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a-square-minus-one · 3 years

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Honey 10

Thank you for those who have stuck to this progressing story. Here is the new chapter. You can find the whole story on AO3 and fanfic.

I killed him.

Raven wakes up long before the team realizes she has. She can’t even register the itchy hospital bed sheets on top of her; her limbs are glued to the cot. Her chest expands as she breathes but she’d struggle less breathing underwater.

Malchior was a disgusting being. Intent to create chaos wherever he went. His only goal was to wreak havoc because he could and because no one could stop him. His life’s work was figuring out ways he could outdo his last destructive feat. His eyes only twinkled when he was asserting his dominance over something.

And she had killed him.

Or at least, separated his consciousness from its physical manifestation.

Or can you even separate that?

She made his limbs stop working.

His mouth would no longer form incantations.

Where would his thoughts go?

Would he be able to sort them or even hear them?

Or were they just whispers on another plane of existence?

Nausea makes Raven sit abruptly, the IV tugging painfully in her arm. She feels more than tastes the vomit fly out of her mouth. Chunks of yellow bits propel out onto the floor next to her, right by Starfire’s purple boots. Starfire is quick to move Raven’s hair out of the way, despite the fact that doing so sinks her boots right into the undigested food. A few tears escape Raven’s eyes.

“Star…” she groans, making a feeble attempt to push Starfire out the way but the alien just shushes her and rubs her hand over Raven’s back. A green hand extends a plastic cup of water towards her.

“Small sips,” Gar reminds her. She takes the cup out of his hands and raises it to her lips. Raven stiffens when he moves closer, replacing Starfire’s hands with his own. She stares over the rim of the cup at his torso, feeling her eyebrows crinkling. He picks up the hair from her neck. She hears a snap and feels her hair moving left to right. Then he’s at a reasonable distance again. She places a hand on her warm, now bare, neck.

“You-” she clears her throat. “-you can tie a ponytail?”

“Can’t you?” Garfield asks, looking incredibly amused. She feels her face heat up as she places the water on the tray next to her and lays back on the cot. She looks to Star’s boots and then to her face.

“I’m so-”

“Shh I will be hearing none of that friend,” Starfire says, handing Raven a wipe. Raven wipes off one side of her lips. Her hand pauses when she gets to the other side.

“How many civilians?” Raven asks, her fingers trembling behind the tissue. Garfield immediately straightens out his relaxed shoulders. His jaw tightens. Starfire looks down to her feet. Raven turns to Cyborg.

“Two.”

Two fingers touch her lips as the contents of her stomach turn again. Her eyes well up as she swallows around the undigested food rising in her esophagus.

“Ages?” she asks in an almost imperceptible voice.

No one answers.

She clenches her fingers around the wipe and presses it to her forehead.

“Ages?” she pleads.

“54 and 65,” Cyborg says; his rage is like a hot iron in her side. Raven feels Starfire’s despair pelting her on the other side like an open waterfall. Garfield’s emotions are all sharp corners and metal bristles. She can’t even bear to approach the edges of it for fear that she’ll pop and everything will come pouring out of her. She sinks back into her cot trying to tighten her core under the pressure of all their emotions. She almost finds balance in the current until she senses something, like seaweed twisting on her toes when she’s swimming in the ocean.

“You’re not telling me something,” she says, eyeing Garfield who hasn’t looked her way since tying up her hair. She almost didn’t want to ask considering how tenuous her hold on herself is.

“There was a six year old boy,” Nightwing says, entering the room with arms crossed over his chest. He leans against the doorframe of the med bay. Raven lets out a long breath. She spends a lot of her life thinking about how she breathes. Breathing is the first step to meditation. Right now she wonders what it would be like to be trapped at the end of a long exhale.

“He-”

“Is in ICU,” Nightwing finishes. She brings knees to her chest and sinks her head into them, gripping the fitted sheet on the cot. Her throat is one fire.

“We have to visit the family,” she says, looking at her team members. Everyone pauses.

“We did,” Garfield says, scratching the back of his neck the way he does when he’s pensive or nervous. Raven squints her eyes. She lays her legs flat on the cot.

“I have to visit the families,” she says, shifting to get up. Garfield quickly puts his hands on her shins and she almost kicks him off in surprise.

“You can’t,” Garfield says.

“Why not?”

“The public doesn’t love us right now,” Nightwing says, moving from his position at the door.

Then she feels it, pressing against her. Fire, all around her, filling the gaps between her fingertips, licking up the back of her knees. She almost gasps at the intensity of it.

“You’re angry,” she says, quickly looking up at Nightwing. A few strands of her hair have escaped the ponytail Garfield made for her. Starfire steps forward.

“We all are,” she says. Raven doesn’t look her way, keeping her eyes locked on the immobile Nightwing. This is a different anger. Nightwing knows she knows; their bond hasn’t faded in the years since she went into his mind.

“Where’s Malchior, Raven? Nightwing asks, his index finger twitching against his bicep. The fire around her stops all together. Something cool, fragile, and thin settles over them like a layer of frost on water. Then Raven makes the mistake of looking down. A fireball hits her in the chest like a cannon, she tumbles backwards on the cot.

“Damnit Raven!” Nightwing says. She looks up at his face, now red underneath his mask.

“Yo dude, chill out. She just woke up,” Garfield says. Nightwing whips towards him, his index finger inches away from Garfield’s chest. Raven is ashamed that she feels immediate relief at Garfield’s expense.

“How about instead of worrying about Raven you explain to me where the hell all the animosity for me came from?” Nightwing says, leaning much too far into Garfield’s personal bubble. Garfield leans back and tilts his head.

“Dude, clearly that wasn’t me.”

“So what you’re saying is that you’re not you when you transform into other animals?” Nightwing poses this as a question but the fact that each word is coming out like hisses between his clenched teeth makes it seem like he has already decided his answer.

“You know this isn’t just one of my other animal forms and could you check your tone?” Garfield asks. Raven feels his irritation like pricks from a cactus. She wiggles her fingers.

“Everytime the Beast has been present, I have been targeted,” Nightwing’s tone is even when he says this but punctuated in a manner that suggests he has ruminated on this and has already come to his own conclusions. His words sound rehearsed.

“That’s just not true and either way I’ve shown you for years that I’ve been able to control my powers as much as everyone else on the team, if not better.”

“You weren’t able to two days ago.”

“We don’t fight magical dragons everyday,” Garfield bites out and Nightwing swivels towards Raven again.

“And apparently we never will again!” Spit flies out of Nightwing’s mouth as he leans over the end of Raven’s cot. She sits up straight even though Nightwing’s words land heavy like a punch to her stomach.

“Almost sounds like you’re going to miss him,” Raven hisses back. Nightwing’s face is so red that Raven is sure it will explode off of his body.

“How can you be so desensitized to the loss of a life?”

“Jesus Nightwing relax! It isn’t like she hunted this man down, which is more than I can say about you and Slade...every six months...like clockwork!”

“And yet he’s still alive.” The muscles on Nightwing’s neck are straining as he turns towards Garfield, bumping his chest a little. Any other man would have taken a step back and on any other occasion Garfield would too but right then, he doesn’t.

“Is that because you haven’t tried or because you’ve never gotten close enough,” Garfield says, jutting his own chest outwards so it bumps Nightwing’s.

“Much closer than you did when he turned Terra into stone.”

“Dude what in the actual fuck?” Garfield growls.

“That is quite enough!” Starfire yells, wedging herself between the pair. “You have both done the crossing of the line! Friend Raven is barely recovered!”

Neither man stands down, glaring at each other over Starfire’s shoulders. “Are you going to arrest me Richard?” Raven asks, chin tilted upwards. Nightwing turns away from Starfire and removes his hand from his utility belt.

“He will do no such thing-” Starfire starts.

“You’re not being fair,” he says. Raven tilts her chin higher and arches an eyebrow.

“If you are not going to arrest me then we have more important things to talk about right now than any morally ambiguous decisions I made that there is no way I can undo,” Raven mumbles. “Even if I really wanted to.”

Nightwing runs a hand through his hair then drops both of his hands on his hips. He’s looking her in the eyes. Anyone else wouldn’t be able to tell because of his mask but she knows he is. He’s trying to consolidate all his anger into a concentrated cube. She respects the effort. Garfield, who is hunched over like his spine is ready to break through the skin of his back, clearly does not.

“We have two of your brothers in custody. Lust and Gluttony. I will be handling interrogations. You can watch from another room. ”

Raven sucks in her bottom lip. She knows her brothers better than Nightwing but she’s on thin ice with him as is. She’d have to let him cool down a little before she can get anywhere near that room.

“If you’re going in alone, I need to heavily armor you.”

Nightwing shrugs stiffly. She nods.

Behind Nightwing, Garfield takes his exit; his anger is radiating off of him like an electric heater. Nightwing looks after him, his lips in a straight line but doesn’t try to stop him.

“How much of a dick was I?” Nightwing asks once Garfield has left the room.

“12/10 bro,” Cyborg says, rubbing his forehead. Nightwing cringes.

“I’m going to go talk to him,” Raven says, looking at Cyborg and then towards her IV. Cyborg looks hesitant at first but eventually sighs and does as he’s told.

...........................................................................

“This is very carnivalesque.” Raven says as she sits next to Garfield on the roof. Garfield raises an eyebrow at her “Usually you’re the one who comes to see me on the roof.”

“What?” Garfield asks.

“Nothing,” Raven says, looking down at her feet. She’s not as good as he is at this.

“You should be in the med bay for observations.”

“With all the healing it would be very hard to kill me,” she says. She feels a few fat drops of rain smack her cheek but Garfield doesn’t flinch so she stays put. Raven looks up at the thick clouds moving in the sky.

“Do you think you’ll die like the rest of us?” Garfield asks. Random. Raven hums. “I mean your father...sorry I know it’s a touchy subject-”

“No, go ahead,” Raven says, keeping her eyes on the sky. A warmth spreads in her chest like when she drinks hot tea. It’s been nice for her to see how delicate Garfield is with her boundaries in the last couple of years.

“Trigon is immortal. Does that make you immortal too?” he asks.

“I really hope not,” Raven mumbles immediately. “I’m not a god.”

Her mind immediately goes to Malchior’s lifeless body beneath her.

“Don’t lose any sleep over him,” Garfield says. Raven hums again. “Malchior. That’s who you’re thinking about, right?”

Raven looks away from the sky. Garfield’s lashes are dark and long. He’s green almost everywhere but around his pupils there is a rim of orange that she’s always been fascinated by.

“I took his life away,” she says, curling up her bare toes. “I-I’m afraid…”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Garfield interrupts softly. She feels the warmths curl through her insides again. She has to break eye contact.

“I don’t know if I made the right choice. It kind of feels...heavy? If that makes sense.”

“It makes sense.”

It grows quiet again.

“Nightwing was more angry at me than he was at you,” she says. Silence.

A few drops of water land on her thighs. She’s getting a little cold now. She had only come out in the oversized t-shirt she was wearing in the med bay. She thinks it’s Cyborg’s. It fits her like a dress.

“I think he might be right.”

Raven looks up at him, ready to protest. The protests die on her lips when she makes eye contact.

“I keep banking on the fact that I can control the Beast but it kind of sucks. He’s pulling at me all the time.”

“He doesn’t like Nightwing?”

“...He doesn’t like Nightwing’s power over me. Doesn’t like that he’s the one who calls the shots. Which is the complete opposite of me. Usually Nightwing and Cyborg are the ones measuring their dicks to see who gets to be boss.”

Raven snorts.

“Would it be so bad to let him out every once and a while? What else could he want?” Raven asks. Garfield presses his lips together. And his silence stretches like cheese. Just when she thinks it's about the tear, it stretches some more. For much longer than it should. She can’t pinpoint exactly what changes but she is suddenly hyper aware of how long she’s been looking into his eyes. She isn’t about to let on that she noticed the shift though because that would mean that it actually happened.

But maybe she should move?

Or look down?

Why isn’t he saying anything?

Did he lean forward?

Breathe Raven.

She inhales sharply.

There is a flash of lighting in her peripheral vision.

He doesn’t break eye contact.

“Can I see the scar The Beast left?” he finally whispers, keeping eye contact. Oh, that’s what he was thinking about.

She can’t think straight. What did I think he was thinking about? She pulls up her shirt without a second thought, looking down with him...

Then screams internally when she remembers she isn’t wearing any pants.

She freezes. Thunder rumbles.

He doesn’t say anything. She wonders if she’d hear him anyway over the long ‘AGHH!’ reverberating in her head.

She looks up at him; he hasn’t said anything about her lack of pants. Instead he’s staring intently at her side, eyebrows furrowed and bottom lip wedged between his teeth.

Breathe. The team has changed in front of each other before. No big deal.

She wishes she can get a clear read on his emotions but she can barely get a hold on hers.

Then he reaches out his fingertips and slowly runs over the ridges of the three bumpy stripes on her side.

This time she actually shrieks out loud, dropping her shirt immediately. A few rocks on the shore explode into a million little fragments. He pulls his hands away like he just accidentally touched a stove.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry! Jesus, I don’t know why I did that,” he squeals immediately, running a hand through his hair roughly.

Aghhhhhh

“No! It’s... um...fine.Your fingers were just cold.”

The skin around her scars is burning.

Aghhhh .

He shuts his eyes so tightly that she can see little wrinkles at the edges of them. It looks like he wants to turn into a mosquito and fly away. She stays quiet. He places a hand over his eyes.

“Listen...I...I’m sorry about that. The touching,” his voice squeaks. He clears his throat. “But also giving you the scar in the first place.”

He reluctantly moves his hands away and looks at her again.

“I’m serious. I don’t want to hurt Nightwing. I don’t want to ever hurt you,” Garfield says, his skin changing from brown to green as his blush fades.

Agggghhhhh.

She hums.

Not the right response.

He sucks his lips into his mouth, face getting incredibly brown just as it was resuming its original shade.

“I-” he starts.

She looks at him.

He looks at her.

He flies away.

#bbrae

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myweirdfanfics · 4 years

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Just a Game

Fanfic

Length: One-Shot, 1.5k words

Genre: Drama/Mystery/Friendship

Theme: Teen Titans x Among Us Crossover

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.

The lights were out. Again.

Raven let out a single sigh. She had to, at least, finish what she was doing, before heading towards Electrical to fix it.

A few more seconds passed by and the last wire was connected in the right place. She was good to go. Not being able to see much, she struggled through the corridors, until, finally, found the entrance she was looking for. Raven went inside, found the panel and adjusted all levers. In less than a second, everything could be seen again.

Okay. She thought, mid-relief. Now the download. Admin.

Fast, she went to the administration room; but as soon as she got there, something near her caught her attention.

And when she saw what it was, a shiver went down her spine.

She had encountered her friend a few minutes ago: he was taking out the trash, she saw it. And she did the same right after. Now, she stood before his body, which was torn in half on the ground, surrounded with blood. As her face grew paler at the scene, she reached for her communicator.

“Titans, Cafeteria, now.” Her voice cracked at the next sentence, already running. “Cyborg is dead.”

“What?!” Beast Boy’s shock echoed through the device.

In a matter of minutes, the titans gathered around a table in the cafeteria of their spaceship. And checking the vital signs, they noticed that Cyborg was not the only one.

Starfire was dead too.

“That can’t be.” Robin said. “Where was Cy?! Did you see anyone else?” He asked Raven.

“Admin. And no, I didn’t see anyone.”

Raven heard a female voice. “Convenient. Maybe she killed him? Impostors can self report.”

Terra.

She turned her head towards her, anger rising. “What are you talking about, I had just fixed the lights, I did not-”

“Kidding!” Terra said, defending herself. “We just gotta suspect everyone. But seriously now, I think Rae is innocent. I saw her take the trash away.”

Raven was ready to burst but then stopped mid-way to process what she had just heard. Still, a glare stayed on her eyes. “Oh. Thank you? I guess.” Then, she remembered. “But it’s Ra-ven. Two syllables, please.”

“Right! Sorry.” The blonde one said, smiling shyly. “Let’s keep going then, for now.”

Robin nodded. “Yeah. We need to get this ship running. Let’s keep the rhythm and maybe we can make it. Titans, go!”

As soon as the meeting was over, Raven went out of the room and looked at her list of tasks. The next one was at the reactor, on the other side of the ship. Carefully, she made her way there.

But one thing stuck in her mind: Terra had defended her. And she had mixed feelings about it, for sure; but for now, Terra seemed fine. Had to give the girl the benefit of the doubt, after all.

As she went through the hallway, her vision interrupted her thoughts as it peaked someone at the Medical Bay: Beast Boy. He was doing his body scan. Innocent. Good.

The girl finally arrived at the reactor and, at the same time, a sigh went out of her lungs as soon as she noticed she had to do the memory panel. That usually took a long time to finish and she only hoped that no one would call an emergency meeting while she was on it. Or, even, find a dead body. That thing was surprisingly stressful.

It seemed simple: top-right, mid-right. Top-right, mid-right, center. While she was at the forth step of her task, she saw a yellow form joining her. Adrenaline. Instinct made her step away from the panel and go outside the reactor; and, as soon as she did, she noticed Terra stayed there for a while, facing the wall. Raven could just leave her there. But she had to watch this. She had to check if she could complete a task.

Connect. The damn. Wires.

And then, something went noticed by her eyes, above her head:

The task completion bar moved.

Could she trust this? It could be anyone else completing something around the ship. Before she could think any longer, Terra ran from the reactor, bumped into Raven and went towards the hallway that led to the Med Bay.

Maybe she was wrong about Terra. Maybe she was, indeed, innocent. Still, she had her suspicion.

Raven entered the reactor once more. Finishing turning it on, she left and went to the cafeteria, only to find Terra close to a wall and Beast Boy standing still, next to the emergency button. Maybe he had the same idea and wanted to see if their friend could complete a task, she figured. Looking at her list again, the girl noticed there was a missing one, at Navigation room. The task bar was close to a full green. If she completed this, they’d win, probably.

Unfortunately, the impostor seemed to read her thoughts; since, before she could reach the doors to go out of the Cafeteria, a loud emergency alarm was heard. Reactor meltdown. Without a second thought, she ran, anxiety louder than the alarm itself.

Raven arrived at the reactor, followed by Beast Boy. After a few seconds, Terra arrived with them. But while the issue was being fixed, one thing crossed her mind: where was Robin? Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen him for quite a while now. Was he the impostor? Or worse:

Was he dead?

The next sequence of events happened too fast. The three of them left the reactor. Raven wanted to call an emergency meeting to check on Robin. The Cafeteria was close. Before she could cross the doors, they closed, leaving the trio tapped. She managed to get a glimpse of a single blow coming from behind, followed by a disgusting noise. That noise was her, being torn in two. Terra had just killed her.

And everything went black.

“Duude!” Beast Boy exclaimed, taking his earphones out. “I can’t believe it was you! Great Job!”

Every one around the table put their phones down, while Terra smiled at everyone and began to describe her take on the last few moments, laughing.

“I’m glad you liked it. Man, that was close! I was in kill cooldown after killing Robin and I knew you guys were going for the emergency button.”

“Friend Terra, that was very clever! Shame that you killed me so soon, but I quite enjoyed being a ghostly game figure. I could go from one end to the other without being bothered with barriers.”

“You got a point, Star.” Cyborg said, laughing as well. “But being dead sucks, man. Not being able to fix sabotages really stressed me out. You guys are slow, you almost lost at the first reactor one! I’s dead but screaming inside ‘Man, just fix the damn thing!’”

Everyone laughed and kept talking about different moments. They seemed to have found the game quite fun. Except for Raven, who stayed serious in her chair, processing what had just happened. She should’ve sensed Terra was lying. But all she managed to capture from everyone was that usual mixture of feelings they went through everytime they played a game.

She then noticed, in fact, that Terra did not lie. They had only one meeting and she only said that Raven herself was innocent. Which was true.

But mostly: why was she so emotionally invested in this?

As expected, her lack of reaction did not go unnoticed. Beast Boy caught her in the corner of his eye, since they were side by side and, instead of speaking out loud, he leaned in and whispered.

“Rae?”

That made her jump. “What?”

“You ok? You’re quiet. And sorta pale.”

Raven glanced at him. “And? I’m always quiet and pale.”

“I know, but this time you look worried.”

In fact, she was. The context of the game and the choice of who was the first impostor brought her a weird feeling. She was suspicious of Terra in real life already. Trusting her for a second there, only to be betrayed and murdered, made her feel like it was some kind of a cruel foreshadowing.

“Friend Raven, are you alright?” Star asked, without the same discretion as Garfield.

That made Terra’s eyes rest on her. The girl wore a rather innocent smile. “What did you think, Raven? That game rocks.” A pause. “Right?”

“Indeed.” She replied in monotone. “It must’ve been fun joining a crew just to betray and kill everyone.” A pause. And a small smile; irony painted all over it. “Right? Great job, by the way.”

Terra’s stomach twisted. And Raven felt that coming from her, perfectly.

“Girl, chill.” Terra answered, trying to keep the smile on and, this time, laughing a bit. “It was just a game. Now who’s up for a second round?”

The team agreed. Raven didn’t say anything. Unlocking his phone, Beast Boy leaned in once more, speaking quietly.

“She’s right. You know it’s just a game. Don’t you?”

Raven did the same as him and joined the virtual game room.

“Sure.” She said, glaring at Terra.

Just a game.

And the countdown began.

#teen titans #fanfic #fanfiction #terra #raven #beast boy #bbrae #among us #friendship #crossover #one shot #gaming #animation #cartoon network #fandom #tt #ttgo #robin #starfire #cyborg

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semblanche · 5 years

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ask to be added/removed from my tag list!

current title: terras town

pov: third person, unknown number of narrators

genre: urban fantasy

status: first chapter done

summary:

Terras Town is another world, built on the laws of beasts.

Magic has warped its people to the point where bloodshed is seen as a side effect of breathing, and survival is just a stepping stone off others backs. Its people have no trust there, and their children have no shame. They have nothing our world would envy.

Terras Town is another world; the heavier side of the same coin.

Think of it as the first floor of a two story apartment, while we're lucky enough to stay on the second. The two worlds are kept apart by a thin magical barrier older than time itself - and twice as sensitive to change.

Terras Town is another world - and it should stay as such.

Which is why when Jekyll, seventeen year old high school 'drop-out' and aspiring graffiti artist, finds themself mysteriously trapped in Terras Town with no idea how to return, it's only a matter of time before the barrier breaks - and their world comes crashing down on them all.

Jekyll's only hope is a boy named Ben, who went mysteriously missing a few weeks back. Now it's up to Jekyll to find Ben so they can get back home - and make sure Ben has a home to get back to.

Terras Town is another world. And you can't get a taste of another world without it cutting your tongue.

(A story of a family that spills more blood than it's made of, all the wrong kinds of love, and bones that whisper only the truth.)

excerpt:

In the Desert, there is no rain.

The only pools to be found are pools of sand, sleek and scalding, a graveyard of lukewarm corpses and forgotten names.

Any dead man’s footsteps are long gone, swallowed and swept over by a law of nature not interested in the affairs of men - or maybe just by bad luck. Bad luck is what you’d need to have to be travelling across the Desert to begin with.

The heat in the Desert beats down in waves, almost tangible in their torture. They curl around the unlucky travelers’ throats and suck them dry, seep into their very skins and leave them raw and blistering.

In the Desert, there is no rain. And there sure as hell is no mercy.

Although, really, maybe such a fate was the mercy all along. If the travelers didn’t wish to die, then why would they try crossing the Desert to begin with? Its endless, glass-like expanses start at the town borders and carry on as far as the eye can see. There’s a beginning, sure, but no middle, no end. Maybe the travelers just hadn’t thought this far yet.

The two people currently crossing the Desert are not travelers.

They are cloaked in appropriate desert gear, with enough layers to keep the sun at bay but with enough space for the wind to filter through and breeze over their skin.

The shorter one walks with short, quick steps, her feet barely touching the ground. She is holding a large paper that looks like a map, and her eyes scour it hungrily, devouring every line.

Her taller friend trails behind her dutifully, occasionally taking a swig from the flask of water he's carrying and sighing just softly enough for her not to hear. His joy at being included battles with his dislike of what he’s being included in, and there is no sign of either side winning.

Every so often, the girl will stop, and her friend will crash into her. The girl will angrily scold him, find a thread in his heart to unravel just enough for her to pull a meek apology from his lips, and then return to her hunt. The cycle soon repeats.

They are a strange pair. But they are not travelers. Because unlike travelers, they've come prepared.

And unlike travelers, they intend to return home.

The girl, once again, stops. The boy crashes into her. Instinctively, he shrinks back, waiting for her reprimand. When it doesn't come, he takes courage.

“Sorry,” he says. “Wasn't looking where I was going.”

“Why would you,” the girl mumbles. Her eyes are still on the map. “I'm the one with the map. Everything all looks the same without it.”

“I'll give you that,” the boy, whose name is Egg, admits. He sighs, happy with the direction this conversation has taken. “So, are we lost, then?”

His relief was premature. The girl snaps to attention like a rubber band.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she says, looking at him like one might a particularly stubborn stain on their best shirt. “Of course not.”

“Of course not,” Egg agrees instantly. If his friend is a rubber band, he is play-doh, content with being shaped and molded however she sees fit if it means she’ll keep him around.

The girl, whose name is Eve, sighs. She turns the map upside down, then right side up again, as if that’ll change what’s drawn on it. “I know where we are,” she says firmly, more to herself than Egg. “I know where we are.”

“Of course you do,” Egg says comfortingly. It’s the wrong thing to say. Eve whips around to glower at him, already deep lines on her cheeks and forehead deepening with hatred.

“Do not patronize me,” she seethes. “You’re lucky I even brought you along.”

“I am,” Egg agrees humbly. “Thank you.”

“I could have left you behind. I didn’t need your help.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“And I do know where we are, you know. I’m not lost.”

This time, Egg has the sense to keep quiet. Eve waits for a second, eyebrows raised as if daring him to disagree– when he doesn’t, she turns away again with a huff of disgust. A moment passes as she looks over the map again. Egg wipes his forehead.

Around them, the sand shifts, the wind unraveling it like threads of a carpet beneath their feet. The sun is no closer to setting than it was when they first started their journey, but it’s starting to look like it’s thinking about it.

Time is running out.

And so is Eve's patience.

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #wip introduction #urban fantasy #lgbt fantasy #alternate universe #terras town #ya fantasy #original writing #she writes #whew boy this is long! and late #long and late #title of your sex tape

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taiblogcomics · 4 years

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Mulling Over the Culling

Hey there, moving day. Oh boy. Well, here we go. If you thought the last issue was bad and a character assassination, this issue is even worse~

Here's the cover:

Ah, the boring "team versus shot yelling at each other" cover. It's a really boring cover, especially for an annual. I will also point out that this annual came out after issue 8. So it hasn't actually been a year yet. That's one of the major problems with this story. The New 52 wasn't even a year old yet, and they're doing huge event crossovers between books. A lot of books didn't even make it past this point. Lots of them, like Static Shock, were cancelled after issue 8. So a good third or so of the books were being cancelled, while the others were engaging in unnecessary crossovers. And that's where this story comes in!

Anyway, the cover's awful, let's see how awful the story is too. So, since it's not obvious from the cover (another mark against it), this storyline is a crossover between Teen Titans, Superboy, and Legion Lost. The short description for that is that a few members of the Legion of Super-Heroes come back from the 31st century to find some sort of cure they need in the future. So in addition to the Titans and Superboy--not to mention all the villains and other characters we're going to introduce in this--now you have to keep track of and presumably care about Gates, Dawnstar, Timberwolf, Tyroc, Tellus, Wildfire, and Chameleon Girl. Good luck getting off any sort of emotional resonance with a cast list in the 20s!

So we open with Tim Drake on his back with a boot on his chest. The boot belongs to Artemis, making her comics debut here, following her appearance in the Young Justice cartoon series. Also here are new versions of Thunder and Lightning, a pair of minor Teen Titans characters. In the old continuity, they were Vietnamese twins, but in the New 52, now they're a caucasian brother/sister pair. Lightning's pissed because Artemis is expositing to Tim, because Tim "wears the colours of Harvest". Thunder and Lightning have exactly the same Tron suits as the Titans do.

The backgrounds are horrendous. I hope radioactive lava orange is your favourite, because you're going to be seeing it for a week after reading this. After Tim forces Artemis off him, he suitably impresses the group, and they run off together. Artemis exposits all the way, mentioning she's also not a metahuman, making it really weird that Harvest would want to kidnap her to join his army. They then run into a grungy-looking cyborg guy named Fist Point. He and his goon squad demand a toll, which is stupid. Tim tries the whole "we have to work together!" shtick that might work better on Saturday morning cartoons, but such comraderie has no place in the New 52. They beat up Fist Point and reunite with the other Titans.

This is also where Superboy joins the party. Like, this whole annual could've been about getting Superboy to join up and him working to earn the trust of each member. That would've been really good! Instead we get this, where Superboy agrees to work with the team, and Cassie tells him nobody cares about his opinion. Cassie's continued attitude is one of the most frustrating things about this series. We then cut over to a brief scene with the Legion Lost--remember them? They're in this crossover too!--determining that Gates' warping powers can't seem to get them out of this place. They resolve to keep working together, however. I already like them better than the Titans, since they're not being pissy at each other. This is a bad sign for a crossover~

This then cuts over to Harvest and his goons (including Omen and Leash from the last issue), gloating over how their plans are going to turn out great. He sends out Leash again to torment them, and we can talk about this guy now. He's got a glowing purple ribcage, a leather bodysuit, and assless chaps over that. He's also wearing a do-rag, has pale white skin and red lipstick. Unique among Harvest's goons, he appears to have been made entirely for this series. If this is the kind of guy they could come up with as new characters, maybe making terrible versions of previous characters is the better choice. Anyway, Leash ties them all up with his powers and torments them.

So hey, you remember Skitter? Was she your favourite character? I hope not, because a mysterious person we don't see offers her hand to Skitter and removes her from the comic. No, seriously. Skitter won't appear or even be mentioned again until the very last issue of the series. Anyway, Leash gathers up the Legion and the Titans and pits them against each other. A terrible fight scene ensues. It's really hard to look at, mostly due to the bright orange backgrounds. The fight with Wildfire and Superboy is particularly eye-searing. It's this fight, though, that the pair put together than neither side is working for NOWHERE and probably shouldn't be fighting each other.

Harvest and friends note that neither group is going for the kill, and thus it's time for the Culling to officially begin. What have I been reading up to this point, then? We cut over to another group of metahuman kids, including Thunder, Terra, and Beast Boy. These names are only significant if you know the previous continuity, so any new readers they were hoping to attract are just gonna be confused. Beast Boy is also red now, because the New 52 makes everything edgy. Like, there's an actual explanation that ties him to Animal Man's mythos, but let's face the truth. The New 52 loved it some edgelord '90s designs, and this is just another example.

So the Culling officially begins, and all the metahumans begin fighting among themselves. And you really have to wonder why. Like, nobody's being mind controlled or possessed or anything. All Harvest is promising is a chance to join his side, which isn't exactly appealing to the people you have kidnapped and tortured. So fighting for Harvest isn't exactly great incentive. And yet, even Lightning is out here, begging Beast Boy "Don't make me kill you!" Nobody has to kill anyone, you idiot! Except those who are even bigger idiots, I guess. Remember that Fist Point mook? He shows up and murders Artemis.

Yeah.

They used this series to introduce a new version of a popular character from a popular TV show, to make the character's debut in comics--and then they killed her off in the same issue. That's absolutely disgusting. This is why I hated the New 52. They could've done anything in the world with these characters. Instead, they reinvented them to either be assholes, villains, or dead. This is not restricted to just this book either, but it seems pretty excessive doing this here.

So Tim swears vengeance for Artemis, despite having only met her this issue. The Titans and Legion officially team up and beat back their foes, to Harvest's consternation. Don't they know better not to fight back, he's asking as he destroys his equipment in a Kylo Ren-style tantrum. Can't they tell he's already won? With the fodder dealt with, Harvest sends in his big guns, his personal Ravagers team. This includes Omen, that gold guy from the cover of issue 7, and that Templar guy also from the same issue. There's a couple others, but I'm gonna save the rants about them for their more full appearances in later issues. Next issue, though? More fighting! That's all this crossover is!

And now we’re truly on the downward plummet. I think I’ve said what I need to about Artemis, but please never forget that they did this. Imagine if they murdered Harley Quinn the first time she showed up in comics, in a crossover in someone else’s story. That’s what this is like. It’s stupid and awful and should never happen.

And don’t worry, dear readers. We won’t miss any of The Culling, because I actually followed Teen Titans back when it was coming out. So I even have the issues of Superboy and Legion Lost that make up more of the crossover. We’ll get to that next time~

#comics #reviews #Teen Titans #Taiblog #The Culling

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thefaithie · 5 years

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WC, Chapter 7

Wrong Conclusions Chapter seven: The Chiserran Race

When Raven and Robin finally left, the two below still knew nothing of the spies ever having been there. Starfire and Beast Boy merely continued with their walk, Beast Boy worriedly looking down at Starfire's face. For a long time, there was the deadly sort of silence that Beast Boy hated more than anything else. Usually, he would have lightened the mood with a joke, but this time, he knew his sense of humor wouldn't do anything but make things worse. Instead, he stayed quiet, leading Starfire to a bench in the park before helping her sit down. He sat down beside her and cupped his hands together in his lap, twiddling his thumbs awkwardly. He hadn't expected for Starfire to have such a reaction. After all, she had seen the Vampire-boy the week before, hadn't she? She had been right there when he and Beast Boy had fought!

"So, Star..." Beast Boy finally said, quietly turning his face towards hers. "Er, well..." he fell silent once again, his green ears drooping slightly. She had said she would tell him...Had she changed her mind? Was he being too nosy? Did he break some form of Tamaranian tradition? Again?

Beast Boy grew nervous in seconds, his face beginning to burn red. But to his relief, Starfire seemed to blink back into reality, wiped the last of her tears away, and giggled. Never before had Beast Boy been more relieved to hear a laugh.

"I will tell you as promised," she reassured him. "Really, I do not know why I had reacted the way I did. I was not aware I still thought so badly of the Chiserran race..."

"Chiserran?" Beast Boy perked up, instantly curious.

"Yes. They are a fearsome fighting race with pale skin and long fangs which drink the blood of others. They have the ability to look into one's eyes and see their deepest fears, and their linguistic ability may cause the listener to believe all they say. Before I was captured and crashed on your planet, Tamaran was invaded by a clan of Chiserran. My sister and I attempted to fight them off, but I was captured. They...The Chiserrans did things to me which I did not find at all pleasant."

Starfire hugged her arms, tugging at the sleeves of her sweater. Once again her green eyes filled with tears, but this time, she held them back.

"They had even attempted to drain me of my blood, but thankfully, my K'norfka had appeared before that became possible."

"Why do they drink blood?" Beast Boy asked before he could stop himself. He knew why real Vampires did it, but this was some sort of real alien race.

"It is vital for their strength, and I believe it is also part of some form of legend," Starfire answered. "It is said that they search for their Prince in his new form, and will only be able to recognize him through the taste of his blood. And the day the Prince if found, the Chiserran will take control of the universe, using other races as nothing but a source of sustenance..."

"That...That's sick!" Beast Boy cried, staring in disbelief at Starfire. It was bad enough how humans used animals as food, but people, Tamaraneans, everything? Much less only for their blood?

"I agree," Starfire said with a small nod of her head. "But it is a mere legend. Usually, Chiserran remain on their planet, where plasma is of no use to them because the gases in the atmosphere compensate for for the nutritional deficiencies they experience on other planets. Why one would be here, now, I do not fully understand...I was led to believe that they stopped their crusade only a year after attacking Tamaran."

"But...Star," Beast Boy said, his disgust melting away into mild worry again. "Why did you react like this just now...? I mean, you saw me fighting him, didn't you? He was right there."

"I saw nothing but his back. My worry for your well-being caused me to watch only you, Beast Boy," Starfire said as though the answer had been obvious.

"You were worried about me...?" Beast Boy asked, quite surprised. Despite his attempts of holding it back, a mild blush crept over his cheeks. Living with the Titans, he had learned not to worry so much about the others during fights. Every time he had, it had taken a turn for the worst. The other Titans knew how to take care of themselves. They were strong. Even Robin didn't freak out too badly when Starfire was knocked down.

"Of course," Starfire nodded. "You had left of your own accord with the warning given to no one. This has not happened since the incident with the Toto and with friend Terra..."

Beast Boy flinched at the use of that name. He didn't like thinking about it. But as Starfire looked up at him worriedly, he forced himself to smile and laugh nervously, instead.

"I'm fine! I was just walking around town to clear my head a bit. I thought I'd go to the hospital like I always do, cheer up a few kids. Most of 'em were really happy to see me. It was kind of nice, especially after everything that happened with Trigon. I got, like, ten hugs!"

"That must be very pleasant," Starfire said with a genuine smile. She folded her hands in front of her and looked up at the clouds, as though imagining doing such a thing herself. Beast Boy watched her, tilting his head slightly.

"You've...never done anything like that before?"

"Hmm? Oh, no," Starfire laughed. "On Tamaran, wounds heal very quickly so few stay in such facilities for long periods of time."

"Yeah, but what about here? There are lots of hospitals. You could visit any one! Kid's'd love to see you!"

"I...Am not sure that would be the case for me, Beast Boy," she admitted quietly.

"Eh? Why not?" he stared at her, quite confused.

"I am not aware of how many things works on this planet... Most of the technology here is still strange to me. If I were to enter the hospital and touch something that should not be touched, I could never forgive myself... Do you not remember the case of the first cooking?"

"How can I forget...?" Beast Boy ran a hand through his hair, smiling a bit at the memory. Not long after they had formed the Titans, Starfire had attempted to cook a meal. She had never seen an oven, a refrigerator, or a toaster before. All of which she had attempted to use. There had been a mass fire, and Robin had given Starfire the first yelling from him of her life.

Beast Boy's ears drooped slightly. It had been the first time she had ever cried because of something Robin had said to her. But it sure hadn't been the last. Whenever Slade had come into play, Robin had always gone semi-insane. Beast Boy didn't know why, but every time Slade had left some form of message or had attacked them, Robin seemed to forget that the Titans were his friends, his allies - not tools to be used for revenge. Usually, Beast Boy brushed this off, having worked for the Doom Patrol for so long that vengeance and semi-insane behavior were nothing new, but for some reason, the memories of Robin's actions sent a strange pang of anger and guilt through Beast Boy's system at the moment.

Starfire was always nice to Robin, especially nice, even. What right did Robin have to walk all over her the way he did? He could do what he wanted to the others, but Starfire was different. She could never refuse Robin anything he wanted. One day, Robin could say something that he could never take back; he could hurt her so badly...

"Mm, it was an interesting experience," Starfire agreed, causing Beast Boy to snap out of his train of thought.

"Interesting?"

"Yes. It was the first time friend Robin became angry with me. I learned many things from that mistake, as I always do when I do wrong. I appreciate the honesty, despite how I do not enjoy receiving The Yelling."

"You're...a real character, y'know that, Star?" Beast Boy asked, unable to keep himself from smiling. Leave it to Starfire to see the bright side of being yelled at.

"Character?" Starfire tilted her head slightly in confusion. "Beast Boy, I was not aware that there is a book being written about me..."

"No, not like that!" Beast Boy laughed, shaking his head. "I just meant that you really surprise me sometimes! Now, c'mon."

The green one leaped to his feet, turning back and offering his hand to Starfire after he did so. Starfire looked up at his face quietly for a moment and then took his hand, using it to help herself float up from the bench. But Starfire didn't pull her hand back, realizing quickly that Beast Boy wanted to lead her somewhere.

"Where is it we are going...?"

"To the hospital. As long as I'm there, it'll be okay, right? I'll tell you what you can touch and can't. Besides, there're a couple of kids in there that really love you, Star! They've seen you on TV and wanna meet you! You won't deny them that, will you?"

"Love me?" Starfire tilted her head to the side for a moment, as though she did not understand the word. But after a second of thought she nodded gently, smiling the bright smile she had not had on her face in days. "No, it would not be kind to do so to them."

"Good! You'll love this, Star..." And with a small laugh, Beast Boy pulled on Starfire's hand, running towards the hospital he had been to no more than a few days ago. It wasn't all that far from the park, only half a dozen blocks. Starfire giggled, floating after Beast Boy, glad to see that he, too, was looking forward to such an evening.

They reached the hospital within ten minutes. It was a large, white building with that seemed to consist of a hundred floors and a million windows, and on the roof was a very large, red plus-sign that told the entire city what the building was for. One of the walls was covered in construction work, where Beast Boy and the villain had flown through the week before. Starfire looked up at the building in awe, never having been so close to it in her life. Raven had always healed her in the Tower, instead.

"Let's go!" Beast Boy yanked at Starfire's hand, pulling her inside and causing her to giggle at his excitement.

It was because Beast Boy was so excited that he was not listening around him and did not hear the whispers going on mere yards away from the hospital entrance. Dark whispers, talking about the incident with their fellow Chiserran brother a mere few days before, and how the green one had shamed him... And how it was now their duty to finish their brother's job. And to take the green one which had shamed him so with them....

But Beast Boy and Starfire knew none of this when they entered the hospital. They walked right through, the staff excited to see two Teen Titans, some nurses even thanking Beast Boy for the previous week. In a particular room, there were three little children -- one was a dark-skinned little girl with large bags under her brown eyes and her long, braided black hair all a mess, no older than maybe eight years old. She looked very exhausted and coughed every few moments. To her left was a little boy with bright-red hair and green eyes, as well as freckles all over his face. He was covered in a purple blanket and his right arm was in a cast, suspended from the ceiling in a sling. He looked as though he was around nine, ten years old and looked very bored as he stared out the window of the hospital. The last was a deathly pale boy with surprisingly-light brown eyes, as though they were almost orange. His short hair was black and naturally slicked back slightly, with just a few strands falling into his eyes. In his hands, he was clinging tightly to a Teen Titan Communicator. He was taller than the other two kids in the room, very scrawny and looked as though he must have been about twelve.

"Guess who's back already!" Beast Boy cried out as he burst inside with his arms open like a show performer, causing all three of the children to look up in surprise. The girl smiled brightly, as did the pale boy, but the boy with red hair looked annoyed and looked back to the window after giving Beast Boy a small glare.

"Beast Boy...!" The girl cried, sitting up to get closer. Unfortunately, it seemed to cause some sort of strain and she ended up coughing and then falling back down into her large pillow.

"Madelyn, don't do that!" Beast Boy said, rushing over to the girl's side and tucking her gently back into bed. "You still have a few more weeks of taking your medicine before you really start to get better, right?"

Madelyn nodded solemnly, but then smiled brightly, noticing that Beast Boy was fixing her covers for her. The boy with the slicked back hair sat up a bit as well, looking worriedly at Beast Boy.

"Beast Boy that...that guy's gone, right? It's not why you're here, is it? I mean, he won't be coming back, will he?"

"I took care of 'im, don't worry!" Beast Boy responded, standing and flexing his arm, showing off the non-existent bulge of muscle as he patted his bicep. "You're perfectly safe as long as you have the Communicator, Lucio, don't worry."

Lucio nodded a bit, though the worried look in his eyes didn't fade. He looked at the Communicator in his trembling hands and clung tightly to it, as though it was his only means of survival.

"And how're you today, Mikey?" Beast boy asked, turning with a smile to the red-haired boy. The boy pouted, looking out the window as though he had not heard Beast Boy in the first place. Beast Boy waited for a response for a few seconds before laughing in a slightly annoyed manner and muttering 'I still don't got it' under his breath. He walked over and sat down on Mikey's bed, a smile suddenly appearing on his face. "You know, I brought someone with me today...Someone I'm sure you'll like a lot."

"It's probably someone boring," Mikey answered, not bothering to look at Beast Boy.

Beast Boy laughed again and waved at the door. With a nervous nod and a small jingle of her metal boots leaving the floor, Starfire floated in, rubbing her arm in a nervous manner. She smiled down at the back of Mikey's head, unable to see anything else of him, and raised a hand in greeting.

"Greetings! I am-"

But before she could finish, Mikey turned around, his green eyes lighting up in pure delight.

"Starfire! You're Starfire! You're…you're really her!" he shrieked out in shock and delight. The sling holding his arm in place wad barely able to keep him from leaping to his feet. "You're really here! I-I can't believe it! It's STARFIRE!"

"Wow, it's really her!" Madelyn squealed excitedly as well, though it once-again caused a coughing fit.

"Wow..." Lucio stared quietly for a moment at Starfire. "She's even prettier in person..."

Beast Boy lifted an eyebrow at the pale boy, causing him to realize what he'd said and to blush furiously and clap a hand over his mouth. "I, I mean...!" But Starfire merely giggled, floating into the center of the room, doing a small spin for the children before landing properly with her hands clapping together.

"It is truly glorious to meet all of you! I do wish for us all to become friends!"

Disclaimers:

Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, Robin, Cyborg, Silkie, and pretty much everything but the plot at hand belongs to © D. C. Comics/Cartoon Network/Kids WB

9/2019 Update:

Forcing myself to keep going. I also changed Lucio's name, because he's sort of based on an OC of mine for another story in the Rayto universe, and I wanted to at least keep the same first letter for their names. Also -- thank you everyone for liking/sharing this story! It really motivates me to keep up, seeing that people are reading it. <3

#fan fiction #fanfic #fan fic #teen titans #teentitans #starfire #koriand'r #beast boy #garfield logan #chiserran #villains #bad memories #date #jealousy #friendship #lucio #prophecy #heroes

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iamwhelmed · 5 years

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Homesick: Chapter 4

I’m worried Raven may be a bit OOC here, even with the added stress of pregnancy, but I’m excited to post it <3

Read it on AO3

Read it on Fanfiction.net

She'd never lost her memories, that much she admitted. She'd been scared, guilty, riddled with hatred for who she'd been and the things she'd done. She knew very well that the titans forgave her, she'd seen the flowers at her feet when she woke up, but that didn't mean that she forgave herself.

That's what she told the team (minus Raven and Starfire, much to Terra's disappointment). She'd needed time, time to get more of a hang on her powers without Slade's influence, time to find herself again, understand the rock-climbing, cave-sleeping, salad-bar-devouring girl who got lost in turmoil. Beast Boy was the first to come forward, threw himself over her like a rug over tile, squeezed her with such desperation that she swore he thought he was dreaming. But he wasn't, she was there, and she took the opportunity to dig her nose into the warmth of his neck, nuzzling into the crook. When Beast Boy's kneading fingers released her as he stepped back, she smiled at him, and he smiled back; it was different from his old smile, older, she thought, but there was something else too.

Cyborg came forward and knocked her arm with his fist, teasing smile playing off the rise of his brow. She giggled and lugged him right back. "Welcome back, little lady."

"Good to be back, Cyborg."

"So," Robin stepped to the side, revealing a very different redhead from the one Terra knew, almost as though he'd stepped in front her her protectively. He might have, going by the exasperated shrug from the very slim, very casually dressed stranger. Jeans and a blue v-neck cotton shirt weren't exactly what she expected from a Teen Titan's wardrobe, but she wasn't one to judge. She turned her attention back to Robin, who had approached her with all the stern leader-ness she remembered, though he looked somewhat suspicious. She couldn't blame him, the last time she showed up at the tower without warning, she hadn't exactly been pursuing a career of altruism. "Does this mean you're back? For good?" One half of his mask got bigger, a sign he'd squinted at her with one eye.

Terra chuckled and rubbed at her arm, casting a side glance at Beast Boy, who realized why exactly she was looking to him and smiled. "Yeah sure, if you'll have me?"

There was a dead silence for a few moments, lifeless enough that she had the sudden urge to clear her throat. She waited, glancing from Beast Boy to the floor, to her other side, then back to Robin through the heavy lilt of her lashes. His face was indifferent, lips in a thin line as he scrutinized her with his stare. The stranger behind him tried to peer over his shoulder, get a better look at what was going on. Terra tried to ignore her, she was only making the twist in her stomach a million times worse. She knew she messed up, that sacrificing herself didn't make up for everything she'd done, all the horrible things she'd said, things that were true enough to her friends to hurt, but never things she sincerely thought. She'd wanted to hurt them, and she'd done that. Now she had to figure out a way to undo all of it.

Then Robin smile, offered her a hand to shake. Startled, she froze, some part of her afraid he was messing with her, but Robin would never. Slowly, she reached out and grabbed him; he shook their hands. "Welcome back, Terra."

Shopping was not her scene. Starfire knew this, and yet there they were, scouring a maternity store for a bra that would fit properly. She'd wanted to go alone, hoped she'd be less conspicuous if she kept to herself, dressed in civilian clothes, but Starfire didn't allow it. "Friend Raven, I am most concerned about the safety of both you and your unborn snarglpref! What would happen should a villain recognize you while you were on your own? I cannot allow it!"

Despite the eccentric wording, she supposed Starfire had a point.

The teenager at the counter seemed unbothered as she rang up the various bras and matching underwear, hardly sparing herself and Starfire a look as she slipped each item into the plastic bags. "Your total is $41.89."

Starfire reached into her new purse- tiny, lavender, with embroidered flowers detailing the flap- and handed the clerk the change. "Friend Raven, are you feeling unwell?"

"What? No, Star, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Apologies, you just look… paler than a Centari Mandra."

"A what?"

"You look unwell."

Raven sighed. "Probably just the baby messing with my skin, is all." She felt fine, not even a headache from the extra bouts of emotion her little one seemed to drink in. Baby had been quiet all day, let her eat without throwing up, didn't make her cry or tear the air conditioner from the wall, so she was actually in a better place today than she usually was. Even Starfire had noticed the small smile on her face as they'd ordered their coffee and tea when they'd dropped by her workplace to pick up her check earlier. Today had been a good day.

Starfire mulled over her response, contemplating whether or not to believe her. She shrugged, ultimately deciding that it must not have been worth talking about if Raven wasn't concerned. The clerk handed them their bags, and they carried on to the next store. Starfire had been looking to indulge in some new nail polishes, and Raven planned on roaming around the spiritual store next door, maybe pick up some incense and see if the baby liked the smell. She hadn't burned any since she'd left the tower, but the growing unease, caused by the life conorting her emotions inside of her, was enough to make her consider something a little more drastic than meditation. She skimmed the rows of trinkets, books for light-reading, and walls of hats and beads and dreamcatchers, pausing at the boxes of incense. She plucked a box from the shelf. She made her way to the front after a few more minutes of wandering the small box of a store, placing the incense on the table. The guy at the counter was much friendlier than the girl in the maternity shop had been, and he smiled at her as their eyes met. It might have helped that she'd been a regular here before she'd left the tower. The television, small and cheap and hanging from the wall of the store, was turned to the news, left playing in the background as they struck up conversation. "Your usual?"

"I'm not feeling…" she nearly raised a hand to her stomach, but shook her head. She didn't want it getting out that she was pregnant. Not yet "... adventurous."

"Hey, you know I don't judge." He waved one hand aimlessly in the air, using the other to swipe the barcode across the register. "Ya know, I don't think I've ever seen you out of uniform."

Raven raised an eyebrow. She'd hoped that wear a cardigan, long and black like her robe, would suffice, that she wouldn't have to deal much with the odd sensation of jeans on her legs, or the thin long-sleeved top she'd bought when her uniform had grown uncomfortably tight around her midsection. She'd hoped nobody would notice the change. "I think I'm" her eye twitched "outgrowing my uniform."

She handed him the cash, which he accepted with a cheeky grin, especially after she told him to keep the change.

"Once again, Jump City's very own Teen Titans have saved the city!" She gasped, turned to the tv to see Cinderblock on the move again, fresh out of jail. She could see her friends, see the procedures she'd come to know so well she could feel her muscles aching to move to join, to help. She reached one hand to her communicator, surprised that it hadn't rung. The fight was over before she could even register Beast Boy's T-Rex hauling into Cinderblock, or hear the burst of Cyborg's canon. The camera was full of dust, full of debris, and smudged with mud, but she could still see them, still see her family. Robin and Cyborg fist-bumped, all grins and confidence. A familiar woman strayed not too far behind, winding up what appeared to be a grappling hook, similar to Robin's. She wore a mask- Robin's mask- but she recognized the hair. Tangled limbs, lips against skin, Starfire's tears. Rage sizzled somewhere inside Nevermore, and Raven felt somewhat less inclined to hold her back.

But then her eyes landed on Beast Boy, who'd jogged into the shot shortly after he'd morphed back into himself. He was all grins and fangs, looking pumped to have been in a fight again after what Raven assumed had been a quiet three months, since she and Starfire hadn't gotten any emergency calls from Robin. Now though, she wasn't so sure. The stranger set her arm on Robin's shoulder, propped against him like he was a wall as she- well, Raven wasn't quite sure. Was she encouraging Beast Boy?

Seemed like it, because his eyes grew three times their size before he very clearly made a poorly-timed joke (or just a bad joke in general), and she watched as the other three hero's faces clenched in disgust or aged prematurely by twenty years. Affection piped up from her corner of Nevermore, egged on by Happy and only restrained by Timid. She couldn't help it, she smiled. Despite everything, despite another woman's name, despite the child that became more alive with every passing day, Affection had never quite let go of Beast Boy, and she wasn't sure she wanted her to. His smile was still big, still bright, still as boyishly handsome as it always had been, as she'd let herself acknowledge it as when she kissed him the first time. She raised two timorous fingers to her lips, hoping to recreate the pressure of him devouring her heart, but she found them a poor substitute.

Beast Boy laughed, the kind of laugh where he had to hold his sides, where he doubled over at his own stupid joke, and she at once missed him so that it swallowed her soul completely. Baby squeezed her heart, or maybe it was Affection; she swallowed. Maybe this had all been a mistake, maybe she was wrong to leave, wrong to keep this from him. He'd be scared, of course he would, but she was every bit as terrified, and what were they together for if not to support each other when the world was crashing down around them? She'd let her insecurities, maybe hormones, get in the way of reason. That'd been wrong. Beast Boy deserved to know. This was her child; this was his child. She raised her other hand to grace her swelling stomach.

And then there was a flash of blonde, and her revelation went as quickly as it'd come, but tore into her with such ferocity she thought it would have been better to never have had an epiphany at all. Terra herself, alive, wide-eyed, beautiful, she came flying over on a small slab of rock, then landed next to Beast Boy with all the grace of a classic woman. She slugged Beast Boy in the shoulder, and he grinned from ear-to-ear and slugged her back. Timid cried out, look at them, he's still in love with her. Does that mean he never loved us? Reason tried to step in (it was a friendly gesture-) but Sorrow screamed over her (look at their eyes, look at the way he's smiling, he doesn't miss us at all, this child is a bastard like us) and Rage rumbled beneath the surface (we had a purpose, our child does not, and that makes this so much worse than it already was).

The ball of glass, filled with colors and shapes that mirrored sunsets and twilight skies, stable on a podium by the front of the store, shattered in black aura. Her breath hitched, and she realized once again that she was crying. Reason spoke out, momentarily calming the other voices, though they continued to rage inside her mind. This is not the place to cry. Find Starfire and phase home. She took her incense and left without so much as a parting word to the clerk, who watched her with wide, panicked eyes as she fled the store. Had she stuck around, she might have seen the concern in them.

Perhaps that was why she'd looked unwell. She folded her cardigan over herself and rubbed slow circles into her stomach. Perhaps the baby had known what was coming…

Starfire tucked the blankets over Raven's trembling figure, brushing the strands of hair that'd fallen into her face. Streaks, still wet, still fresh, coated her cheeks like the lines on a paved road. She grimaced, pulling away to rotate her arm where Raven had clung to her as she'd sobbed. It was sore, no doubt bruised from the strength she doubted Raven normally had, but grief did funny things to people. Raven trembled under the covers, but she knew it would be a few hours before she joined the land of the living once more. Crying your eyes out for hours at a time, especially at the month of pregnancy where fatigue begins to set in, was a good way to ensure a long, dreamless sleep. She frowned and turned on their tv, careful to mute it so as to not disturb her now unconscious friend.

It was as Raven said; Terra was back, and the woman in Robin's bed was still there.

Her heart broke all over again.

For herself, for Raven, for the home she was starting to suspect they could not return to for a long time…

That woman, the one he'd let into his bed, the one she saw in her dreams, making Robin putty in her hands, pleasing him; she could never hear her name on the nights her mind graced her with such heartwrenchingly raunchy visions, but she could hear the desperation in Robin's voice, feel the euphoria he never gave her the opportunity to provide. That woman was still there, still smiling at him, still on his arm, and she felt no better once she saw the beautiful blue of her eyes. No wonder Robin had been captivated, she could see even the proudest of warriors submitting to her allure. She just never thought that he'd do so without so much as a goodbye.

Her eyes were burning, and she squeezed them shut as the tears started. She'd stayed strong as Raven wept, because she was an empath, because crying too would make things worse, but now Raven was asleep, and she could let it all out so long as she stayed silent. Her legs curled to her chest, and she wrapped her arms around them and dug her head into her knees, biting her lip to keep the whimpering at a low. Robin's hands cupping her own. Robin's boyish smile. Robin holding her face, pulling her into him, hands in her hand, lips pressed so sweetly to her own. The way he said her name, the comfort he brought her. She knew it was gone, it was all gone, so far behind her now that she couldn't even touch it, touch him. She loved him, she loved him so much, why had it ended this way, why could they not last, why could she not stay forever in his arms, kiss him, adore him, stay with him?

She thought he loved her.

She'd been wrong about that.

When Raven woke up, her eyes felt as crusty as sand, like somebody had taken a handful of glue and glitter and held both to her eyelids until they were heavy and thick with sleep. Her body, she noticed as she tried to sit up, was numb with sleep, like she'd exhausted every limb. She shook it off- must have been the fatigue, or the hours of crying. She made a note to threaten Starfire's life should she ever tell anyone she'd acted so emotional. It was out of character, though she supposed so was getting pregnant. She sat up and yawned. "Starfire, it's getting late, you should turn the tv off and get some sleep." There was no response.

Raven looked over her shoulder. "Star, did you hear what I-?" The bed was empty, still made from this morning, though the edge of the foot of the bed seemed to have been lounged on. She raised an eyebrow. "Starfire?" She glanced to the bathroom, but the door was wide open, and there wasn't a sound to go by- running water, singing, footsteps- anything. A quick glance at the clock told her that she hadn't slept well into the next morning, because it was only two in the morning. A quick glance at the door confirmed that. Raven slid out of bed, raising an eyebrow. "Where in the world could you have possibly gone at two in freaking morning…" Her normal monotone was back, and she was thankful for that. Normalcy was what she needed right now, before the baby realized she was awake.

It'd taken her a few minutes to track Starfire's location, and a generous walk to what appeared to be some docks, but any upset that had started in her stomach had been quelled upon seeing Starfire sitting at the very edge of the docks. I get it, Baby, you like Starfire. I do too, that's why we keep her around. "Couldn't sleep?"

If Starfire was startled by her sudden company, she didn't show it. "No, I am afraid I could not."

Raven took a seat next to her. "Wanna talk about it?"

Starfire sighed, swinging her legs limply over the side of the dock, tips of her shoes brushing the edge of the water, creating ripples where she moved. Raven dangled her legs over the side in solidarity, though her own were far too short to reach the tides below. "I used to think Robin and I were destined to be together…"

"I know the feeling."

"I just-" Starfire grinded her teeth, and in the light of the moon she could see the glossy finish of her eyes "I do not understand why Robin would commit the act of infidelity! He has always been the stickler and the strict follower of the rules, and that is the biggest of them all!"

Raven shrugged. "Well Star, sometimes we're wrong about people. Sometimes we trust them more than we should. It's part of being human."

"But I am not human." Starfire looked at her, glassy eyes filled with defiance, but desperation despite the instinct. "Raven, you can feel the emotions of others, can you not? Did Robin…" She glanced back down at the water, the way her boots graced the small waves "...Did Robin ever truly love me?"

Raven sighed. "I couldn't tell you, Star. He made me promise to never use my abilities on him, and I never saw much of a reason to," until now. Starfire whimpered, pulling her legs up with her arms, digging her chin into the crook between her knees. Raven's heart broke for the second time that day, watching her process, fully, what Robin had done. "Do you think he did?"

"...I do not think so, and I am starting to fear that I am correct."

Raven wasn't much for physical affection, and maybe it was the baby (which she'd blame it on later), or maybe it was the three months of confinement to close quarters with the most physically affectionate alien on the planet, but she wrapped an arm around Starfire and pulled her into an awkward side-hug. "There, uh, there…" she tried to comfort her. If Starfire was put off, once again, she didn't show it, must have been a pretty good actress. She turned her head into Raven's shoulder and cried.

They sat there for awhile, Raven wasn't sure how long. The moon had inched further into the sky, the sounds of cars nearby came and went, men on their way home to their families, children on their way home for the summer. These were things the two of them may never have. Starfire's tears had ceased, her breathing had returned to normal, but the comfort of their embrace far outlasted the original empathetic purpose. They both needed it, support. They could not find it where it should have been, and would not find it elsewhere, so they would work with what they had as they always have.

"Aw, am I interrupting something?"

How had she not felt him? Raven and Starfire pulled away, whipping to find a shadow standing atop the warehouse behind them. There was a cape they could make out, confidence (borderline narcissism), humor in his stance. They both blinked and stood. Starfire used the adrenaline spike to call on a starbolt, and held it up in the air with the hopes they could see the intruder better. It made no difference.

He laughed. "Don't recognize me? Can't tell by my voice?" He leaped from the roof in a surprising display of acrobatics, landing a few feet before them without so much as a grunt. They both went to take a step back, only to feel their heels edging off of the side of the dock. They glanced back to the waters, once calming before, now cold and beckoning. "Now now, ladies, don't go taking a dip just yet." Starfire raised the bolt higher, in warning. He took it in stride. One shadowed hand raised an amulet, red and glittering in the moonlight, round and regal from the gold chain it hung from. "You've gotta make an attempt to beat this off me, don't ya?"

Only a foot away then, and Red X was still moving closer.

#Teen Titans #Robstar #BBrae #Robin #Starfire #Raven #Beast Boy #Cyborg #Terra #Barbara Gordon

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tessatechaitea · 5 years

Text

New Titans #0

At first I thought Beast Boy had a tiny erection.

Steel seems upset that Arsenal's new roster of Titans are just kids because he obviously hasn't been paying attention to the adjective before "Titans" during the last several decades. I can see why he'd be upset though. He wants the Titans to sign a contract to work with the government and teenagers probably can't sign the contract legally without parental consent. And how is he going to get that?! One of the other major features of the Titans over the last several decades is that their parents were all assholes and psychopaths. Looks like The New Titans can't work for the government! The government probably should have figured out all the details before paying off all of the Titans' debt and giving them a satellite.

I don't mean to sound ableist but Changeling is fucking disgusting.

Fine, I did mean to sound ableist. Changeling's new disability makes me sick. I didn't mind when he would turn into an elephant or a rhino or a gorilla because then he only had one giant swinging dick. Now he's 95% penises! Sorry, I don't mean to sound homophobic but did I also mention the penises are also green and that one of the newer commercials for a class action lawsuit against a diabetes drug asks if you suffered from genital gangrene? See, now you're sick too!

These two guys from New Jersey are trying to catch a few of Gar's penises in their mouths.

Crimelord (remember him from Deathstork the Hunted #0? I guess he's the new evil nemesis of the Titans universe. And maybe the entire DC Universe!) is causing chaos in America, almost blowing up the World Trade Center seven years before it's supposed to get blown up. But the new New Titans are out to stop his henchmen. Those Titans are Arsenal, Damage, Terra, Mirage, and Changeling. The henchmen are men in giant robot armor, some jerk named Slagg, and a misshapen woman named Coven.

I didn't think she was misshapen until this panel.

Although maybe it's not Coven's fault. I think maybe there's something wrong with my eyes.

Is there an optical condition that makes you see people as having giant thighs?!

If there were an optical condition like the one I described in the previous caption, it would probably be call Brettbootharacts. Is Mirage still pregnant with Deathwing's rape baby? What are the negative consequences of battling super villains while being pregnant? I bet it's worse than drinking too much alcohol while pregnant! Notice I said "too much alcohol"? You can drink while pregnant. Non-American adults do it all the time! I mean, not "all the time" because that's actually the problem. But in moderate quantities, your baby will be fine! Probably! And even if it isn't, it's just a stupid new baby! You just met it! How attached can you be?

I have to admit: I thought about all the people who would probably get choked up reading this line about the World Trade Center and said a little prayer for them. Poor bastards. They're the real victims, having to be sad for the rest of their lives.

There's this terrible conservative game show on Fox called Spin the Wheel. Here was my first reaction to it which I wrote on Twitter or somewhere else on the Internet: Spin the Wheel is right-wing fantasy of what they wish television was. The only people who get a chance to win lots of money are ones they think deserve the chance. When discussing the Las Vegas shooting, they just call it a "tragedy" and never mention what actually happened. It's called "Spin the Wheel" but it should be called "Touch the Wheel." Um, that's evidence that they ignore reality while still believing things are what they are because they say they are (and also the audience chants the "truth" the entire time). Although the best part is the rift they're causing in these "deserving" families because the idiot trusted family member keeps costing the family millions of dollars. Oh, sure, they act like they don't care on television. But that fucking wound is permanent! Ha ha! See, the rift is caused because the final four spins of the wheel work like Deal or No Deal. The show offers the person a deal to walk away. But the person doesn't get to pick. Instead, a loved one makes that decision. When the person spins the wheel (I mean touches the wheel), the ball inside the wheel can either land on some money or a Back to Zero wedge. If the ball lands on Back to Zero and the loved one didn't take a deal, they lose all of their money and go home humiliated. But if the loved ones takes the deal on the first or second or third spin, the person spinning can still win millions of dollars which are then lost because the loved one took an early deal. It's a fucking rigged set-up for the family and I'll tell you why. The only thing for the loved one to do is to never take the deal. You might go home with zero dollars but you avoid something even worse: rooting against your loved one. As soon as the person who can take the deal takes the deal, they have to hope that the person spinning loses everything. They have to. Otherwise, they made a poor choice and cost their loved one millions of dollars. And I can't help but think that anybody rooting for their loved one to crap out on the wheel is a fucking piece of shit. Now, you might be saying, "Hey, they took the deal as insurance! Even if their loved one wins millions, they couldn't have known. They did the smart thing!" But here's the thing about being a human: you know the loved one who took the deal wants proof that they made the correct choice. They don't want to be responsible for all the money lost if their loved one never hits a Back to Zero wedge. Therefore anybody who takes the deal is a fucking traitorous rat and I, for one, would never fucking forgive them. "You took the second deal?! That means you wanted me to fail every spin after that, you fucking asshole! Get out of my life!" is totally how I'd react on national television. Not that Fox would ever think I was deserving of touching the wheel! That was a digression because the rest of the comic book was just idiotic Teen Titan banter. You know the kind! "I want to fuck you so bad, you ugly shitstain!" "Ew, you make me so mad that I want to stick my tongue in your butt!" "Will you two knock it off already because Changeling is masturbating again!" "Gross! All of his dicks at once?! Gag me with a spoon!" Oh wait. This comic was from 1994 and not 1984. Although didn't Wayne and Gar bring back gag me with a spoon?! Probably! Not! Ha ha! New Titans #0 Rating: C-. Boy howdy was this an average comic book! The best part about owning this series is that I have conclusive proof of when I became a man! Between New Titans #114 and New Titans #115 when I finally grew up and realized this comic book was terrible and I should stop reading it. But I didn't stop reading all terrible comic books so maybe I became a man later. Or, more apt, will become a man later! Hopefully soon because I can't wait to see what a woman's ding dong looks like!

#New Titans #DC Comics #DC #Teen Titans #Comic Book Reviews

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just-monsters-and-beats · 6 years

Note

Cherry: *she thinks back for a second* Yes, she's the reason Lil' B and Fresh came back covered in blood... *thinking back on it, she makes a face of disgust* Eugh, I am NEVER going to get that image out of my head!

Terra nodded.

“Long ago, there was a queen who I served. Her beauty was reminiscent of a waterfall and she was the most brilliant of her kingdom.

(no i aint censoring titties)

She fell in love with one of my soldiers. Soon, she was pregnant with a boy.

But...

Then came Locust.

She ruined everything, killed NG’s partner at the time, destroyed half of my army and drove my companion INSANE...

And our queen and her partner went missing.

The next time we found them...

She was...he was...”

Terra teared up.

“They were mutated into gigantic beasts...slaves with no will of their own under Locust...Our queen, however, was not corrupted...but her husband was, so Locust can control him to do her bidding.”

“Our queen’s name...

Was Mantis.

Her partner...

Hornet.”

(OH SHIT)

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vorpalmusings · 6 years

Text

Beast Boy Can’t Catch a Break, part the second

So, Dan Abnett has basically turned Beast Boy into Hulk Lite for his Titans series.

THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD. If you don’t care, take a look:

As an aside, the inclusion of the black into the uniform just isn’t working for me. looks like Gar has borrowed one of Nightwing’s togs, here.

The conceit for this is that apparently something happened to Gar back in Colu and, since then, he has been unable to control his powers- which is kind of news to anyone who saw him last during the crossover:

Nightwing convinces Gar to join this new Titans team because “he can help people who feel lost” because of this transformation, while they also work on finding a cure.

What?

The added icing to the cake is that now, apparently, Raven does not like Gar and she expresses misgivings to Grayson about recruiting him.

Again- What? While I am not a fan of the Gar/Raven pairing that often seems inevitable since the cartoon, this really doesn’t follow. Raven is disgusted by Gar because of his current condition- a lack of control over his powers that is making him far more bestial than usual (and makes him Hulk out, which... yeah) This would make sense if Raven had been anything other than the daughter of basically Satan, a girl whose powers served as a conduit for his influence, and who couldn’t control her powers until a time travel episode severed her connection from Trigon*. Jesus. If anyone in the Titans would feel compassion towards someone finding difficulty in controlling their powers, it should be Raven. She has been there.

Donna, apparently, has taken to the bottle. To be honest, I would too if my origin story had been nothing but a can-can of fuckery after Marv Wolfman (with the New 52 and the subsequent Rebirth reboot just adding more fuckery.) Poor Donna.

The issue I have with this arc set up for Gar is that it feels lazy, just like the NEVRLAND arc in Percy’s run felt lazy. Something outside of Gar makes his powers unreliable and out of his control- hooray. We’ve been here before. Many times before.

Like in New Titans, 1993, where Gar was tortured with the Mento helmet:

And in the cartoon show, the episode “The Beast Within” in 2004, where a chemical compound causes Beast Boy to Jekyll and Hyde:

And, of course, Percy’s lazy arc in 2018, where a chip was used to manipulate Beast Boy’s powers so he was, essentially, reduced to being a weapon used against his own team so that Damian Wayne had to save the day.

Before I am accused of being a curmudgeon, and of ignoring precedent, the first time that Gar’s powers began to act erratically was during Wolfman’s Teen Titans run in the 80s. Admittedly, this was past the book’s best years post Judas Contract. Even if Wolfman’s writing for the book had degraded some, the inclusion of Gar’s increasingly more disturbing transformations was used to indicate to the reader that Gar’s grip on reality and his internal emotional state were both fraying thanks to the ‘return’ of Terra:

This was, at least, a good way to explore the character’s inner world- Gar is a child of abandonment and he carries a lot of trauma that he needs to work through. We saw this side of Gar earlier in Wolfman’s run, when he confronted - and killed - Mme. Rouge:

This actually makes sense for the character. By the time these things happened in the run, the readers had stuck by Gar for several years, his origin and backstory had been explored and people knew that behind the clowning demeanor, Gar was a tragic character:

When Wolfman did it on the first round, it was tied to Gar's psychological trauma. The second time around he did it, it was because Gar had been injected with a Trigon Seed during one of Raven’s all-too frequent trips to OhHelloIAmEvilNowVille* - those two instances were fine, for the purpose of those stories (even though the Seed of Trigon story was quite poor and, by the nineties, the Titans had degraded in quality.) The problem is that now it apparently has become a trope that Changeling/Beast Boy must lose control of his powers, just as much as Raven seems predestined to go on an evil demonic rampage.

I would even excuse the loss of control in a new continuity if it were tied to Gar’s psychology- the loss, the abandonment issues, but Nightwing is quick to inform Gar that he knows what did this to him on Colu, and that they will work on a ‘cure’ for it.

So, once again, we get a rehash of “The Beast Within”, which is a shorthand way of appearing to give a character some development, but without the inconvenient bit of having to touch a character’s psychology and trauma. It is, quite frankly, annoying, because in these instances Beast Boy is used as a plot device to prop other people up- I can predict that the focus here will be on Raven learning to deal with her disgust of Beast Boy’s condition, and while Beast Boy may learn to help others going through the transformation, what does he gain at all, when it comes to the green elephant in the room? His backstory has only been barely mentioned, his issues have never been explored since the reboot, so we don’t know what parts of the old continuity is still relevant.

in short- when will our favorite green boy get to be something other than a prop for the writer’s favorite character to save, or to become a prop in someone else’s journey of growth? Abnett’s run is about to start, and it already leaves me with little faith in his understanding or future handling of the character.

Beast Boy just can’t catch a break.

*At least, that was her story as recent as the New 52, I have not read anything in Rebirth that seems to retcon that, since Raven didn’t get an actual arc in it. Yet.

**Another recurring gimmick that needs to stop being so frequent.

#beast boy #articles #writing #DC Comics #Dan Abnett #Titans #Teen Titans #New Titans

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megwritesfanfiction · 6 years

Text

Let Go, Chapter 3/?? (Raven/??)

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. This is a work of fiction that I am not making a profit off of.

A/N: Here we go update! Here we go!!

Did you miss the first two chapters? I got you, fam! Chapter One Chapter Two

Flashback

Her nose wrinkled as she tried to hide her amusement. “That isn’t cliche.” Raven spoke as she turned to hide her grin, but the sarcasm was evident in her voice.

“Oh, really?” Beast Boy laughed, following her down the aisle of the bookstore. He tucked the graphic novel he’d selected underneath his arm as he followed her as if she were prey. “Really now? You wanna go there?”

“I’m just saying.” Raven’s voice was light and teasing as she picked up a novel. “It’s cliche. The whole superhero story?” They lived it. She never understood why he wanted to ready about it.

“And that isn’t?” He eyed the romance novel in her hand. He plucked the book from her hand, placing the book against his forehead. “Don’t tell me…” Beast Boy’s brow furrowed in mock concentration, “Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl, and girl likes boy. There’s mutual attraction and chemistry, even if it’s the love hate thing or friends to lovers, but…” He paused dramatically as he pretended to struggle, “enter conflict. Boy and girl are separated by conflict, but then are somehow brought back together in a whirlwind of emotion.”

“You know-“

“Or one of them dies,” he smirked, handing her back the book, “and then there is some bullshit sappy, light hearted feel good ending that eases the main character’s suffering.”

Raven nudged him, turning her back to him as she focused on the selection of books.

“Don’t hate the player, hate the game, mama,” Beast Boy spoke, flashing a brilliantly flirty smile at her as he moved rested his chin to her shoulder.

“That’s fair,” She nodded, looking at another book and ignoring the blush creeping up her neck. “But your comics-“

“Graphic novels.”

“Graphic novels,” she corrected as she continued to shop for a book, “are just as cliche as any romance novel.”

“No, it is no-“

“Name one superhero who doesn’t have a tragic origin story,” Raven smirked. She casually picked up a book, reading the summary on the back as she waited for a response. The empath felt him stiffen behind her. “I’m waiting…”

“Mama…”

She hated that pet name. “I thought we agreed Rae was acceptable,” Raven murmured, more to herself than speaking to him.

“Babe...”

She also hated that pet name.

“A tragic origin is absolutely an essential catalyst in the creation of a hero.”

He never ceased to amaze her. Only Beast Boy had the ability to speak so eloquently about comic books. She loved it. “I get that, but it’s cliche.”

“Nooo…”

“Yea…” Raven teased, imitating his tone.

“It’s not the same thing.”

“Well you can’t have a great love story without conflict,” she argued, picking up another book.

His eyebrows raised. “Disagree.”

“I mean,” she shrugged. “I don’t mean fighting-“

“Yea.”

“I mean, love isn’t easy. In reality, there are ups and downs,” Raven told him. “I feel like great love stories have challenges. Things like separations, fights, death, break ups, whatever… makes the love story more meaningful.”

“I get it,” Beast Boy sighed as he nodded, leaning against the self in front of her, “but…”

Raven stopped. Her arms wrapped around the novel she picked as her eyes rose to meet his gaze. For a moment, his eyes were too green and too vulnerable.

“I’d like to think not all love stories are complicated.” His smile was soft.

She nodded, returning his smile. “I’d like to think not all heroes are broken.”

Flash Forward

“Do you care if I smoke?”

She wrinkled her nose in surprise. “You smoke?” Raven was really in no position to judge him, but she couldn’t help her initial reaction of surprise.

“I know,” Roy smirked, placing a cigarette between his lips. He rolled down his window and hoped to bypass the ‘smoking is bad’ lecture. “It’s bad for me,” he murmured, lighting it. “I am well aware that it’s disgusting, and it’s going to kill me.”

Raven smirked, fingers wiggling a bit as she continued to drive. “I don’t care,” she shrugged. “I’m basically the patron saint of the goth scene in Jump.” She was practically immune to it.

“The patron saint of the Jump City faction of goths,” Roy repeated with a snort. “I love it.”

“What?”

He inhaled deeply as laughter bubbled from his chest. “That is probably the greatest thing I’ve heard all week.”

“Not to brag-”

“Please,” he gestured graciously. “I need to know about your journey to canonization.” He couldn’t stop laughing. “Brag.”

She shrugged keeping the smirk from her lips, adjusting the rear view mirror. “It’s not that exciting.” Her eyes drifted to the clock docked between them. They were only a few hours into their cross country drive, and she welcomed the mindless conversation.

“I beg to differ,” Roy disagreed taking a puff. His head and eyes tipped in her direction as he wiggled his eyebrows. “I have to hear this.”

With a chuckle, she exhaled loudly as she adjusted herself in the driver’s seat. “Okay.”

“Excellent,” he grinned.

“There’s a club in downtown Jump called Nyx and Erebus that, I may or may not have frequented regularly.”

“I honestly can’t decide what’s more amusing,” his grin grew wider than the Cheshire Cat. “The fact that the goth club is named after the Greek deities for night and darkness or that you go clubbing.”

“I don’t go ‘clubbing’.” She rested her wrists against the wheel to ensure she could quote him properly. Raven didn’t even have time to express her delight and shock at his Greek mythology knowledge.

“Regularly attending a venue for the purpose of debauchery-“

“No!” Raven laughed. “No debauchery. Just a bunch of goth kids raving with glow sticks and smoking.” Not mention some drinking and drug use.

Roy sighed, his smile ridiculous. “I gotta say,” he gave her a little shrug as he leaned toward her with a pout. “I’m hurt that you’ve never mentioned this to me or haven’t taken me.”

Whatever.

“I mean,you let your team know this part of you, and I get it they’re your team, but,” he paused dramatically as he took another drag. “I am your grilled cheese buddy. We’ve broken bread together. The fact that you’ve never shared this information with me hurts.”

“Actually,” she corrected, eyes glancing to the GPS for a second as she continued her drive. Raven couldn’t help but wonder how their conversation drifted to this randomness, and she wouldn’t admit how much she was enjoying this. “My team never went to Nyx and Erebus with me.”

“Seriously?”

She nodded. “Seriously,” Raven confirmed.

“How?”

Her shoulders shrugged as she turned onto the interstate. “Honestly? I didn’t think they’d be into it.” Her teammates had nothing against clubs. The often frequented bars and clubs during their team nights, and Raven knew they wouldn’t object in joining her at her usual venue.

“Bullshit,” Roy chuckled. “Starfire finds the delight in everything, so the fact that Starfire is happy would make Nightwing happy. Cyborg wouldn’t complain even if he wanted to…”

“That’s fair.”

“And I’m sure Changeling and Terra would all over the dance floor…”

Raven felt her heart sink at the mention of that particular couple. “I know, I just-” The thought of those two evading her personal space made her irrationally angry. For a brief moment, the easiness of their conversation caused her forget some of the things that plagued her. “I just-“ What would be safe answer?

Roy’s eyebrows raised.

“Nyx and Erebus is my place. It was something away from the tower and the team. I was some girl with purple hair would just wanted to dance.” Partly true.

“I dig that,” he nodded, eyes examining her closely. He pushed his questions back and favored optimism. “We’ll find you a place all your own in Steel,” Roy smiled.

“I can’t wait.” Her excited smile was accented with sullen eyes.

Hell was freezing over.

Or had already frozen over.

Green eyes darted around the kitchen as he slowly brought another mouthful of cream of wheat to his lips. Still observing, he reached for another piece of toast as he tried to process the scene.

First, he’d woken up at a reasonable hour.

Early.

Changeling, by some miracle or divine intervention, managed to open his eyes before the chime of his alarm. He’d kissed the sleeping blonde next to him and gotten an early start on his day. After a refreshing shower, he made in record time to the kitchen.

NIghtwing was up, no surprise there. He was at the kitchen table brooding over what Changeling could safely assume he was on his second or third cup of coffee judging by pile of newspaper in front him.

He gave the masked Titan a little nod, before getting a large pot of water on the stove for breakfast. Since he managed to beat Cyborg to the kitchen, he figured he might as well make breakfast for everyone.

He smirked curled on his lips as he pulled the ingredients for breakfast.

Cream of wheat, toast, and fruit sounded perfect to him.

While he waited for the water to boil and the oven to heat, Starfire and Terra entered the kitchen. Starfire greeted him with a seemingly half hearted chirp,and Terra kissed him sweetly before taking her seat. Changeling finished cooking and promptly served breakfast before taking his own seat. With a happy sigh, he tossed some blueberries into his hot cereal and buttered his toast.

“Looks good.” Terra smirked, placing banana slices in her own bowl.

Starfire gave a smile smile as she nodded in agreement. She sprinkled a bit of sugar in her bowl before stirring it absentmindedly. “Indeed,” she added.

The changeling hadn’t even noticed when Cyborg entered the kitchen; but when he saw the gleam of metal from the corner of his eye, Changeling couldn’t help the devious smirk curling on his lips.

“I already made breakfast,” he tried to keep his tone even in the midst of him intentionally antagonizing his friend.

Changeling was surprised at the metal man’s silence when he approached the stove, and he was down right bewildered when joined them at the table with his own bowl. Changeling watched wordlessly as Cyborg ate the cream of wheat without complaint.

He counted on him at least making a couple slices, or a pack, of bacon to go with the meal. But, Cyborg settled for a few slices of cantaloupe and some raspberries to go with his hot cereal and toast.

Unsure of what to think or say, the Changeling kept eating in the silent kitchen. The scratch and squeak of spoons against the ceramic bowls echoed off the walls and unnerved him. His eyes settled on the empty chair across from him as slowly realized they were short a Titan.

“Where’s Raven?”

“That’s gross.”

Roy raised an uninterested eyebrow as he took another bite of the massive sandwich in front of him. “It’s delicious,” he told her, mouth full of melted cheese as he stuffed a few ketchup soaked fries in his mouth.

Raven shook her head, eyeing her own sandwich strangely. How the hell was she supposed to eat this thing?

The sun had just started peeking over the horizon when the bright neon lights of the diner came into view. They’d been on the road for a little over six hours, and Roy insisted this place had the best grilled cheese sandwiches in town.

Raven looked at the long stretch of empty road, darkness, and dust around them. She quickly insisted that this diner must be the only thing in town. Placing the car in park, her violet eyes looked at the diner curiously. The seafoam wood panel walls were weathered and faded below the bright pink neon sign. Raven noticed small signs in the window hanging in front of discolored blinds. There were a few trucks parked in the dirt lot and lights on inside.

They were open, but would they serve grilled cheese at this early hour?

Her question was quickly answered. Before they could settle in booth, Roy flashed the waitress a dazzling smile and ordered two grilled cheese specials with extra cheese.

The grilled cheese special consisted of several selections of cheese melted between two thick slices of bread with a large serving of fries and coleslaw.

“My arteries are clogged looking at this thing,” Raven sighed wondering how her companion was able to unhinge his jaw to bite his sandwich. How many much cheese did they use?

“You’re being dramatic,” Roy smirked as he continued attacking his sandwich. “What the hell are you doing?”

Raven looked down at her sandwich, gesturing with the knife and fork in her hands. “There is no way I can bite into that thing.”

“You haven’t tried,” he dismissed, taking another bite to finish off the first half of his sandwich.

She dropped the cutlery with a sigh. “I’m gonna be covered in cheese.” Raven delicately dipped a fry in ketchup, nibbling on it.

“Rae,” Roy started, messily eating his own french fries covered with ketchup. “We’re on a road trip. Calories don’t count, and junkfood is a must.”

Raven gave a theatrical sigh as she picked up one of the halves of her sandwich. “This is going to be messy.” Her lips twisted into a little frown.

Roy shrugged with an obvious lewd smirk. “Some of the best things in life are messy.”

She took a large bite in the sandwich, struggling to catch and control the strings of cheese that stretched.

She shrugged. “It’s good though,” she decided, chewing as delicately as she could. “Crap,” she commented, rushing to chew. Dropping her sandwich to her plate, she picked up a napkin.

“What?”

“Phone’s ringing,” she informed him, pulling out her phone. “And my hands are covered in grease.”

He shook his head. “No phones during grilled cheese breakfast time,” Roy told her. “If it’s important, they’ll leave a message.”

True.

Ignoring the screen, she placed her on on silent before sliding it back into her pocket. She picked up her sandwich resuming her breakfast. “This is a lot of cheese,” Raven commented, hand covering her full mouth as she struggled to chew. “Probably too much cheese.”

“No such thing,” Roy told her seriously pointing one of his fries at her.

To be Continued...

#teen titans #teen titans fanfiction #raven #beast boy #roy harper #bbrae #royrae #speedy #speedyrae #let go

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Young Justice Season 3 Episode 22 Review: Antisocial

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The quality rebounds as the focus narrows as Young Justice: Outsiders starts barrelling towards its season finale.

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This Young Justice: Outsiders review contains spoilers.

Young Justice Season 3 Episode 22

Grading on a relative scale, last week's episode of Young Justice was a debacle. It was too busy and too rushed. This week's episode, "Antisocial," fixes almost every problem with "Unknown Factors" by dramatically narrowing its scale. It sacrifices some action in doing so, but this episode really starts thundering towards the finale and pushing plot lines to their inevitable conclusions.

The action starts out focused at the Outsider's Hollywood headquarters. Everyone is recovering from their ordeal in Granny's X-Pit, but the only one nearing death is Dick. Batman grabs Oracle, Robin, Aquaman and Miss Martian for a private conference, and Black Lightning pieces everything together. He figures out that the resignations were staged, and that the team has been sent out on missions in conjunction with the League. He is...really pissed, and it gives us some terrific voice acting.

Khary Payton is best known for his work as Teen Titans/GO!'s Cyborg. He's a versatile, talented voice actor who's doing tons of work in Young Justice that is virtually unidentifiable from his Cyborg, and Cy in those shows is not especially prone to anger. So when he lets rip here, we get a little bit Cyborg, a lot of pent up rage, and he just uncorks in a really entertaining way that helps sell Jeff's fury at being used by Batman. And that rage and sense of betrayal contributes a lot to the most powerful moment of this story line, when Oracle takes Bruce down a peg.

Barbara Gordon is probably the only person on the show who is qualified to and can get away with pushing back on Batman. Yes, Jason Todd is alive and amnesiac and around, but Barbara in a wheelchair is the most visible, powerful and immediately available symbol of a failure of Bruce's mission, and everything this season has been part of or in service to that mission. The whole argument is great character work, especially for characters who have had less than 5 total minutes of screen time for the rest of the season, but it also wonderfully implies a richer world that's not part of the show. "Batman, Inc." was a throwaway line from Black Lightning early in the season because we assumed he'd be part of the actual Outsiders, but they've been operating this whole time while Dick was running his team, Beast Boy was operating his Outsiders, Miss Martian was overseeing The Team, Aqualad was in charge of the League, Wonder Woman had the space contingent under her command, Lex Luthor was starting up Infinity, Inc, and even more. This is a robust superhero universe and every time we get peeks at the greater world, it's exciting.

While all of this is going on, Terra is taking notes to report back to Deathstroke, and Dr. Jace's story is finally paying off. There was some to like here and some to really dislike. Tara Markov's relationship with Slade is approximately infinity percent better than in the comics. Judas Contract's Terra/Deathstroke is supremely gross, the sole stain on an otherwise legendary story. Young Justice removes all the weird lasciviousness and makes them both better characters: Tara is a traumatized, neglected kid being shown a perversion of respect and care by someone who is a bad guy and in all likelihood using her, but at least is being decent enough to give her some paternal affection in the process. They're setting up a parallel between Slade and Batman here - Slade appears to care about Tara, but is really just using her to manipulate events in his favor, while Batman is manipulating everyone around him, but genuinely cares about their well being. It's nice, and pretty slick.

Slade also gives Tara a way to break the Starro-tech inhibitor chips that Jace uses on her and Brion to get them out of the tower and heading towards her "mentor," the Ultra Humanite. She grabs Halo on her way, and they meet up with the Ultra Humanite and Granny, who uses Overlord to take control of Halo, then drops everyone into the X-Pit to finish figuring out the Anti-Life Equation.

This episode has one of the most easy to understand explanations of Anti-Life I've ever heard. It's not a complex mathematical formula like it is in the comics or when I use it on Twitter: it's Life-Free Will=Anti-Life. Halo is a human Mother Box with the safeties ground off, so when she's exposed to the X-Pit's torture and activates her healing aura, that triggers anti-life and makes the person exposed to it a slave to Granny. In this case, Granny tests her observations by shoving Jace out into the torture of the X-Pit and having her explain her entire diabolical plan.

Here is the only part of the episode I didn't care for. Jace goes from brilliant, shady scientist to "WHY WON'T YOU LOVE ME" stereotype in the blink of an eye. She did all her meta-experimenting to make children for herself, and now Brion and Tara are her children and Violet, who isn't a meta at all but is a living, breathing Mother Box, is a disgusting freak who isn't good enough to date her son. And she was only sleeping with Black Lightning to stay near her children. This is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over the top. She might as well be boiling Count Vertigo's pet rabbit here. It's not great. Eventually, Terra breaks away and frees Geo Force, so Granny and Violet boom tube one way, the Ultra Humanite and Jace boom another, and the kids head back to the tower to break the bad news to Jeff.

Jace's character developments are trash, but everyone else gets a pretty good episode. And the big surprise reveal at the end is that there are two Grannies - one on the space station with the Furies moving metas around the universe, and one running Goode World Studios on Earth - which has some fascinating implications. This was a solid start to the season's endgame.

OUTSIDER TRADING TIPS

- The three people from Luthor's Infinity, Inc. team talking to Stargirl I MEAN Courtney Whitmore are also from Luthor's Infinity, Inc. in the comics. The one talking is Trajectory (confirmed by the end credits), a super speedster. The bald guy is probably Everyman, and the woman in yellow is probably Fury. All three were introduced in 52, the weekly jam comic by Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, Greg Rucka, Grant Morrison, and Keith Giffen that grew out of Infinite Crisis. Trajectory was killed when Luthor turned her powers off mid-run; Everyman shapeshifts into another person by consuming a part of their body, turns into a cannibal who likes the taste of long pig, and was killed by Cupid in Green Arrow & Black Canary; and Fury is Ranma 52: a guy who shapeshifts into a super strong woman with claws.

- Despite being the best Robin, the modern world continues to do Tim Drake dirty. He's a key part of the story here, and he gets no dialogue and his contributions to the discourse amount to a shrug and a head tilt.

- About that ending: comic book logic says that the two Grannies could be anything - hard light projections, clones, time displaced copies, psionic ghosts from the astral plane, secret twins. Literally anything. However, there are two specific things from New Gods lore that could be the explanation.

1. Lump. The Lump was a giant blob created by Granny in the comics to trap Mister Miracle - she would link their minds together and he would be stuck in there forever. Later, Simyan and Mokkari would try and lock Batman in there in Final Crisis, but Batman convinced him to get up and help with an escape. Lump was also a popular theory for what was going on in Tom King and Mitch Gerads' Mister Miracle: that Scott was trapped in an anti-life loop by Darkseid, and Lump was his and Barda's child. That ended up being not the case in an emphatically brilliant way and if you haven't read Mister Miracle yet, you're missing out on one of the finest DC comics of all time and should buy it immediately.

2. According to Multiversity's map of the multiverse, the New Gods exist outside the Orrery of Worlds as platonic forms, casting different shadows down into each distinct universe. So it's possible Gretchen Goode is the Granny of Earth-16, while the Granny on the space station is the Ur-Granny hunting for Anti-Life from outside the 52 known universes. Probably not, but still a fun theory.

Keep up with all our Young Justice: Outsiders news and reviews right here.

Read and download the Den of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

Books

4/5

DC Universe

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DC Entertainment

Young Justice

Animation

Review Jim Dandy

Aug 13, 2019

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