Why I hate Timkon clone baby aus (an unreadable and often off topic rant)
1. It’s stupid plain and simple.
In what world is Tim using his own dna to create a clone of kon lmao. His dna would do nothing to stabilize the jumbled mess that these attempts were. He was trying to bring KON back not create a new super. I hate this au/hc or whatever you want to call it so much bcs at its core it makes no sense to both the situation and the character. I understand that Tim was very desperate he wanted kon back so badly because that was his best friend he wanted kon because he couldn’t lose him on top of everyone else he had lost. Kon was the one person he felt he could bring back because of what kon is. He is a clone created in a lab and if Tim could just recreate that he could have kon back. In the back of his mind though he knows, he knows this will not be his kon. Yes it will look like him it’ll be his body his face but it will not be him he didnt care though he was so deep in his grief that he would take Kon in any way he could get him, but there is a large difference between this and creating a child from both his and kons dna. Like if we’re saying he just put his in there with what he already had going on then that baby isnt kon it’s Lex Clark and Tim so deadass where is this even coming from??
2. It’s the exact same thing people hate Lex for and validate kals (not real not canon ooc slop) hatred (NOT REAL HATRED PLS FANON FANS READ A COMIC) towards kon for.
In this hypothetical situation Tim is taking a dead kons dna mixing it with his own to create a clone of the two. In the clex baby origin Lex takes a dead kals dna mixes it with his own to create a clone of the two. Yes in these two scenarios there is much different intent behind said cloning but it is still the same in practice. It is a complete and total violation of both kal and kons autonomy. To create a child with the dna of someone who is dead who has no say in wether they want this or not is wrong and to not be able to see that is either plain stupidity or blatant ignorance. People love to go around raving about how kal was valid for not wanting kon (DIDNT happen in canon btw) but then turn around and make Tim do the same thing??? But it’s oks because he was grieving and is just in love with kon 🥹🥹 when kon comes back they’ll raise the child together 🥹🥹 FUCK OUT OF MY FACEEEE WITH THATTTT. If kal el had expressed distain or kept a large distance from kon it WOULD be valid dont get me wrong but he did not do this. He didn’t like how kon was created when they had assumed he was made from kals dna but it hadn’t stopped him from loving Kon. Kal el understood that kon didnt choose this he didn’t want to be created the way he was so he does not fault him. Clark does not harbor any ill feelings towards kon because kon is a child he is an unwilling participant in the violation and use of kals body and dna. To turn a plot line like this around to make it into “family fluff” or “batfamily feels” is insane to me this is not the wholesome raising a child montage people like to think it is.
3. TIM ACKNOWLEDGES HOW WRONG THE CLONING ATTEMPTS WERE AND IS DEEPLY ASHAMED AND RELUCTANT TO ADMIT IT TO KON.
Need I say more… (I will because I want to but I feel that summarizes it up well) the panels for reference:
(Adventure comics 2009 #3)
they walk into the room with the cloning tech and Tim avoids kon questioning until he no longer can. He knows the cloning was wrong he knows it wouldn’t have been kon but he was blinded by he is grief and he ignored everything in his head telling him it was wrong. Tim could’ve kept this from kon hid it from him so neither of them would have to face the cold hard truth of what he did but he doesn’t do that. He tells kon because he knows it’s important that he does. Kon deserves to know the mistakes Tim, no matter how depressed, had made. He had done this to kon had attempted to bring something to life that wasnt ever going to be His Kon-el. Kon takes it as well as he can. He is understanding of what Tim had gone through but this doesn’t mean he has no issues with it. (I do wish his feelings on this had been explored more but wtv…) He loves Tim, Tim is his best friend and Tim has lost so much and kon…he gets it, so he doesn’t hold it against him he doesn’t hate him for it Tim was unsuccessful in his attempts and kon can clearly see how hard it is for Tim to grapple with his feelings at the moment, and kon cares so much so he won’t fight he won’t have an outburst he won’t run and he won’t leave Tim. He relates his own issues to Tim, he doesn’t have to say it directly for Tim to understand that kon gets it hes not furious with him he won’t leave him theyre one in the same bestfriends until the end.
(Adventure comics 2009 #3)
If theyre crazy theyre crazy together 😭💔💔.
Their friendship in this moment is so special to me there is a lot I don’t like about yjs writing in the 2000s but I feel the relationship between Tim and Kon has always been written so sweetly. The bond they have has always been strong it’s hard to write them feeling anything but love for eachother imo… people love to act like they’re only close in tt03 when that’s not the case at all. THEYRE SO CLOSE IN TT03 BECAUSE IT BUILDS OFF HOW CLOSE THEY WERE IN YJ98. If tim and kon werent bestfriends during owaw their fight on apokalypse would not have been as big a deal as it was… but wtv WTVVVV. In conclusion Tim going through so much, afraid he may lose kon again due to his past mistakes tells kon what he did anyway. He knows that kon deserves to know what Tim had done, and whether or not kon hates him in the aftermath Tim will just have to live with those consequences. Kon doesn’t hate him though. There are very little scenarios i can imagine kon feeling true hatred’s towards Tim. Kons love for Tim runs so deep and I feel this is some of the most damning evidence there is. Kon feels so strongly on the concept of clones in general the non consensual cloning all of it has been things hes dealt with for years but he chooses to try to understand Tim (again not saying kon has no negative feelings towards this because it would feel dumb to say so) he clearly cares for Tim so much that he’s willing to forgive him so easily.
4. Kon the Clone Rights Activist.
Read Superboy (1994) #87-90 literally the best arc in sb94 and it’s not even closeeee… To summarize in a not very short way so to explain some stuff actually for context. Guardian (who is a clone hes the person who understands kon the most hes like a father to him EVERYTHING to me btw) tells Mickey, after he dies but not really, that he never wishes to be cloned again to let his last death really be his last.
After Guardian dies (for real this time) Kon speaking at his funeral mentions this. Also just speaks on clones in general
He says after this that of all the souls he knew guardians was the most human. A lot of people around them saw guardian and kon himself as objects things that could be brought back so easily. they were expendable and guardian saw himself that way for a while, but never kon. To kon guardian was the most human someone could be he was never just another clone in his eyes so when his last wish is disrespected and guardian is recloned kon does anything in his power to stop it to make sure that for once guardians life will be his and his alone. This “new guardian” is just a kid and Kon couldn’t let anyone take him. To use a child as if he were nothing but a weapon to use anyone that way is just something kon couldn’t stand around and let happen. He fights the agenda he fights off the government he would’ve fought young justice all to protect Guardian. He holds him as he sleeps he cares for him as if he were his own. Kon gets information from oracle about a “metropolis project” and he leaves guardian with Bianca to take care of it. When kon infiltrates the metropolis project he fights “mindless monsters” but with everything going on he can’t help but find a sense of humanity in them. He is doing exactly what they are defending his own his “turf”.
They eventually do get caught by general good he takes guardian away claiming he is “government property” (which kon attempts to refute) this leaves kon with amanda spence.
Amanda takes him for experimentation antagonizing him the whole time until he eventually breaks out
Off topic but ttk is literally such a cool power 💔💔 they need to make kon use it more often like vro how do u have this and dont utilize it… LIKE ITS INSANEEE and especially bcs hes older and should have more control over it and be able to do more stuff with it like hes op idc. I’ll glaze ttk all day
Anyway Kon and Amanda fight she continues to demean him as well as guardian the whole time which only angers kon more.
Like wtv I didn’t cry at all. HE FEELS SO INDEBTED TO GUARDIAN LIKE HE HAS DONE SO MUCH FOR HIM IF HE CAN JUST DO THIS ONE THING FOR HIM THEN MAYBE HE CAN LIVE UP TO EVERYTHING GUARDIAN GAVE AND SACRIFICED FOR HIM 💔
In her eyes he is nothing but an experiment something to be used. An airlock opens while they fight and kon drags them both back into the ship and shuts it. (Also to note here he uses his ttk to create an air bubble in space allowing him to breath. Again ttk is literally awesome) Cherub then starts attacking him claiming he tricked them, played them for fools when she actually liked him. He tells her that he did too but he doesn’t understand why she’d work for someone like Spence and good, and she responds saying she didn’t think she had a choice. He then asks her what if she did and before she respond she’s killed. She’s hit lying on top of kon and he feels her body slump to the floor beside him.
(I really like this issue if you couldn’t tell by how long I’m staying on it)
he cries out for cherub on his hands and knee by her body as he apologizes. Amanda taunts him all the while dehumanizing him and calling him “clone trash”. These people around kon constantly being taken advantage of. They feel they have no choice because people have only ever told them that they had none. Cherub was created as a mix of dna of people kon loves. all the dn-angles were created to be used against him this was their only purpose to be used, and as they fight him kon wants to beable to give them freedom, he wants them them to see that they are as human as anyone else. It doesn’t matter what people like Amanda or Good think they are as human as anybody else they have a right to choose just as anyone else does. Kon finally fed up with all Amanda has put him and other clones through decides to end it. He launches her into space giving her what she claims to already have, Eternity.
He talks with the other two dn-angels reluctantly expecting a fight, but instead they say that clones should stick together. They tell Amanda and Waller and Good were all monsters and they could use some humanity here so they tell him where to find good and more importantly Guardian. He finally makes it to guardian and is ready to fight the general but is stopped in his efforts. Good asks him if he’s really doing all this “just so a clone can feel like a real boy”. Kon very upset by this starts to rip at the restraints on guardian pausing only to ask if HE WANTS THIS. If guardian had asked him to stop kon would’ve even if he didn’t want to because it is guardians life and it is his choice alone. It is so important to kon that people (clones specifically) HAVE A CHOICE
People like guardian, clones, have spent their lives being told what to do where to be and when. They’ve been treated like objects, animals, killed and recloned an endless cycle that they have no way of putting a stop to, but kon wont let that happen not to guardian, not again. Guardian was cloned against his will a creation for the benefit of others but never for himself. This is the last life guardian will have and kon will make sure of it, as long as it is what guardian wants, this life is his and his alone. The baby guardian arc is the best arc in sb94 to me. It captures who kon is so well, to read this (I’m sure most clone baby au people have not but wtv…) and continue to write aus about Tim cloning kon against his will and turning it into a domestic fluff au is insane to me. Kon would love that child and I do believe that whole heartedly because kon cannot hate someone who is just like him kon cannot fault someone for how they were created, but his relationship with tim is where the issues arise. This is the ultimate betrayal there is so much kon would forgive tim for it may take him a while but he will forgive him. I just don’t think he could ever forgive Tim for this though. Tim is one of the people Kon trusts the most hes been his bestfriend since they were teenagers, and have known each other for basically kons entire life. They literally met like the second year kon was alive HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH TIM IS SO IMPORTANT 🙁🙁, but that is why this would hurt kon so much. A person hes trusted with so much violating him in this way, creating a child with his and theirs while he was dead. It would be too much. it’s one thing to know he tried and failed it’s another to have living breathing proof of his attempts.
5. Kon and The Agenda/Match
Match was created after kon was brought to agenda headquarters. He is meant to be a perfect version of kon one with his powers at its highest point, and no desire to do anything but serve. Kon is immediately upset with this first because the agenda tricked him into coming so they could use his dna to mass produce superboy clones and also because they are using these clones as weapons, slaves, as they put it, that will do their bidding.
Kon wants to fight for match’s freedom off the bat he immediately tells them that match is already like family to him. His anger at the agenda does not affect how he feels towards match, who is the unwilling participant in this. It doesn’t matter that match is a clone of him what matters is that match is a person who is being controlled and Kon cannot stand for that. Match tells him that he truly has no desire to be his own he only wishes to do what he is commanded. He was not made for a greater purpose he is to be used as needed and discarded when he is no longer of use. Even with match telling him this kon cannot bring himself to leave it. No matter the things instilled into his mind match is just as human as kon, so kon will do anything in his power to free him. Kon will care for any clone it doesn’t matter who or where they came from they are all humans to him who deserve to live the life they want to live, but that doesn’t mean he holds no resentment for their creators. Kon doesnt like both Amanda Spence, and Paul Westfield for multiple reasons but specifically in this instance for their treatment of clones. Both kon and match were created to be used and nothing more kon found his humanity and wants the same for match. He resents their creators for how they created them and what the intended use of them was. Tim, in a hypothetical clone baby situation, though his intentions are different does fundamentally the same thing. Taking Kons dna and creating something new without his knowledge it is the same thing that so many people have done to himself and clones just like him. People with so little care for clones who see them as expendable these are the kinds of people Kons hates whether the intentions are good or bad the action in and of itself is wrong. (Not to mention what happened to him after match)
Also Superman does not take kindly to himself or kon being cloned. So in this situation it wouldn’t mess with just Tim and Kons relationship I’d assume it’d have an effect with the rest of the superfamily as they were clearly angry at match’s conception as well.
“That was enough to teach me Cadmus couldn’t be trusted” CLONING IS A BIG DEAL IF YOU COULDNT TELL!!! ITS A HUGE VIOLATION OF TRUST AND BOUNDARIES IF YOU COULDNT TELL!!! Also also kon is unknowingly cloned again in man of tomorrow which he does not take kindly to.
(Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow #4)
He literally cries…when he finds out… as I said The Ultimate Betrayal
6. They are both not equipped or in a good state of mind to properly raise a child.
Tim is still grappling with a lot of loss, he is the only one convinced Bruce is still alive, hes dealing with some dangerous stuff guys… hes barley taking care of himself guys… what in the world makes you think hes capable to taking care of a child. Kon just came back to life hes dealing with yk… being alive again and all the changes that happened when he was dead. ALSO THEYRE TEENAGERS. teen parenting is not fun fluffy stuff its especially hard with two teenagers who are in horrible conditions barely getting by on their own throwing a kid on them would do no good to them or their hypothetical child 😭😭. Like if you wanna read depressing stories about a child being raised in unwell conditions with parents who aren’t on good terms because of said childs existence then be my guest… like you do you but its so much easier to just write a story about them like adopting or something. You can still have your kid fic fluff without the violation that comes with a clone baby first place, the damage to Tim and Kons relationship, and the damage they would inevitably do to the kid bcs of both their relationship and where they are in life. It’s not even that I hate the idea of them having a kid. I think it would be cute especially bcs I am very adamant on dc letting kon take care of a kid again (PLEASE) but I just want it to be done right and well.
In conclusion Timkon clone baby sucks because it’s makes no sense story wise or character wise, it contradicts people’s hate for Kons clex origin conception, Tim himself acknowledged how wrong the attempted cloning was in the first place and even without living proof of it he was still ashamed and afraid to tell kon, it goes against Kons own beliefs regardless of his love for the child it’s still a large betrayal from tim, and finally neither Tim or kon are prepared or in the right state of mind to care for the child.
