Gosh! Evil Aliens in Lying to Human Ally Shocker!

Multi-fannish. In every matter that a Time Lord really should hold dear, I am the very model of a Gallifreyan Buccaneer.

[theendingremains]

Work has been ugh this week, but my day was made better today when I learned that the Knightfall movie is coming out. And it's a trilogy! With Tim Robin! '90s to early 2000s Batman is my favorite era, so I'm definitely looking forward to this. Now do Prodigal and Cataclysm/NML.

[theendingremains]

I know that the Wizard of Oz has been embedded in the pop culture DNA for a good part of a century by now, but it must be wild for someone who doesn't know about it to walk into Wicked: For Good and a fucking house falls onto Nessa and suddenly there's this girl who's important to the plot but she's barely even seen.

[theendingremains]

A while back, I had posted elsewhere that the Reverse Robin fic I really want to see is one that takes into account the sheer amount of times Tim's come back as Robin because I think it would be hysterical and also, fucking sad because all of his successors (except Dick) keep dying! And I was going through my Google docs when I came across the notes I had jotted down for it for the fic I will never write, and I thought what better place for it than my seldom-used Tumblr?

Tim as first Robin becomes a very Tim-centric Batfam: it's the story of a kid who sees Batman getting repeatedly fucked over and doing his best "I can fix it!" Fix-It Felix impression. My summary for this is basically: Tim's outgrown Robin, but he can't leave the name behind. Reverse Robin verse where Tim Drake is the first Robin. And the third. And the fifth. By the time there are two boys who are co-Robins, the only thing that surprises people is that Tim isn't one of them.

(Note: I do make fun of Tim a lot in this, but it's because of how much I love him. He's been my DC OTC since the nineties, I haven't been into comics in years, but on the occasions that I do check back in, it's to see what's going on with him.)

So, Tim is the first Robin, but not after the bird and Dick's nickname in this world, obviously. Going back to one of the other purported origins of the name, and saying that Tim got it from Robin Hood. The early Robin costume in this world definitely does have pants, though. Bruce drew the line at the little hat, because that is Green Arrow's shtick, Tim. 😑 He then he leaves Robin behind and becomes the Nightwing-like character, except Tim isn't as close to Clark as Dick is in canon, so won't be taking on a Kryptonian name. It'll be something like Redwing, which seems like a name he would choose on his own - in canon, his car was named the Redbird, and he had the Redboard as well, and let's not forget Red Robin, which I do give him a pass for because it's kind of a legacy name but I've thought it was terrible since the first time I read Kingdom Come, so. Tim's just not that imaginative when it comes to names, this is canon, everyone.

(As an aside, if Jason ever graduates from Robin, he'll probably end up as Blue Jay, even if it does contain one of his nicknames. Tim "I went by Drake for a few weeks in canon even though it's my last name" Drake does absolutely nothing to dissuade him because Tim is terrible like that.)

I'm not really sure why he leaves Robin considering the amount of bullshit he's gone through in canon and stayed, but he needs to go for there to be a Robin line after him. Maybe in this one, his Sixteenth Birthday Surprise had him throwing his hands up and deciding enough was enough? Or maybe he thinks Bruce will be fine on his own, because he was (for various definitions of fine) before there was a Robin, so he hasn't reached that "Batman needs a Robin" phase of his life. Which later events will prove him so, so wrong. It will probably end up as some combination of the two.

(Aside 2: for non-Batman dynamics, his relationship with Babs!Batgirl is probably a combination of his with Oracle and early Steph? Like, EARLY CANON TIM it is so hard to believe that ORACLE doesn't know who you are, why do you keep hiding your identity from her? So like with Spoiler, he knows who Batgirl is and doesn't hesitate to tell her that, but keeps his identity a secret. But no romantic relationship, more big sister/little brother, honestly, once they're both a bit older, he probably ships Ted Kord/Babs when they start working together because no matter where he falls in the Robin lineup, he will always be a geek for Ted's Blue Beetle. Remember when Chuck Dixon was trying to make Tim the next Blue Beetle? Pepperidge Farm remembers)

After that, Damian comes along and takes over as Robin. Do they get along better from the beginning in this world? There won't be fighting over who gets the mantle, plus Tim isn't adopted yet (following Dick's timeline to adoption in pre-New 52, I'm not really sure how things shake out now) or even living at the manor and working regularly in Gotham, so Damian legally is the only son at this point. But then Damian dies and Tim, seeing how Bruce spirals, comes back as Robin. This is where he gets the inkling that, hey, Robin is pretty needed after all. Then something something and Stephanie comes in to take over as Robin. Tim goes back to his other identity. But then she dies/fakes her death, so back to Tim as Robin! He really doesn't want what happened after Damian died to happen again, and with both of his successors dead, he's hesitant about making another kid Robin.

(Aside 3: Joker has nothing to do with Damian's death in this world, so there's no reason for him to take on the Red Hood moniker when he comes back to life, though he does consider it, because of the Hood part of Robin Hood in this world, and the Red like Redwing, but discards it for the Joker association reasons. The thing is, with this Damian, he was acting as Robin when he died, but being Robin had nothing to do with why he died. He died because of Talia and Heretic, and even if he hadn't been Robin and everything else stayed the same, he most likely would have still died. So his death and being Robin aren't tied together in his mind.)

For Steph, her time as Robin here is longer than the handful of weeks she was in canon. I'm debating if she'll be the Young Justice Robin (because in my Reverse Robin world, only the Robins are reversed, no one else is), and covering everything from around the Clench to War Games. But I've never read the entirety of War Games, so I'd actually have to do that to see how it would fall with her being a much more experienced and trusted Robin versus a newbie. The basic outline right now is that she comes on as Spoiler and instead of trying to get her out of the game, Tim helps bring her on as Robin instead. Steph's canon pregnancy does still happen and is the gap between Spoiler and Robin. She spends that time in the mental training for Robin - like the detective and computer stuff - and makes her Robin debut once she's recovered from the delivery.

(Aside 4: Tim actively bringing on Steph as Robin is a big change, and impacts him like wow after her death. This is The Big Death for him, because in this world he's not close to Kon and Bart since they weren't teammates due to the age difference. Damian is also still dead at this point, so both of his successors have died. Bringing on someone else as Robin isn't something he's willing to do for quite a while, not until after both Damian and Steph are back.)

Some time passes, and then Bruce gets lost in time and someone has to take over as Batman, so Tim takes on the cape and cowl. Damian and Steph both come back before this, but Steph doesn't want to be Batman and Damian does but for whatever reason, it goes to Tim. Maybe because he's done it before if Knightfall/Prodigal happens? He saw how bad it shook down with JP and went, okay, if Bruce isn't Batman, it'll have to be me. Why does JP still become Batman when Tim is right there? Because Bruce.

Early on in his Bat-tenure, Tim comes across Jason, who he then makes his Robin, because he's been in this gig long enough to realize that Batman needs a Robin, and, hey, Jason seems like just the kid for the job! After Bruce comes back and takes over (who goes to find Bruce in this world? I don't know!), something something something, Jason decides to go on a world trip looking over his various mother candidates. Cue fighting and training montage with Lady Shiva, because why not? Also, Jason still dies, since he's in Damian's spot in this world. And, fuck, that would be all three of Tim's successors who've died, and the third one is his kid? Jesus Christ, Tim. This time, though, Tim “I tried to clone Kon after he died” Drake is going to make sure Jason gets resurrected.

Then Bruce goes to a circus and in comes Dick. Who Bruce does not intend to make Robin at first, but Dick's gotta Dick and when he goes after Zucco, he does it under the Robin name because at this point, Jason!Robin hasn't been seen in Gotham for weeks if not months and Dick's nickname is Robin, so why not? And Bruce bows under the pressure from this tiny terrorist and allows him to keep the name.

So now there are two Robins at one time and neither of them are Tim Drake, to everyone's surprise.

Most important question, though: does Tim get a Ric Grayson arc? Would he be Timo Drake?

[theendingremains]

Never have I wanted outsider POV more than I've wanted it with the general public and other MCU heroes wondering what the hell is up with the New Avengers hanger on? Official team groupie? You know, that guy who's with them all the time. Bob.

[theendingremains]

The thing about Thunderbolts* that blew my mind while in the middle of watching it was how well it hung together. Everything made narrative sense and flowed so neatly together. Like, I didn't know how it was going to end, but once I saw how they were developing Yelena and Bob's relationship, I immediately thought, oh, this ending is going to feel earned. And it was. Like, that's not something that ever comes to me while still watching a movie, that usually only comes after I've finished and had time to reflect.

Yeah, this has definitely earned its place as Top 5 MCU movie for me, and Yelena and Bob launched into my Top 10 MCU characters list.

[theendingremains]

So, turns out, after years of thinking I'm Team Cap, I'm actually Team Bucky.

[theendingremains]

Big Finish Ninth Doctor and Rose! The scream I screamed at the announcement! I have not bought anything Big Finish in years, but yes, I am definitely getting this!

[theendingremains]

Okay, but I would occasionally just think of the sadness of Kirk and Spock's endings??? Like, just randomly??? But now that's no longer the case!!! They were separated by time and universes, but they got to be together at the end, and the happiness of the thought is just making me cry buckets.

[theendingremains]

I'm bawling, oh my god, I have never had this kind of reaction to any media ever. But Kirk took Spock's hand and I just started crying my eyes out. Geeze, I did not expect that during my lunch period.

[theendingremains]

Rewatching Dead Boy Detectives before my Netflix cancels next week. Me, when canceling, puts in: "Umbrella Academy season 4 was terrible, and you canceled Dead Boy Detectives" in the Other field. In all honesty, I never planned on having Netflix past this month, but when you get the chance, you take the chance.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah, the first time watching The Case of the Lighthouse Leapers, seeing Edwin turn the doll in the shop away, it's, like, haha, Edwin, same, there used to be a doll like that at my aunt's house that we used to scare each other as kids.

On rewatch, it's: Jesus fucking Christ 😭

[muramura-meimei-apple]

Okay, hot take/idea, don't kill me over this

But do you guys think if Viktor didn't transition, they'd have Five and Viktor get together instead? I seem to remember an interview about Five and Viktor having crushes on each other when they were younger, but it never came into fruition cuz Five obvi got lost in the apocalypse

Just spitballing this, just an idea lmao I feel like they really wanted to make Five straight

[lookingforhappy]

i actually think that they were gunning for viktor/diego

in the comics that pairing is heavily implied or basically confirmed

i think they wanted to do s1 as allison/luther (also a comics creation) and then set diego and viktor up for s2. theres a reason diego and viktor's love interests both get killed and basically erased from memory at the end of s1, it's so they could pair up together in s2.

there's also their arguing and their quiet bonding over mom being vaguely reminiscent of a stereotypical bickering romance. that arguing forces their attention to each other and gives them a history.

diego's fury over viktor's book also disappears after s1, as though they didn't want the two to really talk about or to the other more than necessary.

but then the reception of allison/luther was terrible, and they freaked and rewrote the story.

viktor was paired off as a lesbian to reflect elliott's preferrences, and diego was paired off with lila. eudora was forgotten because their intention was never to bring her back, but instead to push diego into viktor's arms.

i actually wonder if lila was meant to be five's romance (perhaps only as a slow burn at first bc yea aidan was 15) from the beginning, but they recycled her character to distract diego away from viktor and make it seem like they were never gunning for diego/viktor.

lila has a lot more history with five, and five's always been connected to the diego/lila pairing because of that.

maybe that's why they did the romance plotline in s4, because they (blackman) felt cheated out of their intended romances and wrote five/lila, the lesser of the two problematic ships here, to feel better about it.

its awful decision making but to me it makes the most sense, especially as sissy was killed off (maybe because she was never intended to exist as a romance and so was never intended to make it to s3? kinda like ray) while lila was added to the main cast (because she was always going to make it into the main cast as a main love interest).

maybe the tin foil hat needs to come off but i just feel like they had alternate plans for s2 that were forced to change bc of the reception of s1.

[theendingremains]

Look, I love comic book Diego/Vanya so much that my biggest regret for the TV show (pre-season 4 where I regret everything) is that they never went Diego/Viktor, so I'd much rather live in the timeline where they did.

[theendingremains]

I've never been more glad that Netflix drops a show all at once, because if I'd wasted six weeks of my life on that, I would have been livid.

Honestly, I'm very easy-going with my media, it doesn't take a lot to satisfy me. Like, I know TUA season 3 had its issues, but I still enjoyed it and rewatched it right away - I'm not even sure how many times I've rewatched just the wedding episode. I was even fine with the first three episodes of s4. But the latter half of the season? Left such a bad taste in my mouth that any future rewatch of the series is going to end at season 3.

[theendingremains]

So, I'm just going to pretend that Luther and Ben ran off to join Viktor in Canada, and, occasionally, Diego visits them, okay? And that's how the story ends.

Goddamn, if someone told me back in season 1 that Luther of all people would replace Five in my top 3 favorite Umbrella Academy characters, I would have thought they were insane.

[theendingremains]

I think I've heard Bye Bye Bye more times in the past week than I have in the past twenty years combined.

[theendingremains]

It will never not be hilarious to me that Deadpool in actual freaking Disneyland says that Deadpool is a top and Wolverine is a bottom. Except, you know, in a kid-friendly way. Oh, and actually quotes "they were roommates!" 😂 Whoever their scriptwriter is is definitely in fandom.

[theendingremains]

Deadpool and Wolverine ending up as best frenemies roomies who sometimes fuck was not on my MCU Bingo card. I'm not sure why it wasn't, because why not, right? But there we go.

[theendingremains]

The way my brain went, "Chris Evans...?" followed by me immediately blurting out loud that "NO HE'S JOHNNY!" and my absolute glee at being proven right when he shouts, "Flame on!" We've finally got the Cap/Johnny Storm mix-up scene we all wanted. Perfect, A+ scene, would watch again.