#so many of them just feel very lex and/or conner

[luckyfox3000]

DC X DP PROMT #4

New idea babes.

Conner kent hears rumors from people who escaped lex luther's lab, about a man who is possibly a Kryptonian and has a clone of his own.

Who he genuinely cares for!

Now while Conner is very happy at Mount Justice, he would really love to meet a kryptonian who doesn't hate him. And has a clone of his own, who he doesn't hate.

Maybe ask how he was able to love his clone when even superman cant.

Ok, maybe Conner should tell the big league what hes heard about. Or maybe even the team.

But he needs to prove himself. And he needs to meet these people before they're taken for interrogation by the league.

Maybe he's being selfish, but he doesn't want to be hated, he just wants to understand, he just wants love.

So. Conner should really tell the league. But maybe he'll do it after meeting them. Besides. What could go wrong?

Many, MANY, things.

Sorry if I got characterization wrong!

Feel free to add on or use!

[wondersinwaynemanor]

here i go again with "big brother dick grayson strikes again" prompts.

thinking of Dick probably helping his siblings on their first dates and offering to take them to the location.

Dick to Jason: Hey, Little Wing. I know you can take one of your motorcycles, but let me take you. You can just focus on being pretty.

Jason: Shut up, Dick. But, are you sure? I don't know why my hands feel a bit numb-

Dick, takes Jason's hands on his to warm them up and untighten the nerves there: It's okay. I got you. You're okay. It's going to be okay. Don't stress yourself out.

Jason: I know I fucked up many times, Dick. I don't want.. I don't know what to do if I fuck this up.

Dick, brings Jason closer: Shh. You won't, Jay. You're very smart and strong, and so so caring and you don't even realize it it. Ask the kids at the Alley, they idolize you. Roy adores you and everything you do. He knows who you are. And trust me, I'm not that bitter anymore of one of my best friends dating my younger brother.

Jason smiles which warms Dick's heart, making him smile too.

Dick: Plus, we wouldn't want Ollie to think that a Wayne cannot dress up and be romantic right?

Jason grins this time.

Dick to Tim: Timmy, I have a great idea! I'll drive you there. I know you're tired from work already. Just let me know which restaurant then you can rest a bit when we travel there.

Tim: It's okay, Dick. You're also tired from your shift. I'll just let Kon know I'll be late for a few-

Dick: No, no. If you want to rest first, let him know, he'll understand. But I'll still take you.

Tim: But, Dick...

Dick: Nah-uh. I didn't drive you to prom, remember? Let me do this, Baby Bird. And for me to also look out for Lex, just in case he bothers Conner again. We don't want that happening in the middle of your date.

Tim, laughs: Well, Kon will just have to drag Lex's ass to space.

Dick laughs with him.

Dick to Cass: Aww, you look beautiful, Cass. So where you going? Where will you meet Steph?

Cass, fixing her necklace: By her house.

Dick: Great! I already know where that is. I'll drive you there. We don't want to ruin your beauty. I mean, that's totally impossible, but I want you to just relax before the date.

Cass, blushes: I can do it.

Dick: Of course, you can. But I want to. Pretty please, pretty please. I'm a little protective over my sister.

Cass, rolls her eyes fondly but smiles: Of course. Thank you.

Dick: You're most welcome. And tell Steph if she does something extreme like set some fireworks, tell her to lay off with those energy drinks she started on her diet.

Dick to Duke: Little D, Little D! Don't even try to say no cus maybe your brothers and sister have already told you, but this is kinda my tradition now. I'm taking you to your first date.

Duke: They did tell me. But, Dick.. I don't want to be a burden. Weren't you injured-

Dick: No, no. That was like last week. I'm good. As long as you're good with me to take you, right? Now, I don't want to be the burden.

Duke, smiles: Never.

Dick, smiles and gives Duke a side hug: Then you're never a burden too, Little D. A big bro has to look out for the younger ones. Plus, I can say that you dressing up nice comes from my influence.

Duke, chuckles: Who else am I looking up to, right?

Dick to Damian: Shush, Dami. I know you're dating a super, and he can come and get you without a minute to spare, but tell Jon I'll be taking you.

Damian: Richard, please. I'm already at the right age.

Dick, puts a hand on his little (not so anymore) brother's shoulder and he refuses not to tear up (he fails ofc): I know, you've grown up so much, Dami. So much, since I made you Robin. But please, it will make me really happy to do this. It will give me peace, in some way. It sounds ridiculous, but yes.

Damian, doesn't even try to hide the fond he has on his face: Alright, Richard. I'll let Jon know.

Dick: He's not taking you somewhere out of Gotham or Metropolis, right? Cus then we'll have to take the Batplane.

Damian, chuckles: It's in Metropolis, don't worry.

Dick: Phew. I was as nervous as the time I took Tim on his date.

so....

maybe after a few years on Dick and Wally's wedding day, Dick's younger siblings will be walking with him on the aisle by his side and Bruce, their Father, on his other side of course. and they're thankful that the aisle is wide enough to fit the whole Wayne kids. Dick is a crying mess and he hasn't even reached Wally yet by the end of the aisle. because he's genuinely happy to have his siblings take him to the love of his life this time.

[kryptonbabe]

Superboy: Trouble in Paradise, A Review

I finished reading Superboy: Trouble in Paradise by Karl Kesel & Tom Geummet, it is a collected edition of the first 10 issues of Superboy's 1994 run, and although this was supposed to be the first volume in a series of books collecting this run, so far only the first one was released, sadly.

As for the book I felt like it was a sort of mixed bag, while Kon-el is an angel, an interesting character with flaws and room for development, which make him a very appealing character to be a fan of, other aspects of the stories would bring the narrative down.

Probably the most baffling issue here is how Kon-el is sexualized despite being only 15-16 years old, that information is brought up constantly by many characters, Conner himself, and yet we see most adult women in the book falling for this kid, flirting with him, making sexual innuendos and kissing him at some point. While the text calls attention to this problem the story refuses to discuss it in any meaningful way, Conner has a main romantic interest and she is a professional journalist who is aware of his age, but after a brief initial conflict, she just ignores this problem. I don't believe in taboos in fiction, anything can be discussed and debated, this story line could bring an interesting discussion about teenage sexuality and the adult responsibility required to deal with that, how this dynamic can happen between women and boys as well as it happens with men and girls. There is something to be said about this, but Karl Kesel won't go there, making this particular story line feel more voyeuristic and less an aspect of character building.

As I tried to ignore that and focus on the main plot lines, they could feel a bit generic, but would be often brought to life by Conner's charisma and the dynamics of the supporting cast, with characters like Dubbilex, the telepathic mentor, Lex Leech, the inescrupulosos manager and Roxy, his sanguine daughter, keeping things fun, which is the overall tone of the stories. The action in this book happens mostly in Hawaii and the atmosphere of it is clear from the beginning to the end, this is supposed to be a fun and light set of stories, and it mostly achieves that. Although the inclusion of issues concerning events of the time, World's Collide and Zero Hour, could be distracting and work to break the rhythm of the book. I was still interested enough in Kon-el to work my way through them and keep the focus, but that could be a problem for someone less invested in the character. Also the Zero Hour issue is a pretty good one if you're familiar with silver age Superboy, with touching homages to the 60s Superfamily stories.

One thing that is as charming as Conner and really helps to sell the feeling of the book is the art of Tom Grummet, a stylish take on 90's trends that still look cool and alive today. It's time for us to stop being so harsh with 90s comic book art, yes there were some duds there, but there are pretty decent works that hold up well to this day.

At the end I had my share of fun even considering how uneven this book can be at times, but I'm patient and back then Kon-el was a pretty new character, the editorial team and artists involved might have taken a little time to understand him and build stories to suit this new creation. It makes me sad that there's not a second volume to this book since I know Conner has a strong fan base that would be interested in buying it, me included. Thanks for reading this!

[allgremlinart]

Genuine question, since you seem to be a prolific Superbat enthusiastic. Why do so many Superbat fans disrespect Clark so much? 🤷‍♀️

Whenever I see Superbat posts in the Clark/Superman tag most of them ignore his history, his trauma, personality, his family/friends/allies [Lois, his parents, other Justice League members, Jimmy, Kara, Perry, John Henry, Pete, Steve, Cat and etc] his city, his children, [Conner, Chris, Mia, and Jon] and mythos.

It seems people are only interested in Bruce's character and his family. Also, most Superbat fans strike me as being an odd combination of being homophobic, heteronormative, and misogynistic and sometimes even abusive! Very crazy combo, but that's how it seems to me from looking at the majority of works.

For example, people typically make Bruce the bottom or feminine one. When realistically they would be switches. Yet, overwhelmingly all the work is dedicated to "Brucie Wanye." Even though most of the time his true personality is a cold, macho, caring man. Heck, I see Clark being more the bottom type, since he's a very loving partner, and he enjoys being taken care of. You know he's definitely getting pegged by Lois.

Which brings me to the lack of care towards Lois, where she is either villainized or not made to be an important person in Clark's live. Regardless of ships and platonic/romantic feelings, Lois is Clark's closest friend. Yet, none of that is rarely displaced in fanart, headcanons, and fics. Yet, Bruce's people are always made sure to be included.

Also, what's with the influx of evil Superman and poor innocent babyboy Batman. Look I like some dark tropes too, and I wouldn't mind so much if we at least kept the same treatment with both parties. Instead of only favoring one person.

It's deeply upsetting and disturbing to see the kindest original hero immigrant aka the champion of the oppressed. To be used for such weird, oc, fetishistic works. Again, it's odd to due Batman having so much privilege and is known for being very controlling, yet it's never displayed in these darker takes. Batman is a good man, but can have troubling qualities, as all good characters have. Clark has his darker attributes too, but that’s okay as long as it presented fairly.

Lastly, Clark and Bruce have a close friendship. Yet, again I see no one making art/fics about Clark's other close relationships. But, everyone seems to be a huge fan of being a multishipper for Bruce. Example being Selina, Talia, Joker, Harvey, Ghostmaker, Hal, Barry, Arthur, Diana, and etc. Seems to be to be a bit biased no, for fans that claim to love Clark and ship Superbat have no problem doing this for Bruce.

Where's the love for other Clark ships like Lois, Lana, Lex, John Corben, Brainiac 5, Hal, Arthur, Diana, Barry, Maxima, Volcana, Blanque, and etc.

Also, it's not really special that Clark recognizes Bruce's heartbeat as the go to Superbat trope. He does that with everyone like again to list Lois, his parents, his children, his villains, his friends both in the Justice League, at the Daily Planet, and in Smallville. Heck, he's even given Jimmy his own personal watch to call him!

Sorry, this is a lot. I didn't mean to type so much, but I didn't want to use multiple asks. I also want you to know I'm not attacking you personally. Some of the text posts and art I looked up on your blog are awesome! ❤️ Keep up the good work! I just sincerely want to know why there's such a strong bias in Superbat. I personally, do like the pairing as long as they are both treated like equals.  

Thank you, for reading this and have a great day! 🌟 

Ok uhhh wow this one is a lot. I’ll break it down under the cut.

But first lemme say that thanks for complimenting my blog! Glad you are enjoying it. But for future reference, if you want to complain about something you don't really like about a ship or fandom maybe consider making your own post about it. Cus I know your intentions were good but going to a superbat blog and saying “this is everything I dislike about superbat!!” comes off pretty rude. I could stop there but I’ll address your questions/points because why not and I’m a glutton for punishment,,

So first off, and this is what I’m gonna end up repeating throughout this post, I understand your frustration at parts of Clark's mythos not being explored more in superbat fic/art but a lot of what it comes down is just that uh. Some people know more about batman mythos! And some people know more about superman mythos! It doesn’t really mean that they like/respect one character more than the other.. people are just interested in different comics lol. For example I rely a lot on my wonderful superman mutuals (hello @/blorb-el :] ) for info about Clark and his lore because I just haven’t read as many superman comics.. doesn’t mean I like Clark less. Just means I like sci-fi less…

As for this I have no idea what most of it means lol but like I said, telling a blog that you know likes superbat that superbat fans are “homophobic and abusive” is pretty rude for obvious reasons…

Now uh there’s a lot to unpack with this lol. Long story short, top/bottom preferences dont really have anything to do with personality. And as for “realistically they’d switch” yeah I personally see them as switches too! But there’s no “correct” way of imagining how a fictional character has gay sex lol. People are just gonna have their preferences for what they like to see and most of the times they dont have/need a specific reason for them. Also: this is gonna be a big theme when it comes to my response to you because my advice? Utilize tags. Cus uh if you check the tags for “bottom Clark” and “bottom Bruce” in the superbat tag on ao3 -

There isn’t exactly a dearth of bottom Clark works. There’s plenty great ones out there 

As for this, some of it is going to be because ppl maybe dont know as much about Lois as they do other characters, and some of it is yeah misogyny lol I won’t lie to you. But to be honest I haven’t seen any Lois bashing in fics or fanwork since like the mid 2010s. So I cant tell if this complaint is in good faith or not. Either way I still dont know why you’re telling it to me..

Lmao this one. First rule of fandom is that people are going to write weird, ooc fetishistic fics purely for the sake of writing weird, ooc fetishistic fics. Its fanfiction, its not like they’re official DC stories - they dont have to be accurate. I understand your frustration if you’re seeing a dynamic you dont like a lot but, again, I would advise you to utilize tagging + filtering to your advantage. The reality of fandom is you’re going to see interpretations of a character that you don’t like. And what you do is simply don’t read what you don’t like. Its not always that deep. 

Again! You just! Have! To look! For creators! That are more into! Superman comics! (@/sully-s has a lot of cute Jimmy + Lois/Clois art if you’re interested) Like I’m not a Batman multishipper because I want to personally spite Clark Kent, I’m a Batman multishipper because I’ve read a LOT of Batman comics lol. Like I’m gonna level with you I have no idea who John Corben or Blanque or Volcana even are. But I know there are probably plenty of people who ship superbat who have no idea who Minhkhoa Khan or Silver St. Cloud or Andrea Beaumont are!! And that doesn’t mean they hate Bruce it just means they don’t feel like reading 80 years of Batman comics which!! Is fair!!

As for this part I dont have any advice or suggestions this is just rude. “Hey that popular trope you like is stupid!” Ok! You’re allowed to think that, I get it honestly. But, again, I don’t know why you felt the need to send that opinion to a blog that you know likes superbat. Like its not exactly a question, its just something you dont like lol

In conclusion my advice is: use filtering! use tagging! If you’re good at searching for stuff you can pretty consistently avoid ships/dynamics you dont like! I do this all the time. And for next time, maybe remember that fandom isn’t curated to your personal tastes automatically - you have to curate it yourself, and thats no one else’s job but your own. 

[starwalker03]

WMLP how have the main characters combat skills changed over the last decade of torture, captivity and enslavement? Would you say the characters would do better or worse in a fight compared to their old selves and former mentors? (Again no need to answer if it’s a spoiler. And please don’t feel pressured to answer everything all at once.)

Okay so fight skills is so subjective and relies on context and setting and so many other things so I'm gonna just go with generally whether their season one show selves could beat them or not.

Kaldur is the easiest one because he could not win a fight against his season one self. Just straight up. He's lost control of his magic, a fight would trigger him to such a degree he'd probably barely be able to function, and his only combat practice he gets is against Manta soldiers who are definitely holding back on him most of the time cause they don't want to make Black Manta angry. Even if they're not holding back they're goons. Kaldur probably doesn't get to train with higher up soldiers often, cause officers are busy more often than not. Kaldur can still fight, can still knock someone on their ass, but outside a safe training environment he'd get so overwhelmed that he'd sabotage himself.

Wally wouldn't either. He can't use his powers. Maybe he'd stand a chance at hand to hand but his past self has speed on him and that'd probably be enough. He's not a good enough combatant to handle superspeed without his own superspeed

Conner would stand a chance. He would fight very differently, much more like a boxer than how Canary trains them to be. A lot of focus on brute force and a reliance on technique only when against someone who challenges him, said technique mostly being really good ways to dodge. The irony of Conner's position is he's supposed to be a weapon for Lex but what Lex has done to him has curved his potential majorly. Conner could stand a chance against his season one self, probably even win, but season two-four canon Superboy would be able to beat him because of furthering his skill in a meaningful way.

Artemis, M'gaan and Dick could all beat their younger selves. Easily, might I add. They've all furthered their skills and developed new styles and become much more deadly, with no hesitance to use genuinely harmful technique and mortally wound their opponent. It wouldn't even be a fight, it'd last like five seconds and their respective teenaged selves would be face planted in the mats.

[tired9432]

General Question to Superbat Fans

Why do some superbat fans disrespect Clark so much? 🤷‍♀️

Whenever I see superbat posts in the Clark/Superman tag most of them ignore his history, his trauma, personality, his family/friends/allies [Lois, his parents, other Justice League members, Jimmy, Kara, Perry, John Henry, Pete, Steve, Cat and etc] his city, his children, [Conner, Chris, Mia, and Jon] and general mythos.

It seems people are only interested in Bruce's character and his family. The general vibe I get looking into this fandom is an odd combination of being heteronormative [strict top/bottom debate], misogyny [Lois, Selina, Talia, Diana, Lana] and sometimes even highly abusive! [Evil Clark but no Evil Bruce] It's a very crazy combo, but that's how it seems to me from looking at the majority of works.

For example, people typically make Bruce the bottom or feminine one. When realistically they would be switches. Yet, overwhelmingly all the work is dedicated to "Brucie Wanye." Even though most of the time his true personality is a cold, macho, caring man. Heck, I see Clark preferring more the bottom role. But, why the strictness when it comes to these positions?

To my other point I'm personally going to focus on Lois since, I prefer Superman's stories more than Batman. Anyways, this brings me to the lack of care towards Lois, where she is either villainized or not made to be an important person in Clark's live. Regardless of ships and platonic/romantic feelings, Lois is Clark's closest friend. Yet, none of that is rarely displaced in fanart, headcanons, and fics. Yet, Bruce's people are always made sure to be included.

Also, what's with the influx of evil Superman and poor innocent babyboy Batman. Look I like dark tropes, fluff, and all in between. I wouldn't mind the dark stuff so much if we at least kept the same treatment with both parties. Instead of only favoring one person.

To me and I'm sure many other people, it's deeply upsetting and disturbing to see the kindest original hero immigrant aka the champion of the oppressed. To be used for such weird, oc, fetishistic works.

Again, it's odd due to Batman having so much privilege and is known for being very controlling, yet it's never displayed in these darker takes. Batman is a good man, and can have troubling qualities, as all good characters have. Clark has his darker attributes too, but that’s okay as long as it presented fairly. Which from the looks of things isn't in this fandom.

Lastly, Clark and Bruce have a close friendship. Yet, again I see no one making art/fics about Clark's other close relationships. But, everyone seems to be a huge fan of being a multishipper for Bruce. Example being Selina, Talia, Joker, Harvey, Ghostmaker, Hal, Barry, Arthur, Diana, and etc. Seems to be to be a bit biased no, for fans that claim to love Clark and ship superbat have no problem doing this for Bruce.

Where's the love for other Clark ships like Lois, Lana, Lex, John Corben, Brainiac 5, Hal, Arthur, Diana, Barry, Maxima, Volcana, Blanque, and etc.

Also, just want to point out it's not really special that Clark recognizes Bruce's heartbeat as the go to superbat trope. He does that with everyone like again to list Lois, his parents, his children, his friends both in the Justice League, at the Daily Planet, and in Smallville. Heck, he's even given Jimmy his own personal watch to call him!

This is not an attack towards anyone's preferences. I just sincerely want to know why there's such a strong bias in superbat. It's so overwhelming, this disparity. I personally, do like superbat as long as they are both treated like equals.

***TLDR

I���m tired of Clark Kent being used as a tool to prop Bruce or the batfamily, rather than a true equal.

It just seems to me everything that makes Clark a beautiful character, with his engaging personality, mythos, and family/friends were thrown under the bus for the superbat ship.

To me a ship or an OTP should be an additional expansion and fun for both characters. Not a definite favoritism towards one person in the majority of content.

If you like one character in a pairing a lot, why wouldn’t you want to know more about their partner? It just doesn’t make sense to have an extreme bias. Again, this is in reference to the majority of superbat shippers, not to anyone personally.

Thank you, for reading this and have a great day! 🌟

[dairy-farmer]

I like the couple of Clark/tim. Because i feel Clark protec to tim of everything. I have idea of AU where tim see Clark as weapon dangerous and honestly this version of Clark is more dark. So Clark likes tim to think that because he is really the only person who sees reality, no only the good child. Tim tells him "everyone would try and kill you and you’d win". So Clark only becomes more attracted and obsessed with Tim and starts to stalk him and become possessive.

OOOOO darker tone AUs are so interesting to me and the idea of a clark that managed to fool everyone into thinking he's this kindhearted wholesome man that only wants to do good. he's fooled everyone, civilians, the league, batman-

it's not that clark is a bad person or anything like that, he does try to do good things but he has bad thoughts more often than not. wonders if he wanted to DO something horrible, how much would he be able to do before someone stopped him. could anyone stop him?

he knows people don't trust him, don't fully like him. people like batman and lex luthor who don't fully trust him because of something they fear but at the end of the day they both hold a reasonable assumption about clark: that he's a good person who would never purposefully harm others.

and they're right. clark will likely never purposefully harm others...but part of him wants to. just to see. just to know what it would feel like, if he'd feel anything at all. clark wonders if he's a psychopath sometimes. he's not a psychologist and he doesn't quite have the brain for it anyway but he knows he's abnormal. well...more abnormal aside from the alien stuff.

he doesn't FEEL things like people seem to and he used to think it was because he was kryptonian but kara never never had that problem. neither did conner or johnathon. it was only clark it seemed.

only clark had to pretend like he knew what pure happiness or excitement, fear, love, or rage felt like.

as a child, clark just mimicked all the other babies and their milestones. if they fell at the playground and cried like they'd been shot- clark did too, even though it didn't hurt. if a teenage boy got dumped and went home to his bedroom to cry- so did clark, even though the tears meant nothing to him.

it wasn't that clark never felt things EVER. he still did. when he got genuinely scared his did startle, he got surprised if someone snuck up on him, he felt irritated if someone badgered him. but those weren't...REAL emotions. they were more like...microemotions. you felt them for a split second and then they faded away. but intense emotions, emotions that filled you to the brim with something.

clark didn't feel that.

he married lois by saying that he loved her even though he didn't quite know what that was. they got along fine but clark wouldn't say he felt any stronger for her than he did a stranger.

sex wasn't that intense, mind breaking feeling that everyone said it was. it was...gross. uncomfortable, sweaty, and damp. his body reacted in a way he wasn't comfortable with and that clark didn't like. maybe that was why he and lois only ever had jonathon.

clark doesn't feel outrage, not like how otehr heroes do. he follows their lead on things. if they're upset about something then so is he.

but its never genuine and sometimes clark gets bored. bored of pretending and he wonders, get serious about what would happen if one day he just...stopped.

he knows people wouldn't like him as much. as a kid he'd hardly had any friends because the other neighborhood children were unnerved by him. it was only after he started faking it that they had an interest in him.

clark had already dedicated so many years to this ruse. this facade.

his life was comfortable. he was admired (and that a very goo thing apaprently). people spoke to him.

based on books clark has read, tv shows, and other people. clark had the makings of a perfect like.

a fulfilling career. a loving wife and son. a car. a house. friends.

those made a happy person. some people spent their whole lives chasing what clark had.

clark was bored most days. bored out of his goddamn mind and he was almost coming to terms with the fact that maybe that's how he's just going to have to live.

until tim.

until he met his eyes with tim and saw him looking back at him.

eyes that pierced into his very being and clark felt like a curled up beast hidden behind foilage freezing at the realization that he'd just been spotted by a little bunny.

tim saw him. tim knew that clark knew he saw him.

lex luthor and bruce both are the only ones to ever come close to seeing him, the real him. but they are never able to quiet get it.

but tim is. in the span of a few seconds he sees clark and clark is...fascinated.

tim tenses at his approach, eyes wary but trying to act normal with all the people around them. even in a room filled to capacity it's like they're alone. they're having a silent conversation, a silent interaction that no one else can see and clark is...excited at the prospect.

clark listens to tim. memorizes the steady thump and beat of his heart. he sits in his living room and listens to tim a thousand miles away. he uses his supervision to watch tim from miles away. stands and fights closer to him on the rare instances that tim leaves gotham.

tim sees him. he sees him and clark has never been more excited. he's never felt this elated about something.

he asks bruce about his children, a safe topic. but he pays special attnetion to any mention of tim.

tim notices. he notes clark's increased presence in the manor because clark is visiting more.

it excites clark that tim isn't afraid of him. they both know that clark could do...something.

tim tells him as much. he tells clark when they're alone that clark could do anything to anyone and get away with it. they whole world could band together to try and kill him and they'd lose.

tim is a smart kid. so if he says that it must be true.

clark's curiosity about what would happen is he shed that mask slowly dissipates, replaced by a hunger and interest in seeing tim. hearing tim. knowing about him.

clark's not quite sure what he wants from tim but he knows he wants to look at him and listen to him.

he says the most interesting things behave in the most fascinating way. and clark. wants. more.

the day that tim turns 18 is the day that clark quietly pulls lois aside and asks for a divorce.

it's shocking news to the very small circle of people in clark's life.

he knows they're upset and confused. some even angry and clark understands why. he's not behaving in that manner they know him to. the fake one.

but with tim right there, clark doesn't want to keep doing it. clark is constantly walking around with a facade except for the few rare moments he shares with tim.

if tim is his, if clark invades his life and settles in like a comfortable parasite, then he could be more...himself. more of that genuine part of him- the part that only tim ever sees.

clark is prepared for the backlash. if reaction to his sudden divorce was bad, the way people act when they find out clark is pursuing tim is even worse.

people are baffled, confused more than they're angry or disgusted though that sets in later. clark and tim rarely interact, they're hardly had a one on one moment and now clark is leaving his wife for tim?

its a confusing swirl of reactions followed by some quietly proposing the possibility that you never really know someone.

and that's true.

but in clark's case, no one ever really knew him.

until tim.

[theredheaded-stuff]

So guys today I learned how to make a new type of rice

Carrots + onion + rice = Rice sautéed in carrots and onions

And I'm thinking: Does Jonathan Samuel Kent or Kon/Conner know how to cook rice?

Now I have a subject to make Headcanons :D

Alert : Some of them are Angsty Below the kent boys headcanons

Kon cooks very well, Lex and Ma kent taught him very well how to cook

Ma Kent tried to teach Jon how to cook, but everything he does in the kitchen turns toxic.

Jonathan was banned from the kitchen in the lunch

Jon knows how to cook sweets and desserts but can't cook any "real food"

Kon however is wonderful in the kitchen! Tim loves it when Kon just makes lunch and takes it to him on some missions.

Kon says his mission is to "make Tim eat well",they laughed.

Additionall Headcanons/fanfic stuff

Tim has food problems on account of his parents

• Tim and Kon

Tim has problems with food, due to his parents mostly not calling him he had to eat alone many times, and over time he stopped "feeling hungry" This causes some problems like low blood pressure, so Kon and Alfred always try to keep him fed, even if he doesn't want to eat much.

Tim used to feel like a problem when Kon brought him food in the past, but now he loves and tries to eat a little bit of everything he brings, even if he sometimes fails.

Kon usually changes the lunch or even late dinner menu a lot that he brings to Tim, always having something healthy and something tastier on his dishes.

Kon reduced the amount of food a little bit, when he found out about Tim's eating problem, or rather eating disorder, Kon has never been so mad at dead people.

He already invited Tim to a dinner with Lex, who now I understand the situation always mentions to Kon some healthy and delicious food ideas for him to make to Tim ( yes here lex is not a totally an asshole, he cares to his child's and his child friends)

• Jon and Damian

Jon would make desserts and take them on missions, sometimes he would make desserts with the flavor Damian liked best just to offer him, and see the disgusted face when he denied that he wanted too,Over time, Damian began to accept jon's snacks.

Once Damian and Jon had to be alone in the kitchen, Damian kicked Jon out of the kitchen after he burned ONE NODDLES, And made a dinner that could match Kon's

Damian learned to cook from Talia and Jason who was also learning

• Tim and Damian

Damian doesn't mention Tim's eating disorder often, but when he ends up cooking, he always makes an extra dish for Tim.

Sometimes damian makes desserts with coffee or marshemelhows and leaves it on tim's bedroom door.

Tim pretends not to notice, but is grateful that Damian didn't say anything or make any jokes about it.

Tim always tries to eat more, but most of the time he can't, these times Damian also stops eating early and says he's full, so Tim doesn't leave the table or feel sad

In some of their conversations about mission tactics, Damian blurted out "Sometimes it's not good to push yourself, Baba warned me about that" and Tim knew what he was talking about too.

Damian tries to be receptive to hearing about Tim's problems, even if it doesn't seem like it, he started doing this when he understood that everyone had problems even if they weren't apparent.

(Addition : Damian doesn't joke about anyone's physical or psychological problems.)

[honeybunhalo]

Kara/Lena adopt Superboy AU Notes (Part 1)

I’m finally delivering on the content for this Supercorp AU

This is a Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor and Superboy (Kon-El) centric story. Specifically focused on exploration of one's identity and how you define yourself with the many aspects of your life and choices you made as well as what you consider important and precious to you. The effects of being constrained by how you were born and finding those who love you for who you are and don't ask you to change the core of your being to fit in. — this is not an action packed story at all.

Here are some of the ideas I have for this or things I thought Kon had in common with Lena and Kara that I find compelling.

Lena concepts:

Lena gets to know another Luthor, her biological nephew, who isn’t a trash person and is someone to not just for her to protect but who’s existence assures her that it isn’t blood that makes someone bad and maybe she isn’t so different from other people and she’s not “irredeemable”. Sometimes he reminds her of her older brother when he was kind to her growing up. Likewise, everyone usually sees the Lex in Kon as an inherently bad thing and thus he learns to hide it and hate himself for it. Lena presents an alternate because she remembers bittersweetly a simpler time when she looked up to her brother. Not everyone sees the Luthor genes in him as a threat, Lena finds it comforting to be able to help someone like her in a way she was never helped as a young girl. 

Lena thinks she can’t interact with kids well, much less the kid Lex had grown in a lab, but she totally warms up to him and can talk to him about familial rejection (via Clark) and if it’s because he’s a Luthor and if that makes him wrong. Is it because he’s artificial? Is it because he’s some strange illegitimate lab child? Smothering this kid with love and protection.

Plus Kon is like Kara in more than just being kryptonian but also in dorkiness. Lena’s life is just trying to wrangle an overpowered golden retriever and her lab puppy. She can’t stay mad at them for long.

Lena finding she is capable of loving and being loved and being with Kara makes it harder to ignore the crush she has on Kara. They talk together about love and acceptance now they have a shared kid they don’t want to hide personal things from that could later hurt him and many things become open secrets in their now shared house. Soon enough, it becomes obvious she needs to be truthful with Kara about her own feelings for her. 

Lena could learn about the difficulties of hiding being an alien that Kara had to deal with and the onslaught and exhaustion of developing powers in young kryptonians. She gets to see first hand what it does to a child and wonders how that must have affected Kara’s emotional development and sense of self. 

Lillian and Lex won’t get anywhere near this kid if Lena has something to say about it. Lena knows what it’s like to be the odd one out in a family and for people to reject you for simply existing from other people's sins

Kara concepts:

Kara recounts how she felt like a failure waking up on earth to find out Kal had grown up without her. Now she can maybe make peace with that by taking in Kon even if everything that motivates her choices with him is primarily for kons sake. 

Kara can share with another person krypton's history and culture which is something she’s had to keep seperate from her primary identity for years now *cough* it’s almost like she’s an immigrant who has to hide her identity and culture to be accepted and you could use that in the story *cough* 

Kon lived through being created as a lab rat and the only living experiment left. Kara could sympathize with his own grief from her experience with survivors’ guilt. 

Being open with Kon so that he doesn’t feel that same overwhelming pressure when she was told to hide with a human family also gives room for Lena to learn more about the world Kara came from beyond what she knows from interviews from Superman. Having Kara speak openly about her life on Krypton is much more personal and feels much more real than any article could do. 

Teaching Kon how best to control his powers and her and Lena being able to have the resources for him to do so safely 

Alex is very alarmed by the new addition to the family, mostly because how shitty Clark was in relation to the kid. From her perspective, this is not the first time the guy has dumped an unwanted kryptonian child on someone else’s doorstep. Whatever, she gets to buy leather jackets for her new nephew and be scary overprotective of him. “I don’t care if you think you’re nearly invulnerable at your age, do you have ANY IDEA what type of trouble your mother got us into when we were growing up? Or even when she just started hero work?”

Conner Kon-Cepts:

His sort-of-aunts can be his adoptive moms and be much better to him than his biological dads ever were to him in the comic canon. Kon actually being allowed to be close to other Superman family members!!! I need it like the air I breathe. Kon could get to know a Luthor that isn’t trying to hurt him or use him. Someone who defies part of why (Kon thinks) Superman could never accept a thing like him. 

(I have too many things to say to put in a brief bullet point just know that he’s my fav little boy and I think that he deserves parents who would love him unconditionally and Lena and Kara deserve to live a slower life where they can be cute and domestic)

(If he’s raised by these two then I can give a solid reason as to why we just ignore all the blatant misogynistic and horny writing from the 90s comics that made me really uncomfortable and didn’t completely fit with his given backstory especially with how over the top the specialization was. It helps make up for that)

Kon has to deal with being constantly compared to his two genetic fathers mirroring how Kara and Lena both are constantly being compared to Superman and Lex Luthor as they are the female counterparts of those two more infamous members in their respective families

Kara and Kon have very complementary stories and could become what the other needs to fill a hole in each of their hearts. Canon is way too personally tragic. I’d rather have a bittersweet world that’s also soft so I can spend more time with slow paced character analysis.

(In the beginning, Kon’s much more timid given he’s still so young and is coping with being rejected by superman. The tone at the beginning of the story is very serious. As the story unfolds, kon will loosen up to be goofier like his comic counterparts personality)

Both Clark and Lex don’t deserve this kid in any way. If all they are gonna do is mistreat or neglect him in their own ways, Kon is better off with his aunts. 

Conclusion:

Kara and Lena can be happy together by fully trusting themselves with each other in domestic bliss for once AND Kon doesn’t have to cry his eyes out knowing he’s an unwanted experiment child who is “undeserving” of family and home who never got to experience childhood

Everyone who's always saying “you can’t trust a Luthor” better shut their trap when Kara walks in with Kon-El Luthor, her newly adopted son, and her fiancé, Lena Luthor. These new moms will tear you apart if you try to instill that internal hatred of being a Luthor in their son’s young mind. 

Kara and Lena both defying what people say about them and instead raising a well adjusted boy from both their warring families. 

Kon is gonna be raised by a true power couple.

DC refuses to deliver on giving this boy a home or parents so I’m gonna do it instead. Just look at the family they could be together:

(FYI: This has nothing to do with the version of Superboy in the Young Justice cartoon TV show, so if you’re only familiar with that you may be a bit confused about this Superboy who that one was loosely based on. This whole punk fitted kid is indeed a real character and I stay pretty close to his original design from 1993.)

[forestlingincorporated]

Teen Titans #29

So, one of my favorite types of fics to read is Different First Meeting fics between Jason and Tim. I looooove reading Enemies To Caretaker, of which I fed handsomely on fairly recently. Big Brother Jason fics give me warm fuzzies, and Tim Drake needs a hug, and I feel like if these two actually got to know each other and worked past their preconceptions, they’d get along surprisingly well. And Still A Jason!Robin Fanboy Tim Drake is just a fun concept. 

Also, it just FEELS right for the middle siblings to band together after Damian comes along, lets get those abandonment issues in the party. 

So, for mysterious and very secret TimKon Week 2021 reasons, I was rereading some Teen Titans, and I stumbled over the Original Tim+Jason First Meeting, and I just sort of wanted to talk about some interesting things I found in there rereading it after several years. 

First thing right off the bat, when reading fics, normally it’s either the Core Four at the tower that Jason puts to sleep, or it’s Tim alone for the night. In the comic, none of Tim’s close friends are even at the tower, Jason waits for Bart and Cassie to leave, and Conner actually hasn’t come around for an in-universe month, because this is after the Superboy’s Birthright arc where Lex mind controls Conner. 

The people Jason knocks out were his own teammates when he was a Titan. He specifically says he never got to work with Beast Boy or Cyborg directly, so he doesn’t feel bad electrocuting them, but he feels bad putting Raven under much more gently because she used to worry for him. 

Tim has just gotten off the phone with Bruce when Jason shows up. It seems like Bruce might’ve been picking Tim up, but something’s come up with Martian Manhunter going missing, so Tim tells him he’ll catch a ride with Cyborg. 

This is actually really interesting to me, because it’s a small moment of Bruce letting Tim down. It’s a conversation he’s probably had with his biological father many times when Jack’s canceled on him. 

Gonna acknowledge this abomination real quick. This is So Stupid, and I’m glad as a fandom we just all agreed Jason didn’t do this. It makes me ask so many questions. Where did he get that oversized Robin costume? Why’d he tear off his perfectly good clothes? Why did he do this? Why the yellow tights? WHY? 

A lot of things are actually happening here that are actually Really Interesting if you just look past the stupid fucking outfit. Because this comic actually flew really close to greatness, they just ended up dropping the ball by not continuing to do more with it. 

First off, Jason doesn’t beat around the bush. He’s immediately like “yeah, yeah, yeah, Red Hood, whatever, I’m Jason Todd, bitch! Fight me.” 

Secondly, Jason’s done his homework. He knows A LOT about Tim. He knows his name, he knows he has a dad, he knows he went to prep school, and he knows the story of how Tim became Robin. How he GOT that last bit of information, I’d honestly like to know. But even HAVING the information isn’t enough; he’s still letting his preconceived ideas get in the way. The surface level information about Tim’s life only served to fuel his jealousy and anger (thanks, Lazerus Pitt!). He’s so focused on Tim’s privilege that he’s looked past evidence of hardship; if he’s done this much research on Tim, he’s no doubt seen records of multiple boarding schools, lengthy travel records, news reports, a death certificate.... He can’t even bring himself to BELIEVE parts of Tim’s story that aren’t lining up with his world view, like HOW he became Robin. 

Jason has convinced himself that what he’s discovered about Tim and the period of time when Jason was dead - the fact that Bruce was spiraling after his death, that his family mourned him, that Tim had to step up to the plate at a weird suicide prevention buddy system - is all a lie. Despite the fact that he’s beating Tim’s ass, he speaks to him with the assumption that Tim’s a child who’s been manipulated and lied to. 

Meanwhile, it must be SO PAINFUL for Tim to hear Jason say these things: I bet he said the same thing to you he said to me, didn’t he? That you have the talent to make a difference in Gotham. That he needed someone he could trust in his war on crime. That you were one of a kind. The light in his darkness.

Bruce never said any of that to Tim. Bruce rejected Tim, he didn’t want Tim, and begrudgingly accepted Tim. 

Going back to Jason waiting for Tim’s other young teen friends to leave the tower before going in, only drugging his own former teammates, is much of his anger seems directed at THEM, not just Bruce. To Jason, it looks like they didn’t mourn him either, he has no statue. I find it interesting that he smashes Donna Troy’s statue, who died after him, and I believe she came back before he did. 

Unless he was keeping track of the news from the League of Assassins, to Jason, Donna never died. 

And most importantly? Tim shuts Jason down. Tim “Bitch, Please” Drake out here like: you’re a fucking idiot, he loved you to death, he barely let me audition for the role. 

Tim shows some deep resentment towards Jason in this scene. I mean... earned, Jason literally came into his house and starting hitting him, but Tim’s relationship towards the Idea Of Jason has gone through a few changes. At first Jason was ROBIN! THE BOY WONDER! And if maybe Tim thought Bruce wasn’t AS happy with Jason as he was with Dick, there was still SOME hero worship early on. But it only takes Bruce and Alfred and Dick using Jason’s death as a cautionary tale a few times to get Tim to see Jason AS a cautionary tale - the kind of Robin NOT to be. But the more Tim craved Bruce’s paternal attention and approval, and the more Bruce withheld it or made Tim work for it, knowing that Bruce did that, in part, because of his love and grief for his dead son (Tim having an actual living breathing father plays a part, too), and those feelings towards Jason have started to fester.

Jason can’t let it go, though, he thinks the concept of Robin was a mistake and had always been a mistake, and if he can hurt Tim, so can Scarecrow, Penguin, The Joker. 

This is a good time to bring up that one thing I think Jason probably doesn’t know is Tim is injured. It is a little over a month since since Conner shattered Tim’s right arm. Tim is still healing from a comminuted fracture in his forearm. And looking at this picture that is - ah, yes, that is the injured arm Jason is swinging Tim by. Tim is probably healed by now, the cast IS off and he’s a child, but bones don’t fully return to full strength for 3-6 months. 

Jason is conflicted. This is clearly, in part, a fucked up way of “protecting” what he sees as a manipulated child, to convince him to leave Bruce. But there’s also clearly some deep, deep jealousy thrown into the mix to complicate matters and cloud his judgement. Ultimately, Jason isn’t there to kill Tim. Tim would be dead if he was. He’s there to “beat some sense into him,” and he ultimately fails, and fails badly. 

Tim is found by the older Titans, awake by now, though it seems Jason knocked him out to, uh, fuck with the memorial chamber, and Tim... does not beat around the bush. No secret identities here just “yeah, Jason Todd beat the shit out of me.” 

And their reactions are HILARIOUS. 

One more little sidebar, in the comic, Jason gets in with a D.N.A. check that never removed him from its permissions. Usually in fic this is a unique pass code. I’m not sure which version I like better, honestly. There’s something about Jason physically inputting a code that accepts him even though he’s supposedly dead that I really like, and just feels better than a dna scan. A dna scan sounds SAFER, sure, but there’s something about the Titans leaving in an honest SECURITY RISK out of sentiment that I like. 

Lastly, I really like how it ends. Jason honestly thinks Tim IS a good Robin, and it seems like Jason’s done some research on the core four, mentioning Tim’s “real friends” again while the “camera” is on Conner and Cassie, suggesting that Jason KNOWS about them and possibly that targeting the tower while they were gone maybe wasn’t an accident or out of convenience, but fully intentional. And again, Jason’s real problem is highlighted: he feels alone, forgotten, unmemorable, no family, no friends. 

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. 

[jmoriarty-221b]

So I saw somewhere a post that talked about how some fictional characters just have a divorce vibe going on, like, at no point in time were they ever married but they just give off that feeling that they got divorced

And now I can only think of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor having that vibe

And I spent close to an hour talking about this to my sibling and how it would be a good idea for a new DC show like, you can make so much money off of just the main Batfam alone and there are literally so many people in there that it’s just an amazing idea to have them all in a show together but kind of like a Good Luck Charlie kinda thing because there’s more than enough angst in the world

But in the case of not having enough of a budget for so many characters in one show I turned to the Superfam (Batfam is Huge like, I don’t even know half of the extended family version and that’s like at least ten characters so I could see why it wouldn’t be entirely feasible to have a show that included everyone while still being good with nice character development without having a billion dollars for the budget)

The Superfam, in my personal experience, is composed of Ma & Pa Kent (farm vibes plus I refuse to have either of them die in my AU), Clark Kent (main Superman), Lois Lane (Lana? was Smallville Lois i guess??? But idk enough about her so she’s not here), Jon Kent (Superboi II), Kara Danvers (Supergirl) & Conner Kent (Superboi I)

Now I’ve stopped watching CW shows like, forever ago??? But my brother kinda keeps up with them and basically the gist is that the ratings of every other show suck Except for the Superman & Lois show (because it’s 💫new💫) and I saw the cover of the poster like “Ah, the werewolf dude. . . mmmhhmmm that’s Lois yes, yes that’s Johnny boi, and um is that???? Nooooo, they wouldn’t do that to Conner right???? Please tell me they didn’t make Conner blonde” and I was informed that the blonde teen is Chris???? Like

Whoms’t do ye speak of

I’m not even joking but the only way I even know of Chris is from a random fanfic I read where Dick Grayson gets his own super from an alternate reality named Chris, that’s my only point of reference for this character

But let’s talk about how Conner Kent (OG Superboi) was excluded

Now I haven’t seen any episodes of this and I probably never will (no hate I’m just really unmotivated to start new shows at all) so idk if they might mention Conner or even allude to him in one scene or something

But this was my main motivator as to my new Superfam TV Show Idea

Have Lex Luthor not be a Superman villain, he’s mainly a successful businessman, a little shady but who isn’t, and he doesn’t want to Kill Superman, he just wants to be able to have some sort of viable protection against a Kryptonian in case of an invasion (see Man of Steel + CW’s Supergirl) or suddenly having a mind controlled Superman on their hands (see Justice League series or just look up what Red Krytonite does) so he makes it like his side thing to figure out ways to neutralize or hold back a Kryptonian, Clark totally thinks that Lex is obsessed with finding a way to kill Superman because they had a bad end to their friendship in high school so he’s always suspicious of Lex, Lex hasn’t really ever tried to kill him though because 1. It’s not that deep Clark ok? And 2. He’s a busy busy man with a very important job position and a company to run so does he look like he has time to harbor an obsession over someone who rejected him back in high school??? You’re more of a constant side quest Clark, so stop trying to put him on the JL watchlist ( btw ik about Lena Luthor, haven’t forgotten her but she doesn’t really play a part in this AU so let’s just have her and Kara off to the side doing their own thing ok? Ok)

Lex, Bruce & Oliver all knew each other when they were kids and went to the same school, this is just an extra detail I wanted to happen because Lex and Ollie definitely know Bruce is Batman and absolutely HATE having to deal with Brucie Wayne because “I know you’re just doing this to irritate me Bruce, you just want to see if you can make a vein throb in my forehead but I will valiantly ignore your dumbassery because I know you hate being Brucie just as much as we hate having to put up with Brucie so suck on that you petty bitch” because they bonded in ye olden days, childhood friends so to speak

Anyway so Cadmus tries to get Lex to make an investment in their company, seeing as Cadmus is shadier than Gotham when it rains Lex is basically like ‘no ❤️’ and doesn’t make a deal with them, Cadmus gets mad at not having Lexcorp financially backing them so Lex has an ‘accident’ and they steal his DNA, then they steal Superman’s DNA somehow and *boom* a Superboi is formed

Because I don’t know much about how the Core Four became friends in the first place (Robin Tim Drake, Impulse Bart Allen, Wonder Girl Cassie Sandsmark & Superboy Conner Kent) I’m just gonna go with what happens in the show Young Justice except it’s the Core Four becoming the Core Four when they liberated Conner (who at this point believes himself to be a clone of Superman and has only been given Superboy as a name) from Cadmus, same shit goes down meaning that Clark is just straight up NOT vibing with Conner, Conner just wants a mentor please, and the Bats kinda give Clark a passive aggressive treatment for not taking Superboy under his wing or at least agreeing to teach him how to control his powers, especially Tim because that’s his Bestie so yes

Anyway, YJ saves ppl and is on the news or whatever and Lex finds out about Superboy’s existence that way, so he researches this new super on his free time, finds out that he came from Cadmus and claims to be a clone of Superman, yet doesn’t have the whole power set Superman has??? Wait, didn’t Lex reject Cadmus’ proposal and the got into a mysterious accident??? Long story short Lex goes connecting the dots, hacks into Cadmus’ files, finds out he technically has a son with Superman and decides to take Superboy under his wing (I’ll go more in depth as to why Lex would want to do this in this AU later but the abridged version would be that he wants a kid but doesn’t have the time nor interest in finding a wife??? Also the radiation that made him bald as a kid also affected his reproductive system so while it’s not impossible for him to conceive kids he would have a very hard time actually getting to father a kid)

Him and Conner, who still goes by Superboy at this point in time, meet up and Conner finds out that here is a parent figure that is both available and actively wants to be a part of his life, so he agrees to get to know Lex and the series would focus on them becoming a family, with a special episode when Conner asks Lex for help in choosing a name for himself and it ends up with him agreeing to become Conner Luthor, it would be heartwarming and Mercy would make sure it happens within a day (Mercy is Lex’s bodyguard/PA but they’re also besties and she becomes the Responsible yet Chaotic Aunt as Lex and Conner’s father-son relationship progresses)

Obviously Clark becomes super suspicious of Lex getting close to his ‘clone’ and when Conner decides to go public as Lex’s son he’s like *GASP* and calls up Bruce because we need to get on this Bruce, Lex is a villain and blah blah blah but Bruce would be over Clark’s shit and hit him with that “actually, Lex was also an unwilling genetic donor to Superboy, who actually is not your clone either, and has agreed to take him in, I’ve been on this shit since they first met and the kid is doing just fine so if you keep poking your nose in their business then that’s your problem but you better be ready to pay child support bitch . . . have a good day ❤️”

The series would just focus on Conner getting to have a good parent figure in Lex and go more into their civilian lives rather than focusing on the superhero thing, Conner, Bart, Tim & Cassie have a sleepover at Lex’s house at one point, Lex totally Knows what’s up but it’s all good because these are his baby’s friends and they’re good people who are more than willing to prank Superman for rejecting his kid and giving his baby self worth issues (Mercy supports them)

Anyway, that’s basically the idea for a new Superhero Show

[ectonurites]

so i read the big long young just us kon vs yja conner post. (amazing analysis btw) but i have another question about your thoughts on superboy as a character. So in the dc animated universe (that's over now but whatever) there's the Reign of the Supermen movie, and in that one Kon learns that Lex is his dad very very very early on. And since you said that you think Conner learning about Lex early was the biggest thing that changed it, I was wondering if you have thoughts on DCAU Superboy?

awh thank you! i am so pleasantly surprised people actually read that 

[link if u are only seeing this post and want to read the other one]

BUT AH YES THAT BOI i very nearly included a section on this version of him in the other post but decided not to just because it was. already nearly 6k words. however im glad you asked this because I DO have thoughts on him (sorry no pictures this time just words):

My ultimate thought regarding him is: the Reign of the Supermen movie managed to create a Superboy that the Lex reveal wasn’t anywhere near as big a deal for, compared to his other versions. Which I personally think was really cool to see!

This reveal having a smaller impact allowed him to maintain what was basically his 90′s comic characterization even after it, instead of going deep into broody tt 2003 territory or being anything like cartoon yj Conner.

Though, that now raises the question of why it has such a lesser impact

In this setting, he already had an association with Luthor from basically the moment he’s in the movie. Here, he is LexCorp’s Superman, rather than him partnering with Tana’s news station like in the comic (because they chose to understandably omit Tana. Also, trying to adapt the actual role Lex had in the comic version of this whole event would be a mess especially because this was during that era where Lex had like... faked his death, was pretending to be his own illegitimate son, had long hair, and was dating Supergirl? it was very weird, and understandably a movie adaptation wouldn’t wanna touch any of that with a 10ft pole. In general the Reign of the Supemen movie changed SO MUCH from the original comic, but I think did a pretty good job of integrating a lot of the spirit of the story into something new. I haven’t rewatched it since reading the comic though, so I might be looking through memory-fogged rose-tinted glasses, but I plan on doing so soon and will prob talk about it). 

Anyways, even before the actual reveal that Lex was also one of his DNA dads, Lex is out here acting like he’s Conner’s stage dad and... is literally in charge of him. Thus, even though obviously Lex still isn’t a great guy in this universe, it has nowhere near the same impact as finding out ‘renowned supervillain, that I have seen heroes go up against time and time again, is my dad!’ It’s more like finding out ‘oh my weird controlling boss is actually my dad?’ Still weird, still a lot to deal with, and he still gets sulky for a bit after finding out, but it’s way less drastic.

Not sure if I’m going to be able to articulate this next point well, but there’s another thing I think that kinda factors into it too. In my other post I had talked specifically about how not only the timing of finding this out was relevant, but also how the level of confidence Kon had in who he was as a person at the time mattered. 

In the comics, when Superboy found out, he had been very confident in himself and been an established hero for years and thus learning this new information made him (to some extent at least) feel like his whole life had been a lie, and he now felt he was a danger because of how evil Lex is known to be. [Also of note: not only was he worried about hurting his team, but this happened after the point where he’d started living with the Kents. He had a lot of anxiety around thinking Clark wouldn’t trust him to live with his parents if he knew, and fear that he might hurt them.]

In the Young Justice cartoon, when Superboy found out, he had confidence in his abilities as I said before, but he still didn’t really know who he was. He still never got to experience trying to be Superman like he had expressed always wanting to, because he was brought into a world that already had a Superman. So this revelation is just adding onto a pile of confusion. [And I believe (I haven’t watched season one of yj in a while so this might not be correct) that at the point he finds out, Lex was already a known adversary of heroes & The Team themselves. So the fact that someone they were actively going up against had a connection to him (and was manipulating him through the patches) was a point of concern.]

Then we look at movie Superboy. He’s cocky and pretty confident in himself and his abilities, and was getting to shoot his shot at filling that Superman role right away, just like his comic counterpart. But he doesn’t go years believing a lie about himself, since he finds out about the Luthor connection so early. At the time of the reveal he also doesn’t have the same connections to other people (either the Teen Titans & The Kents like the comics or The Team in the cartoon), meaning he’s not going to angst over being a potential danger to all of them. 

Also... he finds it out while he’s still actively working under Lex. In the comics, he finds out from an email he and Tim get while they’re at Titans Tower. In the cartoon Lex baits him to meet somewhere alone to tell him, before demonstrating he has a code word that effects him. In the movie, Lex brings him down to the very lab he was cloned in while lecturing him, because he works for Lex, and the reveal happens because of one of the scientists. It’s just such a wildly different circumstance for the reveal to happen under, because movie Superboy doesn’t see Lex through the same “only exists to me as a villain” lens his comic & cartoon counterparts do.... he’s basically just his overbearing boss at the time. 

Like yes this is where the seams start to unravel, because Superboy then realizes ‘oh god Lex was bringing me down there to kill me then just decided against it’, but he’s going through an entirely different struggle with that than what his other counterparts had going on. Also by having this reveal happen in the middle of the movie like, before the final battle and everything, he doesn’t really have time to dwell on all of this. He’s gotta go stop Cyborg Superman with the others he doesn’t have time to go ‘angst angst angst’ about it for long!! 

This also means that by the time he met Superman, Superboy already knew about the Lex connection. In both the comics and the yj cartoon, Clark and Conner met and knew each other (not necessarily in a close way in the yj cartoon BUT regardless) before Conner found this out. Meaning it was something that he kept a secret from Clark for a period of time, as it ate away at him. But here, since he finds out before Clark is even active and alive again, it’s not something he ever needs to hide! Like he deadass tells Lois about it the first time he sees her after he found out. 

SO to summarize, the Lex reveal is way less drastic for this version of Conner because:

Superboy and Lex had a completely different dynamic at the time of the reveal than any other versions 

Superboy in this setting didn’t have as many connections to others/wasn’t on a team at the time he found out, meaning there were less people he’d be concerned about putting in danger

Superboy never felt the need to keep this a secret from anyone for any extended period of time 

Honestly I would have loved to see more things with this Superboy because it puts him in this unique position of having already faced this big challenge (dealing with Lex being a DNA dad) but not letting it bring him too deep into the angst, he’s not hiding it from anyone, he can just kinda... exist as himself! But noooo Apokolips War had to. Do that. that whole thing. 

[gothfoxx]

So I was reading your Tumblr prompts posted on Ao3. Thank you for doing the ones I sent in. I love them and I just read With a Heart of Kryptonite and this little bunny jumped into my head. What if Marinette biodad was Lex Lurther. And Super in a way is his son to. So what if after finding out how Super boybis treated by both Lex &Superman. The Dupain-Cheng family shit up as Mari parents know she is a hero now and go bring their son/brother home after giving people a talking to the need it

that would be very interesting, the Dupain-Cheng family seems very close and very loving so it would be a great place for Conner to grow up. In the teen justice they had him just never age past 16 which was always weird to me but maybe with creation magic he can age normally. Looking so much alike could help Conner feel a connection to Earth and humanity that being raised in a superhero fortress with kids so unlike himself and never getting to see what a family should look like wasnt good for him. Just really it would be so good for his mental and emotional health to be raised with his half-sister and her parents.

Tom and Sabine are both shown to be fierce and smart, they would fight hell and high-water to get Conner as soon as they are aware he exists and that he is Mari's brother. Even if they dont know and they just happen to find out that Superman rejected his kid because the kid was an experiment they would be like, "Square up Superman, meet us in the pit!" because they are pissed that just because the kid is a surprise the high and mighty alien doesnt want him, "like hello! so many human children are surprises and most of them still are loved by their parents! We dont know where you grew up but we where we were we were taught to love our kids!"

And then theres the how is Lex the bio dad of Mari, maybe Mari is a failed super clone herself but she didnt get any Kryptonian powers so Lex put her up for adoption with fake papers? Maybe her mom had a fling and Lex signed over his rights cause he didnt want a kid(at the time)? maybe Lex corp sought out couples that would have Lex's kids so he could pick an heir later on from all the kids once he retired? IDK anything is possible with Lex really, hes nuts!

But yeah i would love for them to adopt Conner and give him the best life and Mari to be the best big sister and teach him to be a kid and his own person away from the shadows of his fathers.

[what-if-i-imagine]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT YOUR Superbat Fic Where They Were Failed High School Sweethearts Who Found Each Other For The First Time In Almost 20 Years When Bruce Moved Into The Same Neighborhood As Clark

@stars-of-sand yes! Thank you!

Okay so I won’t give away too much (I’ve already spoiled the whole plot for my friend and girlfriend) but I will say as much as I can!

(Side note I can’t get over: my girlfriend called this soft suburban horror and that is perfect for it. It’s romance, but soft suburban horror)

So in this universe Clark and Kara were born through an experiment called Project Krypton which is a while other things, but yeah they’re human and love with their respective adoptive families. Project Krypton is a huge part of the story but it’s also meant to be more of a surprise element.

Bruce’s parents still died, but Alfred ends up adopting him, raising him literally as his son and most importantly, he takes Bruce to therapy. When Bruce is thirteen (he skipped a grade), they move away from Gotham to give Bruce room to healthily grieve and grow. They move to Smallville.

Speedy version of their love story: they starts off friends, fall in love, date all through high school, move to Metropolis together, and get engaged. I’m not going to completely give away why they split, all you need to know for now is that Lex was heavily at fault, and Bruce could handle being the only one trying in their relationship anymore. He left for Gotham telling Clark exactly what hotel he was staying in and for how long, and if Clark really wanted to save this relationship, he had to go find Bruce there. Clark never came for him.

Flash forward about 18ish years.

Clark is a single dad living in Mapleville, only one year after Lois died in a plane crash and left him with their boys. He’s struggling with Jon being in school, and Conner’s sudden rebellion against Lex as his father. He’s struggling.

Then, Dick Grayson-West, the older brother of Conner’s long distance boyfriend and Clark’s work out buddy at the gym, invited them over for a cookout to celebrate his family moving into the neighborhood to get away from the city. Clark meets all but four members of Dick’s family (his grandpa and foster sister who are still dealing with Social Services in Gotham and his dad who is inside taking care of his sick baby sister). He likes Dick’s family, thinks Tim is a good boy for Con, and appreciates Damian and Matt hanging out with Jon.

It’s only a week later that he learns the identity of Dick’s dad. He’s at a monthly check up he and Con are required to go to for Project Krypton when it happens. He’s walking out of the back office when a man and his son are walking in. He immediately recognizes the son as Jason, Dick’s brother, but it takes a moment for him to realize that the dad is none other than his high school sweet heart, the one that got away, Bruce freaking Wayne.

Cue Clark trying very hard to make up for never going after Bruce and sealing his forgiveness, Con having identity issues regarding if he’s a Kent or a Luther now that he doesn’t have Lous there to help him, Dick and Wally trying for a kid with a surrogate, Jason having his whole top secret story line, meanwhile Bruce just wants to curl up under the covers and never leave his bed again.

I have so many feelings about this story, and there are so many elements I’ve worked so hard on.

[sohotthateveryonedied]

When Everyone Who Loves me Has Died

Read here on AO3!

Summary:

"Everything is as it should be, yet here I am, still feeling like I’m missing something.”

“Like what?” Tim can’t remember the last time he saw Harley sit still and listen for so long without getting fidgety. Either she's learning self-control, or Tim's life is just really fucking depressing.

“Like...I don’t know.” Tim scratches his thumbnail against some dried paint, unable to feel the chill of the metal through his glove. “Everyone is back, but that doesn’t erase the fact that they were dead. That part still happened, regardless of whether they came back or not. It’s like—like burning a hole in a piece of paper and covering it with tape. It doesn’t heal anything.”

Whoever came up with the concept of mind over matter should be imprisoned for false advertising. Tim has been trying to get his mind over the matter for months now, and the matters are still very much gripping the steering wheel. If anything, his mind gave in and slid into the passenger seat, going along for the ride. Tim is sitting on a billboard platform, Lex Luthor’s ginormous bald self providing a nauseating backdrop as he advertises whatever world domination kick he’s on at the moment. Tim watches the cars go by on the highway, utterly indifferent to the tiny speck of a vigilante watching from above. His cowl is down, but he isn’t worried. It’s unlikely that anyone will be able to spot him up here, civilian or otherwise. Besides, it gets harder and harder to breathe under the weight of the mask these days. He was supposed to be getting better. The days are coming in at longer intervals, which should be a relief. Days when he gets “dark and twisty” as Jason lovingly calls it, which isn’t too far off, Tim supposes. Something inside of him is definitely twisted, coiled into a furl of darkness where there used to be light. God, he needs therapy. He should be getting better. There is no logical reason to be feeling this way. Not anymore. Not when things are finally back where they should be after years of grief. Maybe something has been knocked loose in his brain, keeps him on this brink he can’t seem to sway to either side of. He’s not happy, but he’s not completely sad either. There’s no logic to it, no reason. No closure. Is this how ghosts feel? Like they’re straddling the in-between, stuck feeling like everything they have is just slightly out of reach? “Why the long face, kiddo?”

Tim is up in an instant, fumbling to pull his cowl back over his face. He raises his bo staff at the prowler, only to find Harley standing at the other end of the platform, her arms packed with reusable grocery bags. She’s wearing civilian clothes: a Nightwing tank top and leather pants that look like she doused them in glue and rolled around in a kiddie pool filled with glitter. Tim relaxes. He lowers his staff. “You shouldn’t do that. I could have knocked your head off.” “Nah, I’m too good to be taken down by a twelve-year-old.” “I’m eighteen.” “You sure? ‘Cause I could have sworn you were still in middle school.” “Hilarious.” “Thanks, I’ve been thinkin’ about doing some comedy on the side to pay the bills. Eddie says I’ve got a real knack for it.” Harley sits on the edge of the platform beside the spot where Tim was before. “I asked you a question, by the way.” “Bruce is going to kill me if he finds out I’m hanging out with you.” Fine, so that’s a minor exaggeration. Bruce will always have beef with Harley regardless of how many good deeds she does. Dick’s theory is that Bruce has some lingering bitterness from his and Harley’s rivalry from med school, and he probably isn’t too far off. The rest of the family is far looser when it comes to trusting Harley; Alfred even sent her a Hanukkah gift last year. “You and I both know Brucie is in Metropolis this week.” At Tim’s inquiring look, she explains, “My mom is friends with him on Facebook. So, are you gonna spill or what? ‘Cause I’ve got ice cream here and I swear to god I’ll fill your nostrils with tapioca if it melts.” Tim rolls his eyes. He lets his cowl fall back against his neck and sits beside Harley. “I’m fine.” “And that’s why you’re hanging out here all angsty-like?” “I’m not angsty.” “You’re the angstiest person on this fuckin’ billboard.” Which, fine, that’s probably true. “I don’t need a PHD to tell that something’s eating ya, kid. Which I do, by the way. Got the certificate and everything.” Tim gestures to her grocery bags. “I thought you had somewhere to be.” “What, these ol’ things? Nah. I just have a date with Pam-a-lamb tonight and had to borrow some supplies.” “Borrow?” “The manager there was a dick, anyways. He’s the one who got all snappy when I ate all the free samples, so trust me. He deserved to get his stuff stolen.” “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” “I’ll go back and return the thirty-seven scratch-offs I took if you tell me what’s bothering you.” Tim looks out over the black horizon, the moon barely visible behind the clouds. “It’s nothing.” “Everything is something. Gandhi said that.” “Pretty sure he didn’t.” “What, did you personally know the guy?” She nudges Tim with her elbow. “Well? Spit it out, Timberlake.” Tim lets out a breath. “It’s just...you know when you lose something really important to you? And you miss it, but after a while, when you’ve already accepted that you’ll never see it again, you find it? And you’re happy to have it back, but there’s still...something is missing. Almost like you never found it at all, you know?” “Not really, no.” Tim’s mouth twitches upward. “I’ve spent the past two years in mourning, but now I don’t have to mourn anymore. Everything is perfect again.” Harley arches an eyebrow. “Lemme guess, you don’t know why you still feel like you’re grieving?” Tim nods. “Small fry, that’s not a symptom. That’s normal for someone in your situation.” “No, it isn’t. I should be happy right now. I should—I should be the happiest I’ve ever been. I spent so long trying to make everything right again, and I did it. Conner is back. Bart is back. Bruce is back. Everything is as it should be, yet here I am, still feeling like I’m missing something.” “Like what?” Tim can’t remember the last time he saw Harley sit still and listen for so long without getting fidgety. Either she's learning self-control, or Tim's life is just really fucking depressing. “Like...I don’t know.” Tim scratches his thumbnail against some dried paint, unable to feel the chill of the metal through his glove. “Everyone is back, but that doesn’t erase the fact that they were dead. That part still happened, regardless of whether they came back or not. It’s like—like burning a hole in a piece of paper and covering it with tape. It doesn’t heal anything.” “Well, of course it doesn’t.” Tim looks at her, surprised. Harley’s eyes are serious for once, void of humor. “Having all your folks back doesn’t erase the fact that they were gone. Grief is what makes us human. Still feelin’ bad after everything is fixed just means you’re still working on it.” “That’s it?” Harley’s eyebrows furrow. “What’s it?” “I thought you were going to...I don’t know, crack open some huge revelation and make me realize it’s all in my head or something.” “I mean, it kind of is in your head.” Harley tugs on one pink pigtail. “Grief doesn’t come from your feet, Timantha.” “So...how do I fix it?” Harley shrugs, sitting back and swinging her legs in the air. “Fuck if I know. Go see a therapist or something?” Tim snorts. “I’d rather not.” “What, you got a prior engagement? Too busy for psychoanalysis?” “I can’t exactly go to a normal therapist and explain to them that all of my friends are superheroes and my dad is Batman.” “Hm. Point taken, bird boy.” Harley goes to boop his nose, but Tim swats her away. “Talk to me then. I’m a dandy good listener.” “Thanks, but I’m good.” “I’m serious. Got the license to practice and everything.” “I’m pretty sure psychology licenses expire once you’re imprisoned for terrorism.” “Well, jeez, go and insult me, why don’tcha? And after I offer my help like the good citizen I am.” She stands, picking up her shopping bag. Then she digs around in her pockets and comes out with a small white card. She hands it to Tim. Harley Quinn — hit(wo)man, psychiatrist, bounty hunter, dog walker, mercenary, finder of lost things, life coach. “And that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” she says with a wink. “I’m also considering goin’ into doggie makeovers.” “I don’t know,” Tim says. “I won’t go blabbing your information to Croc or no one, cross my heart. I strictly abide by the doctor/patient confidentiality rules.” A pause. “Most of the time.” Then she looks back at the billboard of Lex, looking for the world like a vengeful Mr. Clean god. “I’m sure he won’t tattle.” “I don’t think the Justice League would think very highly of one of their own getting therapy from an ex-supervillain.” “So? Fuck them, they’re a bunch of crusty old people anyway. Come on, think about it, Timberly. I’ll even give you the friends and family discount so long as you bring doughnuts when you visit. Teen angst makes me hungry.” Tim considers it for a moment, then sighs. “I’m free on Thursday afternoons.” Harley grins. “It’s a date, bird boy.”

[thattimdrakeguy]

New 52 TEEN TITANS #3 Read Along - The fact this got made is still shocking.

It’s been a while since I done one of these. It’s probably been since last year or so. This isn’t so much of a formal review where I try my best to explain why something doesn’t work, with tons of back references, or interviews, and contexts, and such. I might do some of that, but I’m mostly just writing this along the same time I continue to read it.

I’ve already done the first two issues, and if I can I’ll link them in the post somewhere.

Basically, this series gets about everything wrong about the returning Core Four for this reboot. They made Cassie the tomboy a “girly” thief, Conner the punky flirt a creepy emotionally numb stalker, Tim the insecure dork a super genius that blew up part of a freaking skyscraper, and Bart the teen with an attention span problem into an arrogant jerkwad loudmouth.

With the origins later given in the series, the boys are revealed to not reaally be the characters we knew at all in a more literal sense. This Conner is a clone of an alternate version of Jon, not Clark and Lex. This Tim Drake, is literally only Tim Drake in name only, as that’s the name this teen got in witness protection. And this Bart Allen, isn’t even related to Barry.

So these are versions of the characters that are them in literally name only, bar Cassie (sadly). Although, they’d later retconned Tim’s origin back (which doesn’t make sense). But what else can I compare them to but the originals?

--

A really common criticism of this series, and one that’s pretty dang valid in my opinion. Is just how unlikable everyone is-- or at least the Core Four, because I feel like we can all be honest and say that most people just read this for the Core Four, and sometimes Bunker. (Like Bart’s condescending here. Like “I’m Kid Flash, girl.” Maybe I’m just reading it too 1940s, but it comes off as really dickish.)

I mean seriously, how many people do you know talk abut Skitter? The original characters that Lobdell came up with are really hit and miss for me, mostly miss. Because I find Skitter so forgettable, that even though I’ve read the first few issues of this series just for entertainment value, I still forget she exists. She could’ve been so much more interesting, but he just doesn’t give her much.

To me, a good character has a personality that you can notice, grab onto, and have lots of unique stories with, that simply work, not even because it causes a great drama, but just because the perspective the character will have in any situation depending on the circumstance will be interesting.

Which is one of the reasons why I find Tim an interesting character, because his perspective is one that’s very interactive with any given circumstances but will still work for me. An insecure, super hero fanboy, that’s doing his best to be brave, but is secretly scared, with the cleverness to do things, but the anxiety that he can’t. Which the circumstances they give him, like having to make sure he proves he should be Robin, having parents at home, not feeling like he’s good enough, constantly seeing others better them him. It’ll just make him an interesting perspective to read from that won’t get too repetitive in any way that interferes with the enjoyment, because there’s a lot of levels you can take his harsh feelings, or things to interact with, that it won’t always be predictable what’s going to happen with him, and you want to read to see more.

With this series and quite a bunch of other original characters made, they have soap opera writing. Which works with fleshed out characters like the iconic 80s incarnation of the Teen Titans, but when the new characters don’t have a well-formed personality that you can really grab onto and gain constant interest and intrigue from, you just have a lame duck.

When your main character’s traits are “I’m angsty and sad”. No one is going to be able to invest themselves with that. They need to be more third dimensional and genuine to make them a character you want to pick up each issue for.

This series even with the old characters fails at that, by making them into absolute butchered heaps of rotted rump rather than their full personalities.

At least the art is pretty creative early on in it’s second page, I will give it that.

--

Then there’s Bunker--

--who I really want to like, but just can’t find myself enjoying.

A lot of these characters I’m unfamiliar with I want to like. They’re minority characters with very interesting concepts, but writing so flat that it ruins any chance of paying attention to them. A common curse when it comes to POC and a bad writer like Lobdell.

But Bunker actually has a personality, but the reason why I can’t find myself attaching myself to him is because he feels like an uncomfortable stereotype character. An outdated one that you’d see in the 80s or 90s to either seem inclusive or use as a joke rather than a true deal character.

Bunker is a flamboyant, religious, fashion involved, gay, Latino. Something that feels like you’d really bet he wouldn’t be if he wasn’t gay or Latino, because it’s just all based in stereotypes. Like if the pages weren’t colored, and you didn’t have the context he was gay, you’d probably still guess what he’s supposed to be just because of how much they involve stereotypes with him.

However, despite the stereotypes, he is the one most people can remember from this series beyond the core four, because he at least has a personality, and they actually try to build up a unique mystery to him, that would make you want to continue to know them.

And there is something about his confidence and religious beliefs, and determination that does feel very genuine, and makes you actually like him despite the stereotypes.

You want to know what makes you able to tell he’s a better made character than the other relatively new, to straight up new characters? You can actually talk about him, and have a lot more to say about them then his backstory, two personality traits, and angst. Even if his personality seems limited at first, they still write it in a way that’s genuine enough that you can get more out of it, a lot like what I was describing with Tim earlier. 

He still feels like a character that you could write a solo about, and with a good enough writer and personal life, would actually make for a very rereadable series, because you just enjoy seeing him on his journey, because it won’t always be the same exact things. He has loyal personality traits about him, but depending on his circumstances, it won’t be the same side of him you’re seeing, and it won’t feel contrived. He has potential to become a true third dimensional character, and not one that just feels like he looks like one, but isn’t really.

But that depends on where the writing goes with him-- and I can’t remember where it goes. But take away the dated stereotypes and there’s actual good potential with Bunker. Making your character feel like another decade’s minority caricature is kind of a turn off when it comes to feeling comfortable reading them.

Which is why some don’t tend to like him.

--

There’s not a lot to say about this quick page of Cassie, besides the fact they make her come across as apathetic and nuts. She’s also mildly sexualized given it looks like she’s posing for a fashion shoot and not just closing a door, which feels pretty typical of the team that made this book.

--

And because of Lobdell’s bizarre writing and tone changes, I don’t know if this is supposed to be taken as serious or comedy, because of how abrupt it is, and how a fight broke out right after and we find out the old guy is Tim somehow convincing someone he isn’t like-- 15? I think he’d be either 14 or 15, not because that’s how Lobdell intended him to be, because I believe in a now lost interview he said Tim was “probably” 16 or 17. However, they didn’t settle on Tim’s age till Damian was near thirteen, meaning Tim would’ve been either fourteen or fifteen here, depending if Damian was eleven as I remember, or ten at the start of the New 52.

And here’s some more out of character Tim, because New 52 is what you get when you skim through Red Robin without any context, and being edgy is still really popular with the teenage demographic at the time.

This is a Tim that blew up a building, is an incel towards Cassie, and is overall an arrogant prick.

How Lobdell thought anyone thought any of a good idea is beyond me, but I figure he’s just not self-aware enough to realize that he just made one of the most unlikable protagonists I’ve ever seen, and absolutely bastardized who was once a mega-fan-favorite.

Although, this is pretty cute and in-character. It’s something that definitely fits in with a classic Tim comic, but down let this make you think Lobdell knows how to write Tim, because he makes it really obvious all the time that he doesn’t really.

--

And that’s basically everything relevant that happens in this issue-- not a lot when you actually read it, and not just me spouting off the proverbial mouth as I try my best to mentally process this freaking comic.

Conner doesn’t even show up, most likely because he was the only one with a solo, that Lobdell was also writing (you can probably guess accurately what the quality of that was too).

A lot of it is just more of the same, and it’s tedious, although it’s tedious nature is not so much on Lobdell, as he’s said in interviews before that it was editorial or a publisher (I can’t remember to be honest) that made him not have them previously know each other. So he had to work from that.

Which goes to show just how much DC knows how their characters and teams work, given the reason why Young Justice worked so well was because Tim, Conner, and Bart, already had stories where they duo’d up, and teamed up before they were even official. Which allowed them to have a preconceived friendship, they could build dynamics that were naturally built off of their unique personalities, which made everything feel natural and good to go when they did have an official team comic.

Here you have a Tim, that’s supposed to be very much a rookie of only one year, acting like he’s the greatest protégé talent ever, searching out for metahumans and coincidentally running into them, just to make some kind of story that would explain them being together for a team.

I’m not saying they have to redo the duo stuff again, because I’m pretty sure most readers already know their dynamics, and as for new readers, it doesn’t take a lot of time to say “We’re just good friends that like hanging out” does it? They have issue zeroes for each comic for a reason, they could’ve easily had a nice summary there if they wanted.

New 52′s obsession with trying to fit everything they can in, but have everyone still be relatively new, made everything a mess.

Like isn’t it weird that Superman only started being a super hero FOUR YEARS before Tim was? Doesn’t that sound entirely too squeezed in?

Then because they messed with the characters so much it works less for old readers as well. Like they have Tim, only a year in, acting like all the out of character elements of Red Robin, with an origin that’s a Bizarro styled mirror of his original one, with nothing that made him the popular character he used to be.

Same for the others.

New 52 is partially scary, because it shows just how little they know about what made them work.

I’m not against reboots in comics as a concept, they do need some modernization, and clean-ups every now and again, but you have to keep what works in there, or else the reboot will be a total failure. And paint-jobs and fan service like Rebirth aren’t gonna work either, when the heart of it all is still just so bad.

All this is a lot easier to say in hindsight, but DC Comics really has to work towards remembering their mistakes if they actually want to get better again. They’re doing a bit better at it, as forced and contrived as it can be sometimes. So they are getting somewhere.

But this is only the start of a Didio-less era. Looking like good things are coming, and little presents that truly make it seem true, is something that’s only going to last for a little bit. They have to still do the work, and learn what worked for their characters in the first place, and reremember who they all are.

Otherwise sales will just get worse again.

But I’m genuinely hoping they’ll at least begin to learn from mistakes. No one gets a win otherwise.

--

Oh, and he’s the entirety of the fight advertised on the cover. “Red Robin vs. Bunker”.

They stop fighting right after this.

It’s the comic book equivalent of clickbait if I’ve ever seen it in my entire life.