It’s probably no secret that I lowkey ship Rip with pretty much anyone. I’m not much of a shipper at heart, rather I’m a very focused on one character sort of fan. So generally speaking, if a ship involves Rip I’m going to like it.
But today I thought I’d focus on the classics, the first Rip ship that I ever got invested in: Time Hex.
Now part of my love of Time Hex probably comes from the fact that Magnificent Eight was actually the first Legends episode that I saw. I’d intended to watch the show before that, but hadn’t gotten around to it. But it was on, and I watched and my first reaction was something like: “Are they seriously implying a relationship between Rip Hunter and Jonah Hex? Bold move!”
So I started watching the show. After watching the first eleven episodes and circling back to Magnificent Eight, I realized that context actually didn’t make it read less like a relationship to me. So I’m sold.
From the way that Jonah immediately recognizes that weird people getting in bar fights means Rip Hunter’s in town, to the sweeping dramatics of their reunion (particularly in the way that Jonah keeps turning his face away, which makes a sad sort of since when Outlaw Crossing told us that he was burned after their last meeting), the “My coat suits you good” line alongside the fact that, even after losing everything else, Rip Hunter is still actually wearing that coat.
And isn’t it kind of symbolically intimate? Like wearing an embrace?
Rip’s reaction is no better, of course. The way he hides on the ship, and the way he immediately cuts his rant short when he meets Jonah again. And then there’s that part where he confesses his past to his team. The way he found the era, and its opportunities for heroism “...enticing.” The way the writers conveniently and clumsily shoehored in “then future wife” when he mentions Miranda (as though they wanted to make sure we understood that he was not cheating on her.)
And don’t get me started on the ending scene, the music, Jonah on his horse, while Rip stands alongside. The entire exchange where Jonah points out that for Rip, “my world ain’t going nowhere” and “I reckon it’d be okay”.
I mean honestly, it’s really hard not to just reference the entire episode here. And then there’s the fact that Rip keeps Jonah’s wanted poster in his office. Or all of the additional nuances implied by Outlaw Country. (I admit to being fond of the headcanon that the escape from the church that Jonah mentions, when he doesn’t know how he actually got out, was Rip.)
I remember joking after Magnificent Eight that if and when Rip and Jonah met again, with the former now come to terms with his loss, I’d find it hard to believe they wouldn’t immediately run off to a broom closet somewhere. Since we never actually got to see the two interact since then, even though “The Good, the Bad, and the Cuddly” actually could have given us that opportunity, I’m standing by that interpretation. (And hey, we now have explicit precedent that Jonah gives articles of clothing to people he’s attracted to.)
I go back and forth on whether or not I think Rip and Jonah ever acted on their relationship back in Calvert. It may depend on where you place the events in the timeline. I admit, I personally tend to put it before the flashbacks in Marooned, if only because Rip mentions going back to his “then-future wife” in the same breath as Vanishing Point, which to me, implies she’d still be there. I also don’t think Rip would be enticed to settle in Calvert if Miranda had already left the Bureau for him. Also, as I referenced in one of my fanfics, I am terribly fond of a headcanon in which it was Rip getting in trouble for his relationship to Jonah that initially got Miranda’s attention in the first place. (It would also be a nice explanation as to why they would name Jonas after him. :-))
In the end, I’m not sure it matters. The impression I have about the Time Masters is that sex would not be nearly as scandalous or frowned upon as romantic love would be. Sex is easy, in a certain respect. It’s urges and drives and indulgence, and while I’d imagine they wouldn’t exactly approve, I don’t think it’d be that much of an issue for the Council as long as their agents didn’t get attached. But we’ve seen how the Time Masters are when it comes to interpersonal connection. We saw how they discourage teamwork and seem to isolate their operatives. We saw how they reacted to Miranda and Rip. I think the true scandal, for the Time Masters, would be the emotional part of the equation. Rip would be guilty of transgressing whether he actually slept with Jonah or not.
The advantage to Time Hex in the present day is that it’s already got its initial dynamics established. In season one, Rip is in NO state to embark on any new romance, even if he would have been able to come to terms with the idea that Miranda and Jonas couldn’t be saved. In season two, well, he was much too busy having his mind repeatedly ripped apart. In season three...there are options there, I suppose, if Rip can tear his attention away from Mallus.
The advantage of Time Hex though is that, (whether acted upon or not), it’d be very easy to fall back into old patterns and drift into something a little more substantial. Jonah can be an oasis of sanctuary and stability for someone like Rip, while Rip is a refreshing infusion of chaos that pops into his life every so often.
It’s not a “happily ever after” kind of ship for me. Both Jonah and Rip have separate lives that they are very invested in. I can’t imagine either character giving that up for each other. And honestly, I wouldn’t want them too. Likewise, I don’t imagine them being a monogamous pairing. It just really isn’t feasible.
I imagine Jonah and Rip’s relationship would be very similar to, and this reference dates me like none other, Duncan MacLeod and Amanda’s relationship in the 90s tv show Highlander. Jonah has a nice, fairly established, stable life that occasionally gets up-ended by the arrival of his chaotic and unpredictable ex, who always brings a new heap of trouble in his wake.
I like to imagine now that Rip (because he absolutely survived that explosion) still pops in to visit with his old time sphere. Jonah just has never told the Legends because they’ve never asked.
Have you done TimeHex for the ship meme? Because I would love that, if you aren't sick of the pairing.
@seiya-starsniper look someone thought I could ever get sick of Time Hex (anon don’t worry, you can send me Time Hex asks whenever).
insists that they are an awesome dancer even though they’re terrible This is such a Rip thing to do omg. He’ll be fine at formal events but when it comes time to dancing in a relaxed environment, he really just kind of…flops around almost.
likes to watch reality tv Jonah!!! He’s so interested in reality tv and how people have changed through time.
He’s very into Cake Boss and practically forces the Legends to do their own Cake Boss challenge on the Waverider.
refuses to wear pants when they’re home alone Jonahhh. The second he goes on the Waverider and claims it as home he’s just pantless 24/7.
is the jealous / protective one Rip bb gets so jealous it hurts, and Jonah finds it really endearing tbh. He’ll always poke Rip in the ribs and go, “You jeeeeeealous?” because he’s a fucking nerd.
He’s also definitely the protective one bc I’m imagining Rip in the Wild West and he must have gotten through so much trouble I s2g.
goes all out on the holidays Rip!! He’s passionate about it but tries not to show it, so he’ll either a) Relegate the responsibility to Kendra or b) Go full on holiday mode and use the guise that he’s educating Jonah.
cries over books RIIIIIIP. Jonah doesn’t get it. Or the appeal of reading, really.
is terrible with kids Jonah has a 50/50 chance of getting a kid who thinks he’s scary or cool. Rip is good only with his own kid, and other children tend not to listen to him and he’ll be exasperated about 5 seconds later (Exhibit A: The Legends).
drinks too much caffeine I accept that this is the only reason Rip hasn’t passed out by now.
could sleep for twenty-four hours straight Again, if Rip were off caffeine, this would be him.
never wears matching socks Jonah. He doesn’t really like socks much anyway and finds them itchy, so he cares even less about getting matching ones.
punches a tree when they’re angry Rip’s definitely done this lol
gets scared by the toaster Jonahhh but he would never admit it.
So @dirty-half-dozen posted a Captain Canary Imagine that referenced Flashforward, a show I remember hearing about years ago when it premiered but never got a chance to see (although now I really want to). But it got the gears turning in my head as I watched the end scene, and not just because of that awesome final soundtrack of the building going boom.
So I’ve decided to let the muse run wild by using this as a way to save Leonard, although I’ll divert a little from the imagine. Thank you to @thecrooktomyassasin for letting me rant a little about this.
AO3
The last time all of them thought they’d see Leonard Snart was when they dropped the past version of him off on New Year’s Day of 2016, just a few days after he had been recruited by the Legion of Doom. It had been hard for the team, especially Sara and Mick, to have to erase his memory of time travel and bring him back to his present day time. They thought he had miraculously survived only to discover that he was just from the past. They had to say goodbye to him all over again.
Within a week, a miracle happened. The Waverider had been in the temporal zone when they stumbled across something extraordinary. It was the Oculus, or what was left of it. It was still intact for the most part, save for some large fragments. In the middle of all of it was a man in a blue leather jacket. There was no doubt about it that this was the Leonard Snart who had sacrificed himself to destroy the Oculus.
Once Gideon confirmed it, the team decided to stage a rescue. Ray’s ATOM suit could withstand the temporal zone, something they’d figured out when Nate was first getting used to his new abilities. He could fly out and retrieve Leonard and bring him back on board. From there, they could determine whether or not he was still alive. If he was, that was the best case scenario. If he wasn’t, then at least they could finally lay him to rest.
The entire crew of the Waverider gathered in the cargo bay to watch Ray go out into the temporal zone. As the Atom flew toward the man who they had believed to be gone, everyone waited in anticipation to see what was going to happen. Ray appeared to have some difficulty pulling Leonard’s hand away from the wreckage, as if it was still gripping something. Eventually, he was freed when Ray broke away the part of the Oculus his hand was wrapped around. Once he was no longer connected to it, Ray flew the both of them back to the time ship, where the others awaited.
He didn’t realize that Leonard still had a piece of the Oculus in his hand.
As soon as Ray was back inside, the cargo door was shut and Leonard was brought to the med bay. He was somewhat conscious when they got him there, which was a relief to everyone. After they had him on the bed and started monitoring his vitals, his hand went limp. The piece of the Oculus that he had been holding fell from his grip.
As soon as it hit the floor, a bright green flash flared quickly, followed by a pulse that filled the Waverider. The entire team was hit by it and immediately dropped to the floor, unconscious.
No one moved for two minutes, yet they all experienced something. A flash of their futures.
Martin
Martin couldn’t explain what was happening. One minute, something had flashed beside Mr. Snart, and then next he was with Clarissa.
They seemed to be in a sort of doctor’s office. Both of them were seated in chairs in front of a desk. The nameplate on it in front of them read for a Dr. E. Peters. Clarissa was anxious, he could tell by her body language. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but he was starting to get a bad feeling about it. Martin found himself placing his hand on hers, giving it a comforting squeeze.
The door opened, and a middle-aged woman entered with a file in hand.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she apologized.
Before anything else could happen, the office faded and his eyes reopened.
Rip
Rip wasn’t sure what was happening, but he was running through low brush away from something. His gun was in his hand, and he was sprinting like his life depended on it. There was a pouch grasped in his free hand. He had no idea what was in it, but he sensed it was something valuable.
Up ahead of him, he saw Jonah Hex. The man was on a horse, with another beside him. As he caught sight of Rip, he drew his own gun and fired. Rip could practically hear the bullets whiz past him and pained grunts from who Jonah had hit with them. He slowed down to get on the horse, ready to get away from wherever he was.
As soon as he was about to mount the horse, Rip woke up.
Jax
A camera flashed in front of him unexpectedly. Jax groaned and blinked, waiting for the spots to clear from his vision. When they did, he recognized the Hudson University campus around him. He was wearing graduation robes, a tassel swinging in front of his eyes. His whole family was around him, smiling proudly, and he could see his uncle holding the camera that he went everywhere with.
Jax was engulfed in a huge family hug, and he couldn’t help but laugh. Behind them, he could see another group of people. The members of Team Flash, a few people from Team Arrow, and every Legend he knew. There were some unfamiliar faces mingled in there too, but he was surrounded by friends and family.
He received congratulations from his family and they told him how proud they were of him. Jax felt so proud as he heard it before excusing himself to go see his other family.
As he took a step forward, everything faded and he realized he was on the floor in the med bay.
Ray
Ray had been working on the ATOM suit in STAR Labs. He didn’t even hear the woman come up behind him. Only when she made a remark that he’s miscalculated did he notice her. When he tried to protest that his math was fine, she’d smirked and taken another marker and corrected his current calculations on the board in front of him.
“Wow,” he muttered.
The brunette shrugged. “Well, at least now you won’t cause damage to the circuitry the next time you shrink.”
He didn’t even know her name, but somehow, he felt like he was falling for her.
“I’m Ray, by the way,” he told her, holding out his hand.
She smiled and took it. “I’m-”
He didn’t get to hear her name. Before she could say it, he jolted awake.
Amaya
The cargo door felt like it was opening slower than normal. When it did, she found herself looking out at the clearing she knew was close to the JSA headquarters. She could see the building in the distance, and it just felt like 1942 again. After all her adventures on the Waverider, she had arrived home.
It was the end of a journey for her. She would have loved to stay on board with everyone, but she had her own life to pursue. Besides, history needed her to return at some point, and so did the JSA. She could prevent the mission that had caused everyone except Todd to go missing.
As Amaya stepped off the Waverider, she took someone’s hand. When she turned her head to see who it was, she was awake again.
Nate
Nate typed away furiously at the laptop. A pile of journals, one of them opened, was to his left side, and a cup of tea was at his right. Reading off the screen, he saw that he was typing about the adventures that he had been on as a member of the Legends. The names were fake (probably to protect his friends), but the story he was writing was real. It was about the adventures in feudal Japan.
He kept typing about his own experiences when he first landed there before stopping when he reached the Yamishiro household. Then he dug through the journals before pulling out a something that looked like a futuristic tape recorder. There was a piece of tape on it that had Ray Palmer scrawled in Sharpie.
The moment he hit play on it, his eyes snapped open, taking him away from the laptop to staring at the ceiling of the med bay.
Mick
Leonard was staring at him. He knew this was the real deal and not a hallucination. The two of them were in Mick’s room, sitting across from each other. His best friend looked saddened.
“You’re sure about this?” he asked slowly after a long moment.
Mick nodded. “Gave it a lot of thought, and I am.”
“Lisa’s going to ask where you are, just like she asked you about me,” Leonard said.
“So tell her the truth,” he shrugged before adding. “And tell her she was the closest thing I had to little sister. I’ll miss her. And you.”
He stood up at the same time that Leonard rose from his own seat.
“I’ll miss you too,” he told him, looking even sadder.
“If you ever need me, or her, we’re just a time jump away.”
Leonard seemed like he was going to say something else, but Mick didn’t get to find out what. The vision ended too soon.
Sara
Sara stared down at the ring around her finger, studying the design. Turning to her right, she saw Leonard seated beside her. They were on the bridge of the Waverider, the whole team around them. Even Barry and Kendra was back somehow, but Carter was nowhere in sight. Rip was in the captain’s seat, piloting them through the temporal zone.
She didn’t know what made her do it, but she released her right hand from gripping the harness. Leonard noticed the action, and grasped it. He gave it a squeeze, and she returned it.
As the ship started to accelerate, Sara could feel her stomach start to churn. The bridge and the sick feeling vanished as she woke up and sat up by the door to the med bay, watching everyone else around her get up in equal confusion.
Leonard
He didn’t know how long been seeing the flashes of different timelines. Ever since Leonard had given himself up at the Oculus to die, he had been experiencing them. At first, he’d been surprised that he was still alive and even a little relieved. But the more timeline fragments he saw, the more and more he wished that the explosion had just killed him. Hell had to be better than this.
Then, it had ended suddenly. He was in the temporal zone, the Oculus wreckage scattered around him. Raymond was holding onto him, flying both of them away from the mess. Leonard was barely able to keep his eyes open as he was brought inside the Waverider, and then up to the med bay. They put him on one of the beds as he realized that he was still holding onto something. He let it go, hearing it drop to the floor. Then there had been the green flash, and he found himself no longer in the med bay.
Of all the timelines he had witnessed, this was something he had never seen before. He was waking up in a bed in a room that did not belong to the Waverider with Sara curled close beside him. Her blonde hair was splayed all across her face. She seemed relaxed and calmer than he had ever seen her before. Leonard didn’t understand how, but he felt the same way. Sara suddenly shifted and blinked her eyes open, a sleepy smile visible through the strands of hair obscuring her face.
Everything faded away before he could do anything else, and he realized his eyes were closed. He reopened them, and he found himself back in the Waverider’s medbay. Everyone else on the team was waking up too and getting back up on their feet.
No one had any clue what had happened. When they replayed the security footage in the med bay, it took the second time around for Amaya to point out the piece of the Oculus impacting the floor of the Waverider as the source of the green flash and pulse. They also learned that they had all been unconscious for two minutes before all waking up again.
“Gideon,” Rip asked as the footage ended the second time. “How did this happen?”
“And what exactly was I seeing?” Jax asked.
“It appears that residual energy of the temporal zone affected the Oculus piece Mr. Snart brought on board,” the AI announced. “The collision of the piece with the floor allowed the Oculus’s power to affect you temporarily.”
Sara frowned. “Which means...”
“You all experienced a part of your personal futures,” Gideon explained. “What you saw is what is in store for you on the ship, or even off of it.”
Everyone was quiet.
“Would dropping the piece again create the same effect?” Ray asked quietly. “Would we see the same thing? Or would it be different?”
“I detect no temporal energy radiating from the piece. Dropping the Oculus piece again would not produce the same result you experienced previously.”
There were a variety of expressions on everyone’s faces. Ray looked disappointed. Rip, Nate, and Jax seemed to be the calmest, while Martin appeared to be rattled and concerned. Amaya had her arms crossed, her eyes flicking over towards Mick, who had a conflicted look on his face. Sara looked toward Leonard, who met her eyes.
After a long silent spell, Rip sighed. “Whatever you wish to do regarding what you saw, you’re welcome to it. I had Gideon prevent you from looking into your personal timelines anyway, so we don’t have to worry about those being damaged.”
With that, he left the med bay, probably to go back to his quarters. Ray exited shortly after him. Soon, everyone dispersed save for Sara and Mick and Leonard, who was still to be held in the med bay for the night.
“Glad you’re back,” the arsonist said to the thief with a nod before leaving Sara and Leonard.
Leonard watched him go before turning back to Sara. The assassin studied his vitals on the screen momentarily.
“If you’re worried about the future, then don’t,” Leonard broke the silence. “After all, Rip said Ray was supposed to die at the Oculus, and look what happened instead.”
“Are you worried about what you saw?” Sara asked, looking back at him.
I don’t really see these as mutually exclusive, honestly.
I tend to see Rip/Jonah as the kind of ‘ship that is never really meant to be a happy ending. This is dating me, but I compare them a lot to Duncan and Amanda on Highlander. They’ve got very different lives and neither one is really likely to give that up for the other, no matter how much they enjoy each other’s company. They have responsibilities, goals, and perspectives that are mutually exclusive.
That said, there’s nothing stopping either of them from the occasional escapist rendezvous. Rip and Jonah have lives that are so separate from each other that they can enjoy each other’s company without all the baggage from their day to day life.
Rip/Gideon is a little different. They’re a long time partnership and their lives, until recently anyway, have always been linked. But there’s baggage. A lot of baggage. There are ethical issues on both sides that really need to be hammered out before a relationship could be seriously on the table.
There’s also the fact that Gideon doesn’t have a body or a means to interact with Rip in any sort of tactile way, so any relationship they do have is strictly emotional/cerebral. Which isn’t a bad thing (especially since there are those unresolved ethical issues), but it may mean a certain amount of wiggle room to balance other relationships as well.
Okay, so we all know I’m a Time Hex fan, and I’ve gotten a lot of mileage over gleefully giggling about the coat.
But I’ve never really seriously elaborated on why I find it so telling (or, y’know, suggestive.)
Rip is a man who (after initial childhood deprivation) grew up in a society that literally produces anything he could possibly need or want, in terms of material goods. Replicators. Fabricators. You name it.
He really has no need to actually keep Jonah’s coat. He could easily manufacture a hundred coats in a similar style if he wanted. And certainly, there are more flattering or comfortable styles out there.
But nope. He specifically kept THAT coat. He specifically wears THAT coat. And okay, realistically speaking, it probably ISN’T the same coat. Rip wore it when he became Phil, and Phil would have had no time to get it from wherever he’d stashed it. And even if he had, there’d definitely have been no way to get it back from Eobard.
So, this one that he wears now is probably a replica. But it’s a replica made to such exact detail that Jonah Hex can look at and growl “my coat suits you good.”
Rip/Jonah - gentle/tenderness (like in either platonic #asif# or romantic relationship) 😀
Ooo, you definitely know how to appeal to my inner Time Hex fan.
So this is total cliche, and I’m embarrassed to even say it, but Jonah strikes me as the sort of rough guy who is incredibly gentle in an intimate situation. Like to the point of being even a little frustrating.
I think that he would be very conscientious of a smaller, frailer partner. And I think he’s the sort to cherish his partners. (Between the scars and his own trust issues, I’d imagine true moments of intimacy are few and far between, and something to be treasured.) I headcanon Jonah as someone who is deeply romantic, when he has the time and opportunity to indulge in it.
It’s an interesting dynamic with someone like Rip who I think would be a little weirded out by the whole thing. And possibly a little scandalized (I’ve mentioned before that with the Time Masters’ particular indoctrination, romantic gestures may be viewed more like how we see openly sexual gestures.) Obviously, they’d adapt to one another.
That said, I don’t think it’s ALWAYS gentle. There’s a time for that, and there’s a time for happily slamming into walls. :-)
Rip and Jonah: Oh, I ship this one like the Starship Enterprise. That whole reunion scene in Magnificent Eight was the slashiest thing I’ve seen in a long damn time. You have Rip cutting himself off mid rant. Jonah’s dramatic sweep around the room. The coat. The fact that Rip found the era “enticing” and felt the need to specify that Miranda was his “then-future” wife, because otherwise it would have looked an awful lot like Rip was committing adultery. And Jonas’s name of course.
And then there’s the goodbye scene, with the swelling music and “I reckon that’d be okay.” And then there’s how, in Outlaw Country, Jonah follows the team back to the ship and then looks around the study and asks “Where’s Rip?” and you realize that he totally came back with them because he expected that his ex was hiding in his study (again).
And really, I think Jonah is good for him. He seems to have a certain level of acceptance for Rip and the team’s eccentricities, while at the same time, is willing to call Rip out on his shit. And that’s something very that Rip really kind of needs in a partner. :-)
Rip/No One: I basically ship Rip with everyone under the sun. But I have to admit, season one Rip really wasn’t in much of a condition to manage a relationship with anyone. He’s a bit sturdier in season two, and really, based on his track record so far, he might as well enjoy things now because his life will inevitably go to hell again soon enough. :-D
