#look Damian canonically makes terrible first impressions

[bitterrobin]

I've realized as I write CHIROPTERA that a lot of the interactions/first impressions about Damian boil down to:

Dick/Tim/Barbara: damn. this kid sucks

Cass: *cringe*

Bette: noooo he's just a little guyyyy. he's just a babyyy

Tom: ok he sucks but he's funny when he insults people

Rory: ok he sucks but also, counterpoint, all kids suck and no that doesn't say anything about me-

[aingeal98]

Thinking again about the al Ghuls and how DC deliberately tanked it's own writing to turn them into ooc cartoony villains because the anti Arab racism post 9/11 was just too potent for them to resist. You take a villain whos love for his family is one of his core characterisations, he's sexist and evil and runs a cult but he forgives his daughter every time she betrays him to help Batman. He lost his godson fighting nazis in world war two, he wants Batman to be his heir, to be family. Because he respects Batman's mind.

And DC looks at this and gives him a Jewish daughter who Ra's left to die in a concentration camp because in Death and the Maidens he found the Nazis to be useful allies. Nazis, who not even Joker would team up with. Who Ra's had talked about fighting against in older continuity. Whoever came up with that plotline needs to never work in comics again.

Nyssa tortures Talia into insanity and turns her into a willing member of the LoA who believes in Ra's vision for the future. Because it wasn't bad enough to assassinate Ra's, every single Asian character in DC had to be one dimensional racist evil villains. It's no coincidence this was the time period they tried to make Cass Cain evil too.

In Cass's case, the backlash to the awful writing forced them to retcon it. In the al Ghul's case, Morrison used it for Damian's story as if evil Talia and evil Ra's who didn't care about his family at all were always canon, and not just a disgusting racist retcon. And now it's the go to characterisation for them. Talia drugging Batman is still what a lot of dc fans assume is canon, even though it was retconned. And there was no reason for it to exist in the first place other than racism.

For DC to actually fix the al Ghuls, they'd have to acknowledge that Talia was brainwashed into being evil, and come up with some retcon for Ra's oocness. The Lazarus Pit is right there as an excuse. Robin Son of Batman managed it with Talia.

But instead DC seems to be working off the impression that their shitty writing for the past 15 years was the character's natural state. It's why "holding Talia accountable for her crimes" doesn't work any better than holding Cass accountable for all the terrible things she did during the garbage evil era.

DC needs to hold itself accountable instead of the characters. More of Ra's Talia and Damian bonding. Ra's runs a cult he is not a good person and it's a good thing that Damian got out but if you can't show that without relying on racist stereotypes and 00s character assassination then why are you even a writer lol. More clarification that what the Ra's and Talia did was not in character for them. Less "I helped torture baby Damian as part of his training but I felt really sad about it." That's never been what gave the al Ghuls their complexity.

Basically, stop trying to add nuance to the racist post 9/11 al Ghul characterisation and just give us back LexCorp era Talia and pre DATM Ra's. You're one of the top two comic book brands in the industry surely you can find someone who can make Damian's backstory work without destroying the rest of his family in the process.

[baticorngirl]

Okay, so. I know we all know about all the Talia-demonizing in Episode 13 of Wayne Family Adventures, and it totally sucks. Now, I'm not saying that it was okay for the webtoon to spring on such claims, some of which aren't even true in the modern canon, much less in-character for her,,,, BUT I've thought of some ways Damian might have said them without them necessarily meaning she's actually a terrible parent in this universe.

I know I'm not going in order but we're starting with this one:

We all know this just blatantly isn't true. Goliath exists, after all.

So, I propose to you... Maybe it's not true? Maybe Damian's not even saying the truth?

I know this sounds wrong, and bad, and I'm not trying to say Damian's a liar, but consider-- he is nine. Barely nine, in fact. He cannot be expected to be the slightest bit mature, and we've already seen him exaggerating or under-exaggerating things when a parent says no.

He's just that kind of kid. This is a different kind of lie, though, and a very severe one at that, but consider-- Damian's desire for batmobile-driving is NOTHING compared to his love for pets. He's bound to overreact to her boundaries on the matter, even if, as we know Goliath exists, that boundary technically isn't actually zero. Maybe she simply said two pets or less, or something along the lines of that.

But is our little animal-obsessed sweetheart okay with that? No. Not at all. He keeps tracking down these poor little pets to take in and that HEARTLESS MONSTER is making him just give them over to a shelter.

So anyway, upon being reminded of this limit by the new dog, Damian is simultaneously reminded that his mother is, obviously, a HEARTLESS MONSTER for not wanting the house to be flooded with kittens, hence the remark on her not wanting him to have attachment to living things.

Basically, what I'm saying is that.. Since when is Damian not petty?

And maybe he's just too young to fully comprehend how inappropriate his lie his. As I already said, he is a child!

On to the other remark:

This one took me a little longer to come up with a reasoning for, not gonna lie. But I figured a story out, so here we go--

Now, first of all, maybe if we think of it as less of her "running at him" and more him chasing him. It means pretty much the same thing, anyway, but the latter is just a more common, casual way of phrasing it. I want you to consider-- is it wrong for a parent to chase after their child? No. Obviously not.

As long as they're not chasing their child with a weapon and/or to hurt them, that is... which, unfortunately, it does appear this remark is referring to. But what if she wasn't doing it with any ill-intentions? It never said "to attempt my murder". it just said she ran at him with some kind of impressive swords.

But she's still running him with a weapon, right? That seems wrong, right?

Well, I'm going to start at the beginning of the story.

Damian had to start training with swords at an extremely early age, as we all know. Somewhat because it is expected for him to do some assassin work in the future, and somewhat just because Talia wants him to be prepared and safe in dangerous situations.

But swords are sharp, obviously. A child, especially if not being closely supervised, could EASILY land himself in the hospital with one, or even land himself in a grave. It's just not safe for a child to handle something so sharp. But how the heck can he get anywhere in his training without even using the weapon he's training for?

That being said, it's the wrist movement he's learning, not the actual blade's cut. All he needs is an adequate handle, not an adequate blade.

So, it's possible Talia got him some kind of training sword. It had the same handle as a regular, and on the outside looked mostly the same (in fact, it's possible Ra's wasn't even aware Damian was using a fake at all), but the blade was completely dull. Yet, despite it not even being real, Talia made sure it was embedded with jewels and fancy designs. Her little baby couldn't have a basic sword, could he? Of course not, he was too special for that!

But Talia would play games with Damian sometimes, obviously. Sometimes, they'd play simple games of tag or, rather than a proper 'you're it' game, she'd simply chase him around playfully. At some point, the training sword had been nearby, and just as a joke, Talia had chased him with it. It started a thing, where every time she wanted to chase him, she'd pick up the sword and use it as prop.

Damian wasn't scared, though. As I already mentioned, that sword wasn't even a real weapon with such a dull blade, and although she could still hit him with it, it was pretty obvious every time that it wasn't her intentions. Considering the fact that Talia was always smiling or even laughing softly, and Damian had gotten used to the chasing enough to recognize that every time, it ended with hugs, tickling, gentle jokes, "I love you"s, or some mix of the four, he had no reason to be upset by the behavior.

In fact, it got a little kid's giggle out of him, too. It was just a game. Even when she did it because he was refusing to go to bed or some minor misbehavior of the like, it was still just to scoop him up in a cuddle as she brought him back to his room to sleep.

Obviously, though, he did graduate to a full sword not too long later, once he had proved himself responsible and well-trained enough with his fake set. Yet, their chasing still continued. In fact, at that point, the little games were the only thing that the fake one was being used for.

So, right before Damian left for his father, that was really what he knew the training sword as. Not as his old training sword, but as the "swords mother used to run at me with".

Upon seeing the crossbow, he obviously immediately wants to insult how unimpressive it is. So, what better way to insult it than compare it to his freakin' training-wheels sword from when he was a tiny thing??? That's one solid insult right there.

But because Damian remembers it most recently from their little games, he simply refers to it as that instead, because in his head it doesn't matter-- they're the same thing.

Now, I know what you're thinking-- how could a dull sword be considered impressive? It's not even a real weapon!

And to that I remind you that Damian could've just as much meant simply the fanciness of the "weapon" in appearance. As he came from such a rich family, even the fake sword had jewels encrusted inside. It's definitely impressive, especially compared to such a simple crossbow!

In conclusion, this appears to be the perfectly insulting remark to Damian. Yet, he's just so used to the little games of tag being a part of his life that it has not occurred to him at all how horrible that sounds from the outside. Especially when you consider that the League of Assassins, where he was raised, LOVES swords. Nobody cares what you do with them as long as you use them lol. They're much more normalized in that society than in the society 'the Waynes' live in.

Now, I know this is a really complicated, unlikely situation. There's just so many things adding up to the misunderstanding that don't seem realistic, huh? Well I want you to consider-- are your own family's inside jokes simple? How easy are they to explain?

In real life, routines happen based off of so many things. This could've happened. It's not what Wayne Family Adventures was hinting, obviously, but hey, if it really did happen, it makes sense with what he said! More sense, possibly even, than him trying to use "not even as impressive as the swords my mother runs at me with" because there's an actual reason they shouldn't be impressive.

Besides, anything makes more sense than Talia, a character originally eternally loving and a good mother according to all the pre-morrison AUs that show as her as one, running at her own child swinging a sword at him!

(Also, I am aware he said "swords" not just "sword". He probably had more than one training sword, even if I only referred to it as a single object.)

Anyway, just some ideas! If anyone wants to add on, feel free!

[catxsnow]

REPLACED part two

Summary: Part 2 to replaced. It was Damian’s time to train you, this time you were ready

Warning: mentions of blood, canon violence, Bruce being an ass 

A/N: Had this requested a few times lol. Here it is! Also I’m rewatching The Witcher and 🥵🥵

Part one

Word Count: 2.3k

"Again."

Sweat dripped down your body and you were heaving for breath. The cold training room now emanated with heat just from your movements. It had to have been hours that you were down there, working until you had perfected your motions. Hours of blood, sweat, and tears, but that wasn't going to make you stop.

You rested on your hands and knees, trying to catch your breath. Today had been harder than the rest, you had been pushed far past your limits. Frustrated tears gathered in your eyes from not being able to get this down packed. Again and again you failed miserably - just like you had for years before.

"Again!" Damian repeated louder. He stood over you with his arms crossed and a nonchalant stance. Sparring with him was terrible. You never won and he never held back. You would leave the training room with bruises and cuts every time. He was ruthless, just as he was trained to be when he was a child.

Damian had taken you up on your offer to train you. Unfortunately, he only knew one way to do it. Damian wasn't patient like Dick, he was frustrated the second that you fell to the mat. He didn't worry about you or your feelings like Tim did. The only thing that he did do, was teach your more than Bruce ever had.

Your hands clenched into fists at his anger towards you. You swore that the only reason that Damian kept this up was because he liked to win so often. In your months of working together, he never seemed to gain any more like towards you. Not that you were surprised about it, his heart was cold.

Every muscle in your body screamed at you not to get back up and fight. You needed rest from this. It drained you more and more every day but if that meant that you would get to go out on patrol, to prove everyone wrong, it was worth it. You had improved so much with Damian's help.

"Get. Up!" Damian yelled.

"I can't," you finally whispered. Your voice was broken. Damian had barely heard what you had said. He dropped his sword onto the mat beside. Instead of walking off like you had expected him to, Damian grabbed the collar of your shirt and heaved you up to his eye level. You were startled by the movement.

"You get up or you get out," Damian threatened. His eyes were narrowed as he waited for your response. He wasn't going to waste anymore time if you weren't willing to put in the effort needed. He had spent years being pushed by his grandfather, his skills didn't just come naturally.

Damian was letting you off easy with his version of training. Had it been his mother instead? You would never have made it past the first day. He was stern, but he would never treat you as he was treated. No one deserved that.

You had no response. Getting back up seemed impossible to you. Defeating him seemed impossible. Damian scoffed at you lack of motivation. He dropped the collar of your shirt, letting you fall back to the ground. The echo of his footsteps walking away rang through your ears.

Just another person giving up on me.

No. No, you had come way too far for someone else to give up on you. You needed to do this, not for everyone, but for yourself. Proving that you could do this is the one thing that you always thrived for. Giving up couldn't be an option anymore. This was your time to become who you were always meant to be.

Damian paused as he heard the clank of his sword being picked up. You stood tall and proud, the heavy metal tight in your grip. Damian turned back to face you, a smirk on his lips as he saw you wipe away the blood from your busted lip. As long as you weren't going to give up on yourself, he wasn't going to give up on you.

"Again," you parroted his words. It was the first time that you held his weapon. For some reason, it felt at home in your palms. Maybe you had been taking this whole training from the wrong perspective. You were always trying to be like Bruce, and even Dick. Maybe if you were going to be trained by Damian, you needed to use the same kind of weapon as him.

Just from mimicking the moves that you had seen him do time after time, you had moved so much more effortlessly. It seemed almost natural to swing the great blade around, like you had been doing it for years.

Damian ruthlessly attacked you, giving you everything that he had left in his system. For once, you had been able to hold you ground. You felt confident in what you were doing - both on offense and defense. Damian was shocked by your sudden skill - he hadn't even considered that you wished to use a weapon like his.

Damian had jumped up to get a higher angle against you. It was as if every gear turning in your body had been perfectly in sync - you knew exactly what you needed to do. Just as Damian was mid-air, you had landed a perfect kick right into his abdomen. It had caught him so off guard that he didn't have time to catch himself before hitting the mat.

You stood above him, the tip of his own blade pressed lightly against his skin. After months of training, you had finally taken him down. You removed the sword, spinning it around in your hand before offering him help up. Damian accepted it, along with his weapon that you handed over.

His usually angered scowl was replaced with a prideful smile. It was the first time he had looked at you like this. You had genuinely taken him down without going easy on you. Damian was impressed, which didn't happen very often.

"You did good, (L/N)," he congratulated you. Of course you still had a long way to go, but if you continued to progress at this speed - you would be just as good as everyone else. "I believe it's time to test the new suit."

Your eyes widened in shock. With Damian taking your place as Robin, you had to create a completely different persona. This one, suited you far more than Robin ever would have. You hadn't gotten the chance to go out to the streets to use it, Damian still deemed you unready. Until now.

Bruce was out of the city that week - it would be just the two of you out there. For some god forsaken reason, it didn't scare you anymore. Being by Damian's side out there excited you.

"I'm ready."

><

The smile on your face wouldn't disappear.

After coming back from patrol you had been ecstatic about it. The night had gone perfectly smooth. Snobbish criminals were out and about - the perfect candidate for your first night out. Damian would watch from above, ready to swoop in if you ever needed help. There was only once where you had been far too out numbered.

A couple bruises here and there but nothing that was going to slow you down. You would have been out until dawn if he would have let you. Being out there, saving people, it made you feel alive. There was nothing more that you wanted than to go back out. Saving people, it was a whole thrill you didn't realize you were missing out on.

Damian could see how happy you were to be out there. When under Bruce's training you had gone out a few times here and there, but each time you were to stand by, never to dive in unless necessary. Damian had let you take the lead all night, it was a learning curve that you needed to accomplish.

Even getting back to the cave, you were still vibrating with excitement. As soon as you hoped off your motorcycle, you had flipped all around the cave. Damian only watched you - even though you were several years older than he was, it felt as if he was the adult. This whole time training you it felt as if he was older.

"That was incredible, Damian!" You grinned, stopping in front of him. The high of your night wasn't going away any time soon. It had gone well tonight, but Damian dreaded to see you after the hard nights. The nights that you couldn't save everyone. He suddenly felt protective of you, not wanting you to see how cruel it really was out there.

"What the hell were you thinking?" A sudden voice bombed through the cave. You and Damian were on high alert, weapons raised as to who was angered at you. Bruce stood at the entrance of the cave, his suit on and cowl lowered. You could see the scowl on his lips and feel the anger that radiated off of him.

He must have come back early from his trip. Bruce came home to an empty cave with both your suits out of their cases. He had known about your training with Damian, your sudden rebellion against him. He never imagined that Damian would be so reckless to take you out on the streets without him.

When he noticed the matching swords in your hands, he had only gotten more angered. Bruce hated Damian's choice of weapon - it was deadly and if used incorrectly could do more damage than it was worth. To have you pick up on his bad choices as well? It had enraged him. In the short time that he was gone, it seemed like you had betrayed him more than ever.

"Father-" Damian tried to explain.

"(Y/N) could have been killed because of this reckless behavior! Innocent people could have been killed!" Bruce shouted. He stormed towards the two of you. Whatever mission he was on must have gone bad, he was angrier than usual. "They're not ready! You had no right to lead a patrol without me knowing like that! It was irresponsible and-"

"Enough!" You yelled. You were tired of Bruce treating you like a little kid still. It was like he still saw you as that weak child that showed up to his home. You had grown, far more than ever in these few months. Bruce couldn't accept that you were old enough to realize what you could handle and what you couldn't.

Bruce and Damian looked over at you in shock at your sudden outburst. Ever since that fight with Bruce in the library, you had been giving him the cold shoulder. This was the first time that you had outburst to him in a long time.

"Damian's trained me better than you ever have Bruce," you narrowed your eyes at him. Damian noticed as you stepped between him and his father, as if you were protecting him. "You just don't want to accept that your son is better than you will ever be! I'm ready to be out there! I'm ready and you just can't fucking admit that it wasn't you who got me here."

"Dick, Jason, Steph, they were all right about you," You continued. "You raised kids as weapons, and as soon as they defy you, you can't handle it. Everyone left you, Bruce! Can't you see the pattern! It isn't because they're grown, it's because you're too fucking stubborn to see things any other way."

You scoffed at him and his ridiculous anger for thinking that he still had control over what you could and couldn't do. Damian watched as you stalked away from the both of them, slamming into Bruce's shoulder as you passed. Just like the rest of the kids that he had taken in, it was your time to leave as well.

Even if you appreciated everything that Damian did for you, you couldn't stay in that house anymore. Having Bruce watch over you, waiting for you to make one mistake so he could revoke your privileges, you couldn't handle it anymore. Bruce was the one holding you back for years, now that you were liberated, you weren't going to let it continue.

"(L/N)," Damian called out for you. He was jogging to catch up, leaving his father in the cave to ponder your words. It wasn't time for him to leave his father, not yet, but he understood where you were coming from. Bruce was the one to hold you back, you needed to be free of his reign to grow even more.

You paused for Damian, wondering what he had to say to you. You wished him to join you, the two of you could become your own dynamic duo. Damian would do better with you then he ever would with Bruce. Even if you had much to learn from him, he too had so much to gain from you.

"I just wanted to say," he awkwardly coughed before finishing. "I'm proud of you. For learning, adapting, for standing up for yourself. Whenever you wish to train more, I would feel honoured to help. I wish you the best of luck."

"Don't worry, Dames. I could never replace you."

[wesavegotham]

I think what a lot of people who didn't pay attention to Teen Titans since Glass took over don't know is that all those terrible things that have happened to Damian in the last 2-3 years that should have had a strong impact on Damian are not actually adressed as being triggers for Damian's behaviour in Teen Titans.

Damian feeling devastated after Dick got shot by KGBeast?

Nightwing annual 2

Damian feeling sad after discovering that Jon is almost an adult now and things are definitely not the same anymore?

Superman 16

Damian feeling neglected by Bruce?

Detective Comics 1017

Damian blaming himself for Alfred's death (even though he was just following Bruce's orders)?

Batman: Pennyworth RIP

So yeah, we have canon evidence that Damian does care about these things...none of it is used to explain his actions in Teen Titans though.

The official reason Damian gives to us in Teen Titans for why he acts the way he does is that he's sick of the villains escaping Gotham's prisons all the time and killing innocent people over and over again after witnessing the owner of his favourite restaurant getting murdered (guy was never mentioned before and was never mentioned again), which is why he builds his own secret prison where he plans to lock up criminals for all eternity under inhumane circumstances. That's pretty much it.

The prison fails because of course it does. Criminals escaping prison to fight Batman or in this case Damian again is necessary for how comics work. Damian was doomed to fail.

So after the prison failed Damian and Djinn start mind wiping criminals to make them forget about their previous life and manipulate them into peaceful members of society, but rob them of their free will in the process.

After Djinn's departure from the team (and her accusing Damian of having used her, which isn't what actually happened, but the story suddenly acted like it is at the end of #41) the mind control is also lifted, meaning that approach also failed.

Dick, Jon, Alfred, none of this matters in Glass's run. It's only about Damian being unhappy with Batman's methods.

Which brings us to Teen Titans 42. This is the first issue written by Robbie Thompson alone after taking over completely from the previous writer Adam Glass. At this point in time I can only talk about the preview for issue 42:

Together with the solicitations for the next few issues and Glass' confirmation that Damian will definitely lose the robin mantle in the annual we have to assume that Damian's insistence on not going far enough (already stated by him at the end of #41) in his war against crime probably means he wants to hunt down criminals to kill them, breaking Batman's sacred no kill rule.

I guess I appreciate Thompson finally adressing Damian's grief for Alfred in this and that he's alone, but the way he does it is rather peculiar.

Instead of making Damian angry at Bruce for being the one at fault Damian had to watch Alfred die and finally adressing that Bruce hasn't taken care of Damian in months the book chooses weird things for Damian to complain about.

The lack of guidance is attributed to Alfred's death in this preview, not to Bruce's neglect, even though Alfred was very much alive during most of the events of Teen Titans and didn't try to guide Damian either. He also didn't pressure Bruce into taking care of his estranged son at any point in time. Alfred is actually pretty useless in this storyline.

Thompson also makes Damian accuse Bruce of only reacting to crime and not fighting against the cause of crime, which is kinda ridiculous when you consider the amount of contingency plans Bruce has for everything and the fact that he's currently rebuilding Gotham from the ground up in hopes of lowering Gotham's crime rate permanently. Bruce is very much proactive in his war against crime.

So why doesn't the book use valid points of criticism against Bruce and why doesn't it use the recent terrible events in Damian's life to explain his actions?

My personal impression of this storyline and how it treats Damian is that we are not supposed to sympathize with him, we are not supposed to feel like he has a point. Damian is not the tragic protagonist of this story, Damian feels like the antagonist.

He's the person on the team who lead the others astray and he's the only one of them who refuses to learn and see that this path is wrong. The official reasons Damian has for leaving Bruce's side are not valid because this isn't really about Damian proving Bruce wrong and finding a more effective way to combat crime, this story is just a tool for DC to justify Damian getting kicked out of his position. Bruce isn't supposed to be the bad guy in this, Damian is.

DC isn't interested in making Damian actions feel reasonable and they're also not interested in making Bruce the true antagonist of the story. We fans might look at this differently, but DC tries to paint a different picture.

[ten-ten31]

Dear Yuletide Writer

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thank you so much for writing for me! :) I can't tell you just how excited I am. This is my first Yuletide and I guess I'm super nervous, but also looking forward to it. :)

Please feel free to browse my ao3 (KitKaos) and/or tumblr to get an idea of what I stan, like, read or write. I hope I can give you some broad ideas and inspirations in this letter to help you plan. Do feel free to fall back on my general likes if the prompts don't do anything for you. Or just use the prompts, whatever works best for you. Oh, and should you, dear Yuletide Santa, want to write in German and not in English, then I'm definitely okay with that. I'm fluent in both, so whichever you feel more comfortable with. If there's something missing or if you have a question, you can reach out to me via the mods.

General likes: I'm a sucker for the old friends-to-lovers or even enemies-to-lovers (with all the drama of grudginly admitting that the other party maybe isn't all that terrible and all). Things I'll never get tired of include coffeeshop AUs, spy AUs, musical AUs, found families, fake dating, pining, crossdressing, drunken shenanigans, fish-out-of-water situations, pop culture references, etc. Just about any kind of scene you can sneak in there about cooking or eating food (also characters being picky about certains foods and other characters going to some lengths to accommodate that) will make me happy, too. I do have a thing for descriptions of food and expecially impressions of taste - and if you want to make it kinky: food play. ;) I also have a bit of a hand fetish - so descriptions of hands are always welcome. If you want to do it, I probably also won't say no to someone breaking the Fourth Wall, any kind of alternate history AU, crossovers of my fandoms, or even some lovely steampunk aesthetics.

Do Not Want: rape/dubcon/noncon, watersports, scat, humiliation, A/B/O, soulmates AU, vampire/werewolf AU, second-person pov, character bashing of any kind.

*

Fandoms

Just two more thing before I go into detail: 1. The prompts below are nothing more than ideas - feel free to ignore them if you have a better one. :) 2. Not all of the characters need to be used in every prompt; pick and choose as desired.

*

Dial H for Hero (DC Comics)

- Summer Pickens, Miguel Montez

The 2019 12-issue run is just pure love! There is worldbuilding galore, relatable characters, a wonderful coming-of-age and initiation plot, interdimensional shenanigans, the question how Joe Average could get addicted to sudden superpowers, and so much fun with the concept of Superhero Secret Origins. Summer is a wonderfully strong and caring female lead and Miguel is a self-conscious little oddball.

As for prompts: Seeing more of their Metropolis adventures or Red/Yellow/Blue/Black Dial transformations would definitely be a lot of fun. Also, there's this cute boy Miguel asks out in the comics and I would love to see that first date. And what about Summer? She definitely won't be reduced to sidekick!

Feel free to include any other ((teenage) superhero) cameos you feel like. Please do not pair up Summer and Miguel romantically - although I don't have any problems with a fake relationship fic for them. ;)

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Masks: A New Generation (Roleplaying Game)

- any / worldbuilding

I only just disovered Masks as an RPG, and ever since I started playing, it's probably the most fun rping I've had in a long time. I love that playbooks are not by the type of power but the type of problem each teenager faces personally. Like, how do you juggle school, first love, being different in a way no one should know about, being different maybe in a way people will immediately see, adults telling you who to be, chores, and being part of a young superhero team that wants to make a name for themselves? It's hard. And the best sessions alternate between deep emotional connections, hilarious teenage drama and great action scenes.

As for prompts: I would love me some good worldbuilding - so maybe there is a reason the Scarlet Songbird is still around? What was Halcyon City like back in the days of the Golden-Age heroes? What has changed since then? How do especially the older generations view the naming conventions going around for new heroes? Is there a code to follow? Who in Halcyon City pays for all the damage to buildings and infrastructure caused by superhero-supervillain fights? What was it like back in the olden days for the Golden Age heroes as opposed to now?  Are there cultural exchange programs with any of the alien races visiting from time to time? Give me a day in the life of an average Halcyon City citizen - they don't even have to be all that close to an epic fight or something. Just their way of coping with the daily madness of a huge city housing most of the world's superheroes. If you like something a little more character-specific: The one actual-play podcast that does it best in my opinion are the Theatre of the Mind Players with their "Future Shock" and "Past Tense" seasons of Masks. And I would love to read more about these characters. Have Sparrow and Figment finally get together. Give me a glimpse of how Horizon assembled his ersatz mom. What will Helix and Remix get up to?

Where to find it: The core rulebook is available from Magpie Games. The Theatre of the Mind Players’ Masks sessions can be found on Youtube.

Super Sons (Comics)

- Jonathan Samuel Kent, Damian Wayne

Super Sons is how I finally came to like and care for Damian Wayne - which, if you know me, is a major achievement! He is still a huge brat, don't get me wrong, but Jon's influence on him and the way he is confronted with certain issues he has... it's magical! It's wholesome! It's healing! They are both so fiercely protective of each other, and they both grow as characters from their experiences with each other.

As for prompts: So, dear Yuletide Santa, give me character growth and banter and friendship galore. I can see slumber parties at Wayne Manor or at the Kent farm. I can see them getting lost in space and time. I can see more adventures once they're at the same school. I can see a canon-divergence AU where Jon is finally admitted into the the Teen Titans at age 13 - how would that go? Or how about an Interrail Buddies AU?

If you want to write slashfic for them, I will not say no but would probably prefer to age them up a bit. I also most definitely don't mind any background appearances of any of their families.

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Superman Returns (2006)

- any (Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Richard White)

I still love this movie a lot - not because it's particularly spectacular, but it treats the characters with love, it treats the legacy of the Reeve movies with love and it leaves SO MANY questions for fanfiction authors to answer. ;) I mean, I've been a Superman fan for a long time and I've discovered that I'm most comfortable with a Clark who wears a mask both as Clark Kent and as Superman, who isn't either of those two (and who is fallible). And whenever someone learns of his secret identity, they will see that he's so much more than either Clark or Superman. I know Lois is a fairly underdeveloped character in this movie, so I would love for her to be treated not just as a prize, especially since there were those years of her having to put her life back together after Supes just up and left.

As for prompts, I've always wondered about the different coping mechanisms (Lois turning bitter, Jimmy starting up daydrinking - WTF?!) and just how their day-to-day business changed without Clark and Supes there. Give me the Planet staff banding together to rescue Lois when she remembers just that second too late that there will be no superhero to save them (I also wouldn't mind any of the Bats helping out secretly, if that's up your alley). Give me Jimmy trying not to think too much and instead getting on Lois' nerves until he's rescued by Richard intervening. I am also an absolute sucker for continuation fics, so how do things settle down after what happens in the movie? I would love for some real Clark and Jimmy bonding moments, maybe even Jimmy finding out or having known all along and covered for Clark. I would love for some truce and real friendship blossoming between Clark and Richard, as they are both intelligent, compassionate, insightful men. If you want to include Jason anywhere, feel free to do that, as he makes for such a wonderful catalyst for disaster. Feel free to write gen or any canon pairings - I'm also okay with non-canon het/slash pairs (or threesomes) as long as they make sense in-universe. ;)

Where to find it: Sadly, the movie doesn’t seem to be streaming anywhere, but since it’s 14 years old now, you can buy it relatively cheap.

Young Justice (Comics)

- Tim Drake (but do feel free to have any of the other characters in the story, too)

No matter if you're into the old 1990s YJ comics, the companion comics to the cartoon show, or the new 2019/20 version of the comics - I love all of them! So much I don't even know where to begin... The snark! The lovable teenage stupidity! The friendship that goes above and beyond! My definite favourite is Tim, because he is such a bright, snarky, secretive, repressed little bird (the moment he takes off his domino mask to reveal a second one underneath? priceless)! I also love his deep friendship with the others because that's his found family. Yes, Batman is his mentor (even though Tim might understand B better than the other way round sometimes) and Dick is his older brother and idol (hero worship, anyone?), but Young Justice is where he wants to be himself and all of it.

As for prompts: Even though I did not put either Cassie or Cissie in my request as I want something Tim-centric, the dynamic with those two strong-willed girls is definitely something I would love to see explored more. Also how the dynamic with the bats is so very different than the Young Just Us dynamic. What's it like being the one without powers in a group of hormonal teenage superheroes? I also just realized that I would love to see more of Mister Sarcastic trolling the rest of the gang. Or how about: What if Tim had powers for one day? If you're into the 2019 comics, how about a 5+1 of Why Drake May Or May Not Be A Good Superhero Alias. If you want to include the rest of the gang, you're definitely more than welcome to. Tim and Kon's bickering and outright arguments in the beginning turning into such a solid friendship (or more) is something I can read about time and time again. Pretty much the same goes for Tim and Bart. Or how about some Wendy the Werewolf Stalker shenanigans? Why is having girls in your group a bad/good idea? How did Cassie's becoming the team's leader affect Tim's sense of self? Heck, if you feel like it, open up the love triangle Tim-Cassie-Kon since there's like a ton of history there. Oh, and anyway, why is Stephanie Brown never part of any of Tim's teams? Dear Yuletide Santa, do also feel free to include any of the other teens (I have a soft spot for Li'l Lobo/Slobo).

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Overall, I’m sure I’ll love what you have for me, and I'm looking forward to reading it! <3

[plasticdxntshine-blog]

PLOT + CONNECTIONS CALL !!! for cady heron

BLUE CREEK

fellow grad students ( studying data science or related subjects, fellow teacher’s assistants )

students she tutors ( specifically math or biology related )

ex-significant other ( no preferred gender, dumped cady because she was not her true self )

crush(es) that she is constantly trying to impress

close friend(s) that give advice ( both good and terrible advice accepted and blindly followed )

MEAN GIRLS

any and all canon characters ( especially janis, the plastics, damian, and the north shore crew )

random north shore students ( who knew her mostly in her peak plastic days, potentially idolized / looked up to her )

like this post & i’ll dm you ( either on here or discord ) OR if you like to make the first move, my discord is caroline#6199

[oh-mother-of-darkness]

asks (20)

@winchdean said: Hi. I'm sending you this message to ask to reblog my friend's post because her parents kicked her out for being gay and now she lost her job and she doesn't have money for meds, food and rent. Can you do that? Thank you! 

Sure thing! Here’s the donation post right here if any of y’all can help 

Anonymous said: Hey! I just, I've been so desperate I'm from Mexico but because of some papers I have to stay in US, I've been here for 6 months and it's not that much to hear but it feels like a year I haven't see my friends, i really miss my life and I feel like I need to talk without just texting, I'm really getting crazy I feel so angry and emotional But there's something I always question myself, am I right to feel this way? Or am I just been exaggerating?

I think it’s important to remember that the reality of a situation doesn’t always matter. If something hurts, if you feel bad, if you’re in pain, it doesn’t matter whether that should be true or not. That’s how you feel. You’re hurting, and you’re forced to deal with that. It makes the situation hard, no matter the reality of the thing.

But for the record? That does sound terrible, and I’m sorry you’re in that position. Let me know if I can help with anything <3

@fernandidilly-yo said: This might be a really stupid question, but I was wondering, is it canon that Damian goes to school, or is that fanon?

That one is fanon! Damian is homeschooled. He did attend Gotham Academy for about a week one time as part of a mission, but that’s the only school he’s ever gone to.

The homeschool thing has been repeated in multiple series, but I don’t really feel like tracking the other panels down just now. Here’s Damian getting expelled from GA though. Look at my boy being all noble

Anonymous said: Hi. I'm a new-big-fan of the batfamily and especially the realationships between the siblings! From what I've gathered Dick and Tim had a good brother run (pre52? I've no clue in the new52 or rebirth it's still very confusing to me) but as for now Dick has a very close relationship with Damian, which is great but I'm like what about Tim now? Are they still close? What's going on?

Ughhhhhhhhh okay here’s what happened. Yes, Tim and Dick were super close in the preboot, and that relationship was well-developed over decades of material. They were brothers, and even before that, Dick was a big part of Tim’s life-- Tim discovered Batman and Robin’s secret identities when he saw Dick as Robin execute the signature move of Haly’s Flying Graysons... which Tim recognized because he was in the crowd the night Dick’s parents died.

Tim spent years watching Dick and Bruce before he stepped forward, and when he did it was to talk to Dick. Dick was Tim’s childhood hero. They were extremely close.

But then came Scott Lobdell, one of the few writers I’m prepared to openly shit-talk around here. Lobdell wrote the n52 origin stories for both Jason and Tim. Both of them are terrible, horrible failures, but we’re going to limit ourselves to Tim’s right now. In Teen Titans #0 (n52), Lobdell completely rewrote Tim’s backstory, and one of the worst things he did was completely remove Dick from the equation. In Lobdell’s version, Tim never discovered Batman’s identity on his own, and he never knew Dick at all. 

Now this has presumably been retconned (I think) (please let it be retconned) by Rebirth, and there was an unpublished issue of n52 Nightwing that included the old version of their introduction, but in the n52 Tim and Dick’s relationship got screwed. Lobdell also decided that Tim’s closest sibling was Jason, which is.... wow oh boy that’s something else, and although Tim and Dick did interact every once in awhile, they never seemed particularly close. I will note, however, that emotional distance between the n52 Batfamily is pretty damn normal.

Anonymous said: WONDERWOMAN WAS SO GOOD

IT REALLY WAS I cried real tears when she stepped out of that trench..... it was just.... so majestic and wonderful

@almost-puzzlesme said: ERMAGHERD DID YOU SEE IT

I forgot to answer this message!!! I’m so sorry!!! Yes, I saw it, and I’ve been screaming about it ever since

Anonymous said: So apparently Jason is a role model and Dick is Damian's other dad. Thanks Rebirth.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Anonymous said: Crap! How do I keep missing your giveaways by less than five minutes?!

Ah that’s really more my fault than yours :/// I used to do dignified giveaways where I gave everyone enough time to reblog the post and enter as many times as they wanted, but I got tired of keeping track of all of that. The way I do it now definitely rewards the people who are always online, which is an unfortunate bias

I hope you win eventually <3

Anonymous said: I don't need a plush I just wanted you to know you're very sweet for offering to make them :D

Oh thank you! You’re very sweet too

@arabian-batboy said: Thanks a lot for doing that request, I actually almost forgot that Jason would look older than Bruce last saw him, it makes me wonder if maybe one day some computer-person (maybe Tim?) close to Bruce would photoshop a pic of Jason to make him look as old as if he was still alive so that they would give it as a gift to Bruce and how Bruce would react to that (assuming this was before Jason came back)

Hmmmm that would be something I could see Bruce doing himself, but I’m not sure it would be a good idea for anyone else to spring on him. Bruce was pretty possessive of Jason’s memory while he was gone, and I don’t think he would react well to that particular surprise

@glorytommy said: This is a tumblr hug. 💕 (Send this to your ten favorite blogs)

@nightwinglover said: Thank you for existing. 💗 Send this to 10 people who you think deserve a sweet and kind message in their inbox ❤💛💚💙💜

@novelty--night said: Thank you for existing. 💗 Send this to 10 people who you think deserve a sweet and kind message in their inbox ❤💛💚💙💜

Thank y’all :)

Anonymous said: I was just thinking about your post about how Gotham thinks Damian killed Tim and I was sad because while Damian is probably outwardly like 'tch Drake's death just proves he truly was inferior' he's probably actually pretty messed up about it. And he hears the whispers and rumors and sees the glances at meetings and galas and regardless of his past attempts on Tim's life it still makes him a little sick to his stomach to know people believe he truly did murder him in cold blood just for money.

Right?? It would be super messed up for a couple reasons, the first being that Damian super did try to kill Tim that one time, so even though he wouldn’t try it now-- and that growth is very important in how he sees himself-- he can’t exactly claim the high ground on this particular accusation. Plus it can’t be easy to have thousands of people add to your grief by accusing you of murdering someone you love are related to

Anonymous said: Please bury me in your Jason Todd plushies. Thank you.

Have you considered the chance that those plushies might crawl out of your grave, as they once did themselves

Anonymous said: What do you think would happen next after your catatonic Jason fic? Do you think Bruce would realize he wasn't hallucinating? When he does dies he assume this is just a homeless not that looks too much like Jason? That fic killed me and I would love any other thoughts you have on it

Hm assuming that we’re maintaining the proper timeline, Bruce can’t realize that’s really Jason-- if he did, Jason wouldn’t have ended up with the League, and we’d be looking at a very different fallout. I suppose we’ll have to say that Bruce never did figure it out, which is only believable if that kind of thing happened to Bruce all the time. And I think it did. He saw Jason everywhere, and the first few times, he investigated. That might really be Jason, maybe he isn’t dead, maybe this isn’t in my head.... but all of those times, it wasn’t. Eventually, he accepted that, so by the time that story happened, he didn’t look too closely.

Anonymous said: but what /is/ the actual dignified wayne family motto when translated into english

Well I’m not getting any canon results for that one, and I don’t want to try to make one up, but here’s something I found for the historical surname “Wayne”

“Time and chance occurs for all”

That seems to be a variation of Ecclesiastes 9:11: I have seen something else under the sun: “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.”

That would be King Solomon of Israel saying that victory is unpredictable; you can prepare as much as you want, but time and chance can give the battle to the person that should logically lose. That’s an amazing motto for the batfamily considering that Bruce’s #1 rule is “be prepared.” On the one hand, the passage seems to go against Bruce’s philosophy, but on the other, in the context of the superhero world, the batfamily usually is the one that should logically lose. I’m super willing to accept this motto.

Anonymous said: fellow college station resident here; I understand how you feel completely. sending good vibes for your drive tomorrow, and I wish you all the best

I made it home! I’m still really upset about leaving though :/// I’m not even moving that far away, but it’s a whole three years of my life ending, you know? And I’m going to miss my friends and my roommate and my apartment

Anonymous said: witch comics are you reading right now?

Ahh I’m super behind on everything right now, but all the batfamily titles and superman

@shewritestochangethefuture said: Hi there! Just wanted to let you know how much I adore your blog :) I just found it recently and have spent /hours/ looking through it already and liking all your headcanons/ original stories. Everything you write is absolutely /hilarious/, and so spot on with each and every characterization. The way you've put so much research into some of the requests/asks you get is honestly super impressive. Way to go! I'm such a big fan of this blog, thank you for sharing it with the rest of the world!!

This message made me so happy <3

[victoriousscarf]

For the impression meme : Dick Grayson; Damian Wayne

(I tried to insert this picture later in the post but honestly it makes such a good header for me babbling about Dick so I’m leaving it where it is even tho this was an ACCIDENT) 

Dick Grayson:

First impressionLike, I know I watched the old animated Bats show and watched the movies etc so probably the first real time I went “Dick Grayson is a character” was the Val Kilmer movie which like, kill me. 

But honestly the first time reading comics I remember sitting up and going oh this is a character, this is a person and I’m SO INTERESTED was reading Hush (again, good/terrible comic to read early) which means Jim Lee’s beautiful art (I may disagree with 90% of anything that man says or does and would like him to retire from DC as editor but man I can admit he draws so PRETTY) 

Yeah like that panel. And his snark about maybe this time the Joker won’t break out from Arkham for at least a month this time. 

And I was like yeah okay. This is good. Let me go add Nightwing comics to my massive library request list (All the librarians knew my name pretty fast okay)

Impression now

My FAVORITE. Like no I’m serious, he’s right up there with Luke Skywalker as all time favorite characters. And also this is why I’m so damned picky with him as a character because at his core, I think he’s an inherently optimistic character, not because he’s naive or stupid or sheltered, because he’s not. But despite the terrible things that have happened to him, and in fact despite his own nature (his temper, his distrust, his workaholic tendencies) and despite the terrible things that have happened to him over and over and over again, he still makes the conscious CHOICE to believe in goodness, in kindness and compassion, in the world being a better place. (And honestly he’s a lot like Luke “I am a Jedi like my Father Before me” Skywalker in this way). He’s still flawed, as I said he has such a temper, and is about as distrustful of people as Bruce is. But he can BUILD trust with people (unlike Bruce for like the majority of people) and everyone loves him for it. The superhero community trusts him in ways they don’t trust Bruce Wayne (which is fair considering how often Bruce like causes destruction simply due to his own massive trust issues, like the Tower of Babylon and Brother Eye). And yeah okay he’s my favorite, but there’s also this view of Dick in fandom and even the more recent writers that strips a lot of this complexity and shrewdness and leadership from him. And so like in current pre-Rebirth (I’ve been waiting for rebirth to settle a lot more than venturing in there) my impression is not great. And i dread what’s coming both there and in larger media. Favorite momentAh damn like where would I even start.

Like it’s sad that in some ways my favorite moment dealing with him ever actually doesn’t even feature him in it, and it’s Bruce talked with Earth 2 Superman and Supes saying that their world was so corrupt, so dark, so tainted compared to his and he couldn’t understand why this world survived when his own had been destroyed when it was much gooder and Bruce looks at him and you can tell he’s wondering that too and then he goes okay but what about Dick Grayson and Supes sorta goes eh? and Bruce is like if everything is so much worse here, is Dick Grayson tainted and corrupted compared to yours? And Earth 2 Superman says no, no he’s still good, and Bats goes great and fights him. You get the implication that if that hadn’t been the answer, Bruce might have been as willing to give up on this world as that Supes but no, Dick still was the same shining bright light, still such goodness in a dark world and that made the whole world worth fighting for. LIKE KILL ME. Kill me. 

And honestly I still love Dick being so good that even when all the other teen titans were down and Slade Wilson charges into his apartment even out of costume and with no warning Dick manages to jump out his window and escape where the element of surprise pretty much took down the rest of the team. That’s a classic. 

Idea for a story

I’m a sucker for aus, especially aus where the DCU is more or less the same expect Bruce didn’t raise Dick. There was one scan I found where an alternate Dick was raised by Zucco and honestly that haunts me to this day. Or a novel length exposition of the time he was a vampire hunter and Batman was a vampire who killed his parents and it ends with them being together in the night… forever. LIKE THESE ARE CANON AUS give me more of that weirdness. (A lot of Batman elseworld stories that are canon sorta downplay Dick and what I’m saying is don’t. Upplay him like crazy and how he effects Bruce at ever turn, in every world, how all the Robins exist with him through time)Unpopular opinionI hate him and Barbara. I mean, with caveats but I can’t ship it. Partly because I really got into comics around the time of Infinite Crisis, so when Barbara was blaming him for being sexually assaulted, (And there’s a lot of baggage in there because the author at the time was refusing to acknowledge it was rape so like there’s no way to deal with the aftermath of that if you’re not even saying it happened) he cheated on her (what) and I’m pretty sure they were engaged just in time for shit to totally blow up. And then we fast forwarded to one year later and like this stuff didn’t really come up or get worked through? But yeah it was just a period where i found them really messed up and unhappy with how it was written and all the new 52 stuff makes me want to scream and possibly tear my hair out.

Like okay the one time I really liked them was like in the 70s during Batman Family where like she has a phd and was at a congressional hearing and Dick came along as her assistant? Like, that was fun and cute and I really liked their dynamic. Modern comics? Not so much. Favorite relationship…. Yeah Dick and Bruce man. I’m reading this not as a romantic relationship but in GENERAL of any relationships ever nothing has driven my love for DC quite like Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson and their clusterfuck of emotions about each other, the fact that no matter how or in what manner, they are fucked up in love with each other and it is incredibly destructive to both of them. They can’t like settle down and just care, because of who they are they’re constantly butting into and hurting each other and yet at the end of the day they are still the most important to each other. Favorite headcanonDick is demi sexual fight me. 

Damian Wayne

First impression

Okay I read Batman and Son like when it first came out in trade, having NO CLUE who Damian was gonna be, or how his arc was gonna play out so like my first memory is him kicking Tim through the fucking cases and going WHAT IS THIS. Like, I was pretty peeved when he showed up. I was like ugh, of course Bruce having a biological son had to happen sometime and yeah Talia, because Son of the Demon but uuuugh. That was to change. Impression nowHe is precious and must be protected, 11/10Favorite momentI mean, there’s a lot. But one panel that always sorta stood out to me was the time that Hush got plastic surgery to look like Bruce Wayne and confronted Dick and Damian like that. And there’s just this panel of Damian, barely coming up halfway Dick’s chest, putting himself between Dick and Hush like hell yes I will take you on, how dare you. And how protective of Dick it was, even though Dick was Batman and he was Robin, that didn’t even matter. 

So yeah that one panel stands out because it encompasses so much but I also love every time he loves an animal more than most humans. Idea for a storyIdk, I really like future Batman Damian again, as Morrison introduced him a couple times, including in Multiversity. I’d really be interested in the downright apocalyptic future he becomes Batman in and how the batfam backs him up, and how he creates his own because as much as his father, he cannot really work totally alone.  

Alternatively he and Billy Baston go on a series of misadventures and it’s as terrible as that sounds like it should be but also GREAT

Unpopular opinion… It’s really funny I can instantly pin down things I disagree with fandom on with Dick Grayson but so rarely with other characters. Idk? I love him? 

I guess a thing I’ve seen a lot is people not really exploring how he will change as he gets older and just sorta transpose how he is currently on his future self and obviously he’s going to grow up a lot and change and I don’t see that coming up a lot whereas I’m like super excited to see him grow up/explore him grown up in fics. Favorite relationship*Sigh* Well obviously Dick and Damian. I mean, again, this doesn’t even have to run romantically, I just loved their dynamic under Morrison. I loved the switch of Batman and Robin where Dick, who was the brightest Robin became the dark knight, with a little nugget of rage as his Robin. I still love that comics cares about them together but I feel like a lot of their later interactions misses the edge Morrison gave them. Favorite headcanon

Him and Connor Hawke hang out a lot and go to vegetarian restaurants and bookstores together and have very philosophical conversations about religion and art and literature and faith and how they view being heroes (and Damian coping with his past vs Connor growing up in a monastery) and what their fathers mean to them. 

Damian is very protective of Connor is what I’m saying, he’s the only intelligent conversation he gets sometimes. (Sometimes, way down the road, Jason joins them for bookstore excursions, looking for first editions to send Alfred and Damian is sorta pissy but he’s grown, he can handle this)