#dc can never make me hate talia and damian

[foultreenightmare]

I'm not very sure how making a baby in a tube works, but if we're going off Talia putting damian in a tube to grow him, she probably made Damian look like her.

All I'm saying is if I were a mother and were able to make my child look like me, I would.

So my new head cannon is that Damuan looks like his mother and nothing like his father besides maybe his height because Talia wasn't about to have her baby boy look like his father.

[ellestrade]

This is more of a personal headcanon and a silly idea for my silly little AU I cooked up.

I always liked it when the al-Ghuls were depicted as an unconventional yet loving family; they love each other, they really do. In their own little ways, in the language they're most fluent. Hence why it never sits well with them how freely the others seem to hate their family (how the BatFamily talked so openly about how Talia is a bad mom in front of Dami, how Bruce expressed his disdain for Ra's/his method, etc).

I like to imagine that Ra's is genuinely a good grandfather (pushing the agenda how Ra's was so happy with the news that Talia was pregnant with Damian in the early comics, how he regarded Bruce as his son-in-law, ya'know— before the comic and fandom actively and collectively butchers his character into becoming a 2-dimensional villain) and actually have a healthy relationship with Damian at some point— however, due to consistently being revived by the Lazarus Pit, it messed up with his psyche.

(Putting up pics because I love them so much)

Talia didn't want Damian to deal with her increasingly cruel father, nor did she want Ra's to ruin what's left of his image in Damian's mind— she wishes that she could salvage their relationship, but with her father's failing health, she knew that there's only so much that she could do.

So, she sent Damian to his father, hoping that it'd only be temporary while she deals with everything. It was to save him, to spare the pain of witnessing one of his loved ones being ruined by the very thing he had grown to love and, to an extent, save their family too.

Why do you think Talia really sent Damian to live in Gotham with Bruce?

Did she just want her son to be safe away from the League and did she know that was something she herself could never provide?

Did she plan on somehow taking out the rest of the Batkids so Dami could be a supreme overlord or smth?

Like, I think both options are plausible, and there's probably a secret third option in there, but what do y'all think?

[ak0bt]

Call me strange, but I really like the idea that both Bruce and Selina do NOT want Helena being dragged into the whole "Batman" BS, but mostly Selina. I mean, with everything she went through when she was younger, I see her saying to Bruce, "Make her a Robin, and I'll make World War 2 look like a tea party!" Bruce, also I can see being more hesitant upon making her a Robin since she is his daughter, and I can see Bruce wanting her to be a Robin. But I can see him buying her some Batman merch and Selina giving him a look.

Source: JSA the Golden Age (2022)

Also, hot take: and say what you want IDC: Helena is the superior child of Bruce. Damian I've never liked, I always hated him he was from a relationship which was just about sex and also DC really wanna villainise Talia because sure.(thanks Grant Morrison or whoever did it), Helena is a more interesting case since her parents are built on a relationship of overcoming trauma and forgiveness (at least Earth 2)

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Keepsafes

Fandom: Batman, DC Comics

Summary: AU where Martha and Bruce survive, and they adopt the batkids.

Chapters: 6/?

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Thomas Wayne, Martha Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Harvey Dent, Dick Grayson, Cassandra Cain, David Cain, Talia al Ghul, Damian Wayne, Jason Todd, Tim Drake

Relationships: Thomas Wayne/Martha Wayne/Alfred Pennyworth, BruHarvey, BruTalia

Additional Tags: Canon Divergent AU, Hurt/Comfort, Bruce Wayne is Not Batman, Angst, Alfred Pennyworth Knows All, Bruce Wayne Only Has One Child, Bruce Wayne is Not An Only Child, Bi Bruce Wayne, Unsafe for Work

Chapter Six: Lyon

“Brucie, wait with Alfred for a moment. I want to talk to Isaiah about setting up your next appointment,” Thomas whispered. Bruce hesitated, and Thomas smiled at him. “I won’t be long. I got a table for the four of us tonight at Pasquini’s. I can’t get enough of that pesto stuff.” Bruce smiled as he let Thomas go. 

Thomas took a deep breath once they entered the French doors and walked down the hall to Isaiah’s larger office. “Is everything okay? Is Bruce okay?” Thomas asked. 

“I want to start out by saying, Bruce is highly intelligent. He’s observant… Strategic, but not manipulative which is surprising for a child his age—.” 

“What do you mean?” Thomas interrupted.

“Bruce uses strategy to figure out whether or not people are trustworthy before opening up. He doesn’t try to manipulate a situation to get a desired outcome… He uses strategy as a means to assess threats. He was tense the entire time, never really relaxing… But given the trauma of the shooting, I can understand that. He’s in constant fight-or-flight mode… 

“But I picked up on other things. Bruce’s laser focus on the game as we played it… No matter how serious our subjects of conversation, he never forgot about the game. He insisted on playing it all the way through to the end… And about Alfred… He’s an important fixture in your family… Am I correct in that assumption?” Isaiah asked. 

Thomas nodded. “Alfred’s family. He’s been with me most of my adult life, and Bruce has known him his entire life,” Thomas replied.

“That’s good… It seems like Bruce is very emotionally attached to him. And I’ll tell you right now, Gotham Academy has nothing to worry about with Bruce. He’s not malicious… He’s got a strong sense of right and wrong, and he feels that although his actions were justified, he laments over being driven to violence,” Isaiah replied, “I think he’ll need long-term care to address the events of the shooting, but I think he finds a lot of comfort in his home life. He kept driving home that he felt safest when he was with you, Martha, and Alfred… How are you adjusting by the way?”

“Um… I’m doing a lot better. I was struggling with having to depend on Alfred and Martha to help me with things that I was so used to doing on my own… But now, I’m much more independent… I just—. It isn’t walking that I miss as much as the other things,” Thomas whispered. 

“Sex?” Isaiah asked. Thomas blew out a breath. 

“Yeah… I mean, we’re older and we were starting to slow down a little, but—. But we still liked to do—. We liked to set time aside to be intimate and warm toward each other, but I’m so worried that we’ll try something and it won’t… arouse me,” Thomas whispered, “And I hate that I can’t show that interest and love like I used to.”

Isaiah frowned and nodded. “You know, I’ll tell you something man-to-man. My wife and I struggled at first. I was ignorant of what it would be like to be with her. We had to adjust to each other… But it doesn’t have to be homework. It’s fun figuring out how to make up for the differences in a person’s body. 

“For Maya and me, that meant incorporating mirrors and signs in our sex lives. For you, that might mean trying to find other ways to get stimulated sexually. Have a sense of humor about it. If something isn’t working, be patient with yourself. Maya used to tease me about mixing up signs or getting flustered at seeing my reflection. 

“I’d say to try a little something this week if you can. Just ask Martha to do something different… Or switch roles. See how that works,” Isaiah replied. 

Thomas’ cheeks went rosy as he let things sink in. “Thank you,” Thomas whispered. Isaiah nodded.

“I’ll contact the school, and they’ll probably let him return on Monday or Tuesday to make sure he’s had enough time to move on from what happened,” Isaiah reassured him as he changed subjects. Thomas smiled back and nodded. 

**

That night after Bruce fell asleep, Thomas took Isaiah up on his advice. He entered the bedroom in his robe and took a deep breath. “We don’t have to tonight if you don’t—.” 

“Of course, I want to, but you mustn’t speak so loudly. What if Master Bruce should hear you?” Alfred whispered. 

Thomas offered a sheepish smile as Alfred leaned forward and kissed him. Their lips found each other, gently touching as they parted, and Alfred pulled away for a moment. “Martha?” Alfred asked. 

“She said she’d sleep in Bruce’s room tonight to look after him. I think she’s too tired tonight anyway,” Thomas frowned, “I understand if you don’t think it’s a good idea… I just—. I’m tired of being afraid that I’m not enough.” 

“You’ve always been enough, Thomas,” Alfred smiled as he stole another kiss from Thomas. 

“Have you and Martha—? I just—. I feel guilty because I haven’t really been able to, so I—.” 

“A few times… Not often,” Alfred answered, “Would you like to hear about it?” 

Thomas smiled and shook his head as he transferred from his chair to Alfred’s bed. Alfred climbed into bed beside him. He used to ask about every little detail when Alfred and Martha were together out of a macho sense of competition, but he’d matured in the past few years. “I’d like to talk about Lyon in nineteen-seventy-one. Do you remember?” Thomas asked as Alfred untied Thomas’ robe, exposing his nakedness under the dim lights. Alfred kissed his neck and chest, rubbing Thomas’ freshly shaved chest. 

“It was a lovely day. Sunny, but not too hot. I recall you feigning drunkenness after one glass of wine, so I could escort you back to your room. I was halfway through unbuttoning your shirt before I noticed,” Alfred trailed off as he kissed his chest. Thomas reached for Alfred’s cheek, only for Alfred to pin his hands above his head. “You were insatiable, Master Thomas.” 

Thomas closed his eyes, listening to the gentle smack of Alfred’s lips against his bare chest between graphically erotic descriptions of what his body looked like in the hotel during daylight hours. “The beads of sweat forming on your suntanned thighs… How could I forget the way you begged me to expose your nakedness as I have now?” Alfred whispered. “Would you like me to remind you what you sounded like?” 

“Mm… Mhm,” Thomas nodded. 

“ Alfred… You can have me if you—. ” 

Thomas chuckled. “I did not sound like that,” Thomas replied. 

“Your hand guiding mine to your shorts. So desperate… Engorged and throbbing. Your face was a portrait of agony and lust… How long had you desired me in silence? In secret? How long—?” 

“Alfred,” Thomas panted with his eyes shut, “Alfred, I’m ready.” 

Alfred let go of Thomas’ hand and looked down at his hardon. Thomas reached for it, trying to control the throbbing, and drooling of his cock. “Master Thomas,” Alfred whispered as he touched himself through his pajama pants. Thomas groaned as he listened to Alfred moaning quietly, his voice sounding much softer than he was used to. “You haven’t answered my question. How long?” 

“Alfred, I’ve wanted you every day since we met… I would’ve cum even if you hadn’t touched me that day… Oh, Alfred,” Thomas moaned as Alfred fingered him. “Alfred, don’t stop. Please don’t stop talking.” 

“The way it felt when you were inside of me, Master Thomas. The way you moaned my name that day. How you trembled as you came inside of me,” Alfred whispered. 

“Alfred, hurry,” Thomas whispered. Alfred nodded as he pulled his pajama pants down to his knees as he slid into Thomas. Thomas gasped. 

“Are you about to cum?” Alfred questioned as he sped up his thrusts. “How does it feel, Thomas?”

“Alfred, please… I love you. I’m sorry, but I’m about to—. I wanted to—.”

“Thomas, do shut up and cum for me, darling,” Alfred grunted as he kissed Thomas’ neck. Thomas shuddered underneath him as he came. Alfred stroked Thomas until Thomas grabbed his wrist. Alfred offered a satisfied smile as he kissed Thomas’ cheek and rolled over to finish himself off. 

“Alfred… Alfred?” Thomas whispered as he wiped himself off. Alfred turned his head to face Thomas. “I love you.” 

“And I love you, Thomas… Would you like me to hold you tonight?” Alfred questioned. Thomas nodded as he stared at the ceiling. “Are you alright?” 

“I don’t know why I’m still so nervous… Alfred, I’m—.” 

Alfred wiped off and rolled onto his side. “I love to look at you from that angle… You make a face… It’s quite beautiful,” Alfred replied as he tried to mimic Thomas’ expression. Thomas laughed as Alfred pulled his pants up and climbed out of bed over him. “You worry too much, my love. I’ll fetch your pants from my drawer. It’s far too cold to sleep nude in the house at this hour.”

[ughigottaheadache]

Can we all kind of agree that dc needs to heavily improve their power scaling? Whenever I look at the geoforce tag I get that godawful Batman Damian and talia comic where Brion rips off the costume or whatev and hello?!? The guy controls gravity so well he can stop bullets??? As athletic as the non metas in that area were they’re nowhere near as fast as a bullet he should’ve been able to pin them to the spot with his powers alone.

Yes I’m still salty ab Brion getting partially butchered writing wise. They could never make me actually hate him especially when it comes to being against talia as cool as she is I don’t like her. In fact I actually don’t like Damian or Bruce either, I seriously only read some issues of that comic for Brion alone.

I’m aware that I’m whining I don’t care, batman writers are dog shit at writing other characters and I get to complain about how bad they are.

[snakeredbirdbatkatana]

Can be triggering be aware.

So I love the Al Ghuls I will defend Talia till the day I die a lot of the problems with the characters is shitty racist writing.

However, Ra isn't getting a defense from me overall he's a shitty person don't get me wrong his shit some of it is also shitty writing but canonically he treated Damian like shit treated his daughters like shit is creepy in general.

But I have seen some interesting writing where you change that because if you take away about 10 instances he's not horrible yah he murders but he wants to save the planet.

There are only a couple things that make me hate a character whole heartedly which are Rape, Child Abuse, any form of harm to children or animals. But if a character hasn't done that shit I am not putting them in the death note.

So if Ra doesn't do any of that shit I wouldn't mind him and I honestly wish he would be redone just a tad because I would like to like Ra. But not when we are abusing children or orchestrating rapes.

Aka DC stop being racist assholes also in general the way they do S/A in comics just is horrifying it's never addressed and then we pretend it's not Rape.

[arabian-batboy]

So several people have asked me about my opinion about James Gunn making a live-action Batman & Robin movie centered on Bruce and Damian that’s based on Grand Morrison and Tom King runs, I already shared what I thought on twitter, but to summarize it: this is the worst news I have heard while in this fandom and if this movie happens, Damian’s and Talia’s characters will forever be ruined.

As all of you know, movies always have a massive effect on how the general public view comic characters for many years after the drop, even if their portrayal in the movie was a complete 180° change from their usual selfs. I mean look at how much damage the animated movies have done to these characters’ reputation? Now imagine what a live-action Batman movie would do, whatever “The Brave and the Bold” will do to Talia and Damian, it will easily stick to their image for 10+ years and will most likely influence the comics to imitate the movie and change their portrayal in them in a way that align with the movie, again, even if it’s completely different or regressive for their characters.

Then you have all the red flags from Gunn’s statement, first of all he’s influenced by MORRISON’S and KING’S runs? That’s the biggest red flag of them all, because if you like these two characters then you would know that these runs are hands dow the worst possible combination you could pick as an adaptation and somehow Gunn’s managed to choose both of them, seriously all that is left is for him to reference Teen Titans: Rebirth and its over for us.

I have already went on and on about how Morrison’s racist treatment of Talia is the definition of character-assassinations and how till this day her reputation hasn’t recovered yet from it, there might have been some progress lately, but it will all go through the drain if this movie happens because I don’t see Gunn’s, how sings so much praise about Morrison’s run, will bothering fixing the racist caricature that Morrison created, especially since the whole point of Talia in this run is to give angst to Damian’s backstory and portray Bruce as the superior parent compared to her (and don’t let me get started on King’s proud-ex-CIA-agent ass and HIS racism)

So yeah, unless they plan on using another character as the big bad of the movie, which I don’t see happening, because what other character has personal ties to both Bruce and Damian and can be used as an antagonist other than Talia? Then the real Talia is gone forever, she will officially never escape Morrison’s character-assassination (at the very least, they can change her drugging Bruce to her faking a miscarriage like in the original comic, since that part is not REALLY important to story, but I highly doubt it....)

Then we get to Damian......look at all the words Gunn used? Do I need to say more? Some people are actually excited that he claimed that Damian is apparently his favorite Robin, but looking at the way he described Damian here its clearly evident that he likes him for all the wrong reasons, which I would argue is worse than hating him and that he doesn’t understand his nuance or any of his best qualities.

I can already predict what he will do with his character: he’s gonna go look for the whitest White boy in the world, cast him as Damian, immediately drench him in hair gel, then have him act as the most arrogant, stuck-up, obnoxious, disrespectful brat imaginable which in turn will influence the comics to reset his character to that again for the 574th time in a row (and of course you will have fans of other characters going ""look at Damian always being favored by DC per usual!!" without realizing that this is basically a death sentence to his character forever)

Some argue that this is how Damian’s character started out like before he started his development so its alright and to that I say: 1- even in the beginning, his character wasn’t this exaggerated and he still had some redeeming qualities 2- his development happened in a slow and steady pace in stories that mostly had no Bruce 3- he started out as Dick’s Robin and had already established a relationship with every Batfam’s member as well as his place in Gotham City before he got to spend any time with Bruce, which is something the movie will obviously skip.

Also the keyword here is "development."

The problem is that so many people, including Gunn, can't comprehend that Morrison’s Damian is supposed to be Damian at the very beginning of his development, in their minds, Morrison’s Damian is "default" Damian who acts like that all the time and Gunn’s might like Morrison’s Damian just the way he is, so I don’t see him bothering to develop Damian’s character nor do I believe that he has enough time to do so in one movie (lets be real its not like they will dedicate several movies for Damian’s alone) and as an already overly-hated character who constantly get portrayed as a brat that needs to be humbled, a movie based on his fist appearances is the last thing he needs right now.

It will just reaffirm what his haters think, that he was always a rude brat and he will always remain a rude brat and again, this will unavoidably influence the comics to reset his character (which is something the comics have already been doing constantly without the influence of a big blockbuster movie) to the characterization of his first appearance for the millionth time.

Like I said, this is the worst news I have ever received regarding these characters, I know I’m always being dramatic whenever I don’t like the treatment of Talia and Damian, but this is probably it for me. If this movie happens (and I pray it gets canceled/changed to something else in these 3 upcoming years) and it ends up being as bad as I think it would be, then I will probably lose all interest in DC as a whole, my standards were already at rock-bottom, but even I wouldn’t be able to enjoy their characters anymore at this point.

[godza]

my opinions on every bat. batfam doesnt work because i dislike forcing them into family some of these bitches hate each other and thats okay. my opinions on the fandom is for another time you people are idiots and also 13 years old

bruce. such a good character at his core but its like nobody knows how to write him. hes not a good father, but hes not a bad one either. ultimately he is still that scared little boy in an alley thirty plus years later. he needs to get over himself but if he got over himself thered be no story to tell

dick is mid to me honestly but thats prob bc i havent read any nightwing focus comics. i think he has good character and is fascinating i just prefer other characters. hes super interesting but in a i dont need to figure it out way

jason is jason. i like him but hes so overhyped. i saw a figure of him in the store today and got excited. nobody can characterize him right except for the utrh movie that was peak. i dont think he needs to reconcile with bruce i dont want him at family dinners i want him to live his life away from the bats doing his own thing for gotham

tim. hes like my second fave robin i guess when i think of robin its him. hes a really good character but fandom has made him into a completely different guy. im glad he has that boyfriend but hes honestly kind of a little bitch. beefing with a ten year old but with good reason i guess

damians my fave. i want to take him out of dc and keep him safe. can he please be a normal kid. please. i dont want him to be robin i dont want him to be a vigilante i want him to go to art school and hang out with his girlfriend. i could fix him. im also pissed about how people treat talia you just hate women. you can disregard important character details but you cant get another damian origin story than the first bad one. its been rewritten please be nice to my boyyyy

steph i love steph so much. batgirl 2009 my beloved. i dont want her to be part of the "fam" i want her as a strange employee and family friend. i want her to show up for five minutes at christmas to give people novelty socks and then go home to her own family. you people have forgotten she has a whole mother. bruce will never ever ever be a father figure to her you are insane

cass i love cass. i never finished reading her batgirl i started it when my hyperfix was dying down. but i still love her and think shes awesome shes the next batman. that panel where everyone just accepted that batman had transitioned still makes me giggle. i want her to live her best life i want her to find joy outside of vigilantism i want her and steph to be gay tbh

duke. i miss duke. hes such a cool character thats often disregarded. he has powers man thats so awesome. i need to read more of him because hes such a ray of sunshine (lol) and a great guy. finally someone with a helmet and proper armor! i like that hes a daytime hero gothams such a shit place they need it

babs. i like babs. you should not make her batgirl again or erase her disability every author who does that needs to be killed. she is a wheelchair user you dumb fucks how can her paralysis be magically cured and she can be as flexible as she used to be. no you fucknuts she is even cooler in her oracle role. her and dinah have something yuri going on can dinah divorce ollie

[annakabeybeh]

I'm writing this because I want to vent and this is a good place to do so (for me at least).

I've never felt so unwelcomed in a fandom before and I have been in so many in my life. I'm a kpoper so I know how toxic fandoms can be. There a few I can name from the top of my head right now but the DC one is absolutely baffling to me. I've done nothing, NOTHING at all and I feel like I'm being hated just by the sole fact that I ship something.

As a fan I'm a multishipper, I can ship my fav character with 10 other character because I just find happiness in their happiness, but in this instance that seems like a big no, no. Starting with the canon shit. Damn it, I thought as fans we can agree that sometimes what authors do might not be of justice of a character, they can be shitty things and asasinate the character. We can love something but hate some parts of it. I mean critical thinking much?

Also, the aging up/down of a character discourse feels like bullshit. "If you age down a character to ship it, you're doing character assasination" or the "if you age down a character to be shipped with another you're being disgusting" ones are absolutely the most weak and disgusting ones as the canon universe have done it SO MANY TIMES it just feel like they want to hate on something. Why they can age up Jon to be with Saturn Girl or age down Barbara to be with Dick but I cannot age down Jon to the age he should be to ship it with Damian. Also the fact that Damijon shippers are called names just for the fact that they ship something is awful. I understand there are people whose awful, disgusting discourses are being loud enough to taint the name of a ship but they keep giving them voice, just for the fucking reason to hate on the whole ship.

They say one person is being disgusting but they keep looking at their tweets to hate, dude, block and ignore so you don't give the attention they are absolutely and disgustingly looking for.

I have a rule, I get far away from things I don't like and I do not criticize (something I might be doing at this very moment but the whole ordeal has been absolutely too much for me to not vent at this moment), and I hope the same actitude towards the things I like.

I'm not saying the people here on tumblr had been like that, no, of course not, I found here so much love towards the characters an the ships and respect to one another (maybe my algorithm hadn't pushed me to the ugly side and I'm glad of it) but twitter. Twitter fans are mean, angry and hateful. All of the one I have encountered have been prejudice. I ship damijon but also Daminika, I love Nika and I wish they could give her own solo title, she's an interesting character to be reduced to only Damian love interest.

So in their opinion because I ship Damijon, I hate Nika, wrong! I like her, such a fun interesting character that deserves more spotlight to be more loved. Also it seems that by proxy I hate Talia, I love her and hate the racist characterization the writers did to her (again, not all authors do right, they make mistakes and we can just pass through them because they're awful in many ways) or I hate even Jay, oh no, on the contrary I like him and his design and the relationship he has with Jon. I can also say many of that hate can come from homofobic views in relation to Daminika (it works because it is a straight couple) but also with Jon and Jay because they aged up Jon to be with Saturn Girl but it was wrong to age him down to be with Jay.

I know there are shippers that doesn't seen the characters outside their ship, I'm not one of them and the fact that I'm a shipper and they think THAT COULD BE ME, it's insulting but I've seen there's so much prejudice around it. I like the characters by itself and as an asexual person I could ship but it's not everything a character can be, I seem them outside romantic relationships, as their own person and that's why I like them, I don't like them to ship I like them for what they are. Starting with Damian, Jon, Flatline, Dick, Kory, Babs, Bruce, Talia, Selina, etc.

I cannot get my head around all the hate towards people only trying to enjoy something they like and don't get me started on how some creators are being hated because their content ain't canon and they have to state it in everything they post so they don't get insults from people.

I love headcanons, I love AUs in which you can put the character into setting outside their own world but well narrated and well characterized but also... does all comics are well characterized, absolutely not but is canon so people just accept it? It shouldn't.

I end this rant because I need to work and I don't want to keep fueling my anger.

[zahri-melitor]

1 and 18 for the 20 questions to hate?

1. You have to make one Robin (Dick, Jason, Tim, Stephanie, Damian) not exist permanently and never have existed. Choose which.

Look I've gamed this out before (publicly even) and it's Steph. Steph is the only one of the five I can easily remove from the timeline without disturbing things too much or knock on effects I'm concerned about.

Dick is fundamental. You remove Dick and Bat comics look unrecognisably different. DC comics look unrecognisably different. Superhero comics looks unrecognisably different. Plus I love Dick so much. No Dick is a timeline divergence in 1940 that I don't think anyone can envisage the entire shape of.

Jason? Jason's death is the third most important thing ever to happen to Bat comics storytelling (the first is the death of the Waynes, the second is the death of the Graysons at Haly's Circus). It's a fixed point in the narrative that all storytelling revolves around. No single other event in Bat comics outside of the two origin stories listed above has had so many knock on effects. Prior to Jason's death, Bruce's entire story was about the loss of his parents. After Jason's death, it is also the story of losing a child, and how that changes you. It's heartbreaking to me that, for Bruce, the trolley question of "would I save my parents or my child" is both everpresent there and also in most incarnations, is answered "my parents". (Bruce's kids all believe he would answer "parents").

Tim I can't give up for two reasons: one because he's my boy, but secondly and more importantly, because part of my deep love for Bat comics is about the wide network of characters who revolve around Gotham and Bruce. It's about my love of the Bat family. And these are concepts that did not exist in the way you think they do, which were not developed properly, until Tim walked in and became the Team Up Robin. If you love the Bats as anything more than Batman & Robin (and maybe Batgirl, maybe occasional forays of Selina and/or Talia and/or Nocturna to helping out B&R), you need a Tim shaped character to pull that together.

Damian is the other one I go back and forth on removing, but I think at this point he's tied into enough storytelling that ripping him out as the most recent still does a lot of storytelling damage, plus there's the situation that Damian does allow for a different style of storytelling with Bruce that is different to what Dick and Tim brought.

The benefits of removing Steph is that, despite everything she brings to DC, as a supporting character for almost all comics she has ever appeared in, the only things you really need to rearrange are the precipitating incident of War Games (which actually interestingly could be transferred over to a lead in to Jason's return if you tried; also I suspect they would have killed Holly Robinson instead), and the Batgirl 2009 run (which would either go to Cass or to Babs, heroically I am assuming Cass would get it for my own sanity but we might have been cursed by Babsgirl two years earlier). She's actually not a participant in many wider events; her appearances are usually character work in lighter issues. Pretty much all of her plot relevance or character beats could be absorbed by another character and her loss wouldn't be noticed. Deleting Steph doesn't fundamentally alter the shape of the Bat comics like any of the other four do.

18. Best supergirl.

I have read at least a few appearances of all the major Supergirl candidates at this point, I believe. I think my favourite so far in what I've read honestly has to be Kara Zor-El, a child of Krypton, sorry to everyone else. I particularly enjoyed the storytelling of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow in terms of the frame of what a Supergirl character could be. I enjoy the loss that exists at the centre of Kara as a character - she's one of the last survivors of Krypton who understands the loss felt. Clark is the story of an immigrant raised in a new culture, never able to quite understand where he came from. Kara, on the other hand, understands the loss of her home. It's an important difference in their characters.

[loganlostitall]

D!

A pairing I wish I liked but just can’t:

I don’t think I have any for TWD! I have some I definitely like, definitely don’t like, like, don’t like, and am neutral about, but I don’t think there’s a single one that I’ve said “hmm, that’s interesting but I can’t get into it.” Maybe… maybe Rickyl and Desus? They don’t bug me but I don’t take the time to read them! The idea catches my attention and then I move on🤔

There are definitely some from other fandoms of mine that I have wished I could get into before, though. I know it’s an unpopular opinion but Fiona Gallagher and Jimmy/Steve from Shameless can’t snatch me. I get the ick when I see that man, even if he was technically her best relationship on the show. Also the same with Debbie Gallagher and Sandy Milkovich, I just dislike Debs way too much to even appreciate that we got a new LGBTQ+ pairing lol.

I’ve been a fan of Marvel and DC for as long as I can remember so there’s a handful there as well. For the ships in the MCU as well as Marvel Comics, cannot get into Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. They don’t even ick me but I never saw the appeal either. Same with Thor and Jane Foster. AAAAAGHHHHHHH!!!!! I used to hate them together adamantly but after the latest Thor film I had a little bit of “I wish I could get into it.” Can’t really get into… literally any Wade Wilson ships, including his current non-binary partner despite the initial excitement for more DP LGBTQ+ rep. I’m a massive Deadpool fan but I have no interest any time there’s a comic run w romance. Maybe that’s just my diehard Spideypool obsession… I think so actually since I’m not fond of Peter Parker x Mary Jane Watson/Michelle Jones or Peter x Gwen Stacy with the only exception of TASM 1&2. Pete and Wade are.. honestly.. probably my full-on fav ship 😭

Rounding back to DC Comics, my dislike for Bruce Wayne x Selina Kyle is completely purposeless, just don’t like it ig, every comic run with them getting married makes my lip curl which is just strange because I’m a sucker for hero x villain/anti-hero. Idk. Something in my brain also refuses to allow me to get into any Bruce Wayne x Talia Al Ghul storylines because of the one singular comic run where it was revealed that she rped and baby-trpped him. Justice for my Batsy boy. At least Damian came out of it! I also… may get crucified for the fact that I have no interest in Clark Kent x Lois Lane, or Dick Grayson x Princess Koriand'r, despite finding them precious. And for a fandom ship, I neutrally dislike Superbat.

Long ass answer but these are my biggest fandoms and ur already used to me talking a lot! Sorry bestie.

[strawberrytalia]

the talia anon here!

thanks for that reading list! I think I might start with the arrowfam bc I'm very intrigued by Dinah's character. honestly, the reason why I didn't ask about the mystics is bc I have never encountered them with whatever DC content I have consumed (which is not a lot) and I want to expand to something I'm familiar with first

I'm currently going through both preboot Talia and postboot robins which are drastically different with its talia (like SOTD Talia giving up her son for adoption so he can be something more and won't have to grow up the shadow of The Demon and The Bat vs Tomasi's Batman and Robin Talia that purposefully raised Damian in the league). honestly give me the ick.

unfortunately, the existence of Damian really did ruin what Talia could have been, but I wanna ask (you can totally ignore this portion of the ask if you're too uncomfortable, I'm just intrigued by what you have to say) how do you think Damian and OG talia can co-exist in current canon?

i know there's a person writing a fic about how while talia has her whole lexcorp era ra's kidnaps damian and raises him. Once Talia finds out she gets Damian out and brings him to Bruce (I haven't read it, but I know of its existence). I honestly prioritize Talia's character over Damian's since she was created first and I am 100% ok with Damian's characterization being mellowed out a bit, so it doesn't show Talia horribly, something to show that Talia did try to protect him (it'll be like that quote that said "just because you mother didn't break all the generational curses doesn't mean she didn't break any") talia knows how bad it is to be raised in LOA, so she needs something to make her stay IMO. maybe Ra's promises to be a better grandfather than he was a father, maybe there are external threats to Damian that talia really can't deal with without LOA's resources or something to do with Nyssa (I am so intrigued by the sisters. i want to see the mess of emotions that comes with them interacting. i really do think Nyssa would hate Talia because of Ra's, but talia would just like to hang out with her like the youngest child she is)

now im just rambling but you get the gist

Hello again!!!!!

Ahh so with Dinah, I would recommend Longbow Hunters, then jump into GA Vol 2 and then maybe Birds of Prey (where she shines outside of the family)!! There are other appearances but unfortunately they’re not the best representation of her character (cough GA/BC)

Also yeah totally understandable with mystics!! They really do have a VERY different vibe than majority of the DCU, and it is super enjoyable, but also a little complicated and difficult to get into at first.

Yeah thinking about Talia’s deterioration upsets me a lot. In addition to raising Damian, there were a lot of really gross, unnecessary changes that undermined what she had gone through. Like she was a canon SA victim, and then they have the audacity to make her a rapist herself in the most uncharacteristic way possible. It’s so so so gross.

I agree with you though, I absolutely do prioritize Talia’s characterization over Damian’s. She was a fully fledged character created before him with so much relevance to not just Batman, but the DCU. I love Damian!! But he was also essentially an OC created for a storyline with an agenda that has grown to invalidate adoptive relationships. I’m NOT saying I wanna get rid of Damian, but if I had to choose between them, I’m picking Talia personally. 100%.

THAT is an interesting question because I don’t quite have a solid answer myself yet. I know what AU you’re talking about, and I like that idea a lot! But something about it also rings hollow to me?? If that makes sense??? In a personal sense, I feel like it also absolves Talia of a lot of agency and action, and I would rather her character be in a more proactive position.

And I also think Talia would be a lot smarter and more clever in making sure there was absolutely no way Ras would ever find her baby. So the AU does undermine her a bit, in my personal opinion.

However I think the most integral part of Damian’s character is the way that he revolves around the concept of redemption, especially as an abused child. So it also feels very wrong to take away from that, since it’s such a core aspect to him.

So there’s the conundrum.

GAHHH it’s hard thinking of ideas that will do both of them justice, unless you completely revamp Damian’s character.

Maybe Talia stays in the league with Damian and under the guise of being loyal to Ras, she’s actually secretly plotting to take him and the whole League down. She keeps as much of a watchful eye on Damian as she can, but she’s not perfect and she also wants him to be able to fend for himself. So if he has to learn the harshest ways of survival and combat, so be it. (Talia logic not mine). Talia doesn’t raise Damian to be proud of the League or his Grandfather. She keeps him aware of what she’s planning and why they have to do that. She tells him about Bruce (just like in canon) but makes sure Damian knows until the time is right, he can’t meet his father. Plans get messed up, Talia’s big idea goes haywire because of an outside party, and nowhere near her is safe for Damian. Except for Bruce.

So kind of adapted from canon except less evil weird eugenics rapey storyline, and something that gives Talia a bit of autonomy. Damian would also have less of a brainwashed League personality while still carrying trauma and mixed feelings towards his family. I don’t think Talia would be a perfect mother. I think she’d try her best in the way she knew best, and unfortunately, her way is not that great. But most importantly, she would want Damian to have a better future than she did. If it meant enduring 10 years of the League, she’d make that sacrifice.

Other possible idea: Talia was a med student going to University of Cairo in her early appearances. I kind of like the idea of her becoming a traveling medical personal bringing Damian alongside her, except they’re both hiding their identities. Again, it wouldn’t be picture perfect, she’d still make sure he was aware of the dangers in life. But I feel like they’d have an interesting story that way.

Or maybe she kills Ras, escapes the League, the new leader of the League is like whatever and just leaves it alone, and she just openly raises Damian in the realm of Lexcorps business and politics lmao. Little baby Damian wearing a suit and attending meetings on his mom’s lap while she verbally assassinates men.

[fancyfade]

✨🛒🍦💖🎨

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Hmmm.... I will say that I am good at changing un-satisfying bits of canon and turning it into something that works for all the characters.

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

I noticed this while writing How to Make Something New, but characters who I am shipping (dick/babs) otherwise platonically falling asleep next to each other :P

also strong emotions having very physical feelings

Damian doesn’t want to hear another lecture about having to be more obedient than everyone else because he’s the heir. About how arguing is disrespectful so he should just shut up and do what he’s told. He’s mad, so mad he can taste it, so mad that his heart is in his throat and beating rapidly, and he doesn’t even know why. (link) He's right. Kory knows he's right. She hasn't because she can't – she can't process it. She's too far from home. She's too far away from the source of her hate. So when she hates now, it's just pointless, bitter, and vile. The feeling lingers in her stomach, clings to her like some film she'll never be able to scrub off. (link) She felt the terror of being all the time. Every day. The terror was an emotion, forbidden to her, but it seeped into her bones and her life. It merged with her until she couldn't separate it from her. (link)

🍦 What’s the sweetest fic you’ve created so far?

I'm gonna say Girl's Day Out (link) which is just like. Donna Kory and Raven going on a little shopping day trip.

💖 What made you start writing?

for DC fanfic? in general just imaging little scenarios and how they would be different if they were like how i wanted them to be in canon. like the very first DC fic I posted (Which I would change now but :P) was me wanting Damian to be more consistent from how he was first introduced vs his later appearances (as in - at the way start they go for a lot more '"""spoiled""" kid vibes, but they don't once B&R 2009 kicks in, so re-writing some of batman and son based on that).

🎨 How do you feel about fan art of your stories?

Love it! Sometiems I draw fanart of my own stories, like Talia, Damian, and Bruce in the batman and son re-write situation (link), and sometimes other people draw fanart and I lvoed it so much! @raven-harlot drew this (link) for Welcome to Hell! And I love it so much!

ty for asks!

[wesavegotham]

I would say that racism plays at least a subconscious part in this. And this is not about his skin color, a lot of people like to dismiss racism towards Damian because he's often drawn as a mini Bruce, but even if he is drawn like that, he grew up in the league of assassins which is usually written to be a mix of arab and asian stereotypes. Damian is often mistreated, no matter what skin color he gets drawn with because of his cultural background. He's not a "normal" white american teen and some writers show him a lot less compassion in their writing because of that.

God I hate it when people use these words for Damian. Damian is mean, he's not uncivilized. He was raised to be the heir to Ra's al Ghul and later of Bruce Wayne, he's basically a prince. A well written Damian should know exactly how to act as a member of the upper class while probably feeling that it's waste of time because he could be punching villains in the face instead of going to a gala.

Just because he was raised to kill or might not personally care much for it doesn't mean he wasn't taught manners and etiquette. We know he was educated not just in martial arts, but in music, art and the sciences as well. He wasn't just raised as a weapon, he was raised as a future leader.

Not personally caring about good manners or even chosing to be rude when faced with people you think of as being below you or want to feel as if they are below you on purpose is not the same as not knowing manners.

I think that is an important distinction. Damian isn't rude to people because he doesn't know better, I'm pretty sure he does. He simply thinks he's above most people (and to be fair he kinda IS after all the training he was put through and because he's the son of two of the smartest, strongest and good looking people on the planet) and refuses to be humble about it.

It's the same way with Ra's who can be perfectly elegant and polite if he wants to and then still be a dick to characters who he thinks of as lesser than him or who disappointed him.

As for the last part of your post, I think it's important to point out that Damian, just like Ra's and Talia, suffer especially because DC somehow made them both arab and chinese while other characters like Lady Shiva are "only" written weirdly because she's asian (I thought she was chinese but my quick research told me she's actually half chinese and half japanese?). Basically them being part of not one but two ethnicities that the US started to hate especially from the 2000s going forward kind of doomed them and still does. I'm not saying the way DC writes and treats black characters is flawless, I would never do that. But I do feel like most DC writers are more aware of things to avoid while writing them and at least try to treat them with more care to not cause a shitstorm even if they do end up making bad writing decisions.

Except for Grant Morrison (who is from Scotland, not the US) who named his black villainess Jezebel Jet and had her be an evil seductress and made another character the Batman "of Africa" as if it's a country and not a whole damn continent🤦‍♀️I think there should be a law that forbids Morrison from writing non-white characters.

Anyway. I'm sure there are many grievances to be had with the way DC handles POC in general, but Ra's and Talia and because of that Damian too are especially vulnerable because their vague nationality and mixed heritage opens up a huge can of worms of terrible stereotypes writers can apply to them. It's not a competition, racist writing for Lady Shiva or Cass is racist writing for Lady Shiva or Cass, but the al Ghuls are even more of an easy target than other POC characters in my opinion.

These fanon Tim Drake takes/fanfictions that paint him as the ultimate victim during the Morrrison era were always annoying, but if you're looking for a character to write fix it fanfictions about because they got abandoned by their family when they went through a lot of losses and lost themselves in the process, ran away from everything and only had the batfamily try to bring them back home ages after they had already run away and only after first blaming the kid and then not prioritizing bringing that kid back, then Damian from 2018 to 2020 is right there?

Where are my 1000+ fanfictions about that?

[fishfingersandjellybabies]

honestly, damian getting amnesia would be a more compelling storyline than literally every other batfam member who has gotten amnesia in the past five years.

[bluerosefox]

Why Ra’s Would Summon the Ghost King (Also Twins AU in this cause I love that AU)

.....so.....

I've been binge reading some DPxDC (mainly Batman stuff) for a bit and I've fallen deep in love with it. I adore so many AU or ideas of it and my mind refuses to let me go until I give my 2 cents on an idea so here goes. (I’m still new to some DC/Batman stuff so its not the best just an FYI)

One of my fav AUs to read is the Twins AU with Damian and Danny (Danyal) AND a cult summoning the Ghost King stories. But hear me out...

We need Ra's summoning the Ghost King fics/stories.

Why would he summon the Ghost King?

The Lazarus Pits are drying up and he discovered after a years worth of research the main reason they appeared was because the Ghost King ripping open portals and dragging pieces of mortal realm into the Ghost realm, thus leaving 'wounds' on the earth and creating the Pits that are leaking over (and they get corrupt due to overuse, like someone not changing the filter or maintenance in a pool, it gets nasty.)

However, the old King was defeated in battle a few years ago. A new King raises in his place. And a year ago the new King was finally crowned and had begun fixing the broken Infinite Realm (Ghost Zone) into what it once was before Pariah Dark took its throne.

(Small personal head-canon, the Ghost Zone reflects the King of the Realm. Pariah Dark was tyrant who carried for nothing but his own power, thus the Zone began to fall apart and thus began his power trip to rip open the realms to gain land again, also even in his sealed slumber he was still King and thus the Realm kept falling apart. However since the day Danny beat him the Realm went into a pause, not healing but no longer breaking apart until the day he could take the crown)

Since the day a New King was crowned, Danny has been healing the Zone, fixing the broken cracks of the Realm, and thus fixing the still oozing scars of the Lazarus Pits on his side of the Realms... Meaning pretty soon the Pits will dry up and be no more.

However for Ra's this is bad news, hence why he's looking into a way to keep the Pits going. And he found out about the old Ghost King, researched and discovered only the Ghost King can make the Pits, and after summoning a ghost he discovered a New King had been crowned around the same time the Pits began to heal (whom was summoned? Aragon cause he hates Danny and just spits out how he hates the new King but never told Ra's his actual name, only calling him "a welp of a boy! Unworthy fool of the crown he bares!" And other names)

Ra's (with the little info he has on Ghosts in general) believes the "New King" might be easy to manipulate to his side if he words things right, believing that all ghosts to hate the living and such. (Stereotyping much Ra's) and could maybe strike up a deal with the New King of the Infinite Realm.

Ra's decides to summon the Ghost King and plans to offer a sacrifice as a gift. (After all what better gift to the dead than a new subject) in exchange for him to rip open new Lazarus Pits.

Who he picks. (Twins AU part)

Either Damian (after finally giving up on the 'fool of a boy for following his father footsteps') whom might as well finally be useful since his defection.

Or his not so dead failure of an heir Danyal, whose going by Danny Fenton in America, he only found out the weak heir is alive after his research into ghosts and finding the Fenton's name on the forefront and saw a photo of the family.

He has no idea how his failed heir is alive though, he knows Damian dealt a mortal blow during their fight for heir-ship (Danyal foolishly letting it happen, not even trying to lift his blade up to block it, thus cementing the belief that Danyal was too much like his father in terms of his heart) and he knows he ordered Talia, who tried to hide her heartbreak behind a uncaring face, to leave the boy’s rapidly cooling body and tend to a almost shell shocked Damian instead so he knows it couldn’t had been her before ordering his men to toss the failure out, not caring what animals eats the remains. He kept his eyes on Talia for a few weeks after, just to make sure she didn’t do anything foolish like go and revive that failure with the Pits.

(None of them knew of the moment the guards left the dying five year old outside that time stopped with a command of “Time Out.” with only the ticking of a clock echoing in Danyal’s fading hearing, the image of a ever changing being staring down at him. Child, Adult, Old Man. Child, Adult, Old Man.-Danyal’s vision faded into darkness as the being gently lifted him up and whispered “So much to do in such little time. Don’t worry, your time is not up just yet young Danyal...”)     

Judging from the reports he gained from his men, ‘Daniel’ was found halfway to death outside a hospital in America (somehow reaching it mere seconds after he had been tossed out of the compound according to the record dates, how? He had no idea), it was touch and go but ‘Daniel’ manged to live (police and hospital staff strongly suspecting family abuse from the wounds/scars, heavy abuse thus put the boy in protective custody (aka keeping his sudden appearance at the hospital on the down low until they could find out what happen and who he is). Upon finally waking up after a few weeks it was discovered he had no memory of who he was, who his parents where, or what happened to him. He only got the name ‘Daniel’ after a mysterious gift appeared on his bed in the middle of the night with that name written on it, the gift was of a star pillow/plush. (Danny is a space nerd, will always be a space nerd, let him BE A SPACE NERD WITH MORE SPACE STUFF, even the cute stuff)

Afterwords ‘Daniel’ was bounced around from foster home to foster home after he was healed up until he meet Jazz, Jasmine Fenton, one day at a park. Her parents and her were in town for a Ghost Convention, the two meet and they clicked as siblings in little to no time. ‘Daniel’ later meets Jack and Maddie Fenton and then before any of them knew it ‘Daniel’ wormed his way into their hearts and family, he would later be adopted and become ‘Daniel’ Danny Fenton since then.    

Ra’s decides to choose Danyal as the sacrifice, and because he’s Ra’s he plans on tormenting Bruce and Damian with this.

Meaning he plans on kidnapping Damian (and secretly Danyal), which gets Batman to follow, and kill Danyel in front of the both (to hurt Batman for corrupting his heir with his ‘No Kill’ method and to show Damian how much of a failure his fathers methods of 'protecting' are compared to the power of the League) in order to summon the Ghost King.

......

SO anyone wanna a part 2? I got ideas for the summoning itself. I have this urge to actually write it as a story format but who knows.

Part 2 -