS MIDDLE BLOCKER because shes TALL and also she gets front view of the opposing teams and like. girls. AND ALSO YOU NEED CORE STRENGTH FOR BLOCKING AND LIKE cassie is close to having more abs than kon i swear im not making this up

TIM SETS BECAUSE he’s the only one that can mantain that boring position also he’s good at it (also he wears fingerless gloves because iT hElPs hIm but really he want to look badass

BART IS LIBERO ALL THE WAY THROUGH OKAY BOY LOVES DIVING AND also he can heal quicker from like hits in the face (he has his kneepads that he wears EVERYWHERE and he even has a headband for his hair and his arm thingies and everything and his jersey is just written with signatures because everyone loves him

CISSIE IS ALSO LIBERO OKAY SHE LOOOVES VOLLEYBALL and she can DIVE and sometimes she forgets to bring up her kneepads so you KNOW that her knees are broken but she doesnt care (she also switches with server and her serves are literally like from fucking hell its beautiful

greta doesn’t play she refuses to play and everyone respects that but she also has like the bags with water-bottles and the jersey ones

EDIT: FUCKING DUMBASSES HERE GOT THEIR UNIFORMS MIXED UP AND TIM IS LIKE ONE SIZE SMALLER THAN KON AND CASSIE AND CISSIE AND BART ARE THE SAME (and tim but like bear with me) AND THEN ONE DAY THEY GOT THEIR UNIFORMS MIZED UP AND THERE WAS KON WITH MINISHORTS and dumbass didn’t notice but like everyone else sure did

BECAUSE they’re in the same team they just... share a locker that wasn’t used, with a little dollarama (dollar tree? idk but the dollar store) lock and then bam that’s the team locker (team as in them not the volleyball team) and there they keep like... bags of chips and chocolate bars with like... gym clothes and sneakers (which if you ask me is a horrible idea to like... place around 12 stinky shoes with granola bars and snacks and gym clothes but like hey dont ask me its them)

AND I READ THIS ARTICLE BUT I ALSO SAW A POST ON INSTAGRAM ABOUT THIS GIRL, Erin DiMeglio, WHO PLAYS FOOTBALL AND IS THE ONLY GIRL ON THE TEAM AND ALSO HER GIRLFRIEND IS A CHEERLEADER SO LIKE.,,,,, TELL ME THAT YOU DON’T IMAGINE CISSIECASSIE (or plain old cissie and cassie if you dont feel like shipping them) but like... cissie quit the team... and she doesn’t want to go back... and cassie’s like wow okay i see you AND ALSO TIM IS ON THE FOOTBALL TEAM and kon doesn’t wanna join (tbh he’s more of a football dood yk?) and bart called cissie a chicken and went cheerleader for cassie himself (skirt and everything, max was proud) so like cassie has her own team of cheerleaders and then tim is just :/// (here’s the article go read it)

my brain is crying at me to stop but i want to KEEP GOING so PLEASE add more and if you guys wanna like draw 👀👀👀👀 PLEASE TAG ME OKAY THE YOUNG JUSTICE CREW IN THEIR LITTLE OWN SAME HIGH SCHOOL IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME

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bigskydreaming · 4 years ago

Text

Making this its own post because replying to the ask got so weirdly formatted I can’t even. Oh tumblr. You work so well.

@themessofthecentury asked:

jsksjf my tumblr notifs are bugging and i didnt see your post but!!! The patron Saint of Robins?? I am much intrigue!!

(This is from this ask game, just....gotten to late, lololol. And I still have more I’m getting to, no worries. Just had a rough couple days is all, laid me up a bit.)

Okay, so The Patron Saint of Robins is kinda like the situation at the end of Grayson, except also not at all. And actually this is one of my older WIPs, and according to Scrivener I started it in 2015 afhislfhalhfalf, so it really has nothing to do with that. Also, its Young Justice-verse, but for two specific reasons:

1) YJ-verse is my go-to for Good Dad Bruce Wayne, when I don’t want to actually tackle the issues I have with his and his kids’ dynamic in comic book canon. I don’t carry over things like the adoption issue or the Robin succession into YJ fics, as I don’t think there’s anything that suggests they’re ever a specific issue in YJ and I don’t feel a need to make them one. So pretty much anything and everything I write in YJ goes with the backstory that Dick’s already adopted by Season One, and he’s the one to grant each later Robin permission to use the mantle, with no conflict over that, and more of a pre-Crisis transition to Nightwing than the post-Crisis firing from Robin. And this fic inherently needs Good Dad Bruce Wayne to work, lol.

2) I needed Klarion the Witch-Boy. Who of course exists in comic book canon, but is muuuuuch different there, and I just needed him to be a little demonic evil shithead, who sets everything in motion to get payback on the heroes for thwarting the Light in Season One, and he targets Robin due to being the oft-cited ‘first of the baby brat heroes’ and the ‘heart of the cape community.’

You don’t really need to be familiar with YJ canon at all for this one, as it goes sharply AU from after Season One, and only faintly and vaguely references specific events from that season. And I use my own YJ-ized version of the Titans as much as the actual YJ Team.

So basically, the plot of this one is to take revenge on the heroes for spoiling his game in Season One, Klarion plays a new game, by putting a chaos curse on Robin. It essentially erases him from peoples’ memories, though he’s perfectly able to make new ones. If he re-introduces himself to someone ask Dick Grayson, for instance, they don’t suddenly remember who Dick Grayson is or was, but they don’t forget about him again from that point onward, its like they meet him for the first time as a stranger.

But the curse part of things is only Batman can break it and restore everyone’s memories of Dick and his actual history, and only by identifying him for who he really is. And Dick can’t be part of breaking his own curse or else it seals it and makes it permanent and unbreakable forever.

Which of course leaves Dick completely miserable at first, understandably, and Bruce (and everyone else Dick knows, to varying different degrees) feeling some kind of loss but with no idea what it is they think or feel that they’re missing. Dick makes some half-hearted attempts at starting a new life for himself in Gotham, and in the process befriends a street kid named Jason Todd, though Dick introduces himself to Jason with just the name Robin.

The way the curse operates is it restitches together peoples’ memories to cover up the gaps where memories of him would go. So for instance, even though Jason never knew Dick before the curse, he was familiar with Batman and Robin just as much as any Gothammite was.....but due to the curse, the name Robin, upon meeting Dick, had no special meaning to him or anyone else. As far as he knew, Batman had always operated on his own in Gotham, the first teen superhero was that Speedy kid in Star City, etc. So when Jason first meets Dick, he just thinks he’s some dude whose name happens to be Robin.

Eventually, because Dick’s been kinda torturing himself by spying on Bruce just to ‘keep an eye on him’ and still watch his back, and he’s recognized by now that Bruce is mourning his loss without even knowing that he’s missing something....so Dick, who has also kinda come to see Jason as a little brother figure due to watching out for him as well....decides to kill two birds with one stone, unfortunate pun not intended. (Jason doesn’t die in this one, lol). Basically, Dick puts in motion the chain of events that lead Jason to stealing Batman’s tires, because he doesn’t know EXACTLY what Bruce will do but he knows it’ll get his attention in a big way and Bruce will take it from there.

One thing leads to another, Jason ends up living with Bruce and when eventually he wants to be trained by Bruce so he can do what he does and protect kids like he used to be.....when asked to pick a name....Jason names himself after the guy who always looked out for him, and who led to him being found by Bruce in the first place. He doesn’t know that his friend ‘Robin’ steered him towards those tires deliberately, just to bring him and Bruce into contact, but he does credit him with making the suggestion that ‘inadvertently’ (as far as he knows) enabled his and Bruce’s introduction, and so he names himself in honor of the boy who helped him and who he tried to track down again to similarly help, after Bruce adopted him, but was never able to find again.

Over the years, Dick also ends up steering Tim, Cass, Duke and Damian to Bruce in different ways than comic book canon (Steph and Babs’ debuts remain their own, as family adjacent but not family specifically) and thus is integral to the forming of the Batfam and has a connection with them even before the curse ultimately ends up broken and he’s able to reclaim his full identity. And each of them end up Robin at least briefly, like Steph is never Robin in this AU, and sticks with Spoiler, whereas Cass IS briefly Robin before becoming Batgirl after Babs. I did this for a few different reasons...

One, I really like that Cass is never Robin in main continuity as it creates a different dynamic between her and Dick than most of their siblings have, BUT I’ve always been curious to play around what Cass-as-Robin might even be like, just for an AU. Two, part of the Black Bat and Batgirl but never Robin sequence of mantles for Cass in the comic book continuity is like.....although it doesn’t get explored nearly enough, Babs was as much a kind of mother figure for Cass as Bruce was a father figure, despite Babs’ young age. So it makes more sense for Cass to stick more to just Bat-mantles than to ever be a Robin in the comic books. But in YJ, Babs is even younger, and just way too young to have the specific kind of dynamic that leads to that in the comic books, so its not as unreasonable IMO for her to have a different dynamic in her early days in the family here, before becoming closer with Babs and taking up the Batgirl mantle after she moves on to become Oracle.

And then also, and this is also the primary reason for making Duke a Robin briefly, before Damian is old enough....I got hung up on the title and it just didn’t work as well if it was Robins + Cass and Duke, lololol. See, in addition to helping steer the family into the points of introduction that make them a family, over the years he also acts as like, a guardian angel figure to the various family members, looking out for them and interceding in times of extreme danger, like when Jason is almost killed by the Joker. He’s always in disguise, but the kids eventually compare notes and realize there’s a singular figure behind each of their introductions to Bruce and the guy swooping out of nowhere to save their behinds whenever they’re most in danger, and Jason eventually connects this back to the guy who apparently NOT so coincidentally suggested he go after the Batmobile’s tires that fateful night, and the kids end up jokingly/not-so-jokingly referring to this figure as the Patron Saint of Robins. (Shout-out to the occasional mentions/allusions of Jason’s Catholicism).

They never tell Bruce about this figure (at least before Bruce starts to put together clues on his own), because they all figured out that for whatever reason, this person despite wanting them all to meet Bruce seems to want to avoid Bruce himself, and they kinda want to respect that as a kind of payback for his help, and also like....Bruce, even a kinder, gentler Bruce, is still Bruce. And when Bruce is gonna Bruce, that means Batparanoia. And all of them for various reasons DO trust that this guy has nothing but good intentions towards them, and so they don’t want to like....ruin or tarnish the positivity they associate with his intercession in their lives with paranoia or treating him like a bad guy. Which ultimately is really just smoke and mirrors for saying that he’s kinda a ‘just for them’ secret. Its a Robin thing.

(Until its not).

Because meanwhile, Dick, in between meeting the various Batfam members and pulling strings and looking out for them from the shadows, at first travels the world looking for ways to break his curse. But when ultimately its clear that the only way to break it is the loophole built into it already, Bruce identifying him for who he really is, but without Dick doing anything to steer him towards the answer, Dick settles into a new hero identity as Nightwing, and forms the Teen Titans, a public group of young superheroes (minus Roy and Wally, unfortunately, but still with Donna, Garth, Raven, Kory, ignoring season 3 Vic and also Terra because AU redemption arc what what, etc). And the Teen Titans avoid both the Young Justice Team and the Justlce League with EXTREME measures, much to the other heroes’ confusion and aggravation, because in the early days of the Titans, in a moment of what he’d term weakness, on one of his ‘bad days,’ Dick tells them enough of his story that they’re able to put together a good sense of what happened and who he really is by reading between the lines and what he leaves unsaid....

BUT as a result, all end up extremely committed to not mixing and mingling casually with the rest of the cape community because they don’t want to risk dropping any hints about the guy under Nightwing’s mask, in case that might count as steering Batman towards clues and seal the curse for good. So I have a lot of fun with having the Titans just nope out of the scene the second the bad guys are defeated even when they have to team up with other heroes, leaving the other heroes confused as hell and trying not to be all ‘WHY DON’T YOU LIKE US??”

Anyway, so yeah, that’s the gist of this one, lol. With it of course following the eventual plot that like...the Batfam starts to Detect and put things together.

ANYWHO!

Snippet

Damian versus Klarion: Round One

“Aww, its adorable that you think you’re in my league,” the Witch-Boy cooed in an absolute mockery of sympathy. Damian bristled, but before he could do anything more than that, he was faced with a much more pressing matter as reality completely lost its mind.

The walls of the cavern fell away in an instant, only to be replaced with a whirling dervish of winds all around them, as if they now stood in the center of a cyclone that bled red and silver and black. It shrieked and wailed in a chorus of voices just on the other side of being comprehensible, a symphony of the damned that set every nerve in Damian’s body aflame with a primal instinct to get out, to find silence, to be anywhere but here.

He’d barely staggered a step backwards when the ground erupted beneath him, splitting apart into jagged obsidian shards that bobbed precariously in the sea of magma barely glimpsed through cracks now spiderwebbing their way across the floor. Spears of lightning burst upwards through them, stabbing impossibly at the heavens rather than raining down from them. They hissed and crackled as they flickered like forked serpent tongues of electric violet and black. The forks becoming branches, the pillars of sky-shattering light transforming into the trunks of great trees that grew upwards and outward, weaving a canopy overhead. One that wept violently red leaves that fell gently to the ground, only to hiss and bubble like acid once they did.

“See, normally this is when I’d hit someone with a little razzle-dazzle like this,” Klarion called out over the song of madness he’d created, as it crooned and careened wildly all around them. He snapped his fingers, and in the span of a second it all ceased. Reality reaffirmed itself, and all was right with the world once more…except now the two of them stood at the end of a hallway in Wayne Manor.

Damian stumbled, the sudden reappearance of firm ground paradoxically being the thing to challenge his balance. The demon boy standing beside him crooked his thumb and forefinger in the semblance of a gun, the smile pasted across his face one of wickedly gleeful malice.

“But you, kiddo, you’re special. Cuz there’s nothing I could do to you now that could top what I’ve already done, so why try when I can just savor the moment instead?”

“What are you babbling about?” Damian demanded roughly. In the wake of what the Witch-Boy had just conjured up with nothing more than a gesture, he was keenly aware of how flimsy a shield his bravado made. He just had absolutely no idea what else to fall back on.

Klarion only threw back his head and laughed though, skipping merrily down the hall as he did.

“I know something you don’t know,” he sing-songed and Damian lost what little grasp of his patience he’d managed to hang onto.

“You overestimate my need for an answer. Attempt to intimidate me all you wish, but I have no desire to indulge your little game any further.”

Klarion jerked to a stop and spun around, his face screwed into a childish pout. He stomped his foot, petulance personified. “I’m not intimidating you anymore, I’m gloating! Ugh, you’re so stupid! They’re completely different, how can you not tell?”

Every light in the hallway flickered and fizzed abruptly. The walls wavered, bubbled, momentarily molten as if made of wax.

Again Damian was reminded just how mercurial this being he was faced with was, and how dangerous. Perhaps, as Father would say, this was not the time to indulge his own instinctive inclinations. Or as Todd would put it, just because you’re already fucked, that’s no reason to fuck yourself over more than you have to.

Crude as his older brother was, there was occasional merit to his…pithiness. Not that he would be admitting that any time soon, of course.

“Fine. What is it you wish to gloat about then?” Damian grated out. The appeasement, such as it was, tried its best to stick in his throat before finally clawing its way free. But at least it proved worth the effort when the godling’s mood reverted back to impishness as readily as with the flip of a switch.

“Well. Its like this, you see.” Klarion said. He dragged it out as he folded both legs underneath him to sit cross-legged in the air, plopping his head into his hands. “I did a baaaaaaaaaaaaad, bad thing to your family, a loooooong time ago. And none of you have done anything about it, because you don’t even know! Isn’t that funny? Doesn’t matter how big a hero Daddy Bats is if he doesn’t even know what needs saving huh? Little Catch-22 there, you might say.”

“Yes. Quite hysterical,” Damian said dryly. “So what is it you claim to have done then?”

The Witch-Boy just sat there, regarding him with amusement, and the seconds marched on into minutes. Damian’s skin crawled. Prickling with impatience and possibly something…more. He wasn’t quite ready to name it anxiety or something as melodramatic as all that yet. In fact, he’d rather not put a name to it at all, but today did not appear to be a day for configuring things to his liking.

Klarion’s wicked grin grew as if sensing his thoughts, though to the best of his knowledge (and Damian did quickly ransack the library of his memory just to be sure) there was no indication telepathy was included among the Chaos Lord’s many, many powers. And still that detestable smile stretched slowly wider all the same, in perfect synchronization with the rising tide of Damian’s unease. Perhaps the Witch-Boy’s file was in need of annotation.

“How many doors would you say are in this hallway?”

“What? Seven.” Damian snapped out his answer, annoyed by the non sequitur. Not to mention baffled. Was it too much to expect even a semblance of linear thought from the Chaos brat?

“Are you suuuuuuure?” The Witch-Boy stretched his query out obnoxiously. “Maybe you should count again. Just for kicks and giggles.”

Damian throttled back each and every retort attempting to spring to his lips, stuffing them back down and cramming a lid on everything he most dearly wished to say to this most vexing of…shitheads. Once again, it appeared as though nothing less than Todd’s preferred form of nomenclature would suffice. Wonderful. On top of everything else Damian had to deal with today, he seemed to be finding common ground with the man all over the place. Was there no end to the indignities he must suffer?

But marshaling his own formidable willpower, Damian took a deep breath and indulged the Chaos Lord, glancing his eyes down the length of the hallway and counting out each doorway one by one. There was his own room of course, with Cassandra’s to the right of his, and the room Brown used when staying over to the right of hers. That was three. Then there was Thomas directly across from his own room, with Drake to his right and Todd just beyond that, with Father’s room at the very end of the hall, his master suite staggered and with no direct opposite like the others. Seven.

Except all of a sudden there was a door directly opposite his father’s. For a total of eight.

Damian’s brow furrowed in consternation. The faint whispers of uncertainty already seeded throughout him bore fruit, ripening into poisonous stabbings of doubt.

“That’s not real,” he stated with as much conviction as he could muster.

The Witch-Boy’s smile only grew wider still. “Isn’t it, though?”

“There’s never been a door there before,” Damian persisted, striding confidently down the hall towards it. The Chaos Lord flitted ahead of him, inverting til he was upside down and skipping merrily once more, though this time from the ceiling.

“Or has it been there all along?” He sing-songed some more.

“I would think we might have noticed if it had been,” Damian growled.

“Yes, you’d think, wouldn’t you? You are all supposed to be a family of detectives, I thought. Makes you wonder…if you could miss this, what else might you have failed to notice?”

Damian snarled to himself and did his best to shut out the demon boy’s prattling. He quickened his strides, eating up the length of the hallway in his haste to reach its end. He wasn’t sure what opening the door would prove, let alone what bewilderment the godling had conjured on its other side, but it appeared the only end to this game of his was through it, so let there be an end to it already.

And yet, for all his certainty - or best facsimile of it - he couldn’t help but pause once he reached the door in question. His hand hovered within reach of its brass knob, but some instinct, some…caution, held him at bay. As much as he wanted to dismiss all this as just one more of the Chaos Lord’s inane charades, there was a tension in the air that felt too weighty to be the product of just magical conjuring. Something more was in play here. Real forces were at work. His father might disdain magic, but Damian had been around enough of it himself to know when true power had been raised. And the span of empty space between his hand and this hither-to-unseen doorknob held more of it than Damian had felt throughout all the mad warpings Klarion had made of reality thus far.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Klarion asked from somewhere overhead. His voice, usually pitched to carry, was so soft for a moment Damian mistook it for his own inner doubts. “Some doors are easier to open than to close again, you know.”

Even knowing the goading for what it was couldn’t stop Damian then, and with a simple breath to fortify himself, he reached for the knob, spun it once, and shoved the door open all in a single sharp movement.

The Witch-Boy giggled up above.

The door swung wide, a forceful arc that should have revealed anything and everything within it all at once; the better to react quickly to whatever that might be. Fine in principle, perfect in execution, but thwarted by one small detail:

There was nothing on the other side.

And not in the sense of it being just an empty room, but true nothingness. A pitch-black abyss darker than the deepest night, yawning forth from the doorway in a vast, impenetrable shroud. Nor was anything hidden in the darkness, Damian knew, even if just intuitively. He could feel it, that he stood on the edge of an impossible cliff, that there was nothing beyond this threshold but an aching chasm of emptiness and loss. The surety of it hung in the air, thick and heavy, a miasma that seeped through to his side of the doorway and clung to him like the moisture of a fog beads upon the skin.

Klarion’s head suddenly popped up alongside him, hovering just over his shoulder.

Albeit still upside down.

“Well that doesn’t seem right,” he mused, tapping at his lips with a forefinger. “What do you suppose is meant to be in there?”

The last of Damian’s brittle patience shattered.

“Enough! What is the meaning of all this, demon? Speak plainly, for once in your miserable existence!”

His self-preservation instincts and the reminder of just who it was he was shouting at kicked in too little too late, but he wouldn’t take his exasperated fury back even if he could. He was who he was after all. But fortunately, that described the Witch-Boy just as accurately, and rather take offense or perceive any actual threat from Damian’s rage, the Chaos Lord just shrieked with laughter and sprung backwards. He flipped right side up, still hovering in mid-air, and clapped his hands with glee.

“Oh, I should have done this ages ago,” Klarion sang out. “Why, you’re almost as fun as he used to be. Back before he got all droll and serious, that is. He’s no fun at all anymore, nothing like this. Never wants to play, always just running back to his tower with that little bitch of a demoness.”

His face soured like he’d just sucked on a lemon. But rather than stop there, his countenance kept morphing into an increasingly savage scowl, the longer he ranted. The hallway was suddenly sweltering, baking with unseen heat that twisted the air into shimmering ribbons. The small horns sprouting from his forehead burst into scimitars of flame that cut through those ribbons and set them similarly ablaze.

“Always putting on airs like she’s some kind of royalty, just because her Daddy Dearest put the fear into a few peasants back in the day,” the Witch-Boy snarled viciously. “As if that’s enough to put her on par with the likes of me. No one is the likes of me. NO ONE!”

Reality itself quaked with the force of his shout. White-blue flames spat forth and crescendoed down the length of the corridor, splashing against its walls and searing them to a crisp. Damian braced himself for all the good it would do, keenly aware of the void still gaping hungrily behind his back, but before the fire could become an actual danger to him as well, all was quiet once more.

Silence hung in the air much like the demon boy, poised yet motionless. Suspended. Waiting.

And then Klarion simply inhaled and brushed his hands down the front of his garments, smoothing out the wrinkles as he reclaimed his calm. The corridor restored itself to its former self, curtains of vintage reality unrolling from the ceiling to the floor as though papering over the damage. Damian felt rather than saw when the portal behind him swung shut and was replaced with the expanse of ivory paint and ornate sconces he was used to seeing in its place.

“I am one of a kind, after all,” Klarion finally remarked. It was a casual drawl offered forth almost off-handedly, as if more a reminder to himself than uttered for anyone else’s sake. He used one hand to spell out letters in the air. They appeared and vanished again in bursts of fireworks and fluorescent flame. “U-N-I-Q-U-E.”

“As I, apparently, am not,” Damian said, seizing upon the Chaos Lord’s restored calm and good cheer. “Who is this ‘he’ you mentioned? If I’m to be pitted against him as entertainment in your eyes, might I at least know his name?”

“Nuh-uh-uh,” the Witch-Boy scolded. He wagged his finger at Damian. “No spoilers. That’s not how the game is played.”

Keenly aware of the boy’s power once more, Damian gritted his teeth and pressed on. “Well, if there are to be rules, shouldn’t I at least know what those are?”

Klarion sucked in a deep breath, drawing himself up along with his inhalation as though preparing for some great speech…and instead just toppling backward, flopping onto an extravagant fainting couch that suddenly appeared beneath him, though similarly floating in the air.

“I can’t recall at the moment.” His now-faint voice drifted up from where he lay buried amid a mountain of pillows. “I’ve had a terribly exhausting day. But you’re supposed to be a detective, remember? Go…I don’t know. Detect things.”

He flapped an arm at Damian dismissively, and then crooked a finger into a twirling motion that set his divan to spinning in lazy circles.

“Isn’t life grand?” Klarion sighed fondly. “With all its twists and turns, its eddies and swirls. I mean, take the two of us. Scant hours ago, we were mortal enemies, and just look at us now.”

The Witch-Boy lazily rolled his head to the side as the couch drifted to bring him face-to-face with Damian. His lips spread wide in that malevolent, wicked grin of his once again, but somehow it managed to be even wider than any he’d shown off before. His eyes blazed with a hellish inner light, and his voice, when next he spoke, dropped deep into a demonic register. A bass that boomed forth and set Damian’s very bones to rattling.

“Ain’t we got fun?”

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thattimdrakeguy · 4 years ago

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Thoughts on how Bendis understood the personality, attitude / essence of the core four during YJ? I think the characters he wrote the best were Conner and Bart, I can't say too much. I'm more conflicted with Tim and Cassie, at the beginning I think I handle Tim really well, and I'm really thankful Bendis didn't fall for the "super genius who can hack the NASA with a clip" cliche, let Tim be Tim, but then he goes and just makes him the generic leader of the team, no more no less.

I’m mixed with everything about him. I liked his Cassie, and Tim, except for when he made Tim just so freaking boring, and then “Drake”, and continuing the TimSteph stuff when it’s just really made out to be something it’s not.

But I also like his Bart more than even some writers back in the 90s, but giving him “little guy” comments when he’s nineteen, where he actually got taller than Wally before--just kinda feels like Bendis didn’t do a whole lot of research on him even though he said he read everything on him. And sometimes it kinda felt like he was using him more as like...unimportant as a character. Cause all he really did besides for one or two issues is go fast, and be comedy.

Conner I don’t even really know. His Conner was really inconsistent. It started off good and gave him some of his personality back, but then longer it went on he was just “Kent”. But then he had some moments where he felt like Conner despite that. But it kinda felt he had started to look at Conner as more of an extension of Superman rather than himself.

If it was the only series in which I read Conner I would not be able to tell you what kind of character Conner is. Is he a flirty rebel, that just cares about his own rules? Is a calm, mostly chill punk with a bit of a temper problem. Is he an emotional stereotypical teen boy that’s a bit of an idiot? Is he just younger Superman? Sometimes he even comes off as stoic and very respectful.

A lot of those are aspects of Conner, but how the series was written it doesn’t feel like one full attached personality like the original Conner, but was instead just replayed highlights Bendis would play without much sense on top of this young man that was kind of basically younger Superman. Which would make things just feel really odd with him. His writing for Conner wasn’t fluid enough and was stilted and awkward, which would end up making him feel like a new personality, when before it was all just one big personality.

He’s still their best writer in ages, which is a weird thing to say, but he had a lot of flaws when writing the characters. My best guess is he was too focused on other things to give Y.J. his full attention.

Reading the first four issues is great, the characters feel consistent, you get a fantastic sense of them, it feels like classic Young Justice, but after Gleason left, it started to feel like Bendis lost a lot of his enthusiasm for it. I know he really wanted to work with Gleason, and it seemed like he slowly stopped talking about Y.J. more and more and even got a co-writer who did I don’t know how much of the load really.

Cause in the first four issues Tim is himself again and feels like a fully fleshed out character for the first time since the 90s. He was dorky, he was moralistic, friendly, but he could also be a bit condescending, and get too into “I am the leader. Come on guys, lets, do team ... stuff”. Which is totally Timmy’s personality, and it was excellent, especially when Gleason figured out Tim’s looks more and more in those short four issues.

Cassie’s story is a bit odd at first but it’s not something so off that it doesn’t work at all, she’s still quirky and has a good deal of eagerness while still being the odd kid kind of person, but still in that grounded way she was before. So she felt more like herself, even if not to the limit Tim was originally.

Bart wasn’t as lucky, but he was energetic, reference making, a bit cocky, reckless, but he felt like a teenage boy at the same time, and not a freaking six year old. Which is what Bart was initially like till they utterly infantilized him like they forgot he was fourteen to fifteen years old and hanged out with kids his own age and older. So Bendis actually treating Bart with respect was great, he just didn’t have as much going on.

I already explained Conner.

And I think Cassie stayed consistent, personally. I really liked Bendis’s Cassie even if I wouldn’t say it’s a spot on recreation of what made her work to begin with. But she managed to be her own character and herself, unlike Tim; actually have a character arc of sorts unlike Bart; and was consistent the entire time unlike Conner who felt like a different person cause of the weird inconsistent way Bendis would write him.

So that’s my feelings on it. Bendis could’ve genuinely done fantastic if it was his motivation and focus more often. He clearly got the characters enough, but during the writing process he just dropped the ball harder and harder till he didn’t even have the ball anymore.

Tim became nothing but connections to people, Conner’s best friend, Batman’s sidekick, Stephanie’s boyfriend. He wasn’t his own person anymore, and his personality was vacant, and only there to support others. Which was genuinely depressing since he got Tim so well in the first few issues.

I also liked how Bendis put more focus on Tim and Cassie at first with their supportive relationship since that doesn’t normally get focus too often when they’re both themselves. Conner though? His and Tim’s relationship was basically nonexistent, it was told not shown as far as I’m concerned. And Bart was just everybody’s “little buddy” which wasn’t exactly his dynamic. He was a bit of a brat and airhead that could either really entertain people, confuse people, or frustrate people. He just ended up feeling more like a mascot then a person quite often in Bendis’s Young Justice.

In a different timeline Bendis could’ve made a magical revival of Young Justice that’d bring joy to people’s hearts. We just don’t live in that one.

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withthekeyisking-writer · 5 years ago

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What’s a Batman story you wish someone else would write for you instead of writing yourself??

Gotta tell you, I got super excited when I got this ask, because there are so many things!! That I would love to see happen!! That I’ll never get around to writing!! So uh, strap in because this is gonna be a big ol�� list :) I’m gonna organize these so that it starts with gen ideas and then switches to darker ones (otherwise, really in no particular order). Also, because it’s me, many of these are Dick-centric.

1. First up is a Batfam Hogwarts AU, but with the specifications that Dick is a Slytherin, Jason is a Ravenclaw, Tim is a Slytherin, and Damian is a Hufflepuff. Skalidra actually made an amazing post about this that I agree with so fucking much, and I want a fic that does this justice.

2. Batbros are actually blood bros. I know there are a couple of these already out there, but not the way I picture it in my head, so here you go: Bruce knows about Dick while the kid is growing up, visits the circus any time it’s in town, takes Dick out for ice cream & shit like that, but Dick thinks this is just some family friend his parents like him hanging out with. It’s not until Mary and John fall that Dick learns the truth about his parents. For Tim – Janet never really wanted a kid, so when she and Bruce sleep together (up to you to figure out why) and got pregnant, she was like “okay brucie as soon as this pops out you can keep it” which, once Tim was born, Bruce did. Jason can go so many ways, so up to you!

3. Transgender Dick!! Yes, these are already out there. Yes, I want so many more! Give me the struggle of coming to the realization while amongst Gotham’s high society. Give me extra supportive Bruce or a Bruce that just can’t wrap his head around the concept and absolutely fails to be in any way a good parent of a trans kid. Or take the extra step and give me a non-binary Dick!!! I don’t know if I’ve ever seen one of those, and as an enby individual, I really would love to.

4. Jason as a teacher. Do whatever the fuck you want with that, but I want to see Jason teaching literature. Still in the superhero world, no alternate world where Batman isn’t a thing. I want a Jason who’s been Robin and died and come back and been Red Hood and is a teacher.

5. I had a dream about Dick being a clone, and then an idea popped up behind it: In the Young Justice cartoon world, the Light makes another clone of Superman. But this time, the human DNA they used to stabilize the Kryptonian part isn’t Lex Luthor’s DNA, but Batman’s! That Superman-Batman clone is Dick. While Conner gets rescued by the YJ team, Dick (or whatever title CADMUS gave him, like how Conner was just called “The Superboy”) isn’t found, and is trained to fight against the team of young heroes as the Light’s weapon. Dick gets captured eventually and Bruce&Clark find out about their clone baby. Throw in some Superbat if you feel like it, or just Two Bros And A Baby. Either way, I would kill for this.

6. Ok you know how at one point or another Damian, Jason, and Cass were all members of the League of Assassins? Well, what if there was overlap? I want the three of them working for the League and knowing each other. I don’t know if this even works out at all but I just think this would be kinda cool, especially if it includes Bruce finding out about Damian or about Jason being alive and gaining a daughter along the way.

7. While we’re on the subject of League of Assassins, all four of the boys work for the League!! Do with this what you will, I merely present the concept to you.

8. Secret Agents. Just…just give me them as spies. Pls.

9. Dead Robins Club that ACTUALLY INCLUDES DICK BECAUSE Y’KNOW HE DIED. It’s a pet peeve of mine, when people write these kind of fics and include Tim and Steph (neither of which actually died) but not Dick, even though he did die for at least a couple minutes. Please stop ignoring Dick’s trauma guys, I beg of you. There’s one amazing fic between Jason, Damian, and Dick, and I want so many more of stuff like that.

10. Greeks/Roman Gods AU where Dick is the God of Death and king of the Underworld instead of the springtime god. There’s a really great jaydick fic out there that has this, but it’s abandoned, and I rally really want more of a Dick like this.

11. AU in which Bruce is the youngest member of the Justice League, and is still the badass leader he is in canon. No one in the League knows the truth, but it’s not like Bruce ever said I’m in my 20s or older, he just. Never mentioned he just graduated high school and is working on his accelerated bachelor’s degree.

12. A fic that addresses the fact that Dick has, in canon, been buried alive. I might one day write this, but I have a lot of projects that I do know I’m going to write, so this is wayyyyyyyyyyyy down the line, long enough that I’d be very happy to see someone write it instead. Bonus points if it’s a fic about Dick and Jason, and the fact that Dick killed Joker also comes up.

13. Tamaranean!Dick. And I actually have a whole word/plot for something like this that I’m never gonna write so if you wanna do this hmu I have THOUGHTS

Ok boys and girls and enbys we’re about to hit the dark shit so turn back if you don’t want to have to read it. You’ve been warned.

14. Ancient Rome AU in which Bruce is a senator and owns his robins as slaves (gladiator-wise and otherwise) who try to earn their freedom but Bruce likes using them too much (both for himself and in gaining control over others, like sending one of them to seduce somebody to gain leverage or steal something or what have you) and so he keeps changing what will gain them their freedom.

15. Auction fic where Dick is drugged and kidnapped and auctioned off to a bunch of villains. Yes, fics like this exist. Yes, I would like Many More.

16. Brusladick where Bruce has some Bad Thoughts about Dick but can’t bring himself to act on them, but he wouldn’t mind letting someone else do it, and who better than Slade Wilson, who absolutely wants to fuck Dick. So Bruce sets up a camera in the room and gets off to all the hard shit being done to Dick, but Slade breaks their agreement a little and tells Dick that Bruce is watching.

17. In an ABO universe, Dick is an omega. The world is pretty modern overall, of course there will always be some level of sexism but it’s not a large issue. But there’s this far-right terroristic-type group that thinks omegas are just good for ding as they’re told and being bred and have made it their mission to “fix” omegas who think they deserve equal rights, and they get ahold of Dick, sending a video to Bruce saying they’re return Dick when he’s better. For some reason Bruce and Co can’t find Dick for a long time, and by the time they do Dick’s severely traumatized and been conditioned into obedience and submission towards alphas.

18. In the Young Justice cartoon world, while Kaldur is undercover in season 2, an interaction with Deathstroke reveals something horrible about Nightwing’s past, and Kaldur has to act like hearing these graphic, awful things about his friend. After it’s all over, he goes to Dick and mentions Deathstroke saying something and Dick kind of shuts down and says like “How many people heard what he said?” There is a twitter thread between me and a friend on this very subject if you need inspiration ;)

19. Something based on this amazing art

20. Bruce is hella abusive. Dick lets himself be Bruce’s outlet so he won’t hurt the others. This, of course, comes to light. Yes, shit like this exists. But I pose you a question – is there ever too many? And has it been done by you yet?

21. Brainwashing. Just, give me brainwashing. Turned against your family, used and mocked by your enemy, kneeling “willingly” at your enemy’s feet. Bonus points for all kinds of abuse.

Well, that’s my list!! Go off and do great things for me! Thanks for the ask!!

#anon ask #ask #writing #batman #fanfic question

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cryptocism · 5 years ago

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ive been scrolling through ur blog for a while (cuz ur dc opinions are Top Fucking Notch) and i saw what you said abt bart in tt 03 and f:fma and while i totally agree (it killed tt 03 for me lol) im super curious abt how youd do his development if given the opportunity?

I’ve been thinking about this one like A Lot so buckle up this is long:

it would kind of depend? On whether or not he’d be in an ensemble team like Teen Titans or with his own solo series.

I understand metatextually why he became Kid Flash in TT, since they needed him to be more mature and a more recognizable character and having him upgrade costumes/codenames is a good shortcut for both. But I’ve already talked about why it didn’t sit right with me.

So, lets flip the script a little bit - the start of TT would be largely the same. Our boy Bart is on the new Titans team, and things are kind of awkward after YJ disbanded, also Max is gone and Bart’s relationship with Wally is still not doing great. Things are rough, Bart has newfound doubts to deal with, especially now that the world seems to have gotten harsher and everyone seems to have a lot less patience to deal with him. The pressure to be more mature and a recognizable character is coming from other characters now rather than an authorial need: he’s reminded to take things seriously, or that he should know better by now, that he needs to slow down and think more. So Bart decides a change is necessary, and we get the library scene. He reads all the books, he reappears as Kid Flash, saves Tim via bullet catch, disassembles a gun, takes down Slade, etc. etc. Here’s my departure from canon though: it doesn’t work.

Kid Flash is not a solution, or a magical cure for immaturity. Reading a whole library so he’s miraculously smarter and more mature and capable is, at its core, a pretty naive conclusion. And it makes sense he would think that. But it doesn’t work. He’s still impulsive, distractible, hasty. He can’t put a lid on his own sense of humor. People still think he’s annoying or lazy or careless. And he keeps trying - he knows all this stuff now, he read a whole library! - but he’s still apparently too much the same person as he's always been. And even though he’s trying very hard to live up to the Kid Flash name, it still doesn’t feel like him. Wally doesn’t like it, since Bart is literally just imitating him now, which makes things between the two even worse. And Bart keeps worrying about what’s supposed to come afterwards, since “Kid Flash” is inherently temporary, and while Impulse was only peripherally related to the flash legacy, Kid Flash comes with expectations.

Bart is trying very very hard to be ‘grown up’ and ‘mature’, but he hasn’t actually learned anything other than a bunch of facts (which are still useful, but) he’s just trying to be who everyone expects him to be.

And this is what i mean about the ensemble thing, because this arc would be in conversation with the rest of the core four, who are also trying very hard to be people they’re not, but all in different ways. Bart obviously with the codename change, but Cassie, Tim, and Kon all have similar issues, they’re all trying to imitate people.

Tim is doing his Batman jr. routine, reverting back to the persona he had at the start of YJ. He’s cagey and mysterious and does questionable things without telling anybody, because he’s de-facto leader of the team again, and he has to be better than he is. No more kid stuff, the Titans are serious, he has to treat it like a job, not like a sleepover. And this whole act is putting distance between him and his friends.

Cassie is trying her hardest to put herself in a support role. Donna’s gone and she has some big shoes to fill (she and Tim could probably bond about that if he weren’t stubbornly trying to brood at all hours of the day) and she’s doing her best to just Be Donna. Cassie and Tim would work better with their team roles swapped, and they both sort of know this - Cassie is naturally charismatic, thinks on her feet, can maintain good PR, and when she’s confident in herself is great at leading. Tim is partial to planning ahead, secrets, and keeping in the shadows, and is better at being a confidant and emotional problem solver among the team (when he allows himself to be open among friends, that is).

But they’re both trying to fit themselves into what they see as pre-ordained roles: Robin is leader, Wondergirl is a supportive mediator. But Cassie’s got a temper and little patience for people being idiots, and Tim’s not predisposed to spotlights.

Kon on the other hand has a story that’s less about who he should be and more who he shouldn’t be. The Lex Luthor dad storyline is here (minus the mind control shit, although the threat of it is still brought up) and Kon is doing his level best to do nothing that could be interpreted as something Lex might do. While everyone is doing their best to Not be their own person, Kon has no idea if he ever was his own person. He’s questioning everything he does, wondering if it’s some kind of evil gene showing through when he’s angry or petty or selfish. He’s going through lots of clone angst.

So they’re all dealing with expectations and who they are or aren’t supposed to be, trying to fit themselves into boxes that don’t suit them and then convincing themselves that this is how it ought to be. Kon ought to avoid feeling or acting in any negative light because any sign of Luthor is a sign of evil, Cassie ought to tone herself down and act like Donna, Tim ought to step up and lead the team and act like Dick, and Bart ought to listen better and be smarter and slow down and grow up and do his level best to just Be Wally.

Throughout the issues they’d all get a spotlight on their various crises, taking them through complimenting character arcs. Kon would realize through a couple close encounters and chats with ma and pa and talks with his friends and citizens of metropolis that nobody is all good or all bad. Clark can be a real asshole sometimes and Luthor’s actually done a fair bit of good (usually in his own interests, but still we’re gunning for nuance). Turns out he doesn’t have a dark side to be tempted by, he was made from 50% complex person and 50% complex person, just like everyone else. Which means he isn’t destined to be the next Superman, or Superman’s next supervillain. He’s just like, a person. With his own thoughts and feelings that have nothing to do with genetics.

Tim would wear himself out and hide it from everybody until he killed himself, but it’s only when he sees Cassie also wearing herself out too that his ‘somebody needs somebody’ instincts kick in and they’re actually able to talk about how miserable they both are. Through some trial and error they’re able to figure out a good co-leader system for leading the team, having each other’s backs along the way, which allows for them both being able to help out the other members of their team with their own shit i.e. Kon and Bart’s identity issues.

Bart is, like Cassie and Tim, wearing himself out trying to be this perfect version of Wally that never actually existed. He actually hates the recognition the new name gives him, because people have expectations for him now, ones he can never seem to live up to. He’s bad at following orders still, which makes him a pretty shit sidekick for Wally, in fact he’s just pretty shit at being a sidekick in general. But, he reasons, he’s supposed to be grown up and responsible now, and responsibility is all about doing shit you hate until you die, so he’s probably on the right track.

It’s only later, once he gets some support from his friends, who help him deal with things like Max and YJ disbanding and stuff that he’s able to actually sit down and have a heart-to-heart with Wally. Wally confesses that he understands the pressure to live up to a legacy, and how he did his best to just Be Barry when he became the flash. In fact while Bart was trying to live up to Wally and be a good sidekick, Wally was trying to live up to Barry and be a good mentor. Wally’s the one to tell him that Bart’s always done his own thing, and is at his best when he does. They both agree they suck as partners, but maybe they should’ve tried to be family first. And there’s probably a racing metaphor in there somewhere because speedsters love their racing metaphors.

ANyway Bart returns to Impulse, forging a new path, getting along better with Wally now and hanging out with him just as civilians with no pretense. He learns some valuable lessons about how maturity can’t be learned in a book, and that he’ll get it himself the more he lives and learns from experience. The Titans all get along better now that they’re all sure of their places in the group, and they can all go on just being themselves without worrying about expectations or roles to fill or whatever.

...If Bart still had his solo series instead though, id actually want it to go in a sort of different direction? The thing about living up to predecessors and trying to be some ideal version of another person works well for the Titans because they can all deal with a similar issue in different ways, but I think it would also be interesting to do the complete opposite.

Lots of shitty things happened in very quick succession in Bart’s life that he had no control over: Max’s disappearance, having to move in with Jay and Joan (who are nice, but whom he barely knows,) leaving his friends in Alabama, Young Justice breaking up… Basically, things kind of suck for Bart, and all he wants is for them to go back to the way they were. Instead of trying to be grown up or mature or whatever, Bart is resisting every single encroaching thing about coming adulthood. Because all growing up ever seems to mean is that everything changes and either you have to leave the people you love or they have to leave you.

So this series would focus mostly on that, both in his civilian life; going into high school, not knowing anybody, the few friends he does make are less interested in ‘kid stuff’ and more focused on dating and interpersonal drama, high school itself seems to be geared entirely toward the “what are you going to do with your life” question, when he visits his old friends back in manchester, they’ve all kind of grown up without him. And in hero life; everyone from Young Justice is trying to move on and not talking to each other, his father figure and mentor is gone and he's not really jiving well with the rest of the flash family, and people just seem to have less patience for Impulse now that he’s older.

Growing up is hard. It’s hard and no one understands. Especially not when you’re also a superhero and have dealt with some quality trauma like losing loved ones and feeling yourself die. So it makes sense that Bart would resist that in every way possible, do his best to pretend like everything is still how it used to be, for once in his life just trying to make everything stay put. He refuses to get rid of his old stuff, he doesn’t want to treat any villainous threats seriously, people in school keep talking about college and jobs and tuition fees and Bart wants none of that, he acts out, refuses responsibility, gets reckless under the pretense that he never used to have to be cautious.

And this is the part where I’d bring in Inertia, cause Thad was robbed and I want him to have an actual arc that doesn’t end with infant-splosion. Also he can have a good ol companion arc to Bart. Welcome to foils everybody, where two identical boys with opposing life experiences get to thematically compare and contrast with each other as they deal with the trials and tribulations of growing up.

So, I’m ignoring every appearance Thad ever made after Impulse 1995, picking up instead where his story left off where he swore vengeance on his creators and disappeared into the speed force. And he’s off to do exactly what he said; Thad Thawne II is going to kill his namesake/grandfather/creator - the president of Earthgov.

But, turns out assassinating the president of a whole fucking planet is a lot harder than he thought - Thad has planned extensively for every moment of his life, so once he starts going off script things predictably go a little off the fuckin rails. Thad fails, obviously. For one because despite how much President Thawne might deserve to die, Thad at this point hasn’t done anything worse than attempted murder, and making him a killer would put a wrench in any kind of redemption arc he could have. Also he’s acting on rage, in a highly emotional state, basically going up against the entire government. Of course he’s going to get caught by the science police and brought into custody.

Bart, meanwhile is jumping with both feet into any kind of escapism he can find, which involves various time travel shenanigans and lands him in the 30th century. He gets to reunite however briefly with his mom, but the mission he had gets derailed by the appearance of Inertia.

Every time Bart and President Thawne interact, the president always seems to make a bid to sway Bart to the Thawne side. This never works, which is part of the reason Inertia exists in the first place; a version of Bart that the president could control. When Inertia landed in the 30th century, hell bent on assassinating his creator, the President subdued him and eventually coerced him back over to the Thawne side of the family feud. No longer a rogue agent, Inertia is back to his old self, all about destroying Bart and the rest of the Allens.

They have a battle, taking place all over the 30th century city, and Bart does his best but Inertia has the entire Earthgov police force on his side, and Bart eventually gets captured. He gets taken to some kind of holding facility, meets with the President who monologues as him while Inertia stands beside him like a good lackey. Then suddenly the speed-inhibiting cuffs or whatever Inertia had put on Bart to stop his speed malfunctions, and Inertia drops the act, now Impulse and Inertia working together to take down the Earthgov people holding them there.

Turns out as soon as Inertia knew he couldn’t take out the president, what with all the military force President Thawne had on his side, he bided his time until he could. He uses Bart’s help to finally get President Thawne cornered, and the assassination plan is back on track. Except now Bart is the thing stopping him. He makes the argument about how murder bad. Heroes don’t kill, etc. Inertia insists he isn’t a hero. But Bart reminds him that that’s not how Max saw him.

Inertia hesitates just enough that President Thawne is able to get away, and now the two of them have to make an escape attempt back to the past. Bart insists on trying to take Meloni with them, and they try but ultimately fail somehow (maybe someone has to stay behind to make sure they can make the trip safely, idk. At first Thad is willing to stay behind, since there’s nothing really for him in the past. But Meloni knows that President Thawne would destroy him if he did, and she can’t let harm come to either of her sons - and she does consider Thad her son, just like Bart. She’s had far too little time with either of them, but she loves them all the same. She tells them to take care of each other, and is the first to encourage them to be like, actual brothers.)

After yet another tearful goodbye, Bart swearing he’ll find a way for them to all be together again, Bart and Thad go back. And they do end up having to lean on each other, because shit’s tough for the both of them. Thad initially wants to apologize and possibly reunite with Max and Helen, and then finds out Max is gone. And Bart has someone who understands exactly what he’s going through.

Things get a little more lighthearted from here. Bart and Thad don’t get along well at first, since they’re both going through rough times and lots of changes and their first instincts are to lash out at each other. But eventually they form a sort of camaraderie through shared grief, then shared fish-out-of-water experiences. Which evolves into shared inside jokes and video games and comic books and they become slow but steady friends.

They upgrade into brothers when Bart defends Thad against the repeated (and not entirely undeserved) suspicion he receives from the rest of the Flash family. Jay and Joan take him in, but it’s clear they don’t trust him, and neither does Wally. Bart stands up for Thad, arguing that he’s as much of a Thawne as Thad is, and treating Thad like he’s the next Cobalt Blue is just going to ensure that history never changes and stupid family feuds are forever. After this, Thad starts trusting Bart a little more, and kind of solves Bart’s problems regarding encroaching adulthood with his friendship. Neither of them really had a childhood, and Thad hasn’t experienced 21st century life at all, much less the societal expectations to grow up. So Bart gets to have fun again, and Thad won't judge any of his games or his books or his attitude or interests for being childish or lame because he’s fascinated by the experience of anything regardless of the target audience.

And from there it's a series about these two becoming brothers and growing up and the different lessons they learn and wacky characters they meet along the way. Thad ironically also puts Bart in a position where he has to take on more responsibility, since even though Thad can imitate heroic actions and is actually pretty good at it, he doesn’t understand what makes them heroic. Bart has to draw on a lot of the things Max taught him and now has to teach them to Thad.

There’s crossover comics with Superboy, where Bart laments about having to deal with grown up stuff, and Kon gives him a new perspective on the whole “being young forever” thing, since that was a reality Kon actually had to deal with and it sucked.

Through various misadventures they meet new and familiar characters to give them different perspectives on the whole passage of time thing. Villains who despise children or childish things, villains who embrace it but probably too much. People who talk about growing up as the worst time of their lives, others talking about it like it was the best. Kids and adults alike trying to force Bart and Thad to act a certain way while treating them another.

The two of them come to opposing conclusions about this; Thad wants to embrace change completely, partly because he wants to experience firsthand all that life has to offer, but also his worldview depends on believing that anyone can change, and anyone can be better, because he has to believe he can be redeemed for all the shitty stuff he did. Bart, on the other hand, knows his life isn’t perfect but thinks, based on recent events, that it’s all just going to get worse from here, and so resists change as much as possible.

Thad, in his haste to experience everything, sometimes ends up going too far, either burning both of them out, or pushing them into situations that they’re not ready for or are ill-equipped to handle. Bart, on the other hand is so resistant to change or responsibility that he stops them from doing actual necessary things like planning their futures or doing chores or making new friends. This acts as the crux for their main conflict that slowly builds throughout the series, and then in a finale to the arc, they both figure out a way to get Meloni back to the past, and to raise some stakes they have a falling out in the middle of the mission about it.

Bart accuses Thad of trying to leave him behind, or trying to be the better version of him again, and that old insecurity about Thad replacing him crops up. Thad thinks Bart just can’t handle anything outside his personal bubble and wants to force him to live in the real world. Plus he also feels kind of abandoned by Bart, who often would leave Thad to do the scary adult things on his own.

Tensions still high, there's suddenly an external threat to deal with - probably president thawne and the science police - and they attempt to continue arguing even while fighting the president. I’m making this up as I go so lets say yada yada big climactic moment it's looking like the two might fail to get Meloni back and they’re both still angry with each other and Bart just… can’t take it anymore.

He keeps losing people, and the ones he keeps he always seems to screw up with. And at the end of the day he’s just a kid who wants his mom. Is that really so much to ask? So there’s a reversal, a parallel, if you will, of the assassination attempt from the beginning of the series, this time with Bart. Or, because I don’t think many people would buy that Bart would actually ever for real kill someone, maybe he’s finally about to get his mom back, but she doesn’t want to go (since she made that deal with the president that he wouldn’t harm anyone of the Allen family so long as she stayed with him) so he’s trying to force her, risking the lives/well-being of the entire Allen bloodline across all of time.

This time it’s Thad who has to talk him down, who has to remind him about being a hero, who has to remind him that trying to go back to some magical time in the past where things were better is just going to stop him from learning and growing as a person, and that doing anything and everything possible to get there is just going to lead to Bart doing something he Actually Can’t walk back from.

Alright but here’s the thing because having Bart be forced to leave his mom again for like the billionth time is tired and overdone, and personally the whole message about heroics involving extreme and damaging amounts of sacrifice can only go so far. So here; Thad and Bart are both right.

Like on the one hand, yeah, it’s childish and selfish for Bart to want to be with his mom at the expense of literally everyone else in his family. On the other hand, the fact that they can’t be together because some asshole is upholding a stupid grudge is bad and unfair and wrong. The issue needing to be fixed is not the kid who wants his mom, it’s the jackass keeping them apart (and who also wants to kill/imprison people). So Bart convinces Thad that they have to save Meloni, and Thad convinces Bart that there has to be another way - one where they get their mom back and the Allens don’t have to be hunted.

The whole story would be leading up to the two of them coming to this conclusion; the healthy middle between the two extremes. Where they have the maturity to plan ahead and sort through their differences and figure out the best course of action with the least amount of collateral, but they don’t let go of that adolescent need for justice and fairness - that thing that makes you dig in your heels and say “no. That’s not fair, that’s not right.”

SO here’s where I’d put the title card: “Bartholomew and Thaddeus Take Down The Government”. How do they do it? No idea! I’m flyin by the seat of my pants here! Do they run for office? Do they publicize the president’s crimes in such a way he gotta go to jail? Do they somehow turn public opinion against him enough to get him out of office? idk!!! And I don’t remember enough about Earthgov’s political situation to put an accurate read on what exactly they might do to disrupt it.

Either way they don’t kill him, manage to free their mom, and they all go back to the past together. And a new arc would involve the three of them getting settled in the past; Meloni would be a main character now, and hers is a two-pronged fish out of water story where she’s trying to figure out how shit works in the past, with overtones of the struggles of being a single parent.

And... I’m not going to say any more about that because this is long enough already oof.

TL;DR I think a coming of age story would be cool for Bart, and having to deal with growing up when he never really had a childhood. Also the comic itself would be aimed at younger audiences, who can probably relate to having a Bad Time in the Teens and wacky hijinks with friends and siblings.

#soapbox #anonymous #asks

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ten-ten31 · 4 years ago

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Dear Yuletide Writer

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thank you so much for writing for me! :) I can't tell you just how excited I am. This is my first Yuletide and I guess I'm super nervous, but also looking forward to it. :)

Please feel free to browse my ao3 (KitKaos) and/or tumblr to get an idea of what I stan, like, read or write. I hope I can give you some broad ideas and inspirations in this letter to help you plan. Do feel free to fall back on my general likes if the prompts don't do anything for you. Or just use the prompts, whatever works best for you. Oh, and should you, dear Yuletide Santa, want to write in German and not in English, then I'm definitely okay with that. I'm fluent in both, so whichever you feel more comfortable with. If there's something missing or if you have a question, you can reach out to me via the mods.

General likes: I'm a sucker for the old friends-to-lovers or even enemies-to-lovers (with all the drama of grudginly admitting that the other party maybe isn't all that terrible and all). Things I'll never get tired of include coffeeshop AUs, spy AUs, musical AUs, found families, fake dating, pining, crossdressing, drunken shenanigans, fish-out-of-water situations, pop culture references, etc. Just about any kind of scene you can sneak in there about cooking or eating food (also characters being picky about certains foods and other characters going to some lengths to accommodate that) will make me happy, too. I do have a thing for descriptions of food and expecially impressions of taste - and if you want to make it kinky: food play. ;) I also have a bit of a hand fetish - so descriptions of hands are always welcome. If you want to do it, I probably also won't say no to someone breaking the Fourth Wall, any kind of alternate history AU, crossovers of my fandoms, or even some lovely steampunk aesthetics.

Do Not Want: rape/dubcon/noncon, watersports, scat, humiliation, A/B/O, soulmates AU, vampire/werewolf AU, second-person pov, character bashing of any kind.

Fandoms

Just two more thing before I go into detail: 1. The prompts below are nothing more than ideas - feel free to ignore them if you have a better one. :) 2. Not all of the characters need to be used in every prompt; pick and choose as desired.

Dial H for Hero (DC Comics)

- Summer Pickens, Miguel Montez

The 2019 12-issue run is just pure love! There is worldbuilding galore, relatable characters, a wonderful coming-of-age and initiation plot, interdimensional shenanigans, the question how Joe Average could get addicted to sudden superpowers, and so much fun with the concept of Superhero Secret Origins. Summer is a wonderfully strong and caring female lead and Miguel is a self-conscious little oddball.

As for prompts: Seeing more of their Metropolis adventures or Red/Yellow/Blue/Black Dial transformations would definitely be a lot of fun. Also, there's this cute boy Miguel asks out in the comics and I would love to see that first date. And what about Summer? She definitely won't be reduced to sidekick!

Feel free to include any other ((teenage) superhero) cameos you feel like. Please do not pair up Summer and Miguel romantically - although I don't have any problems with a fake relationship fic for them. ;)

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Masks: A New Generation (Roleplaying Game)

- any / worldbuilding

I only just disovered Masks as an RPG, and ever since I started playing, it's probably the most fun rping I've had in a long time. I love that playbooks are not by the type of power but the type of problem each teenager faces personally. Like, how do you juggle school, first love, being different in a way no one should know about, being different maybe in a way people will immediately see, adults telling you who to be, chores, and being part of a young superhero team that wants to make a name for themselves? It's hard. And the best sessions alternate between deep emotional connections, hilarious teenage drama and great action scenes.

As for prompts: I would love me some good worldbuilding - so maybe there is a reason the Scarlet Songbird is still around? What was Halcyon City like back in the days of the Golden-Age heroes? What has changed since then? How do especially the older generations view the naming conventions going around for new heroes? Is there a code to follow? Who in Halcyon City pays for all the damage to buildings and infrastructure caused by superhero-supervillain fights? What was it like back in the olden days for the Golden Age heroes as opposed to now? Are there cultural exchange programs with any of the alien races visiting from time to time? Give me a day in the life of an average Halcyon City citizen - they don't even have to be all that close to an epic fight or something. Just their way of coping with the daily madness of a huge city housing most of the world's superheroes. If you like something a little more character-specific: The one actual-play podcast that does it best in my opinion are the Theatre of the Mind Players with their "Future Shock" and "Past Tense" seasons of Masks. And I would love to read more about these characters. Have Sparrow and Figment finally get together. Give me a glimpse of how Horizon assembled his ersatz mom. What will Helix and Remix get up to?

Where to find it: The core rulebook is available from Magpie Games. The Theatre of the Mind Players’ Masks sessions can be found on Youtube.

Super Sons (Comics)

- Jonathan Samuel Kent, Damian Wayne

Super Sons is how I finally came to like and care for Damian Wayne - which, if you know me, is a major achievement! He is still a huge brat, don't get me wrong, but Jon's influence on him and the way he is confronted with certain issues he has... it's magical! It's wholesome! It's healing! They are both so fiercely protective of each other, and they both grow as characters from their experiences with each other.

As for prompts: So, dear Yuletide Santa, give me character growth and banter and friendship galore. I can see slumber parties at Wayne Manor or at the Kent farm. I can see them getting lost in space and time. I can see more adventures once they're at the same school. I can see a canon-divergence AU where Jon is finally admitted into the the Teen Titans at age 13 - how would that go? Or how about an Interrail Buddies AU?

If you want to write slashfic for them, I will not say no but would probably prefer to age them up a bit. I also most definitely don't mind any background appearances of any of their families.

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Superman Returns (2006)

- any (Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Richard White)

I still love this movie a lot - not because it's particularly spectacular, but it treats the characters with love, it treats the legacy of the Reeve movies with love and it leaves SO MANY questions for fanfiction authors to answer. ;) I mean, I've been a Superman fan for a long time and I've discovered that I'm most comfortable with a Clark who wears a mask both as Clark Kent and as Superman, who isn't either of those two (and who is fallible). And whenever someone learns of his secret identity, they will see that he's so much more than either Clark or Superman. I know Lois is a fairly underdeveloped character in this movie, so I would love for her to be treated not just as a prize, especially since there were those years of her having to put her life back together after Supes just up and left.

As for prompts, I've always wondered about the different coping mechanisms (Lois turning bitter, Jimmy starting up daydrinking - WTF?!) and just how their day-to-day business changed without Clark and Supes there. Give me the Planet staff banding together to rescue Lois when she remembers just that second too late that there will be no superhero to save them (I also wouldn't mind any of the Bats helping out secretly, if that's up your alley). Give me Jimmy trying not to think too much and instead getting on Lois' nerves until he's rescued by Richard intervening. I am also an absolute sucker for continuation fics, so how do things settle down after what happens in the movie? I would love for some real Clark and Jimmy bonding moments, maybe even Jimmy finding out or having known all along and covered for Clark. I would love for some truce and real friendship blossoming between Clark and Richard, as they are both intelligent, compassionate, insightful men. If you want to include Jason anywhere, feel free to do that, as he makes for such a wonderful catalyst for disaster. Feel free to write gen or any canon pairings - I'm also okay with non-canon het/slash pairs (or threesomes) as long as they make sense in-universe. ;)

Where to find it: Sadly, the movie doesn’t seem to be streaming anywhere, but since it’s 14 years old now, you can buy it relatively cheap.

Young Justice (Comics)

- Tim Drake (but do feel free to have any of the other characters in the story, too)

No matter if you're into the old 1990s YJ comics, the companion comics to the cartoon show, or the new 2019/20 version of the comics - I love all of them! So much I don't even know where to begin... The snark! The lovable teenage stupidity! The friendship that goes above and beyond! My definite favourite is Tim, because he is such a bright, snarky, secretive, repressed little bird (the moment he takes off his domino mask to reveal a second one underneath? priceless)! I also love his deep friendship with the others because that's his found family. Yes, Batman is his mentor (even though Tim might understand B better than the other way round sometimes) and Dick is his older brother and idol (hero worship, anyone?), but Young Justice is where he wants to be himself and all of it.

As for prompts: Even though I did not put either Cassie or Cissie in my request as I want something Tim-centric, the dynamic with those two strong-willed girls is definitely something I would love to see explored more. Also how the dynamic with the bats is so very different than the Young Just Us dynamic. What's it like being the one without powers in a group of hormonal teenage superheroes? I also just realized that I would love to see more of Mister Sarcastic trolling the rest of the gang. Or how about: What if Tim had powers for one day? If you're into the 2019 comics, how about a 5+1 of Why Drake May Or May Not Be A Good Superhero Alias. If you want to include the rest of the gang, you're definitely more than welcome to. Tim and Kon's bickering and outright arguments in the beginning turning into such a solid friendship (or more) is something I can read about time and time again. Pretty much the same goes for Tim and Bart. Or how about some Wendy the Werewolf Stalker shenanigans? Why is having girls in your group a bad/good idea? How did Cassie's becoming the team's leader affect Tim's sense of self? Heck, if you feel like it, open up the love triangle Tim-Cassie-Kon since there's like a ton of history there. Oh, and anyway, why is Stephanie Brown never part of any of Tim's teams? Dear Yuletide Santa, do also feel free to include any of the other teens (I have a soft spot for Li'l Lobo/Slobo).

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Overall, I’m sure I’ll love what you have for me, and I'm looking forward to reading it! <3

#yuletide 2020 #yuletide #dear yuletide writer #dyw #yulebuilding #cheftide #wrapping paper challenge 2020

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gtgrandom · 5 years ago

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Where Young Justice: Outsiders went wrong

(And before you tell me to just stop watching if I don’t like it - I’ve been supporting the show since 2011 by creating a significant amount of content and giving back monetarily. I have every right to critique the writing, thank you).

Honestly, I think they pulled their act together in the finale, and this season left me much more satisfied than I anticipated. That being said, there are some issues I want to address.

Major flaws:

Overabundance of characters

Undeveloped Relationships

Lack of Continuity

Problematic Representation (getting better)

Weak Dialogue

Lower Quality Animation

The Message

Overabundance of characters

I think we can all agree on this one. There were far too many characters in season 2, but season 3 is laughable. It’s hardly a story anymore. Instead it’s an episodic series featuring new heroes each episode to appease niche comic fans.

There’s a formula for a superhero show (and any group-oriented tale in general), and that’s having a central team of five or less. Then you can introduce one or two new characters max per episode as side characters or villains. But you always circle back to your main team. YJ did a nice job of this in season one. So did most CW superhero shows before they made the same mistake of expanding their cast to make their writing task easier. (Yes, easier - new characters means you can stop developing old ones, especially with time jumps). YJ started to narrow down the team by the end of the season, but it still left many mains as side characters / aesthetics.

It’s great seeing these characters brought to life - I won’t deny it. But you can’t delve deep if you have this many. You can’t focus on character development or meaningful relationship development (hence why nearly every ship was established off screen). Furthermore, you frustrate fans when you focus on one group more than another. With a smaller cast you can always count on appealing to your audience because their "fave” is always present in some way. In many ways, fans feel like they’re being dragged along simply waiting for their character to pop up because of a one time cameo. It’s not fair to the audience.

The relationships

I think the only romantic relationships we’ve seen develop on screen are:

Violet/Brion

Spitfire

SuperMartian

Robin/Zatanna

sort of Roy/Jade

- and all but one were introduced in season 1.

The others were simply introduced as a couple with little to no previous interaction. Like:

Tim/Cassie

Dick/Babs

Jaime/Traci

Bart/Ed

Kaldur/Wyynde

Gardita

M’gann/La’gaan

Mal/Karen

That is not how you write romance. You don’t stick it in there for the sake of it. You have to show us why they work, how they got there, and why we should care. I’m not saying there HAS to be romance, but if there is, it still has to be written well.

Continuity

This begins to overlap into the next issue, which is continuity. I understand that Outsiders is not necessarily a new chapter to Young Justice, but if you are going to call it Young Justice Season 3, then I expect story lines to bleed over beyond just villainous deeds.

Let’s look at Dick Grayson, for instance. He’s one of the only mains who has had a very consistent, though shallow, character arc throughout the series. First he wants to lead, then fears it because of the sacrifices he would have to make - because he didn’t want to be Batman. In season 2 though, he becomes his worst nightmare. He risks the lives of his friends, lies to his team, and ends up losing his best friend anyway. And in season 3, we actually get a little bit of continuity here with Dick mourning Wally and being afraid to take on another team after season 2. It could have been expanded upon, but it was still present, and I applaud the writers for that. Especially for driving home his leadership qualities at the end there.

Now, what about the other characters, specifically those introduced in season 2? This season is called “Outsiders,” and yet, it seems to only focus on the original team and Violet’s new group.

What about Bart’s entire arc of coming back, stopping the apocalypse, and then losing Wally, his mentor? What about Jaime’s home life and the lasting effects of being turned into a villain who nearly killed all his friends? What about TIM and his role as the new leader?? Where did that plotline go?? Why is the unfamiliar Beast Boy now the leader of this Outsiders group? How did Ed overcome his anger issues and repair his relationship with his dad? How did Jade go from being a supportive wife and mother into the opposite?

The writers tried to avoid all these problems by giving us a time jump. But that’s just lazy writing if you don’t take the time to answer how things have changed!

Also, I’ve said this before, but continuity isn’t simply having characters mourn a dead character. You can’t keep using that plot device to give heart to the narrative. If that’s your only source of true pathos...and that character is dead...then you’ve got a problem.

The representation

Okay, I’ll admit they saved their asses with Kaldur. I love my wholesome pansexual rep. Would I have preferred to see his relationship occur with a character we’d already been introduced to outside the comics? Yes. But I’ll take it.

Disappointed with Ed/Bart and Bluepulse. They could have shown us more, but they didn’t. They could have given us a story, but they didn’t. And don’t hit me with “this is a children’s show - we’re lucky to get what we get” BS. Because it’s not anymore. This show is literally written by adults for adults.

I really don’t want to talk about the whole Halo/Harper kiss because it was just so wrong in so many ways, but it needs to be addressed. So, first of all, if you excuse cheating in any capacity, shame on you. I don’t care what the characters are going through or how old they are. You don’t both recognize that you have significant others and then proceed to make out!! Second, what the hell?? You’re going to have the first lgbt content be a bisexual stereotype of two girls cheating on their boyfriends (and two characters who have only interacted in one episode before??) Not to mention, underage drinking and gun use? That sends the wrong message to the audience, even if the teens were reprimanded.

Also, Halo is supposedly non-binary, and yet they explained it away by technology, so idk, I’m hesitant to count it as legitimate rep. I still think it was a good discussion to have. But yeah...

Finally, Halo is not Muslim rep after all. She’s a hijab wearing character, but she does not identify with her faith or her culture. She outright rejects it in her scene with Harper. So...what? Is she diversity points that you can continue to violently kill off over and over? Not a fantastic way to treat POC. I don’t think the creators meant any harm by it, but it’s something they need to consider going forward.

(I do appreciate the number of POC characters that have been introduced however. Especially the Latinx and black characters. This show has improved its diversity. But without proper characterization, they’re sort of just...there).

Dialogue

I can’t be the only one who cringed through entire episodes this season? Some episodes had stellar writing. But the bad ones were very, very bad. Obviously, not every joke is going to stick the landing, but if you’re going to kill off your beloved comic relief character, you have to have a better backup plan.

Like, do you guys remember how witty some of the lines from the pilot were? The whole “Speedy” vs. “Kid Flash” debate in the opening sequence? You can tell how much effort went into those scenes. How much love was given to those characters. Because they knew that was their only chance to hook the audience, to get a green light for a full season. So they put everything into character development and plot - and now they’ve lost so much of what made the show precious in the first place. (It’s still precious, but it’s tainted in many ways for me now).

Animation

It’s gone downhill. That’s really all I can say without being mean. Some episodes seem slightly better than others, but if you compare the animation from 3x01 to an episode like Failsafe...there’s just no comparison. I could hardly watch Wally’s scene without frowning at the frame rate.

Message

I don’t understand what the show is telling us anymore (or I didn’t, before Black Lightning gave a very “on the nose” speech about what it is that we were supposed to take away from this season).

I mean this has always been an issue with the show, but at least it was a little clearer in season 1. Then, we had several themes:

Found family (+ Actions speak louder than heritage)

Don’t call us sidekicks (AKA the kids can make a difference)

Secrets are poison (They can tear a team apart. Trust in friends)

Season 2 was a little convoluted...and sort of just recycled material.

Secrets are poison (dammit, Dick)

You are in charge of your own destiny (Jaime/Connor)

Sacrifice (Kaldur, Artemis, Wally, Bart...they all gave something up for the greater good).

But what is the message of season 3?

Secrets are still poison (Tara, Violet, Batman v. Wonder Woman team)

I suppose it’s about healing and letting others in? Like how Brion and Victor have both worked through their anger? Artemis and Jefferson and Dick and Gar sorting through their grief...somehow...off-screen...(except for the episode devoted to Artemis saying goodbye to Wally.)

Perhaps...accepting yourself? (Victor, Violet, Brion, Connor?)

Do you see my issue here? How much harder it is to see what I’m supposed to take away from the show now? I’m not saying there aren’t any good messages being told, but they’re difficult to interpret. Sometimes that can be good. But this time I’m on the fence.

Conclusion

I love many of the characters from this show, but the fandom acts as if the writing is impeccable, and that’s just not true. Not everything is bad. Some of it is still miles beyond other animated television (looking at you vld). And I genuinely enjoyed about half of the episodes this season. But I think it’s important to recognize the flaws in media, as a writer myself, and as a consumer of these shows.

Plz be civil in the comments, and understand that this is only my opinion.

#young justice outsiders #yj outsiders #yj review #yj spoilers #dick grayson #artemis #connor kent

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superhero-boogie · 6 years ago

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They can't know. Part 2.

(Sup, people? It's the final part. Enjoy.)

Warning; Angst, Fluff, Cursing.

Request ; None. ( Requests are open.)

The noise of your feet repeatedly hitting the floor was the only sound on the desert Batcave while you waited for Babs. You were at the edge; the anxiety making you sweat when you finally heard her motorcycle. She parked next to you taking out the helmet and fixing her hair.

- Can you please hurry? It is a kind of emergency. - You begged.

- Sure, the emergency. - She got off the bike. - The reason you can’t tell me why I need to hack Tim’s computer. And do what again?

- Erase all the camera records since last week. - you promptly answered.

She shook her head, giving a tired sigh before hugging your side.

- Okay, crazy girl. Lead the way.

You took her to Tim’s laptop and waited while she got ready.

- If you keep looking over my shoulder while I work I will kick your ass.

- I’m sorry. I won’t bother anymore.- You backed off - Do you want something to drink?

- Now we’re talking, sweetie. Can you bring a glass of water, please?

You nod, walking out of the cave through the stairs. Your heart calmed down knowing Tim couldn’t figure your relationship out anymore, and since you were vague about the records Babs didn’t know what to look for.

Grabbing your phone you called Wally.

- Hey, babe, can we talk later? - He whispered.

- Of course! Is everything okay? -

- Everything is fine, I have to go, okay?

- Okay, by...- You heard the call end.

You thought that was odd, Wally always answered your calls or leave a message about why he couldn’t talk.

Looking at the dark screen of your phone you mind raced of all the reasons he couldn’t answer your call. Maybe he was at some mission you didn’t know about, Wally could be at some meeting or somewhere phones weren’t allowed. Or, the possibility crawled inside your mind, he could be with someone. Maybe he finally grew tired of a half relationship with you and went looking for a new, fully, one.

The feeling of someone squeezing your throat came back and suddenly you couldn’t breathe anymore. Taking deep breaths you leaned against the wall and sat on one step hugging your legs, your head on your knees.

- Miss Y/N? Are you hurt?

Looking up you saw a worried Alfred.

- Nope, just got tired half of the way up. - Your voice was hoarse so the attempt of a pun didn’t work out.

Alfred sat next to you without saying nothing, and you rested your head on his shoulder.

- Alfred? - You called with a small voice.

- Yes, Miss Y/N?

- Would you be upset with me if I lied to you?

- I may assure you, Miss, nothing you could do would upset me.

You went silence again thinking about what he had said.

- And the others? Do you think they would?

Alfred seemed to think about your question.

- You have to understand, Miss, that this family has been gone through a lot, but no matter what they’re still are a family. And for best or for worse, you’re part of it.

- So... What you’re saying is... Maybe? - Your laugh a little.

- I’m saying that you should trust everything will end up fine.

-... Thanks, Alfred.

- Well, let’s go now, it’s not proper for us to sit on the floor.

With your heart lighter you continued your way.

XXX

If you were honest with yourself you knew you wouldn’t stay at the party. You never were a YJ member, so your plan was to say hi to everyone, grab Damian and watch movies. You definitely didn’t want to be a bother especially because that was a time for your brother and your boyfriend.

This without mentioning that you didn’t want to face Wally, especially after thinking those awful things about him.

You were coming back from the kitchen after grabbing some snacks, your hair still wet from your shower, hoping no one saw you as you sneak your way to your bedroom.

But, of course, you weren’t that lucky.

- Y/N! Hey, how are you, girl? - You heard Zatanna call.

- Fuck - You whispered before turning around with a smile.

- Zatanna! Hey! I’m good. - You tried to be discreet even if you felt like everyone one was staring. - Listen, I can’t talk right now. Damian is waiting and I’m not really a YJ member.

- Why don’t you just say hi then? - You got a little frightened at her continuous stare at your throat. She wouldn’t strangle you just because you didn’t say hi, right?

- Well… You see…-

- Y/N. - A different voice said.

You turned and saw Wally with his arms crossed with a suggestive look.

- Wally! - All you could think was “Crap, crap, crap.” - Hi! What’s up?

- Can I talk to you? Alone? - He looked at Zatanna. And you turned to her as well begging with your eyes to her not leave.

- Okay, I’m going, see ya. - She winked not so discreetly at you.

You watched her leave until it was just you and Wally. Seeing no runaway routes you faced him.

- So… What do you want to talk? - Your voice was cheerful.

- Why were you hiding?

- I wasn’t! - You were.

- Please, Y/N. I know you. There’s something wrong? - Wally uncrossed his arms, his hand discreetly holding yours. - You know you can talk to me, right?

Seeing him worrying about you made your heart warm and heavy from guilt.

- I’m fine, Wally, really. I... I got worried about something stupid, but Alfred helped me out. - You intertwined your fingers together. - What did you want to talk?

He corrected his posture and released your hand.

- Yeah. Right. That. I almost forgot. - His face was dead serious without the hint of humor you were used to. - Answer honestly, please.

- Always! - You were starting to freak out again.

- Why don’t you want your family to know about us? Are you ashamed of me?

- What?! Wally, no! I would never...! - You took a deep breath. - Wally. - You put your hands on his cheeks. - Is literally impossible for me to be ever ashamed of you.

He held your hands still, his eyes looking fragile.

- Then why you don’t want them to know I’m your boyfriend?

- Honestly, in the beginning, I didn’t want my family being weird around you in case it didn’t work out. Especially because of Dickie. Then it worked out, and I knew we would never have a moment of peace if they knew and… I just wanted to keep you for myself for a while, but it was a giant snowball effect and I got scared that they would hate me if they found I lied to them for so long. - You held your foreheads together. - But if you want me to tell them, I will. You’re worth it, Wally. And if that means my family being mad at me for a while then be it.

- No, Y/N, not if you don’t feel ready y…

- What the fuck is going on here?!

You jumped apart, your hand going to your heart. Your brother gazed straight to your soul, arms crossed.

- J-Jason! ... Hi, buddy! You see; Y/N here was with something in her eye and I was... - You put your hand on his chest making him stop talking.

- No, Wally. That’s not right. - Wally observed in your eyes looking for any sight of hesitation before taking your hand.

- Are you sure, Y/N? You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.

- I am. I’ve told y…

- I’m still waiting for an explanation, Y/N! - You let go of Wally turning to look at your brother.

- Jay, can you please call everyone over? I promise I’ll explain everything; I don’t want to do it more than once.

He looked like he was having a stroke.

- Please? - You cut him when you saw him opening his mouth.

- I swear to god sometimes you’re just too much. - He angrily turned on his hills.

- Phew. That was close. - Wally messed his hair.

- You don’t tell me. You’re lucky my Dad doesn’t let him carry his guns around me.

- Why?! - Worry flooded his eyes.

- Relax, It’s not what you’re thinking. I’ll tell the story later. Now let’s go face the beast.

- Which one? - You laughed pulling him in the living room direction.

XXX

You were facing a little crowd, Wally tense beside you. Jason was quick and really took your word so you were not only facing your family but the whole team too. This without counting the people of Dick’s party. Your Dad’s bat glare almost making you back off.

- What is so urgent that Todd needed to take me out of my room, Y/N?

- Yeah, Y/N, tell us why the fuck I took demon spawn out of his room? Would you?

- Guys, shut up, let her talk!

You gave a grateful look at Stephanie.

- Thanks. Look guys I will need you to let me end, okay? Can you promise me that?

You looked at each one of them strategically avoiding Dick’s questioning eyes. Everyone nodded.

- Me and Wally... - You took his hand. - Have been dating for the past months. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, I truly am, but please don’t be mad at him. It was me who wanted to keep it a secret.

Wally smiled at you and you smiled back.

- We love each other and I would really appreciate if you don’t kill him.

- Me too. - Wally quickly add. You squeezed his hand and lifted your chin.

- Okay, you can talk now.

If anyone asked you it was right there when hell went down.

- The fuck?!

- What?!

- When... How... What?!

The YJ team awkwardly stood there, slowly leaving the room. Almost everyone talked at the same time until your Dad’s calm voice spoke.

- How long have you two been dating? - You bit your lip.

- Almost ten months now, right, babe? - Wally nodded.

- Just two more weeks.

Your Dad seemed to think and intertwined his fingers.

- Ten months?! That much?!

- Who cares, Drake?! - Damian turned to you. - Why him, Y/N? I thought I had taught you better.

- Is no one going to mention the age gap?! Seriously? No one?!

- Oh, shut up, Todd. Who are you to talk? - Damian said. - I want to know why she didn’t tell us. Don’t you trust us, Y/N? - Damian’s question hit you like a punch.

- Well, you guys aren’t exactly giving her time to answer, are you? - Everyone shut up when Cass talked. You stood there frozen, trying hard not to cry.

- Thanks, Cassandra. Guys, I swear we will answer everything. Just take it easy on Y/N. - He bent to whisper on your ear. - Are you okay, babe?

- Y-Yeah... J-Just fine.

The room got silent for some minutes.

- So... this probably isn’t the best time to say I already knew.

Everyone turned to Barbara.

- Wait, what?! - Your eyes could fall off for the much you opened them.

- Do you know how you asked me to erase the records? I got curious and did a face recognition of you on them, so I kind saw you guys making out.

- Yeah, since we’re confessing I should probably say I knew too.

- You too, Tim?! How?!

- Ahn... Barbara didn’t erase the videos from my second backup, and when I saw someone erase them I looked up. Also, sorry, I told Steph; she got curious about why she needed to take me out of the mansion.

- Okay, how many people knew? Raise your hand.

Zatanna shyly raised her hand.

- You don’t even live here! How?!

- Ahn... It’s best if I don’t say anything. Just... you know... - She tried pointing discreetly at her own neck. Suddenly you remembered you took a shower and put none makeup.

You put your hand on your neck as everyone looked at you.

- Why are you with your hand on your neck, sister? It’s not what I think it is, is it?

- You’re screwing my sister, West?! She’s just a baby! - Jason got up going in Wally direction.

- Jay, stop!

Dick and Bruce stood and grabbed his arms, Jason fought for a while before giving up. You looked at Dick, his eyes normally so expressive not showing anything. It scared the hell out of you.

- Y/N, Wally, can you come with me for a second?

You followed Dick, Wally arm around your shoulder as if he was trying to protect you.

- Listen, Dick, I swear we didn’t mean to. It kinda just happened. And I know she’s way younger than me, I swear I would never disrespect her. I’m not even her first! And…

- Wally shut the fuck up! You’re making worse! - Dick raised his hand shutting you both.

- I’m just going to ask two things. - He was dead serious.

You nodded.

- Do you love her? And you love him, Y/N?

- Yes, of course.

- With all my heart, Dickie.

- Why did you feel like you’re needed to keep it a secret from me?

- I didn’t want to disappoint you, man. She’s your sister.

- You didn’t need to. I want you to know that. I’m happy for you, but I want to clarify that I’ll be watching you from now on, so keep your hands to yourself, dude.- Dick looked very scary at that moment. - And I’m kicking your butt if you hurt her, okay?

Wally gulped.

- Clear as water, man. Hands to myself.

- Fine. - He smiled at you before giving you a hug. - I’ll calm things down, you guys wait a minute before coming back.

You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding and hugged Wally, your head on his chest.

- France’s looking pretty good, now, huh? - His chin on the top of your head.

- Shh. Let me just hold you a bit more.

- I’m glad we did it though.

- Strangely, me too. At least we won’t have to sneak around anymore.

- Y/N, I think we both know that’s not true. If anything, we’ll sneak around way more.

You lifted your head looking in his eyes.

- I love you, Wally West. I know we said this a lot to my family, but I need you to know.

- I love you too, Y/N Wayne.- He looked at your lips, slowly closing the space between you. His lips met yours and you melted in his arms, your own arms going up to hug his neck, your finger on his hair. You slightly opened your mouth and Wally put his tongue on your mouth, you brought him closer making a harsh moan escaping.

- What the fuck?!

You jumped, a smile on your face.

#bruce wayne x reader #dick grayson x reader #jason todd x reader #tim drake x reader #damian wayne x reader #wally west x reader #barbara gordon #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #young justice outsiders #dc comics #batsis #batfamily #batfam #zatanna #batsister

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forthemultiverse · 5 years ago

Text

Could Halo Be A Mole?

Young Justice Season One has given me serious trust issues – and Season Two didn’t do anything to fix that: Kaldur, Jaime, Lex at the end of the season, etc, but anyway, I just don’t buy Terra as being this season’s big betrayal. The Judas Contract is so well known at this point that even if they didn’t show us, we would’ve all know she was with Slade. Dr Jace is a pretty good candidate for a later betrayal, but that wasn’t subtle either; the fact she was technically working with Bedlam at the start of the season, taking Halo's DNA, wanting to be with the kids so much, and the mentioning of her lost child.

I started to think about the Young Justice on Apokolips story in the comics, and, well Greta Hayes has a biggish role, yet in Earth-16, she's be shown as just a ghost. Obviously, the show isn’t comics accurate and they could completely leave this aspect of the story out, but that didn’t stop me from falling down a research rabbit hole, and now, I reckon Halo could potentially be the twist betrayal of the Season following a storyline that takes moments from Greta’s.

There were a few things that drew me to Halo when thinking about a mole,

S3E1 – she let the assassins in, she’s shocked and taken captive which implies it’s an accident, but the guy who actually killed them was a suicide killer. Bedlam used him then killed him and she could be in the same situation. The Wiki said she had a job and was just afraid of the guards, which is why she was hiding but I do not buy that. It looked like she was trying to steal something in that scene.

Her memory problems, why create a character with no memories and then have those memories mean literally nothing? I’m waiting for them all to come back and for there to be some big bombshell in them.

The New Genesis/Apokolips connection formed by making her part Motherbox

The comment Silas Stone made about how technology can be neither good nor bad, it’s the user that’s responsible (I’ll come back to this point).

The Scene in Triptych after Halo goes Dues Ex Machina white and gets Brion back off Shade, well, the way Forager says ‘Halo happened’ wasn’t happy, it sounded like he was concerned/scared, like there was a ‘…’ at the end of the sentence. Brion and Halo smiled at each other which caused Forager to smile too, but considering he’s the one from New Genesis, if he’s worried, I’m going to be a little worried too.

Conner literally says, ‘we can’t let a girl in with no memories, she might be brainwashed or soemthing and we don’t want another Red Arrow situation’

Finally, more of a random thought I had, The Judas Contract has; a Markovian Royal, a relationship, and betrayal, so, what if, instead of the royal betraying the person who’s romantically interested in them (Terra and Gar), it’s the royal that gets betrayed by his girlfriend (Brion and Halo). It fits well since Perdita/Gardita is there and there doesn’t seem to be a reason to break them up. After working out those things, I started to research things that could be similar between Greta/Secret and Halo – by the way, I’m gonna refer to her as Halo because…well her ‘human’ name changes.

Some Similarities: Can’t remember their lives before their superhero ones, rescued by then joined teams, have powers connected to life and death, and have been separated from their powers at the end of their stories before (or well, Halo’s become two beings, one human and one super)

Not relevant to the story but I thought it was a nice coincidence: Greta went by Suzie because when the YJ girls were talking about getting her a name, Cissie suggests using one of hers (Suzanne) and on Earth-16, she gets dubbed Violet by Brion and then takes Harper from Will Harper – they both get their names from their new friends.

Now, details from the YJ Darkseid comic story: The team ended up on Apokolips (due to some things to do with fighting on earth) and Tower of Babel had just happened which lead to mistrust in Tim, who was the leader at the time.

While The Team is mentally tortured, Greta is taken to speak to Darkseid, who reveals her backstory and real name. He offers to be her mentor. The team escape with the help of an army of Lobo's, she doesn't tell them anything other than her real name.

Later on, the team says no to rescuing her dad (he killed her brother so’s in jail) She does it anyway and goes into a fit of rage, vanishes to accept Darkseid's offer.

The team prepare to go against her as she starts absorbing life (I think that's what she does, I can't remember, she's doing something bad that I'm pretty sure is killing a lot of things) Tim talks her down and appeals to the good in her. She breaks down crying and fixes everything she did.

Darkseid punishes her by taking away all her powers and immortality, not realising that being normal is all Greta ever wanted to be.

Not sure where in the timeline this bit is: Greta's dad is possessed by her brother when she saves him, and he chucks them both into a fire, seemingly killing them both, and I think that's when Greta goes to Apokolips and the team are told to take her betrayal as a lesson by their mentor (Snapper Carr - the guys who’s at M’gann and Conners house all the time)

Season Three is about the Anti-Life Equation and Meta-Human Trafficking, so this type of betrayal storyline doesn’t have to happen, but like I said earlier, trust issues, so hear me out. I don’t think Halo is secretly evil or anything, but you have to consider the Motherbox of it all, because that is connected to the Anti-Life Equation, and being part Motherbox is going to have some kind of effect on Halo’s character arc/morals.

Things To Know About Motherboxes

New Genesis-based, and though the people who created them are known, their true nature and origin aren’t.

Provide user with unconditional love, to the point they self-destruct when the owner dies (NOT MAKING THIS BIT UP) and can only be made by beings of New Genesis and Apokolips

Who is the owner Halo’s Motherbox since she’s died multiple times and it’s not blown up. A few people have Motherboxes – like Orion (Darkseid’s son) who is the defender of New Genesis, and in the past, DS has switched his box to try and control him.

Coming back to that Silas comment, tech isn’t good or evil, it’s the user, well who is her user???

A Motherbox saved Darkseid after he was defeated by Doomsday

Get their powers from life-giving sources

Fatherboxes: Apokolips based, can bring people under Darkseid’s influence, get their power from the Anti-Life Equation

So, Victor keeps going bad because of the Fatherbox, but the Motherbox makes him good? Surely that could be a two-way thing, and Motherboxes could go bad?

And here’s what I think could happen in Season Three B,

We’ve been shown Bart going through an enemy boom tube in the trailer, and considering Granny Goodness is a Darkseid Agent, we can predict that he ends up on Apokolips (I could go into detail about Bart’s fear of dying that caused him to retire for a bit in the comics but not relevant). If he, and the meta’s with him, need rescuing, Halo could end up on Apokolips too. While others are captured, she comes face to face with Darkseid, who gives her memories of her old life and offers her a place on his side. Whether she says yes or no doesn’t really matter, because she can now be crashing into an identity crisis or having to fight ‘Halo’/Motherbox for control of her body. Her Motherbox could also be corrupted by Darkseid during this conversation, something slipped on her arm, in a drink, just his mind entering the boxes.

Darkseid could be using her Motherbox to spy on the team without Halo even knowing, all Roy Season One, or she could just eventually give in and let the Motherbox take control of her. Once losing control she becomes a minion of Darkseid and the team now need to find a way to separate her.

(Angst on how people feel as not everyone realises she’s being controlled at first and just thinks he betrayed them)

To separate Halo from the Motherbox, it could go very Greta like, the team get a breakthrough with her and Darkseid punishes her by stripping the Motherbox side of her, leaving her normal. I’d kinda like that? Maybe? Because she’d get to be happy and live a normal life, she could still return to the Team eventually, using technology like Rockets (Yes I lowkey want Rocket to get to mentor someone just so she can be back in the story a little lol)

Another option is Dr Helga Jace. I already mentioned that she seemed shady, and she really does, she gets even shadier when you research her.

CW Black Lightning has her as a character: involved with illegal experiments, lost rights to see her child, made an anti-ageing serum for Tobias Whale (remember when I mentioned him in Halo research earlier?? – he’s with Intergang by the way, the people who had a Fatherbox in Season Two)

Prime Earth: she’s neither good or evil, appeared in Suicide Squad comics, the team that Halo joined.

New Earth: Royal Markovian Scientist, secretly a member of the Manhunter Cult, installed a psychic control on Metamorpho before using him to attack the Outsiders, helped Halo get her memories back.

Now, that mention of psychic control made me think back to Halo in Prime Earth…she was being mind controlled by the Kobra Cult…huh. The reason she got free of the mind control was because a scientist double-crossed the Kobra Cult. HUH.

And Tobias Whale…a Black Lightning villain…who hired Syonide to kill Halo and her parents…

Pause to explain why this little bit is important, sorry for all the info dumping, Syonide isn’t some super prominent assassin in the DC Universe, but she killed Violet Harper, her parents, and she was sent to kill a Russian Scientist that Phantom Lady was protecting (I promise this could actually be relevant). Obviously, Dr Jace isn’t Russian, she’s Markovian, but considering that scientist doesn’t even have a name, I don’t think it’s that much of a problem if she took his place. Reason why this could actually be important, one it connects another scientist to Halo, but also, Phantom Lady was going to lose, Syonide had teamed up with Merlyn to kill this person, and WALLY WEST FLASH saved them.

So, I think Dr Jace is shady, research points that she probably is, but after she’s revealed to have still been dabbling in meta-human experiments, she could bargain with the Team. They need her as an insider to save Halo. She double-crossed the bad guys to get Halo back in control of herself (like the scientist who did it in the Kobra Cult story) and when Darkseid comes to get her, the Team, specifically Dick, Artemis, and Conner, are in charge of protecting her, they start to get a little overwhelmed and started talking about how much easier it used to be and how much they miss their old team, and boom, Wally has a lightning rod to come back from the speed force to help them. Happy Reunion and Halo’s no longer evil. Wooo. That last bit’s just a hope because I miss Wally, but I stand by Dr Jace being key to helping the team while still being morally grey. Plus, if she gets Halo back to normal pretty quickly, Halo could then be a spy for the team, a way to get one over on Darkseid.

Terra gets her Slade plot, but it could play out as an upward arc: she’s betraying them of her own choice and regrets it so bad once she gets to know everyone. She comes to their side, everyone thinks they’re in the clear because they’ve got the mole! Then Halo’s revealed to be with Darkseid. It would be such a good twist and the set-up is there.

Let me know what you think of this theory! (Doubt anyone’s actually gonna read it all but I had to get it all down lmao)

Anyway: Here’s my insanity board though I doubt it’s good enough quality to really be read

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