ASHLER HEADCANONS
(i’m giving myself a break from my fic today so this is how I compensate)
How did they realise they caught feelings?
— I imagine these two to be veeeeery slowburn for a lot of reason, as in, they get together in their senior year of High School or even maybe after in college.
— Ashlyn is pretty out of touch with her feelings, It took her a while to differentiate between romantic and platonic sentiments towards people and even then, she sucked at handling it. I see her as the type to fall for someone without even realising and dismissing her feelings as being 'oh we're really good friends!' It took a sleepover with Taylor (who has been trying -and failing- to set her brother and Ashlyn together for a while now) to realise that she had a crush on Tyler. I think the two of them would have had a long conversation about it (I honestly see Taylor as someone who's really in tune with emotions) and even then, her realising turned out to be more of a bad thing because things became awkward and Ashlyn essentially avoided any one-on-one interaction.
— Tyler on the other hand, had known about his feelings for Ashlyn for a while now but had chosen not to do anything about it, simply pushing it aside in order to prioritise his family and focusing on staying alive in the phantom realm. Besides, there was no way Ashlyn would reciprocate when all she did nowadays was act weird with him.
What was their first date?
— Their first date was at an amusement park: I firmly believe that Tyler fell first but Ashlyn would fall harder and eventually, there would be a point where she gets fed up with the lack of confrontation and decides to actually do something about the unsolved tension.
— Taylor had gotten it into Ashlyn’s head that to confess there had to be some over-the-top, extravagant declaration of love and had been restlessly prodding Ashlyn to ask her brother out because “the idiot wasn’t going to do it himself.” The plan was for the two to hang out at the theme park all day and then finally go on a Ferris wheel ride where Ashlyn would admit her feelings and if she was lucky, Tyler would reciprocate and save her from total embarrassment and if not? Well, there goes trying to eliminate the awkwardness but at least Ashlyn tried.
The catch to this plan, you may ask?
Tyler was deathly afraid of heights. Like a cat in water afraid of heights. Will freak out afraid of heights.
It was a new fear that he had contracted after he died in the phantom realm that he had never actually gotten around to telling Taylor, mainly because she was a massive thrill-seeker and enjoyed anything height related and so he didn’t want to strip that enjoyment from her, he wanted to make her happy and experiences her joys with her, trauma be damned. Still, if he had a choice he would avoid it.
That was until his totally-not-a-crush-crush walked up to him ( looking as gorgeous as ever) and batted her pretty, little lashes, asking him out to an amusement park just the two of them and who the hell was Tyler Hernandez to say no to such a goddess? (he was such a weak, weak man for her it was disgusting) .
Besides, there was more to amusement parks than rollercoaster rides, right? And Ashlyn didn't look like the type to be chasing after the adrenaline of high rides so he would simply divert her from any high rides, that wouldn't be so hard?
— Anyway, after hours of Hell and successfully keeping Ashlyn away from every rollercoaster waiting line (“pfft, I’ve went on these rides way too many times, they’re soooo boring trust me!”) Tyler found himself enjoying the day, he got to sneak glances at Ashlyn when he thought she wasn't looking and got to spend time with his crush and maybe, just maybe he could be content with small moments like this for the rest of his life, his crush obviously wasn’t planning on fading anytime soon but now, he could admire from afar, even if she did kick his ass at shooting games.
— Unfortunately, all luck comes to end eventually she practically dragged him to the ferris wheel. He tried to get out of it by saying “it’s boring, only grannies go on those!” But for some reason she was entirely fixated on that ride and that one alone.
— A normal person, at this stage would admit to hating tall rides and save their dignity and sanity but Tyler Hernandez had a date and a reputation to maintain, so if Ashlyn Banner wanted to go on a ferris wheel, he was going on a ferris wheel.
— And that confidence lasted around two seconds because as soon as they got into the air, Tyler became eerily silent, something that confused Ashlyn because normally the boy wouldn’t shut up. She glanced down and noticed that he seemed to be digging his nails into the seat so hard Ashlyn was sure it would leave marks. There was something wrong with him, it was clear as daylight but everytime Ashlyn tried to bring it up Tyler would shrug it off dismissively and make some snarky quips to reassure her (spoiler alert: it didn’t work).
— Eventually they reach the very top, the “pinnacle of romance” (as Taylor liked to put it), this was Ashlyn’s shot; she would clear the air and get rid of the stupid bug that annoyed her every time Tyler was in her vicinity. And so, she starts talking incredibly fast in 2x speed, trying earnestly as all her pent up feelings and frustrations to the boy come spilling out infront of him.
— Unfortunately, Tyler was too busy counting sheep in his head to try and catch any of what Ashlyn was saying, never mind her incredibly fast speed. Though he did catch the last part of "-and now I think I might be in love with you" and suddenly, the air was cut off from his lungs. He paled at the realisation -and also partially because he was trying to not puke-: Ashlyn Banner, that stupid idiot, liked him back, in more than a friend way!
— For a while, the two of them just stared, Ashlyn looked like a deer caught in headlights and Tyler really wished Taylor or Aiden were here to pinch him. And then- well, he ended up wretching on the ferris wheel, the rest of the ride ended up being Tyler alternating between freaking out and becoming nauseous and Ashlyn panicking while trying to help and regretting her previous life choices.
— Afterwards, Ashlyn was pretty sure that vomiting was a clear indication of an unreciprocated crush so she honestly planned on running away and getting her parents to pick her up or something. Her plans were paused when Tyler stopped her by the wrist and pulled her towards his chest, Ashlyn could feel his hands shaking around her.
— "You're so stupid, I'm so stupid and- I think I might be in love with you too."
— And that was that.
Do they indulge in PDA?
— short answer: No.
— Both of them are the type to cringe and make fun of people who engage in excessive PDA so it’s no surprise that they’re pretty averse to it themselves. The most you’ll see these two do in public is touch shoulders or sit next to each other (or maybe if you’re lucky, you get to watch Ashlyn dragging Tyler by the arms away from a fight.)
— I think it would take at least 3 weeks for them to kiss after dating and Ashlyn would be the one to initiate.
— They’d be bickering one day and Ashlyn would just shut him up spontaneously by tugging his shirt forward and tiptoeing up for a kiss. Tyler would be surprised at first, his eyes wide open and looking down in surprise but eventually he just melts and it takes a minute for them to part.
— “Shut.” kiss “The.” kiss “Fuck.” kids “up.” would be a thing Ashlyn does everytime he pipes up a little bit too much. Whether it be over something stupid like a comic they’re both reading or something else, it would probably lead into a make out session afterwards.
— Tyler’s the type to walk up to her sometimes, play with her bangs and then lift it up for a little *smooch.* It’s mostly because he enjoys the way she goes red like a tomato every time. One time he did it in public after a baseball match or something and Ashlyn froze, she could not speak for an hour and it seemed like her face and ears were permanently coloured red. Aiden had found it funny and took a picture of it which is actually saved as her profile picture now.
— All of their intimacy is in private though, most of the time people would be surprised to find out they’re dating. The popular jock and the loner who never talks? But don’t they ever only argue?
Dates?
— I personally think their dates would mostly be stay-at-home dates.
— Ashlyn hates going out and Tyler doesn’t mind, so it works.
— Examples would be cooking dates, movie nights (that would inevitably get crashed by the others), little dinners together etc.
— They strike me to have very casual intimacy, so like grocery shopping together would also be considered a date for them.
— The mundane is openly enjoyed and celebrated!
Other random headcanons I have:
— Tyler has gradually become Ashlyn’s go-to hair stylist, especially for more formal events like ballet recitals. She was honestly shocked the first time he did her bangs and now feels entitled to getting it down whenever she pleases (compensation for all his moaning). Tyler grumbles about it and pretends to hate it but swatts his hand away every time Ashlyn tries to take over, he secretly really likes working with her hair because he’s never practiced on such long hair and so gets to experiment with more styles.
— When they become old enough to drive they’re both the drivers in the relationship. In the group and by themselves. Everytime they have to share a car they play rock, paper, scissors to avoid an argument over it.
— They have pretty similar music tastes. Idk I can feel it.
That’s all I can think of for now! If you have any other headcanon/scenario requests feel free to drop an ask!
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this is an invitation to ramble about slade/batboy ships: sladick, sladejay, sladetim, sladedami, and other batfam member/villain ships, especially jayroman and ra'stim :)
AAAAAA this is so delightful oh my god thank you. adding a read more just because this one is going to get Long to cover all the ships and all my opinions. because my god do i love Slade.
firstly, the original Robin/villain ship, SlaDick. Slade Wilson, literally created to be a Teen Titans villains, with the original Robin he cannot be normal about ever. i'm so sad there's not much interest in Slade aside from making him a generic Evil Guy who canonically likes teenagers because i think to just boil down his complex with Dick to 'weird attraction' robs them of SUCH nuance. Slade *trusts* Dick, he trusts Dick enough to ask Dick to train his own daughter Rose. and initially Slade's complex over Dick isn't sexual, it's seeing Dick as a replacement for his dead son, Grant. that's messy as hell and i love them for it. i don't think there's a single villain that has the respect for Dick that Slade has. i'm always of the opinion Dick's attraction to Slade is rooted in daddy issues and Slade's attraction to Dick is rooted in dead son issues. do i think they could end up as an old married couple? yes but only in a world where Dick is completely broken and feels alone. my favorite SlaDick flavor is post-Jason's death. Dick and Bruce are arguably at their worst during that era to begin with so Dick is pretty isolated and emotionally unstable. and Slade would take such advantage of that, swooping in to offer Dick emotional stability and fucked up sex to get out pent up emotions. (i'm big a big fan of Dick fucking out his feelings tbh) and Slade is just. this sort of bad habit Dick will kick for a year or two then come crawling back to. you can directly track how well Bruce and Dick are getting along based on how many times Dick has slept with Slade recently. and that's the prize, for Slade. knowing Dick will come back to him, eventually. it's all about patience. and if something really extreme happened to Dick (like Bruce's fake death) i think they'd even date briefly. it's not entirely impossible for Dick to date someone he disagrees with morally (see: his flings with Helena) and i think Dick would keep trying to 'save' Slade, using the upper hand he has of filling in this role of Slade's dead son to try to domesticate him. would it work? who knows but if anyone is going to try over and over, it's going to be Dick. it's practically self-harm for Dick yet the only thing keeping him sane. i love them.
SladeJay is... an interesting one for me. because i like the *potential*. but they have no significant interactions pre-Flashpoint. and while usually i can forgive New-52 and Rebirth for their grievances if it has ship fodder i just... can't do that for Jason. Judd Winick's Jason is the only Jason that exists to me so even Slade and Jason's canon interactions matter little to me because it's not the version of Jason i care for. the upside of that though, is it's more of a sandbox to explore what they could be and there are no limitations. i can just run wild. which is fun bc. you're telling me Slade wouldn't be so drawn in by the idea of a dead Robin who's come back and is now the antithesis of Bruce's morality? i think at some point Slade would want to poke the bear, really see what Red Hood is made of. do i see them working long-term? no but i do think Jason would have zero qualms working with Slade if he got something out of it. and if he could fuck with Bruce or Dick by having a short, fucked up relationship with Slade? that's even better. i don't think Slade could ever truly respect Jason, at the end of the day the Dick Grayson standard is too high and Slade would sneer at the idea of a legacy who fucked it up so bad he got blown up. but, he'd see that as Bruce's failure more than Jason's. and for Jason to have someone look him in the eye and say that Bruce *failed* him? i think that'd just *do* something to Jason. and Slade has lost a son, he knows what that loss feels like, how you feel you failed as a father. would he have interest in being fatherly to Jason? no but i think he'd have fun momentarily manipulating Jason and seeing what reactions he gets out of what jeers. Jason's been calling himself a failure this whole time, so to have someone else say it is no real big deal, but to have someone else say it's Bruce's fault and voice Jason's feelings? they'd have the most fucked up sex with the most unhealthy dirty talk that's both gentle and degrading. i don't think Jason would ever let himself get too close, he's far too emotionally guarded. but for a second, i think he'd fantasize about having even *half* the amount of attention that Slade gives Dick. bc what has Jason always been, but in Dick's shadow.
SladeTim. my two blorbos. in one place. somewhere in my drafts i have a half-started longfic about SladeTim that's one half really fucked up porn and one half slowburn feelings. arguably Tim and Slade don't have many canon interactions, but it's fun to me that when they do, Slade always seems sort of startled by how well Tim fights back and Tim's willingness to fight dirty in a way even Dick doesn't. and to me, that's the crux of this ship. as far as Robins go, Tim should sort of slip under the radar for Slade. he's not the dead one turned villain, he's not the grandson of Ra's al Ghul, hell he's not even the child of a second-rate villain like Steph, he's not *the* Dick Grayson, he's just... the other one. grew up pretty rich and normal and fell for all of Bruce's wax poetic nonsense. so when Tim puts himself on the map as a hero, makes himself a worthy opponent against Slade that's interesting. even to Tim, Slade isn't a particularly remarkable villain since Slade cares to stay more on Dick's radar. so when they cross paths there's a lot of unexpected. neither of them have thought about the other too hard. so there's this interest and intrigue about it i love. i'm a big fan of the idea Tim is a massive masochist, both physically and emotionally and Slade is The Sadist Ever so. i like them falling into bed together and having the most fucked up sex. like Tim just being a Weird Little Freak so fucked up even Slade raises an eyebrow. because this isn't what you *expect* of a kid like Tim, who's had a pretty easy life before tangling with vigilantes. he should be like a fish out of water, but instead he's matching Slade's energy in ways even Dick doesn't. and of course, how smart he is, that's an asset. it takes a special kind of kid to have the audacity to poison Lady Shiva with hotel chocolates and pull it *off* no less. it earns a begrudging respect, and it's rare to get Slade to respect someone. i really like the idea of Tim seeking Slade out only for fucked up sex and somehow Slade falls for this weird little freak who's cold and clinical outside of sex and keeps him guessing.
i'll be honest i've only considered SladeDami in the context of seeing antis say 'omg Slade has been predatory toward Damian ewww' and going 'no the fuck he hasn't but if you want that so bad i'll ship it just to spite you all' but their canon interactions do fascinate me. a lot of how they interact is predicated on Slade as a father, even more so than SlaDick. like Slade will fight Damian and then be like 'hey be good to your old man fathers need their sons' and fucking dip. and then with the whole Respawn thing and Shadow War? that was extra crunchy. for a brief moment Slade had a son who was a brother to Damian and then he goes and *dies*? talk about the complex that would give him with Damian, the spitting image of Respawn. Make Slade Weird About Batkids That Remind Him of His Son 2024. Damian holds an utter contempt for Slade that is simply unmatched. so Slade not leaving that kid alone because of his weird issues, making sure that Bruce doesn't screw up with Damian the way he screwed up with Respawn is very fun. and Damian slowly building up a tolerance to Slade's annoying antics could be fun. Damian is, at his core, still just a kid who needs the approval of something father-shaped and he will Take What He Can Get. are they ever healthy or long lasting? no but i do think Damian would cling to Slade during his teen years for something incredibly fucked up and codependent until either Slade dumped him or he forced himself to get over it.
JayRoman. i will not lie love these two but i don't think i've read many Black Mask comics when he's not interacting with Jason. which is funny because my entire conception of Roman is him just getting humiliated by Jason and really what more is there to know about the man. Jason is so unserious in how he handles Roman and the best part is you can tell it's truly because he doesn't see Roman as a threat. Roman's just a pawn in the game of getting Bruce's attention and sure, Jason is aiming to kill Roman by the end of it, but he'll always have bigger fish to fry. and that's so *infuriating* for Roman. this new guy who's *clearly* a fucking teenager shows up, owns you so badly it shatters your empire, and then you only live bc he seems to have gotten bored of you. JayRoman is my particular favorite ship for the flavor of 'the sub in bed is in control of every other aspect of their relationship and their submission is a gift that can be revoked at any time' which we don't get enough. fucked up power dynamics always have the sub being the one lacking control. and whilst i enjoy when Roman is able to absolutely control and manipulate Jason through various means, i think in canon, it makes far more sense he's pathetic and begging Jason for even a *chance*. and Jason very specifically picking who he subs for based on someone who he could kill or destroy at the drop of the hat if he needed to is a very Jason thing to do. there will never be trust between these two. they will fuck nasty and Roman will be in love with Jason. but they are both carrying a gun during sex. the gun is probably involved during the sex.
Ra'sTim. my everything. Red Robin (2009) you will always be famous to me. what *don't* they have. forced proximity. enemies to lovers. forced partnership. one-sided obsession. ridiculously large age gap. deep unforgivable betrayal. i will never evacuate these two from my brain dear god. Ra's is another one of those villains who gets painted with one broad stroke of being cartoonishly evil with no exploration of his interesting nuance. making him nothing but a villain is boring. where is the Ra's who loves so deeply and fully and has to lose his loved ones over and over and will not let that happen to Tim. he wants to consume Tim in a 'cannibalism as a metaphor for love but also probably literal cannibalism' way. the amount of trust put in Ra's in order for Tim to be able to betray him as spectacularly as he did? that's glorious. Tim had full unfiltered access to Ra's' computers even when he was advised against trusting Tim so much. and then Tim wins against Ra's and willingly lets Ra's kill him. (obviously Dick saves him, but I'm of the opinion Tim was just committed to dying in that moment and he was Okay With That) 'i will betray you if it's the last thing i do' as an act of love. Tim is to Ra's what Dick is to Slade. you will never convince me Tim and Ra's didn't hatefuck at least once during RR (2009) with a questionable level of consent. i'm so serious i will never shut up about them. the way Tim talks about working with Ra's as if he's making a deal with the devil and Ra's talks about Tim like he's the precious, once in a life time thing, one of the only people worthy to produce an heir for Ra's. how's that not gay. what other ship involved one of them literally trying to have the other's baby to raise as an heir. Ra's would probably carry the baby himself if he could. memes aside they're just so. they're so it. i love when Tim is forced into a Situation where he has to work with Ra's and confronts the darker aspects of himself that Ra's wants to bring out but Tim wants to squash. it is The corruption kink. whether Ra's succeeds or not in corrupting Tim doesn't even matter because the real crux of this ship is the chase. it's the way the heart pounds when they reach out for each other and you don't know if it's for a kiss or a killing blow. it's very Hannigram to me, in that i don't even need or want them to kiss to know they're in love. love to them is not true love's kiss, it's the thoughtful place they decide to stab the other in. be the sheath to my dagger type ship. hold all this bloody violence i know you're capable of inside of you. let me cut the violence out of you ship. what more can you ask for from a ship. Ra's would tie Tim down and torture him both as foreplay and as a love language and Tim would be too fucked up and self-sacrificial to stop him. always playing the dangerous game of how far will the other let them go until someone tries to die or kill. listen i think i lost the plot here but my point is they're unwell about each other. Tim will make Ra's regret the day he met Tim Drake not just for the betrayal but because Ra's can never go back to a time Before Tim. before knowing what the chase felt like. they're so. them.
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