Salhunny:

For the fandom post earlier: I WANT TO SEE YOUR RESPONSES FOR YOUNG JUSTICE. Please and thank you (◡‿◡✿)

1. The first character I first fell in love with

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now

OBVIOUS RESPONSES… There was a lot about Bart that aesthetically was pleasing to the eye, to me, haha! So even before I knew his personality, I felt his character was super cute looking already.

I didn’t really notice Tim at all at first, and I think it’s because Bart and Kon were such outlandish characters. It made Tim appear less interesting in comparison, but I know now that that’s just not true.

I think what really got me though was when Tim wore glasses for a while, haha. It’s why I draw him with them a lot!

3. The character everyone else loves that I don’t

IIIIII can’t think of any? So many of the characters in YJ were really endearing. I think the character I’m least fond of is Cassie, but I do understand why she was acting the way she did at the time.

4. The character I love that everyone else hates

All of the characters are woobies, so I can’t think of a character that is hated by a majority that I actually like. I think most people like almost allll the characters. They’re all just so adorable.

5. The character I used to love but don’t any longer

Same feels since 2003, haha.

6. The character I would totally smooch

ALL OF THEMMMMMM hahahaha. What came to mind first was Cissie, Ray, and then Anita! RAY IS A DREAMBOAT! Cissie is guh. Anita is just so amazing.

7. The character I’d want to be like

Anita! For sure. Out of all of the characters, I felt she was the one that could be looked up to the most.

8. The character I’d slap

Kon Kon Kon Kon Kon Kon Kon Kon Kon.

9. A pairing that I love

All of them, maybe— at least among the YJ members and not the adults, haha. I mean I feel like I could justify the most random pairing from there and still like it somehow. Slobo and Kon? Oh yeah, of course. Ray and Cissie? Sure sure, they have a lot that would make them a really exciting couple. Greta and Kon? I can already see how that would be really adorable. I obviously have a preference for most pairings that involve Bart/Tim/Kon in some way though because I am attached to those three the most. Anyway, the romantic pairings that I do like the most though are:

• Bart/Tim/Kon
• Cissie/Cassie
• Anita/Slobo

The rest of them I really enjoy as platonic couplings— such as Bart and Greta! Cutiepatooties.

10. A pairing that I despise

SEE ANSWER ABOVE. However, I do admit to feeling pairing burnout though! It is probably why I was so active on “weneedhelp,” because that LJ comm was mostly filled with unpopular pairings that were often deemed the “crack pairings.”

Wow, that makes me sound like some kind of fandom hipster haha.

I feel like Bart’s voice actor and Gar’s voice actor should be switched, since Bart was always such a scrawny pipsqueak that it’s weird to see him have that kind of voice? Then again, I’ll have to see more anyway. I’m already so sad that he’s not tiny, because I always thought it was a really nice dynamic considering the other characters (girls included, even if it was not illustrated well considering how Cissie was meant to be six inches taller than Cassie while Greta was only 4’8”) in YJ were of varying builds too.

Speaking of builds, I always really liked the visual chemistry of Kon and Ray because they were both tall, built guys but one of them had a very light, muted color scheme while the other one had a very colorful color scheme. Plus, Slobo was so cute because he was also tiny! He and Anita were the cutest together, gah. I also really enjoyed how Tim and Bart start off the same height, though Tim is heavier and more built— but then Tim just grows up more and more and becomes increasingly threatening to Kon (Kon’s shitty self esteem was awesome character development!). :>

Then Bart stays tiny, which isn’t a bad thing at all because man, most of my friends (majority are bioguys) and I are around 5’1”-5’5” so I always liked that there was a possibility of the YJ kids not all growing up to be 6’+ similarly-muscular-superhero-men! It looked promising in the evil future arcs of TT where everyone was older, and Bart was a suitably stockier but still shorter build. I like the idea of Bart filling out as he gets older and stronger, but without sprouting up and becoming more generic. :/

Though on that note, I’d honestly be more pleased if characters like Bart and Tim who start out fairly different in build don’t grow up to be Nightwings and Flashes. Then they could represent how muscle accumulates differently on different people depending on lifestyle, diet, genetics, and so on. However, that’s not really possible in the giant universe comic book systems like DC and Marvel, where characters are often only indistinguishable by hair color, eye color, and costume. Hence why red-haired Jason looked like Roy with arms and without tattoos. Ugh.

I do understand that it’s pretty different to try to keep characters on-model, persay, when there isn’t even much of a standard model for them in the first place and when dozens of artists are working on them in different titles every month with dozens of editors trying to hold everything together.

Ehhh anyway, tangent.

Basically waaaahhh wahhhh YJ cartoon Bart’s not my headcanon Bart boo hoo first world problems weh weh. :p

Kon would be the eligible bachelor who meets Tim on a rainy night after finding Tim’s cat while on his way to Bart’s house. This would be the set-up for the opening chapter. His warm, romantic nature— shown by how he’d rather wait with and shield a random cat in the rain till the owner arrives— appeals to Tim. What Tim does not know is that Kon is a passionate and violent man in bed, as many semes appear to be. Regardless, it’s this helpful and charismatic first impression that draws Ice King Tim out of the shadows.

Tim would be the reserved mysterious hikikomori who holds a fragile yet beautiful aura around him that entrances everyone who meets him. He spends most of his time at home with his cat named Stephanie (female animals are nonthreatening and thus okay) stalking celebrities on the internet. Tim is a crime novel otaku. Kon is intrigued by this mystical creature, and will go on to defend Tim’s chastity with Bart’s help multiple times as suitors left and right try to steal Tim away. After Tim and Kon have their initial meeting, they have a bonding walk together towards Bart’s house where Tim feels his heart opening a little (meanwhile Kon is clueless), and upon arrival at Bart’s house Tim feels crushed.

Bart is the childhood friend of Kon who complements Kon’s warm but mischievous nature. He is a food-comedy-moe type character with animal-like catchphrases such as “nya” and rounds out his words to make them sound cuter. “Nyan~ desu ka” compared to “Nan desu ka,” for instance. He is very close to Kon— to the point that they are mistaken for boyfriends. Tim mistakens them for that when Bart nibbles on Kon because he’s hungry, and Kon laughs. Eventually, Tim fosters a bond with Bart because Bart starts to visit him at his house to lure him out of his hikokomori-ness after meeting him. Something like:

Bart: “Ne ne, Tim, do you have any food at your house?”

Tim: “I do, but I’d really rather be alo—”

Bart: “Okay, I’m coming over!”

Tim grows to enjoy Bart’s near-constant company since Kon is busy helping out at the farm his family owns. After many hijinks, Bart curiously steals a kiss from Tim— and later reveals that he and Kon ARE kind of boyfriends, but that they want Tim to be part of that too. Thus, the OT3 trio is formed. Tim and friends go on to meet many other people as his life unfolds before him— illuminating his existence— as he abandons his job as a home security guard (hikikomori) and goes on adventures with his boyfriends. Oh yeah, they’re superheroes too but that doesn’t come up very often in this manga.

One such person they meet is Slobo, a slim but loud tsundere anti-hero alien who was did not willingly join their team. He could have left, but he stayed. He is not a threat to the OT3 so he’s not particularly important— he’s part of the background romance due to…

Ray, a mature teen hero who is attracted to Slobo’s stuttering, angry ways. Every now and then the manga pauses to do a side chapter that develops their relationship a little further. Their romance climaxes when Slobo tearfully pounds his tiny fists against Ray’s chest when Ray confronts him about Slobo’s violent tendencies being a front to his crumbling inner self due to having feelings for Ray. They then tenderly kiss with lots of flowers and tears.

There is also some oyaji type romances in the background between the two mentors, Red Tornado and Snapper Carr. They act like mama and papa to the kids and openly flirt happily in the background. Since their relationship is already established, the most they get is gag comics on the spine of the book underneath the cover on the collected tankobon. Oyaji yaoi is a niche yaoi so it’s there for those who want to see it but it’s not the overall focus of the manga.

The story eventually ends with Kon, Tim, and Bart all getting married and moving in together when they are older.

What, missing people? Missing girls? You’re crazy, there are no girls in yaoi manga unless they’re accessories to the boys in some way, such as being hoards of girls surrounding a seme to make him look more desirable or being supportive friends who encourage the ukes to be gay and buy him dresses and stuff.

There are probably some bonus spin-off chapters though featuring gag adventures, like Bart and Tim gaining cat ears and tails to tantalize Kon with or Kon losing his libido and everyone going on a quest to help him get it back. A sexy quest.

25 notes

1 year ago

# youngjustice # impulse # lobo # empress # secret # robin # superboy # wondergirl # captain marvel # teentitans

in which chien says a lot of words on a subject i care about

justchien:

I know I’ve posted this picture before but it’s my favorite single panel of the three that I have saved. I just have something quick to jot down before I go to bed, because I’ve seen some of my things reblogged before with this kind of comment added or read discussions where said comment is thrown in.

I get confused when I see people posting, “HEY YOU GUYS YOU’RE FORGETTING CASSIE! CASSIE WAS THERE FROM THE START!” when talking about the YJ trio. Yanno, such as on DC Confessions where there’s a confession that laments the loss of the well-balanced friendship between Bart, Tim, and Kon. I think I may have seen one of those comments pop up on one of my drawings before too? I can’t remember.

The reason why I get confused is that Cassie was not there from the start, so I have no idea why people are getting so upset that she’s not included. If anything, people should howl about how Greta is not included if they want to pick at details about which female was there in the very beginning of the series as far as Young Justice is concerned. To be even more specific, Young Justice, the title of the trio, was coined at the end of World Without Grown-ups. So if you really want to be even more picky over who is being left out that is essential to YJ creation mythos, then you should be throwing tantrums over how “BILLY BATSON WAS THERE TOO!!!!! DON’T FORGET HIM!” since he was the other teen hero featured prominently in the storyline that led to the development of Young Justice trio. Or you could go with the baddie and create banners about Bedlam being there first.

The other reason why people freaking out over Cassie being apparently forgotten annoys me is that… honestly, guys, the boys were not that great to the girls as a whole. Cassie was not a super important character from the start because of that. Greta was in her own way, because her general story arch is the background plot for YJ. Despite that, it didn’t seem like they were super bestest closest awesomest friendsies forever with just the four of them though. Cissie may have contributed more than Cassie did in the beginning too, but despite that it didn’t feel like Cissie was being put on the same level as the boys when it came to friendship. It did suck that the boys did not treat the girls fairly in the beginning, but for storytelling purposes it was somewhat reasonable to characterize the preteens and teens as who they were during that uncomfortable stage of their lives. They were all in different stages of maturity and becoming adults in different ways. I liked that the girls banded together cohesively like the boys did to support each other early on because the other gender was being poopy-headed at the moment, as a result. It was great having a competent, kick butt, girl-power team. It was a realistic depiction of how developing preteens and teens start splitting off into same-sex groups around the time pubery onsets because of confused feelings between the kids.

Was Cassie really so integral and important when the boys were basically pushing the girls and specifically her away in various ways? Is she really deserving of people claiming that she was there from the start and is being woefully forgotten as an integral, important, must-be-named aspect to the original trio despite characters like Billy and Greta being much more important? I question if there ever was such a thing as a YJ quartet that was exclusively about Cassie, Bart, Tim, and Kon. Maybe it felt that way if you only ever read Teen Titan just because they were the four who graduated to the bigger leagues, but if you did how can you say that she was there from the real beginning and start? Once again, if you want to go back to the real, even further back beginnings, Bart met Tim before Kon did, Bart met Kon before Tim did. Sure, they all knew about each other— they just hadn’t met until then. Who didn’t know about Robin and Superboy, at the very least, in the DCU?

While I admit my bias as someone who favors Bart, I think it’s more reasonable to say that it sucks that Bart has been neatly clipped out of the YJ trio to be reduced into the TT duo than it is to say that Cassie has been maliciously plucked out of the YJ mythos and that she absolutely must be mentioned as part of the YJ core. YJ did eventually move beyond the boys, which is why it was able to stand on its own when Bart and Tim left with Cissie— but once again, since we’re discussing the beginning then it was all about the boys back then because they were feeling a bit greedy and possessive of their trio.

When TT came out and Bart said that Cassie was the first girl he liked/girl who made him like girls everyone called bullshit because it wasn’t true or even believable. Bart had never shown any interest in Cassie prior to that point, for instance. Many relationships were developed in YJ, but Cassie’s strongest relationships were ultimately with Cissie, the other girls, and Kon. Bart was close with Cissie and palsies with Greta— he interacted with Cassie far less. Initially, Kon didn’t give Cassie the time of day because he couldn’t take his eyes off Cissie, which is why Cissie would try to redirect his attention on her onto Cassie. Tim was busy working and showed respect for Cissie and fascination with Greta, but he wasn’t all over Cassie either. To me, YJ felt like Cassie’s strongest relationships were always with the girls and never the boys except for much later when Kon’s relationships were getting overly complicated and they decided to smoosh him back together with Cassie. Even though he was busy tangoing with a different girl in his own comic and showing signs of affection for Cass that were developed further later. Even if some of the other girls branched out and bonded with the boys— such as Anita and Lobo— I do not think Cassie was like an octopus with deep connections with the three main boys that make her important enough to warrant people crying out against the injustice of leaving her out when discussing the original YJ core.

I realize that slash/yaoi fans have a tendency to encourage bizarre misogyny against female characters for the sake of making everything gay. While that may be the case for some as to why when they think of YJ they just think of the boys club, I still do not think that Cassie was more special than any of the other girl characters and that she has no right to be brandished as the one who was there from the beginning regardless of her gender. Why did she lead YJ? She won a vote, because she was popular as a character. I was honestly curious as to how Cassie could lead YJ, because before that she didn’t display that many leadership characteristics in my eyes. It did help her develop a lot as a character when she suddenly gained a lot of responsibilities— and it was great to see so much growth, considering how when she originally started she was so starstruck with Kon that she was making mistakes in battle. I liked that she moved on beyond her fangirlish obsession with Kon (AHEM, her ROOM) and I was actually disappointed when they got together. I think it would have been more interesting if she had moved on forever, in fact. Then maybe Kon would learn a lesson in some ways too.

Still, she didn’t become leader because she was more competent than the other characters (she wasn’t) or had deep relations with the everyone (only with some of them)— she won because she was popular. It was great too that a female teen hero one, and great things came from it. I just want to point out that it wasn’t necessarily because she actually was best for the job. Bart and Tim gathered a significant number of votes and they weren’t even on the team— and as we all know, Bart as leader during that time of his development? Bad idea.

So, Tumblr. I’m waiting. Where are the rants about how Greta, Billy Batson, and Bart have been tragically erased from their rightful pedestals of being there from the beginning and essential to the creation and initial development of Young Justice? I certainly have seen a few speckled here and there, but not as much as I see about Cassie being horrifically left out. There’s more support to those kind of arguments about those three, in my point of view, than that of Cassie being far more important than those three and rightfully deserving to be mentioned everytime someone discusses the beginnings of YJ. Then again, everyone reads YJ with a different perspective— such as how I didn’t see an eternal, tender, romantic love between Tim and Kon developing in YJ and how I saw Ray/Kon as a more likely relationship.

and then I had a lot of feelings I couldn’t put into words so I just crawled into the long boxes and wept silently.

(Young Justice issue #4)

Man I don’t know how to use the reblog options, but omg that cover :,3 When they were all babies. <3 I really wish more of the girls could have graduated into the big leagues.