More Symbabies Please? I Love Your Ficlets!

More symbabies please? I love your ficlets!

The gravel beside the hedge crunches and two worn trainers shuffle into view. Sleeper tenses, trying to scoot back further under the hedge.

The shoes shift, one threadbare knee comes into view, and then a large dark eye.

Sleeper whimpers softly to himself, tensing to run-

The eye blinks, then drops down a bit further- the dirty face of a young boy. He makes soft little squeak-kissing noises, rubs his fingers together.

It’s not- threatening. Not yet, anyway. Sleeper shivers, it’s still raining outside. He doesn’t want to run.

“Here bunny.” The boy reaches very slowly under the hedge, still rubbing his fingers together. “It’s okay.”

Sleeper’s nose twitches, it don’t mean anything to him- but the host wants to come closer- the little fingers suggest the boy has food, and the rabbit is hungry.

He hesitates, but when the boy’s hands stretch in almost far enough to touch his fur, he scuttles back into the roots of the bush.

“Okay.” The hand pulls away. “Just stay here.”

He stands up, and the tatter trainers crunch away. Sleeper huffs in relief, suddenly aware of how fast his little rabbit’s heart is beating. The host stirs fretfully in the back of their mind. It’s hungry, it’s never gone so long without hay.

There’s a little wispy grass under the bush. Sleeper gives it a tentative nibble, it’s tasteless and stringy, and the rabbit looks longingly at the thick lawn just beyond the hedge.

There’s a clatter of pebbles, and the trainers are back. Sleeper shoots back into the roots, huddling down in the shadows.

“I’m here.” The boy sounds out of breath. “Just thought- you might be hungry? And rabbits like vegetables?”

He kneels down again, and reaches his hand out- not as far in as before, but Sleeper’s nose twitches at the strange, faintly alien smell.

But not alien to the host’s mind.

Food.

The boy opens his hand, revealing a few slightly crushed lettuce leaves. “We didn’t have any carrots.” Apologetic.

The host desperately wants to lean in and nibble. Sleeper hovers; is this safe? People wouldn’t be giving food to animals they wanted to kill, right? But what about- poison?

He really wants his parents here.

“It’s okay.” The boy whispers, “You can eat, it’s safe.”

He remembers Eddie gently moving him out of the way of a cluster of bottles- ‘ah-ah, that’s poisonous. Not safe, not for kiddies.’

Poison isn’t for children to use, so the lettuce is probably safe. Sleeper shuffles forwards, far enough to lean in and snatch a mouthful.

It’s wet and floppy, slippery between his teeth. Sleeper grimaces, but the rabbit is delighted, munching and munching, and when the boy’s hand moves away, just a little, they shift forwards to keep eating.

Back and back and suddenly Sleeper stops. They’re out in the open, on the gravel. The boy is squatted beside them, adding little strips of lettuce to the pile in his hand.

“It’s okay.” And his voice is soft, gentle. He’s not his parents, but- it’s soothing all the same, and Sleeper really, really wants to believe everything is okay right now.

The boy’s free hand lowers, and touches them on the shoulders. Both Sleeper and the rabbit freeze, but the boy doesn’t grab them, doesn’t hurt. His hand is gentle, running through their fur in gentle strokes.

“‘m not gonna hurt you.” The boy continues, stroking them over and over, pausing the scratch behind their ears. It feels so good, almost like being held by Venom and Eddie, Sleeper slumps down, rolls on his side and closes his eyes. The panic is fading, and under it, he’s exhausted.

They hear the coming rain before they feel it, a low rhythmic beat on the roofs and tree leaves. The heavy drops splash on their ears, on the soft coat of underfur at their belly. Sleeper starts up, trying to fluff up his rapidly soaking fur.

The boy pulls up his coat to shield them. “Hey,” he whispers. “Want to come in with me? It’s dry in there, and I can get you more food.”

Sleeper looks up and down the street. A car passes in a haze of rain, slashing up a wave of gutterwater. No Venom, no Eddie. They can’t stay here all night.

He hops closer to the boy, and when he reaches down, doesn’t try to run. The boy picks them up gently, one arm under their bottom, bracing all four paws on his chest. It’s- not great, but okay, and the boy is warm and dry.

“Well done.” The boy whispers, and hurries into the house.

They clatter in through the front door, and Sleeper catches a glimpse of a dark room, a chair and the shimmering screen of a TV- then they’re going up the stairs at top speed. The boy ducks through a door, and quickly closes it behind them.

“Okay.” He whispers, and switches on the light. Sleeper blinks as the sudden blaze of light hurts their eyes.

It’s a small bedroom, a bed half hidden under old clothes, more clothes strewn over the floor. A little desk is huddled by the window, buried in books. The boy shoves the clothes off his bed, and makes a little nest in the blankets. “Here, it’s warm, I’ll just go and-”

“BOY!” A roar from downstairs.

The boy tenses, “Just- stay here, okay? I’ll- sort something out-”

“GET DOWN HERE!”

The boy puts them in the nest, strokes them again quickly. “I’ll be right back. I’ll get you more lettuce, okay?”

“DO YOU WANT ME TO FETCH YOU?”

“NO, DAD!” The boy yells back. “Just- don’t move, please. If he sees you-” he winces. “I won’t be long-”

“GET THE FUCK DOWN HERE DYLAN.”

Jon Kent and Damian Wayne in the Young Justice Animated Series

It’s been a good long while since Young Justice: Outsiders came out, so I feel like I can finally write about this without worrying about tagging spoilers and ruining lives or something. This is something I thought about the second this episode aired, and I’ve been waiting to write it. So here it goes!

Young Justice: Outsiders was obviously exciting for many reasons, but some of the most excitement came from introductions of well beloved characters, such as Jason Todd and Damian Wayne (seen in Episode 6) and Jon Kent (seen in Episode 9). Anyone who follows Super Sons already knows that this is a massive deal, because it establishes that Damian and Jon both exist in the same animated timeline for the very first time, as well as it being Jon’s animated debut.

Jon Kent And Damian Wayne In The Young Justice Animated Series

While I’m obviously extremely excited for the possibility of a Super Sons animated moment, it got me thinking. The screen shots above show that Damian and Jon are both infants, likely somewhere around one (1) year old. This is completely different from the three (3) year age difference we’re used to, and while this difference might not seem like that big of a deal to some people, it has the capacity to completely change their character dynamics.

Let’s start by looking at Damian:

We all know Damian’s backstory by now; raised in the League of Assassins by Ra’s and Talia Al Ghul, until he was ten (10) years old, when he moved to Gotham to live with Bruce Wayne. It was at this point that he became Robin. This is a pretty concrete point in Damian’s character, and is very unlikely to change. At some point in the YJ series, he needs to become Robin. But lets take a minute to think about what kind of person he was at that age: arrogant, violent, stubborn, and desperately trying to prove his worth to a father he just met. At this point, he was a killer, and regularly fought with just about every member of the Batfam, Bruce and Dick in particular, as he tried to break the habits he’d been brought up with.

In the context of YJ, we can assume that Dick would at some point bring Damian along to join the Team, but the question is, at what age? Damian joining almost immediately fits pretty well with how quickly he was introduced to the Teen Titans. But, at that age, he was hardly a team player. It wasn’t until he was about thirteen (13) that he really started developing actual friendships. However, the age Damian joins the Team - in my opinion at least - would depend very heavily on when the other “Next Generation” heroes join.

This brings us to Jon:

Jon is known for being the complete antithesis to Damian. Rather than being raised to be a loyal machine, he was raised to be a loyal friend. Jon is a character who puts family first, and thinks of his friends as family. He’s truly a breath of childish fresh air in an industry that loves feeding us doom and gloom. While he is beloved by the majority of the fanbase, other characters were very apprehensive about him when he first got into the hero business at ten (10) years old; not-so-coincidentally, the same age as Damian.

However, Jon is also the character in DC comics with the most amount of pressure on him. You imagine being the son of Superman for a moment, and growing up knowing that every single person you meet expects you to one day take over that title. Do you think you’d be able to handle that? Let alone at ten years old? I certainly can’t. Yet it seems like Jon doesn’t actually realize just how heavy that weight on his shoulders is.

While Supers are known for being power houses, and every team seems to want one, Jon was a kid, and very new to his abilities. He was unpolished; constantly making mistakes, misjudging his own strength, overshooting his speed and flight, and who could possibly forget when he lost control Manchester Black, or when he went full Super Nova and nearly killed the Teen Titans? It became very clear at the end of the first Super Sons run that Damian was actually the only other young hero that trusted Jon, which is why they continued to function as the newest take on a dynamic duo.

How does this all come back to Young Justice: Outsiders? Well it’s actually very simple. All of that mistrust that characters were going to have in Jon was immediately erased the second the series did this:

Right here is the next generation of the Team. We all know it, and unlike previous heroes, this is the first generation that’s growing up together. Unlike every other iteration of the Justice League, Teen Titans, Young Justice, and literally every other team you can think of, these kids are all going to grow up watching each other’s powers come in. They’re going to know each other’s weaknesses and flaws, from weekly play dates, birthday parties, and any other hero-family get-together; some of them might even end up going to the same schools in this universe. Yes, Jon is the youngest out of them, but that just means that every single one of these kiddos is going to watch him grow up, knowing that S on his chest will always be there.

Let’s think about what we know about Jon again. He’s charismatic, funny, loyal and true, and has this uncanny ability to be able to talk to literally anyone, regardless of who the are, where they’re from, or what circumstance he’s in. You know what those traits line up perfectly with? A natural born leader.

Growing up in this environment, where all these super kids play all the time, it’s so easy to imagine Jon growing up and being this larger than life personality that everyone just naturally seems to listen to. Jon would be the kid coming up with new games to play, and teaching them to everyone else. He would be one of the team captains when they play kickball, soccer, or any other sport. He would be genuinely interested in everyone’s hobbies and skills. He would be the one everyone turns to when they need someone to talk to. If someone’s unsure about him, chances are they’ll just do what everyone does; take one look at that S on his chest and just start listening.

The series progresses. There’s another time skip, and Damian and Jon are now both ten years old, taking on their respective superhero mantels for the first time. As all young heroes in this series eventually do, they join the Team. Perhaps around the same time, perhaps Damian joins a few months before hand, or vice versa. But that doesn’t matter, because the effect will be exactly the same.

Damian is harsh. He’s vindictive, and unemphatic; the exact opposite of what everyone expects a Robin to be. He refuses to take orders, and is very clearly trying to fight his was to the top of the food chain. Plus, he comes right in and kicks Tim Drake out of the Robin title, someone who could very likely be the current leader. Chances are, everyone would hate Damian from the get-go. Meanwhile, everyone would be looking forward to the day Jon joins. They all knew he would. It was just a matter of time.

Rather than being introduced to each other with a clear difference in experience like in the comics, Jon and Damian are now on relatively even playing fields because they’re the same age. Damian would have more combat skills, but Jon’s already an integral part of the group, and he’s a fast learner. Obviously they would but heads, likely even more than they did in Supers Sons.

One of the biggest debates we see in every single season of YJ is “Ok, but who’s in charge?” This would undoubtedly come up as Damian flat out refuses that listen to any leadership if he doesn’t deem them worthy. Even at ten (10) years old, he would likely be fighting for that position of head honcho, because at this point in his life, Damian’s driving forces are his ego and his ambition. Unfortunately for him, at ten (10) years old, with that personality, and after having just left the League of Assassins, he’s completely untrustworthy.

Jon on the other hand is a perfect candidate for eventual leader. Everyone would have followed Kon, the Superboy before him, to the ends of the Earth. Superman led the Justice League at one point, plus he’s, you know, Superman. Here we’ve got that legend’s kid, with all the makings to eventually take over the whole operation. He’s young, and pretty green, but chances are every single person on the team would have it in the back of their minds that this kid was born to lead.

The biggest problem? Jon has a tendency to crack under pressure, and second guess himself. There is a chance that Damian rushing to be in charge would force Jon to be pushed forward far too quickly, long before he’s ready. Meanwhile, Damian’s smart as sin. No one on the Team would be able to deny that Damian’s a perfect strategist, who analyses and memorizes every skill set and strength of the people he has to work with. He can come up with a flawless plan at the drop of a hat. Meanwhile, Jon would be the kind of person to lead with his heart, and build morale on a foundation of morals and trust.

That’s going to be the conflict between Damian and Jon in Young Justice because of how they were introduced in the series, and with their lack of age gap. Damian doesn’t have the time to grow and gain everyone’s trust before Jon becomes Superboy, where as Jon wouldn’t have the chance to learn before getting pushed into leadership positions he isn’t ready for. They’re likely going to but heads even more than before, and right now, there’s no way to tell if they will ever be able to achieve the friendship they have in the comics, or if they’ll be stuck as rivals.

Is it too early to make assumptions? Yeah. Probably. Who knows what the writers have planned. But I don’t think there’s any way to doubt the conflict they just created for themselves.

1K notes View Post