Working On Your WIP Is Such A Funny Process, And By That I Mean I'm Losing My Mind

Working on your WIP is such a funny process, and by that I mean I'm losing my mind

Me: "okay, now we need to work on the plot, add more rythm, stress out the tension and dramatic irony and let them come up with a plan"

Brain: "Okay, here's a scene of Dick having sleep paralysis"

Me: "what in the chat GPT are you talking about, I said plot-"

Brain: "okay, here's a scene of Dick having sleep paralysis and then brushing his teeth."

Me: "this is a THRILLER"

****

See also:

Me: "okay now let's add a sweet, calm, wholesome scene to introduce this character, release some tension and add some stakes to the story"

Brain: "lmao what if they stole a police car?"

Two Mistki songs per Robin, because I was physically incapable of picking one:

Dick: Liquid Smooth/Bag of Bones

Jason: Pearl Diver /Working for the knife

Tim: Everyone/ Frost

Steph: Buffalo Replaced/ Townie

Damian: Abbey/class of 2013

Yes, playing tetris is important first aid, I am 100% serious

If I were Jason I would bake him like seven super good tasty sophisticated deserts and make a complex enigma about one of them being poisoned and in the end the solution to the enigma is that none of the cakes are poisoned because if you decoded the cypher it says "haha got you good, happy birthday loser" in latin

Dick, frowning: "I didn't even know you were coming to Tim's birthday."

Jason: "Can you focus? What do I get the guy?"

Dick: "I don't know books? Music?"

Jason: “I want to get him something I would get him--”

Dick: "That's kind of sweet--"

Jason: "--something for ten dollars, but of high quality.”

Dick [dragging hands down his face}: "Ten dollars? Okay, let's back up here. Giftcard?"

Jason, flopping face first onto couch: “No.” 

Dick: “So you want a personal, heartfelt gift for someone you’ve tried to kill.”

Jason, voice muffled: “I could get him puzzles.” 

Dick: “Uh, Tim hates them. Yeah, he solves ‘em too quick--”

Jason, looking up: "You're getting him a puzzle, aren't you?"

Dick: "Yeah, stole it from the Riddler. How about clothes?"

Jason: “So I can tell him his style sucks too? [shrugs] What does he even like?"

Dick: "He's a... Blue Beetle fan?"

Jason: “Blue beetle shirt?” 

Dick, grimacing: "He's got seven. And a pyjama set. And band-aids. His airpod case is a scarab. Listen, nothing is going to mean as much as you being there.” 

Jason: "You're useless."

That's what I've been saying!!! I have many issues with that webtoon's relationship to cannon (it's my guilty pleasure ngl), including their portrayal of jaybin, but this? This is good food. Jason is going after Joker and trying to fix things because he couldn't escape, and he's still trapped in his trauma, and he's trying to solve it because someone has to and nobody saved him and he's still that hurt child in that warehouse hoping to be saved and the fact that instead of punishing him for the resulting perceived "recklessness", this time his family is there to pull him out from where he's trapped in the past (from the rubble so to speak) is everything I've wanted for him I'm so happy!!!

CRYING, SCREAMING, THROWING UP

MY POOR BOY OTL *SOBS*

Let's build Jason a bookshelf !

Pride and Prejudice - homeboy is an Austen fan canonically, we need at least this one.

Hamlet -do I need to say more? Do I?

Water for the elephants: He won't admit it, but the book reminds him of Dick, and he reads it any time he misses him. It's angsty enough to maintain a front while actually being a romance with a satisfying ending.

The Outsiders: It's not just that the story is relatable and really well written; it's the themes of loyalty, grief and heroism, and the imagery and hopefulness shining through, and it's the way Johnny reminds him of Roy and sometimes, after Roy's death, he will close his eyes and picture the two of them together in an abandoned church, in that quiet space safe from the war raging outside, reading Gone With the Wind while Roy provides uncharitable commentary about the characters' decisions.

Under The Whispering Door (TJ Klune): This one was gifted to him by Tim because "the main character is an asshole ghost, I thought you might relate." Of course, these idiots could talk to eachother about emotions and go to therapy, but why do that when you can bait your brother into reading a story that will help him process a bit of his relationship with his own death and the family? The worst part is, it worked great, and Jason is so upset that it became one of his favourite books. (The part about the stages of grief is scientifically inaccurate, though. He would know.)

A compilation of TS Eliot's works: Maybe it's because I'm a big fan of TS Eliot and Jason, but every time I reread one of his poems, I think about Jason and I'm sad. The Hollow Men, in particular about the fallen soldiers from WWI, hits so hard as a Jason poem, especially when you consider he lived through the explosion but died of smoke inhalation.

Flowers for Algernon: After losing Bizarro, Jason rereads it often, sitting on rooftops, every time the sky is bright enough to see the stars. He reads it out loud, and the words burn his tongue and taste bitter every time every time, but he likes to pretend his friend is listening, and feels a little less alone.

The Oresteia: This one belongs to the list Jason has read many times and should probably read less, because he projects the tragedy onto his real life and it's a bad influence that comforts him in the idea that he was doomed from the start and might as well burn the remains of the bridges with his family. Good luck trying to pry it out of his hands though! He also loves the idea of being seen at his worst, in the midst of all his hopelessness, and being loved anyway, cradled with unwavering devotion.

Frankenstein : He's a huge Mary Shelley fan, both as a person and a writer. As for Hamlet and the Oresteia, he definitely projects maybe a little too much of some of the characters, but hey, not everybody can brag that they relate to the Creature on such a visceral level.

What else would you guys add?