#team dynamics

The team essentially becomes a weird family.

Jason & Blackfire

Everyone assumes they're dating.

They insist they're not.

Their teammates stop believing them after about three episodes.

Their flirtation mostly consists of threatening each other.

Roy & Artemis

An endless rivalry.

Roy thinks Artemis is too serious.

Artemis thinks Roy is an idiot.

They're both correct.

Bizarro & Everyone

The emotional center of the team.

Whenever morale drops, Bizarro accidentally says something profound.

Nobody knows how.

Season One

Episode 1: "Worst Team Ever"

Jason assembles the team to assassinate a dictator funding supervillains. The mission immediately spirals out of control. The dictator accidentally surrenders after witnessing the team's dysfunction.

Episode 3: "Amazon Prime"

Artemis discovers online shopping. The Watchtower's servers crash.

Episode 5: "Vacation"

Blackfire insists the team needs a beach vacation. The beach happens to be controlled by a criminal cartel. The cartel ceases to exist by sunset.

Episode 7: "Bizarro Day"

Bizarro accidentally becomes beloved by an entire city. The mayor offers him a key to the city. Bizarro mistakes it for a giant house key and spends the episode trying to find the city's front door.

Episode 10: "The Bat-Family Intervention"

Jason's former allies attempt to convince him to stop leading murder-happy lunatics. The Outlaws interpret this as a declaration of war.

Season Two

The Outlaws become internationally famous.

Unfortunately, most countries list them somewhere between "vigilantes" and "natural disasters."

Highlights include:

Accidentally overthrowing a monarchy.

Getting trapped in a reality television show.

Blackfire briefly becoming Queen of a small nation.

Roy starting a food truck.

Bizarro accidentally negotiating world peace.

Season Three

The team acquires a sentient alien spaceship. The spaceship hates them. This hatred is justified. Meanwhile, a coalition of surviving villains forms an alliance specifically to stop the Outlaws. Not because they're heroes. Because they're exhausting.

Series Finale

A global threat emerges that even the Justice League struggles to stop. The League reluctantly asks the Outlaws for help. Batman gives Jason a detailed strategic briefing. Jason nods respectfully. Then completely ignores it.

The Outlaws save the world through a chain of catastrophically bad decisions that somehow work perfectly.

Afterward, the League offers them official membership. The team spends five minutes considering it. Then declines. Because paperwork sounds boring.

The final scene shows them flying toward another mission as Jason asks everyone to please behave themselves this time.

The aircraft immediately explodes from one of Roy's experiments.

Cut to credits.

You have a smart team. Talented individuals. Good intentions. Yet meetings feel off. Some people dominate. Others stay silent. Decisions take forever, or get made impulsively. Tasks fall through cracks. Conflict simmers beneath the surface. Continue reading Team Archetype Mapping Template for Leaders: A Practical Worksheet

Tumblr has eaten this ask like three or four times every time I’ve tried to post it with an addition so I’m posting it like this for now.

I absolutely love team dynamics in whump.

Whumpees who give off that neglected dog aura - the ones who are new to the team but don't know how to interact with anyone, so they just hang towards the back and wait for the invitation to sit with them.

Then they were gone, like they hadn’t just said what they just said.

Like it was no big deal.

Like the words weren’t balling up in his throat and choking him to tears.

Proud of you kid.

In his entire career, if you could call it that, he doubted he’d ever heard anything even similar.

He swallowed, trying to hide his face in his locker, fumbling with random things to buy himself time to pull himself the fuck together.

He could hear his old leaders voice clear as a bell in his head, telling him that if he was gonna cry, best go find the ladies room since he wanted to be a pussy.

He wiped his eyes roughly, shaking his head as if he could shake his old leader away completely. Things were different here. Probably not that different, but better. Good enough.

He could be better. Good enough.

Weapon and Handler were recruited together, trained together (maybe even raised together, if they were recruited young enough). Their masters want to create a bond between the pair, and ensure that they have just as tight of control on each. Weapon and Handler cooperate flawlessly on missions, just as they've been trained to do. But there are so many different ways their relationship could crack or blossom.

Weapon and Handler are the only ones who see each other as people. While everyone around them treats them like objects, they have only each other to grow close to. They've seen each other at their lowest and gotten each other out of situations they might not have survived alone. When one has a nightmare, they don't have to explain, because the other has the same haunting memories.

They care about each other and take care of each other and are probably the only bright spot in each other's lives. "Probably", though, because it's not that simple.

Handler is responsible for Weapon in the literal sense, being in charge on missions after all. But how far does the responsibility go? Maybe Handler is in charge at the facility too, treated by their masters as if they're Weapon's superior and given extra privileges. Does this dynamic lead to resentment from Weapon? Or does Weapon see through it and remember that Handler is in the same predicament as them? Does Handler crave the approval of their masters, trying to act like they're better than Weapon in the hope of earning more favor? Or does Handler try to use what little influence they have to help and protect Weapon?

With responsibility, comes blame. Handler is blamed for Weapon's mistakes and for things that go wrong on missions, even if it was truly no one's fault, and punished accordingly. Their masters say that it's Handler's job to keep things running smoothly, to keep Weapon under control. But how is blame perceived within the duo? Does Handler internalize the guilt or get frustrated with Weapon for not being perfect? Does Weapon tear themselves apart for being the reason for Handler's pain? And maybe sometimes Weapon is punished directly for their mistakes. What do these circumstances look like?

Is Handler ever expected to punish Weapon?

Is Weapon jealous that Handler is never expected to be in the thick of their battles, working from the sidelines without risking injury or staining their conscience?