#Kon can hate what Lex does but he will still use the Luthor name to his advantage (with violence attached if necessary) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

annah-kitathryne · 2 years

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Queer Tim, concerns I have for the fandom and DC

Okay there is so much I could complain about with DC and the writers and how they do so much wrong, and how I know at least 100 other people on Tumblr and Ao3 that could write a better DC universe.

There is so much racism, sexism, ableism, and so many others that I could spend hours naming and explaining, but I want to bring up a concern I have.

With DC finally accepting more LGBTQ+ community characters and making cannon I just have some concerns especially when I have seen the ship wars and have been kicked from fan groups for this opinion.

I'll use Tim coming out as Queer. [I'm not sure if he is explicitly stated if he is Bi or Pan, I personally belive in Bi tim, but I'm open to opinions.]

I'm worried that DC specifically the writers will use this as a one off for attention, but it will be forgotten in comics in a year after DC decides they want to move on with other storylines.

That is a problem in of itself that has happened before [seen with Diana and others <you can name examples but I want to get to my points.>]

That in of itself is concerning because Bisexual erasure is a huge problem that not many people want to address that and there are a lot of microagressions that happen, and when it is addressed it hasn't been taken well. [Bisexual male presenting are treated as if being Bi is just a step to 'becoming gay.' That they will do it eventually 'because they are just scared of coming out.' Bisexual female presenting are treated as Sl*** and men like to *use their behavior to get more girls* not to mention the expectation that Bi female presenting are often put with the expectation of *being down for a threesome.* And the general Bi problem of <They just want attention.> <What one gender wasn't enough.> <Your just experimenting your not really Bi.> <No one is really Bi, your probably just acting out.>]

Not to mention that some people from within the LGBTQ community also throw hate onto Bis and some have even tried to remove Bis from the community.

Moving on from that. There is also the idea that the fandom has issues with ships. I'm not saying don't ship, but I'm saying there is a line between shipping and enjoying the community, and actively becoming more of a problem to people trying to enjoy content and creators.

I know a fan favourite Tim ship is TimKon. For anyone who is new to DC [because I know navigating a new fandom can be hard.] Kon is a clone created by Lex Luthor using both Superman's and Lex's DNA. He was the superboy of the 90s and 00s. (A major simplification but a quick summary.)

Some people ship them in a completely harmless way of 'they have a good dynamic and chemistry.' They could see them together, would prefer them together, but if other relationships happen it won't be the end of the world because as long as those relationships are handled well and the creators don't mess up the ship isn't hurting anyone.

And than there is the people who will die on the hill of a ship and will turn one less than completely supportive comment into a declaration of war. [And to be clear I'm not hating on those people, I used to be one back when I first started being part of fandoms, but it was unhealthy and creepy.]

Some TimKon shippers <I know they have calmed down but they are still there> wanted to remove Stephanie completely from DC because she was dating Tim, or they completely ruin her character in content they write.

Here is a quick example of what I mean.

Stephanie is now emotionally hurting Tim, or Tim is being trapped into the relationship

Tim contacts his young justice or teen titans [depending on continuity or what the author does.] And Tim realizes he was gay just pretending and starts dating Kon.

A bunch of unnecessary drama used only to ensure that we see Kon as the good guy.

[And bonus if the fic has unnecessary smut.]

Stephanie is a sweet determined kind wonderful character who is a badass in her own right [and deserves her own post I'll do later.] She would never do that to Tim. The two may not have had the most healthy of a relationship back in the 00s but they wouldn't go out of their way to hurt the other like that. Before dating they are good and sometimes portrayed as best friends.

Tim is not a weak owo boy who is in need of protecting. He is a vigilante, a detective, and his own type of badass. He would put his own life down before someone else could get hurt especially someone he cares about. He is smart and just knows things.

These works of fiction are a betrayal to the characters and even though DC writers mess up [more like kill and than burn in the sun] characters we should know better as a fandom.

The idea of 'realizing I'm gay after a toxic relationship' while has happened and is not our of the relm of possibilities goes against cannon [and most of us like to ignore cannon because I could point you to POC misrepresentation] you can't ignore how much Tim and Steph care about eachother [in their sometimes too overprotective, misguided and worried way.] They did love eachother, and sometimes to those of us who are Bi, Omni, Pan, Polysexual and many other under the Bi/Pan umbrella can come off as disregarding and refusing to acknowledge the idea that there is more than Straight, Gay, and Lesbian.

Not to mention that in most if not ALL fandoms you see ships that are used just to write smut. I'm not saying you can't write it, do as you please, but there is a fine line between having it within a story or be a story and on the same level of creepy as 'straight men fetishizing Lesbian couples and female'.

I've seen it happen with TimKon. [Which also is creepy because most of the time they are still teenagers]

Moving onto my next point with this is using the Bisexual identity or others within umbrella terms as a way just to get the ship to work, or using it to get attention.

IE making a character Bi in order for there to be a plot device of the couple getting together, and only acknowledging it within the terms of a Same gender, or not hetero format.

You see it happen in first where a charcter will break up another character because they are Bi and than next chapter bam new relationship.

You also see that some people refuse to acknowledge someone as bi when they are in a straight presenting relationship.

I'm glad DC didn't make Tim and Kon come out at the same time as it would only make this problem worse. I'm not saying some of the writers make the best choice (because they clearly don't.) But having previous stated statement happen would only cause a push back to fixing this problem.

I know there are much more high priority things that should be addressed [sexism, racism, mischaracterization, bad authors] but this is also something I hold dear as someone part of the Bi umbrella. [If curious because I know someone would take this as a way to tear it down I'm Biromantic.]

I'm hoping DC going forward will handle Bisexual characters and any of our umbrella buddies properly.

💖💜💙 💖💜💙 💖💜💙

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creatureofmystry · 3 years

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MLB x DC Universe Headcannons

I just love the idea of MLB and DC (expecially Batfam cuz Mari is such a Wayne) being in the same universe and crossing over. So one night, I just had an idea overload of different ways the Marinette would know the batfam/be a part of the DC universe. And if any of my shitty ideas somehow inspire or prompt you, then please be my guest. 😊 _

1) “Ladybugs of Past and Present”

Hippolyta, Wonder Woman’s mother, was once a previous holder of the ladybug miraculous. When Fu activated the miraculous and put them in circulation, Hippolyta could feel its magic waking back up. Knowing there must a reason for it to be out, she sent a message to her daughter. Diana searched, finding Marinette and Adrien as the present holders of the ladybug and cat miraculous. She vouched and brought them into the Young Justice program while they also made their own team, Project: Zodiac (or something like that).

[Sometime when Diana takes Marinette to meet Hippolyta]

“Great Hera, Tikki, you have not aged a day” -Hippolyta, cause she does know how to make joke.

“And I would say the same to you” -Tikki

“Mother, you can make a laugh?” -Wonder Woman, honestly a bit confused cause her mom have never not been serious before.

And Marinette is just speechless cause she’s starstruck meeting Wonder Woman’s mom AND a previous Ladybug holder.

2) “Rockstar Niece”

Jagged Stone is Marinette’s Sweet Uncle J. During the summers, Jagged Stone would take Mari with him on tour. HIs summer tours are throughout America, so Mari gets to sightsee the country. Jagged’s first tour that he gets to take Mari on (5-ish), he’s also booked for the annual (for whatever reason) Wayne Summer Gala. When Marinette meets the Waynes, they are so enamoured (Dick and Tim couldn’t help it) that they tell Jagged he’s always invited as a guest, Mari of course being added to the permanent guest list too. About 6 years later, Mari is practically adopted, spending the first half of her summers with Jagged, going to the Wayne Gala, then spending the rest of her summer with the Waynes. Overtime, she figured out the secrets of the family and was there to welcome Jason back from the dead (when that happens). Anyways, now 11(-ish?) Mari meets Damian and the two become good friends… after an… impressionable first meeting.

“Tch, let me guess, you’re another one of father’s adopted strays” -Dami

“YOU MUST BE DAMIAN!!! DICK TOLD ME ABOUT YOU!!” -Marinette, who just ignores what he said for a hug.

“hiiiiiiiiissssssss” -Dami, touchy with touch

“...” sprays water in his face since he decided to act like a cat.

“I say, Master Bruce, the children are getting along quite well” -Alfred

3) “Pen Pals”

Jon Kent and Marinette Dupain-Cheng are part of an international pen-pal program, starting when they were very young (maybe like 4 or 5-ish, super super young) where they told each other everything (Jon can’t just say that his older bro is a clone made from Superman and Lex Luthor’s DNA, or that his dad is Superman, or that his best friend is Robin, but yea. Lois and Clark probably proofread his stuff until he’s like 9) with pictures and everything. When they’re old enough to get phones & stuff, they call, text and vid-chat along with their letters (love without blood). When Mari is maybe 9-11 (somewhere around there) she starts flying over during the summers to hangout with Jon (and his friends and big brother). While there, she meets Kon, Bat fam, and Clark (some who she already knew, some who she didn’t) & lightly hints that she knows who all they are once she figures it out (it didn’t take her long to do so).

Now whenever she visits and is at Wayne Manor (Jon likes to have sleepovers practically every weekend) while they’re on patrol, Mari subtly messes with their minds (super subtle, they’re the world’s best detectives after all) until they finally look through the cams and see Mari giving them one of those smiles (those shit-grinning cause it’s just so hilarious how it’s gone on for so long) & and a playful wink.

[5 seconds later]

“Mari!” “Pixie-pop!” “Angel!” “Teacup!”

“Seriously, am I the only one with a normal nickname for her?” -Tim

“Ms. Marinette would like to inform you that ‘it took you long enough’” -Alfred (who so knows that the girl has been playing them since the third night she stayed at the Wayne’s)

“Where are my adoption papers?” -Bruce (who is seriously adopting any talented black-haired child)

4) “Mari and Mar’i”

When Mar’i is young, Dick and Kori take her with them to see Paris (btw, this would be during the winter). They’re strolling along through a park and lose track of Mar’i who finds Marinette (9-10 ish). Marinette comforts and distracts Mar’i while noticing the young(er) girl is Tameranian (her hair is very warm and she’s wearing significantly less layers than should be worn for a human of that age during the winter, plus that sun-kissed skin tone. She’s seen Kori in her fashion magazines (and, from time to time, on the news as an ambassador) so she easily make the connections). Dick and Kori finally spot Mar’i with Mari who introduces herself to them. Mar’i asks if she can see her “Auntinette” again and Marinette just goes “if your parents are okay with it.” Dick and Kori are totally cool with it (not many are willing to watch her and have the time to do it) so they ask Marinette if she can babysit Mar’i whenever (with good pay of course) if she’s up to it (cause she’s still pretty young). Marinette can’t say no to Mar’i’s babydoll eyes (and she’s so much easier compared to Manon, who’s only 2 rn), so of course, she says yes.

Now Marinette is Mar’is official babysitter and sees Mar’i often whenever her parents drop her off (using zeta tubes to quickly get to Paris and back). Marinette gets treated like an honorary Wayne (cause she’s the most responsible) and gets invited to their family stuff (w/ travel pay taken care of, of course). It doesn’t take her long to realize the fact that she babysits Bruce Wayne’s & BATMAN’S granddaughter, but of course, being the responsible one she is, keeps the secret… while also playing with them via Mar’i.

[One Day]

After Marinette leaves for her plane…

“Uncle Dami!”

“Yes, Spawn?”

“Auntinette said to tell you after she left that Robin’s sut needs a major upgrade & that you look like a traffic light… whatever that’s supposed to mean.”

[Another Day]

“Uncle Jay!”

“What’s up kid?’

“Auntinette said that to let you know that Red Hood doesn’t make any sense ‘cause Red Hood wears a helmet. Not a hood.”

[The next time]

“Uncle Tim!”

Yawn. “yea?”

“Auntie told me to give you this” (pulls out super caffeinated coffee) “and that Red Robin’s cowl is a menace to all things fashion”

[Again…]

“Daddy!”

“Yes, Starshine?”

“Auntienette said she’s proud of Nightwing’s costume ‘cause it’s one of the only in the batfam that isn’t an astro-city to the fashion society.”

5) “Marinette, the one who’s always getting chosen”

Before Mari became (becomes(?)) LB, she comes across a different powerful piece of jewelry, from a different order of guardians where her will of mind is not only her shield from being akumatized, but it is also what drives her powers. That’s right, Mari walks past a flea market and activates a GL ring. The guardians pick up on this activity and send Hal (it is his sector) to check it out. Hal finds the ring with Mari but it still needs the light of a GL to charge and fully work.

[During the explanation]

“Look, kid-”

“Marinette.”

“Look, kid, I just need to know why you have that ring.”

“You think I know? I was just walking through the market and all of a sudden, this possessed ring, if that’s even what this is, started following me, then zipped in front of my face til i held my hand up so it can put itself on my finger.”

“Kid-”

“It’s MARINETTE. Get it wrong one more time and you’ll see why I don’t need a possessed piece of alien jewelry.” -Marinette, making sure you get her name right. “Besides, if I stole it, I would remember. I’m a klepto” -Marinette, probably holding his ring too at this point.

Hal obviously doesn’t want the wrath of the Dupain-Chengs (just the kid Marinette scares him enough), so he tells the guardians that JL will take care of most of Mari’s training (once they get her a lamp for her ring, of course) & has her take part in training at Mt. Justice with the Young Justice team and special training with the Bats. Mari does all this under the guise of an international student exchange program for Mari to stay with the Waynes (not yet knowing that it’s the bat fam) and attends G.A. Mari doesn’t do much, but it takes her 24-36 hours to know who EVERYONE is.

[the next week after settling in]

“Hey, Mars,” -Dick, in his Nightwing gear

“Hey, Di-is the GREATEST SHOW!” -Mari, changing the subject(… not really)

“How long did it take you?”

“Not as long as the Kryptonians…” -Mari, going off into a tangent (still trying to change the subject”

[When Marinette meets Tikki]

Back in Paris:

“Sooo… I’m getting powerful jewelry that gives me powers and a suit, needs to be recharged, and comes from some Order of the Guardians? What’s the difference between you and my ring?” -Marinette, who at this point is very confused as to why she keeps getting picked on for this kind of stuff.

“One’s alien, one’s magic” -Tikki, hoping Mari will end it there & lowkey hates that the GL Corp. got to her first.

“They’re both non-human made energy sources” -Mari, cause once you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it all before.

“You can’t heal the Akuma without the miraculous, and there are more than just rings. Yours are earrings, there are hair clips, bracelets, necklaces and more” -Tikki, after having a minute to think

“Fine, only because you said they’re the only way to heal the, what was it again, akuma?”

6) “Their Unofficial Official Barista”

Part of Tim’s job as Co-CEO, is to make sure all the branches are running smoothly, sometimes that means he has to fly abroad to manually check in. Tim goes to Paris to check on the W.E. Paris branch. He goes to a nearby Patisserie (Tom and Sabine’s) to see a young Marinette (somewhere from 8-11) drawing in her sketchbook at the counter. She explains that her parents are at a catering event, but she’s there to man the little bakery. Tim asks for a super caffeinated coffee and Marinette makes it with ease, claiming it was on the house with how bad he looks (and how much sleep the man clearly needs). Tim begs for her knowledge and asks if she can teach his butler. Mari’s willing to show him the next time he comes, so he gets the whole fam to go (viz tubes so they don’t waste time) maybe a week later. Everyone gets their own drink (plus a free pastries) and Marinette teaches Alfred her coffee, but it’s just not the same so Tim, using the tubes, goes to get coffee from the girl whenever he can.

Mari is horrible at getting up on time (the life of an insomniac, never getting to sleep even if you want and then barely waking up on time) that she is up super early, makes Tim his coffee (plus a croissant) and tries to go back to sleep (making her inevitably late). Tim would walk up to the pick-up counter where his cup and to-go bag is while Marinette runs out of the house to get to school. Eventually, the rest of the Batfam (as well as the Laegue, TT, and YJ) frequent the place, slowly becoming (Dami too) Mari hides it, but she knew all the batfam the first day they came and she showed Alfred how to make the coffee. When the others start making more regular appearances, she learns the identities of YJ team, WW, GLs, and others. Obviously when LB and CN appear as heroes with HM as their villain, they immediately reach out to help. Because 1. Batfam clearly notices that it’s Mari and they sure as heck won’t let her deal with that by herself, and 2. The JL is worrying too much about their favorite barista (even though she’s not really one), especially with the Gigantitan scare. So, of course LB & CN (can’t make him bad everytime) get inducted into YJ.

[After Ladybug finishes defeating Gigantitan and detransforms]

“Bean! Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” -Tim, being an even more protective older brother than Dick, which shouldn’t be possible

“Yes, I promise. I’m fine” -Marinette, who just accepts the fact that she’s adopted an older brother (and his famliy)

“Tube over, we’ll have Alfred make sure” -Dick, already pulling out the medical supplies for Alfred.

“I-”

“You shouldn’t worry your brothers like that, Marinette. Now come over so Alfred can clear you,” -Bruce, who just happens to overhear the conversation

“I’m sorry, Miss Marinette, they are very adamant that you’re in pitch perfect health before going out again,” -Alfred, who’s not actually sorry

“Fine” -Marinette, accepting her fate of her adopted, protective family.

7) “Thicker Than the Blood We’ve Shed”

Why is Marinette so freakishly strong? Because she was trained to be. Before she could even talk, Mari was taught to be an assassin. She and Damian were frenemies, both competing for top spot as best in the League (of Assassins). They often spared together and became rivals who pushed each other (which sounds great in that context if you forget about the fact that they’re killing people and turning it into a competition). When Damian’s care is turned over to Batsy, Mari also comes along for the ride. She implements herself into Dami’s classes at G.A. & watches him from afar. (Damian, not being an idiot, of course knows all this and knows that it’s probably for Mari to give a report to Talia.) When he becomes Robin, Mari obviously knows, but waits to see if anything drastic would happen (his care was given to the Batfam, they had already expected this to happen.) She then heard word of the bounty Talia put on Damian’s head. Marinette knew there wouldn’t be much she could do to help, but she ave Dami a warning about the upcoming situation before fleeing the country.

From there she got to France, changed her name (it wasn’t originally Marinette, it was Shénqí, chinese for miraculous/magical (or something else if you want)), was adopted by Tom & Sabine, and left her time in the League in the past. When she received Tikki, she didn’t want to be a hero because she didn’t think she deserved it after her up-bringing. Eventually, she did become LB (being a trained assassin does help with lucky charms, considering she was taught how to kill with basically every and anything), and life was good for her. Then Rossi came.

[Gotham field trip]

While at Wayne Tower…

“How idiotic are they?” -Damian, who after reuniting with his long-lost sister-from-a-different-mister (yes, Marinette was able to convince him to say it once), can’t understand the stupidity she has to deal with.

“Are you Robin?” -Mari, who is too tired, so just goes straight into the analogy

“Yes.” -Obvious and simply is.

“Exactly” -Mari, who can’t even put a limit to the amount of thought the one brain cell the class shares doesn’t use. I mean please, the so-called “reporter” believed that the first cosplayer she saw was the actual LB when they don’t even have the same hair! And let’s not forget the origins arc, where LB’s first citizen save was Chloe.

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queerbutstillhere-writes · 4 years

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Soulmate AU

Life had always gone by at 100 miles per hour, it felt like. Bart was always moving, always doing something, always reacting, always learning. He was constantly discovering new things, and even if he didn’t always remember them, and sometimes never used his knowledge, he was always learning.

But this latest discovery was the most astounding of his lifetime.

He had always known about soulmates. It wasn’t a secret thing, in the future, but it was easier to control, with all their access to tech. It was easier to know who your soulmate was.

Bart was never told who his soulmate was. He would later discover the reason for this, but not for years later. As a child, growing up in a simulation world, he never really thought about it or bothered with it. It wasn’t something that really concerned him. He had more important things to do.

So he was never really taught about the catch that came with soulmates.

He never really knew how you would stop aging, until you fell in love with your soulmate.

People stopped aging at different times. Some people stopped at sixteen, some stopped at eighteen, some at twenty-five. There was no way to know, except one day, you’d start noticing that you were never growing or maturing or anything. You were just . . . stuck. Until you fell in love with your true soulmate. Until you two truly loved each other, you wouldn’t age anymore. And then you could grow old together. It was a weird system that often got exploited. People who didn’t want to grow old would just refuse to fall in love, their lives would be full of work and lacking in love. But what people often forgot, was that soulmates weren’t necessarily romantic. Platonic soulmates, for example, also counted for this odd system the universe had. Your soulmate was someone who you truly belonged with. Someone you truly loved.

Having lived a simulation life, Bart never knew about any of this.

And then he was thrown backwards into the 21st century, lived a hectic chaotic life for a bit, jumping from adult to adult, working with other speedsters, causing havoc. Then the thing with Bedlam happened, and Young Justice formed and Bart was caught in a whirlwind of hanging out with them, working with them, doing missions, saving people, kicking ass and taking names.

It was Kon who first brought up soulmates to him. They were just hanging out one day, when Kon randomly asked out loud if they thought he would have a soulmate, since he wasn’t naturally born. It was just the four of them, Kon, Bart, Robin and Cassie, and they all sat there in silence.

“Soulmates?” Bart asked, softly, frowning at them.

“Yeah. I don’t know, Kon. That’s a really good question?” Robin said with a shrug.

They kept talking about it, but Bart sat there in confusion.

“Wait, what do you mean soulmates? Those are real?”

Everyone went silent, and then slowly turned to him.

“Um? Yes?” Robin said, looking as confused as Bart felt.

“Wait do you really not know about soulmates?” Cassie asked, frowning and leaning closer.

“No?”

Kon laughed. “Imp, stop messing around.”

“I’m not?”

They all stared at him for a moment before it seemed to click that he wasn’t actually joking with them. Robin took a breath and then turned to him.

“Bart. Everyone, as far as I’m aware, has a ‘Soulmate’. No one knows why this is how the world works, but oftentimes, people will reach a certain age and stop aging until they’ve met and fallen in love with their soulmates,” he explained. “Like . . . like, Nightwing for example, has met his. They live together, and are aging normally. But Batman, hasn’t, and isn’t aging anymore.”

“Wait, isn’t that weird? Is Nightwing older than him then?” Kon asked.

“Not yet? I mean, it doesn’t change Batman’s birth year, Nightwing just . . . will look older sooner, unless Batman falls for his soulmate like, tomorrow.”

Kon made a little grunting noise, looking back at Bart.

“. . . wait really, you’re not kidding me?”

“No, Bart. And you don’t, technically, have to fall in love with someone romantically. I know of some people whose soulmates are their best friends. But Superboy isn’t sure if he’ll have one, since he wasn’t born naturally.”

“Does Superman have one?” Kon speculated out loud.

Robin snorted and launched into a debate with Kon over this, Cassie joining in occasionally. But Bart was stuck there, thinking. If he’s from the future, wouldn’t his soulmate also be in the future? Would he just stop aging and have to live out the next however many years until he got to meet them?

“What happens if you never meet your soulmate?” He asked quietly.

“Well. . . not everyone can avoid death forever. Most people get sick or have something bad happen to them. But there are some people that purposefully avoid falling in love just so they can live forever, and have succeeded fairly well, so far. . . But when your soulmate dies, you’ll start aging anyway.”

“Who’s done the cheating death thing?”

“I’m pretty sure Lex Luthor is one.”

“Checks out.”

They all laughed a bit at that.

Bart didn’t bring up his other question. It wasn’t worth broaching. He’d find out sooner or later.

It ended up being much much later.

Because, you know, death didn’t exactly help his testing of soulmates and whether he had them.

It wasn’t a fun time, being dead. Well, being dead, coming back, becoming old, because apparently the speed force doesn’t give a shit about soulmate aging laws - Bart actually thought that this meant that his soulmate didn’t exist - and then dying again. It was just a really weird time for him, and he was still in therapy for it.

But now, back to life, with Superboy Prime gone, and the real true, prime Superboy back, Bart was starting to settle back into normal human life as a teenager again. Which was weird, having already aged to adulthood, had a boyfriend for a while, then a girlfriend, until he died again. It was weird, because he remembered having several relationships, but now for the life of him, he couldn’t locate Griffin anywhere. Which was probably for the best, because like. . . what would he do if he could. Griffin was a good few years older than him now, and had probably moved on anyway.

So he went back to school, worked as Kid Flash, and went to therapy weekly, and was managing. Things were getting better, he was starting to have less nightmares. Or well, no, not less nightmares, he was just learning how to get out of them faster. He also hung out with the old Young Justice team more. . . . Well, mostly Cassie and Kon. You could tell it was odd for Cassie, being around Kon and Bart. There was this fragile layer of glass everywhere, easily broken, easy to cut people with, and this layer of glass was the topic of their death, and Bart absolutely hated it. But, he was glad to be around Cassie, and he especially liked hanging out with Kon. They would play video games or watch movies or just lay together on the roof and look up at the sky and not say anything. Because they both knew.

They knew how weird it was, to have died and come back. To have watched their friends age around them, to watch their friends go on with life, to have mourned them, and then have to deal with them coming back. It was surreal and sickening and it wasn’t really something you got over easily.

And then their hanging out sessions started including a lot more touching. It started after Bart had a little breakdown that had caused Kon to pull him into a tight hug and just hold him close against his chest, and had only grown from there, to the point that they were cuddling while watching their movies and Bart was sitting in Kon’s lap and they were holding hands, a lot. And it wasn’t weird. It was really nice and naturally and Bart felt so drawn to Kon. He felt like . . . like he might love Kon.

But did either of them discuss it? No, of course not. They’re dumbasses, what do you expect?

But what they did talk about a lot was Tim.

Tim Drake, their old Robin. Their best friend who had been through so much in their absence. Their best friend who had changed his name to Red Robin because of some kid who was apparently Bruce’s biological son showed up. Their best friend who had been more distant since their return then he had been when they first met him, all those years ago.

Because they both missed him so much.

“What if we just go show up at his apartment?” Kon asked, idly rubbing his hand over Barts short spiky hair. It was still growing back from him having buzzed it.

“He has an apartment?”

“Yeah, he moved out after that one kid showed up.”

“Oh, weird.”

“Yeah, I’ve been by his place once, but he pushed me out pretty quick. . .”

“Yeah. It’s like. . . I dunno, he’s been through a lot but it’s like he’s a completely different person.”

Kon shrugged, leaning forwards and pressing his forehead against the top of Bart’s head. “I just wish he would talk to us.”

Bart hummed his agreement. Kon didn’t move away, and Bart didn’t want him to.

They did, in the end, just show up at his apartment a few days later. He wasn’t there when they got there, so they sat on the fire escape and chatted, like they hadn’t been together all evening. Kon suddenly turned and a few seconds later there was a thunk as someone pulled themselves over the edge of the fire escape. Red Robin was standing there, his cape falling around him to mask his body, and he eyed them for a moment.

“What are you two doing here?”

“We’re worried about you,” Bart said, not beating around the bush. He hopped up - causing Kon’s arm to hit the railing of the fire escape with a thunk - and walked over to Tim, not giving him an option before hugging him.

Tim stiffened under the hug and didn’t reciprocate.

“You didn’t need to stop by, I’m fine.”

“Yeah, that’s bullshit,” Kon grumbled, also standing.

Tim pulled away from Bart and moved to the window, pushing it open and slipping it inside. Kon exchanged a look with Bart, but the window stayed open, so they both followed. Inside was . . . dark, and a little dingy. It wasn’t terribly well decorated, but it was definitely functional. There were a few clothes here and there, but other than that and the dishes on the counter, it was fairly clean. Tim pulled off his mask and turned to them once Kon had closed the window and the blinds.

Bart could see pain behind his eyes.

“Are you hurt?” He asked immediately.

“I’m fine,” was the tense response, but Kon tilted his head.

“No, I can smell blood.”

They all but dragged Tim to the bathroom, sitting him on the counter top while they patched him up. The injury was nothing more than a good scrape on the arm, and had mostly stopped bleeding by now anyway, only restarted by them peeling off his shirt. He sat there and stared at the floor, not talking to either of them. But he kept glancing at Kon.

“I’m gonna go make something light to eat,” Bart said softly and stood up off the edge of the bath where he had been sitting and slipped past Kon, hoping that would give them some time to talk.

He just wanted his Robin back.

He quietly made them some cheese quesadillas because Tim had literally next to nothing in his fridge, and he could hear Kon and Tim talking, but couldn’t make out their voices. He just waited patiently. After a bit Kon came out and walked over, but Tim didn’t reappear. Kon came over and just slid his arms around Bart and gave a soft sigh.

“How is he?"

“Closed off? Defensive? Really fucked up? Pick a descriptive.”

Bart sighed and leaned back into him, staring at the cheese that had hit the hot skillet and was bubbling from heat.

After a moment, Kon stepped back and turned, and when Bart also turned to look, he saw the bathroom door start to open and Tim step out, wearing sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt, his hair pulled back into one of those half-buns. Everyone stood there and stared at each other, and then Kon laughed.

“Shut up!” Tim exclaimed, cheeks going pink.

“What just happened?”

“His stomach is rumbling. You made a good choice, deciding to cook.”

Bart grinned at Kon, and turned to flip the quesadilla, before going to get plates. Tim moved and slowly started pushing papers to one side of his small dining table in order to give them room to sit at it. Once food was ready and cut, Bart made them each three plates, and then sat at the table, Tim to his left, and Kon on his other side, and they fell back into awkward silence as they ate.

“So. . . What have you two been up to since you . . .” Tim trailed off awkwardly.

“Oh uh. . . I dunno, I guess I’ve been talking with the Kent’s more, and Clark. . . we’ve been. . . just getting closer?”

Tim nodded.

“I’ve been doing school mostly. It’s just. . . weird, ya know, because like, it seems like people don’t know who I really am? Or they don’t know I was gone? I dunno, I guess the Speedforce is probably protecting me or something.”

"Yeah that's weird, I've been wondering why that's the case because like . . . They revealed your identity in your . . . so why wouldn't people remember. . . "

"Yeah. . . Also like, I had a boyfriend for a while. Do you remember that? Did you ever meet him?"

Tim shook his head.

"Yeah, so I dated this guy for a while but now he just . . . Doesn't exist? I can't find him anywhere."

Tim made a little grunting noise and reached for a notepad.

"What's his name?"

"Griffin Gray. It's . . . It's okay, you don't need to look for him, we broke up before I-" Bart cut himself off. "And he wasn't my soulmate anyway, so it's okay."

Tim just hummed and continued writing.

"And where were you two living?"

"Keystone."

More nodding, then he pushed the notepad aside and returned to eating. Silence fell back over them.

"Hey, Tim."

"Hm?"

"We were going to go see that new movie Friday . . . Do you want to come with?" Conner asked, turning to face him a little better.

Tim looked up, then between the two of them.

"What time?"

"Like, seven?"

"I probably can't, I have wor-"

"We can come up here!" Bart exclaimed quickly. "I mean, we have super powers, you don't. . . It makes more sense."

Tim turned his gaze to Bart, and sat there, just looking at him for a moment. Long enough that it got a little awkward.

"Sure. Find out what time the showings are and text me."

"Uh. . . What's your current number?"

" . . . That would probably help."

They all quickly exchanged new phone numbers, and once more fell to silence, tension thick in the room. Finally Kon cleared his throat and looked at Tim.

"How have you been, Tim?"

"Eh. Yeah I'm fine."

"Not to be rude but uh . . . Bullshit."

"Huh?"

Kon waved vaguely around the apartment. "Bullshit. Are you at least . . . " He stopped and shook his head. "I know you've been through a lot of shit. Do you have someone to talk to about all that?"

"Yeah I do I've got . . . " There was a sad pause here. "Bruce and Steph and a couple others."

Conner made an uh huh noise.

"Tim," Bart started, reaching over the table and grabbing his hand, not letting him pull it away.

His hand was rough and calloused and a little sweaty.

"We're just worried about you, okay? We both know that it's weird for you, us being back here. But you . . . We all need to talk about it. We can't just let it become some taboo subject. It was something serious and major that happened and we're all messed up from it."

Tim swallowed, and even squeezed Bart's hand a bit.

"Okay? So. . . So you don't have to talk to us about it. But please, talk to someone. Please don't push away anymore. We miss you. I miss you."

Tim just nodded a bit, but Bart could tell from the look in his eyes he wasn't going to.

"Tim. Promise me."

"Bart-"

"Swear it on your soulmate."

Tim snorted softly and closed his eyes, tilting his head down towards the table.

"I think I should tell you two something."

Kon and Bart exchanged a confused look, but neither one spoke. Tim took a breath, then started speaking.

"When . . . When you two died, I started aging. I hadn't been aging for a few years, more or less stuck at fifteen."

Bart felt the breath sucked out of him, and he looked between them both.

"Wait but I came back, did you-"

Tim shook his head, glancing up at him.

"But . . . You weren't exactly you either, were you? And you weren't back long enough to have really noticed."

Bart frowned, he made a good point. Tim sighed and pulled his hand away to rub his face.

"So, I don't know who, but I know it's one of you two. . . So, can you see part of why I had to avoid you? I couldn't . . . Couldn't pick between my two best friends."

Kon and Bart just looked at each other.

"Tim . . . Tim we don't even know if I have a soulmate," Kon said softly. He slid out of his chair and knelt next to Tim, reaching out and touching his arm. "But we do know you and Bart each have one."

"Kon, you can't-"

Kon just smiled sadly. I'd rather watch my two best friends get to be happy together, okay, Tim?"

"But Kon-"

Bart felt something inside of him crying out, mourning, sobbing at the idea of Kon not being by his side too.

"Kon-" he breathed out, looking down at the clone.

Kon turned his sad smile to the ginger.

"I'll let you guys talk-"

"No!"

Bart jumped up and moved to intercept Kon, pushing him back down.

"You're both idiots."

"Huh?"

"I just figured it out. These dumb feelings of mine."

They both blinked up at him, twin expressions of confusion.

"Kon. I'm in love with you," Bart said, confidently, never more sure of anything in his life.

Kon's eyes went wide and he looked up at Tim, clearly startled.

"Bart, I-"

Bart held up a hand to silence him, and looked at Tim.

"But I think we're soulmates too."

"What makes you think that?" Tim was closed off. Cold and calculating, more Robin- Red Robin now then Tim Drake.

"Because I . . . " Bart scowled, turning to pace, trying to figure out how to get the words from his brain, the feelings from his heart, out through his mouth.

They just watched patiently, knowing how Bart worked by now.

"I've always felt connected to you. Like . . . Like there was something more we were destined for. Like, I can't explain it, but ever since I met you on that dumb ski trip, I've always felt like I needed to be around you."

They both looked from Bart, to each other, then back at Bart, and Kon gave a soft smile.

"Okay I'm glad I'm not crazy then."

"Huh?" Tim asked, as Kon stood back up.

Kon walked over, hugging Bart tightly.

"I've felt the same way, towards you two. I've always felt connected . . . Like there was this rope tied around my spine, tugging me towards both of you." He turned back to Tim, not speaking for a moment. "God, Tim, I'm-"

"Wait. Shush."

Tim held up his hand, and they both audibly clicked their jaws shut. Their leader had given a command, of course they'd listen. He frowned, laced his fingers together, and rested his chin on his thumb. They waited.

Silence continued.

Then, finally, he spoke.

"You really think it is possible for someone to have two soulmates?"

"Sure, why not?" Conner said, shrugging. "Doesn't seem that far fetched."

"And you two really think . . . That we're all . . . "

Kon and Bart exchanged a look, and then nodded.

"Yeah?"

Tim made a little humming noise, then stood.

"I need to sleep on this. I'll see you two on Friday."

He walked away, down a little hallway, and neither of them moved, just looked from each other, to the doorway, then back. Then Bart giggled and stepped forwards, leaning into Kon.

"Wow that really just happened."

"God I hope we're right."

Bart hummed. Kon kissed the top of his head, and Bart smiled into his shirt.

"So . . . You're really in love with me?"

"Yeah? I thought . . . I thought that was obvious?"

"I mean a little, but I wasn't sure."

Bart snorted lightly, and looked up at him. Kon smiled softly down at him.

"It's true though."

Kon's smile grew a bit. "I know."

With that, he leaned down, and gently kissed Bart, a hand coming up to rest on his neck, thumb on his cheek. Bart pushed up on his tiptoes, arms going over Kon's shoulders. It was soft and timid, with every bit of the nervousness of a first kiss with someone you really liked.

Kon pulled away first, grinning at Bart. "We should probably get out of Tim's apartment."

"Probably." Bart giggled.

They slipped out the window, closing it firmly behind them, and said goodbye on the fire escape with another soft kiss.

Friday was accompanied by another major crisis in Gotham, so Tim had to call off, and they didn't hear anything from him other than a confirmation that he was alive on Saturday. Four three days after that text they didn’t hear anything from him. And then randomly, they got a group text from him, asking if they wanted to come over for dinner. They had immediately said yes, on the one condition that Tim wasn’t the one cooking.

So Thursday evening, they got ready and met at Tim’s apartment, actually using the front door this time. Bart was there before Kon, and when he walked in, the smell of lasagna hit him.

“Whoa, I thought you said you weren’t cooking?”

“I’m not,” Tim said with a small laugh. “You just missed Alfred.”

“Oooh, that makes sense.” Bart walked over to the oven and peaked in, grinning as his mouth started watering. “This smells so good.”

“Yeah. It should be. You know how Alfred is.”

Bart nodded his confirmation and looked around the apartment. It was a lot cleaner and brighter than the last time he was here, and Tim was a lot cleaner then the last time he was here. His hair was clean, and from where it had been tucked behind his ears, it had curled slightly. He was still wearing what was probably work clothes, brown pants and a cream, tight fitting turtleneck. And he was smiling. Smiling at Bart.

Bart smiled back.

“How was your day?” Bart asked, stepping closer.

Tim stepped in, after a moment of hesitation, and hugged him.

“It was pretty good. We had some meetings, still working towards transfering most of the CEO work back over to Bruce,” Tim said with a small shrug as he stepped back again.

“What, you don’t want to keep being a teenage CEO?”

“Preferably, no.”

Bart chuckled. “I mean, that’s understandable. Are you done with school then?”

“Yeah, I took some tests to get my GED and I’m done.”

“Huh, Nice. I’m jealous.”

Tim chuckled, stepping away as the oven started beeping. He grabbed some oven mitts and quickly pulled out a big tray of lasagna, as well as a tray of Texas Toast. Bart’s stomach grumbled in anticipation. There was a knock at the door, and Tim looked up, busy sprinkling more cheese on the lasagna.

“Can you get that? It’s probably Kon.”

Bart nodded and zipped over, pulling the door open, to discover that it was in fact Kon outside the door. He grinned the moment he saw the ginger.

“Hey there, Bart.”

“Hi, Kon!”

Bart got a kiss on the cheek and a hug before Kon stepped inside, letting him shut the door as he walked over to Tim. Bart watched them embrace and share a quick greeting, and could help but smile. It was clear Tim was wary around them still, but he was trying and Bart was over the moon about that.

“I thought we told you no cooking,” Kon said, eyeing the lasagna Tim was putting back in.

“You did. I didn’t bake! Alfred was here a little bit ago, he did all this and just left me instructions when to take things out.”

Tim picked up and waved a sheet of paper. Kon snatched it and read over it, snickering the whole time, he shook his head, grinning at Tim.

“You really cared about this, huh?”

“Of course I did!” Tim exclaimed, then his cheeks went pink. “Uh. . . What do you two want to drink?”

After a bit, dinner was ready, and they were all sat at the, now clean, table, chowing down on steaming plates of lasagna, Tim watching in horror with how much Bart and Kon ate.

“I forgot about this,” he muttered, shaking his head.

“Forgot about what?” Bart asked, after gulping down his mouthful of lasagna.

“The whole. . . “ Tim waved at their plates. “Food intake. You two are gonna eat me out of house and home, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.” Kon grinned at him.

Despite the insane quantities of food, Kon and Bart both had fairly good table manners, so it took them a lot longer to eat then it would when they were alone. After, they helped clean up the kitchen, and then found themselves crashing on the sectional in the living room. Only the second they sat down, Tim immediately stood up again. He stepped around the coffee table and faced them.

“Okay. I have to tell you guys something, the reason why I called you two down- or well, up here.”

Kon frowned and leaned forwards, forearms on his knees. “What’s up?”

“I’ve been thinking . . . a lot, about our conversation last week,” he paused, and neither of them dared to interrupt. “About how I feel about you two. . . and- and about how I don’t ever want to be without you.”

Bart’s heart leapt into his throat, but he waited patiently. Well, as patiently as he could. He may have started vibrating a bit.

“I don’t . . . I don’t know how having two soulmates works, apparently it’s more common than I thought. But . . . If we’re right. . . Then I want to try it. I want to be with you two. Both of you.”

At this, Bart jumped up and dashed over, throwing his arms around Tim and hugging him tightly. Tim grunted slightly, but hugged him back, pressing his face against the side of Bart’s head. Then he pulled away, pushing Bart back slightly.

“But uh. . . I’ve never . . . with guys-”

“Tim.” Kon was right behind them now. “We can take things at whatever pace you need, okay? I don’t have that much experience here either, but we’ll take things one day at a time."

Tim smiled, nodding slightly, and looking between them. Kon stepped in and hugged him as well. But then Bart had a thought.

“What happens. . . What happens if we find out we’re not soulmates?” he asked softly.

“Then we’ll handle that when we get there,” Kon reassured. “For now, let's just focus on the dating aspect. One day at time.”

“One day at a time,” Tim agreed, holding out an arm for Bart, who immediately joined the little group hug.

Their group hug migrated to the sofa, which then just turned into laying on Kon, who seemed perfectly content with this. And Bart? Bart couldn’t be happier. It might be a rough road from here out. It would definitely be fraught with peril, injuries, and maybe even death. But if Bart had his soulmates, his two best friends in the whole world by his side? He would face that danger with a smile, because they were worth it. This. This was worth it.

@core-disaster-week-2020

#timkonbart week #core disaster week #timkonbart #core disaster #tim drake #conner kent #bart allen #prompt week #soulmate au #no aging soulmate au #queerbutstillhere #queerbutstillhere-writes

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cryptocism · 4 years

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ive been scrolling through ur blog for a while (cuz ur dc opinions are Top Fucking Notch) and i saw what you said abt bart in tt 03 and f:fma and while i totally agree (it killed tt 03 for me lol) im super curious abt how youd do his development if given the opportunity?

I’ve been thinking about this one like A Lot so buckle up this is long:

it would kind of depend? On whether or not he’d be in an ensemble team like Teen Titans or with his own solo series.

I understand metatextually why he became Kid Flash in TT, since they needed him to be more mature and a more recognizable character and having him upgrade costumes/codenames is a good shortcut for both. But I’ve already talked about why it didn’t sit right with me.

So, lets flip the script a little bit - the start of TT would be largely the same. Our boy Bart is on the new Titans team, and things are kind of awkward after YJ disbanded, also Max is gone and Bart’s relationship with Wally is still not doing great. Things are rough, Bart has newfound doubts to deal with, especially now that the world seems to have gotten harsher and everyone seems to have a lot less patience to deal with him. The pressure to be more mature and a recognizable character is coming from other characters now rather than an authorial need: he’s reminded to take things seriously, or that he should know better by now, that he needs to slow down and think more. So Bart decides a change is necessary, and we get the library scene. He reads all the books, he reappears as Kid Flash, saves Tim via bullet catch, disassembles a gun, takes down Slade, etc. etc. Here’s my departure from canon though: it doesn’t work.

Kid Flash is not a solution, or a magical cure for immaturity. Reading a whole library so he’s miraculously smarter and more mature and capable is, at its core, a pretty naive conclusion. And it makes sense he would think that. But it doesn’t work. He’s still impulsive, distractible, hasty. He can’t put a lid on his own sense of humor. People still think he’s annoying or lazy or careless. And he keeps trying - he knows all this stuff now, he read a whole library! - but he’s still apparently too much the same person as he's always been. And even though he’s trying very hard to live up to the Kid Flash name, it still doesn’t feel like him. Wally doesn’t like it, since Bart is literally just imitating him now, which makes things between the two even worse. And Bart keeps worrying about what’s supposed to come afterwards, since “Kid Flash” is inherently temporary, and while Impulse was only peripherally related to the flash legacy, Kid Flash comes with expectations.

Bart is trying very very hard to be ‘grown up’ and ‘mature’, but he hasn’t actually learned anything other than a bunch of facts (which are still useful, but) he’s just trying to be who everyone expects him to be.

And this is what i mean about the ensemble thing, because this arc would be in conversation with the rest of the core four, who are also trying very hard to be people they’re not, but all in different ways. Bart obviously with the codename change, but Cassie, Tim, and Kon all have similar issues, they’re all trying to imitate people.

Tim is doing his Batman jr. routine, reverting back to the persona he had at the start of YJ. He’s cagey and mysterious and does questionable things without telling anybody, because he’s de-facto leader of the team again, and he has to be better than he is. No more kid stuff, the Titans are serious, he has to treat it like a job, not like a sleepover. And this whole act is putting distance between him and his friends.

Cassie is trying her hardest to put herself in a support role. Donna’s gone and she has some big shoes to fill (she and Tim could probably bond about that if he weren’t stubbornly trying to brood at all hours of the day) and she’s doing her best to just Be Donna. Cassie and Tim would work better with their team roles swapped, and they both sort of know this - Cassie is naturally charismatic, thinks on her feet, can maintain good PR, and when she’s confident in herself is great at leading. Tim is partial to planning ahead, secrets, and keeping in the shadows, and is better at being a confidant and emotional problem solver among the team (when he allows himself to be open among friends, that is).

But they’re both trying to fit themselves into what they see as pre-ordained roles: Robin is leader, Wondergirl is a supportive mediator. But Cassie’s got a temper and little patience for people being idiots, and Tim’s not predisposed to spotlights.

Kon on the other hand has a story that’s less about who he should be and more who he shouldn’t be. The Lex Luthor dad storyline is here (minus the mind control shit, although the threat of it is still brought up) and Kon is doing his level best to do nothing that could be interpreted as something Lex might do. While everyone is doing their best to Not be their own person, Kon has no idea if he ever was his own person. He’s questioning everything he does, wondering if it’s some kind of evil gene showing through when he’s angry or petty or selfish. He’s going through lots of clone angst.

So they’re all dealing with expectations and who they are or aren’t supposed to be, trying to fit themselves into boxes that don’t suit them and then convincing themselves that this is how it ought to be. Kon ought to avoid feeling or acting in any negative light because any sign of Luthor is a sign of evil, Cassie ought to tone herself down and act like Donna, Tim ought to step up and lead the team and act like Dick, and Bart ought to listen better and be smarter and slow down and grow up and do his level best to just Be Wally.

Throughout the issues they’d all get a spotlight on their various crises, taking them through complimenting character arcs. Kon would realize through a couple close encounters and chats with ma and pa and talks with his friends and citizens of metropolis that nobody is all good or all bad. Clark can be a real asshole sometimes and Luthor’s actually done a fair bit of good (usually in his own interests, but still we’re gunning for nuance). Turns out he doesn’t have a dark side to be tempted by, he was made from 50% complex person and 50% complex person, just like everyone else. Which means he isn’t destined to be the next Superman, or Superman’s next supervillain. He’s just like, a person. With his own thoughts and feelings that have nothing to do with genetics.

Tim would wear himself out and hide it from everybody until he killed himself, but it’s only when he sees Cassie also wearing herself out too that his ‘somebody needs somebody’ instincts kick in and they’re actually able to talk about how miserable they both are. Through some trial and error they’re able to figure out a good co-leader system for leading the team, having each other’s backs along the way, which allows for them both being able to help out the other members of their team with their own shit i.e. Kon and Bart’s identity issues.

Bart is, like Cassie and Tim, wearing himself out trying to be this perfect version of Wally that never actually existed. He actually hates the recognition the new name gives him, because people have expectations for him now, ones he can never seem to live up to. He’s bad at following orders still, which makes him a pretty shit sidekick for Wally, in fact he’s just pretty shit at being a sidekick in general. But, he reasons, he’s supposed to be grown up and responsible now, and responsibility is all about doing shit you hate until you die, so he’s probably on the right track.

It’s only later, once he gets some support from his friends, who help him deal with things like Max and YJ disbanding and stuff that he’s able to actually sit down and have a heart-to-heart with Wally. Wally confesses that he understands the pressure to live up to a legacy, and how he did his best to just Be Barry when he became the flash. In fact while Bart was trying to live up to Wally and be a good sidekick, Wally was trying to live up to Barry and be a good mentor. Wally’s the one to tell him that Bart’s always done his own thing, and is at his best when he does. They both agree they suck as partners, but maybe they should’ve tried to be family first. And there’s probably a racing metaphor in there somewhere because speedsters love their racing metaphors.

ANyway Bart returns to Impulse, forging a new path, getting along better with Wally now and hanging out with him just as civilians with no pretense. He learns some valuable lessons about how maturity can’t be learned in a book, and that he’ll get it himself the more he lives and learns from experience. The Titans all get along better now that they’re all sure of their places in the group, and they can all go on just being themselves without worrying about expectations or roles to fill or whatever.

...If Bart still had his solo series instead though, id actually want it to go in a sort of different direction? The thing about living up to predecessors and trying to be some ideal version of another person works well for the Titans because they can all deal with a similar issue in different ways, but I think it would also be interesting to do the complete opposite.

Lots of shitty things happened in very quick succession in Bart’s life that he had no control over: Max’s disappearance, having to move in with Jay and Joan (who are nice, but whom he barely knows,) leaving his friends in Alabama, Young Justice breaking up… Basically, things kind of suck for Bart, and all he wants is for them to go back to the way they were. Instead of trying to be grown up or mature or whatever, Bart is resisting every single encroaching thing about coming adulthood. Because all growing up ever seems to mean is that everything changes and either you have to leave the people you love or they have to leave you.

So this series would focus mostly on that, both in his civilian life; going into high school, not knowing anybody, the few friends he does make are less interested in ‘kid stuff’ and more focused on dating and interpersonal drama, high school itself seems to be geared entirely toward the “what are you going to do with your life” question, when he visits his old friends back in manchester, they’ve all kind of grown up without him. And in hero life; everyone from Young Justice is trying to move on and not talking to each other, his father figure and mentor is gone and he's not really jiving well with the rest of the flash family, and people just seem to have less patience for Impulse now that he’s older.

Growing up is hard. It’s hard and no one understands. Especially not when you’re also a superhero and have dealt with some quality trauma like losing loved ones and feeling yourself die. So it makes sense that Bart would resist that in every way possible, do his best to pretend like everything is still how it used to be, for once in his life just trying to make everything stay put. He refuses to get rid of his old stuff, he doesn’t want to treat any villainous threats seriously, people in school keep talking about college and jobs and tuition fees and Bart wants none of that, he acts out, refuses responsibility, gets reckless under the pretense that he never used to have to be cautious.

And this is the part where I’d bring in Inertia, cause Thad was robbed and I want him to have an actual arc that doesn’t end with infant-splosion. Also he can have a good ol companion arc to Bart. Welcome to foils everybody, where two identical boys with opposing life experiences get to thematically compare and contrast with each other as they deal with the trials and tribulations of growing up.

So, I’m ignoring every appearance Thad ever made after Impulse 1995, picking up instead where his story left off where he swore vengeance on his creators and disappeared into the speed force. And he’s off to do exactly what he said; Thad Thawne II is going to kill his namesake/grandfather/creator - the president of Earthgov.

But, turns out assassinating the president of a whole fucking planet is a lot harder than he thought - Thad has planned extensively for every moment of his life, so once he starts going off script things predictably go a little off the fuckin rails. Thad fails, obviously. For one because despite how much President Thawne might deserve to die, Thad at this point hasn’t done anything worse than attempted murder, and making him a killer would put a wrench in any kind of redemption arc he could have. Also he’s acting on rage, in a highly emotional state, basically going up against the entire government. Of course he’s going to get caught by the science police and brought into custody.

Bart, meanwhile is jumping with both feet into any kind of escapism he can find, which involves various time travel shenanigans and lands him in the 30th century. He gets to reunite however briefly with his mom, but the mission he had gets derailed by the appearance of Inertia.

Every time Bart and President Thawne interact, the president always seems to make a bid to sway Bart to the Thawne side. This never works, which is part of the reason Inertia exists in the first place; a version of Bart that the president could control. When Inertia landed in the 30th century, hell bent on assassinating his creator, the President subdued him and eventually coerced him back over to the Thawne side of the family feud. No longer a rogue agent, Inertia is back to his old self, all about destroying Bart and the rest of the Allens.

They have a battle, taking place all over the 30th century city, and Bart does his best but Inertia has the entire Earthgov police force on his side, and Bart eventually gets captured. He gets taken to some kind of holding facility, meets with the President who monologues as him while Inertia stands beside him like a good lackey. Then suddenly the speed-inhibiting cuffs or whatever Inertia had put on Bart to stop his speed malfunctions, and Inertia drops the act, now Impulse and Inertia working together to take down the Earthgov people holding them there.

Turns out as soon as Inertia knew he couldn’t take out the president, what with all the military force President Thawne had on his side, he bided his time until he could. He uses Bart’s help to finally get President Thawne cornered, and the assassination plan is back on track. Except now Bart is the thing stopping him. He makes the argument about how murder bad. Heroes don��t kill, etc. Inertia insists he isn’t a hero. But Bart reminds him that that’s not how Max saw him.

Inertia hesitates just enough that President Thawne is able to get away, and now the two of them have to make an escape attempt back to the past. Bart insists on trying to take Meloni with them, and they try but ultimately fail somehow (maybe someone has to stay behind to make sure they can make the trip safely, idk. At first Thad is willing to stay behind, since there’s nothing really for him in the past. But Meloni knows that President Thawne would destroy him if he did, and she can’t let harm come to either of her sons - and she does consider Thad her son, just like Bart. She’s had far too little time with either of them, but she loves them all the same. She tells them to take care of each other, and is the first to encourage them to be like, actual brothers.)

After yet another tearful goodbye, Bart swearing he’ll find a way for them to all be together again, Bart and Thad go back. And they do end up having to lean on each other, because shit’s tough for the both of them. Thad initially wants to apologize and possibly reunite with Max and Helen, and then finds out Max is gone. And Bart has someone who understands exactly what he’s going through.

Things get a little more lighthearted from here. Bart and Thad don’t get along well at first, since they’re both going through rough times and lots of changes and their first instincts are to lash out at each other. But eventually they form a sort of camaraderie through shared grief, then shared fish-out-of-water experiences. Which evolves into shared inside jokes and video games and comic books and they become slow but steady friends.

They upgrade into brothers when Bart defends Thad against the repeated (and not entirely undeserved) suspicion he receives from the rest of the Flash family. Jay and Joan take him in, but it’s clear they don’t trust him, and neither does Wally. Bart stands up for Thad, arguing that he’s as much of a Thawne as Thad is, and treating Thad like he’s the next Cobalt Blue is just going to ensure that history never changes and stupid family feuds are forever. After this, Thad starts trusting Bart a little more, and kind of solves Bart’s problems regarding encroaching adulthood with his friendship. Neither of them really had a childhood, and Thad hasn’t experienced 21st century life at all, much less the societal expectations to grow up. So Bart gets to have fun again, and Thad won't judge any of his games or his books or his attitude or interests for being childish or lame because he’s fascinated by the experience of anything regardless of the target audience.

And from there it's a series about these two becoming brothers and growing up and the different lessons they learn and wacky characters they meet along the way. Thad ironically also puts Bart in a position where he has to take on more responsibility, since even though Thad can imitate heroic actions and is actually pretty good at it, he doesn’t understand what makes them heroic. Bart has to draw on a lot of the things Max taught him and now has to teach them to Thad.

There’s crossover comics with Superboy, where Bart laments about having to deal with grown up stuff, and Kon gives him a new perspective on the whole “being young forever” thing, since that was a reality Kon actually had to deal with and it sucked.

Through various misadventures they meet new and familiar characters to give them different perspectives on the whole passage of time thing. Villains who despise children or childish things, villains who embrace it but probably too much. People who talk about growing up as the worst time of their lives, others talking about it like it was the best. Kids and adults alike trying to force Bart and Thad to act a certain way while treating them another.

The two of them come to opposing conclusions about this; Thad wants to embrace change completely, partly because he wants to experience firsthand all that life has to offer, but also his worldview depends on believing that anyone can change, and anyone can be better, because he has to believe he can be redeemed for all the shitty stuff he did. Bart, on the other hand, knows his life isn’t perfect but thinks, based on recent events, that it’s all just going to get worse from here, and so resists change as much as possible.

Thad, in his haste to experience everything, sometimes ends up going too far, either burning both of them out, or pushing them into situations that they’re not ready for or are ill-equipped to handle. Bart, on the other hand is so resistant to change or responsibility that he stops them from doing actual necessary things like planning their futures or doing chores or making new friends. This acts as the crux for their main conflict that slowly builds throughout the series, and then in a finale to the arc, they both figure out a way to get Meloni back to the past, and to raise some stakes they have a falling out in the middle of the mission about it.

Bart accuses Thad of trying to leave him behind, or trying to be the better version of him again, and that old insecurity about Thad replacing him crops up. Thad thinks Bart just can’t handle anything outside his personal bubble and wants to force him to live in the real world. Plus he also feels kind of abandoned by Bart, who often would leave Thad to do the scary adult things on his own.

Tensions still high, there's suddenly an external threat to deal with - probably president thawne and the science police - and they attempt to continue arguing even while fighting the president. I’m making this up as I go so lets say yada yada big climactic moment it's looking like the two might fail to get Meloni back and they’re both still angry with each other and Bart just… can’t take it anymore.

He keeps losing people, and the ones he keeps he always seems to screw up with. And at the end of the day he’s just a kid who wants his mom. Is that really so much to ask? So there’s a reversal, a parallel, if you will, of the assassination attempt from the beginning of the series, this time with Bart. Or, because I don’t think many people would buy that Bart would actually ever for real kill someone, maybe he’s finally about to get his mom back, but she doesn’t want to go (since she made that deal with the president that he wouldn’t harm anyone of the Allen family so long as she stayed with him) so he’s trying to force her, risking the lives/well-being of the entire Allen bloodline across all of time.

This time it’s Thad who has to talk him down, who has to remind him about being a hero, who has to remind him that trying to go back to some magical time in the past where things were better is just going to stop him from learning and growing as a person, and that doing anything and everything possible to get there is just going to lead to Bart doing something he Actually Can’t walk back from.

Alright but here’s the thing because having Bart be forced to leave his mom again for like the billionth time is tired and overdone, and personally the whole message about heroics involving extreme and damaging amounts of sacrifice can only go so far. So here; Thad and Bart are both right.

Like on the one hand, yeah, it’s childish and selfish for Bart to want to be with his mom at the expense of literally everyone else in his family. On the other hand, the fact that they can’t be together because some asshole is upholding a stupid grudge is bad and unfair and wrong. The issue needing to be fixed is not the kid who wants his mom, it’s the jackass keeping them apart (and who also wants to kill/imprison people). So Bart convinces Thad that they have to save Meloni, and Thad convinces Bart that there has to be another way - one where they get their mom back and the Allens don’t have to be hunted.

The whole story would be leading up to the two of them coming to this conclusion; the healthy middle between the two extremes. Where they have the maturity to plan ahead and sort through their differences and figure out the best course of action with the least amount of collateral, but they don’t let go of that adolescent need for justice and fairness - that thing that makes you dig in your heels and say “no. That’s not fair, that’s not right.”

SO here’s where I’d put the title card: “Bartholomew and Thaddeus Take Down The Government”. How do they do it? No idea! I’m flyin by the seat of my pants here! Do they run for office? Do they publicize the president’s crimes in such a way he gotta go to jail? Do they somehow turn public opinion against him enough to get him out of office? idk!!! And I don’t remember enough about Earthgov’s political situation to put an accurate read on what exactly they might do to disrupt it.

Either way they don’t kill him, manage to free their mom, and they all go back to the past together. And a new arc would involve the three of them getting settled in the past; Meloni would be a main character now, and hers is a two-pronged fish out of water story where she’s trying to figure out how shit works in the past, with overtones of the struggles of being a single parent.

And... I’m not going to say any more about that because this is long enough already oof.

TL;DR I think a coming of age story would be cool for Bart, and having to deal with growing up when he never really had a childhood. Also the comic itself would be aimed at younger audiences, who can probably relate to having a Bad Time in the Teens and wacky hijinks with friends and siblings.

#soapbox #anonymous #asks

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