#The imperfections make them human

[ailithnight]

The Batfam so excited about new brother and pranking, they don't even realize how badly this could (and will) backfire. Not until Danny is bolting mid-Gala. The 'oh we fucked up' hits critical levels when even the combined efforts of Bats and Supers can't locate hide nor hair of Danny for more than a week.

Prompt idea: Danny has been attending Wayne family dinners for weeks now and he truly doesn’t know how he got this far

Danny has been without a home or a means to get food for a while because of either identity reveal gone bad or Dan timeline shenanigans. Either way he needs to eat. As a last ditch attempt Danny tries to attend/infiltrate a Wayne family dinner. He’s seen the Wayne kids around Gotham and he’s sure that he could look and act the part enough to get in the door and out with some bread rolls at least.

Was it his best idea? No.

But he sure as sugar ain’t firing on all cylinders rn.

And Bruce already has a gaggle of blue eyed, black haired children.

What’s one more?

Batfam of course notices immediately when a whole new kid shows up, grabs some miscellaneous pieces of food and then prattles off some excuse about “not being that hungry.” (Clearly a bald faced lie) And that they were “Going to the library to study for finals, bye Dad!”

1. No one skips out on family dinners. Even Jason was here.

2. Alfred sets the table for everyone ahead of time and the kid had no place to sit.

3. Nobody in this house studies anything beyond case files.

4. Nobody in this house calls Bruce Dad.

Danny thinks he is suffering from success. No matter where he is in Gotham someone picks him up and insists he’ll be late for family dinner which is unacceptable.

Alfred just wants to feed the boy.

The batkids are amused by his efforts to look as though he’s been here all along.

Bruce is drafting adoption papers as we speak.

[shadow0haven]

I'm slightly insane about how in Intermezzo, Kayne basically set John up for the bait. He made a lot of comments about John's mistakes, lies, how he fell back into his old ways and basically became like the King in Yellow again. That he didn't want Arthur to know that, because he knows if Arthur knew, he'd lose him.

He cares about Arthur so much. All that time in the dark world, all the time being stuck and reverting back to old habit, *but he still remembered Arthur and wanted to go back to him*.

And John sees how Arthur is treating him because of his memory, he sees how Arthur is relating to other people, and their snappiness and impatience with each other, and then Kayne gives him the choice to get rid of Arthur's memory.

Saying YES. Because he doesn't want to lose Arthur's relationship and wants it to be good.

God they are both such messes. Arthur has made so many fuck ups and mistakes, and so has John, and their friendship makes me very unwell.

[possamble]

What are your headcanons about Marcille's mom if you have any? It's interesting that what drew Donato to her was cause she lived the history he studied, or that was said somewhere at least. She must've had an interesting life.

so this was going to be just a normal answer but then I realized I have a Lot of Things To Say. so here goes, a compilation of what we know for a fact from the canon, what I've extrapolated from the visual cues and details, and my theories based on all of that.

Things we know for a fact about Marcille's mother because they were explicitly stated in the manga and supplemental materials:

She was a court mage for a Tall-man kingdom at the southern part of the Northern Continent

Donato, a court historian, fell in love with her because she had lived through the history he was studying, and he courted her for 17 years (age 15 to 32) before getting married

She was a cheerful person who rarely showed extreme emotion and took things as they came

She always cooked a huge meal for Marcille on her birthdays

She remarried a gnome after Donato's death and a short distance away from Marcille's childhood home

Pipi, Marcille's pet bird, was actually older than Marcille and originally belonged to her mother (bird died at 62)

She was extremely heartbroken when Donato died and ultimately ended up instilling a deep fear of mortality in Marcille with her words

the only time she showed extreme emotion in front of her family was when Donato could no longer eat his favourite dish near the end of his life.

She scolded Marcille for being cruel to ants (implying she can have a stern side when needed)

Things that are explicitly shown but mostly through visual cues

She has a very distinctive style of dress always involving a ribbon choker (mirroring Marcille's habit of always wearing a matching choker with any of her outfits that don't cover her neck)

She was almost stereotypically good at housekeeping and traditionally "wifely" things (very frequently depicted wearing an apron or doing some domestic chore when not at work, seems to have been an avid cook).

She knits? (also, note the affectionate smile as she's looking at Donato and Marcille reading a book together in the full panel)

She was as excited for Marcille's milestones as Donato was.

She didn't tell Marcille much about elven food

(there are a couple things that this panel in particular implies:

She lived a good deal of her life (if not being born and raised) in a mainly elven country in the West, implied by her knowing enough of an elven region's cuisine to prefer Tall-man food over it

seems to have a pretty carefree and casual demeanour overall, if this is how she replied to Marcille asking her about it (sounds like she never gave her culinary preferences that much thought to begin with)

slightly related to number 2, it seems like she and Marcille had a fairly casual parent-child dynamic (especially in comparison to the Toudens' memory of their father)

(local elf tastes Italian food once and never goes back))

However, she seems a lot more... serious in most of the other times we see her? Almost like the very stereotypical archetype of a graceful elf.

Subsequent conclusions about her personality:

Usually pretty carefree and cheerful at home, has been a loving and attentive parent throughout Marcille's childhood (while not being so doting that she didn't discipline Marcille).

Slightly more conjectural theories on her personality:

Had a much more graceful and professional personality at work, which would explain the more serious portraits we see of her.

Given that both she and Donato had positions at the royal court, it seems a little odd that she'd go out of her way to do all the housework herself, so maybe she just enjoyed doing it?

Now taping all the evidence together and toeing the line between analysis and fanfiction:

It's clear that she loved Donato very much and was utterly devastated by losing him. But there's one thing that really stuck out to me in what little we see of her:

Doesn't she seem... angry? The way she's gritting her teeth, clutching the tablecloth, and how this is the first and only time we see her eyes opened that wide. In the following panel, you see her being quiet and dejected after her initial outburst. She's still crying very intensely, but her brows are furrowed, and she's not really responding to Donato's affection in her body language.

We're not told the details of how she felt about losing Donato other than that it upset her. But this, to me, implies that she was angry and resented that he was aging, that the end of his life was approaching. An "it's not fair" type of preemptive grief. And if this was the first and last time she cried like this in front of her family, she was either very good at coping in private... or very bad at letting herself feel unpleasant emotions until they become unavoidable and end up overwhelming her.

It's not too remarkable a detail on the surface. It's even reminiscent of what the audience has seen of Marcille. But... when it comes to the big picture, you'd think an elf who voluntarily chose to marry a tall-man and have a half-elf child would have been better prepared for this.

It kind of recontextualizes her cheerfulness to me.

"I'm sure everything's gonna be okay!" (or some variation thereof, depending on what translation you have).

And this is stated to contrast her extreme grief when finally confronting Donato's failing body and eventual death. But I'm wondering if... maybe this optimism was why she was so upset. What if she went into all of it thinking "everything's gonna be okay"? What if she was a little young by elven standards, and just followed her heart thinking that her own resilience would get her through anything?

Of course, only to get completely overwhelmed when she actually loses Donato. She turns into a completely different person. And that's heartbreaking on its own-- but what the audience sees is the effect it had on Marcille. Can you imagine being her, watching your invincible and upbeat mother suddenly lose all the light in her eyes in one go?

I've already made a huge post about how I think Marcille models her "work persona" off her mother, but another thing that stuck with me as I was looking for more details in the manga was this:

copy pasting from the other post i made about it lmao it's like... the second she resigns herself to lifelong pain and terror, there's another portrait of her mother facing her like this. with their heads bowed, in mirrored body language of resignation and despair and sorrow. Except it's posed like Marcille is still looking at her mother but her mother is looking away.

It took me a second to realize, but I think that it's a visual metaphor for the fact that Marcille's mother was the only long-lived role model she had-- and she failed to model healthy grief for her daughter. I don't say this as an accusation or to disparage her as a character, but just as a matter of fact. In her, Marcille was seeing herself older and losing a short-lived spouse or loved one of her own, and all she saw was hopelessness.

But her mother didn't mean to instill hopelessness and terror in her. She wasn't really thinking of how it would truly affect Marcille at all (at least, that's how I'm interpreting her looking down and away from Marcille in the metaphor), she was just sad. And she, in her own way, was trying to protect her daughter and help her prepare for future losses.

What she meant was "loss is inevitable, and you have to learn how to be in pain but live on anyway." What Marcille heard was "loss is inevitable, and you will be scared and hurt for the rest of your life."

Again. Marcille's mother doesn't feature explicitly in the story the way her father does -- but in so many ways, her shadow, her silhouette, her reflection is always hanging over Marcille.

All that to say... headcanon-wise (everything from here on is 100% without evidence lmao), I'd like to think that she matured and realized that she failed Marcille. I imagine her being regretful about it, wanting a chance to fix it but never finding a way to insert herself back into Marcille's life when Marcille is so so so busy becoming the most accomplished mage possible. I imagine her being herself again, now, so many years after her loss and after remarrying -- but with her cheerfulness tempered with a lot more wisdom and the pain of having gone through loss like that. I think the second Marcille actually tells her what happened in the dungeon, she'd want to go running to her daughter again -- if Marcille tells her the full truth instead of just being embarrassed she let things get that far. (oh, the tragedy of her wanting to be more like her mother and an accomplished adult who doesn't need to be babied... being embarrassed to actually tell her mother how much she fucked up...)

There's also the tension of her having remarried -- I know that there's at least a little bit of resentment that Marcille harbours about that, because she's childish like that at heart even if she makes an effort not to externalize it. I think that her mother would be aware of that, potentially adding to her sense of guilt and apprehension at trying to reappear/intrude on Marcille's life. I honestly don't think Marcille has met her stepfather -- or even considers him a stepfather rather than "mama's new husband" and kind of a total stranger. I think she and her mother actively don't talk about it in their correspondence, like an elephant in the room.

but, ultimately, I think her mother is on her side no matter what. Ancient magic? Dark necromancy? Sure, she'll feel guilty and like she was partially responsible for setting Marcille down such a painful path, but she wouldn't care. that's her daughter!! she would've moved back west and been petitioning for her at the court, buying a house right next to the Canaries barracks and visiting her every day that she wasn't on a mission. And if her husband had opinions on Marcille becoming a "dark arts user," he either gets over it or it's divorce with him. Yes, she might have had her optimism completely humbled by losing Donato like that -- but she's still headstrong and self-assured and she doesn't care what people think of her. It's her way or the highway and she's always going to be in Marcille's corner.

(She also needs a name lol. I went with Juno, just to be cute about "Marcille"s closest real life equivalent being Marcella, which is the female version of Marcellus, which in turn is a diminutive of Marcus, which was derived from Mars. Absolutely in love with Marcille potentially being named after Ares/Mars the fucking god of war btw)

[youandthemountains]

it probably is insane how much I wish I could express the thing about spones. the vibes about spones. Like there's the joking fun fandom vibes and I love them, I love to play with them, of course of course. but the THING. the CORE to me. i wish i could capture it and share it.

[sundays-mutt]

i like molly specifically because she's a pretty uppity rich girl so im not gonna defend her as likeable. like she's rather explicitly unlikeable at camp at times i would say but it is . so very odd to me how many people just do not acknowledge that she's ultimately a victim of dutch the same way the rest of the gang is and that is so obviously going to impact her behavior.

people bring it up with. such constancy that she doesn't do chores, doesn't integrate or mesh with the camp and it's like. i don't know. do you think maybe, the man 19 years her senior who consistently flirts with women half his age, had some part in intentionally isolating her that way specfically? by creating distinction, us vs. them - you know, exactly the same way he does with arthur and john? the same man who manipulated our main character to the bitter end of his life, and ultimately caused the destruction of his gang through hubris. do you think maybe a young, naive woman who was preyed upon with promises of having the same luxuries she was once afforded only to be lied to and gaslit about it, lashing out is an in character thing to do? people have a very easy time understanding that dutch is a deeply, deeply manipulative character. it's his whole schtick but when it's molly it simply does not apply anymore. why? because you think she's uppity? because she's grew up with money? does that warrant her abuse to you? she's not a perfect character by any stretch, and she even instigates fights. but you know. this is a gang of murders and outlaws. and people afford them much more dignity and sympathy than they do with molly almost all the time. do you think maybe her hysterics and general lashing out have to do with being ripped away from everything she's ever known, being neglected, being lied too and then to top all off - being ignored even when she does have concerns. idk. i think i'd probably lose my shit a little too !

[rhaenyra-first-of-her-name]

Is HotD allergic to making all of the women in the show anything but a 'perfect' victim or what?

[im-tired1124]

“So, I added a few headcanons :)”

The Bagel painting can wait to be finished later in the month. Right now, I just want to do a lot of sketch dumps.

Also, I was originally gonna throw in a gigachad joke in Hero’s description but my discord acquaintances advises against it. Just wanted to share that little tidbit.

[loverboybrightsideghost]

re my last post unfortunately i think viktor is pretty so he is my weakness in this show. i still do wanna throttle him and jayce though

[sehodreamsthoughts]

I'm a bit cringy but I'm not a bad person I swear

[jojotier]

how do you write a story where the protagonist dies?

not one where the protagonist is fighting you every step of the way- not one where she is begging you to spare her life. I feel like that's easier, because you just set fate in motion, and hey, for the story you want, you can't interfere. it was always going to end like this. like yes I'm mourning you, but the laws of this world I've built dictate that your death is inevitable. Sorry. It will be over soon. Then we can rest.

but what do you do when your protagonist wants to die?

not because of suicidal ideation, because that, too, would be easier to deal with. you show her that life is still worth living. you show her kindness, and love, and even if she still constantly wants to die at least she can see that she might need to work on that, and you can at least promise her that things will be okay. it got better for me, so it's really just common decency to make sure it gets better for you.

but what if your protagonist has lived too long? What if there isn't any getting better because this is better, this is as good as it's going to get, and to live is to repeat a thousand years of illness and stasis?

The win state's long since been reached. She's loved and lost and longs only to go home to the place her mother and her mother's mother and her grandmother's mother has died.

how cruel am I, then, that my first instinct is to deny her?

[rawliverandgoronspice]

ganondorf in descant: okay sure I snapped at fate a few times but I am also very understandable + tragic so can you really blame me

gerudos in the background: *on the verge of tears, stress-drinking and trying to prevent him from getting murdered every 5 seconds while avoiding literal extinction themselves* sure my king whatever you say

[sagaschan]

If I were to add on to that rant a little more

[beeapocalypse]

AH i havent talked abt the frontierists here have i. very secretive sect of alamanni humans looking into Dreamed Realities (pocket realities born by dreams- the purposeful creation of them by eldritch deities Is possible but is also considered way blasphemous. near every dreamed reality by alamanni folk is born of essentially the most advanced form of maladaptive daydreaming possible and is unintentional. way hard to discern between them and real vivid Normal dreams). humanitys predecessors (taught the secret of intentionally dreaming up new lands by a select few eldritch beasties seeking refuge from the rest) sought refuge in a dreamed reality to get away from both the incessant typically deadly curiosity of the vast majority of eldritch deities and their incredibly shit living situation (forced into subterranean living bc of the whole corpse of the existence dragon and all of its curious parasites hanging up in the sky staring down at them, resources running low over the years with them unable to leave for more bc of the venettes- already sentient animals transformed into more human shapes by the eldritch in an attempt to get closer to that hidden race) and their shed mortal bodies upon successful exodus became the first humans so theyve got this tiny innate knack for intentional exploration that other alamanni folk dont. through the gathering of just abt every bit of still surviving texts on dreamed realities (WAY sparse, both thru the passage of time + the fact that those first eldritch deities desperate enough to part with such secrets were long killed by their more pious fellows), the frontierists understand the mechanics of it all Just enough to be able to deliberately enter and explore this 'final frontier' which they seek to put to page and Conquer

[minecraftdog]

✨ TInakitten

I'm always so impressed by her maintaining to be called the nicest person amongst her friends while she talked before about her anger issues. She puts so much effort to be this nice. But also she isn't docile. She can scream, curse and put her foot down. Doesn't let people's opinions control her and I always admire when she talks about when she was scared about doing something because of how that would be seen and overcome it and still did it. She is also a bit looserish and a good example that very hot girls can be loosers sometimes <3

[chronologicalimplosion]

[[Screenshot ID: A twitter thread by sjklapecwriting that says:

The fact that "AI = what makes NPCs in video games do things" and "AI = complex scientific models that have been in use for years" and "AI = non-generative tools that automate tedious processes" and "AI = generative tools" are all called AI feels like deliberate obfuscation.

I want good AI in video games but I also don't want AI in video games at all and I think AI is useful in the sciences but don't trust AI at all to be used in science or medicine or law and AI to colour-correct a video or remove greenscreen is cool but AI generating movies sucks.

We talk about things that threaten art and creativity and steal vast quantities of work from artists and burn the amazon and drain the seas to do it all with the same language as something that can track a part of a video so special effects are easier to make and that sucks.

And this obfuscation feels so deliberate to me, because now people freak out if someone talks about wanting to use "AI that learns from the player" or "an AI solution to help me edit video" or "an AI that can be used to generate theoretical materials to test" and they look silly.

Because now "AI" is so firmly wrapped up with the concept of "generative models" that people are, rightfully, on guard against any mention of AI whatsoever to the point where entirely distinct technologies get uselessly criticized under the same umbrella.

Like imagine if we had no other language but "tank" to describe motor vehicles, so if I said we needed "public transit vehicles" everyone thought I wanted M1A1 Abrams for civilian transit. That's what it's like talking about AI.

End ID]]

[nebula-nonhuman]

Living with Luz is pretty hard for most of us because she's probably the most actively self-destructive AND destructive and her ideal way of life would be to eat nothing, smoke like a pack of cigarettes a day, and drink nothing but zero sugar Monsters. And whenever anyone else fronts and tries to live like a functional person who doesn't want to die in a year or less, she pops up like "Boooo this is why I hate all of you, this isn't fair, you are ruining our life and it should be MY life and if I could have a wish it'd be for this to be just MY life because none of you let me protect us and make our life right." And we have to be like "Sure, Luz. I'm really sorry to hear that, Luz. I love you very much and you're a competent and skilled woman but I'd like to live and have enough mental capacity to finish our studies, so if you excuse me I will finish cooking my dinner and I will also eat it. Thank you for your cooperation."