#hellsbrells

Ho. Ly. Shit.

Man, now I won't ever be able to watch The Breakfast Club without replacing Allison's (sp?) face with Conner's, Brian's face with Dick's, Andrew's face with Wally's (but I have no problem with this), Bender's with Artemis's, Claire's with M'gann's, and I'm always going to be looking for a Mr. Durham, or the president of their grade. Not that I mind.

OK, for the record, I loved The Breakfast Club because of the characters's personalities and the backstories that they brought into the film. But here, in this monsterfic, maybe it's just me being biased, maybe I'm favoring the Young Justice characters I've learned to love with this ridiculous burning fire-of-a-thousand-suns, but I found these stories so much more heartwarming and meaningful than any of the stories from the actual film. Kaldur's story with Tula just reminded me of how much he had to lose in the show, Conner and being ignored by Superman just pissed me off (like it did when I watched the show) and I felt that compassion for him again, M'gann's love for her uncle hurt me, Artemis's broken relationship with Jade shot me in all the right places, and Dick and Wally's stories fucking killed me.

KILLED ME.

Wow, I'm glad that Wally went first because if I had to read it after the onslaught of everyone else's stories, I would've broke. I just - there's that part of me that shattered a little when he told his story about … Bart and … and Barry … and - and not being fast enough because that is precisely what he's going through in the actual show (ehem, ehem, Bloodlines, anyone?) but goddamn it, Wally, you're a hero, you've always been a hero, and you don't have to be as fast as or faster than Barry or Bart to prove that.

You always tell Artemis that she has nothing to prove but fuck it, Wally, you've got nothing to prove to us either. You're something special, West, and I'll be damned if I ever let you forget that.

…OK, so maybe I really love this fic because of the light shed on Wally but hey, we all have our favorites, don't we?

I love how Artemis takes on Bender's role here because it's like a completely new character for her in some ways. I love that she landed detention because she saved Greta from Billy (is that right?) and that she's trying to do right by her mother but also by herself.

I love that instead of the earrings, it's a Cheshire Cat necklace because she would so have something Cheshire-Cat-Alice-in-Wonderland-y to go back to her sister and there would totally be something about Jade laced into her backstory.

I just loved these backstories.

What I also really, really, really loved was how Dick and Wally, in the beginning, seemed to have known each other from before. And then we realize that, wait a fucking second, they do know each other from before. But then, apparently something happened that forced them to come away from each other and now they're not as close as they used to be and that's not right because that's not who they are. And then it's revealed that it's Wally's fault and first it's like whaaaaat, why?! but then Wally reveals that he was only doing it because if one of them was going to get out, it might as well have been Dick, because Dick never needed to change – 

– and do you realize the courage you need to have to be able to admit this not only to yourself, but to five other kids, least of all to your best pal!? Do you guys realize how much bravery and strength it takes to just drop your best friend like he never really mattered just so you could protect him and make sure that he makes it out all right because High School is such a personal hell for everyone and Wally wanted to ensure that he wouldn't bring Dick down with him. There was a chance that Wally would crash and burn and come down hard but he wouldn't let Dick go with him. There was absolutely no way that Dick would mess up in High School, or that Dick would let everything get to him. He didn't need to change, and Wally knew that. So there was no way Wally was going to risk bringing Dick down with him. There was no way Wally would allow that.

Goddamn it.

Fuck.

Goddamn you, Wally West.

Goddamn you, Brella.

…And yes. I liked the ending here a lot better than The Breakfast Club's original ending because there (at least to me), things were uncertain as to whether or not the five of them would actually acknowledge one another at school. I mean, don't get me wrong, Andrew and Allison probably do stay together, as do Bender and Claire, but to what extent? And does Brian really get to say hi to Claire in the hallways or does Claire shun him every time because that's the social norm, and that's what's expected of her; it's what she needs to do to survive in school.

But here, all six of these kids explicitly make the decision to land detention the next week (not that Artemis needs to try) just so they could hang out together again. (Oh, gosh, Kaldur was going to litter to get into detention, Jesus Christ). It's clearer than the original film and I appreciated that.

So overall, on a scale of 1 to 10, what did I think of this fic? I thought, FUCK.

FUCK, I LOVE IT.

You've got romance, a bit of running and dancing (lolwhut), angst angst angst, that teenage tension and drama, just the right amount of bromance, awkward moments under desks, and characters from Young Justice.

Honestly, what more could I ask for?