this one is more headcanon-based than the other lore posts? but. its all still plausible i swear!!!! thanks to @glitch-likes-wordgirl-again for suggesting i talk about Dr. Two-Brains' friends and/or family. this took me a while because i had to Think...
i'm gonna format this with Character Name, then Pre-Accident Steven's Thoughts, then Post-Accident Steven "Two-Brains" Boxleitner's Thoughts, then Post-Accident Squeaky's Thoughts. i also didn't get into a lot of characters because i realized just how long these were taking xS i'll get to them some other time!
warning for. generally angst, i suppose? this guy so silly and tragic
Self
Steven never meets Dr. Two-Brains, but he does meet Squeaky before the Incident, for a very short period of time. Squeaky is a delight and quite silly to him, though it frustrates him at times thanks to it's aggressive behavior. he treats it as well as he can, and i think he gained some of it's trust along the way, since it doesn't try to bite him or run away from him when Steven sets up his experiment. he's completely unaware of it's past (at least until The Incident,) but he's got the vague idea that it wasn't kept properly before.
Two-Brains has VERY mixed feelings towards his past/towards Steven Boxleitner. the best word to describe it all would be 'jealousy.' the way i see it, Two-Brains (or rather, the human brain of Dr. Two-Brains?) is, technically, Steven. but the experiment going wrong impacted his life so heavily that he's barely attached to his old identity anymore. he remembers who Steven was, yes, but most of it is clouded, and hard to percieve as a life HE lived; both because of the physical damage that having a second brain attached to his current one caused, and because of the mental/emotional strain it must've caused. getting Literally put in someone else's shoes, especially someone who's lived an unimaginably different life to his, must've been a real shock! plus, with how the people from his past talk about Steven and Two-Brains, that could cause a Lot more separation. i imagine that Two-Brains holds a lot of internal guilt over the 'death' of who he used to be, and it's especially bad thanks to the people who remember and miss Steven (his family, WordGirl, a few others characters..) Steven was someone that his family could be proud of, while Two-Brains is a stain on his family's name. Steven was probably the most knowledgeable person when it came to superhero work, at least in Fair City, while Two-Brains is the number one 'most dangerous' villain in Fair City. People loved Steven and people hate Two-Brains. i can go on!!!! the point is, Two-Brains is so horribly aware of who he Could've been. logically he knows that man is never coming back, no matter what he does, and he's content with how his life is now. he's found a new purpose and it seems like he makes peace with that over the series. but every now and then he wishes he could visit his family and they'd have their son back again, and look at him without a hint of disgust, or pity, or fear. yeowch. ANYWAYS, Two-Brains' opinion on Squeaky? mostly positive. a little guilt. a bit of frustration. at the start of the series he blamed Squeaky entirely for ruining his life. but then he realizes, hey this villain thing is actually fun (will elaborate on this later!) somehow being a villain is the kind of job he's always dreamed of. Squeaky pushing that button was both the worst and the best thing to happen to this guy. there's definitely ups and downs for them, but sharing their lives probably makes them pretty understanding of each other. Squeaky is a handful but Two-Brains knows exactly how to handle it, in most situations. i will go into this more in the future i prommy.
Squeaky also has mixed feelings towards Two-Brains and Steven! on one hand, it's stuck to a human scientist that doesn't work off of the same logic as it does, which is infuriating! on the other hand, it didn't hate Steven, and it doesn't hate Two-Brains. Steven might've been the ONLY human it didn't hate! it had no way of knowing what pressing that button was going to do, so i don't imagine it wanted this to happen to either of them. However: it totally did have a mad-with-power situation going on at first. becoming a human scientist must've felt like ascending to godhood, from the perspective of this lab mouse! however, escaping it's previous metaphorical cage only revealed a second, slightly bigger metaphorical cage. it's tethered to Two-Brains forever. it's always going to be seen as the evil mouse brain that took Steven's life. all of the fear from it's past Still haunts both of them, and that causes So much trouble for them. good news, though! Two-Brains cares about Squeaky a lot, and tries his best to work with it's limits, and not against it's limits. Squeaky wouldn't admit it to anyone, but it has no idea what it would do without Two-Brains. it's just very stubborn, and it's idea of 'helping' can be rather counterintuitive.
brief Family Mention
Steven's family likely does not live in Fair City. or at least, not close to his lab, or his eventual villain lair. Steven's relationship with them before The Incident was pretty solid, I imagine? however, since Steven seemed afraid of letting anybody down, that must've been especially so with his family. thus, after the Incident made him somebody that nobody could possibly be proud of? he became significantly more estranged than before.
Two-Brains can barely see these people as family anymore, because of how removed his new life is from his past. i don't imagine anyone would understand what he's gone through, or even try to understand, either. most of them likely assume he's completely gone. considering he went to his niece's graduation, WITH his henchmen, he still gets invited to big family events; but i think most of his family is wary of him and uncomfortable with his presence, so he tends to leave pretty quickly after getting there, if he shows up at all! his relationship with his past is so entwined with these people that being invited to family things has to be Incredibly emotionally taxing. internally he doesn't know what to do with himself. to him, and to a lot of his family, Two-Brains is the reason their son can't be there with them. the extremely obvious reminder literally stuck to his head doesn't help either! it's very complicated! Two-Brains can't help but miss them, but at the same time, he's very upset with how most of them act around him now. there's probably exceptions at least?
Squeaky doesn't like Steven's family (as expected!) and none of them like Squeaky, either. everybody avoids talking about it, and if anyone Does mention it, the topic serves away from it as quickly as possible, as if saying it's name will make it appear and steal all their cheese? they think the whole second brain thing is quite disturbing! Squeaky is also much less likely to ignore their nervous behavior towards Dr. Two-Brains, so it's sort-of banned from showing up at family events. i don't think it can Completely stop itself from interfering with what Two-Brains is doing, but it Can hold back most of the time. until some really good cheese is involved. or until it's scared out of it's mind!
WordGirl
the way Steven and WordGirl met was entirely WordGirl's doing. she came across his Superheroes And You guide, and thought: wow this is so insightful! i have so many questions, if only i could talk to the author!… cue WordGirl entering his lab uninvited. and steven is Not about to turn away a little kid who just wants to learn, he doesn't have the spine for that, even though he's busy with his own scientist stuff. plus, he seems like the kind of guy who loves going on and on about information (this isn't only projection i swear!!!) it's gotta be awesome to talk to a kid like WordGirl, who has a genuine interest in the things he talks about. basically, WordGirl would visit Steven whenever she had a question, needed advice, or just wanted somebody to talk to. since Steven is well-versed in superhero knowledge, as well as being Just Some Guy, he was likely the only person in Fair City who could understand both the hero and civilian aspects of her life. uh. until The Incident..
okay After the incident, Two-Brains doesn't view her as any less of a friend. there's undoubtedly some strain, he can't deny that, but to him, villainy isn't Bad anymore. he's met the villains of Fair City properly and he doesn't see them as just villains. it's not that serious to him… and, he has no idea that WordGirl thinks its entirely serious. Two-Brains assumes that fighting crime is her job! one that she's paid to do! Two-Brains doesn't know that she's Not paid until season 8 episode 2, after she uses her crime-fighting as an example while defining the word 'volunteer.' ANYWAYS. the Incident made it impossible for Steven to continue his previous work, thanks to multiple factors. he now has permanent access to the perspective of a mistreated lab animal, his identity has been severed so badly that he doesn't feel like he's the same guy anymore, and the city's first impression of Dr. Two-Brains was absolutely terrible. bear with me here, i think the doc in the early series was mostly Squeaky utilizing the freedom that being human provided it, with Steven barely managing to keep up with it. Steven was SO against being evil before, until WordGirl started confronting him. ironically, it's implied in A World Without WordGirl that the only reason Dr. Two-Brains became a villain, specifically, is because of WordGirl. he's not stealing cheese in a universe without her in it. he chose to become a villain, and it's honestly a really good alternative to what he was doing before! he's still making inventions and doing science, he still gets to 'teach' WordGirl how to be a better superhero, and he's got the added bonus of an acting-adjacent role. this terrifying life-changing event turned out pretty alright for him, hence his cheerful/positive view of fighting WordGirl. to him, they are still friends; they're just enemies when they're on the clock.
bam it's squeaky time. squeaky is Not on the same page as Two-Brains is, since it's interested in cheese-stealing first and foremost. i always gotta mention this: i don't think squeaky is inherently Evil, it's more likely that it's had a less-than-fortunate past, considering it's temperament, and since Steven bought it on sale (implying it was 'already used,') and considering how negatively it reacts to being cornered, and it's hatred of humanity. there's more but i don't want to list every reason again!!! before Mouse Brain Take-Over, WordGirl is, at best, a thrilling game to Squeaky, and at worst, an obstacle in it's way. during that episode, Squeaky messes around a lot, not taking anything too seriously.. just causing a real scene, having a great time. it's season 4 and this is the first time it's been allowed to have fun the way Two-Brains does. Squeaky didn't expect WordGirl to almost catch it, though. it only escaped thanks to Two-Brains' henchmen saving it. so, that cemented WordGirl as a genuine threat! and i imagine Two-Brains didn't think to mention, "hey, you're not allowed to kill WordGirl." so uh. the mouse tries to kill WordGirl. it fails, thankfully, and Two-Brains goes back to his usual style of crime. Squeaky isn't explicitly shown to take over again after this episode, though Two-Brains does utilize quite a few of it's mannerisms in his next appearance (and quite a few more beyond that,) implying that it's only lost Taking Over Alone privileges. either way it's not a big fan of WordGirl, but overtime it's probably gained a better understanding of why she's stopping it, and therefore, less of a hatred towards her? plus they're both not human but they're stuck being seen as human. they have more in common than they'd like.
Professor Robert Tubing
this is almost entirely headcanon territory. you're gonna have to bear with me here. i like to think that Robert and Steven were college roommates for the majority of their college years. i'm picturing the kind of friendship where they always end up doing their science-related work together, or at least within proximity of each other. they're always helping each other out in little ways, like bringing an extra pencil to class, just in case the other forgot theirs! yeah it was usually steven forgetting something. they both seem to be a little socially distant, so their 'hanging out' is more along the lines of quietly enjoying each other's company, unless their other friend James Doohickey is around, who often starts conversations and gets the whole squad to chat. ill talk more about him later though! post-college they still got together as often as their schedules allowed, with Robert making more scientific strides and Steven releasing his Superheroes And You guide, which I like to think of as a side project he started late into college that just happened to go over better than he thought. his scientific work still kept him busy, just not as busy as Robert! also Robert seems to be a very put-together guy whilst Steven was a bit of a mess, so they kinda helped balance each other out? essentially they were REALLY close, before the whole mouse brain villainy thing.
the Doc, despite having his sense of self shattered, misses Robert a lot. he's pretty sure that Robert isn't interested in knowing Two-Brains at all; he's got this whole internal guilt over the 'death' of Steven, and he's afraid that Robert sees Two-Brains as the worst leftovers of Steven, and nothing more. overtime Two-Brains feels less guilty about it, but the idea that Robert could hate him has never left his mind. after season 1 episode 19b, the one where Robert confronts Dr. Two-Brains? the miscommunication that's happened here is Tragic… i interpret their conversation as Robert's first and last attempt at reaching out to a person he's not even sure still exists; it's also the moment Two-Brains had his worries confirmed, with Robert immediately asking if he would see about removing the mouse brain. they are not on good terms for a while after that. i'd like to think that they somehow make up in the future, but uhhh i can't picture that without something drastic and specific forcing them to talk to each other again.
ooookay Squeaky time again! Squeaky already hates humans but i think it hates scientists even more than it hates the average human. it really doesn't help that Robert offered to help rid Two-Brains of Squeaky forever, either. this mouse hates Robert because he's the culmination of everything that Squeaky is afraid of. i also headcanon that Robert was involved in Steven's acquisition of Squeaky, so an association with it's past just makes everything worse. Squeaky can't bring itself, or Two-Brains, to drop their guard around Robert. not until someone invents therapy for lab mice with the capability of human understanding, i guess?
Professor James Doohickey
we know SO little about this guy its so sad. well since he's also a scientist, i'm making him the third roommate of Steven and Robert!!! nobody can stop me!!! so him and Steven were also really close, just not as close as Robert was with Steven. i like to think that James and Steven were similar in Many ways, enjoying lots of the same hobbies and interests, since they canonically share a love for gadgetry. i imagine James as a super reserved guy that starts dropping one million words once he's gotten comfortable, or if he's been prompted by a topic he's particularly invested in? and considering how Steven tends to go off on tangents very quickly as well, the two of them were conversational disasters together. perfect for each other! basically they'd talk each other's ears off and often bounce ideas off of each other. post-college, James got a big cool job and moved somewhat far from Steven and Robert, but tried to stay in contact the best he could. he's spending at least an hour on the phone with Steven every time he calls.
ooh boy. if Two-Brains thought Robert hates who he is now, there's no way James wouldn't hate him too. in fact i assume Two-Brains and James haven't seen each other a single time since the doc's incident, which means his recollection of James isn't nearly as clear as he wishes it was. they were close friends, and Two-Brains does want to see him again, but trying to think of exactly Why is incredibly difficult, and it all gets foggy again pretty fast after trying. essentially, Two-Brains remembers James every once in a great while, and it hurts when he does, but he's solemnly accepted that never seeing him again is probably for the best… at least, he's convinced himself that James would prefer to never see him again.
squeaky never knew this science human. squeaky don't care! from what it's gathered of Two-Brains' thoughts around James, it doesn't like him, but it certainly likes him more than Robert.
The Henchmen
uhhh steven never knew them. so. moving on
these two silly guys are Everything to Two-Brains. originally, he hired them simply for convenience's sake, but they've done so much for him that he can't imagine who he'd be if they weren't there. when he was just starting to grasp what happened to him with the Incident, his henchmen were likely the first people he let into his new life. and they've continued to be there for him through it all! the henchmen both have homes and lives outside of their job, but they treat Two-Brains' lair as a secondary home, almost? they've seen him at his best and at his worst, and they might get on his nerves sometimes, but Two-Brains can always rely on them. wish i had more to say but it's as simple as that!
Squeaky, surprisingly, doesn't hate the henchmen. it views them as Two-Brains' henchmen, and not IT'S henchmen, but the security of knowing they've been paid to help the doctor really lets Squeaky trust them… mostly? after season 4 episode 3a, mouse brain take-over, their relationship became a lot more strained, briefly. Squeaky isn't good with humans, and it really likes the idea of being in charge, to the point where it pushed them past their limits; it has no idea what the difference between 'nice' and 'mean' is, and to Squeaky, that distinction isn't important anyways! side tangent: interestingly, everyone in that episode is biased against it from the start, way before it's done anything uniquely despicable! the henchmen are used to listening to Two-Brains and have never even heard of Squeaky (they probably don't think they've ever interacted, either, even if Squeaky is heavily implied to be somewhat active in the back of the doc's head most of the time,) while WordGirl misses Steven and sees Squeaky as the reason he's gone. anyways! i think Two-Brains must've realized just how awful of a first introduction this was at some point, and eventually, he tries to Properly introduce Squeaky to the henchmen after some time has passed. Charlie, the bigger henchman, doesn't mind Squeaky, and it's similarly gotten comfortable with being around him. the other henchman tries to act like he's fine with Squeaky, but he still finds it creepy and generally doesn't like seeing it by itself.. which Squeaky picks up on, and holds a bit of a grudge over. they tolerate each other.
Chuck (The Evil Sandwich Making Guy)
i don't think Steven ever met Chuck? but they can both enjoy a good sandwich. so. slay
okay i can't find a way to talk about Two-Brains' and Squeaky's opinions on Chuck separately. basically, Two-Brains views Chuck as a really good pal. a buddy. one of the only villains on the same wavelength, who he can wreak some real havoc with! but Squeaky? this mouse.. i think Chuck is it's favorite person ever. yeah, Two-Brains likes Chuck a lot too, but no other villain makes the doc act so not-like-himself on some occasions, and then completely normally on other occasions. maybe Squeaky is trying to unlock infinite grilled cheese sandwich hack by becoming best friends with Chuck. maybe it's planning on literally eating him one of these days (he's got lettuce and hidden pickles in his head… does he have cheese in there??) or maybe this is mouse yaoi??? i Don't know. it's just. you can't tell me that the way the doc was acting in season 3 episode 5a, When Chuck's Mom Is Away, was how the doc acts normally. yeah he's a disaster, but he's never been That bad in the past! and why is it, that the first thing he does after successfully entering chuck's home, is go on a massive cheese heist, stealing the Entire cheese section from the grocery store, WITHOUT sticking around to fight WordGirl, which Two-Brains loves doing?? and then the doc brags about how great it went to Chuck??? yeahg.. i think somebody is trying to impress Chuck here, and the same somebody doesn't get that 'Great At Stealing Cheese' isn't an appealing trait to most people. the episode where they team up to steal a massive grilled cheese sandwich, season 2 episode 26b, Two-Brains isn't behaving nearly as strangely towards Chuck! and i just have to bring it up: in season 2 episode 18b, Lunch Lady Chuck, in the last bit where Chuck serves Two-Brains a tray of nothing but a grilled cheese sandwich and multiple servings of mac and cheese. the mouse brain. freaking glows. and this guy, he says, "Grilled cheese, my Favorite..!" yeah of Course it's your favorite. i could go on, but then this would become the entire post </3 both two-brains and squeaky really like chuck and totally fight over who gets to do the talking around him. hence the terrible house manners. awesome
The Butcher
the first time Steven hears about The Butcher, he's thinking entirely with his stomach. he might oppose the whole 'crimes' thing, but Steven is the kind of guy easily swayed by the promise of an arbys meat mountain. he would like the butcher.
now, Two-Brains? he does, indeed, like The Butcher. almost in an unrequited crush kinda way?? or he really, really wants approval from another professional villain… he changes multiple aspects of his style of crime to please The Butcher. he makes a custom meat-themed meal out of cheese, solely for The Butcher to eat. he even says that he'll steal something OTHER than cheese for once, just because he wants to team up with The Butcher! and then he DOES steal something not cheese related!! he just happens to decide to steal money from the bank right after saying he'll steal anything The Butcher wants to steal. he also purposefully tries to get The Butcher to save him after his new cheese-spraying suit starts running out of cheese. The Butcher seems to find this off-putting, so they definitely aren't close after That performance </3 they're probably more along the lines of trusted coworkers, but not exactly friends. much to Two-Brains' disappointment!
considering that Two-Brains did a lot of Not Stealing Cheese to get The Butcher's approval, there's two theories i have about how Squeaky feels about him. either Squeaky also wants The Butcher's approval, or it HATES The Butcher and Hates how much Two-Brains likes him, but it stays out of their interactions because it doesn't want anything to do with him. uh. not much else i can think of right now for Squeaky? yeahg
Volume 2: Chaos Theory — episode concept: “The Fall and The Deeper Down”
This episode concept has no placement so far in the Volume (undecided).
The A-Plot: The number of villains in Fair City are dwindling as Monty Doohickey picks off each one to add to his machine. But those who are powerless, those who are insignificant, and those who are incompetent… survive. Why? Well, there’s no need for them. Not even their DNA is needed. Not when Monty has already found the perfect vessel.
The B-Plot: Tobey believes something is amiss with the Doohickey brothers. So, with the help of his friends, they investigate the studio to learn more of what is going on behind the curtain. Little does Tobey know, Time eats all his children in the end.
I’m no longer doing the rough sketches because I don’t have the time anymore. However! I will share some notes/ideas about the episode concept below ⬇️⬇️
Rose, Victoria and Eileen all separately investigate the studio of the Doohickeys — Eileen distracts James by asking for a tour around the studio (because it’s her birthday) while Rose and Victoria sneak around, looking for any clues that the Doohickeys are not to be trusted
Meanwhile, Tobey investigates Claire’s office at City Hall to figure out what happened to the villains of Fair City and which prisons they all were transported to… only to find that they never left Fair City.
Victoria starts feeling unwell when she and Rose get too close to a control panel near the windows. When Rose investigates, the floor beneath them gives way and brings them down an elevator shaft — There, Rose and Victoria find the “NEST” underneath the studio, holding each and every villain in a green box. None of them seem to be moving. They find Lady Redundant Woman hooked up to a large machine via wires and cables attached to her back. Before Rose could report back to Tobey about their findings via their walkie talkies, OCHO appears behind them.
Tobey goes to each scene of the crime from previous episodes where each villain was last seen. He doesn’t find anything out of the ordinary until he notices a manhole move out of the corner of his eye. Traversing through the sewers, Tobey finds an underground bunker dug out by the Amazing Rope Guy — inside, he finds the villains who weren’t arrested. After questioning them, he finds out that they were left alone because they weren’t “important.” They had no powers, they weren’t geniuses, and they weren’t significant. But to who? Who decided these specific villains weren’t worth capturing?
James finishes the tour around the studio before telling Eileen that she should probably go. Eileen hasn’t heard anything from Rose or Victoria, so she tries to insist James show her more to give the two girls more time. James tries to shoo her out, getting worried, before Monty shows up at the lab. James tells Monty that he was just giving Eileen a tour around and that she was going home now, Monty simply smiles and assures him that he can take her home. Eileen feels James push her back behind him, as if he’s trying to protect her, but Monty gently grabs her from around James and tells his brother that he’ll take care of it. James watches helplessly as Monty walks with Eileen, hand on hand, out of the lab.
I’m not gonna reveal the ending of this episode cause there’s a LOT of things that build up to it. Sooo… Yeah 👍
This is @godsofthecatz’s October Prompt! This one is Day 11! I know it’s not Rhyme and Reason FOCUSED but it’s hinted i guess-
this fusion request is probably going to be a bit hard but- Science Trio? (Steven or TV/Tubing and Doohickey?)
here ya go! I wasn’t 100% sure, but you wanted all three of them fused together, right? science man³, master of…. whatever kind of science those three even do??? haha
