#loa meta

[froggybogwitch]

The horror of Motherhood in ACOTAR

The title Mother is soaked in blood.

Basically all the mothers we see are either dead or suffering, yeah? The act of being a mother, chosen or not, almost always leads to violence or suffering. There's an element of sacrifice to it, yes, but rarely is made willingly. Often these women are simply collateral to the desires and goals of the men around them. Cassian's mother, raped and worked to death, forced to carry a child she did not want, then forced to give him up by the men who inflicted him upon her. The Lady of Autumn, forced to carry son after son after son, for a man she never wanted to touch, bound to the birthing bed for as long as Beron willed it. The Lady of Night, tortured, beheaded, mutilated, her pride and joy taken as trophies to hang in the halls over her murderers, for the crime being at the right place, at the wrong time. There's a real sense of horror and violence embued into the role of mother, in acotar, and none escape it, not even Feyre.

All of this is compounded by the fact that textually, they are remembered almost exclusively by their suffering. None of them are given names, or speaking lines or any influence over their children beyond the second hand trauma they passed down. They are vectors of pain and grief. Motherhood is not beautiful in ACOTAR, it's an act of violence against the women it happens to.

I don't think this was an intended pattern but I can't help but notice it in the way the characters defined by their motherhood are treated.

[absolutely-esme]

Monster!Tim Coraline AU Idea

This idea would not leave me alone.

It’s a cross between a meta!/magic!Tim au and a Coraline au.

Before I get into it, I feel like I should explain.  I was on a bit of an Eldritch!Batfamily and Cryptid!Batfamily kick.  Then I found a collection of supernatural Tim aus.  Then I stumbled across a Coraline au.  There’s probably also some inspiration in there from vampire au fics.

It didn’t really jell until the idea occurred to me of a scene where some frightened villain asks Tim “What kind of monster are you?” and Tim says “The hungry kind.”

...

The idea is that somewhere back along the way, Tim’s family tree includes some kind of supernatural creature which may or may not have been an eldritch entity.

The supernatural heritage allows Tim to acquire abilities from other entities he has defeated, and Gotham is absolutely full of the supernatural if you pay attention.

Of course, Tim’s power isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.  It actually comes packaged with some pretty nasty side effects.

One of those side effects is perpetual Hunger.  Tim is always Hungry.  There is no way to stop it.  He eats enough to stay healthy, but he still feels Hunger at all times.  Increasing his food intake will not help and will screw up his metabolism and cause him to need more for normal function.  If this was allowed to spiral out of control it could eventually reach a point where he was physically unable to eat the amount of food he needed to function and starved to death on a full stomach. 

Fixing it is stupid hard because this particular sort of magical inheritance is really fucking inconvenient.  And, of course, whatever is up with his biology also makes him insanely susceptible to addiction, so no coffee for him unless he wants caffeine withdrawal symptoms all the time for however long it takes to fix that.  The constant Hunger also makes it difficult to get enough sleep.  Have you ever tried to go to sleep on an empty stomach?  Not easy, was it?  Imagine that every night.

The Hunger is fairly central to the nature of the magic.  Whatever supernatural entity he’s descended from, it is the Hungry kind.  The ritual of defeating another supernatural entity, taking a bit of the defeated entity’s power, and incorporating it into himself serves as a sort of metaphorical devouring, (and metaphors matter more to magic than they do to normal biology).  That’s why he’s able to gain power and abilities from defeated foes. 

...

Tim’s relationship with his parents is complicated.  His supernatural heritage comes from his mother’s side of the family.  She did her best to teach him about it and how to cope with it, but a lot of knowledge was lost over the generations due to persecution forcing those like them into hiding more than once.  There may have been a few individuals who spiraled out of control and caused small-scale famines before losing their lives.  It only takes a few cases for people to decide that a specific category of people is simply not worth the risk of having around.  Janet always referred to herself and Tim (as well as anyone else sharing the condition) as “those afflicted with Gluttony.”  This is the closest they have to a name for the condition.

One of the important things Janet Drake teaches her son is to pursue his passions.  It is incredibly important for individuals like them to have things outside the self that they can draw satisfaction and fulfilment from, things that keep them going in the face of the relentless Hunger.  This is what leads Tim to his night-time photography of Gotham, and eventually to his fascination with the Bats. 

Janet’s passions are archeology and travel.  Unfortunately, traveling from dig site to dig site is not a particularly stable or safe environment to raise a child in.  She needs to do these things to remain in good health.  Without her external coping mechanisms, she could start spiraling.  If she starts spiraling, it might trigger her son to start spiraling too because children in their developmental years are delicate, and this type of hereditary magic is fucking inconvenient (there might be ways of managing things that make it easier to live with, but between the knowledge lost and the risks that come with experimentation, they don’t have much info on how anything works).  She comes home as much as she can without the risk of compromising both their health.

She also taught Tim how to calculate appropriate portion sizes based on nutritional data so as not to screw up his metabolism, and how to fix it if he does mess up.  She also stayed and managed the process the first time it happened because the process of returning the metabolism of one afflicted with Gluttony to normal after it’s gotten out of hand is difficult and unpleasant and Tim wasn’t old enough to handle it by himself.  The nanny that had overfed him hadn’t been malicious or unreasonable, she’d just been operating on the assumption that he had standard human biology.  It took months to get Tim healthy again.  It took several hefty bribes to keep things under wraps.  Janet doesn’t know if there are still people out there hunting their kind, but she’s not willing to risk it.

Janet may not know about the aspect of the family magic that lets them gain powers from defeating other entities.  It’s possible that she was holding off on explaining this until he was older and more ready for the responsibility of multiple superpowers.  It’s also possible that the knowledge got lost somewhere along the way and Janet didn’t discover it herself because she didn’t spend her childhood running around Gotham at night and was more the sort of person who would stay home and read when she had trouble sleeping.

...

Tim discovers his ability to gain abilities from defeating other supernatural things fairly early on.  The type of defeat can vary, but it has to be something of significance.  A fight will work for most, but there are other particular challenges that will work for specific cases.

The first things a young Tim is able to beat are these small things, invisible to most, that gain power from learning secrets.  What that power is used for, I couldn’t tell you.  They don’t seem to do much other than sneak around and learn secrets.  Tim doesn’t know if there’s a proper name for these things or not, but he calls them Secret Hunters.  They are absolutely everywhere in Gotham. 

Secret Hunters are invisible to most, but Tim is able to see them.  It might be because of his own supernatural nature, or it might be something else entirely.  If it’s hereditary it must have skipped his parents’ generation.  Neither of them seem to be able to see them.  Tim gains improved stealth and a sense for when something is hidden from catching Secret Hunters until they wise up and start avoiding him.  (Catching them works in place of a fight because secret hunters primarily operate on stealth and evasion.)

He can’t just magically know secrets, but he can tell when there is a secret.  (He still figured out Batman’s and Robin’s secret identities on his own merit.  The most this ability would have done is alert him to the fact that they had secret identities if that hadn’t already been obvious from the fact that they were wearing masks.)

He also gets various other abilities from other things he encounters while scrambling all over Gotham at night.  Nearly doesn’t get out of some of the scrapes he gets himself into.  He gains the ability to cut with his fingernails as if they were razors from something that nearly killed him.  He gains the ability to climb like a goat from a Jersey Devil.  Etc.

...

At some point, Tim is targeted by a beldam.  He doesn’t get the kind of warnings that Coraline does, but his ability to sense secrets lets him know that the Beldam is hiding something, and any child raised in any part of Gotham knows to be suspicious of things that seem too good to be true.  Tim doesn’t have a convenient seeing stone from the neighbor, but he does have the advantage of his own supernatural nature which the Beldam doesn’t know about.

Tim finds a button-eyed doll that looks like him after his parents leave on yet another trip, and thinks it’s a gift they meant to give him before leaving.  They do often bring interesting souvenirs.  It wouldn’t be at all unusual for them to find an artist who sews dolls to look like people and have one made based on pictures of him.  Later on, he discovers the key. 

This Beldam is older and more powerful than the one from Coraline.  She has more power and more past victims to work with, so she’s able to make a larger, more populated world. 

Oh by the way, I head-canon that the Other versions of people in the Other world are actually past victims of the Other Mother, remade and dressed up for whatever role she has them play.  The three ghosts were just the three most recent and not fully processed for use yet.  That’s why the Others are able to act against her sometimes (Other Wybie saving Coraline from the mirror, Other Father tossing the eye to Coraline) or say things she doesn’t want them too (Other Father says “so sharp you won’t feel a thing” and Other Mother kicks him under the table).

The Other Mother doesn’t know all that Tim knows, so the Other World has inconsistencies like Other Batman and Other Robin sitting across the table from Other Bruce and Other Jason.  She doesn’t know they’re the same people.  She just knows that they’re all important to Tim.  She also tries to tell him to “eat as much as he wants” when his real mother was the one to explain the dangers of attempting to eat to fullness for people with their condition.

There isn’t a cat to warn Tim but he doesn’t need it.  He can sense hidden intentions in everything, and he’s fully capable of uncovering the hidden secrets himself. 

Tim doesn’t have a cat, but he does have Other Robin, who might have been made from whatever remained of someone close to one of the people mirrored in the Other World made for Tim.  He doesn’t remember his life, but somehow he feels incredibly motivated to help a boy who cares dearly for whoever and is willing to let him know that they're living a good life out there in the real world.

Tim discovers the nature of the other world and sets out to free the souls trapped there.  He fights the Beldam will all the viciousness and desperation of someone who knows they’ve only got one shot.  He takes everything he can from this fight as he makes sure she won’t ever hurt anyone again.  He doesn’t stop until the beldam is well and truly dead.  Then he unravels Other Gotham and spills all of the souls out into the world where they can move on and rest.

This is how Tim learns to Sew.  He can’t make entire populated worlds like the beldam, but that’s mostly because he refuses to do what she did.  He can control things he’s made (though there’s limits on how much) and even see through buttons he’s sewn (onto cushions and such, he's not the Other Mother).  He also gets some minor illusory powers that let him make things look a bit brighter/nicer/cheerier than they are.  It takes quite some time before he’s comfortable with using these powers.  Trauma is a bitch like that.

Part of the reason this version of Tim was so desperate to do something about Batman losing it out of grief is because he already has Evil Batman trauma from Other Batman, and he doesn’t need that shit happening in real Gotham.

By this point Tim has a collection of powers that allow him to navigate the more dangerous parts of Gotham largely without fear.  Now he has to learn how to manage without using any that he isn’t one hundred percent certain he can sneak past Batman, which means he’ll have to divide his attention between learning from the training and not letting himself do things the supernatural way.  This is going to suck.

It does, in fact, suck.

Oh, it turns out some of the rogues are a bit supernatural.  He gains a bit of an intuitive understanding of the health of plants from Ivy.  He gains the ability to taste emotions from Scarecrow.  (Also, Johnathan Crane is a freaking weirdo, fear tastes like spoiled milk!)  The rogues with supernatural tendencies are freaking terrified of the new Robin because he always seems like he wants to freaking eat them.  The non-supernatural types don’t get it.

Eventually, Red hood breaks into Titan’s tower.  Tim, by this point, is very good at deciphering how supernatural entities work and is packing an extensive inventory of powers.  He realizes quickly that this is some kind of manipulative entity that feeds on rage and pain attached to an unwitting host.  When he realizes that the unknowing (and therefore unconsenting) host is Jason Todd, he tells the Lazarus Entity in no uncertain terms to give Jason back or perish.

Jason, who does not realize he has a malicious, mind-warping, supernatural parasite and believes there to be no one other than himself and Tim present, is understandably confused.

Tim decides that the Lazarus entity has had its chance and springs into action.

Jason is treated to the terrifying sight of just what Tim Drake is like when he’s not expending conscious effort on not being something out of a horror movie.  Suddenly he’s in the middle of a spider’s web and no matter how hard he tries to fight back everything around him is under the control of his opponent.  Furniture flies around on puppet strings.  Getting too close puts him in range of the freaking claws this kid apparently has!?  Trying to get away just leaves him caught in strings and the more he struggles the more entangled he becomes!  The new Robin is skittering and gliding around in a decidedly inhuman way. 

Jason honestly thinks he's going to die when he finds himself bound with Tim standing over him.  He passes out when Tim rips the Lazarus entity away from him and destroys it. 

Tim gains the ability to heal from defeating the Lazarus entity.

Jason is surprised and confused when he wakes up bundled in a handmade quilt with his head in Tim’s lap and a cool compress on his forehead, feeling sore but more well and whole than he has since before he died.

Jason later decides that his memories of the fight at Titans Tower must be some kind of weird fever dream caused by his body purging the last of the Lazarus Water from his system. It goes along with Tim's account of things.

According to Tim, Jason entered the tower, initiated a lock-down, and then collapsed on the floor. Then, Tim moved him closer to a wall where he was less likely to get stepped on than in the middle of the walkway and did his best to take care of him there because Jason was simply too large and heavy for him to carry all the way to the med bay by himself.

This is far more believable and less of a mind screw than what Jason remembers. Obviously this tiny, baby-faced kiddo who played nursemaid for a stranger who broke into the tower and now looks up at him with wide, starry eyes couldn't actually be the terrifying, predatory creature from the nightmare. It was all just a bad dream.

He's honestly glad he collapsed before he had time to do any harm. The poor kid will never have to know what Jason went there to do. Jason knows, though, and he'll do his damned best to make up for it. He may have flubbed first impressions, but he is going to be the best damn big brother that ever big brothered.

...

Tim might or might not go full on feral cryptid when Bruce is lost in the Timestream. I haven't decided. He will probably pick a fight with the Lazarus Pit much to the confusion and alarm of everyone around.

That’s all I’ve got so far.

[olenvasynyt]

MASTERLIST

Hello I’m Dana! I am in my mid-20s, and my pronouns are she / her. My username is olen väsynyt which means I’m tired in Finnish because I’m always tired lmao. I write, draw, and make random Pinterest, headcanon, and meta posts for ACOTAR / SJM. I love Elucien, Jesminda x Lucien, Eris, Lady of Autumn, Tamlin—basically anything to do with Autumn and Spring!

This is my masterlist of fanfics, artwork, commissions, and gifts given to me by lovely friends and mutuals who fuel my obsessions.

Feel free to check out my featured tags for easy searching.

SOCIALS:

Instagram ✥ Ao3 ✥ Pinterest

FANFICS:

A Court of Embers and Sunlight - Lucien x Jesminda backstory with Eris x Male OC, and LoA x Helion

15/? chapters, 84,065 words

Summary: It has been eighty years since the end of the Human War, and a delicate, tenuous peace has grown in Prythian. But as an ancient rivalry between two High families suddenly arises, the consequences of the War are pondered, and painful memories are stirred up for members of the Vanserra family, including Eris Vanserra and the Lady of Autumn. But being sixty and the youngest of seven brothers, Lucien Vanserra is eager to avoid a lot of things. Including the consequences of the War. Haunted by secrets and keen to avoid the Forest House, Lucien allows his errancy to lead him to Prythian’s Summer beaches, Winter lakes, and Spring fields until he finds himself stumbling down a path to a female he never expected. One who lights up his dark, rotting world like dappled sunlight through the leaves.

The Trees Have Eyes - Eris & Lucien

3/3 chapters, 20,833 words

Summary: For Eris Week 2024: Day Five—Adventure. When a trading meeting doesn’t go Beron’s way, the Lady of Autumn asks Eris to take his nine-year-old brother Lucien on a hunting trip for an undetermined amount of time to avoid Beron’s wrath.

Gold Of The Richest Kings - Lucien x Elain

One-shot, 3,430 words

Summary: Elain wakes up bathed in sunlight and dripping with her lingering orgasms from last night's lovemaking. Exhaustion and the constant need to give have worn her mate Lucien thin, so she decides that this morning would be the perfect opportunity to return the favor. (Sleepy morning sex turns to feral mating behavior)

The Muzzle - Eris x Azriel

One-shot, 6,462 words

Summary: Eris, newly crowned High Lord of Autumn, finds enjoyment in professionalism and control.  So when the shadowsinger of the Night Court seeks pleasure from him, they turn their meetings about allyship into trysts focused on sex and discipline. But Eris feels himself giving way to deeper feelings of longing.  And he feels something changing in Azriel too.

Tansies: A Declaration Of War - Tamlin x Rhysand

1/4 chapters, 8,017 words

Summary: After the Lady and Princess of Night are killed, Rhysand and his father break into Spring to enact their revenge. Rhysand is convinced Tamlin is to blame. But a month after the violent death of both their fathers, Rhysand discovers a terrible secret that causes him to struggle with his hatred for his star-crossed lover.

A shorter summary in just two words: Angsty. M-preg.

The End and the Beginning - Lucien x Jesminda x Elain dream sex

1/2 chapters, 2,651 words

Summary: It has been nearly four hundred years since Jesminda’s death, but Lucien is still in mourning.  And because of his newfound, unrequited mating bond, he feels his mourning even stronger than he had before.  

On the night of the anniversary of Jesminda’s murder, Lucien’s guilt and sorrow manifest into a very vivid dream.

My Poor, Sick Mate - Lucien x Elain

One-shot, 5,574 words

Summary: Elain is tending her garden when she and Lucien get stuck in a rainstorm. She should have predicted she would get sick…but thankfully, Lucien knows exactly what his mate needs. For Stickyelectrons ACOTAR Gift Exchange 2024!

My fanart:

✥ Beast!Tamlin and Elain for Tamlin Week 2025

✥ Elain and Jesminda for Elain Week 2025

✥ Elain outfit design sheet for Elain Week 2025

✥ Elucien with Jesminda collab with @jadedbugart for Elain Week 2025

✥Jesminda x Lucien x Elain collab with @jadedbug for Poly+ SJM Week 2025

✥ Jesminda faceshots and sketches

✥ Jesminda wings design

✥ Jesminda in an Autumn river

✥ LoA, Eris, and Lucien in The Canopy solarium

✥ High Lord Eris Vanserra

✥ Helion rescuing the Lady of Autumn

✥ Elain taking care of sick Lucien for stickyelectrons

✥ Outlander Elucien for Elucien week 2024

✥ Azriel Week Day 5: No Need For Poetry. Gags, blindfold, and muzzle

✥ Azriel shibari

✥ ACOTAR irises WIP: Tamlin, Gwyn, Eris and Lucien

✥ Feyre’s UTM / CoN dress

My tumblr dividers:

✥ Elain Archeron / nature dividers

✥ Tamlin / celtic dividers

✥ Night / dark spring dividers

✥ Ivy / vine dividers

Commissions and gifts:

✥ ACOEAS OC Ensel Angrboda by vaieart

✥ Jesminda by adduani

✥ Jesminda outfits by j.sgrey

✥ Lucien and Jesminda in the woods by j.sgrey

✥ Lucien and Jesminda on a picnic by electra.rt

✥ Raivis Vanserra gifted by @jon-snows-man-bun and @buffy-vanserra by @onigiripurr

✥ Jesminda gifted by @queercontrarian

✥ Lucien and Jesminda meet cute gifted by @bonecarversbestie

✥ Jesminda outfit and profile gifted by @officalblackheron

Banner frame design is by kyberkurwa on DeviantArt

[ablazenqueen]

Charn and Tin’s development is so, so good. The way they yo-yo between antagonism and friendship, the way there’s instant sexual attraction but only slowly growing romantic feelings, the way their viewpoints contrast and conflict and constantly bring them back to Square 1, I could go on.

But I think one of the most interesting things about their ever-changing dynamic is how much more of a problem their conflicting perspectives become the more they care about each other.

Specifically, I think it’s beautiful and heartbreaking that the more Charn begins to genuinely care about Tin, the more he relies on what he believes to be case-winning methods. Methods that turn Tin against him, lead to distrust and anger and conflict between them. Obviously part of the reason Charn does what he does is because he wants to win. He likes the challenge, he wants revenge, he has a lot of pride.

But it isn’t just about winning anymore.

He cares about Tin and Tin’s grandma and his family and he cares what Tin thinks of him and he cares that Tin’s kindness is going to get him trampled by people who aren’t as kind. But the more he cares, the more he manipulates because he believes it’s the only way to win and winning is the only way to keep Tin and his family safe once and for all. Which unfortunately means the more he cares, the less Tin trusts him and the further the divide between them grows.

[dynamitekansai]

WWE SMACKDOWN (OCTOBER 18, 2024)

[ace-ingreality]

Shifters who complain about realism or brag about not being overpowered and their dr realistic are so obnoxious.

First your dr doesn’t have to be realistic, i mean it might help you if you’re the type who feels like they have to be grounded to shift. But you can shift to anyone reality, do anything the sheer amount of reality of just this universe alone is unprecedented and even if you had eternity, you wouldn’t be able to comprehend it.

Why place limits on shifting, and manifesting at the end of the day. Youre limits you impose on yourself is probably why you have trouble shifting

[heretherebedork]

So we know that Tanthai had nothing to do with fire and was in fact assumed guilty because of specific evidence set up at the crime scene by Charn to insure that he was found guilty.

So... what if that's exactly what happened with Tonkhao's death? What if his guilt is presumed because of planted evidence, most likely by his father, that has lead everyone including himself to be believe that he did this?

Everything we've seen of Tanthai is a seriously abused but monetarily spoiled prince who has no one to turn to but parties and drinks and lashes out at anyone he can because he has nothing else do. He tries to escape his gilded cage but the golden chains drag him back every time.

When his father suggests he turn himself in, he doesn't go out of control and destroy the room. He doesn't start fighting back or beating up on anyone else. He goes to a safe place and he destroys things meant to be destroyed. He begs for his bodyguard to help him escape, to take him away from it all.

Tanthai might be guilty of being an asshole and lashing out and paying for Charn to be beaten but what if he isn't guilty of anything else the show says he is?

(brought to you by talking about these shows with @iguessitsjustme on discord)

[olenvasynyt]

This is more of a rant than an actual question but I need Lucien to KNOW he is not Beron's son. I will never be able to reallistically believe he is as smart and clever as SJM has hinted at if he DOESN'T know! Plus, if Lucien is Helion's Heir he'd have to have SOME day court powers and he'd probably had to hide them in Autumn and how would he do that if he didn't know he was helion's son/not Beron's son?? I've never bought the theory that eris and his mother "binded" his powers, i truly think he's hiding them on purpose just like Aelin buried her fire magic so deep inside her when she was afraid of it

I feel like he knows he's a bastard, actually! I think there's a lot of hints to it. When we see this thoughts in ACOWAR we see him think about his mother and that he kept some things about her a secret because they were personal and irrelevant.

"I am Lucien. Seventh son of the High Lord of the Autumn Court." And a whole lot of nothing. He'd told the shadowsinger all he knew--of his surviving brothers, of his father. His mother...he'd kept some details, irrelevant and utterly personal, to himself.

His might be that he knows LoA had an affair, but it could also just be about the abuse she recieves from Beron. But we later discover secrets his mother has been keeping. And I also think "a whole lot of nothing" is interesting to say too, because saying he's the seventh son to Beron is "a whole lot of nothing".

And we also understand how the High Fae magic develops in their youth because of Mor. He probably had his Day Court powers develop as his Autumn Court powered developed, but LoA and Eris might have told him to suppress it.

I don't think he has had the room to explore his Day Court powers. He keeps a lot of things suppressed. And when he breaks free from Hybern's spell at the end of ACOMAF to get to Elain, that was a sudden, in the moment thing fueled by his anger and the mating bond. We don't know his thoughts and feelings about that moment and how he was able to free himself, so it's hard to say.

And I think Lucien is smart enough to figure out that Beron mistreating him might be for a deeper reason. And he does have darker skin than his brothers. Yes, that's technically a retcon because there's signs that this wasn't what SJM intended in ACOTAR because he's decribed to look like Beron UTM, but anyways lmao.

I don't think he knows he's Helion's true son though, mostly because SJM will want the dramatic reveal! He could fully think that LoA had an affair with a random Day Court male. I do have theories that it could be possible Lucien knows Helion is his father based on how the High Lord's powers transfer to the next person and how the heir has to hide their powers--we see this with Rhys and Tamlin.

I feel like there could be a lot of signs that he knows he's a bastard, but think SJM has retconned a lot of stuff surrounding Lucien and his true heritage so it's hard to come up with actual theories. She said that she didn't go into Lucien's full backstory until ACOMAF, so honestly, a lot of potential "hints" in ACOTAR are a bit irrelevant now. But I'm also pretty cynical of SJM tbh lmao and I enjoy coming up with headcanons to fix the holes she left.

[apatheticsunday]

Dead Serious Oblivious Dating Trope

AKA "Damian thinks flirting/dating entails a lot more violence than the average person and Danny's confused as to why this vigilante keeps prepositioning him for battles" idea!

Okay, so, I know Damian went to live with Bruce when he was still a kid, 10 or something, but what if he joined the Batfam when he was older? Like imagine he's had an entire childhood and adolescence in the League of Assassins, so he's raised in this culture of being The Best (i.e., strongest fighter, intelligent and knowledgeable, etc.). And maybe the LoA typically follows the tradition of arranged marriages, but you may court someone if they're seen as an equal. Talia with Bruce, for example. And!! It's not courting like the "sweet serenading, fan-fluttering, going for a walk in a park with a chaperone" Bridgerton-type courting.

In the League of Assassins, you court by battling your intended's guardian to the death.

So, fast-forward to Damian learning how to assimilate into Gotham city culture. He still struggles to learn his place in the Batfam, but he's older and has a better grasp on his emotions; no trying to kill Tim, no constant threats of death and dismemberment, no jealously protecting the title of Heir. He's... kind of like Bruce actually. Damian is scarily competent, logical, and level-headed but super intense.

Danny, who's been living in Gotham for awhile and has gotten to know the Batfam fairly well, meets the newest addition while on patrol. Let's say he's still Phantom but cosplays as a Meta. Bruce let him stay in Gotham because he's a sucker for a black-haired, blue-eyed, abused kids.

Their introduction goes about as well as the Batfam expects. Damian is all business, only offering a quick nod and his name before returning his focus to patrol. Danny's maybe a bit taken aback but doesn't take it too personally since he'd already been given the rundown by Tim.

Damian and Danny end up patrolling together while Batman and Cass investigate some lead by the docks or something. Their night turns pretty badly when Clayface attacks. Damian ends up being the damsel in distress since he's only ever faced human enemies; even the deadliest opponents in the League could still be killed using swords or the usual combat weapons. Danny ends up using his powers to defeat Clayface before Batman can come back.

And then Danny goes home, content that he was able to let loose a little without Batman there to supervise him, and doesn't think about it after. Damian, however, is downright enamored because Danny was terrifying while fighting. His movements were lupine like a panther, a comfortability in his posture that spoke of decades in combat; his eyes turned Lazarus Pit green, chilling in its intensity. His skin took on a ghostly pallor and Damian could've sworn his teeth sharpened. He looked like a deity of War.

(Danny doesn't know this, of course; he was just happy to enjoy a really good fight since he hasn't unleased his Full Ghost powers in a long minute.)

A couple weeks pass and Danny's invited to a Wayne family dinner. Except when he shows up, Damian - who he thought he'd kind of bonded with since he'd literally saved the guy from Clayface - tries to kill him. Straight up: full assassin regalia, recently polished sword, genuinely throwing his all into the battle.

The Batfam try to intervene but Damian easily (and painfully, as Jason was flipped face-first into a table, Steph was stabbed, Dick broke his elbow) fought off. In the end, it was Danny who froze Damian and yelped a frazzled, "What the fuck, dude?" Bruce agreed to dethaw his son if he never, ever drew his sword at the dinner table again and explained why in the world he randomly attacked Danny unprompted.

Except Damian's response is to apologize and formally proposition Danny to a "battle to rights"... and the Batfam are all like, wtf?? What is that?? They're thinking maybe the rights to the Wayne inheritance, but Danny was never adopted by Bruce (he'd had enough of millionaires trying to adopt him so he'd politely declined all the Batfam's attempts to rope him into the family; Dick, Babs, and Jason of all people included).

The thing is that Danny's parents disowned him, he doesn't consider Vlad to be his guardian, and Jazz isn't really in the picture here. Bruce isn't considered his adopted father figure, either. So, Damian concluded the next reasonable course of action was to fight Danny for his right to marry him.

Cue months of hilarious misunderstandings where the Batfam try to keep Damian separated from Danny since he keeps trying to fight him... and worse, is that Damian loses every damn fight. Danny has non-human powers and endless knowledge of dead languages, cultures, space, history, etc. Damian likes him so, so much but he can't win the battle to rights and it's driving him insane!! He calls his mother to vent his frustrations and she only encourages him, tells him that he shouldn't want to marry someone he can beat so easily, that he picked his intended well.

It gets to the point where Damian's trying to use any and all knowledge of Danny's weaknesses. It just makes him more obsessed because there doesn't seem to be any (there are, but they aren't on Earth and/or are locked down in the Fenton Works labs, untraceable to anyone not in the GIW).

And Danny's just like, what the hell!! Why the hell is this guy targeting him over and over again? The worst part is that Damian is actually very intelligent and thoughtful - during their duels, they quip back and forth in ancient languages, discuss thought-proving topics, and when Danny beats him, they have a quiet moment to compliment each other's fighting styles. They discuss ancient history and art together. Damian is one of the few people who can actually match Danny's odd tidbits of random knowledge, as he'd been extensively educated while in the LoA.

Finally, Danny just asks, "Why do you keep trying to fight me?? Do you just hate me or something??" (He hopes not. Danny's starting to like Damian a bit too much, especially after their fights when Damian offers to cook him some of Alfred's most popular recipes. Danny's a terrible cook so he actually looks forward to having a surprisingly good meal, sans the attempted poisoning at times.)

And Damian just... stops. He's utterly flabbergasted and perhaps a little bit exasperated since it's been months of being unable to win the battle to rights. "Why would I request to court you if I hate you, habibi?"

Danny's like, "Huh???"

Damian explains how courting works in the LoA and why it's been on-sight ever since the Clayface fight. And everything just clicks for Danny!! He's also kind of... flattered? Like, he's never been wanted so badly that someone would fight to the death for him (Danny's just like "he's confused but he's got the spirit!" about the whole "if Danny doesn't have a guardian, I'll just fight him instead" logic).

So, he's like, "Of course, I'll date you!!"

It'd probably be an adjustment period since Damian's idea of a romantic date is watching his boyfriend go Full Ghost on supervillains. He'd just be heart-eyeing at him the entire time. And it's not like Danny's not having a good time!! He just expected there'd be more date-night activities and less patrol-night activities. So, Danny introduces Damian to more "regular" hobbies, like going to the zoo, movie nights, bookshop dates, etc.

(another side idea in my head is Damian introducing Danny to Talia and Ra's al Ghul, like, "This is Danny Fenton, my intended." But Danny is decked out in his Ghost King attire, crown included, and introduces himself as King of Infinite Realms, Space, and the Dead. Meanwhile his boyfriend is just looking at him with this look of utter besotted lovesick pride. There's so much potential!!)

[sixohsixoheightfourtwo]

#i don't think this is fully accurate but i don't really care bc i love reading this and yeah the vibes check out #where does thai drama fandom in this marxist metaphor #are they petit bourgeoisie as well‚ rich from a bountiful harvest of 50 queer romance shows each year? #or are they proletariat bc subtitled tv is consistently overshadoweded by english language tv? #is it worth mentioning that the unfair double standard for ''good queer rep'' is even more excessively punitive for non-western media #bc that ''good rep'' standard is based on western queer culture and politics? #it's like... idk Schrodinger's proletariat #western media fans attempt downward class conflict on the basis of BL = fetishy = bad #while thai bl fans have been watching gay and trans directors transform literal kpop fanfic into bisexual anti fascist romance dramas #and i'm not saying anti fascist as a buzz word. it's ''what if we met while burning down rich ppls mansions... and we were both men 😳'' #anyway i'm just saying words recreationally. i think everyone should just watch whatever and ship whatever makes their brain go brrr #it's just on my mind bc i just finished laws of attraction last night #and there's a scene where the evil corrupt politician is like ''the government won't keep me locked up bc i can just pay my way out'' #and then the lawyer protagonist arranges for him to get jumped and beaten to death in jail bc the justice system is inherently broken #AND THE LITERAL NEXT SCENE is the lawyer and his husband-to-be doing gay wedding planning #and talking about the legal importance of marriage equality #i fuckin lost it. i was dying (via @rythyme)

in the discourse landscape of gay shipping I think a crucial element is the underdog effect. official approval of your ship from showrunners (ie ship going canon) compromises your marginal status as a fandom shipper on tumblr, and in the long run produces a sore winner subjectivity where you must constantly insist that your ship is still good and subversive. destiel is a good edge case as it went canon in the most homophobic way possible, thus maintaining something of an underdog status despite it being explicitly addressed in the text of supernatural, while still ultimately losing its fandom dominance as evidenced by it constantly losing in shipping polls. ofmd shippers in this respect occupy a conflict of class interests in which their gay canonicity confers a level of comfort and stability that gay shippers who have to work in the posting mines doing web weaves will never experience. therefore, we can consider ofmd shippers to be the petit bourgeoisie of the fandom ecosystem, caught between the big bourgeoisie (tv writers) and the proletariat (stuckys), predictably choosing to engage in downwards class conflict to maintain their narrowly privileged status

[ablazenqueen]

It’s the way Charn — always calculating, always in control, King of deception, Charn — forgets himself and drops his mask the second someone threatens Tin, even though it’s a dumb and reckless move that reveals his weakness to the enemy. It’s the way that he probably hasn’t had any weaknesses until Tin walked into his life, not since the incident that left him so jaded.

[bigscotman]

Fic idea: Jason's reveal goes perfectly, exactly how he wanted it to go. Bruce reacts appropriately and then when Jason tells him to choose him or the Joker, the Clown gets a batarang between the eyes.

Jason thought he would be happy Bruce just gave him exactly what he wanted so why isn't he happy?

Then it hits him. That isn't Bruce, it may be acting like Bruce, like Batman, but Jason knows Bruce and that thing isn't him. The Bruce he knows would never kill someone intentionally, whether directly or by inaction, and he knows that if he did the Bruce he knows would spiral rapidly and become a monster because if there's one thing the LoA taught him beyond anything else it's that some people aren't cut out to be killers (they can't pick it up and put it away like any other tool or maybe they're too empathetic or something) and Bruce absolutely is NOT someone who can come back after killing someone, even his son's killer.

Cue a detective/thriller that leads to him realising that the rest of the batfam have been replaced shortly after he came back to Gotham the first time when he chickened out from blowing up Bruce and Dick in the Batmobile. Stuff happens and maybe we put Jason in an Alien: Isolation esque sequence sneaking out through the caves under Gotham and then with the help of Steph and this meta street kid called Duke they attack the base Jason found in the caves and rescue Dick, Bruce, Tim, and a substantial portion of the Rogues (minus Joker he's actually dead) and from there the fic follows them all working together and attacking facilities all over the planet to rescue kidnapped heroes and dispose of the weird clone things that took their places before moving on to whatever big bad did this.

[angstandhappiness]

INTERESTING

If Talia had been written IC, what do you think her relationship would/should be like?

Sorry for the late answer, Anon! I assume you mean her relationship with Damian?

@fyeah-taliaalghul answered the same ask a while back (a Talia reference here so check it out):

fyeah-taliaalghul.tumblr .com/post/182033410646/hello-so-what-do-you-think-talias-relationship

I have to agree in that the most in-character thing for Talia to do would probably be what she did in Son of the Demon– give up her child for adoption partly in order to preserve him from the league. If you want a story with an IC Talia that’s as close to canon as possible (SotD is technically elseworld but bear with me), that would indeed be among those lines: she feigns miscarriage, entrusts Damian with a caring family, then eventually goes back to him when the separation gets too hard to bear. There wouldn’t be a relationship before then.

A lot of Damian’s character traits lay on the fact that he was abused, which is in and of itself a complete disregard of Talia’s character. Talia was sacrificed in order to give Damian an angstier backstory, plain and simple. She’d have done everything in her power to prevent Damian from being raised by the league, and if that was out of her control (which is easily imaginable), then you can be sure she’d have eviscerated anyone laying a hand on her child.

From now on I go into full headcanon/AU mode:

A version featuring IC Talia while trying to be as close as possible to Damian’s canon backstory would have some set of logistics/schemes keeping Talia from sending Damian to safety or fleeing the league with him. Damian being the male heir Ra’s has always craved, I can imagine he’d put the means to keep him in his clutches. Talia bids her time waiting for an occasion to escape together. Meanwhile Damian suffers the league’s influence and internalizes their values, sure, but Talia doesn’t stay idle if she sees any kind of harm come to him. In that secluded environment I can imagine Damian being indoctrinated despite Talia’s best efforts, but never abused under her watch.

In that context, I’d imagine Damian growing very close to his mother. She’d be the only source of warmth and real comfort in that sea of killers devoted only to their master. Most of them would see Damian as Ra’s’ heir more than for himself. But with Talia, oh, he’d be Mama’s boy.

I imagine their moments would be very tender during Damian’s earliest years. Talia grew up without her mother– she’d shower Damian with all the love she feels she missed and more.

An important part of Talia’s character is how caged she felt within the league. Most of all, she’d be terrified of Damian feeling the same way.

[Batman Chronicles #8]

Talia fills Damian’s head with stories. Mornings and early-afternoons are dedicated to his training and studies; but then it’s snack time in his mother’s room. Around coffee with milk or tea and sweets, she reads him dusty old books, tells him tales of her journeys, of her father’s battles, and of Batman’s of course. She wishes to paint the world beyond the high rock walls in Damian’s head. Inadvertently, she passes on her desire for freedom.

I have a self-indulging headcanon that Damian grows up to Talia humming Ch'hilet Laayani* in his ear, among others. An old Algerian poem (yes Talia knows Algerian music because the league is an assorted combination of people coming from all horizons and they share their cultures, roll with it). Bruce represents freedom for Talia and I love to imagine her thinking of him, of the family they could be, when singing that song to Damian. When he was a baby, she’d dance around the room with him in her arms.

She’d probably mystify Bruce a lot, close to what she actually did in canon. Bruce is one more character in her grand tales. Damian craves to meet the hero who settled in his mother’s heart, the warrior who earned his grandfather’s respect, the shadow who strikes fear in its enemies. Most of all, Damian ambitions to emulate him.

[Batman (1940) Annual 26]

I like to headcanon Talia would never lie to Damian, no matter what. How many times Ra’s told her half-truths, how many decisions did he take for her? Even the white little lies parents tell their young kids would feel too close to her father’s manipulative ways. She may love Ra’s, but she wouldn’t repeat how he treated her. She’d want Damian to be able to chose his own destiny, too, to be more than a consequence in others’ ambitions. Hence her sending Damian away from the league the second she’s able to.

[Justice League (1997) #44 || Detective Comics (1937) #750]

[Batman Annual 26]

Damian grows up. What are his mother’s vain tales against his flesh and blood father, the warrior he must be worthy of? The league taught him he is Ra’s’ and Batman’s heir foremost. Talia taught him how to crave for and love the world outside, not conquer it.

[Robin (1993) #169]

Damian trades his mother’s poetry and music for other types of art. The strict discipline valued by the league, the strategy that wins battles, the wound that kills in seconds, the detective work his father is so fond of. Quality time with Mother are for children. It’s not until after he’s in the bats’ care that Damian comes to miss these moments with his mother. If Bruce always takes Damian with him whenever a business meeting with LexCorp is in order, it’s no accident.

We end up with a dynamic that’s pretty close to what was portrayed in RoRAG. Full with Talia turning super protective whenever Damian’s in real danger, and overtly betraying her father when Damian’s safety demands it.

I’d maybe write Talia a bit sterner though. She can be a force of nature and had no problem calling either Bruce or Ra’s on their bullshit, she probably wouldn’t have that much patience with Damian’s attitude.

Yup, someone deserves the Disappointed Mom Look of hell and some quality reprimanding. Kind of in that tone, if you’re confused as to what I have in mind:

[Batman: Birth of the Demon || Action Comics (1938) #773]

Yeah Talia would have limited patience with Damian’s bullshit. It could even be a source of dissension, at that time when Damian starts to grow into what the league aims to make of him and he starts to despise his mother’s teachings.

Damian’s attitude grows out of hand, on her side Talia doesn’t indulge him the way other members of the league maybe do, and story-time around tea turns into virulent arguing. Damian’s angry, and Talia’s heartbroken. They don’t make up until after Damian starts to really yearn for those lost hours.

[Robin (1993) #169]

I love that quote so much aasdnwekfjns

Alright that was super headcanon-y and patchwork-y, hope it’s okay! It’s kinda how I approach a lot of canon content when I’m not happy with it.

* It speaks of a lover for whom the separation with their significant other is unbearable, and who dreams of making wings to cross the seas and join them.  My favorite version: watch?v=pg-pPiT7G4c on youtube! I love to headcanon Talia as a deep appreciator of arts of all kinds. Something she’d try to pass on to Damian.

Thanks for the ask!

[caffeinatedvigilantewriter]

So I saw a post with art about Paulina and Damian being twins in spirit and I thought it was so GOOD AND I CANYVGWY IT OIT OF MY HEADDD

So Paulina and Damian were born in the Leauge, and because Paulina was the girl and the youngest she was treated more harshly out of the two.

Talia couldn’t take it and took Paulina to the states and put her up for adoption and told Ra’s she had died. Damian and Paulina were 5

Damian grew up without his twin, believing she died. He moved in with his father when he was 9 and didn’t mentioned because what was the point of mentioning someone who wasn’t even alive anymore. He also wanted to preserve her memory, he knew his sister as a firce warrior, and the family’s grief and pity would hurt the image he had of her in his mind

So, when Damian is 15 and is banned from patrol for one reason or another he’s in the batcave, looking over the paper work from the MCOA (meta children of America, a program to try and locate meta children with powers to help them gain control and stability) and discovers two extremely powerful metas in Illinois.

Danny Fenton and Paulina Sanchez

(I think they got flagged as a meta because Danny is a halfa and Paulina spent her early childhood years around the pits and amity, she would be affected)

At first, looking at Paulinas photo hurt him, because she looks so much like his sister.

And he realizes that she is his sister.

Without telling anybody, he boards the next flight to Amity.

Paulina’s life as a civilian was jarring compared to the LOA. She had figured out Fentons identity almost immediately and (for fun) decide to pretend to be obsessed with him.

And when the school had them submit their DNA for the MCOA test, she was a bit worried, but here was nothing she could do at the time.

After the LOA didn’t come knocking, she figured she as safe.

Until she was sitting in Lancers class and her twin brother walking the room.

She doesn’t know that he’s not with the League, so she thinks he going to bing her and she not about to return.

So she brawls him in the middle of class.

They keep fighting, Damian fighting on defense, and Paulina digging on offense until Damian chokes out that he’s not with his mother any more and he’s with his father now

Paulina: oh we have a dad now? How is he

Damian: stupid

Paulina: you must take after him! What his name?

Damian: Bruce Wayne

Paulina: 🫢

Unfortunately, someone records the entire brawl and posts it on social media before they realize, and suddenly the Waynes are in Amity and so is the League.

And once the League takes one look at Phangom with his ectoplasmic abilities like the Lazarus pit they also attempt to capture him.

So now not only does the whole world know that there’s another Wayne girl, but that Damian and Paulina were raised in a cult and that Ghosts are real.

So Paulina and Danny take shelter in Gotham with the Wayne’s and JLA protecting them (the LOA is one of the JLAs enemies)

(Danny x Damian!!)

[ficcerspam]

DCxDP MULTIS [AO3]

Super Strength Shenanigans - 12.10.23* [AO3]

DCxDP - When Danny gets an internship in Gotham, concerned for his and his identity's safety they figure out he has super strength he can't control for human-standard fights. Shenanigans ensue.

Horror Movie Child!Danny AU - 12.18.23* [AO3]

DCxDP - Danny is adopted into the batfam having a coming of age movie, whilst the Batfam are going through Summer Horror Special.

Puppy!Danny AU - 12.28.23* [AO3]

DCxDP - Danny is Ace the Bathound AU! With Bonus Dan as Titus, Dani as Haley/Bitewing, and Jazz as Sparky and Dog. There have been multiple tags for this, so please be warned you WILL cry at part 3. Now with meme post. Any additional non-story posts will be under "phantom pups" tag on my main blog!

Preschool Teacher Danny AU - 01.26.25* [AO3}

JLxDP - Clark comes across a meta-teacher with a class of seemingly meta toddlers. He asks if there's any room for Jon.

This work is semi-abandoned, and will not be updated on Tumblr. Please subscribe to the AO3 on the off-chance my real life preschool teacher friend Naynay's stories inspire me once more. [please do not ask for more]

Sunshine and Stardust - 02.16.24* [AO3]

YJxDP - Danny is a clone of Superman AU, but he's a failure, a test dummy. Amidst the days of pain and experimentation, he hears another clone is being made.

WITH AMAZING FANART by brainman1987

Villain!Jazz AU - 04.07.23* [AO3]

**Disclaimer, NOT Jazz centered and heavily DP leaning** After lots of thought this AU will be exclusively updated on AO3 from now on! Please subscribe to it on AO3 instead of following it here :)

“Jazz’s Errands, and Gotham’s Curse” - Chapter 10 Snippet and Podfic

Grunkle John AU - 06.24.24* [AO3]

JLxDP - Batman finds out that John Constantine is basically Danny Phantom(high level threat, ghost king)'s weird uncle. I tell you the story of how that came to be.

Why you should date Superboy, a powerpoint presentation by Red Robin (and Danny Phantom), extras brought to you by @ashleyreyland!

Mama Canary AU - 07.13.24* [AO3]

JLxDP - Suddenly de-aged Danny meet Black Canary and accidentally ghost-wails at her...except all it does is push her back a couple feet, and make her think he's the cutest lil' canary in the world. Eventual Dead On Main.

Murderbros AU - 11.09.24* [AO3]

DC - I explore the brotherly relationship between Damian and Jason, tracing all the way back to their days at the LoA. Damian POV, Catatonic?LoA!Jason.

Mechanic!Val AU - 11.27.24* [AO3]

DCxDP - Val’s pretty sure her new boss Jay is actually a crime lord... mostly background Val/Steph, focus on Outsider POV Dead on Main. Val-centric.

Deleted Scenes/ Extras! - 01.15.25* [AO3]

The Infamous Chair Fic (Val/Steph Smut) -01.13.25* [AO3]

Tentacle Smut? In MY Wholesome AU?? (Dead on Main Smut) - 02.09.25* [AO3]

Fanart of Val the awesome @belfry-ghost made before this AU even existed on tumblr, and was just an idea in discord---

FANART OF VAL!!! by the lovely @phantomfen <3

FANART OF MY GIRLS!!! by the antagonistic (/j) @psyscha

Haunted Mansion AU - 11.04.24* [AO3]

DCxYJ - What it says on the tin---Dead tired, with background Dark Ages!

Amazing fanart of Ember's opening scene by my lovely VP @void-of-unparalled-chaos

A Christmas Carol AU - 12.25.24* [AO3]

DCxDP - Christmas Carol Inspired AU where the three Phantom siblings visit a 15 year old Jason just before he decides to go looking for his birth mother.

The Boy in the Mirror - 03.10.25* [AO3]

DCxDP - Tim has noticed something strange about his new brother, how he looks to his left and avoids the mirror. Demon Twins AU. Angst.

Building Graves like Homes - 03.21.25* [AO3]

DP- In which Danny unknowingly builds his own grave...in an unconventional way.

Family Reunion AU - 04.20.25 [AO3]

DCxDP- In which cousins Maddie and Clark try to smuggle their clone children into the family reunion that happens every 5 years and pretend they've been there the whole time to varying successes. Mainly Kid POV.

[scarlethood]

I'd like to add that marksmanship is not a new skill for Jason Todd. In Batman: The Cult written by Starlin in 1988, Jason as Robin is written to have near perfect aim trained by Thee Perfectionist, Bruce Wayne himself.

So even if you're of the mind that Bat training trumps all including League of Assassins affiliates, he’s got that in spades as well!

question about jason todd (sorry to all my moots if you have to see this but i was in the cassandra cain tag and soemthing pissed me off) but has it like ever been canon that jason is an 'expert marksman'? because i'm not a fan of him but as far as i know he just. uses Gun. he's never been specifically called out for his expert shooting or anything, he just has decent enough aim. is this true or has there been mentions in canon of crazy accuracy or some shit? because i'm pissed off