I figure now that we r in round 3, it would be a good time to expand on dog's deal specifically by explaining his context--bc he's very much defined by that + his story purpose, rather than his concept on its own! Welcome To My Beepo House.
tl;dr i made dog to be a friend-haver and a friend-maker and specifically be a friend for super :) a vote 4 dog in @sonic-oc-showdown is a vote for FRIENDS!
For beginner's context: for just under half the run of Fleetway Sonic the Comic, twisted evil killer Super Sonic is separated from Sonic physically, loses his chaos powers that compel him to violence, and ends up destitute in Metropolis Zone until a couple of minor characters take him in to live + work with them at the jazz cafe the Groovy Train. everyone say hi ebony and pyjamas :) I love the tension between this trio in how they approach the conflict of super sonic Being There, but ebony and pyjamas are also both adults and I see them as having more parental/grandparental relationships with him rather than real equal friends. so that's where dog and bebe come in :)
this is part of a canon divergence au that keeps the groovy train dynamic largely in place, rather than ending it with the comic. in the canon ending, ebony casts a spell that merges super and sonic back into the same body. sonic conquers super and things are alright for the end of the story. okay well i dont like that so </3 instead in this au, ebony hides super by merging him into *herself.* they struggle to live together for a bit until a minor villain (lord sidewinder) comes in and separates them, once again trying to harness super's power for himself. well he fails and they kick his ass and such. after this, the conflict between super and ebony expands from some of the canon conflict + the new merger conflict annnd now he can go make new friends at the skate park :) by doing what he does best: being sad and wet and pathetic until someone with a big heart tries to help him out.
i've been developing dog and bebe with the intent to make a nice balanced group between them: bebe is the Instigator, the Active member of the group, the hero-like, the leader. she's competitive, she's right, and she knows it! super's the rookie with crazy power, he's a fish-out-of-water most times but when it comes to a real fight he can be a heavy-hitter. he's cautious and deferential (canon low self-esteem behaviors), but he's coming into his own with the help of those around him. and doggy my special guy doggy is the mediator: she's the wingman and cheerleader, she's the helping hand that keeps everyone's heads cool. she's the first to trust and the first to forgive. she's a capybara: everyone's friend :)
ofc i hope dog's deal on his own is interesting enough to people! what if there was a capybara and he was nice and also silly :) but it feels so wrong to separate her from super... that's her buddy that's the reason i made her. my au characterizaiton of super doesn't get to happen from only knowing an older woman who believes he can do no wrong ever and an even older woman who doesn't quite trust him not to do wrong. he's gotta have a friend who doesn't care about all that super sonic stuff--in fact thinks super is just lying about most of it (that's okay, sometimes people need to lie about their lives and it doesn't make them bad or anything). someone who is willing to meet him without any of that baggage and openly invite him into friendship and a safer life :)
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Blogging (and other dangerous activities likely to get you adopted by the Batman)
Inspired by Latchkey by goldkirk
Tim wakes up to Batman in his room.
It- well, it's not fair to say it's a surprise, but seeing the looming figure in his window does make his heart seize. Even after the time Tim's spent watching him with the Robins, it's still nerve-wracking to have Gotham's nightmare show up. Especially since Batman does little to dissuade the notion that he's here on genial business.
Maybe Bruce has figured out he knows and is going to silence him. Maybe this isn't actually Batman, but Man-bat, and Tim's about to be twelve-year-old bat jerky. Maybe-
His parents are home this week though, so if he really wanted he could probably scream and get himself some thinking time; but as he takes a breath to decide what to do, Batman puts a gloved hand over his mouth.
And, ugh. It smells kinda gross. Like leather and motorcycle fumes. Probably the right Batman, but also. Super gross? Why does he smell so bad? When did he last rinse his gloves?
“You've been blogging.” Batman says, which isn't a question but is a very unhelpful non-sequitur.
“Mmrnhm?” Tim says, largely unintelligible but not entirely intending words.
What the shit. Batman's only here because of the blog?
Also, unfair. He'd had to jump through so many hoops to spoof his IP and make his own VPN and switch which library he posted from, and Batman still found him? This sucks.
“Don't scream,” Batman says, and Tim nods. Batman pulls his hand away slowly, potentially having expected Tim to lie, but Tim's not stupid. Batman doesn't have to do this nicely, even if he is a kid, and Tim also knows that if he did scream, Batman would either a) be prepared and gag him again or b) vanish, and then Tim would be in trouble with his parents. Either option sucks, so he'd rather opt for the one that lets him keep taking in the details of Batman's suit. It's hard in the dark, but still way easier than through his camera.
“It could've been my parents,” Tim says, when it seems Batman's waiting for him to answer his earlier not-question. Batman hums, and Tim wiggles back so he's against the headboard. “Yeah, I figured you'd already researched their flight times. Have to try though, right?”
“The blog. Why?”
“It's-” he starts, because there's so many reasons and he doesn't actually know which one Batman wants. Or, actually, would like the least? Probably 'I wanted to see you in action' would land with the grace of a sleep-deprived Jason Todd, but 'I was lonely' may be worse. 'I didn't expect it to blow up?' may be okay, but in the end he hesitantly settles with: “I just think that- seeing you, being- human? Or, showing you have humanity- was important.”
“Did you ever think that I wouldn't want that?” Batman asks, and Tim shifts awkwardly.
“I mean. Yes? But also, the way people- talk about you and the Robins. It sucks.”
Batman's mouth looks very displeased.
“It just, it shows that you're human!”
“How do you know?” Batman asks, and he actually kinda sounds like Bruce Wayne now, like this is a joke he's used before, and Tim thinks through what he'd been about to say very quickly and shuts his mouth with a snap. Ow. Now his teeth hurt.
Batman, on the other hand, does something to his cowl that makes him look like he's very slowly raising his eyebrow. Is it weird to think he looks tense, looks more threatening now, even though he'd literally just been looming with the promise of violence? Tim swallows hard.
“I don't?” he offers, his voice breaking, and he literally doesn't think he's ever been more humiliated by puberty. “I mean, I don't! Know you're human, that is. You could definitely be an alien if you wanted. Or a spirit of revenge, or-” Tim flops backward on his bed and pulls his blanket over his head. “I shouldn't be so bad at this,” he mumbles, and doesn't think about he's definitely going to die because Batman's suspicious and Tim's an idiot when he's tired.
Batman is damningly silent, but when Tim finally, hesitantly, peeks his eyes out from the hem of his blanket, the Dark Knight is still standing in his room. Actually, he's half-hunched over Tim's desk, looking at the corkboard of Tim's photos and reminders. He reaches out, and Tim's heart thuds. “Oh, please don't!” he says instinctively when Batman grazes Tim's camera. Batman stops and tilts his head over his shoulder to look, and Tim swallows down the anxiety clogging his throat. “Please don't take my camera. I can get another one but I- that one was-”
“Stop taking photos of us.” Batman says, short and to the point.
“Stop posting them to the blog?” Tim offers, and this makes Batman turn around properly, looking at him head-on again. He's judging Tim, now, and Tim wonders what part of him will be found wanting. In Batman's eyes is Tim's wealth a precursor to change or stagnation? Does he think Tim should be doing more with his life? Or does he simply expect that this is a rich kid's hobby, no sentimentality involved? Bruce Wayne took his billions and made himself a hero and Tim knows he can't do the same, considering his parents are in charge of the Drake fortune, but there's probably a million other things he could be doing that don't involve stalking superheroes.
“You're a child,” Batman says slowly, and his voice has lost the harder overture that's affected his speech so far. “When Batman is out, it is late, and dark, and dangerous. You are a child and shouldn't be anywhere near-”
“I don't go close!” Tim protests, “I'm not stupid!”
“There are always people in Gotham. What does it matter if you're not in the area of the most danger when you're still in danger?”
“I'm not stupid,” Tim protests with a hiss that contains more vitriol than it really should, considering his conversation partner, but he can't help it. “If you never saw me how'd you think anyone else could?”
“How do you know I never saw you?” Batman asks, like a challenge, and Tim scoffs.
“Come on, you think I don't know that if you saw me out there, you'd have me thrown in the back of the Batmobile and at the closest precinct before I could blink? Jason almost-” Tim freezes, then quickly blurts, “-before he took your tires, and got adopted by Bruce Wayne, Jason tried to do the same thing whenever he saw me. I know what I look like, to people in Crime Alley.”
Shoot, shoot, shoot, this is actively a terrible lie; Batman only needs to ask Jason when he met Tim and the whole thing would be blown. And, also, name-dropping a specific kid, like Batman would remember who stole his tires? The connection is tenuous at best and damning at worst.
“You've been taking photographs of us since you were eight?” Batman asks, sounding horrified, and Tim winces internally. Please forgive me, Robin, he whispers in the back of his mind, and then says with all the glib disdain he can muster:
“Well, you let Robin go out when he was barely older than me. It's the same thing.”
He has never seen Batman do a full-body wince before. He's not entirely sure he could get Batman to do it again, and wonders if he should add it to his board of accomplishments. He’d have to encode it if he did, even if the board’s mostly for his own reference, but imagining it pinned up next to his photography awards is making him feel a bit hysterical. Then again, that could also be the fact that Batman is still in his room and Tim is lying.
“He was not eight-”
“I just think that unless the same orders get applied to him I think you're being a bit of a hypocrite. He’s actively in more danger than I am, considering he ends up in grabbing range of Rouges and I don’t.”
“I will be telling your parents,” Batman growls, and this time Tim smirks.
“Yeah? And how do you think that's going to go for you?” Tim can almost exactly imagine it: there's no way his parents will believe Batman, because it's crazy and they'd be freaking out over Batman in their house, and if he does it as Bruce Wayne it'd be a crazy coincidence for Tim Drake, known genius, to have access to. If Tim hadn't already solved their identities, that connection alone would probably tip him off.
Well, maybe Batman wouldn't think about the potential implications - academic strengths don't always translate to detective-solving skills, and it's just Batman's misfortune that in Tim's case it's a little bit the other way around. Detective skills that he's carefully and stubbornly honed have led him to a dogged dedication to his studies.
“Robin is a trained professional,” Batman says, and Tim volleys back with,
“Yeah and I'm not doing the same thing he is at all, so my standards can be different.”
“Tim Drake,” Batman says, this time actively growling his name, and Tim doesn’t know if he should cackle or wince. For one thing, he’s pretty sure Batman has lost this verbal volley, which is why he’s pulling out the doom and darkness voice.
On the other, this is the voice he uses on men triple Tim’s size and with twice the bravery (and crazy), and having the full force of it directed at him makes his stomach drop. He clutches his blankets, fabric pulled tight, and tries to pretend his hands aren’t shaking.
“The blog is being removed - do not start it again. I will not see you on Gotham’s streets again during my patrol.”
The lens of his mask are so narrow that the white is barely visible. He holds Tim’s gaze, like he’s imparting the orders, like he’s checking to see Tim’s fear will keep him obedient, and then nods slowly. The cape swishes behind him as he puts Tim’s camera back on the desk, and then he’s leaving. Leaving, and Tim’s secrets are safe and he is unharmed and undeterred.
“You won’t,” Tim whispers as Batman slips out his window and into the dark.
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