#this is just the main Robin idk about others but if you know more add them

[wixenburr]

Saw some ppl talking about Reverse Robins and i had thoughts

Talking abt u guys @eldritchdreamss @brucewaynehater101

Why kill Tim when you could kill baby Jason? What I want is for all of them to keep their own backstories and personalities (Developed in line with the story of course) So ofc i had to write a 1,000 word brainrot abt it.

(Also i'll only be going over the main 4 batbros for now i will add more later but these guys are the ones im most passionate about so here we go)

Damian

Let Damian come in, desperate to be of use and be worthy of his father, only for a softer, less jaded bruce (since jason hasnt died yet) to help him open up his heart and let him act as a kid. With no competition for so long, I imagine he and Bruce get along very well while he works with him. Yeah, they need to work on the no killing deal and Damian's... i guess impulse control? But i think it would be easier with very intensely focused reparenting; no distractions of other kids you know? No favoring or anything.

I see Damian growing up as a stoic, jaded adult. He's had a rough life. Maybe he sticks with the vigilante business. but I really love headcanons where he gets out of it, and focuses on something calmer, like his art. (I do appreciate and love the veterinarian Damian AUs, but im going for FULL calmness, you know? And doctor/vet work is Not calm lol)

So yeah, maybe he grows a real passion for heroism, maybe he doesn't? Maybe he goes on to be an artist and that's just what he does. Bro is ready to settle down as a scarred, veteran trophy husband and i adore him for that.

(Sorry lol i just love Damian and i love the idea of him growing out of both of his parent's legacies. Let him live his own life!!! He fights so so hard for at least 15 years. ALL 15 years of his life. He deserves to have some peace.)

Tim

Tim i think would need a much different story to join the Batfam. He still starts out as a stalker who follows batman and. . . . . . . Redimar (meaning Redemption iykyk (I just spend 17min researching names rip)) at night, takes photos, etc... Since Damian doesn't die, maybe he finds Tim? and like, tim is like 11 and Damian is 17 or 18. He's started going out as Redimar less and less, not that B really minds? In fact hes probably happy for his son so...

But then Damian finds Tim, and now he has to keep going out because he can't let this kid get himself killed like this. He would hold himself accountable since hes the only reason Tim keeps going out so much- also i imagine Tim follows Redimar more than Batman.

Cue a classic Tim Joining The Batfam plotline. They get to know each other better, get a grasp on Tim's situation, Damian finally introduces Tim to Bruce... (Probably something like Dami: "Father, this is my new brother. Timothy, say hello to Father," Tim: "Hello, Father," Dami: "Perfect." Bruce: "*falls off the batchair*)

Anyway, so, Tim ends up kinda just merging with the Waynes. They start training him, its all good and nice, and Tim makes his own little hero team unlike Damian, which is actually pretty interesting here; its Tim who made the first young hero team. Damian only ever had Jon (Superboy 1 in this!!) and he finds Young Just Us and becomes a great leader and its all fine and dandy.

Tim and Damian get along well. Damian is the sage older brother whos kinda distant, but only because he has such high emotional walls (but secretly a softy). He is very much like Bruce- nope, nevermind, hes definitely worse than Bruce in this AU, since Bruce is depicted as being much more agreeable before Jason's death, you know? So yeah, Damian is the emotionally constipated bitch in the fam and we love him for that. But hey!! Tim does manage to get through his walls! And Bruce does sometimes too!! (Tho i imagine Bruce and Damian's relationship to be very.. idk let me try to expalain. Dami: "Father." Bruce: "Son :)" Dami: "Tt." Bruce: *nods* "Hrn." Dami: "Hmph." Bruce: "Hm.") DO U PICK UP WHAT IM PUTTING DOWN--- lmfao. They hardly need words.

Tim ends up growing up very very capable. Once his parents die, he gets a little jaded, but hes still Tim. He and Damian become kind of an... ice prince duo? If you get what I mean. But Tim is the one whos actually the ice prince, Damian is secretly a HUGE softie. He is Delicate and Tim protects him lmfao.

Jason

Jason comes along like he does in canon. Has the same backstory. Tries to steal the Batmobile's wheels. Tim is sleeping over at Damian's flat for the night, so its just Bruce. They bond. Shit happens. Jason joins the fam.

I don't imagine them not getting along, but they don't immediately hit it off either. Jason is wary of all of them for a time, but he ends up warming up to Damian pretty fast after realizing what a softie he is. He pokes fun at Damian and Damian just freaking takes it lmao. Hes an adult he cannot be disturbed. Bro has seen too much and he finds Jason adorable. (Dami: "You were never this cute, Timothy." <- he is lying. Tim: *offended* "What the fu- flip!?" Jason: "Lmao Tim just say fuck." Dami: *deadpan stare* Tim: "JASON NO DONT SAY THE FUCK WORD-") ahem.

anywho and then Jason dies rip skill issue ratio.

The whole batfam is heartbroken. Genuinely shattered. Jason was a light in their lives. Not that they were WITHOUT any light, but Jason was the epitome of a sunshine child.

It's been too long since Damian has killed someone. Bro's god oodles and oodles of trauma. He can't bring himself to kill the Joker.

but Tim can.

It's a whole dramatic thing; Damian feels awful that he made his- now only- little brother kill. Bruce is hella upset but feels responsible for not seeing how badly both of his kids were handling the death of their brother. Tim goes a little off the deep end.

Things turn out.... okay. sort of. but not really. Tim changes his hero name to Red Cardinal. He feels pretty lost. Maybe he stumbles into Ra's al Ghul or smthn idk maybe smthn happens there perhaps. Maybe Damian has to put on Redimar again and rescue him? But its less of a rescue and more of a "Stop joining the dark side Tim jesus christ-" (and it does work).

They go home. Tim gets a boyfriend or two. Damian falls into his art. Bruce is throwing himself into work. They're all kind of a mess, but they keep moving.

and then

Dick

(lmao that sounded wrong)

ahem; and then the circus comes to town. The batfam- well, Tim, Damian, and Bruce- all decide to get together to do something fun. Take the opportunities given, yk? So they go to the circus together.

Wham bam rip the falling Flying Graysons.

They see Dick, breaking apart, and they know they have to do something. Bruce is the first to move. Then Tim. Damian is the last.

It's pretty quick getting Dick home, since Bruce is already a foster parent cuz of Tim yk. So Dick doesn't have to suffer in Juvie at all really. But that doesn't change the fact that he is ANGRY.

Dick is SO angry. he wants to kill the person who murdered his parents. He knows what he saw.

The fam of course do their best to investigate. Mostly Tim, who feels unworthy of being around an innocent little kid after his whole.... villain era, i suppose lol. (ofc Dick thinks Tim doesnt like him lol misunderstanding arc GO)

The whole "Dick accepts that justice is better than murder kinda maybe FOR NOW" storyline happens, and Dick becomes the conniving, bright, little Robin we all know and love. (Thinking of the Young Justice Cartoon Robin (but not the characters- just Dick's character) aaaand

Womp womp GUESS WHOS BACK

Jason's Back

but i'll leave that for later.

[wtfsteveharrington]

coffee and mint chapstick / bf!steve harrington x fem!reader x robin

content: listen... the family video era of robin and steve? it’s iconic. that’s why you hang around at night and not because you hate being away from them. things are normal until you wind up in a particular section you shouldn’t be.

- same energy as part one. threesome but exclusively robin x reader and steve x reader sexual interactions. just the reader getting passed between the two. have y’all heard that the eiffel tower is beautiful???

steve x reader - kissing, unprotected sex, spanking, choking, rough sex, marking, spitting, hand job, swallowing

robin x reader - oral (both receiving), nipple sucking, 69, praising, degrading. just general robin cheekiness.

also i feel like steve gives more dom energy, robin has semi - nervous switch energy, and reader is vocal sub but that’s up for reader to decide :)

authors note: idk if all readers have actually been in a family video but i went a lot as a kid. they pretty much all have two rooms off the main floor - one had video games and one had adult videos. needed to add that in for context,,, also lets pretend family video doesn’t have cameras okay thank u.

ps i think i like part two more than part one hopefully this lives up

word count: almost 4.5k

part one | part three | part four

You didn’t work at Family Video but you may as well start clocking in with how much time you spent there. It was already a little out of hand before the party, but after? 

Time was just better spent with Steve and Robin. 

You’re sitting up on the side of their front counter, kicking your feet through the air while Robin works on rewinding the returned newly VHS and Steve works on replacing the ripped up stickers on a few cases. 

Periodically you’d catch Robin’s eye and exchange this giddy little smile. You were wearing a skirt today on purpose and Robin’s mind would drift back to the other night every so often. 

Steve’s pouting across the small desk space, slouching his shoulders over and walking towards you with heavy feet. “I just don’t understand how people mess up the stickers. Like who looks at a ‘new release’ sticker and thinks hmm wouldn’t that be fun to rip in half.” The store is empty so he knows he doesn’t have to worry about offending any customers. It was later on Wednesday night and there had been a storm threatening to rain on Hawkins any minute now all day. Needless to say people weren’t exactly rushing in. 

He’s making you laugh, your boyfriend leaning back into you and wrapping your arms around his chest. “Awh, you poor thing. Having to put stickers on a box? How do you handle suffering like this?” Steve’s grabbing your knees, giving them a firm squeeze at the teasing. “You’re literally not even working. It doesn’t get much easier than just sitting here and looking pretty.” You lean in, pressing a kiss to the skin where his neck meets his shoulder. Then another one further up his neck. Robin feels her ears heating up as she catches the intimate act out of the corner of her eye. 

“You’re getting paid, Steve. This poor girl’s only reason to be here is us.” You’re laughing now, nuzzling your face into Steve’s neck before glancing up at Robin. “You should take it as a compliment. I’m literally the best customer this store has ever seen.” All three of you are laughing now, your hands resting flat against Steve’s chest as you feel it rumbling. You move to touch the edges of his vest, giving it a firm tug. “I do wish I had one of these though. Feeling a little left out of the club.” 

Steve’s stepping out of your grasp, giving you a dramatic twirl before grabbing the vest and tugging it together in the center of his chest. “Oh, this ole thing? Sorry, Babe. Only Family Video’s finest employees get one of these.” Robin’s nodding her head, ejecting the VHS now that it’s fully rewound. “It’s true. Wearing this token shade of green is one of the highest honors in the land.” Steve’s dramatically motioning over to Robin, giving you a very pointed look. “See? We just couldn’t expect you to understand.” 

You click your tongue against the roof of your mouth, giving them a dramatic eye roll. There wasn’t much you knew about the layout of this store, it all honesty you typically just went right to your spot on the desk. You did know that down the hallway on your left lead to a bathroom and a room with a curtain for the door. Surely that’s where the uniforms were hiding? You’d show them. 

One thing about your boyfriend, he’s gotten good at predicting what you’re going to do next. His grip on his vest is loosening and he’s already reaching out to try and keep you in place. “Don’t even think about it. There’s no uniforms back there.” Steve’s stepping closer to you and it’s now or never. You jump down from the desk, ducking his arms before darting towards the back of the store. Robin’s clearly entertained, letting out this gasp that gets cut off with bright laughter. Your boyfriend however? Screaming and cursing your name. 

He’s ripping the curtain open seconds after you got into the room and finds you stopped dead in your tracks. Your eyes scanning the room filled with cheesy porno titles and women posed just right to tease the potential viewer into buying that particular film. “I told you there’s literally not a singular vest in here. Now get out and maybe I’ll let you try mine on.” And maybe Steve could have convinced you to get out, had Robin not been ducking under his arm that’s holding the curtain open to meet you in the room. She wasn’t a minute late because she locked up the front door early. No, she didn’t lock you guys in here alone at all.

“Kind fuckin’ crazy, right?” Robin’s looking around the room, letting her fingers drag across one cover she sneaks a peek at every shift. “There’s not a huge section of lesbian movies yet but at least I get the covers to enjoy.” Steve? In full protective dad mode. He can’t explain it... Sure, he’s seen you do a lot but there’s something about watching you stare at the movie covers that makes his ears hot and his cock twitch. “Okay, okay. You’ve had your fun. Let’s get back to the floor before Mrs. Dorris comes in to rent Casablanca again.”

You giggle, grabbing one of the tapes off the shelf and facing it towards the other two. “Or maybe we should recommend Star Whores: Battle of the Boner to her. Seems like a good one.” Robin’s laughing, this bright sound that you’re slowly but surely getting addicted to. “You’re joking, I haven’t even seen this one. Do you think they braided Princess Leia’s pubes? That would be like, totally iconic.” 

Steve’s huffing at the two of you, watching as you guys flip over the box to examine the cover. Robin’s hand is coming to the small of your back as she peeks over your shoulder at the movie. That’s the only reason she’s touching you. No other reason at all. 

Then, once again without fully thinking it through, you just drop a - “I wonder if we should have filmed the other night. We could be making money hand over fist, right? Getting paid to be between two pretty people, not a bad way to make a living.” Steve and Robin are both torn between blushing and getting their ego’s puffed by being called pretty. They both love being pretty to you. 

You know Robin’s nervous rambling? It’s back in full force. “There’s nothing like that in here. Not that I’ve uh-... I didn’t look for myself. There was-” She’s taking a deep inhale but not nearly as deep as the hole she was digging herself “- You know, there was a customer who was oddly after a scene like that. And I’m like so close to becoming Employee of the Month so I just try to go above and beyond for our customers.” 

Steve? He was giving her a pointed look, willing her to stop talking until, “What do you mean you’re Employee of the Month? I helped get Keith a date the other night. There’s no way that isn’t going to top getting people a good porno recommendation.”

Their bickering is about to pick up full force until they hear you gasp as you accidentally drop the VHS in your hand. And maybe you’re playing a risky game, thinking only with the dull throbbing between your legs that’s threatening to pick up any minute. The box just happened to land slightly under one of the displays. Which means you have to get down on your knees, leaning forward until your chest is pressed to the ground and your ass is in the air. 

The two stop their argument, instantly distracted by the sight of you fully displaying the fact that under your skirt is just this sheer mesh lilac panty leaving nothing to the imagination. Robin’s watching you with her jaw tight and doesn’t miss the way Steve has to shift his hips at the view either. “Did you guys know it’s like really dusty down here?” 

No response.

Steve knows that the two of you follow his lead and he has a choice to make in that moment. 

Steve’s glancing between you and Robin. A Robin who won’t meet her eye but he notices the way her chest is moving faster, the tips of her ears are a bright red, and her bottom lip is being bitten on so hard he’s wondering if she can’t taste blood.

Jesus Christ, she really does love girls.

And then there’s you. Who’s taking entirely too much time to pick up the box, rolling your ass forward as you go to reach for a bouncy ball that had rolled under the display as well. You’re seconds away from asking how they thought the ball ended up in here when Steve’s voice breaks the tension in the room.

“You know, if you wanted us to fuck you all you have to do is ask.”

Robin’s jaw drops and she’s looking over at Steve with wide eyes. He’s giving her yet another pointed look, aggressively holding out his hand towards you and mouthing “You want her too”.

This whole silent exchange happens in the time it takes for you to get back up to your kneeling position, facing the two. Your skirt is still hiked up on your thighs. Your soft thighs that now all Robin wants to do is kiss and Steve wants to bite. Your hair is fluffed up from being thrown over your shoulder and your eyes are already getting heavy from know what’s coming next. Just ready to be closed from pleasure.

“Fine. I want you two to fuck me.”

Steve’s the one who moves towards you first, dropping to his knees as well before grabbing your chin to pull you into a rough kiss. You’re moaning into his mouth, reaching out to run your hands up his thighs before your hands quickly find his the button of his pants. You’re so wrapped up in your boyfriend that you don’t realize Robin’s behind you now until you feel her hands slide up under your shirt and toying with the cup of your bra. You’re crying out into Steve’s mouth at the feeling of your nipple’s being tweaked by Robin’s cold fingers.

You’re pulling Steve’s cock out of his jeans, and he’s got a firm grip on your wrist before you can touch him. “You know better than that, Princess. Needs to be wet.”

Robin’s lips are on your neck now, teeth grazing your heated skin as Steve’s bringing your hand between your own thighs. They both watch as your hand disappears under your skirt and you moan as your fingers come in contact with your clit. You’re driving them both crazy.

They hear how slick you are as you slide your hand into your panties, your head falling back on robin’s shoulder as Steve digs his fingers into your thighs. It’s Robin’s voice that encourages you to keep touching yourself. “Have you thought about us like this? Touched yourself thinking about me and Steve taking turns with you?” You nod pathetically, so needy. Your hips are rocking on your own hand, Steve’s hand delivering a sharp smack to your thigh. His voice is firm, “Use your words when we talk to you.”

“Yes. Steve didn’t come over last night and I spent the whole night thinking of you two.” Part of Robin wonders if she shouldn’t feel dirty being a side piece in a way. Or maybe she did feel dirty and she liked that feeling.

Maybe this would feel way different if it wasn’t you and Steve.

He’s looking over at Robin, jerking his head in a motion for her to lay back before he tugs off his shirt. “Lay back and let our girl take care of you.” Our girl. The three of you will never get past how that makes you feel.

Robin? A mess. She’s scooting back and making quick work of taking off her pants and underwear while you slide your hand out of your panties to wrap around Steve. Lazily pumping his length through your fist. You lean forward, lifting your hips to help him take off your panties and catching his lips in a tender kiss.

“Love you, Steve. Love you a lot.” He’s giving you a breathless chuckle before pressing a kiss to your bottom lip, your chin, then to the corner of your mouth. You know it takes a lot of trust for him to be okay with this. “I love you too, Beautiful.”

He’s rocking his hips up into your fist, gently pushing you until you’re facing Robin and your ass is pointed towards him. Robin’s got a hand covering between her legs and the other one semi nervously holding her bra tight against her chest. “Listen. You can’t look at my tits, Harrington.” Robin doesn’t have the comfort of being crossed this time around. The three of you only drunk on each other. She’s a nervous girl sometimes. Threesomes with her best friend and her best friend’s girlfriend who she’s kinda got a crush on? It’s a nervous situation.

Steve’s scoffing now, twisting up his face in confusion. “Can’t see your - Robin! My literal whole cock is out! My nipples are out!” She’s using the hand that’s still holding her bra to flip Steve off, making you giggle as you rock your ass back towards Steve. “Yeah your nipples are different.” You’ll never get over the switch that happens from being so comfortable with one another to those brief moment’s where Robin’s nerves get the best of her.

Leaning up, you effectively cut Robin off by distracting her with a kiss. “Can I see your pretty boobies, Robin? Just wanna kiss them.”

You’ve got her nodding now, caught up under your spell. You take a moment to kiss down her chin, her jaw, her neck, fluttering kisses across her collarbone. Robin’s letting go of the death grip on her bra and you give such an appreciative hum of approval as her nipples come into view. “See? So pretty.”

Robin’s convinced she’s going to combust as you wrap your lips around her rosy bud. Tongue swiping over the sensitive skin. She’s dragging her nails up your back, letting you take a moment to worship her left nipple before moving to her right. You feel Steve’s hand between your thighs now, pressing a finger into you while using his thumb to swirl around your clit.

He’s watching as you instantly start fucking yourself back against his finger and gives you another finger to wrap around. “M’gonna fuck you soon, get comfortable for me.”

You moan against Robin’s skin at his promise, your lips popping off of her nipple and you lean back up to get another kiss. “Can I eat you out again, Robin? Wanna keep practicing with you.” She’s nodding enthusiastically, practically shoving your head down towards her exposed pussy.

Steve waits until your arms are wrapped around Robin’s thighs and you’re pulling her core towards your mouth before taking his hand away from your pussy. Robin’s hands are rubbing your arms, savoring as you kiss her thighs. “You tasted different tonight. Minty? Kinda tasted like mint.” Nodding against her thigh, you move your kisses to either side of her mound. “Got something new the other nig-“

“Jesus Christ you two talk too much.” There’s a firm hand on the back of your neck that’s pushing your face into Robin’s pussy. You hear her gasping above you and feel Steve’s hips giving you a sharp stroke. Both of them effected by the action. “Holy shit, Harrington. Did you just-…. Did you just shut up your girlfriend with my pussy?” He’s gripping your hips, holding onto the tender flesh best he can before pounding his length into you. Steve can’t even dignify Robin with a response, afraid if he really acknowledges what happened that he’d be finishing way too soon. 

Robin’s throwing her head back once the shock wears off, your name coming off of her lips in a way that’s so deliciously broken. She’s wet for you. You drag your tongue up her slit, getting right to work.

Funny thing about Family Video? It’s carpeting fucking sucks. You’re almost getting a little over stimulated between Robin’s wet pussy on your tongue, the carpet burn forming on your knees, and Steve relentlessly jackhammering his hips into you. So rough and possessive and maybe trying to show off.

Robin’s hand is coming down to put a finger on either side of her clit since your arms are still wrapped around her thighs. Holding her against your face and holding on for dear life as Steve fucks his cock into you. “Let me take care of my clit. Dip your head down for me, Honey. Good. Keep lickin’ me like that.” You’re obedient. Tongue lapping through Robin’s folds, dipping into her hole. She shows her affection towards you by bringing her free hand to rub your back, your shoulders, stroking your head, just gently checking in on you while you take care of both of them.

She’s cooing at you when she feels your tongue stop against her pussy after one particular thrust, your both just resting open against her, “I know, Honey. Steve’s doing such a good job fucking you, isn’t he?” Let’s all be honest, Steve eats up praise. His hips are getting tired but he’d be damned if he’s giving up now. “Don’t you want to come for him? Show us how good you feel, Baby. You love being this filthy, don’t you? Eating me out while your doting boyfriend fucking you?” 

You can feel yourself dripping down your inner thighs. There’s a stray thought somewhere in your brain praying you don’t leave a stain on the carpet. 

Steve’s delivery a sharp smack against your ass, his handprint already taking the form of a red wilt on your ass. “Such a good girl for us, aren’t you? Letting us use your body like this. C’mon, Sweetie. Come on my cock.” 

You’re resting your sweaty forehead on Robin’s inner thigh, pressing haphazard open mouth kisses to her heated skin when you’re able to think about anything else besides Steve stretching you out. He’s bringing up a knee, slightly adjusting his position and now he’s hitting so deep inside of you just right.

You know, Steve being able to watch you and Robin and was little more of an erotic experience. He likes girls, so it makes sense it would be. Yet, Robin can’t help but to get herself entranced by the view. Remember how we talked about Steve stealing videos from the back of Family Video? Yeah, he wasn’t slick. Robin caught on the first night but instead of calling it out, she just followed his lead. 

She stuck to lady on lady scenes only, but sometimes she had to wait through watching a poor girl obviously fake her way through being fucked. She always felt bad for how obviously the guys didn’t actually care, more concerned with angles and getting themselves off. None of those scenes even slightly compare to what’s happening in front of her. 

It’s the way Steve knows your body. He’s grabbing a fist full of your hip, pulling up towards his cock which leads you to rest your head just right on Robin’s thigh so you can look back at him. He is taking notice as you wince when your knees come back in contact with the carpet. “Rug burn,” you’re explaining with a breathless and broken sounds. He’s frowning for a split second, pulling your body up towards him since it wasn’t doing my good for Robin at the time. He’s cupping your chin which you take as a sign to part your lips and then Steve’s fingers are in your mouth.

“Lemmie know if it’s too much, Baby.” His two fingers are dragging along your tongue causing you to gag around them. Steve’s hips buck at the sight, the sound, everything. 

Robin’s convinced it’s the way you so clearly trust him and he so clearly loves you that has her so entranced. She has to find that connection and soon. Maybe a little part of her is worried that she sees a future where you look up at her like that too and you know she loves you too and her and steve become blubbering fools over you but that’s a problem for a different day.

Steve’s still fucking up into you when you give out this sharp cry of his name as he gets you just right. Robin’s eyes are focused on you, the way your boobs are bouncing, how much pleasure is on your face. “Wanna watch you come.”

And you do. Oh God you do. Steve’s not slowing down and you reach down to desperately grab his thighs, just needing something to hold onto as you feel the tension burst in your body. There’s nail marks being left on his skin, neither of you complaining.

The feeling of your pussy gushing and clenching around his cock? It’s snapping Steve out of doting boyfriend and into a man who just needs to finish. 

You know Steve’s favorite place to put his load? Deep inside of you. It’s risky but you both figure there’s so many more risky endeavors happening at Hawkin’s. Tonight though? He’s settling for your throat, not sure if Robin’s done with your pussy but assuming she 100% would be if he came in it. Understandably. The three of tour were completely overboard but navigating the waters the best you could. 

Sometimes you can read his mind just how he can read yours.

You crawl forward once your brain catches up, trying to ignore the way you’re throbbing around nothing and so sensitive after your first orgasm.

He’s cupping your head once you drop to all fours in front of him, making you stay in place so he can effectively fuck your throat. The closer Steve gets, the less gentle he is. Each time you gag around his cock, his hips sputter and you’re rewarded with a “pretty girl” from your boyfriend. Your only warning is your name getting choked out of his throat before you feel him releasing into your mouth. So warm and just for you.

Steve takes a moment to recover, grunting his appreciation as swirl your tongue around his shaft as you pull him out. “Lemmie see.” And you know what he’s after. 

You hold your tongue out as Steve’s hand comes back to cupping your chin. “Swallow.” A firm command. You notice his hand sliding down your throat and if his cock wasn’t done, the feeling of you swallowing his cum would sprung him back into action. 

You give yourself a couple of minutes after Steve comes, letting yourself get back to Earth. Once you can process the situation again? All you can think about is Robin. You’re grabbing Steve’s shirt, wadding it up in a ball before laying back flat on the floor. Robin takes the hint, scrambling to her knees, crawling over until she’s overing your face. “Squeeze my knee twice if you need air, okay?” In all honestly, she can suffocate you all night. 

She’s lowering herself onto your mouth, this pretty little grunt coming from deep in her chest as your tongue quickly starts flicking over her clit. You’re making these wet smacking sounds as you suck and lick every drop she gives you.

Robin’s rocking herself down against your tongue, leaning over to look at your wrecked pussy. She’s got a hand on either side of your mound, pulling you apart gently to get a better look. You feel her gently blowing against you and you’re rewarding the action with a flat lick to her clit. “Look at your poor little hole… Needs someone to kiss it better, huh?” 

You know, Steve didn’t think we could miss much while he zoned out for a few minutes to recover from his orgasm. But when he looks back and sees the two of you eating each other out? He thought nothing would top last time, but now he knows there’s no way you’ll ever top this moment.

The three of you were in deep. 

You feel Robin’s hips start moving desperately as she humps your face so you pick up the speed of your tongue, getting greedy at the idea of feeling Robin coming into your mouth like this.

The feeling? It must be mutual because her lips are wrapped around your sensitive clit. Giving it her rough, undivided attention. Without saying it, you just know she wants you to come with her.

Neither of you speak a word, just diligently working on eating the other out. Robin’s orgasm hits her first, her hips just twitching against your face. Hearing her crying out against you has you following her lead shortly after. The both of you just staying frozen in place as your body is overwhelmed with the sensation.

——

The three of you lay together after that. Your back against Steve’s chest and Robin’s head in your lap. Your fingers dragging through her hair while Steve investigates your knees and makes a mental plan to stop on the way home to get everyone bandaids and ointment. Not that anyone would complain but he couldn’t have his girls hurting on his watch. One thing about Family Video is that it has a time sensitive security system. They have until 30 minutes after close before it automatically sets itself to make sure people are just hanging around for extra hours.

So imagine Steve’s concern when he looks and - “Holy fuck. Get dressed! We have 9 minutes!”

The three of you are a fucked out, giggling mess as you scramble to get dressed and your clit is way too sensitive for this situation. You’re laughing as you run for the door, Steve and Robin trying to panic their way through their closing duties.

You watch them look around, frantic to figure out what they’re missing. “Don’t forget to clock out!”

——

Just know that Steve did stop at the store to get you guys recovery items. Drinks, snacks, extra large bandaids for your knees that make you look so crazy but you love watching him take care of you so you don’t complain.

That night? His parents are away on his dad’s business trip so you not Robin make a bug fuss about leaving.

Which is how you fall asleep in Steve Harrington’s bed, your warm boyfriend rubbing your back while you doze off and Robin on the other side of you. The two of you face each other, secretly stealing a kiss or two or five until you all drift off.

Like I said, the three of you were in deep.

[strawberrybyers]

idk thinking about what the cast has said and all the details throughout stranger things, volume 2 doesn’t add up! idk something’s off. vecna gets to your head. he alters reality. maybe they’re portraying the events in a weird way because it’s not reality? like the 2 day time jump was really awkward. the cut to nancy, steve, and robin going through donation boxes was not the next scene i was expecting. it felt like something in the middle was missing. also, i don’t know if it’s because it had been 3+ hours of intensity and action, then it moved to a more solemn tone quite awkwardly and quickly, but when hopper and el reunited, i didn’t feel as emotionally moved by it the way i thought i would. the energy felt a little off to the point i was anticipating something bad to happen. i kept thinking “oh shit vecna is messing with el this isn’t actually hopper”, but no the scene kept going. we then see mike hug hopper. i’m sure mike does care and love hopper, so him hugging hopper isn’t my issue, it’s the fact he hugs hopper and we understand he’s hugging him because he’s been gone, but we know with will they’ve been separated too but he couldn’t hug will and yet don’t know why? this is the beginning of my villain origin story i stg.

and why did they make el and mike have this big “i love you” issue and have it be mike’s only conflict then the season ends and he says “they’ve barely talked to each other”? they never talk about anything ever lmao. that’s what i don’t get about their relationship. the season starts off with mike not being able to say he loves her, but then is able to when will tells him he’s the heart? why did he have to hear that from will? el was literally in tears, begging him to say “i love you” and he still couldn’t say it, but i’m supposed to believe they’re an endgame couple? 😂 i understand they’re 14/15 years old, but lumax is written really well! even suzie and dustin who have only had 4 minutes of screen time together make more sense. el and mike just barely have any development in regards to their relationship. mike doesn’t have any character development at all. they literally assassinated his character for no reason lol. also, el’s arc has been about her finding autonomy and i thought the way they’ve written her discovery to independence, finding family and loving herself was really good. i just feel like her storyline doesn’t fit in with mike. i’m sorry but there’s not much there in my opinion. we’re going into season 5 and they still feel like two people who barely know each other.

and since when can el bring people back to life? why did karen have her own poster if she had like 5 minutes or less of screen time? a poster is an advertisement for the show. the poster is giving a hint as to what will happen in the plot, but karen isn’t even involved in the main plot. she’s completely oblivious to everything lol. then noah said they’re building up byler, but in what way were they building it up? if anything they just brought it down. will and mike barely even feel like friends anymore. why are we going into season 5 still dealing with the nancy/jonathan/steve love triangle? then the parallels between will and henry/vecna/001 couldn’t have been coincidental, right? they both talk about not being able to fit in. they both have experience with the upside down. they even have will dressed like the child version of henry. will is one of the main characters who has an intense tie to the upside down and yet it hasn’t been fully explored for 2 seasons. why did vecna keep him alive? vecna never even mentions will. i’m just wondering in a very delusional way if there’s something else at play? could it be that volume 2 feels so chaotic and messy because it’s supposed to be? i have no idea anymore does anyone have any thoughts

[oh-mother-of-darkness]

Stupid question. I’m getting back into comics and don’t want to overload myself. do you know the difference between detective comics and Batman comic? Is it necessary to read both to understand Tim robin era stuff?

Hi I'm so sorry it took me a bit to get back to you, and forgive me if this is more detailed than you needed-- so basically Detective Comics and Batman are just two separate titles, meaning two different products that DC puts out. If you walked into a comic book store right now, you might find a giant DC section divided into all the different comic books that DC puts out (titles), with the newest issues of each title on display for purchase. Comic books usually come out with one short, unbound issue every month. After awhile, a dozen or so of those short, monthly issues get compiled into a volume, which would look more like a hardcover book. If the volume sells well, it might get a paperback version later on.

If I'm not mistaken Detective Comics is the original title from the 1930s that introduced Bruce as a character, so even though they did add a specific Batman title afterwards, Detective Comics still puts out Batman stories. There are a lot of Batman or Batman-adjacent titles at a time-- for example my favorite era of comics is 2009 to 2011, and during that time there was Detective Comics, Batman, Batman and Robin, Batgirl, Red Robin, and Batman Incorporated.

All of those titles had bat stories in them, but they focus on different characters, right? At the time, Dick was the guy using the Batman persona, so Detective Comics and Batman were about him, and then Batman and Robin was about both Dick and Damian. The Batgirl title was about Stephanie and to some extent Barbara, and Red Robin was the Tim title for the era. Batman Incorporated started later than the other ones, I believe, and it focused on Bruce, who had just returned from being lost in time.

So the unfortunate thing to understand here is that even though it's broadly true that titles are "about" one or more specific characters, the background cast in each title shifts constantly. The Batgirl title 2009-2011 was about Stephanie, so she's in every issue... but she also appears in Red Robin and in Batman and Robin and in Batman Incorporated. All of the bat characters are an informal group, so they constantly appear in each others' stories.

There are also a bunch of complicated crossover events set up so that one unifying story is being told through multiple titles. For example, there's an early new52 crossover story called Death of the Family, and the way that worked was there were a ton of bat-titles (Detective Comics, Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood and the Outlaws, Teen Titans, Batman and Robin) that in general had their own plotlines going specific to the main characters. All of those plotlines got briefly interrupted for a special issue #16, and if you combine all of those #16s into one volume, they all fit together as Death of the Family.

DotF is actually way simpler than most crossover events, because DotF is really just the bat titles, and I think a lot of folks reading Batgirl are probably aware of the characters in Red Hood and the Outlaws, Nightwing, etc. A lot of the crossovers aren't specific to a small set of related characters, so you might find some that are a combination of idk like Nightwing, one specific Green Lantern, Black Canary, and Plastic Man. In those cases you might know and be interested in some characters but not others.

So basically if you want to see ever single appearance Tim made while he was Robin, yeah, you'd want to read both Batman and Detective Comics, because he does appear as Robin on and off in both of those titles by virtue of being a bat-character. However, I wouldn’t advise you to go about it that way because you’re right, that would be really time consuming and potentially expensive. If your interest is in Tim as Robin, I would recommend that you start with his first appearance, which is in the Batman title (#436, I think), read that storyline, and then skip straight into Tim-centric content, in this case the Robin titles.

I believe there are three Robin miniseries from 1991 to 1993, and then from 1993 to 2009 it’s one dedicated title. That’ll be the biggest and easiest way to consume Tim content, and then after that, if you feel like it, you can look for places where Tim appeared in other bat titles, including Detective Comics and Batman. You might be particularly interested in the Young Justice and Teen Titans (2003-2011) titles, because those have a lot of Tim content.

It’s entirely possible (likely, I would say) that while reading any title at all you’ll see references to crossover events, and those sections are going to require context that you probably won’t have, because it’s located in other, potentially sort of random titles. When that happens my advice would be to read the wikipedia article on the crossover, rather than hunting down and reading every individual issue located across the various titles. It’s easier and it’s the most effective way to understand the broad picture. If, after reading the wiki page, you decide that the crossover sounds like a lot of fun, you can search “[name of crossover] reading order” to get a list of all the relevant issues. 

There definitely are people that read comics “in order” with the goal of finding every appearance, and though I obviously support those folks in their endeavor, my personal experience has been that it’s a frustrating way to go about the whole thing. Even if you’re willing to track down every single issue, including crossover issues featuring less popular, unrelated characters, you’re going to find yourself in a never-ending rabbit hole of references to other titles and other sets of characters, some of them contradictory. That can be part of the fun sometimes, but it’s less fun when you’re just trying to learn about one specific character and you feel like you have to go through twenty different sidequests first.

In my experience, it’s more fulfilling to just read the titles you’re interested in, or just look for stories that have the characters you want to learn about. There definitely will be times where crossovers or events happening in other titles bleed into what you’re reading, and that might get confusing. I swear to you, wikipedia is your best resource for those times. It’ll help you choose the fun rabbit holes that are worth falling into (rather than letting the DC marketing team trick you into falling down the unfun ones that make them a ton of money).

Once again I apologize if that was way too much information, but hopefully even if it was, it’s good info for someone out there

<3

C

[boxofbread]

random thoughts, theories, questions, etc. before stranger things 4 vol. 2 comes out

byler makes way more mf sense than milkvan like the fight with mike and el about him not being able to say “i love you” is enough for a mileven break up BUT THEN YOU ADD EVERYTHING ELSE BTW MIKE AND WILL AND MIKES CHARACTER yeah

idk who’s gonna die but i’m scared like there are a lot of characters i can’t see then killing off. tbh eddie, steve, and jonathan make the most sense to me but like idk at all

i really can’t see them killing hopper (and also joyce) bc of his fake death it just would have less weight and also max for a similar reason and also eleven (at least s4 bc i can def see it in s5) just bc it’s eleven and they would def be so fucked in s5 without her

i love ronance and steddie but realistically i want nancy to end up with jonathan and def not steve like it would be undoing character development for the both of them (esp steve)

i really don’t see how eddie is going to get out of the pickle he’s in with the town like those bitches are on a witch-hunt for him. UNLESS the whole ass town sees the upside down/supernatural shit that does on in their town. WHICH WOULD MAKE THE DYNAMIC IN S5 VERY INTERESTING. like i’m scared for the lil guy

i’m very mf excited FOR EDDIE PLAYING GUITAR IN THE UPSIDE DOWN

also hopper and el reuniting my heart needs that shit AND THE HOPPER/BYERS FAMILY i’m ready for hopper to go bat shit insane bc mike is dating his son not bc he’s homophobic but bc he’s mikephobic

i wanna see what the power dynamic/scaling btw the mindflare and vecna in the upside down like who’s more powerful/in charge etc. i think the mindflare is the thing in charge and the main reason vecna is finally doing his lil thing now is bc the mindflare is weakened bc of s2 and s3 (but also part of it is in an enclosure in russia just kinda dancing around in smoke form) ofc part of it is vecna was probably plotting and getting used to being in a whole new dimension and whatever

can will and mike get high with the weed gang it’d be funny

i want them/think they might dive a little into eddie’s backstory (esp in flashbacks when the town is hunting him) ESP ABOUT AROUND HIS LINE ABOUT FORCED CONFORMITY KILLING THE KIDS

robin better get a girlfriend (named nancy wheeler)

also i’m mad mf papa is back like that bitch escaped death so many times he better die this season i hope 001 kills him

also i wonder if hawkins is a natural weak spot btw the upside down and our dimension or if it’s only bc of 001 and el’s nonsense. bc if it’s not natural i wonder how 001 got his powers in the first place. (but in general how did 001 get powers)

also is 001 the only person who naturally got powers (bc i’m pretty sure the lab kids got theirs from experiments with 001’s) or are there other kids who have them naturally we just don’t know about them. also was he born with them or did he get them when he moved to hawkins (that doesn’t make much sense tho)

does vecna have the same connection to will as the mindflare bc hive mind (is vecna even part of the hive mind)

anyways i ofc have more but i couldn’t remember them. i can elaborate more on like all these bullet points too (esp the byler one <3) but i wanted to be brief. currently screaming crying and throwing up at the thought of vol 2.

[stellarspecter]

The thing about st4 is that like... half the characters didn't get to talk to anyone?

Like Joyce and Murray are off on their own thing, hopper is in prison, will and Mike and El sort of get to hang out? But then that's quickly ruined and all el gets is lab training and backstory explanation. Jonathan gets to hang out with them and argyle a bit, but really not as much as he needs to still be a major character. The only people who get to actually hang out and talk to teach other are max, Dustin, Lucas, Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Eddie (and also Erica a bit) - basically everyone that's still in Hawkins.

And when I think about it, THIS is why this season felt more disjointed, and why I found myself caring more about max and co's stories than Joyce or el, who is supposedly the actual main character. When you separate your characters and give them maybe two other people to be consistently in scenes with, it's just so much less engaging than when the whole cast is together and interacting. Stranger things has done this since s1, but at least when they did it at first, everyone was in the same town still and you could see them affecting each other, even if they didnt notice. But with the Byers in California and Joyce and Hopper in Russia and everyone else in Indiana, it's just not as fun to watch.

I've seen some people say that the cast has gotten too big for them to juggle all the storylines well, and I definitely agree. I know that you need to add new stuff to make it interesting, but their actions should at least be affecting one another. Once el goes back to the lab, what effect is she having on the storyline except unearthing her tragic backstory? What did the Byers boys do except go to Utah and get high? And Joyce and Murray and hoppers whole thing felt like it could have been a completely separate movie, since none of the other characters even knew it was happening. I know that the season technically isn't over yet, and we've still got a few more episodes to go and wrap everything up, and I'm sure more people will reunite then. But to leave volune 1 off on this unsatisfying note, and end it with a ten minute villain monologue? Idk, it just seems like they could have woven the storylines together a lot better.

[autisticcassandracain]

Duke Thomas

the only character that matters <3 focusing mostly on how I write him and what I try to keep in mind

Under the cut bc it's a bit long, but in short the aspects I find most important to keep in mind when writing him:

Duke's a massive adrenaline junkie

His parents' influence

Duke's strong sense of personal responsibility

Duke's way of connecting with people

Duke being extremely analytical

1. Duke's a Massive Adrenaline Junkie

Seriously. TBH this might be like, my favourite part of his character. I fell in love with him the moment he reacted to being shot for the first time with 'isn't that baller'. If fandom HAS to distill him to one assigned character trait, I want it to be 'the crazy one'. On a more serious character analysis note, I think it's one of the most interesting things about his character because it was born out of trauma. He explicitly states this in We Are Robin; after all of Duke's death-defying experiences, he started craving the thrill of escaping death at the last second. You know how heroes sometimes create their own villains (and how people will argue heroes create their own villains even when they don't)? The villains of Gotham created the Signal when they decided to pull their batshit stunts. I just think it's neat!

2. His Parents' Influence

Might be a bit of a weird one to include? I think canon does pretty well on this, especially when it comes to his mom, but in fandom portrayals I find it lacking. People often slot Duke in as yet another Wayne kid, and while I don't doubt he sees certain Batfam members as family (he explicitly considers Cass his sister), I really don't think he ultimately considers himself part of the Wayne family. He was never adopted by Bruce, just fostered, and his parents are still alive and he has a strong attachment to them. I think erasing his biological family (or at least, the family he grew up with, since I guess his biological dad is a villain) in favour of the Wayne family does Duke's character a massive disservice, since so much of his identity is wrapped up in the way he grew up and especially his mom's ideals and values. Also I think it's Pretty Shitty to erase his biological Black parents in favour of Bruce, a white dude.

3. Duke's Strong Sense of Personal Responsibility

@/phamtai did a wonderful meta on it here, which I feel like I don't have much to add to bc it said pretty much everything that needs to be said. Duke considers it his personal responsibility (and, by extension, the responsibility of others) to help if he's able to do so, and even if he's unable, he needs to try. He's absolutely the kid who got into fights with bullies in school. 100% think that's what the majority of the fights referenced in We Are Robin are about lmao.

4. Duke's Way of Connecting with People

IDK how to put this? I think one of Duke's most prominent character traits is (or at least should be) the way he connects to the people around him. This manifests itself in various ways in canon. One of them is that he's a great and natural leader/team player; we see this in We Are Robin, and also in Tales of the Dark Multiverse. (Personally, I think this is one of the main ways in which Batman and the Outsiders dropped the ball on him; putting him in a team but not having him truly and properly interact with it.) In addition, he's a natural at reading people; we see this when he figures out Damian's entire psyche in like, a day, in the ways he approaches villains and mysteries (trying to connect with Daryl, figuring out the motives and secrets of Szasz' victim in The Cursed Wheel, even the way he connects to Batman), etc.

Like, Duke just has charisma and is a natural at reading and connecting with people. He can get them to believe in stuff they otherwise wouldn't, and he's great at pulling them apart and putting them back together. His first response when faced with a human problem is almost always to try and reach out and understand them, and it often pays off. (TBH it's why I'm still kinda wondering how they're gonna play the 'Daytime Vigilante' thing with him, since it's by nature a very isolating position in Gotham, and I think Duke works better with a large cast because it highlights his people skills. It's part of why I'm so pissed they're ignoring the potential of the Robin Collective in his continued story.)

5. Duke is Extremely Analytical

This is something I pay a lot of attention to when writing, because I feel like it affects pretty much all of his thought processes. Duke is, by nature, extremely analytical. He tries to pull patterns out of the world and unravel them. You can easily see this in the way he tried to challenge the Riddler as a kid, the way he approaches/uses his powers, his natural talent for detective work, etc. This talent also got nurtured by Batman's training during the Cursed Wheel, so Duke's actively using and trying to improve on it. I think it affects how he sees and interacts with the world a lot.

[ectonurites]

idk how to quote tags on mobile where is the conner kent essay i NEED it

ALRIGHT OKAY! here’s 5k+ words plus panels & screenshots of me comparing and contrasting the two drastically different versions of Superboy (comics vs young justice cartoon) and going over what makes them such distinctly separate characters. someday i’ll refine this a bit more its kinda just a word dump that’s been living in my brain that i wanted to actually articulate after i read through Reign of the Supermen but here we go:

--

Pretty frequently I see the question “Why is Superboy so different in the Young Justice cartoon?” float around in DC circles. I think there are two main approaches to answering this:

Why did the writers of the cartoon decide to create a very different version of Superboy?

What factors make this Superboy so different from the comic version?

For the first approach the answer is relatively straight-forward, from the start Young Justice as a cartoon was never meant to be a direct adaptation of the comics. They just used the title and a few elements so they could create their own approach to the DC universe with a focus on younger heroes. For example, Artemis Crock in their show is also COMPLETELY different from her comic counterpart, Zatanna is aged way down to be a member of the teen team, and Kaldur’ahm was created for this show (and integrated into the comics as Jackson Hyde). They were always trying to do different things than the main comics universe, so them making a different version of Conner also makes sense. Their approach to him is also very clearly influenced more by how he appeared in the Teen Titans comic run that was still coming out as Young Justice started airing (his design, and some other elements we’ll discuss along the way), as opposed to his original version from the 90′s/the Young Justice comic.

So the basic “why” is that from the start they wanted to create something unique to their universe, which they definitely did accomplish.

The much more interesting subject to dive into, though, is looking at the differences in Superboy’s story that contribute to him becoming such a different person. 

The drastic changes made to the following factors are what I view as the main source of his differences in personality/outlook/characterization:

The conditions and history of the world at the time he is introduced

The circumstances around him being introduced/leaving Cadmus

The reaction Clark has to him and how their relationship starts

The people he first interacted with & became close to, and how he interacts with the world

The timing of him finding out about his connection to Luthor

The State of the Worlds

In the comics, Superboy is first introduced in Adventures of Superman #500 by iconically saying “Don’t ever call me Superboy!” 

during a 1993 event called “Reign of the Supermen”, a follow up to the 1992 event “The Death of Superman”. Based on the title of the 1992 event, I think you can, uh, guess what one major difference in the setting here was vs. the state of the world at the time he was introduced in the cartoon. Obviously Clark didn’t stay dead forever, but Superboy first comes onto the scene as a young clone of Superman who insists he is the new Superman (one of the four characters trying to do so during the event). This is in the main DC universe in the early 90’s, which means that heroes in general, including teen heroes, aren’t a new thing! Not only has the Justice League been around for a while but so has the Teen Titans. Once Clark is alive again, Superboy goes off on his own to establish himself as an individual teen hero. 

So how is that different in the cartoon?

In the cartoon, Superboy is first introduced in the pilot episodes “Independence Day” and “Fireworks” 

on the 4th of July in (what most people consider to be) 2010. This was supposed to be the day that Robin (Dick Grayson), Speedy (Roy Harper), Kid Flash (Wally West), and Aqualad (Kaldur’ahm) would get to see the true Justice League HQ at the Hall of Justice, which... doesn’t go exactly as planned. 

In this world, superheroes are a newer thing, this is something that the creators have talked about before. At this point, while there is an established Justice League, there are no known teams of teen superheroes. Just the fact that as of season one Dick Grayson is still Robin is a pretty good indicator that this world is early in it’s time with a Batman. Now, the sidekicks aren’t a secret, as they appear very publicly in this first episode, but they are almost always seen acting with their mentors at this point. Again, there is no Teen Titans in this setting, and there never has been. 

So when they do form the first teen hero team? It is kept covert-ops. They do not publicize that they act as a superhero team, and the members who weren’t already publicly known heroes (mainly Miss Martian and Superboy) end up being pretty… unknown to a lot of the world outside the hero/villain community! Again their existence is not strictly kept a secret, but they keep the fact that there’s a team of minors who are heroes going on independent missions VERY under the radar on purpose. Thus, those who aren’t going around doing super public hero activities just don’t have nearly as much of a presence.

So to summarize:

In the comics, Superboy is immediately put in a spotlight (he befriends a reporter and is all over tv and literally trademarks the name Superman) becoming known to the world and establishes himself as a solo acting hero YEARS before joining any teams.

In the cartoon, Superboy is kept relatively out of the spotlight, immediately becomes part of a covert-ops team and doesn’t act solo very often. The well known teen heroes in this setting are sidekicks working under a mentor, and Superboy does not actually act as a sidekick.

What does this mean for Superboy?

Superboy in the comics gets to, right away, act on his own and get a taste of what being Superman is like. In the cartoon, he’s brought into the world at a time where there already is a Superman. I think back to this bit from the therapy episode, where he says:

“See, from the moment I first opened my eyes in that Cadmus pod, there’s been one thing I’ve wanted, and feared. To know what it is to be Superman.”

Comics Superboy started out getting to do that! He immediately got a shot at filling that role, and he then makes the choice to relinquish it back to the original once he’s alive again. He (begrudgingly at first) understood that it wasn’t yet his time to be Superman, and knows he’ll someday fill those shoes for real- but in the meantime being Superboy is gonna be his own thing and he’ll embrace it and make it work.

Cartoon Superboy is left in a shadow, not ever truly knowing what it’s like to fill those shoes (except in a doomsday scenario training exercise gone awry that he then just feels intense guilt over). This leaves him a lot more frustrated and lost, and I think is a major contributor to how angry this version of Superboy is compared to his much more ‘chill go with the flow’ attitude in the comics.

Cadmus

In the comics, in that same issue he’s introduced, we find out that Superboy broke out of his cloning tube prematurely and left Cadmus with the assistance of the second Newsboy Legion, who also gave him his first leather jacket, before the programming that would allow Cadmus to control him was implemented.

He quickly gets up to speed with the situation, that Clark is dead. So he comes on the scene starting to save people and saying he is Superman, or at least the clone of the original one. A major thing that does influence his character here is the fact that… this is the 90’s. He is designed around the idea of what is ‘cool’ back in 1993. (look, even his original character design sheets call him cool)

So right off the bat he’s got a stereotypical ‘cool teen guy in that era’ personality, which is often played for comedy to add a little lightness to some of the dark things happening during this event. 

Anyways, he has left Cadmus, he’s acting on his own, and he starts realizing that his powers aren’t exactly the same as Superman’s over the course of the Reign of the Supermen story.

After the main conflict is settled and Clark is fully alive and acting as Superman again, the two of them end up going back to Cadmus to find out what the exact deal is with him. I’ll go into this more in a later point, but they find out he’s not exactly a clone of Superman (or Lex- him being actually involved as a DNA donor is a retcon that happened a decade later). They agree to let someone from Cadmus (Dubbilex- the grey guy with the horns in this pic) leave Metropolis with him, as he sets out on a press tour to establish himself as Superboy now that he relinquished the trademark on the Superman name back to Clark. 

Let’s pause and look at how this is different in the cartoon.

In the cartoon, when the trio of Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad decide to prove themselves to their mentors they run off on their own to attend to a fire at Project Cadmus when the Justice League got called off to do something else. Upon arriving, they accidentally uncover some weird things about Cadmus, like the crazy amount of sublevels, the creatures roaming around, and the fact that it’s not on the main power grids. They eventually find Superboy, still in his cloning tube. They break him out, but then get captured themselves.

When they are then put into tubes by Cadmus personnel, they manage to convince Superboy to help free them by promising him things like getting to meet Superman, and see the moon. The group of four now working together manages to escape from the building and it topples down, where they are then greeted by the Justice League who are Not Happy.

Superman flies away shortly after, and the group of kids explain to their remaining mentors that sure, they disobeyed orders, but they accomplished something good here, and they are going to keep doing it, whether the League likes it or not. The compromise is the formation of The Team, to be covert-ops while the Justice League acts publicly, and the boys are joined by Miss Martian.

So to summarize:

In the comics, Superboy leaves Cadmus pretty independently (with some assistance) to go act on his own as a hero immediately. He returns to Cadmus later for more information, and they reveal truths to him about his existence. After he knows his truth, he goes off to continue establishing himself as a solo hero but lets Cadmus still supervise what he’s doing through Dubbilex.

In the cartoon, Superboy is rescued from Cadmus by Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad, without knowing pretty much anything about himself besides the fact that he is a clone of Superman, and is immediately put on the covert ops team. 

What it means for Superboy:

Comic Superboy goes to act on his own, even after he admits he’s not the real Superman anymore. Yes he’s not 100% alone in terms of ‘he’s got people (Rex, Roxy, Dubbilex, Tana) around him’, but as a hero he’s a solo act and ends up taking residence in Hawaii. In the cartoon, by joining a team right away, he’s taking on a very different style of being a hero, especially because the team itself is covert-ops. Rather than regularly saving the day all on his own much like Superman, which can help comic Superboy feel like he’s still living up to the name more, cartoon Superboy is working under the radar in a group setting, while still wanting to desperately fill those Superman shoes. 

He is overconfident in his abilities and wants to be the hero he was created to be, so him being put into this very different type of superhero situation is another major contributor to the frustration/anger. Even later on when comics Superboy is part of forming the Young Justice team, they were never a secret covert-ops team, they were always publicly known. (hell, a reporter is the one who gave them the team name Young Justice because he’d misheard Bart)

Superboy & Superman

In the comics, as we have established, Clark was dead at the time Superboy first came on the hero scene. Clark comes back to life, during a little bit of a lull in the middle of the huge conflict. He immediately accepts that Superboy is one of four who came forward to try to replace him, and one of the only two (Superboy & Steel) who genuinely only had good intentions in doing so. Clark, Steel, Supergirl, Hal Jordan, and Superboy then all work together in the big battle against the Cyborg Superman.

Once things are settled, Clark is curious about him, and where he came from and his origin, so they end up going to Cadmus together with Guardian and learning more about him, as I previously mentioned. Once it is established that Superboy is in fact a metahuman clone who was created to mimic Superman, but is not actually a clone of him, Superman still accepts him and thinks he’s earned his right to continue using the ’S’ shield and have the name of Superboy. 

They part ways so Superboy can go on his press tour, but in general they have pretty positive interactions where they mutually respect each other! Not too much later in the comics even (I forget exaaactly when this happens but it’s definitely before the 1998 Young justice comic), Superman is the first one to give Superboy a real name, “Kon-El”, something he is so happy about he literally cries.

How is this different in the cartoon? 

When the boys first escaped, and Superboy first meets the Justice League, Clark is standoffish. Other members of the league need to nudge him over to go actually talk to Superboy, and it’s not much of a conversation before he flies off and away, leaving Superboy frustrated and alone.

This… turns into the standard for almost the entire first season. Other characters constantly telling Clark that he needs to reach out and be support for the boy (like in this iconic diner scene with Bruce and Clark), but Clark consistently being too freaked out by the fact that someone made a clone of him without his knowledge to properly accept Conner. While this does over time get better, this being the immediate reaction when Superboy is brand new in the world definitely… has an impact! 

He is rejected by the person he idolizes, and feels neglected and abandoned, and definitely kinda overcompensates with ego to try to make up for it. 

So:

In the comics, Superman and Superboy work together from the start, not falling into a hero/sidekick situation but rather acknowledging each other as individual heroes with respect for one another. They grow to see each other as family much faster, and little tension between them. A crucial difference in situations, though, is that at the time these versions first meet Superboy is not actually a clone of Superman.

In the cartoon, Superman at first avoids Superboy, and does not offer guidance or mentorship or anything the boy needs. It is clear that he wants to work with Superman and be like him, since it was what he was created to do. It takes a lot of time for Clark to accept Conner in this setting, and there is a lot of tension for the first several months Conner exists. (they seem to settle this towards the end of season 1/during the gap between season 2, but it still has it’s impact on who Conner is early in his life)

What does this mean?

I feel like this is another major factor that contributes to Conner being so angry all the time in the cartoon, he feels immediately rejected by the person he’s supposed to be someday, rather than accepted by him. Again, very different from how comics Superboy got a chance to be Superman, and a chance to then work with the real deal as equals. 

Friendships, Relationships and Identity

When Superboy is freed by the second Newsboy Legion, it’s primarily out of a ‘we’re clones who are stuck here, but you need to be out there, you’re what Metropolis needs right now!’ kind of idea. The first person he actually becomes close to is a reporter named Tana Moon.

Tana and Superboy’s relationship is… bad once it actually becomes romantic due to their huge age difference (she’s around 23, he is for all intents and purposes 16), but during the Reign of the Supermen where they’re still just friends for the most part, it’s not as bad. Tana becomes the GBS correspondent who focuses on everything Superboy (at this time still insisting he is the new Superman) is doing as a hero, and they become close friends.

GBS then also brings in Rex Leech (and his daughter Roxy) to be his agent, to promote Superboy and manage things for him. Rex is exploitative as hell, but Roxy does become another really important person to Superboy. These characters along with Dubbilex are his main supporting cast at the start of his solo comic when he’s in Hawaii.

In this whole era, Superboy is pretty much a celebrity. He’s cool, he’s a superhero, and I think it’s very notable he does not have a secret Identity. For a decent chunk of time, he is always just ‘Superboy’ (until, as I mentioned earlier, Clark gives him the name Kon-El. Even so, he doesn’t adopt a regular secret identity [Conner Kent, although he actually used a different one, Carl Grummett, before that!] until he begins living with the Kents in the early 2000s). By the time he joins any teams, Kon is pretty damn confident in who he is as a hero and has a relatively good grasp on who he is in general, if anything he’s a little too confident.

Young Justice was created in the aftermath of World Without Grown Ups when the trio of Superboy, Robin (Tim Drake) and Impulse (Bart Allen) had teamed up. After they saved the day they realized they worked well together and formed their team, utilizing the old Justice League base in Mount Justice. They were eventually joined by more members, especially relevant here is Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark) who Kon later dates for a portion of the Teen Titans run that these four are in after Young Justice ends. 

The four of them become close, and when Kon dies during Infinite Crisis it rips a hole in everything they had established growing up together over the past several years (Cassie joins a cult dedicated to bringing him back, Tim tries to clone a new Kon, Bart got aged up and took on the mantle of the Flash, etc) and Bart’s death that followed similarly shook the remaining Cassie and Tim. This group eventually does get to reunite, with Kon and Bart coming back during Final Crisis, solidifying how even things like death don’t keep them apart for long. It’s hard to look at the comic book versions of these four characters and imagine how they would be without their connections to each other... until you look at the YJ cartoon and see a world where they’re not even all part of the same generation, let alone a friend group.

Now in the cartoon…

The first people Conner primarily interacts with are Dick, Wally, Kaldur, and M’gann, along with the League members who interact with The Team pretty regularly, Red Tornado, Batman, and Black Canary. He’s shown to be friends with the other memebers of the team and get along with them relatively well, but in general he’s not much of a social person. 

Much like in the comics, Superboy is considered very attractive, and immediately upon their meeting, M’gann is interested in him. Very, very interested in him.

At first it definitely does seem more just like an innocent crush, but it’s later revealed to be a little more… concerning than that. As in ‘Megan subtlety influencing Superboy to become her dream boyfriend based on a TV show she likes’ concerning. Like… she literally gives him the name ‘Conner’ after the TV show character that was the boyfriend of the character she bases her human self and entire identity on. The two date and once that becomes a thing, a lot of their plot lines in the following seasons revolve around the ups and downs of their relationship.

In general in this show, Superboy doesn’t really get much of a chance to establish himself on his own terms. Within months of him leaving his cloning pod, he and M’gann start going to high school with secret identities, so he’s already having to hide who he truly is to blend in with other people, before he even knows who he truly is. 

So to compare:

In the comics, Superboy gets to figure out who he is as Superman’s Clone/Superboy very publicly, has multiple love interests and a celebrity status, and over time becomes part of a tight-knit group of friends. He doesn’t use a regular secret identity for the first several years he’s active.

In the cartoon, Superboy has one love interest with a very large impact on him, not nearly as much focus is given to his other friendships, and he immediately adopts a secret identity meaning he needs to hide who he is from the start. 

What it means:

These factors play a big difference in his attitude, particularly highlighting how extroverted his comic version is and how introverted his cartoon version is. Comic Superboy never really needed to hide who he was until years into his career, vs being told to do so early on in his life. When you get used to needing to hide things so early, that can definitely lead to being more private/disconnected from others. Also somewhat related- in the comics, when Kon is given knowledge in his cloning tube, more pop culture got included. He mentions knowing Star Wars without having seen it, and references a ton of TV and Movies, vs the cartoon version of him that seems to have been given a lot of history of the world but not the current fun stuff. It’s the difference between knowing what’s going on in the world and what’s popular, vs only knowing the past and what’s fundamental. Not knowing pop culture like this can also really contribute to feeling alienated and lead to introversion. (I just... I think about how in the comics Kon’s favorite TV show is Wendy The Werewolf Stalker, in the cartoon Conner just... watches white noise static)

Also, having a completely different set of friends with different personalities has a big effect, people are always gonna be influenced by the people they’re close to to some extent. Bumping Conner up to Dick’s generation of heroes instead of Tim’s not only gives him completely different friends, but it also puts him in this position of being one of the ‘Original Team Members’. By this I mean, a member of the first iteration of the only teen team, one of the people that younger heroes coming onto the scene and joining the team in later seasons see as an experienced and older team member to look up to (despite the fact that cartoon Conner is permanently 16- they never fixed that for him like in the comics). That just creates a different dynamic entirely, because in the comics even when the Tim/Kon/Cassie/Bart group are more experienced on their team late in the Teen Titans run, they are still always going to have heroes like Dick Grayson, Donna Troy, Wally West etc as the older generation of ‘original teen heroes’ who came before them.

Also, while I am talking mostly about in-universe reasoning here, I do wanna bring up one slightly more meta reason that might also have contributed to them choosing to go for a more ‘introverted brooding hero’ characterization with him: the fact that their version of Wally already filled the ‘flirty jokey’ archetype original Comics Kon fits into. Having two characters like that in the show from the start would definitely get... overwhelming. And at the time this show was first airing, in the comics, he was relatively devoted to Cassie and not nearly as flirty anymore anyways.

Lex Luthor / Details of Cloning

In the comics, as I have already mentioned and will now actually explain, when Superboy was first introduced he was not the clone of Superman and Lex Luthor as we know him to be today. Kon was a metahuman clone, made with the DNA of Paul Westfield who worked at Cadmus, that they genetically altered to look like Superman, and gave powers based on the energy aura they discovered to exist around Clark’s dead body. This telekinetic field gave Kon the distinct powers he had for his first decade of existence: His Tactile Telekinesis (often referred to by him as TTK)

Lex Luthor was originally not directly involved in his creation, but he was aware that it was going on as is revealed during the Reign of the Supermen arc. Kon’s TTK allowed him to mimic Superman’s flight and strength, but not all of his powers. TTK also gave him powers Superman DOESN’T have, such as his ability to dismantle machinery or mold materials he is touching into different shapes. (The reason this is called Tactile Telekinesis is because there needs to be a tactile element, he needs to be touching the things) 

It is not until 2003, a decade after Superboy was created, that writer Geoff Johns in his Teen Titans run decided to alter Superboy’s origin. He established that Lex Luthor had been the real human DNA donor and that Superman’s Kryptonian DNA was actually used in the cloning process. Around this time, Conner also begins to exhibit more of the typical Kryptonian powers, like Clark did around this age. 

This information is at first only known by Conner and Tim, because the email had actually been sent to Tim directly. The two keep it a secret as Conner was not ready to tell the rest of the team, because he fears the implications it has, and is afraid of becoming evil or being rejected. This revelation about Lex being one of his ‘parents’ DNA-wise coming years into his hero career changes a lot of things for Conner, and makes him begin to question who he is. Unfortunately, Lex does at one point take control of Conner and force him to break Tim’s arm and attack Cassie directly (as well as the rest of the team, but these two specifically are what Conner expresses the most guilt over after the fact). This era of Conner in the comics is where he’s definitely closest to his cartoon counterpart, because he’s very troubled and dealing with a lot of heavy stuff regarding himself as a person. Yet there’s still traces of who he has always been in there. I mean, if you’re only familiar with cartoon Conner, can you really imagine his final words as he’s dying after saving the world being “Isn’t it cool?”

Now, looking at the cartoon…

Conner finds out about his connection to Lex in November, only a few months after having existed outside of a cloning tube. He finds it out on his own, from Lex speaking to him directly, after Conner went back to investigate the remains of Cadmus and ended up having a fight with Match (another clone who is able to pass for Conner’s duplicate who they… their version of Match is another thing they drastically changed from the comic version but as we’ve established that’s something they like to do so I’m not gonna dwell on it).

In the cartoon, Conner’s powerset is, from the start, different from both Superman and comic Superboy. Here he has heightened senses and strength and the ability to leap really far, but he lacks actual flight and some of the other standard Kryptonian powers, and has no TTK. The cartoon explains these gaps in his powers as being due to his half human DNA, and they introduce these patches that are able to suppress his human DNA and give him temporary access to full powers. Lex uses these patches as a way to manipulate him. Much like in the comics, Lex has a code word programmed into Conner that effects him, although it isn’t quite used for the same amount of ‘total mind control’, and he doesn’t get fully brainwashed and turn against the team or anything. Instead, the code word (here “Red Sun” rather than “Aut vincere, aut mori” [Translated as “to conquer or die" / "victory or death”]) just leaves him stuck in a hypnotic trance.

So:

In the comics, Kon finds out after years of believing he was a metahuman clone who was given powers to mimic Superman, that he is actually a clone of Lex Luthor and Superman, which alters his entire perspective on himself! This causes him to become a lot more unsure and anxious about who he is, in stark contrast with how confident he was before. There are still traces of his old self within him, but this is a development in his character that influences him moving forward, making him a bit more serious but still at his core the same person he used to be.

In the cartoon, Conner finds out after months of thinking he was a clone of just Superman, that he has half human DNA and the donor was Lex Luthor. While he always had confidence in his abilities, he was still somewhat lost as a person in knowing who he really was outside of things other people have assigned to him (teammate, boyfriend, superhero, etc), and finding out this information about himself just adds to the uncertainty and frustration.

What it means:

Having this struggle be something Conner has to deal with so early in his existence is one of the most fundamental changes in my opinion. Finding out that Lex Luthor is one of your clone parents is something that will alter your entire perception of yourself and who you are! In the comics, Conner had already been confident in who he was so it shakes his world in a really big way, but in the cartoon he still didn’t know who he really was so it just adds to further confusion. 

I think that even with the more serious characterization Kon starts getting in the 2003 Teen TItans run, his history and past as the fun cool 90′s Metropolis Kid isn’t entirely forgotten, it’s still a part of who he is/was. Sure, maybe he’s sometimes even embarrassed by how he used to be, but it’s not treated as though it didn’t happen. All of his history comes together to create the character and who he is by the time he wears just a T shirt as a costume.

By skipping over the fun era of his life and jumping right into who he was when he started facing these huge changes, it creates such a completely different set of challenges for him and that contributes directly to how he’s characterized. 

Putting it all together

The ultimate point I am trying to reach in all of this is that, beyond just ‘they made a writing choice to make him different’ the environment that Superboy was brought into and the events that took place right when he came into the world greatly influenced the type of character he would become. Every time an adaptation is made of something like comics, there are going to be changes and alterations to fit the world the creators want to make. Sometimes these changes are minor and don’t actually change who a character is (an example for the YJ cartoon’s universe itself: In the tie-in comics [issue 6] it’s established in this universe that the Flying Graysons weren’t just Dick and his parents, but other family members were active parts of it too. One was an uncle also named Richard, who actually survived the fall that killed the rest of his family but was left paralyzed and thus unable to care for him. This uncle already used the nickname ‘Rick’ which is likely why Dick ended up using ‘Dick’ as a name in a modern setting even though it has fallen out of popularity as a nickname because uh, connotations. This is something that is mostly unique to their world and helps to explain some things, but it’s not like tragically losing a few more family members changed their version of Dick and his backstory that drastically. At his core, he still has many similarities to his comic self) but they’re still changes, and that’s okay. Superboy, though, is such an extreme case where they made so many changes that at his core he really does become a completely separate character. Sure he has the name and design, but I was able to write five thousand words about differences here and am struggling to come up with more similarities beyond that.

I think there still could be specks of the original Superboy buried inside cartoon Conner, and that maybe he could have been more like his original version under other circumstances. Looking at these differences and where they come from is, I think, a cool way to begin to understand what elements contribute to who each version of Conner Kent really is. I think it’s clear from how I wrote this that I prefer the comic version, but there are definitely things that are fun to look at and think about with both.

--

if u read all of this UH thanks for listenin to me ramble! sorry if this is incomprehensibe!

[blondiexe]

About “I’m Not Starfire”…

So I’ve been following the drama with this knew YA graphic novel coming out called “I’m Not Starfire”.  This graphic novel has been the subject of debate for a bit because of it’s premise and use of characters (designs and use).

The premise of the novel is about a girl named Mandy who struggles with her sexuality, looks, and other superficial stuff.  Now, I say superficial because her mother’s motherfucking Starfire.  As in Teen Titans Starfire.  As in the bubbly alien girl that has to deal with learning about new cultures and is fiercely protective and supportive of her friends despite their origins.

From what we’ve seen so far, Starfire is depicted as a model-like social figure that doesn’t really care for her daughter and only wants to control her future.  She wears a courtesan-like outfit in one of her shown appearances and in another dresses like a model on the cover of a magazine with Mandy.  Those who know Starfire’s character know that she would be the BEST mother EVER, spoiling her child with affection and providing them with the same fierce protection and support that she gives her friends.  She also already has a daughter with Dick Grayson aka Robin named Mar’i (Mari? Idk) Grayson aka Nightfire in a short spinoff series.  I think she also has a son or two but I don’t really know.  What’s important is that Starfire already has a daughter.

Now let’s talk about the main character, Mandy.  She’s overweight, “goth”, emo in a way, hates the world, and thinks that everyone’s out to get her.  Now, I know someone that acts just like this, and I cut her out of my life because of the vibe arsenic that she leached into the air like spores whenever she disagreed with someone.  Mandy is NOT Mar’i, obviously, and is an obvious self-insert of the author.  Mar’i looks more like her parents than Mandy looks like her own mother.  She’s meant to appeal to someone, but fortunately only appeals to the author that made her.  Her personality mainly consists of “lesbian” and “it’s not a phase, mom”.

Now, the story.  She skips her S.A.T.s and wants to run away to Paris with her crush (which atm is basically a cardboard cutout but the outline of one).  Starfire, in what we’ve seen, is exactly how we’d think she’d be as a mom with this demon kid.  In one of the shown scenes that we’ve been shown, she buys a shitton of Chinese takeout and tries to help her daughter decide on which college she wants to go to.  Mandy completely ignores her, storming off to her room claiming that she “doesn’t understand” her.  I’m trying to figure out college right now, and I would be extremely happy to have help from my mom.  Starfire didn’t do ANYTHING to “pry into her life”.  She’s doing what any mother  of a hormonal teenage daughter would have done: understand her or reach an understand her.

So, obviously, this book sucks so far.  The story came right out of Hallmark or Lifetime’s corporate dumpster, the character should have the superhero name of Dumpsterfire because of her personality and design (I mean that outfit’s ATROCIOUS honey what were you thinking), and there’s nothing fantastical about this fantasy story besides Starfire herself and I think Blackfire?

Now we talk about how to fix this.

1. Fix the story.  Firstly, make the superhero part of the superhero aspect actually a thing.  Give “Mandy” a watered-down version of her mother’s powers to actually make her appear to actually be Starfire’s daughter.  She’s an alien for Christ’s sake, her daughter’s bound to have her genetics.  Have the main conflict be about how Starfire’s been protecting her from being a hero and how she’s been trying to push her to have a normal life.  But she can’t, because she looks half-alien and has powers regardless of how her mother and father have been pushing her in other directions.  Oh yeah, and add in Dick.  He’s her father and Starfire’s one true love, for the love of Pete!  You can make “Mandy” struggle with having to balance her life with her abilities and family history as well as the pressure of living up to her parents and extended family (the collective Waynes). This also adds in Blackfire as the villain, trying to fuck with her sister’s life because she’s bored or some shit.

2. Fix the main character.  “Mandy” should be more goth than emo. Goth is all about the style and mindset, which is more along the lines of seeing the beautiful in the macabre and morbid.  Think Addams Family.  Make her happy with life, but anxious because of life stuff.  That way, most teens can actually relate to her.  She should also have a different design. Make her more fit due to her parents’ lifestyle and that fact that her mom might not be able to gain weight (might just be speculation I might need to find a source for this).  Give her slightly darker skin because her mom’s FUCKING ORANGE.  Also, Nightfire’s RIGHT THERE.  Take elements from her design, like her naturally dark hair.  She can still be gay because the youths can relate and also with the fixed character this can be good representation. Because right now it sure isn’t. Also, give her a hobby.  Goth and gay isn’t a personality.  Make her an artist of sort.  “Artist” can mean anything, from painting to theatre.  Make us care about her and her struggles.  Also, that outfit can be fixed.  Like what is that on the top half of her body like wtf.  She should also have a personality quirk like a social thing because of how she’s treated by those around her.  If my parents were famous I’d feel like no one paid attention to me besides my accomplishments, making me really quiet and a doormat.  The main character is the main focus of the book, so making them appealing is the most important thing here besides a compelling story.

3. Make other characters three-dimensional.  This should be self-explanatory.  Make the side characters fit the story and have their own personality.  What makes the love interest so great? What’s her deal?  Make them almost if not as appealing as the main character.  Basic stuff.

So there you go.  Oh, before I go, here’s what I liked:

Starfire’s design besides her clothes and the art style, even though it fits better on WEBTOON than as an official DC graphic novel. 

[departea-archive-again]

HYSTERIA HEIGHTS / INTRODUCTION

status: being planned out, will possibly post some drabbles and excerpts around november, since i'm focusing on the palms universe for nano. genre: suburban goth meet scifi fantasy noir or idk really just speculative fiction  setting:  the town of hysteria heights. which, if you're familiar with my palms universe, is a universe that takes place on a different planet where superpowers and doors to different universes exist. but, while the 'bury me deep' story takes place when claudia (the main lead of this and bury me deep) is in her mid-thirties, this takes place when she's 20. the aesthetic is very 1960s and 1970s and while superpowers exist, they're not a big issue unless they're dangerous. pov: the story will be in 3rd person, but some drabbles might be in 2nd or 1st, since i’m just exploring. warnings: some horror elements / nightmares and unreality / death / people not coming back quite right / missing people / medical abuse

ABOUT:

Claudia prides herself on being observant, until it hits her that she's been blind to her environment her whole life. While she was able to leave town to attend college with her best friend Robin Kang, not many other people have been able to leave. There are stories that, if they try, they come back different or wrong. She's witnessed it firsthand with her cousin but it never became obvious until her friend Kit disappeared, came back, and wasn't the conspiracy theorist she knew and loved. Not only that, but other people have been known to go missing and come back different as well. Some blame it on the town's luck, some blame the government, but Claudia's curious about why she was able to leave unscathed. She also wants to know why the others come back wrong, and if it has anything to do with the doors and objects people whisper about that have the ability to take you another world.

While Claudia's not exactly sure she believes in doors to other universes, she does often dream of the missing and sees the dead while she's awake. She even has slight echos of thoughts thrown her way when she's in the company of a grieving family member. It's all too much, and very confusing, but she wants to learn more.

However, if she learns more, there may be a price to pay. And it's not something small...

FEATURES:

stepford housewive-esque suburban drama but with a twist / weird town shenanigans / family drama / found family / dark comedy / superpowers being used like they're just part of life / best friends turned lovers / wlw romance / though some people die or go missing, most people of color survive

TAGS:

#wip: hysteria heights / #writing: hysteria heights

PINTEREST: CLICK ON SOURCE

CHARACTERS: (WILL ADD LINKS EVENTUALLY)

claudia daviau - has the gift of intuition and is basically haunted by her gift, her nightmares, and the fact that she knows where her missing brother is and that she almost died the same night he did....yet can't contact him from the beyond. also a sassy little shit with a heart of gold. quite sad and paranoid because she only gets severely ill whenever she's in hysteria heights.

robin kang - to add

susana daviau - to add

kit robinson - to add

more but i'll get there ...

tag list: @gothamrains​ @blackburnannie​, @adelaide-kane / @yuriperhaps

[wisdomssdaughterr]

Okay I know we always keep talking about but yeah I am so excited to see the whole fucking town in shambles!!! Like we said there’s no ignoring it and also there’s no ignoring the fact that the protagonists were also always there at the center of this shit. Like so many things would add up to everyone but also at the same time no one would be able to actually know what is happening. With Eddie and all the new characters being added (which why did they add so many?) i fucking hope that we actually get some other perspectives of the main characters. Idk I just think it would be so refreshing and nice. Also like it would be so cool for Eddie to be the one interested and suspicious. Like not only would the whole group be on edge but also ever single character would. Which adds a twist because now it’s like: who do you trust anymore? It’s all been about the government and how the protagonists can’t trust them but now you have an added point of everyone being so fucking suspicious. The protagonists would only trust each other and be somewhat (saying that because they also trust others but not fully like we saw that with max,Robin, Murray) suspicious around others. Because now they’ve been hurt so many times and you have the mess of them also knowing that others can be possessed and how easily that can actually happen.

Okay yes with everything about what you said with Steve and Barb. Like it did make him seem like he wasn’t as affected with the dinner thing as Nancy was. Because I love the ‘finger licking good’ line but when they say that they are selling the house to find an investigator it just seems like Steve wasn’t affected by that line. Like yeah he takes the card and is the first to say something but also it wasn’t as impactful. Now moving on because I find this so much more interesting and we keep talking about Steve with Barb and the trauma. So you said about unconscious self sabotage and I didn’t even think of that. I kinda just thought ‘oh this is how they’re developing the character’ lol. But anyway I find that so interesting because I can totally see that happening. Because also the relationship that Steve had was with someone who knew about everything and also had trauma. And well that didn’t work out well.. a major reason that the relationship didn’t last was because Nancy knew about the upside down and the trauma. Like how would a romantic or friendship (because Steve and Nancy were also friends and I will be forever pissed that they forgot about that aspect of their relationship) work if already the one relationship he had blew up in his face? I know Nancy and Steve wouldn’t have worked out if they didn’t know about the upside down, because while I love them there is no way that they would have lasted that long. But now you have the part that both of them knew about everything so like how would Steve who had this trauma work with someone who knows jack shit? I think it even shows in the in between times of season 1 and season 2 with the fact that Steve doesn’t have any friends in season 2. There is a whole year between this time and he is popular. Like yeah you have the whole dropping the crown thing but also like how did other people take that? How did other people take Steve not being ‘the king’ anymore? Like would some people not get the gist and try to talk to him? Like we know that Jonathan is a loner and Nancy had Barb as her best friend. So like there really isn’t much to expand on them except for maybe the fact that we don’t know how the others reacted with Nancy. So like how would Steve take to others wanting to be ‘friends’ and wanting to know what happened? There’s so much that they could expand but also couldn’t because they have a short run time and they have to pack a ton of shot into there.

Yeah Steve and Will have so many parallels that is so amazing!! Also yes if Steve does get possessed it would tie him so much to Will in a way that the others wouldn’t understand. Ugh, there is just so much and I want them to have more scenes together. Like god they only have one scene together. And that scene is with max, lucas, and Mike. When mike is ringing the bell at scoops to get into the movies and when he repaeats along with everyone else ‘we’re dead’. Which shows that they definitely did this so many times before and yet we don’t get to see any of it. Like where were the kids worry about Steve having his face bashed in? Where was Steve’s worry about the kids? There is so much content that gets lost because they have so much content to bring into the series. Which also I want an el and Steve team up so bad!! god they would be so good. And yes Steve would have no idea how to handle el with superpowers. Because in that scene with max and El Steve just kinda says ‘are you even allowed to be here’ when they get ice cream. And then he completely is just like ‘okay’ when they laugh at his question. He was legit just like ‘this is not my problem let hopper take care of this.’ Which also I need hopper and Steve content because when Steve was telling the Russians that hopper would come and the gov would also come. He was so confident that hopper would come and rescue them. It was such an instinctual hope there and knowing that he would come!!

Anyway okay I have a feeling that Steve (although being with the other teenagers) is going to be a huge part with the kids. I’ve seen that poster or photo or whatever with Steve and the kids. Which is interesting in the least because it’s just so weird. Also now with what we know of with time travel it seems like we might get something more from Steve. Like even though he has played an important role in other seasons: it really seems like he’s going to get an even bigger/major role in this season. With what we’ve said that Steve should get more of the responsible role but also it seems like there’s going to be more. Do you think Steve with the kids in that poster or whatever the fuck you call it was just weird or like do you think it’s something interesting? Because now everyone’s convinced that something is wrong with their promotion/how they’re selling this season so like it could just be something weird. But idk

I really hope they do play into this idea of mid-west small town hysteria / satanic panic. like that was already a big thing / issue in the 80s but when it happens in a town that is swarmed with these conspiracy theories that are more than just speculation but are intertwined with deaths and strange occurrences that is only going to make people more paranoid and insane. and it'll be even harder for the hawkins gang to deal with because they have to balance not being able to tell anyone the truth, being outsiders in a time where that was the worst thing you could possibly be, and having to figure if these "supernatural" claims people are making are linked to the upside down or if they're simply this mass hysteria mixed with a religious agenda.

I do think there are many cool ways to go with eddie's character! I have a feeling that he will play a heavy hand in kind of kick starting this "satanic panic" beyond the other weird things that have happened in hawkins. the most believable theory I believe is that he will have something to do with chrissy (the other new character who's seems to be this preppy cheerleader type) and her death. somehow (probably via the upside down since that seems to be hawkins main issue while the cali gang has the lab to deal with) she'll die and eddie will be linked to it. and bc he's this dnd playing teen who probably strays away from the conventional, all american boy it'll be easy to sort of slap that accusation on him, right. then this could rope in dustin to "defend" eddie's honor bc he's this cool dude that dustin now knows (I think it'll be interesting if they kind of do this like "opposite" big brother/mentor thing with eddie and steve and dustin. but it turns out that eddie and steve aren't that different once they get to know each other). and then this ropes eddie into the hawkins gang's hunt for whatever upside down bullishit they have to face now. but, like you said, no one is sure who they can true so there's just a lot of tension between everyone and everyone is scared that they'll make their wrong move and be accused of something or of being "different."

yeah, I find it hard to believe that everyone just like dropped steve? like just because he stopped hanging around tommy and carol (and with their personalities there is no way everyone loved them and was friends with them, there's no way in hell lol), I don't understand how he could have fallen so fast and end up with no friends? like he has so many qualities to his personality that he had to have had more friends than just those two. friends don't just drop you like that. so, kind of along with that self-sabotage theory, maybe he isolated himself on purpose between season one and two and only relied on Nancy's relationship and poured everything into that because in reality she is the one person who understand him on a level that no one else ever really could. and then when she left him, he was left all alone because he made it that way. now he's trying to like undo all the damage he did trying to be alone for he sake no hurting anyone else or dragging them into his mess, but it's like impossible because shit keeps happening with monsters and russians and stuff and he can't stop it. so he's in this loop of distance himself from people as to not hurt them but he keeps hurting himself in the process.

steve and will, el, and hopper content is all must! like steve would already lay down his life for will (for any of them, the kids especially) but he would have like one real one-on-one conversation with will over something probably not even that important and as soon as it was over steve would be like "I've had will for five mins, but if anything else happened to him I'd kill everyone in this room and then my self." steve and el would be so wholesome but is such a strange way. like el is just this strange and weird kid and steve would have no idea how to approach her. but they'd really quickly figure out one really specific thing they both liked and it would bond them for life. and the steve and hopper!! hopper accidentally adopting another kid without a presence father figure in his life!! even if steve is technically an adult hopper would still lump him in with the kids, but not in a condescending kind of way but in a "I'm trying to keep you alive, dumbass" kind of way, you know?

okay that promo for those game/snack food/ whatever the fuck posters were so weird and I don't want to believe they're real but they have to be, right? I honestly have no clue but I do think it's interesting how steve is the only teen pictured with the kids. like I want to believe it means something bigger than it actually does (it could just be because steve is a fan favorite and for promotional reasons it seemed like the right now to slap is face on the poster) BUT I hope it means that steve played an even bigger and more serious role when it comes to this season. like I hope he is a key piece in whatever puzzle they're trying to solve and I want it to give me angsty steve instead of comic relief steve

[astro-inky]

fuck you, godly parents one piece au (not necessarily pjo but can be i guess????)

oh and as for canon bio parents uhhhhhhhhhhhh (ignores)

I think Luffy would definitely be a son of Hermes (god of thieves, travelers, merchants). No explanation just vibing with the idea.

Ares (god of violent war, rage and all that stuff) is a pretty obvious choice for Zoro.....but damn am i tempted to make him a son of Dionysus just for shits and giggles bc “haha alcohol”. but i think Ares is a much more fitting choice haha

honestly?? like for real?? Nami as a daughter of Poseidon (god of seas, storms, horses). I’m gonna say it right here and now since we’re doing this: I feel like i see a lot of people put main female characters in the Aphrodite area of Greek god/godly children aus and I’m not into it. or maybe I’m just seeing things lol idk. anyway, i think it fits her well cause she knows how to navigate waters well and uses storm related abilities in canon so...yeah I’m liking this placement

Usopp was kinda hard to pinpoint who’s godly parent i wanted assigned to him. i thought about Apollo, since hes the god of archery (among MANY other things) and it fits with my mans cool ass sniper skills. but it didnt fit that much. i thought about Demeter since he has those plant things post ts, but still didnt fit with the vibes. and then it hit me.....now here me out, stay with me.....Usopp as a son Zeus (god of the sky, thunder, lightning, King of the Gods)... now LISTEN. I feel like that parallels well with his canon relationship with his father, his dad being a pirate and him wanting to live up to that but viewing himself as weak. and Zeus is the king of the gods and I THINK THAT ITS A COOL MIRROR OK!! let me have this, i want him to be a son of Zeus with no major powers but tries to prove himself anyway ok. Also God Usopp.

Now look...I agree, Apollo would have been a GREAT choice for Sanji. Flirty, blonde (is most interpertations), poetic, extremely bisexual...theres a lot of parallels u could make. BUT. Consider MY opinion: Sanji as a son of Aphrodite (Goddess of love, beauty, lust, sexuality). Flirty TO THE MAX. He’s ball about love!! Even if canon wont show it, my boi is in love with love. and hes rlly pretty i think. He’s the type to use a winky face at an enemy in an attempt to distract them (in my opinion lol). Lust, sexuality, love...it’s HIM guys. like i wanna write a deep character study fic on this now just cause i love this idea so much. (also my zosan shipping ass seeing Ares and Aphrodite like—)

If we wanna go basic than we can assign Chopper with Apollo since he is a god of medicine and healing. BUT. Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing who is a son of Apollo, seems like much better pick. thats all this one was simple and i love my son

I really couldnt decide whether to make Robin a daughter of Persephone (goddess of spring, queen of the underworld; it goes with her aesthetic and her flower related powers what a queen) or Hecate (goddess of magic and witchcraft i just want a cool witchy power theme here). i still cant decide tbh. I think I’m going with Persephone tho.

My mind immedeitly went to Hephaestus, god of blacksmiths, forges and fire for Franky. I cant think of anything else tbh reblog with ur ideas if u got them

NOW we got a child of Apollo and his name is Brook. now THIS is who Apollo would fit and i wont take no for an answer. The music, the pervetedness, the art, the wisdom. It FITS damn it! And brook’s laugh....is like the sun........bright and amazing and gives me life.

i know it would probably fit Jinbei to put him with Poseidon....and it would create an interesting dynamic with him and Nami. But LOOK. i want everyone having different parents because why not? so what about Ceto, ancient goddess of sea monsters? i think it would be cool in this au for the fishmen to be children of the sea monster goddess and for jinbei to be one of them and still have some of his fish features ok? I would love opinions on this lol

thats all i got feel free to add ur own opinions to this lol

[nightwingmyboi]

Hey so I was wondering about Dick's Romanian heritage. Is it mentioned a lot in comics or media? Is he dark skinned in any adaptations? Is it true he originally went to Juvie after his parents died? Where would I go to find this stuff out? Thanks!

Sure! So, Dick’s heritage is a pretty complex topic. I think it’s best to leave the explanation to [this post]. Since I know not everyone will click the link, just to briefly clarify something: Dick is Romani, not Romanian. Being Romanian means being from the country of Romania. Romani people are scattered across the world. Also, Dick is typically depicted with light skin in canon...him being Romani would not conflict with this, because the Romani people have a large range of skin tones. Not at all opposed to him being depicted with darker skin, but just so that you know. Very, very strongly recommend checking out the post for the whole story (edit: and checking the reblogs for the counterpoint to said post!!) 

Robin (1993) Annual #4

As for your other question...in one version of Dick’s origin story, following his parents’ deaths, Dick was sent to Gotham’s Youth Center. This center was essentially a juvenile detention center; most of the kids were sent there for committing what are described in comic as “adult crimes.” It was a very rough environment for Dick, especially in the aftermath of his parents’ deaths. 

Dick going to the center after his parents died is technically a retcon of his origin (ie it was something added later). I know for some reason certain people hear the word retcon and immediately are like “then it doesn’t count!!!” but I think that is very much the wrong approach. True enough, some retcons are bad--that is, those that completely ignore previously established characterizations or plot points, and in doing so often radically change the story for the worse. It’s fine if people want to ignore those bad retcons, I do so myself. But, that’s not true for every retcon lmao. I’d say the juvie origin retcon is a great example of a good retcon. It really helps to clarify and enhance the original story, and I don’t think it should be dismissed. Hear me out here: 

1.) The juvie origin doesn’t replace any previous origin story--it really only adds to and improves upon the timeline of Dick’s original origin. 

For the most part, in previous tellings of the story, Dick’s origin went pretty much straight from his parents dying to him and Bruce in Wayne Manor. It’s a pretty sudden, jarring jump; the in-between was largely left to the reader’s imaginations or implied to not exist at all. And I’ll be real...the pacing and immediacy of events is pretty wonky and unreasonable. In one of the most extreme speed runs through Dick’s origin I’ve seen, Dick’s parents die and Batman immediately swings down from the rafters and tells Dick that he’ll solve the case...while Dick’s parents’ bodies are still cooling a couple feet away (Batman #436). Yeah, that is absolutely ridiculous lmao, as is the idea that Bruce just immediately adopted Dick the day his parents died. I think that the juvie origin very nicely slows things down and helps to organically fill in the gap of time that would and should exist between Dick losing his parents and being taken in by Bruce. 

2.) The juvie origin helps to rationalize Bruce’s reasoning for taking Dick in. 

In previous origin stories, Bruce’s main motivation for taking Dick in is that he saw his own suffering reflected in Dick and wanted to help him. I dig the parallels between Bruce and Dick...but this is very flimsy reasoning to adopt someone lmao. With all the tragedy that occurs in Gotham, you cannot tell me that Bruce had not run across some orphans before. Bruce sympathizing with Dick certainly should be part of what motivates him, but there needed to be something more. If there is not some immediate, urgent reason to adopt Dick, then it makes zero sense that Bruce would try to raise him honestly. Why would Bruce tear Dick away from his remaining family and friends at the circus? Why would Dick want to leave? And even if Dick could no longer remain at the circus, why wouldn’t Bruce allow Dick to go to a good foster home, especially since Bruce is so laser focused on his solo crusade against Gotham’s crime that he doesn’t even allow himself to have a steady girlfriend half the time? Lots of plot holes here!

The juvie origin fixes a lot of these issues! Staying at the circus is not an option for Dick, not because Bruce just snatches him away, but because legally Gotham Juvenile Services says that the circus is an inadequate environment for raising a child. Dick is sent to juvie, and the comic makes a point of showing Dick nearly being beaten to death almost immediately upon arriving. 

Dick is in danger and he’s lost in the system, so there is no longer a possibility for him to land in a good home. Initially, when Bruce goes to find Dick, he’s still tracking him down only with the intention of getting justice for Dick by solving his parent’s murder. But Bruce is a good person at heart. When Batman finds Dick trying to escape from the juvenile hall, beaten to hell, he intervenes. The next morning Dick is taken in by Bruce Wayne. 

So now, taking in Dick isn’t Bruce tearing Dick away from the chance of having a loving family and throwing him into the dangerous life of a crime fighter; taking Dick in is Bruce saving Dick from a horrible situation, possibly even saving his life. The only way to get Dick out of the potentially deadly situation he was in quickly was for Bruce to take him in as a foster parent. Bruce’s actions actually make a lot of sense! And Bruce is forced by necessity to take on a fatherly role that he does not feel suited or prepared for, rather than him adopting Dick on a whim. The juvie origin gives this scenario the urgency and necessity that it desperately needed. 

3.) The juvie origin has been around for a long time, and pretty successfully adds nuance to Dick’s character without completely altering or changing who he is. 

The juvie origin is a retcon that has been established for about 25 years, fyi. Robin Annual #4, which is where this idea first came into play, was released in 1995. There are also references to this origin story in Nightwing Vol. 2, and that comic series ran from 1996 to 2009, so it’s not like the juvie origin is completely baseless or totally removed from the narrative. 

Nightwing (1996) #11

Also...Dick Grayson has been around for 80 years. In DC comics, I’m pretty sure he is predated only by Superman and Batman. You are inevitably going to have to add nuance to his character as time goes on. The juvie origin adds a very interesting complexity to the character and his fight against crime, considering he himself has been in the system...there’s so much untapped potential there!! So yeah, I feel like the juvie retcon is a very valid addition to Dick Grayson’s origin story. Plus, Robin Annual #4 is just a very well written and well thought out comic book that really fleshes out Bruce, Dick, and Alfred’s initial relationships to one another in a realistic way, and more people should check it out. 

What I’m saying...is that more people need to get on board and accept the juvie origin guys!! It’s my favorite origin for Dick, hands down. Thanks for giving me an excuse to talk about it anon. 

As for where to go for more info…well, you can always check out Dick’s DC wiki, or anyone else’s, for basic summary info. For me, I always like going straight to the source. You could find a comic rec list that focuses on what you’re interested in and just dive in and build your knowledge that way. Sometimes if you google around, you can find neat creator interviews that address questions like the ones you asked. If nothing else, I’m sure there are people on tumblr (like me :D) or elsewhere online who are willing to help you out and point you in the right direction if you’re curious about something in particular. Idk if other people know of a good resource for things like this?

[magnumdays]

4.01 ideas

So season 3 leaves a lot of different ways for season 4 to start.

I have to believe there was an actual reason for sending Juliet and Ethan off to Africa so hopefully it will be good. I don’t know what the producers are thinking/ planning for the next season but here are some possible plots I would LOVE (and in some cases NEED) to see.

Miggy reunion (hug) - so this would mean we start at the end of the six months (or some months into the Kenya adventure). This is the one plot/scene I absolutely would hate if we didn’t get. But I mean, come one, they have to give us our Miggy reunion! 

(Or like more than one. Maybe we can have both Higgy and Magnum have dream reunions. And then like somehow have one airport reunion and then a welcome home hug and just... actually I legit wouldn’t mind if the whole episode was just Miggy reunion feels...)

But really we need and will most likely get this no matter what’s going down in 4.01...

Juliet in trouble 

I think this is one of the most obvious ones. 

I wrote about this back when the whole “riding off into the sunset” thing was a thing, like how I didn’t think they’d actually have Juliet leave. But if they did they just HAD to do an episode with her getting into trouble over-seas and the boys coming to her rescue. Since I was wrong and they did have Juliet and  go with Ethan, this just means there is a chance for this plot to become real! 

It would go something like; Juliet gets herself into trouble in Kenya and Magnum fly across the world to save her, fighting bad guys and just being all around super cool. We get a dramatic almost dying for each other and Miggy reunion. 

But with Higgy having been kidnapped just a few episodes ago, I don’t know about the likelihood of this...

Ethan in trouble - Same deal, only here we have Ethan being the one in trouble. Kidnapped to preform a surgery on an weapons’ dealer or something like that. 

We would get high stakes, Magnum/Higgy working together to save E, angsty Magnum because he loves Higgy but he has to save her boyfriend and Juliet having trauma about possibly losing the man she loves. Then maybe have Magnum almost get shot saving Ethan and she’s even more shook about that and decides Magnum is where it’s at and bye-bye Ethan... 

All around I think this one would make for a great 4.01 (or 4.02.)

Spy related

Something to do with Higgy’s past as a spy comes back to haunt her in Kenya. This could lead to a Higgy/ Ethan break up without Magnum or the guys even having to show up. Because I don’t think Ethan is actually cool with dating a spy. As tough guy as he sometimes tried to act around the gang.

Plus spy gadgets are cool and MacGyver is over. Which brings us to...

MacGyver cross over

How amazing would this be... I mean MacGyver is over so it’s highly unlikely but it would be great if we could get Mac, Riley, Boozer making a quick appearance. Just saying, could be fun, and a great way to bring over some MacGyver fans to Magnum PI! (Come to the dark side, we have fancy cars, palm trees and slow-burn...)

Magnum/ Higgy long distance - So this is not something I’d love to see for anything but like one episode. Like starting off the episode with them skyping/facetiming while Magnum is on a case or something and then having it cut to her for some stuff going down with her or Ethan (or just her preferably.) Maybe to set up that possible 4.02 kidnapping of Ethan... These Kenya scenes could also show-case how Ethan and Juliet are basically on the cusp of breaking up...

Juliet / Ethan long distance - Perhaps we get this for part of the season? I hope not, but depending on how they do it, this could be interesting. Maybe like Magnum starts dating someone else? Juliet realizes she’s jelly and that’s not right and breaks up with Ethan but doesn’t tell Magnum and he still thinks they’re long distancing and is dating this new girl? For the drama? IDK. This is not a fave but they might be able to do it to some effect if they want...

Magnum visiting Juliet in Kenya - no one’s been kidnapped and Magnum is just there. Hanging out. Making Juliet miss home. They’re go on safari and picnics and romp in the fields. Ethan is no where to be found. It’s basically a fluffy pre-getting together romantic get away. Maybe they solve a case. A cute one. Maybe for some reason Hiapo is there. And the lads. And the Ferrari...

Looking up and she’s there

Like the first episode Magnum is solving a case, consulting with Higgy. Then sudden she isn’t picking up. He’s getting worried. Then at the end when the case is solved, he’s all “I’m going to call Ethan, to see she’s okay.” But Rick is like “No need bro.” And he nods behind them and Juliet is walking into La Mariana. He couldn’t reach her because she was on a flight to Hawaii for the past 14 hours!

They look at each other and you can just see how much they missed each other. And then it cuts to black before we get their sure to have been epic hug. And that’s how 4.01 ends...

(Maybe we open with that hug in 4.02, because I want the Reunion Hug badly.)

Ethan who? 

So how fun would it be if season 4 just totally ignores the season 3 finale and Higgy is just back. No one is like “welcome back! how’s Ethan?” It’s just like Ethan never existed and we never mention what happened, how they broke up or that he even was part of the show and that she went with him, ever again.

(Because honestly we’re all quite tired of him, even if he got great hair and abs, so him being missing would just be like ‘okay whatever’)

I know they won’t do this. Wouldn’t really want it when there are so many other great fun things (and it would make feel 3.16 feel totally hollow for any future re-watches) and would not let us have a Miggy reunion. But it would be kind of amusing too. Like... Ethan Who? Nope. Let’s just pretend he didn’t even exist.

Things I don’t want (early season 4)

Dead or hurt Ethan (come on! we got one dead fiancé, let’s not add another one)

Ethan breaking up with Higgy (they can mutually decide but he can’t be the one doing the relationship ending, unless it’s made super duper clear he’s doing it because he can totally tell she has more feelings for Magnum. Which would not make sense unless it was something like M getting shot to save E and J or something.)

An Ethan/ Higgy engagement lasting more than 2 minutes

Magnum and the lads still not getting along (come on, we need them to be friends!)

TC/ Rick bringing up feels. Like a little hinting is fine. But just a bit. Don’t be too obvious even if this is going to be the Miggy season (and if it’s not going to be that, don’t have feelings talk at all. My poor heart can’t handle it!)

More visa issues/ Juliet still owning Robin’s Nest and being smug about it/ money issues (Yes. I would like her to use these six months to re-apply for her employment visa and just give Robin back Robin’s Nest. Because the money needing thing was not that fun of a plot line)

Rick and Susie having started dated off screen. They’re so cute. I want to see them being cute and their relationship developing!

What Are We Most Likely To See?

I’m not sure they will actually do a major part of 4.01-2 anywhere but Hawaii. When they’ve had episodes taking place in other locations around the world, there have often been jungle / Hawaii like which makes me think it’s all still filmed in Hawaii right? (correct me if I’m wrong.)

There was however some reason they sent Juliet off with Ethan. I also think there was a reason they had Juliet tell Ethan about MI6. Somehow it will be relevant in season 4. 

Probably early season 4.

I say early since thy won’t drag out Ethan/Higgy’s relationship for long next season. He needs to be used to further the Miggy plot a little more, then keeping him around much longer will simply impact the show negatively too much.

Because if we’re being honest like majority of people watch this show for the Magnum/Higgy dynamic. And I think they know that. (Even if people don’t ship, they still want those two on screen, not Juliet and Ethan.) 

And with the new NCSI Hawaii show coming to film there...I don’t know it that bodes well for season 5 or not. I think they realize they have to move forward.  Treat season 4 as a possible series finale. And that starts with 4.01.

So I’m torn. 

What was the point of Africa if we don’t get an episode or some scenes from there? What’s the point of a separation between our main leads if we don’t get a great reunion? What’s the point of Ethan if not to bring Magnum and Higgy closer together? Magnum going ‘we are currently just friends’ if that’s not going to change or be an issue in the early parts of season 4?

But also, I kind of just want to get back to normal. Hawaii. Miggy banter. Crazy not quite making sense cases. No Ethan. The guys hanging. Kumu being her bad ass self. The Ferrari being red and shiny. Jin being wacky.

So perhaps just having the season start with Magnum being excited Higgy is coming home would be...fine? 

Picture this. 

He’s just hanging with the guys at La Mariana. 

It’s only been four months. 

They’re all like “so four months? Not six? Why she come home early?” and Magnum is all “I guess we’ll find out soon” and gets up to go to the airport to get her. We get a Miggy reunion hug. Some what’s the same, what’s different feeling out moments.

Anyways, they get a case, Magnum try to get her to talk about what happened with her coming home early and at the end of the episode she’s all “I realized he wasn’t the one.” They give each other heart eyes. And we’re just back to normal Magnum PI fun and games (and starting at your currently only friends business partner like s/he’s hung the moon and the stars...) for 4.02. 

I mean that would work... but it would also leave a little to be desired. Feel like some lost opportunities. You know? 

What are your thoughts on openings / season 4 starts? What possibilities do you see/ would like explored?

[phoenixstartedthefire]

Hey! No one cares but I started rewatching the second season of Young Justice and I’m gonna talk about it. For those who don’t know, Young Justice is a cartoon show about DC hero “sidekicks” (for lack of a better term). You can find it on HBO Max is you’re interested. Spoilers for s1 ahead.

Alright, so right off the bat I was a little taken aback by the five year time skip. What happened to the characters I knew and loved? Why is there a new Robin? Where is Kidflash? Aqualad?

And I still miss them but some of the new characters are super cool. I love the new Robin(Tim Drake) so far. He’s adorable and insecure and I love how Nightwing tries to build his confidence. Beast Boy is amazing and funny and I love the depth they gave his character. A lot of times the funny goofy character is pretty flat and f only there for comic relief. But I love the relationship they gave him with Miss Martian and seeing how his mom’s death affected him. Also Blue Beetle! He’s great. One problem I do kinda have with him though is that, to my knowledge, he is the only hispanic person on the show. Which is fine. But they kind of stereotype him a little? It’s clear that spanish is his first language but he’s very fluent in english and is the main language he speaks in the show. Yet they feel the need to have him add small bits of spanish in his average speaking. Like they have him say “ese” or “hermano” in sentences for no reason. Now, english is my first language and spanish is my second and I’m not hispanic so I can’t speak too much on this subject but I just felt that needed to be addressed. Other than that though I love his character.

Okay, I hate La’gaan. And I know that we’re supposed to hate him. Ya know. Causing tension and making us ship Superboy and Miss Martian more. But honestly I’ve kinda lost some respect for Megan. I’m not sure what happened in the five years but she’s gone down hill. I honestly don’t know what happened between Conner and Megan and the one episode they really address it in so far doesn’t do a very good job of explaining it but it’s clear that they still have feelings for each other. And I feel like Conner just gets her on a different level than La’gaan would. That could be just me though. And what made her start...idk what to call it but like putting her enemies in catatonic state as a way of interrogation? She did that once kind of in s1 with Psimon but I figured that was a one time thing and it was in the moment kind of thing.she was scared of him exposing her secret and just acted quickly. But I never would have suspected it to become a regular thing. It’s clear that at least Superboy opposes to this but nobody is calling her out on it. So idk what’s up with that.

I miss Wally. I respect his decision to be “done with the hero game” but please I love you. I love the small little insight of him and Artemis on Valentines Day but please I need more. I love that he’s still there for Roy even after Roy has gone off the deep end. And speaking of Roy(clone Roy), when did he and Cheshire get married? They had some chemistry in s1. A little enemies to lovers. We love that. But after s1 I was under the impression that Roy kind of shut everyone out and had a five year long existential crisis. As one does when they find out their entire life was a lie. Was getting married to her like a spur of the moment thing? Or was there a long term relationship? If so, they were clearly together long enough to have a child. I just find that timeline to be a bit confusing.

HOW COME WHEN THE KIDS WERE ALL SAYING GOODBYE TO THE BIG SIX(plus Icon) AND EVERYONE WAS WITH THEIR LOVED ONES, WHY WAS CAPTAIN ATOM SAYING BYE TO JOHN STEWART(one of the many green lanterns)? ARE THEY IN A RELATIONSHIP? PLEASE GIVE ME A CONFIRMED GAY SHIP

Okay, this will probably be my last point because this is long enough already. But. Let’s talk about Aqualad. I’m 90% sure that he’s a spy and not really working for his father. But when did this start? I have a feeling that at least Nightwing is in on it but they still leave it pretty vague. And I know that’s on purpose to build suspense and keep interest. But I can still complain, damnit!

I think I’m halfway through s2? I left off where Roy found “the real Roy Harper” so who knows. I might make a follow up about how I feel once I finish it. I really do love this show though.

[redhoodssweetheart]

Legally Dead

Genre: Idk honestly

Relationship: No romantic relations

Requested: No, but it is based on this post that @idkmanicantenglish​ sent me (MY REQUESTS ARE CLOSED)

Word Count: 2K

Warnings: Little bit of angst, fluff, mentions of character death (it’s undone)

Description:  Jason died nearly two years ago.  People that knew and loved him mourned and moved on.  Now he’s back after being resurrected and trying to get the courts to declare him not dead.

Jason had technically died.  The joker had killed him and there had been a funeral and a grave site for him.  His friends and family had mourned and slowly moved on with their lives.  His death had made headlines in Gotham.  Front page news articles in all caps shouting about how the second adopted son of Bruce Wayne had passed away.

Then Jason had come back.

He had been in limbo for a while, on his own traveling, being a vigilante.  He wasn’t sure what he should do with his life.  What could he do?  He was dead.

Talia al Ghoul had taken him in after he had been resurrected and trained him, helped him.  She helped him harness some of the anger that he felt towards Bruce and Joker and himself.  He wasn’t the same as he was before he died, but then again who would be?

Now he was back in Gotham, back with Bruce and the others.  He now had two new brothers.  Tim and Damian.  Both of whom had taken over the Robin role.  There was also Cassandra and Duke.  Coming back to Gotham had been hard especially when the others hadn’t known who he was.  It had taken them a while to warm up to the idea that he was still alive.  For the most part, he stayed out of the limelight.  He didn’t do much or go anywhere during daylight hours.

Bruce had asked him if he wanted to come back, but Jason wasn’t ready for that just yet.  He wasn’t sure if he ever would if he were being honest.

One day Tim had dragged him out of the manor to go get some software upgrades for his computers and someone had seen Jason and Tim together.  Soon a photo was circulating around the internet with the captions “Is Jason Todd, long thought dead son of Bruce Wayne, still alive?”.  

Jason had wanted to bang his head against a wall after seeing the semi-blurry image of him and Tim together.

Soon there were conspiracy theories going around saying that Jason had faked his death, that he had been kidnapped and presumed dead, or that - and this was his favorite - he had been abducted by aliens.

“I think that was one of the theories Ryan presented on your episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved,” Dick said as he was scrolling through his Twitter feed which was going crazy with memes and theories galore about Jason.  “Damian rolled his eyes and asked why any alien would want to abducted you.”

Jason shot a look at his younger brother, “I will have you know I am a delight to be around.”

Damian, unruffled by Jason’s glare, merely arched an eyebrow, “Keep telling yourself that, Todd.”

Bruce sauntered into the room and threw a Gotham Times down onto the table.  In big, bold letters read JASON TODD HAS RETURNED.  The boys all looked at Bruce who now had his arms crossed against his chest.  “So are we confirming that you’re still alive or claiming that this is just someone that looks a lot like you?”

Jason read over the article.  All it said was that someone had managed to capture and image of the supposed Jason Todd who had died early two years prior in a horrible, undisclosed accident.  It also went into all the theories behind his disappearance - sans the alien abduction.  He thought over his options and what he wanted to do from here.  “Maybe it is time I come out of the shadows,” his gaze met Bruce’s.  “There’s no way the people of the internet are gonna let this go.  Especially if we say that it’s just someone who looks a lot like me.”

“I’ll set up a press release then,” Bruce said as he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone and make a few calls.  He knew that this would be huge news and put a lot of pressure on Bruce.  He also knew that he was going to have to get himself declared not dead with the courts which was going to be fun.

He just hoped that this would blow over rather quickly and he could get back to his life.

A few days later Jason was standing beside Bruce inside of Wayne Enterprises where a press conference was about to be held.  It seemed like every reporter in Gotham and from all over the country had shown up to squeeze inside the tiny room that was meant for press releases just like this one.  Suddenly Jason wondered if this was such a good idea.

The story was the Jason had been kidnapped by an unknown person and he had managed to escape back to Gotham.  It was flimsy at best but what else could they say?  Yeah he died, but somehow the timeline got screwed up and now he was back?  That wouldn’t go over well with the public and then they would have a whole new set of questions to deal with.

Bruce stepped up to the podium and smiled at the crowd, “I know you all are anxious to ask your questions about Jason and where he’s been all this time.  Please know that he’s had a very traumatic experience and we’re just happy to have him home.  He’s safe and healthy and I’m grateful that he was able to make his way home.  Please ask your questions one at a time and we’ll try to get to everyone before our time is up.”

Bruce motion for Jason to step up to the podium and stepped aside to allow him room.  Jason stared out over the sea of faces and took a deep breath before choosing the first reporter to ask their question.  All was going well until one asked, “So Mr. Todd are you going to have the courts declare you no longer legally dead?”

Jason gripped the sides of the podium and contemplated his answer, “I guess I should.  I mean I’m clearly not dead.  Bruce and I have been discussing it for some time now,” that was a lie, “but his main priority before subjecting me to that was just letting me get back into a normal routine.”

More hands shot up but Bruce came to the rescue and claimed that they were out of time for the day.  He ushered Jason away some of the reporters shouting their questions at Jason in a last-ditch effort to get the answers they wanted.

“Well Shane this is a first for us,” Ryan was saying.  Dick, Damian, and Tim were huddled around a laptop a week after the press release.  Apparently Buzzfeed Unsolved had decided to add a continuation for Jason’s story on their show.  “One of our unsolved cases has been semi-solved.”

“To be honest I didn’t ever think this was going to happen,” Shane said as he leaned back in his chair.  “I mean come on.  How did this guy survive so long in captivity?”

“I know!”  Ryan shouted.  “I mean yeah he’s home safe now, but who had him?  Where was he?  How did he escape?  The answers at the press conference the Waynes held was flimsy at best.”

Jason closed the laptop effectively shutting Ryan and Shane up.  “Hey!”  Tim protested.  “We were watching that.”

“And now you’re not,” Jason smirked at his younger brother.  “Come on and get dressed.  We have court in an hour and Bruce wants all of you looking your best.”

The three of them got up, grumbling about how they wanted to see Ryan’s new theories on Jason’s disappearance and if the alien story was going to come back up again.  Bruce had been watching from the doorway, fixing his cufflinks.  “Are you nervous?”

Jason looked at his adoptive father and shrugged, “Maybe a little?  I didn’t think I would be going through this if I’m being honest.  I hadn’t ever really planned to let people know that I was still alive.  I liked the fact that I was ghost of some sort.”

“The boys and I will be there with you, Jason,” Bruce assured him.  “And I know that these last few years have been hard on you.  I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you and I’m sorry that I let you down.  There were many times when I wished I could go back and do that whole night over again.”

Jason felt a lump in his throat at Bruce’s words, “Listen it is what it is and it can’t be helped.  We both made choices and now we’re here.  Let’s just get this court hearing over with and try to move on with our lives.”

Reporters were swarming the courthouse when the Waynes’ car pulled up in front of the steps leading inside.  They shouted Jason’s and Bruce’s names trying to get more for their stories.  The whole city had been on the edges of their seats waiting for this day to come.  Jason looked around and saw some people with signs saying “WELCOME BACK JASON”, “I LOVE YOU JASON”, “I KNEW YOU WERE ALIVE”.  He chuckled and ducked his head trying to keep the photographers from seeing his smile.

Inside was much calmer but there were still people there to see the outcome of this court case today.  The judge came and began reviewing the details of what had happened.  She looked at Jason with an arched eyebrow, “Mr. Todd, is it true that you were held against your will and believed to be dead for the past two years?”

“Yes, your Honor,” Jason replied.

“And you wish to be declared no dead?”

“Yes, your Honor,” he said again.

The judge was quiet for a moment looking from her papers to Jason and back to her papers once again.  She seemed to be mulling this over and Jason wondered why she had to think about this.  Clearly he was alive so what was the problem?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Todd.  You will remain legally dead,” the judge pounded the gavel and Jason and Bruce shared a wide-eyed bewildered look with one another.  Even Jason’s brothers shot out of their seats to protest, but the judge was already leaving the room.  A hush fell over the room as everyone stared at each other in confusion.

“So does this mean that if I commit a crime that I can’t actually be charged with it because I’m not technically alive in the eyes of the court?”  Jason asked causing Bruce to facepalm and the room to break out into laughter.

And from that day forward, despite the fact that he was very much alive, Jason was legally dead.