#nonverbal Kobra kid

[chaoticbuggybitchboy]

Kobra tries so hard to be like other ‘joys. He really does, but his sorts of rebellions never seem to match theirs. Killjoys shout because BL/ind forced them to whisper. Kobra is silent because BL/ind forced him to speak.

[cellarful-of-noise]

Me @ people who write kobra kid as selective mute or nonverbal

[eden-has-rotted]

give me autistic kobra kid.

give me autistic kobra kid, who's nonverbal/very rarely verbal, or who is very blunt when he talks.

give me autistic kobra kid, who wears sunglasses everywhere due to light sensitivity, and who everybody keeps an extra pair of sunglasses for in case his get damaged/lost/whatever.

give me autistic kobra kid, who stims by unloading/loading his ray gun, and whose karate allows him to get rid of excess energy.

give me autistic kobra kid, who calms himself down by drawing with the girl.

give me autistic kobra kid, who never takes his boots off because they help with compression sensory.

give me autistic kobra kid.

[blood-injections]

Hard of hearing Fun Ghoul and nonverbal Kobra Kid shit talking in sign language

[kidd-corvid]

you cant disagree with me that kobes being semi-nonverbal is a good hc when this is literally his bandana

[starboy14176]

-Autistic killjoy headcannons-

-Party poison-

Flappy hands and bouncing up and down

Kandi because it’s pretty and makes a good sound when he stims

“Wtf is a gender”

Never knows when anyone is mad at them

Physically incapable of shutting up

Special interest is painting and art in general

Has sensory issues with food a clothes the most which makes things difficult because well- the zones

Very strong black and white morals

-Jetstar-

Always tapping his fingers and mumbling to himself

Music is his special interest

“Gender is fake but I’m to lazy to change mine”

Goes nonverbal sometimes and talks with asl

Has a very hard time communicating his emotions

Always the one who has to come up with excuses for why they can’t go to *insert social situation*

-fun ghoul-

Face rub stim

Chews on literally everything

Loves gum

Trans as fuckkk

Bombs and bomb making special interest

Makes stim toys for himself

“This machine kills ableists” sticker on his guitar

“Stimming isn’t enough I need to explode”

If he loses interest in a conversation he will simply leave

-kobra kid-

Semi verbal

Bounces his legs and picks at his finger nails

Sun glasses inside for “Neruotypical reasons” /j

Light and noise sensitive

Hyper specific safe foods that are near impossible to get in the zones (but party always finds a way)

Transmasc

can and will give u a presentation on the history of gender non conformity

Super sarcastic but can never tell when other people are being sarcastic

Special interest is zine making

Hates meeting new people with a burning passion

-the girl-

Non of the ‘joys realized she was autistic at first because like- they were all like that when they were kids

Special interest is cats

Kobra makes her a stuffed cat and she is inseparable from it

Has absolutely no concept of gender

Super noise sensitive

No social cues about it

Will show up, info dump on you, then leave

Refuses to go to any form of social gathering and one of them will always have to stay behind to watch her

[sleevesareforlosers]

hello yes can i have a fun ghoul kobra kid friendship thoughts?

that took less than a minute. impressive!

- STUPID best friends, like absolute shit idiot playfighting/eating things that Arent Edible/“hey i dare you to steal ponys skates and ride off the diner roof” “only if you catch me” *both of them break an arm* type shenanigans ALWAYS

- also the two youngest of the four but kobra has baby sibling syndrome and ghoul is an Older Brother so they can REALLY get on each other’s nerves which is so funny to like, anyone watching these CHILDREN (19 year olds whatever) get in these pissy little arguments and then like. five minutes later theyre playfighting like nothing happened

- EXCELLENT nonverbal communication. ghouls not the best at ZSL but he really tries (esp when kobes goes nonverbal or sounds are bugging him) and honestly sometimes the slower movement is what kobes needs. PLUS theyve mastered little touches and eyebrow raises and mouthing snarky comments at each other across the room when no one is looking.

- technology buddies!! will sit in (mostly) silence for HOURS doing bike/car maintenance or making bombs or programming shitty little robots that do half a task and need like four other ones to finish the job. its fun :) they have competitions for who can make the most convoluted wiring structure and still have the project not blow up

- (my canon specific) ghoul was... maybe a little flighty when he joined the crew and kobes didn’t talk to him for like a week bc trust issues <3 but then an unspecified something happened that rattled both of them and they separately made their way up to the roof of the diner to have a smoke and calm down and had a spiderman-pointing.jpg moment and then just. sat down and smoked in silence and then smoked in not silence and then came down from the roof with an. understanding that just kept growing from there.

- (android au specific) kobra would Not have stayed in the desert if it wasn’t for ghoul being the literal first person to treat him like someone that could think for himself and make his own decisions (sorry pois but um <3 kidnapping someone isnt the best way to convince them u arent a terrorist)

EDIT bc i forgot to add that theyve got an eight-inch height difference that has never and will never stop kobra from climbing onto ghouls shoulders (i wrote that right, trust me) when he cant get something off of a shelf

[luckycharmdust]

Zip Me, SandKid!

ahhh sorry this is so late but thanks for the ask i really love how it turned out!

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29127885/chapters/71766669

writing under the cut

Sandman was lucky he was a light sleeper. It meant he could fall asleep while on watch and still be woken up by an approaching Drac patrol, or footsteps of an approaching killjoy crew. Or, in this case, his boyfriend.

Kobra had stumbled into the Suiteheart’s base late at night, a noise ringing out through the small shack as he hit the doorway. Sandman would’ve placed his bets that Kobra was drunk, but he didn’t hear the usual string of curses following the noises. That was a sure sign that something was wrong.

Sandman found Kobra four steps inside, the door still swinging wide open. It was raining outside. Sandman’s first priority would always be his boyfriend, but he took one look at Kobra’s shaking figure, curled up in a ball on the ground, and closed the door first to block the cold. He then crouched down next to Kobra but kept about a three-foot distance.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Then, when Kobra didn’t answer, “Can I touch you?”

“No,” Kobra signed, pulling his fingers closed and even shaking his head to add emphasis. After a brief pause, he circled his hand over his chest. “Please, don’t.”

“Don’t worry, Kobes, I won’t touch you. You’re safe.” Sandman hated seeing his boyfriend like this, but he’d gotten used to that. The two had only been together for a few months, but Kobra’s nonverbal panic attacks were something that Sandman knew how to handle by now. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Kobra stayed frozen, curled up in a ball on the floor, for a long time before answering. It’s okay, Sandman knew how to be patient. Kobra hesitantly brought his hands out in front of him and then across his forehead in the signs for “I want to forget,” a secret confession that only Sandman would see. And without asking, Sandman knew.

Because Kobra Kid used to be an Exterminator. He kept that fact a secret; but it wasn’t, really, because everything about Kobra practically screamed BL Exterminator. Zone slang didn’t roll off his tongue like it did for any other killjoy, it sounded choppy and unnatural and Kobra had given up trying to use it. His movements were sharp and not messy, calculated and not impulsive. He knew how to kill and he knew how to do it well, but although that came in handy in the zones it only served as another reminder of his training in the city.

His training. Shit. Kobra rocked forward at the thought of it, fighting off his nausea. Sandman rushed to get a bucket by Kobra’s side, but he managed to hold his stomach down.

“I don’t like seeing you like this,” Sandman said softly, the pain in his voice thinly hidden behind a veil of worry.

“That makes two of us,” Kobra signed. “I’m a mess.”

“I- I won’t deny that. But you have me to help.”

Kobra closed his eyes and Sandman hated the look on his face. “Sandy,” he signed- his name sign, fingers rubbing together in the sign for sand and then apart for the letter Y. “I can’t keep crawling to your door when I need someone to put me back together again.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not fair to you.”

“When have you ever cared about what’s fair? Kobra. Kobes, look at me. I’m giving you a free pass to be selfish. Take it.”

Sandman waited, counting the raindrops that fell off Kobra’s hair and dripped onto the floor. After a long pause, Kobra lifted a thumbs up with his other hand, the sign for “Help me”.

Sandman cracked a smile. “That’s what I’m here for, baby. Let’s get you out of those wet clothes before you catch something nasty.”

After getting permission, Sandman helped Kobra up and led him to the small cot in the corner. Kobra seemed to have forgotten how to walk by himself and most of his weight was on the other killjoy, but Sandman didn’t mind. Kobra stared blankly forward and let Sandman peel off his wet t-shirt; a symbol of dependency, Sandman realized, and of the selfishness that Kobra finally trusted Sandman enough to show.

Sandman helped Kobra out of the rest of his clothes and gently dried him with a towel. He found a red sweatshirt tossed into a corner and gently pulled it over Kobra’s head, careful not to touch his hands to Kobra’s bare skin. He knew it would make Kobra flinch back- it had before. Sandman then dressed Kobra in a pair of pajama pants. They were ripped in more places than not, and he was pretty sure they belonged to Dr. Benzedrine, but they were comfortable and Kobra stopped shaking once he got into warm clothes.

“Do you need something to eat? To drink?” Sandman didn’t know if they had any food at the base- it had been a while since their last supply run, but luckily Kobra shook his head no.

“I think I just need some rest,” Kobra signed, but his hands moved slow and Sandman could tell it took a lot of effort. Kobra looked exhausted.

“Of course, baby. You take the bed, I can keep watch from the floor.”

Kobra abandoned his use of Zone Sign Language and just reached his hands out towards Sandman.

“You want me to join you? Are you sure?”

Kobra nodded, with half-lidded eyes and nose red from the cold, and Sandman couldn’t resist. He climbed into the small bed with Kobra and held him close. He was hanging half off of it, but he didn’t mind as Kobra buried his face into Sandman’s chest and Sandman ran his fingers through Kobra’s wet hair, detangling it. Kobra hummed in contentment: the first noise he’d made all night, and Sandman couldn’t help but smile. Maybe, Kobra would be better in the morning. Sandman clutched him tighter in his arms and whispered a prayer to the Phoenix Witch.

----------------------------------------------

Kobra was running. He was running, and his lungs were burning, and his legs threatened to give out, but he couldn’t stop. He wouldn’t, because he refused to lose. It wasn’t because Kobra was competitive (which he was), or because he liked the thrill of racing (which he did). It was because he was scared of what would happen if he didn’t win.

The first blast narrowly missed his arm, but he felt the heat of the second one on his ear. It would leave a burn, blistering and hurting like hell, but Kobra had had worse. He focused on running. The obstacles under his feet didn’t bother him anymore - six months of intense training had made sure of it. He cursed himself for not being able to dodge the first blast. That would get him points docked, and as Kobra had made so clear, he couldn’t lose. He focused on hitting each target with his raygun. Kobra was a great shot; he hit the mark every time. It had bothered him at first that the targets weren’t just red and white circles, but people. He had gotten used to it by now, shooting at the criminals set loose in the training ring like mice in a snake's cage. Kobra didn’t have time to watch their bodies fall to the ground as he kept running. Speed would earn him points, too.

It wasn’t a surprise when Kobra won. He was a prodigy from a young age, scouted by Better Living and recruited to Exterminator training without even a choice. That didn’t mean it was easy- Kobra worked his ass off to excel in training, and his constant bruises, aching muscles, and bloodstained uniform proved just that.

The Director took the raygun out of Kobra’s hands and traded it for a badge. “Congratulations,” she said, “Your training has been completed.”

Kobra wanted nothing more than to go back to his bunk, but there was something else he knew he had to do.

The Director nodded. “Show no mercy.”

He turned to the boy next to him, a lanky kid with black hair and bright eyes that Kobra had watched lose their sparkle as the training progressed. The kid was his roommate, Ransom, and the two had become… a little more than friends. But only one of them could become an Exterminator.

“What are you waiting for?” The Director pressed, and Ransom gave Kobra a quick nod and a look that said ‘I know what you have to do. It’s okay’.

Kobra really hoped Ransom would forgive him as he landed a solid punch to his nose that sent him reeling backward. Another one and he was on the ground.

Kobra straddled Ransom’s waist, throwing his knuckles into his face again, and again, and again. He wanted to whisper something to Ransom, “I’m sorry” or “I love you”, but The Director was watching too closely. Kobra’s knuckles were red with the same blood pooling out of the wounds in Ransom’s face, but he didn’t stop. There was one punch he needed to land, one hit and it’d all be over.

Ransom’s neck broke with a crack that made Kobra sick to his stomach. He could practically feel The Director’s eyes on him, proud.

Kobra took his pills that night, something he didn’t usually do, because they were the only thing that could make him forget.

----------------------------------------------

“Kobra! Kobra, wake up! Please, baby, come back to me.” Sandman’s desperate cries brought Kobra reeling back, jerking awake like his mind had collided with his body again. He tried to ignore the taste of salt in his mouth, from his tears, and the smell of blood still imprinted into his memory.

“Sandy,” he forced out, falling back into Sandman’s arms and feeling his body shake with heaving sobs that he couldn’t control. “Sandy.”

“I’m here,” he said, over and over again, holding Kobra tight like he was afraid he would fall away.

“I’m sorry,” Kobra cried, saying what he didn’t get to say to Ransom. “I love you.”

Sandman didn’t seem to understand that Kobra was talking to someone else, someone stuck in his past, but the message was still the same. “I love you too,” Sandman echoed.

“I want to forget.”

“I know, baby,” Sandman whispered close in his ear.

“I want to forget,” Kobra repeated; the same four words he had signed when he showed up at the Suiteheart’s door the night before.

“I know.”

[graffitibible]

i saw your most recent post about jet and ghoul and their synchronization and i also thought of that one frame where they both shoot the gas station guy beside kobra... why do you think they were pictured in sync in almost every one of their music video shots?

i’m not sure if that was the intention that they consistently be in constant sync with each other while they were shooting/editing/putting the video together, but it’s definitely something that comes across in the final product. most of the time when i’m analyzing something i don’t assume that it’s 100% intentional, but intent doesn’t matter because it means that it’s something i can extrapolate characterization from and make use of. 

the more frame by frame breakdowns of the mvs i do (which i do a lot, lol) the more i notice that ghoul and jet seem to have a knack for nonverbal back-and-forth in very critical moments. right here they aren’t even looking at each other.

(source)

they seem to have an innate sense for it, though i’d guess that some if it has to do with the high-adrenaline lifestyle they’re in. in the zones, you have to be ready to draw your weapon at a moment’s notice. the other distinct moment is the one you mentioned, when kobra is being...potentially threatened? we don’t have enough of the context to know if that’s the case or if this is just the two of these guys shooting dead pegasus employees for kicks, but again it speaks a lot to how well they work together that they don’t have to glance at each other to confirm that this is what they’re doing. they have the same thought, and they act on it at the same time without any distinct cue from either one of them.

(source)

in general, the fabulous four are super in sync with one another without needing to do a lot of verbal confirmation, but jet and ghoul in particular are a highlight for me, in part because one of those moments is so climactic and says so much with very little. they don’t so much as exchange a word to each other in SING when ghoul shuts the door behind jet. 

(source)

jet stops and runs back for the girl almost at once, but only needs a glance back at ghoul. this is a high-stakes, intense moment for both of them as characters. they’ve just lost their leader and the kobra kid. poison was cut down because korse is sneaky and determined, and kobra died because he was pissed that poison just got downed and he ate heat rampaging over it. 

but jet and ghoul keep their cool. they do not panic. they don’t rage like kobra did. they’re down half their crew, but they still have a job to do, and they’re still going to do it.

so jet trades one look at ghoul. ghoul doesn’t need to gesture, doesn’t need to shout. they just look at each other for half a second, if that. it’s a very tiny moment, but it communicates a lot - because jet only needs to glance to ghoul once, and that’s all the confirmation he needs about what ghoul intends to do.

(source)

between one breath and the next, they’ve made a plan and acted on it. and that’s part of what makes this moment super poignant to me. because unlike the case with poison (surprise attacked) or kobra (understandably driven to rage and grief in an emotionally-charged moment), jet and ghoul go down on their own terms - terms that they make with each other mere seconds before it all happens.

they have a very good system of communication, basically, and it’s one that’s almost entirely nonverbal - we wouldn’t hear them if they were talking to each other in any of these scenes, but they're definitely not talking in any of them either. there’s just no time for that. they’re just very fucking excellent at doing this entirely nonverbal back and forth with one another, even when shit is at its very lowest, even when death is imminent, even after they’ve just watched two of their own die.

again, was this 100% intentional on the part of the video direction? who knows! probably not, but it’s fun to analyze anyway. poison and kobra have a natural seamlessness in how they work with each other, which lends itself well to the common consensus that they’re siblings (something i 100% accept because i love me some good sibling dynamics), but ghoul and jet also have a super interesting dynamic to me. there’s a lot of innate trust there, i think - there would have to be, for you to trust someone to watch your back like that! a lot of the mvs are just visual storytelling at its finest, because they manage to pack a lot of information into a select handful of shots, including group dynamics like this one.

to me, my main takeaway from this (aside from the fact that jet and ghoul exchanges are some of my favorite ones to write) is that, in order for the fabulous four to function as well as we see them in the mvs, they eventually reach this point of unconditional faith in one another. no matter how different they might be as people and no matter the disparity in their potential backgrounds, no matter how long it takes to reach that point, we have jet and ghoul acting with this fluid synchronicity that’s at such a polish that they don’t even need to talk to each other.

this was an essay and a half on how much i love watching the ghoul-jet dynamic play out but yeah that’s the gist of it! i don’t think it was necessarily an intentional choice that these two have that kind of implicit trust in each other, but why shouldn’t we analyze it anyway? it’s there. and it says a lot, no matter what might have been intended. 

[synchlora]

Party poison and 2 Who do they look to for guidance? Kobra and 10 Sacrifice the one to save many, or save the one no matter the cost? Ghoul and 19 How do they feel about public displays of affection? Jet and 28 When left to their own devices, how would they spend a free day? The Girl and 40 Blanket fort or tree house?

Party: Who do they look to for guidance?

party acts as though they never need help but dear god don't let that facade fool you. they look for guidance in everyone, picking up every part of who they are from the people they've known.

they have their cunning from Comet Dust, their caution from Cyanide Sunset, their love from Kobra Kid, their humor from Jet Star, and their trust from Fun Ghoul.

they are constantly changing, making themself better and trying to be the best they can for their crew.

they're the leader of a rebellion after all.

Kobra: Sacrifice the one to save many or save the one no matter what they cost?

ooh kobra would be kind of conflicted but for the most part leans more towards save the many. but it would absolutely depend on who the "one" was. if the "one" was someone in his crew, especially the Girl, he would absolutely save them over the many.

Ghoul: How do they feel about public displays of affection?

ghoul has such mixed feelings on affection in general it can be hard to know what xir thinking. on one hand, they'll pounce his crew mates at any chance she can get but on the other hand that constant fear of being caught doing such a thing scares the shit out of him.

BLi was pretty strict on keeping their 'crow apprentices from getting too attached to one another (this is a war after all, can't grieve over any casualties) so enforcement was harsh. ghouls still pretty iffy on physical affection, especially in public, because of this. there's lots of reassurance and double-checking with both ghoul and the person she's with. this is where tapping shoulders and both verbal and nonverbal consent for any physical contact (especially in public) comes into play.

the first time xe had actual positive physical contact w someone they cried.

Jet: When left to their own devices how would they spend a free day?

ooh they would absolutely be around driving somewhere. they love to go around on their bike and just look out over the desert, not really thinking about anything in particular. it can be really refreshing for them to be able to get away for a little while, let their thoughts drift around on the wind.

they'll sometimes drive around and think about nothing but other times they can't quite shut off all those thoughts. that's where the crash track and a rocky area they call death's grip comes into play. they'll go driving these places in order to take their mind off everything, focus only on driving and feeling the thrill of making it out alive.

The Girl: Blanket fort or tree house?

tree house!! she likes being up really high and finds it very fun to climb anything she can, whether it's a joshua tree or an abandoned building, she will get to the top (and then need help down oh no).

she also doesn't particularly like tight spaces, reminds her too much of what little time she had at BLi. she likes really open spaces where she can run around, so blanket forts are a little too constricting.

[chaoticbuggybitchboy]

kleptomaniac Jet Star

pyromaniac Fun Ghoul

dermatillomaniac (compulsive skin picking) Party Poison

[sleevesareforlosers]

you know what I’m sending another one. thoughts on the kobra kid?

- trans. figured this out while he was 14, working in a diner in the lobby a middle aged male patron called him ‘babydoll’ while he was serving him coffee and prompted his first genuine shutdown. getting caught by party while he was cutting his hair sparked their escape from the city

- killed his first drac a week out of the zones while party was sleeping. party wouldnt have even known except that kobra was covered in blood when they woke up.

- heavy body mod lover. does all his own piercings, gets tattoos as often as he can afford, gets jet to give him new ones sometimes. bleaches his hair with any chemicals he can get his hands on. all as a way to prove to himself that hes in control of his body

- but if you ask hell make a joke about just thinking they look cool

- hates arguments between crewmates. always tries to put himself in the middle, defuse the tension.

- closer with ghoul than jet. jets just a little too much older and well-adjusted. ghoul makes him feel like an actual kid again

- IMMENSE heart eyes only-other-person-in-the-room with his boyfriend(s).

- with cherri he gets relaxed. like a mug of something warm or a midnight drive or a crackling fire. its a break from reality and a chance to catch his breath. it always feels too intimate to have other people watch them even just talking.

- with ghoul he has energy, he’ll laugh and joke and get physical and theres this feeling of being-in-the-moment and present. its sharp grins and kisses with just a bit of a bite. it doesn’t matter if other people are there because they pale in comparison.

- adrenaline junkie. getting in fights at school, racing, city and zone drugs (when they first got to the zones), close calls in claps. he’ll always go after the biggest bad in a fight first, claims its a strategic thing but he just loves the rush.

- quieter around people he doesnt know. its not necessarily shyness, but just wanted to get a feel for the person before he opens up, even to things as small as laughter.

- shuts down semi-regularly. overstimulation, stress, being forced to make big decisions. he’ll shake, shrink in on himself, repeat words and phrases, goes fully nonverbal every now and then. its bad when he just. stops moving. sometimes it helps to be alone, sometimes it helps to go for a drive, sometimes he just needs a firm hug and a nap.

- scared of the dark, rarely sleeps at night, also not a big fan of too-bright lights, hence the sunglasses

- really good poker face

- has never lied to poison. poison has never lied to him. they didnt talk enough pre-leaving the city to (not including when poison was under the effects of reeducation).

- likes sour candy

- better with a knife than a gun, but still a sharp shot with a raygun

- loves the girl

- loves the girl so much. 

- when he dies his last thoughts are about her and everything hes going to miss