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Hey hi hello, PLZ SHARE UR ZACH THOUGHTS I AM 🅱️EGGING JASON 🥺🙏😭 I’m writing a night force thing and the next chunk is gonna be Zach’s issue and I have Ideas™️ but I’m getting just a little stuck 😭 SHARE UR THOUGHTS PLZ 🙏
Hello! You have no idea what you have just unleashed, but thank you for unleashing it!
This is going under a cut cause it is very long
Premise
Zach is somebody who keeps up a lot of fronts and barriers to guard a deeply passionate but wounded heart. He has been through severe trauma and as far as we've ever seen has gotten no help for it. He is surrounded by people but deeply lonely with few routes out of it.
For all the wonder he can create and inspire he feels like deep down he is very jaded by life already.
Origins
Ok so we don't know a ton about Zach's early life or parents beyond the fact that Zatanna and Giovanni visited when he was younger, his mother had magic, and that he only gained magic later into his life. Also at some point his mom died.
I personally feel like he had a very mundane life beyond when his extended family visited until his own magic developed. So once he had a chance to have a more exciting life he dove into it head first with very little oversight from anybody.
Trauma Conga Line
Okay so a lot has happened to Zach since he became a teenager so let's rapid fire through it along with things that have been implied.
His girlfriend ended up pregnant, seemingly they wee intending to keep the twins, and then both Kate and the children died in some way which was never explained. It could have happened in childbirth, could have been an accident of some sort. In my personal canon I say it was a car accident caused by a wild animal that happened while Kate was pregnant, and you free to use that if you want.
He got to watch one of his few fiends make a deal with a demon while being completely powerless to stop him, and then had to keep Eddie's secret and therefore had nobody he could talk to about it all or to try and get help. I have to imagine he was feeling a lot of guilt over Eddie's death as well considering Zach was the one that got him on the team.
Along with many other members of the Teen Titans he got kidnapped and forced into a fight ring for the Dark Side Club while brainwashed and drugged. Then in the aftermath rejected any sort of mental help due to a misunderstanding about having to join the team.
He got hospitalized by Black Adam during World War III in a fight that resulted in a couple other Titans straight up dying. My boy gets beat up, a lot, but he is surprisingly hearty.
Then there's the whole thing in Coven of Tree where he has to face his dead girlfriend and children, have them live away, only for that to be ripped away from him resulting in him endeavoring to revive Kate, a quest we never saw the conclusion to. And the friends he made in this endeavor are either keeping massive secrets (Traci) or planning to backstab him (Lori)
Also during reign in hell he did have David Sargent die right on top of him and nearly died as well, David Sargent had to give up his life in order to make sure Zach didn't die. So just throw in some more survivors guilt.
Zach was once enslaved in Sorcerer's World (Zerox) for roughly eight months by Mirabai via mind control magic who treated him as a pet, called him "My little Z." and referred to him as weak and worthless, likely many times over the eight months. The lady was super creepy and I do not like some of the implications that the whole mess creates for Zach.
Upon return it is likely a lot less time had passed on earth than Zerox as time works differently there. There was never any follow up on this so presumably he told nobody or nobody cared. I really couldn't tell you but given how flippant Zatanna was with him in her solo, which happened after this I imagine he just didn't tell her.
It's been implied that he uses drugs and alcohol and the former was canon to the Suicide Squad Seven pitch written by the same guy as Coven of Three, so it's something I'm personally willing to use as a source of confirmation. It didn't tell us what type beyond just pills, which could be anything from prescription drugs to ecstasy.
Zach to me strikes up the stories and images of a child star, he did start when he was rather young and being on tour though the nightlife centers of the world probably took their toll on him and has given him very easy access to less than stellar ways of dealing with his problems
Overall it seems like he has few friends, pushes away the few he gains for various reasons, and has next to no support from his family. He had been performing for years before Zatanna showed up to a show of his. His mom and uncle are dead. We have literally never seen or heard anything of his father. There is a reason his whole thing in Coven of Three was about how lonely he was.
So yeah there is a lot going on here and it seems like literally nobody has tried to help him since the ending of Terror Titans, frankly I feel like every adult in Zach's life has failed him pretty fucking miserably. Some of them have good reasons like Zatanna who could have assumed his dad would be involved in his life and she was busy with her own problems. Some like his completely absent father not so much, unless he's just an orphan, in which case I'm judging Zee a little more for her lack of care for Zach.
Zach can be an interesting exploration of untreated trauma and loneliness. However there hasn't been much done with that in canon since he's never starred in something, and it's lot easier to just present his act. I feel like similar is true in universe as well.
He's also a good case study for how the trauma and problems of non a-lister characters is treated and ignored in service of furthering the plot at the expense of the more minor characters and their stories, which can be just as if not more interesting.
Moving Forward
Zach from all of this has a couple routes moving forward. To get better or worse. And I feel like he could turn out to be a hero as easily as a villain.
Night Force: Having a stolid friend group that's not about to implode on itself or devolve into personal drama like the Teen Titans would be really healthy for him, especially if just about anyone was willing to listen to his problems and take them seriously. I really feel like he needs and craves recognition of his own fucked-up-ness but doesn't know how to communicate that outside of being abrasive and his benders.
Apprentice: Zach could really do with an adult in his life that cares about him, and who has time to help him. Of course there is the obvious candidate of Zatanna but I feel like she is a little too busy and already has the idea of Zach as a brat built up in her head which I don't think would be helpful, plus e would still have to be in her shadow.
Some candidates I think would go better are Raven, Jericho, Arsenal/Roy Harper, hell Captain Atom at least knows roughly what happened in Zerox so let's put him on the list.
Some other team: Like Night Force all it would really need to be a good place for Zach is less drama than the Teen Titans team he was on and somebody willing to lend an ear.
Villain (Necromancy): The whole trying to revive Kate thing could go terribly wrong or result in him turning to morally dubious sources out of a sense of desperation. He very easily could reach a point of deciding to say fuck everyone else and consequences, I'm doing what I want.
Villain (Other): It could also just be decides to say that without fucking around with necromancy. Just take out his pain on others cause he hasn't really had any other way to do it. And like, he's been forced into siding with villains twice with no follow up on his mental state, traces of the brainwashing and magic used on him very well might be lingering.
Retire: The stage life has taken it's toll on Zach and it probably would be healthier for him to stop and find something that lets him settle somewhere and get to know the people around him, something that doesn't force him to put up an act nearly every day and dangle drugs, hook ups, and alcohol right in his face.
Expanding on that I feel like some careers that I feel like could fit him: Stage director, magic consultant, linguistics teacher/tutor, writer
Utter breakdown: One straw too many and it's time for an utter breakdown, magic going haywire, a bender that goes too far, shouting at the people close to him, a sobbing fit on stage. Really take your pick. Bottling everything up takes it's toll and maybe it would take something this serious for the people around him to see past the act he puts on
Suicide Squad: A bender went too far and e got arrested. He might die but maybe there is some found family to be found? Or at least people who won't judge him much for his own short comings.
My Own Headcanons
I'm personally a fan of having Zach be Zee and John's kid from like right after they broke up with Nick, and they both realized they were not fit to be parents so Zatanna entrusted her aunt with Zach. I seem to recall you don't like that hc much but I thought it was worth mentioning.
It does make some interesting parallels between him and each members of the disaster polyclue.
This version of Zach's middle name is Mercy as picked by John (/my brother & rp partner @kitty-does-stuff)
Zach has a natural gift for languages, learning them very quickly and their histories.
He was fully intending on marrying Kate and settling down with her to be a dad before her untimely death. He still deep down longs to settle down someday, but has lost sight of when that would even be possible for him.
Zach grew up in Gotham where his parents were socialites. His mom, Beatrice, is his tie into the Zatara family. His dad, George is just like an accountant or something equally as boring.
Bunny is a childhood friend who joined him on the road due to their friendship and her own desire for adventure.
The version of Zach I rp wasn't acturally all that close to Eddie (played by @kitty-does-stuff) before the incident with Neron, only getting closer due to the immense gulit he felt and the pressure of being on of the only people that could help Eddie. Go ask @kitty-does-stuff for more Eddie meta if you want.
Zach honestly hates Blue Devil and has done everything in his power to avoid the man as he knows he can't really freak out at Blue Devil without revealing he was there for Eddie's deal, which he really doesn't want to do
The canon Zach in prime earth also really hates Wally West due to Eddie's death in heroes in crisis.
Other
I have a playlist for him here
Conclusion
I hope something in here has been helpful, and your ask really reminds me I need to read your fic! If there's anything anyone wants me to expand on lmk and I would be happy to!
I'd like to nominate Timothy Hunter as an honorary member of Night Force. It would be amazing to see how he would get along on the team.
Oh yea for sure! Tim’s def an honorary/auxiliary member in my mind. And when I break into DC HQ and take over for writing for DC’s misc heroes division and get my NF series off the ground he will be a regular guest star 👏👏👏
What do you think of the Princess Amethyst animated short series? Or if you've seen it that is. It was a part of the DC Nation shorts.
BRO I WAS THERE WHEN THEY WERE DROPPING THE DC NATION SHORTS WEEKLY. IM SO GOTDAM BITTER THAT THERES STILL SHORTS OUT THERE THAT THEY HAVENT FULLY RELEASED. I KNOW THEYRE OUT THERE @ WB GIVE THEM TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEE
*deep breath* sorry. Lost my Cool 😎 there for a sec
anyways yea I love those shorts so much 😭😭😭 ngl, kinda wish we had gotten a full animated series for them bc the person who created the shorts even had designs for like, Lady Turquoise n Lady Emerald and Emmy and so many of the others like 🥺🥺🥺 they’re so cute ahhh
I have 2 questions for my fellow Zatanna enthusiasts : does Zatanna know how to cook and if she does does she like cooking ? I've seen different opinions and I'm honestly interested for some reason
Always love an excuse to reskim my Zee trade, so here’s what I got for ya!
1) Constantine makes an observation that Zatanna’s “still” a vegetarian when he goes to raid her fridge in Zatanna: Everyday Magic. and this is reaffirmed at the beginning of Zee’s solo when she first meets Det. Dale Colton for the first time. As far as what kind of dishes she makes for herself or if she’s got any skill with that, That’s Entirely Up To Speculation, given that it’s not touched on too much for the rest of the solo or in other books that I’ve seen for Zee so far
2) Zee’s, more often than not, shown eating take-out/in sit-down restaurants for dates/on her own. Given how much she’s on the road, it makes sense that she’d spend much less time cooking for herself and more time trying the local cuisine or grabbing quick bites btwn rehearsals/missions.
This leads to a couple headcanons, some that I’ve already seen some ppl reply w/ like:
- Zee Knows How To Cook, but maybe doesn’t cook Super well/often and prefers again to order in or eat out rather than go to the effort
- My Personal Fav: that Zatara DID teach Zee how to cook/bake and it was one of their Activities together. And Zee does it a lot less now bc it’s another thing that makes her miss her dad 🥲
- When she Does cook for others, she’ll forget if they’re not Also vegetarian which aksjsk Zee plz remember to ask darling why
Do you have any comic recs that the new night force are in?? I forgot what series they were in :<
Hi! Unfortunately there's not much that I can rec with the entire team because they only teamed up all together for the Latter half of Raven's most recent series (Raven: Daughter of Darkness #7-12)
That's the Main story I would rec (bc Obvsly lmao) and its all collected in the 2nd Daughter of Darkness trade if you're looking for a physical copy w/out hunting down individual issues!
There's plenty of Individual story arcs that I can rec tho! (& one team-up w/ half of the team that I'll list here up at the top! Hope this helps!)
Alright, so Top of the Order is The Coven of Three (a Traci, Zach n Lori team-up!!) The arc takes place as the back-up story in Teen Titans #83-87. The premise is that the Demons Three are targeting each of the mystics & they have to work together to beat them back! Its a short adventure & a good taste of Potential dynamics & something that I enjoyed even if its got a weird place in the continuity at that point in time
Now for some Individual Recs!
Raven:
As the character w/ the Most history, obvs places to start would be New Teen Titans (1980) & its diff related titles. Slightly less recommended is TTv3, though it will come up for other characters later. My personal favs have been each of her miniseries:
DC Special: Raven
Raven (2016)
Raven: Daughter of Darkness
Each of these were written by Marv Wolfman and I feel best capture his intended voice for Raven. Your mileage may vary w/ them tho (esp w/ the Special, given that Damion Scott's art style can take some adjusting to) IMO, each series suffers just a tad from the Cartoon's influence bleeding over into comics in differing ways.
Lori:
Lori is one of those Characters who was written primarily by the same writer throughout her existence, and who has pretty consistent writing bc of that. Issues that are Suggested (w/ commentary):
Birds of Prey #76 (intro)
Day of Vengeance #4-6 (helps the Shadowpact against the Spectre)
BoP #96-97,114-116,118,121 (briefly fights/teams up with the Birds at various points here)
Reign in Hell #1-8 (admittedly i have yet to get all the way thru this one, but its had me Curious for awhile yet)
Secret Six v3 #16-22,25-32 (Fleshes out Lori a lot! She joins the Six & grows a lot w/ the team, but there's a lot abt S6 that may turn most ppl off. They're villains who have a skewed moral code, so if you're sensitive to certain subject matter... there's a high probability it'll Be Here)
Secret Six v4 #1-14 (in the wake of the n52 reboot, Lori’s origin & this S6 team is slightly redone for this version of canon. Much of her powers and her characterization remains in tact tho, given that it’s still Simone writing, and the team itself is... not entirely Toned Down, but this was an infinitely more pleasant read imo and the one I'll go back to more frequently)
Traci:
(launching right into commentary+recs here)
Superman #189, Adventures of Superman #611, Superman: Man of Steel #133, Action Comics #789 (Lost Hearts Arc & intro to Traci! looking back I feel like its a little different from how Traci will eventually come to be)
Action #801,803,806-808 (minor development as a supporting character, like she was Still in the Process of Being Introduced)
Tales of the Unexpected #1-8 (also collected as the Architecture & Morality trade) personally I love Cliff Chiang’s artstyle so this ones a High Rec for THAT. There’s a rlly questionable moment towards the beginning where Dr 13 is having a dream and Traci’s put in a compromising position. It’s framed as something that Freaks Him Out but also it’s just… -_-; why include that at all. So Warning for that. The rest of the story is just okay, more of a Meta commentary abt the reboots that were being planned and the characters they were abt to leave behind during that time in comics. It’s clear at this point that whatever they originally planned for Traci was now heading in a new direction. idk, its a Half-Rec from me?
These next Two aren't Recs Per Se, but I do feel the Need to Mention Them:
Blue Beetle v7 comics - here its most notable bc she became a love interest to Jaime Reyes. Tbh I skimmed thru those issues and I’m sure I’d enjoy the comic Moreso on Jaime’s merits than Traci’s. She very much takes a backseat to just Being Jaime’s Girlfriend Who Helps Him Out Sometimes :T Again, not quite a Rec from me, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it
New 52 Superwoman - Here she and Natasha Irons make up part of the supporting cast and are girlfriends in this run which 👏 love that for them but I also have to admit. Haven’t read fully to make a call yet so read at ur own peril!
Zach:
Teen Titans (2003) #34,37,39,42,56 (admittedly, these are VERY scattered appearances and ur mileage may vary bc I’m p sure half of these were cameos/brief appearances for Plot Purposes fjklda;s 42 was def that's Eddie's Origin issue w/ Zach n Eddie going to Hell so Eddie could make the deal w/ Neron. def don't skip that one!!!)
Zatanna (2010) #4-6,14 (slightly more Consistent. Good, clear interactions w/ Zee too 👍 highly highly recommend but also just read Zee's solo in general its good jkdla;)
Klarion:
The Demon v1 #7,14-15, The Demon v3 #3-15,17,Annual #1 (haven't read this run yet myself, but should be Noted that Kirby's Klari from this time & later Klaris are Considered Different Takes on the character!!)
Young Justice #20-21, YJ: Sins of Youth (this one's just a Mischievous Gremlin and i adore him)
Seven Soldiers: Klarion (Morrison's Klari here is the one that I think has the most staying power. Or at the v least seems to have the most influence over the next two appearances in Robin n later Batgirl)
Robin v2 #157-158
Batgirl v3 #18
Klarion #1-6 (this limited run was for the n52 reboot. It seems to be p divisive among Klari fans. I personal think it does a little too much just throwing the reader to the wolves w/out explaining any of the magic/world around Klarion, but it also has one of my fav designs for him so *shrug* it's a short read so what do ya have to lose yknow?)
Eddie:
Blue Devil (1984) #1-2,5-9,11-21,29-31 (OKAY, admittedly I mostly read his Kid Devil appearances, but I have every intention of going back for his earlier ones and he's just a Smol Boy in this series im ;-; i love him sm)
Young Justice #49-51 (v brief time helping the team & he kinda gets lost in the crowd but its rlly cool to see!!!)
Teen Titans v3 #30,34-74 (this is where Eddie finally/fully joins a team and boy... its Rough fjdkasl loads of character development but also comes at a Cost given that they kill him off after a certain point :/
Eddie also had scattered appearances in the n52/Rebirth, with DoD being one of the last ones before his final appearance in Heroes in Crisis where, you guessed it :) he dies again :)
So yeah! \o/ Most of these guys don't have a lot of interaction w/ each other/others but!!! they've got a scattering of content individually! Personally I sometimes like to also throw in Amy Winston/Princess Amethyst bc i really enjoyed her maxiseries (Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld, def rec from me!!!) but she's def a non-canonical member Technically Speaking
But then again, I guess Eddie also Technically never joined the Team Proper but YKNOW WHAT WE IGNORE THAT ANYWAYS FJKLA;
In a world where Suicide Squad 7 wins the Round Robin. I can only imagine Night Force asking Zach questions about jail, even though he didn't have to go to jail, but they don't know about that yet.
Meanwhile, Lori who’s been in and out of trouble with the Six for years now:
Oh my god y’all I can’t believe I forgot the more obvious/hilarious thing
Eddie, holding Zach’s face in his hands: Zat we went to Hell. We went to actual literal Hell to make me this way. We went to Hell Zat. Do you remember? Going to Hell? Because we went there! To Hell, Zat! Hell! We went-
In a world where Suicide Squad 7 wins the Round Robin. I can only imagine Night Force asking Zach questions about jail, even though he didn't have to go to jail, but they don't know about that yet.
Meanwhile, Lori who’s been in and out of trouble with the Six for years now:
Raven ran away from Trigon and was saved and taken in by John Constantine
For a year or two John really enjoyed having his little student around but as time went on he realized Raven’s magic potential becoming more powerful as she learn extremely fast and the hellblazer were running out of tricks for her, also his due to his dangerous lifestyle and being pressed by the Justice League he decided it was time for Raven to meet friends/super heroes at her own age
Would it be cool if Raven tried to put on the Helmet of Fate 👀
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