#Damian was supposed to be his reincarnation | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dcxdpdabbles · 2 months

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I have this idea for a post but I feel like you would do it justice.

Basically, Danny is yeeted through a dimensional portal and reincarnated as the clone son of Tim and Connor(from when Tim cloned Connor during his death). This little shit wakes up after that, when Connor has already been found, as a six year old gremlin with a need for chaos.

Que pranks!

I don’t have much more than that so I will leave this in your capable hands.

-🎃

"Master Bruce, if I have to remind you to fix your tie one more time, Gotham will be without its protecter for many months to come!" Alfred snapped - actually snapped - from where he was attempting to reorganize the entirey of the Emberald Sitting room.

Right now, he moved all the furniture and all the wall directions. He was just adding some tastefully done flower pots to make the place look inviting but also regal.

It had been six hours, and from the looks of it, Alfred had not found the balance he desperately wanted. He started over four times. His patience was all but gone.

Bruce's hands snap to his tie, scrambling to get it set just right. He moves it only slightly to the left - not making much difference - with a nervous smile. Alfred's teeth snap shut with a click, and his eyes blaze with frustrated rage as he rounds the coffee table toward the billionaire.

Bruce looks to be holding back a scream.

Dick winces, sinking into his chair lest the aged Butler turns his ire onto him. He knows why this evening has to be just right. Especially to Alfred, but gosh, he could not handle how terrifying the butler could be.

It's just for one dinner and one evening. Dick tells himself. Once Alfred can finally say he married one of us off, things will return to normal.

"Honestly! If you didn't walk around looking like an unkeept vagabond all the time, maybe there would be a Lady of the House by now!" Alfred sneered at a pale-looking Bruce.

Or maybe Timmy bringing Kon over to announce their engagement means Alfred will try to marry the rest of us off harder. Dick despairs as Bruce endures another tongue-lashing. He wants to go help, but if he moves even an inch from his seat, Alfred might realize Dick is still in the room.

He can't afford to anger the beast any further.

"And you, Master Dick!" Alfred suddenly rounds on Dick, pointing one long finger into his face, with narrowed eyes and the grim reaper at his shoulder. Oh, dear.

Thankfully, that's when the doorbell rings. At once, Alfred's face clears into an excited smile. "They're here! I'll let them in right away; you lads, gather the rest of the family. And remember, we must make a great impression! Tonight is the night we invite Mister Kon into the family!"

The butler doesn't quite skip out of the room, but the bristle walking with a chipper head turning is the close that Dick has ever seen him do.

"I'm so happy for Tim." Bruce mutters,"but I can not handle any more reminders that I haven't had a spouse."

"Tell me about it," Dick sighs, following after his father into the hallway and down to the dining hall. He can distantly hear Alfred opening the door and greeting the two. "A hour ago, he made seven passive agressive reminders that Tamaraneans propse with a dinner and a mock battle. Seven. I mean, how does he even know what Tamaraneans do when courting?"

"It's Alfred." Bruce tells him, taking a seat at the head of the table. Dick sits in the chair to his right as the oldest and First Heir- considering the reply. It makes sense.

Damian, Cass, and Duke walk in, not even a moment later. All are dressed better than any gala Bruce could have dragged them off, too. He is rather impressed that Damian is a red suit that makes even Bruce pale in comparison. Then again, he is the only one besides Alfred who has an eye for such things.

"Has he already proposed, or is he doing it at dinner table and were all supposed to act supirse?" Duke asks while sitting down. "I want to know what kind of face I should have prepared"

"The clone has asked Father for his blessing in his courtship with Timothy. He knew we would have figured out his plans when that blunder. It is no surprise." Damian huffs. Dick knows he's just upset that his big brother is going to get married and move out soon. He's adorable when he's territorial.

"I can confirm that Kon hasn't asked yet." Steph announces, strutting into the room in all her purple gown glory. Behind her, the Row sbilings wander in with matching celtic blue suits, making Dick grin. It's always nice to see people appreciate the best color. "Tim isn't the type of person to not show off his ring whenever he has a chance."

"I've always wanted to see a real-life popersoal!" Jarro gasps, flying into the room with his own little suit on. It's a nice black with green undertones just like Bruce's.

He lands in the miniature chair with a dinner dining set Alfred had special ordered for him.

It sits on top of where a regular dining set usually is, always the second chair on Bruce's left, because he is literally the favorite. Bruce denies it, but they all see the tender smile he throws the floating star.

The Wayne kids know. Jarro is too precious and hilarious, so none of them mind that he's the favorite. In fact, Dick has half the mind that he's the favorite of the majority of the family.

Jason leans over to pat Jarro's head, grinning when the little starfish swears. He adores when the kid randomly curses out of Aldred's hearing range.

"Shh, they're coming!" Cullen says from where he was lingering by the door, hoping to see Tim and Kon. He always looked up to the older boys as someone who had been forced into the closet for his own protection.

Seeing people like him helped ease the fear, and Dick feels his smile wideing when Cullen scrambles back to his seat. He's so excited he's practically in the Speed Force.

Alfred opens the door first, stepping to the side to allow the guest to enter first. Dick feels himself sit up straighter, the moment really setting in, Kon is going to propose to his younger brother.

His little Timmy is growing up-

"Wow, this place is big!" A child says, running into the room. Who the heck is he? "It's amazing, Dad!"

"Slow down. You don't want to fall." Tim laughs, rubbing the stranger's hair with a soft smile.

"It's okay, Dad. I'm strong!" The boy flexes his tiny arms. Tim laughs again as Kon crouches down to the little boy's height.

"Woah! Look at all those musceles. You're going to help me protect your dad, son?"

"Yeah Pa, I'll be the strongest super or robin ever!"

"Tim? Who might this lovely chum be?" Bruce cuts in, voice slightly strained. No one calls him out on it since they are staring wide eye at the tiny little boy who looks like an exact copy of Tim at age five.

Dick knows because he was one of the few in the Wayne's who saw Tim at that age. He's practically a clone to oh no.

Dick thinks he's having a heart attack.

Tim looks up at them before a brillient glowing smile breaks across his face. "Everyone, Kon and I have an announcement to make!"

Kon wraps an arm around his waist, sending adoring looks to man in his arms before they both hold up their left hand.

There are twin silver bands on both of their fingers. "We got married in Las Vegas, and we have a son! I like you all to meet Danny Drake-Kent! I made him when I thought Kon was dead."

"I am Danny, clone of Kon-el and Tim Drake. Fear me if you dare!" His voice squeaks. Squeaks.

Scratch that, Dick knows he's having a heart attack.

You can hear a pin drop in the silence his announcement cause, as Danny puffs up his chest and floats a few inches off the grown.

Oh, great heavens, Dick is an uncle.

"A fellow clone, son!" Jarro cheers from his little table. He slams two of his star points on the table to a beat that he speaks to. "One of us. One of us."

Danny's blue eyes land on the star fish and widen. He raises both arms into the air chanting back. "One of us. One of us. One of us!"

"It's awesome is what it is!" Steph cries, jumping up from her seat. "Hi, Danny! I'm you, Auntie Steph! I'm the cool one."

"Isn't this lovely? Master Tim not only has a husband but a child as well. Unlike some Masters." Aldred doesn't quite glare at Bruce, but he doesn't have to. The Waynes know who he means as Bruce wince.

Danny pauses in his chanting to look her up and down, staring pointily at her plum colored dress before humming. "That's a bold statement for an eggplant."

Steph gapes at him as Tim roars with laughter.

Oh, Dick is going to love this kid. He leaves his seat, trying to get to his nephew as the rest of the family attempts to do the same. Damain makes alarming threats to Kon, letting him know he would easily take him out if he detects a hint of mistreatment to his brother and new nephew.

The Waynes act like they can't hear the threat because they all have their own versions of the shovel talk prepared. They just have to get the clone alone.

It's a nice dinner.

#dcxdpdabbles #dc x dp crossover #Super Robin #Part 1 #Kon/Tim #The family were ready for a announcement #Alfred is stressing about marrying off his the Waynes #Dick's pov #Danny is Kon and Tim's son with no memories of his past life #Meeting the family #Yeah Kon and Tim elopped #Tim was in a crazy era

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 2 months

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On a one way ride

by Sureidontcare “What did you just do?” Tony’s spiritual successor in another universe who was boringly called ‘Cyborg’ asked. “Oh, just purged some viruses from your system, don’t worry about it too much.” “Wha...” “You are not supposed to be here kid, how did you get into the Watchtower?” Red Flasher or something else (Tony couldn’t be bothered to memorize all of their names) asked. “I am the owner’s son.” “Are you smoking?!” Oh great, the Bat showed up. “It’s better than drinking,” Tony shrugged. “And I promised Alfred that I wouldn’t drink anymore.” “…you’re ten…how…” “I am nine,” Tony corrected the Bats. “Listen tall and creepy, I know you’re my dad’s furry boyfriend and all, but I really don’t care what you think. Come back to me when you get a ring on that finger, okay?” Nightwing fell to the floor as he laughed his ass off. Well, Tony was glad someone was entertained. Or: Tony Stark is reborn into the DC universe to introduce his patented brand of chaos. Words: 2615, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: DCU, Batman - All Media Types, Marvel, Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man (Comics) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: Tony Stark, Selina Kyle, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Batfamily Members (DCU), Damian Wayne Additional Tags: Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, I don't care for DC canon, I don't care for Marvel Canon, Not Canon Compliant, Canon? Who is that?, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Protective Bruce Wayne, Good Parent Bruce Wayne, Good Parent Selina Kyle, Tony is Bruce's son, Tony Stark is a mess via https://ift.tt/A2XdYWI

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the dark knight #the caped crusader #gotham #dcu #dc #ao3 #ao3feed

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thevindicativevordan · 5 months

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Comics this week?

World’s Finest #21 - Another good issue, did not see the Gog reveal coming. I have not read his JSA appearance so having everyone bow down before him on Earth 22 was a shock. How long has he been running the show there? There’s a big risk here because Waid has said while Supes and Bats can’t change what is to come, they are going to have an impact. My fear is that Waid is going to retcon all of KC to have been Gog’s influence which I am not a fan of. My hope is that the impact is Clark and Bruce will either manage to get through somewhat to Magog, which is why he surrenders so easily after Kansas gets nuked in KC or we will see Clark and Bruce be the reason that some of the heroes survived the nuke at the end of KC. Amused me that Waid got to kill Ma and Pa on one Earth at least, I’d like to know if they died before or after Clark became Superman.

JLvGvK #2 - A step up from the first issue in that there was more monster fighting this time. Shazam is a total dumbass here, no Wisdom of Solomon for this guy. That ending page of course is all over the Internet and it helped clarify something for me. People bitch about Superman being “OP” but they don’t actually care about that. When he wins a fight they call him boring, but when he loses a fight? They laugh and say he sucks, and that X could have won that (X being Goku or Batman or whoever). What people are actually obsessing over is the idea that Supes is stronger than their faves and could beat them in a fight. Hence why they always bitch when Supes wins and always crow when Supes loses. It’s something DC has never realized, pandering to these people by nerfing Supes or having him lose never works because they just hate him period and will never switch to supporting him.

Superman #8 - Nice that Conner gets some good moments here. With how Lex heavy the run has been it’s past time he got to interact with the Luthor family more. Still hoping for a Conner/Lena scene what with them both being Lex’s “creations”. Not sure about the Chained, there’s some potential here but honestly he feels like a better foe for Conner than Clark.

Nightwing #108 - I’m bored and dropping the book. Without Redondo around the mediocrity of the writing is not something I can overlook anymore.

GL: WJ #3 - Adored that scene with John and his mother. Stewart is usually stoic so it’s nice to see him be emotionally vulnerable about his mom’s condition and how he has to leave her. Another nice detail: everyone hyping Stewart up. Reminiscent of Frodo and Galadriel in LOTR, if Stewart doesn’t find a way to save the day no one will. John has always struggled to step out of another person’s shadow, usually Hal, but it’s an interesting twist on the formula to make the person he has to live up to be himself. Another John Stewart became his universe’s greatest hero - can our John match his feats? Because he has to in order to win.

Wonder Woman #3 - A fakeout or the reveal of Lizzie’s biological mother? Leaning towards fakeout or at least it being more complicated than Diana simply adopting Emelie’s kid. Jon and Damian are biological kids, and Lizzie is supposed to “complete” that Trinity. Face facts: bio kids get valued more by both DC and the world at large, it’s why Jon has persisted despite being a disaster while Chris was erased, why Damian has risen in prominence while Tim has withered. A theory: Emelie’s daughter dies/is stillborn, but Diana sculpts clay and reincarnates the baby’s soul into Lizzie, just like her own mother did. Maybe she adds her blood to the process too for magical reasons, meaning Lizzie is of Diana’s blood. Or it’s all a giant fake out, we’re only three issues in after all.

Incredible Hulk #6 - My favorite transformation sequence outside of Immortal Hulk is here. PKJ said he viewed his Hulk as the Green Scar/Worldbreaker Hulk, but I feel like the Guilt Hulk is a better fit. He hates Bruce and wants him dead, torments Bruce mercilessly, and is out to punish Bruce for his sins. Like how Ewing revamped the nature of Devil Hulk while still maintaining how protective Devil was of Bruce and how he wanted to destroy the world, Guilt Hulk feels like a better fit here for what PKJ is doing.

#weekly reviews

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fancyfade · 7 months

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Hi, since you read more comics than me. How do secret societies work in dc? I know about the court of owls, but like any details of what the League of Shadows did centuries before Batman? Ra’s other enemies? Or how the criminal underworld work internationally?

I want to write a story where heroes talks about conspiracy theories and Damian causally disapproved or explain them due to him being Ra’s grandson.

Surprised no one did something with him seeing the court of owls as a “bootleg” version of the league.

I'm not super familiar with most secret society lore in DC. Or what separates a secret society lorewise from a criminal organization that just tries to avoid detection.

I do know that the Court of Owls plays into antisemitism (link). Like I'm not sure what more to say about it there. They are retroactively treated as responsible for a lot of stuff in Gotham.

Damian's interactions with them I'd say are not necessarily on them being a rip off of his grandfather (more on ra's' motives soon), he expresses empathy for the talon IIRC before beheading him XD (Like "oh we both are born as killers and raised to do the bidding of other people"), and he tries to cheer dick up after dick fights some talon and learns he was supposed to be one (link).

for League of Shadows... I know that the live actions movies cast them in like a 'responsible for various historical happenings' stuff, but I think in the comics* Ra's is normally portrayed as someone who tried to use historical events he interacts with to achieve his goals, rather than being portrayed as the driver behind those events... like we see him fighting against Napoleon in RRAG, and either against or with the Nazis depending on the comic in WWII, but I don't think we get to "So clearly Ra's and his league caused this to happen"... tho maybe he caused a holding out until reinforcements and lack of surrender for the fighting against napoleon guys? I can't remember.

anyway he clearly *wants* to be the driver behind current political events in his initial appearances, however the writers are very vague on what his exact goals are until Mike Barr establishes him as a willing to commit mass murder for environmentalism.

in some comics, Ra's is implied to not have been being League of Shadows-y the whole time. I think Birth of the Demon (which was out of continuity, I have no clue where it's status is now) implied that Ra's had many different lives (as in jobs, not reincarnation)(link). However I'm also sure this is later contradicted by future canon.

WRT Ra's' other enemies, the Order of St Dumas *is* portrayed as having influenced some historical events, including discrediting alchemy, which totally works in DC universe. They presumably are good at detecting people who try to infiltrate their ranks, b/c Ra's mentions having tried to get someone inside and the guy gets killed, and we also see some high ranking catholic church officials being aware of their existence (in a like "These guys suck" way), when Bane goes after some of them in Bane of the Demon to try to track down Order of St Dumas.

WRT exactly how secret societies work in DC... NGL, they probably just work how the writer wants. If you can't tell from previous rambling, the League already has inconsistent lore. It's very easy for writers to be like "oh secretly whatever happened was because of my scary new society".

I think Identity Crisis got a little bit more into criminal underworld stuff, but that was also during the society of supervillains era where they were all teaming up in the prelude to infinite crisis, so there's no guarantee they'd be that organized in other times. In this time, Calculator is working kind of as an information broker for all of the supervillains and hooking people up with different jobs.

This is very much a POV of "What happens in DC canonically", i haven't gotten much into real-world conspiracy theories about secret societies (except for those I've heard people discussing already) and how that affects writing, because I don't feel very knowledgeable about that topic.

*that I've read, I haven't read every single one

#anon #ask #idk #court of owls #league of shadows #order of st dumas #dc comics #nazi mention

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avaritia-apotheosis · 2 years

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Bid A Strong Ghost Stand at the Head? 👀

Ty for the ask!

Bid a Strong Ghost is the 4th installment of the Hey Brother series, which is a DP x Batman crossover I originally started for Crossover Danuary. There's one chapter up on AO3 currently though...i've been really neglecting this fic hahaha.

If you aren't familiar with the premise, the Hey Brother series is about Danny being reincarnated as Damian Wayne's older brother and how things kind of evolved from there. The series itself focuses on the relationship between Danny and Damian after their time in the League of Assassins, but what makes Bid a Strong Ghost different is that it's the first installment with Bruce as the main pov character and is supposed to center around him getting to know Danny for the first time while Danny's recovering from being shot.

The remarkable thing about Danny was that his skin was unblemished. In their line of work—hero, vigilante, assassin— it was next to impossible to remain unscathed unless one had preternatural healing abilities or nigh indestructible skin. Even Damian, young as he was, had a few scars to his name

Danny—with the exception of the wound Alfred had stitched closed (a wound that will scar)—had none. Not a single mark.

That should be a good thing.

He is the best the League has ever produced - [Excerpt from Bid a Strong Ghost, chapter 1]

But Bruce's biggest obstacle to getting to know his other long lost son is the fact that Danny...doesn't seem to be the least bit interested in getting to know him. Or joining the family. Or even really being a part of their lives with the exception of Damian's.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Who knows?”Danny shrugged, his hand outstretched. “Now how about those scissors?”

“Not until you answer my questions.”

Danny dropped his hand. “Wellm Mr. Wayne, while I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, it’s really none of your business.”

“As your father, I’d like to think it is.”

He laughed. “The seventeen years I grew up without a father say otherwise.”

Bruce flinched. “You cannot blame me for your mother’s lies.”

“No, you’re right. I can’t. But it doesn’t change the fact that, well, we’re basically strangers.” Danny slid out of his bed and took the scissors from a nearby tray. “I like you Mr. Wayne, I really do.” He began to carefully snip off the threads. “You’re a hero, you’re a good man, and Damian and mother love you—” he cut the last thread with an air of finality. “But that doesn’t mean that you’re privy to my life.” - [Excerpt from Bid a Strong Ghost, unpublished chapter]

ask about my wip files?

#file: answered #danny phantom #danny phantom crossover #hey brother verse

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liquid-luck-00 · 3 years

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Where There Is Change

Last Name Wayne

@maribat-bdbwm

First *** Previous *** Next

Okay so I know I diverged from cannon, but I think you’ll all like this.

~~~~~~~~~~

The moment that Damian agreed, they left.

She immediately placed their phones and electronics into storage, so this game would be a little more fun.

Mari "chose" the first place that they teleported to was Paris. The irony was not lost on her.

The place that kicked her out was the first place that would open up to her. But then again most of the city adored Marinette they loved Lady Scarlet even more, but that wasn't general knowledge.

She and Damian know it is a matter of time before B figures they left the country, but hey. They mostly stuck to going between super cities in the U.S. before. But right now, it mostly was her showing him around the city the museums and then getting really inspired by the scenery.

If she was prepared with several different sketch books and pencils for both of them it was an added bonus.

She knows she subconsciously picked Paris and after a few hours it might be smart to jump again. So, she let Damian decide on a place where he wanted to go. He did warn her that if they were spotted, they need to leave immediately, but she didn’t really see a problem with it.

Because granted they’re both Wayne's, and Wayne's if you know them well enough, they will be able to hand your ass back to you on a silver platter smiling as if it was the greatest thing in the world.

So, they jumped again.

This time it was her turn to be awed by what they saw.

They were in a small alcove completely hidden; in the cave they were in the face of it was covered by bushes. But looking out she saw the mountains in the far distance it appeared to be a lake no it was larger maybe it was the ocean. Right below her was a lush courtyard filled with plant she's only seen and one other place, but the heat here was tremendous, and the sea that she could see was in the wrong direction. Apart from being far, far, far too close to where she originally thought they were.

She was going to lean forward a bit and completely break through the bushes that were covering them when a hand pulled her back. She looks back and sees her little brother holding onto her.

"We have to stay hidden Nettie, are above the League of Assassins." He whispered so quiet she could barely hear him about ten inches away, so she’s not taking this lightly.

She nodded, and they stayed there, silent. The only sound was of graphite on paper.

Then everything changed.

On instinct Marinette shot out her arm, a wooden imperial yo-yo appeared in her hand, with a quick flick of her wrist she stopped the projectile, lodging it within the wood. A quick glance at her brother and she opened up portal behind him and pushed him through without a word, closing it behind him.

She knows that it’s more dangerous if they find him here than her, so she stayed behind.

She removed the projectile and examined it, a blow dart likely with poison, seeing as a liquid was seeping into the wood of the yo-yo. She created a replica of the dart and stored the poisonous one and her yo-yo back in storage.

She took a quick breath and punctured her arm where the dart should have originally landed. And fell to the ground, slumped down.

She kept her face relaxed her body limp and she felt three, four, five separate sickly deathly auras around her. She kept her breathing at minimum, light, almost as if she was asleep. They picked her up and moved her. She realized immediately that she was being taken down the mountain, taken deeper into the League of Assassins.

Five assassins she can take them. But the one thing repeatedly crossing her mind was one phrase.

'How dare these assholes mess with her family! Her little brother! They are going to pay!'

Because she is a Wayne, and Wayne’s protect their own.

She was eventually dropped in a large room, from what she can tell, if the echoes were any indication to what she was thinking the size of the room could be. There were three more auras in this room, aside from the ones she passed to get here. What surprised her was she recognized all three.

Still acting unconscious, she heard a woman’s voice, Talia Al Ghul, speak. "What business do you have to bring this child here?" It was phrased as a question but seemed more like a snarl or demand than anything else.

"She was captured on the grounds. She’s an unknown." Was what was reported by one of the people in who had dragged her down here.

Then she heard a chuckle.

"She’s awake." That voice, she recognizes that voice. Her entire previous plan was now completely out the window. So, she lazily pushes herself up, pulling out the dart once she was on her feet.

"Damn, I thought that would last a little longer." She finally looked up and saw Damian's clone, Heretic, Talia, and Al Ghul. But something was wrong, it was bothering her. Al Ghul, he, he… he wasn’t Demon, he wasn’t her Demon anymore. All she recognized now is his voice, at least that’s what she told herself, nothing else was the same as a person she once knew. The question now is why. "I really shouldn’t have introduced you to the Order, if the result would have been this?" A smirk on her lips and now standing cocky in the middle of a room full of assassins, she is stalling. He is acting like he knows her, but his aura is indecipherable, familiar, but not.

"You should not have, but then I wouldn’t be here today, to thank you, would I? After all you allowed our family to find these pits." ‘Our Family’ she dove into her memories, but now that she needed them, they were far away and fuzzy, God damn it.

"Hmmm, I suppose not. Right now, I really wish I had turned you into a cat permanently. I found the correct spell, so I actually can now." This elicited yet another chuckle from Al Ghul which had everyone else in the room on edge.

"Really now I love to see it, after all I wasn’t able to experience it before you vanished." She quirked an eyebrow at this response, but she didn’t care about his mind games, she was stalling, trying to find out what caused this change. All her mind supplied were the plants outside. Demon wasn’t good with plants, but he was with animals, so how.

"Really you don’t wanna know why am actually here?" She asked, looking so innocent, one might believe that she was there merely an accident or coincidence.

She then turned towards Heretic, death in her blue eyes was all anyone could see, but she didn’t kill him. No, she couldn't bring herself to kill him. He may have killed her baby brother, but he is

Damian’s clone, but that clone was nothing but a poor imitation of her brother. With a snap of her fingers, he transformed into a statue of a panther, mouth opening for a roar. In all accounts looking intimidating, but there’s no way to be scared of a statue.

"That was for killing my little brother." She crossed her arms now glaring daggers towards Talia.

"I wasn’t aware you had a little brother, Lady Cheng." Demon never called her Lady Cheng, no to him she was Malak (Angel), but…

That was when the pieces fell into place. That’s why the older Damian looks like a cross between Demon and Bruce. That’s why Damian turned into a panther cub. Damian is Amir’s reincarnation, the true soul of the black cat. That means, in front of her stood Ra’s, Amir’s older twin brother. That’s why he could read the journal, he is a miraculous soul. And only miraculous souls know the language of miracles, without decades of studying the script. It’s ingrained in them but only accessible after coming in contact with old magic, miraculous magic.

"One, the name is Wayne. Two that’s because at the time that I met the both of you 600 years ago, I didn’t even know I had siblings. So, get this through your head, I don’t care that he is your son or your grandson. He is my little brother. Nothing will stop me from making sure my family is safe." Her voice stayed level, emotion flitted in and out of it, in such a way that it almost seemed inhuman. For more reasons than one, she just sensed one of the Lazarus Pits.

"Scarlet." She heard gasped by the woman next to Ra’s.

"Correct." She glared at them walking closer as she said so. "My name is Marinette Wayne, and you best remember to never mess with creation. I would have thought you would remember that little Lǎohǔ (Tiger)."

By her walk over a sword had appeared in each hand, which she was now holding up to Lǎohǔ‘s neck, while the second was held right at the base of Talia's spine, almost daring her to move. The threat hung in the air, and both knew she was capable of following through.

"Well, I do believe it’s best to catch up over some tea." Lǎohǔ offered, many would have taken his offer. Because if the Demon’s head offers it, it would be your funeral if you refused, but she wasn’t just anyone. "After all we haven’t seen each other, in nearly 600 years, now have we, much must’ve happened to you."

"Hmmm... not really you’d be surprised. By what has become of my life been since meeting you." She decided to put away her blades, for the time being. Seeing as she couldn’t leave without destroying the Pits. The only surviving consequence of the Miraculous wish, cast ages ago. Now time to come up with a plan.

---

"Are you sure about this Pigtails?" Plagg spoke up.

"Ancient magic like this calls for a price." She sighed.

"We know, Marinette, but your little brother." Tikki voiced.

"I'll do everything I can to keep all of them safe." She spoke resolutely.

"But can you live with this?" Tikki asked.

"I have to be able to. Besides I'm pretty sure he is your true kitten, Plagg." She reassured.

Tikki and Plagg united their powers, and were able to destroy the pit, and every other one on Earth. Then disappeared. She opened a gate knowing what is coming.

---

Somewhere in the league of Assassins was the Demon's head and his daughter, looking royally pissed as they watch a timer tick down. Seeing as Marinette decided to freeze them with venom, so she could destroy the Lazarus Pits.

~~~~~~~~~~

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artxyra · 4 years

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Her Little Robins

Note: So This was supposed to be a longer (damn near 8000 words) one-shot, but after much thought, I decided to break up the mini-stories that I had placed at the end and decided to upload them separately.

There is one person that Damian would even dare look up to and he hasn’t seen her since before his mother brought him overseas to his father. She was the closest thing he had gotten to a mother figure despite being the opposite. Within the League of Assassins, she was on par with his own mother, but she was just as untouchable. She barely had any free time, between taking on League missions and living her life in the outside world. No one knows how she even became involved with the League but there was one thing he knew for sure. It wasn’t long after his conception.

For the past year, he has been under the care of his father, the very person he doesn’t belong to. Even after a year, his father still doesn’t understand him. He shows his love differently. He doesn’t belong in this broken household. Damian wasn’t sure how he even managed with all the fighting. Though there is one thing he would never admit—is that he cares. Caring was one of many hidden traits he had picked up from her.

His father doesn’t know how to care for him, but at least he tries to. Which is more than he can say about his mother. She never cared, in fact, the only time she cared was placing him into her arms. The fresh smell of apple blossoms always calming him down. That scent was more home than anything he has ever been to.

The last time he saw her—was the first time he had ever cried. Her arms wrapped tightly around him as she tells him her goodbyes. Making promises that he knows would never be kept. She was leaving to save both of them—to save him. Damian could never admit it to himself, but the night she left was the night his grandfather had declared that Damian was of age to determine his loyalty. A trial that would surely end in his or her death.

He hated going to sleep that night. The cold welcoming his return. There was no apple blossom scent laying beside him. No hand caressing his hair as he fell asleep. No French lullaby that was specifically made for him being sung. Just the harsh winds.

“Be brave my petit oiseau. Luck will always guide you in your journey.” She whispers to him every night as he loses consciousness. Those words would forever stick with him. Just like his father’s statement “Justice not vengeance” would. Though he would prefer the one from her over any others.

It’s been three years since then.

Today he wasn’t sure what to do, the anniversary of her disappearance was approaching, and his father’s family still didn’t understand why he is crankier—or what they would say brattier—during this time. He just wants to be alone.

“My, my, petit oiseau, someone sure missed moi.” It was the way she always greeted him when he was little, and they were alone. Damian’s little legs would wrap around her own as she bends down to scoop him into her arms. When he was younger, he felt freer being around her. Her laughter was contagious. She would extend her pointer finger against his nose and giggles before blowing raspberries into his cheek which then caused him to laugh.

Instinctively, Damian curls into himself. He misses those feelings. Feelings that he’ll never get from his family at this rate.

So deep in his memories, Damian doesn’t remember entering the library, picking up a book, and finding comfort in the couch. He looks at the book that was opened in front of him. It was written in French. He has been in this room plenty of times and has skimmed every book at least once, so why does this book seem like a distance memory? The title was so familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

Behind him, he hears a gasp, “Little D, do you have any idea what that is?” Great, it was Grayson, the fourth person he didn’t want to see this evening.

“A book.” The youngest Wayne deadpans placing the book down on the couch and getting up to take his leave.

Before he could walk out of the door, he heard Grayson shout something, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care enough to listen.

As he walks back to his room, that French book stayed on his mind. The cover’s art style was unique, and it reminded him of her. She would draw him small artwork pieces and sometimes let him join her in the process, in fact, he still has the majority of the drawings that she and he made locked in a box underneath his bed. Then there was the book’s dedication page: “À tous mes petits oiseaux qui ont besoin de chance dans leurs moments les plus sombres.” That he could easily translate to: “To all my little birds who need luck in their darkest moments.” He needs to know more. Maybe that book holds the missing piece in finding her? He wants her back in his life, now more than ever.

However, that doesn’t explain how his father owns such a book. Let alone the reaction he had gotten out of Grayson just by holding the book.

~*~

“Hold on, you’re telling me that the demon reincarnated found Pixie’s book?” He heard Todd asks when he was on his way to the library. It was clear that Grayson had grabbed the book once he had left and gathered the rest of his non-blood-related siblings.

“Yes, that is exactly what I’m telling you. When I had entered the room to tell him that we are expecting a guest soon—which I couldn’t—he appeared to be in deep thought staring at the book. Like that isn’t usual at all.” Grayson explains and out of everything his older brother said, the word guest caught his attention. It was rare when his father invited people to the manor that has nothing to do with charity, galas, or potential business agreements. A guest usually signifies a Justice League member or a new sibling (something that he knows doesn’t need to happen).

“Isn’t this usually the time when the demon gets all moody?” When did Drake even pay attention to him? Of course, he is always moody, and he has good reasons for that.

“You actually pay attention to the little shit, Replacement? This is laughable, you’re usually the last one to notice anything.” Todd laughs to which Damian had the itching need to grab his katana and slice Jason in half. Though he had to agree, it was laughable as it was Drake who noticed it despite being in a coffee-induced haze for most of the time.

“Yeah, yeah,” Drake then pauses, probably to take a sip of coffee that will forever be in his hands. “That doesn’t explain how he would find Bean’s book interesting. Only those of us that have met her would find that book interesting as it’s—”

“We know!” Together Grayson and Todd scream.

“Look guys we can either keep hovering over the fact that Damian found her book or let it play out and see where it goes, just like Bruce and Alfred did for us.” Drake sounded tired which wasn’t usual but more tired than normal at this time of day.

“As much as I hate it, I agree with Replacement for this,” Todd responds without a doubt looking at Grayson when he said it.

Damian could hear Grayson sigh of defeat. The room goes silent just enough for Damian to make his presence known.

“What’s so important about the book?” He asks stepping across the threshold and eyeing the book that is in Grayson’s hand.

At once his brothers try to answer but one look at Damian’s face; they knew they could lie themselves out of it. So, they opted for the oldest to speak.

“Look, Little D, this book means a lot to the family. The fact that you picked up just gave an insight into something we didn’t think you would have.” Grayson starts to which Damian tsks and looks away. He hated having this much attention on him, and the short explanation still didn’t answer his question.

“Then what makes this book so important to the family, that I had no idea of its existence until today?” Damian growls through his teeth. His brothers only look between one another which only made Damian even more agitated. “You know what, never mind.”

“Damian—” Dick is cut off by the door slamming in his face. He could only sigh in defeat as the figure of his younger brother disappears.

“So, what now?” Tim asks before taking another sip of his coffee. It was clear that his older brothers don’t know what to do.

Jason decides that now is the best time to take the book from Dick and throws himself onto the couch. He begins to read the book as if it was his only source of peace.

~*~

For Jason, the book was the only close connection he had to her. She was the mother he always dreamed of, and he hated it when she would leave for long periods of time. He hated not taking her offer to live with her. Months before his death, she had asked him to live with her, be the caretaker of her apartment back in France, but he had declined. Being Robin was all he ever wanted, and she knew that, but he also knows that something spooked her. She never did ask that again after the first time, and it kind of saddens Jason a bit.

The night before his death, she had called him asking for him to stay safe. To not get cocky about anything while being away. Stay in contact with Bruce, in fact, she specifically told him not to leave Bruce’s side. He should have listened to her warnings that night. Just maybe he wouldn’t have died by the hands of the Joker.

When he was revived with the Lazarus Pit, one of the first things he acknowledged was the words “Qu'est-ce qui vous est arrivé mon petit Jaybird?” What happened to him? He didn’t know what was happening. He was feeling so many negative emotions at once that he couldn’t differentiate anything. The last thing he remembered from that encounter was a pair of lips pressing against his forehead. The next thing he knew, he was lost somewhere he didn’t know but he somehow knew he had to find himself.

When he came back to Gotham under the impression that Bruce and everyone around him needed to go, it wasn’t Bruce that stopped him. No, it was her. She appeared between them with tears streaming down from her mask. He couldn’t harm her, not after everything she had done for him. It felt so wrong to have his fingers itching to pull the trigger, but he couldn’t let it go. Bruce needed to pay for giving up on, for replacing him.

They didn’t even exchange words, her tears were enough. She walked over to him, taking the gun away from him and gently placing it on the ground. He felt so alone as she pulled him into her arms whispering the French lullaby, she sang to him when he was down.

Jason doesn’t remember what happened next after that, but what he does know was that he had woken up in the manor and Bruce and sitting in an armchair beside his bed. They didn’t speak to one another—why it was because they didn’t know what to start with. Hellos? No, they already knew each other. I’m sorry? Not even an option, they’re too stubborn to admit anything. It was just a moment of silence. Not for the dead but for all the pain that they were enduring.

As he read the familiar words, Jason wonders how his life would have been having she not been a part of his life. She always knew what to say and when to say it. Never judging them for wanting to be heroes vigilantes. She was the glue that kept this family together aside from Alfred, and they all miss her.

“Hey Jaybird,” Of course it was Dick who had to return and ruin the moment.

“What do you want? Can’t you see that I’m reading?” Jason doesn’t take his eyes away from the book, it’s not like he could have anyway. Her words always had a way of entrapping the reader until the very end.

“Bruce wants everyone in the living room.” Dick answers pointing to the open door that was close just minutes ago. Jason huffs and places the book back on the shelf.

“Alright, let see what B has in store for us.” Jason walks past Dick and into the halls. Dick just stares back at the location Jason had placed the book. He was tempted to go grab it, but he knows, keeping Bruce waiting sounds like a bad idea especially since he asked for the family.

~*~

In the living room, Damian sat moodily in the armchair. Arms folded and all. He would look up to glare at his family members still thinking that they were all beneath him in taking the Wayne name.

“So, tell us, Bruce, what is the real reason you have us all gather here?” Jason observed the way the room was structured. Alfred was standing next to Bruce like usual while everyone else just sits and waits for the other shoe to drop.

“It has come to my attention that Damian found M’s book.” Bruce turns to his youngest, who was clearly lost in thought. Something he never thought would happen to Damian. Then again this isn’t the first time it has happened. “Damian, have you ever meet a person under the name of Marin Etta? Marin? Mari?” With each name, Damian shakes his head.

For Damian, the names were foreign. She was always Tatie to him as she never really spoke of her real name. It was mention once, but it has been so long that he had forgotten. In fact, tatie was the first word she taught him in French before moving onto the basics.

“No father,” Damian denies and leans back into his seat. Bruce sighs.

“Little D, you must have met her.” Dick states pointing fingers.

“Before this becomes a brawl, I would like to announce that she’ll be sending gifts to the manor,” Alfred states causing the boys, aside from Damian, eyes to bug out. Tim had to rub his eyes to make sure that he was awake.

~*~

For Tim, she was more than someone he looks up to. She was a person that he could rely on and rant to. When he first arrived at the manor, yes, he was excited, but at the same time frightened beyond disbelief. She picked up on this and offer to take him to her favorite little coffee shop. To this day, Tim swears she owns the little cozy coffee shop that they always go to when they needed a break. Those visits were always just the two of them and no one else.

Tim remembers when he took up the Robin mantle, she was furious at Bruce and even yelled at him for bringing into the battle when he was just a child. He is sure that when the Joker first captured him it was her that found him and took out the Joker, not Bruce. The only proof that he had from that encounter was Bruce looking like he was chewed out by his mother once he had recovered.

She was more than just a team member—she was family. The person that introduced him to the secret of making the right coffee. Something that everyone around him would look down upon. To Tim, coffee was more than his life source; it was a reminder of everything she ever did for him. It was one of the few connections he had to her and he doesn’t want to lose that.

So just being told that she is sending them gifts was such a surprise. She never just sends random gifts; her gifts were always well thought out. Planned for the person receiving the item. Tim had once received a coffee recipe book, something that he vows never to use unless she is with him. He couldn’t risk is family taking away another source of coffee for him.

Sure, they could go visit her whenever, but she never sticks around in one place. Tim remembers the time he tried to track her down and he came up with dead ends after dead ends. Not even Bruce could find her and he’s the world’s greatest detective.

~*~

“When do they arrive?” Dick had practically shouted earning Tim’s attention, something that is usually locked on coffee and or paperwork.

Alfred raises an eyebrow and shakes his head. Tim knows the family butler already knows the answer. It most likely that the gifts had already arrived, and he just wants to see them suffer over it.

“Master Damian please come with me.” Alfred requested to which everyone eyes the youngest Wayne. Damian was unsure what Pennyworth wanted with him and the fact that it was him and not his father, he was feeling anxious.

“Of course,” Damian answers getting out of his seat.

Dick watches the baby bird walk away from the family. He wasn’t sure what to expect from this encounter. Alfred rarely asks for them individually. Though he was heavily thinking about the presents his big sister figure may have brought him.

“Don’t even think about it, Dick.” Bruce grunts seeing the devious look in his oldest eyes. Dick blanches and turns around; he had some searching hacking to do. Knowing that Alfred would have hidden the items somewhere within the manor, he knew just where to start his journey. Years of being a part of the Wayne household has its perks, especially being trained by her to find all the hidden spots.

She was only a couple of years older than him. It never made sense to call her his aunt when they were so close in age. She was also the first person that Dick confided in after his parents’ deaths. She was with Bruce when he went that show, and she was first to comfort him even before the cops could take his statement. To traumatize by what he just saw, he didn’t comprehend the lullaby she was singing in French to soothe him.

Dick would never forget how she took it a part of herself to make sure that the manor felt like a home. Bruce was gone every night tracking down Zucco. She made sure he didn’t feel alone, uncared for. If it wasn’t for her, Dick doesn’t know what would have happened to him.

“Les étoiles sont brillantes ce soir, Dickie.” The stars are bright tonight, she had once said to him the night he was thinking about running away. He had everything packed and all he needed to do was open that window and jump out. Her voice caught him by surprise, so much that he had almost forgotten what he wanted to do.

In the end, he cried his heart out to her and she let him do it. He doesn’t remember what happened next, but the next day Bruce actually showed up for breakfast and sat down with them. It wasn’t long after that that he would become Robin.

~*~

Damian didn’t know why Alfred was leading him outside the manor. It’s not like he had forgotten to take care of Alfred the cat and Titus. Alfred stops short of the gazebo that is rarely in use unless someone plans on making a romantic dinner date of some kind. Damian was about to ask Alfred why they are here when a familiar feminine voice speaks. This voice was etched into his brain and before he knew it his arms were wrapped around a person’s torso.

“My, my, petit oiseau, someone sure missed moi.” He didn’t want to look up, too afraid for this to be a dream. Damian didn’t care if his cheeks were becoming wet, he just wanted to hold her tight. Never letting go. “Petit oiseau, oh how you have grown.” She speaks again, her hands caressing his hair to which he doesn’t complain.

“Tatie, tu me manques tellement.” Damian cries out hiding his face into her shirt. Moments later, he looks up to be greeted by the bluebell eyes that he loved so much. He never realized how much her eye color reminds him so much of Bruce’s. Though her eye color holds so much love and emotions, more than what he can say for Bruce’s.

“Petit oiseau, I am here now. How are you? Have you been treating your father well? Oh, Dami, I knew I should have taken you with me.” She says as she walks them over to the bench and sits down. She could see that Alfred was standing off to the side smiling at the duo.

Alfred then mouths, “I’ll leave you two be” to her, to which she nods and turns her attention back to Damian.

~*~

Returning the manor, Alfred was greeted by an excited Dick and Jason. He knew what they wanted; they wanted the gifts, but the gift is currently outside hugging her surrogate son.

“Master Richard and Master Jason, is there something you need?” He asks with an eyebrow raised. Alfred was known for a lot of things—he is required too in order to keep the manor afloat.

“Hey, Alfred, where is Little D, and how soon we will be receiving those gifts?” Dick asks as he and Jason share a forced smile. Alfred wasn’t buying it.

“Moments after the young master is done receiving his own.” With that, Alfred walks off with a smirk plastered on his lips.

All the Wayne men in the room look at one another.

“Hold on, did he just say that the Demon Spawn, is receiving his gift right now…what the flying fuck did he get?” Jason screams out and he would have stalk after Alfred if it wasn’t for Bruce’s glare practically telling his son not to do it, so instead, Jason huffs.

“It can’t be anything good if it’s for the demon,” Tim states finally coming alive from his coffee-induce haze. The teen was unsure of what was happening, but he knows it was a tense situation.

“We’ll wait for Damian to come to us.” Bruce says, “If the gift is dangerous, we’ll take matters into our own hands.” That was enough to prevent his sons from going after their younger brother.

~*~

Damian was having the time of his life being close to his tatie. He spoke to her with so much enthusiasm about his pets, mentioning his dreams in opening up an animal shelter, all the pranks he did on his brothers. Damian even showed her pictures of Titus and Alfred the cat was which is something he rarely does; heck, he doesn’t really show pictures of his animals to Jon, his best friend.

“That is wonderful, Damian.” She spoke with such a light laugh.

“Hold on, Tatie, how did you know that I was here?” Realization finally settles as Damian wraps his head around the fact that she knew where he was. They haven’t seen each other in three years and surely, she didn’t find his mother and demanded answers.

She sighs and allows Damian to sit up from his resting position. “Damian, I knew you were Bruce’s child since before you were born. There is a reason why I love that you call me Tatie because I am your aunt. Bruce is my older brother. My real name is Marin Etta Wayne, but most people call me Marinette.” She explains staring into his forest green eyes. Tears swell in her eyes almost like she was afraid to tell him everything.

Damian didn’t know how to react. Happy? Furious? Confused? He was so conflicted that he was rendered speechless. This person has been in his life since birth, has done more for him than his own parents, was actually his biological aunt.

Instead of reacting out of anger, he wraps his arms around her and mumbles a series of thank you in various languages. Her explanation solidifies the fact that she’ll never leave him.

“Je t'aime, mon petit oiseau.” She whispers to him.

They stay in silence until Alfred makes himself known with a loud cough. Damian had fallen asleep in her arms to which she was happily content with holding him. She looks up and gestures for Alfred to come closer.

“It seems that the young master enjoyed his gift,” Alfred states looking at the sleeping eleven-year-old. Marinette moves to scoop Damian into her arms. He was a lot heavier than when he was six. After getting into a comfortable position, she turns to Alfred.

“Has Brucie done this for him, before?” She asks as they begin to walk back to the manor.

“On occasion, usually when he is late coming in as Robin. Though it is nice to have you around again, Marin Etta, your presence always begin joy to the family.” Alfred answers, “Are you staying for the night?”

“Not tonight, Alfie. I’m sure the boys will go crazy over Damian’s gift until they see what it actually is. I’ll give them a shock tomorrow and stay for the rest of the week. Vic is helping Helena with some things, so I got time to spare for once.” She replies explaining her reasoning.

Alfred simply raises an eyebrow, he knows she’s withholding information from him, but he also knows that she will do anything to keep her problems under wraps. That’s the reason why she never told Bruce she was Ladybug until after the defeat of Hawkmoth and the creation of her vigilante persona, Kismet.

“In that case, I’ll take the young master and put him to bed. I will see you in the morning.” Marinette hands him Damian who didn’t want to leave her. He managed to tighten his grip around her despite never once waking up. Only after did she whisper promises of seeing him the next day did he release his hold on her and latch onto Alfred.

When Alfred walked inside with the sleeping Damian, he was bombarded by those he considers grandchildren. Jason was beyond in disbelief to see a koala version of the demon that usually glares at them. Tim thought he was hallucinating to the point where he pours the remains of his coffee out the window and walked away sluggishly. Dick was cooing and taking pictures, more than likely saving them for blackmail material. Bruce was wondering what put his youngest to sleep before even going on patrol. He knows that Alfred knows but getting information out of the butler is an impossible task.

“I guess Robin will not be joining us tonight?”

“That is correct, sir. The young master had tired himself out with his gift today. Shall I put him to bed or would like to do that honor?” Alfred answers readjusting the pre-teen in his arms. Bruce nods and takes Damian away from Alfred. It was moments like these that he misses. When his sister was younger, he would hold her and just holding her made him feel complete. Holding Damian was similar in feeling considering his height and weight.

~*~

Dick, Jason, and Tim were jealous of Damian. He had received his gift the day before and here they were sitting at the dining room table waiting for Alfred to show up. Damian had this smug look on his face the second his brothers bombarded him with questions regarding his present. He doesn’t give any indication that it was a person but an animal. That got his brothers to leave him alone for a moment.

Bruce had been the last person to enter the room. He was working on Wayne Enterprise paperwork that should have been completed earlier but wasn’t. Alfred walks in with a tray of food. As he set the plates down, they immediately took notice of an extra plate. Before either of them could question the butler, they heard someone say, “Bonjour mes amours!”

Before anyone could react, Damian runs out of his chair and into her arms. He wraps his arms around her and glares at his family members, daring them to come at her.

“My, my, petit oiseau, someone sure missed moi.” She chuckles returning the hug to the younger male. Damian doesn’t say anything, he just stays in her arms.

While the family stares in shock of seeing Damian showing emotions, it was also the shock at the arrival of the one person that hoped to show up soon.

“Mari!” A series of excited shouts echo through the room. Jason was the next person out of his seat and trying to push Damian away for space. Damian fought back, nearly biting Jason’s hand just so he could stay in his tatie’s arms. Jason glares his younger brother.

“Oh c’mon, there’s enough of me to go around.” She chuckles sending Jason a sheepish smile, “Dami, can you let go so that I could hug Jay-Jay and the others?” She looks down at the young boy, only to feel that his grip had tightened around her. She knows that he would not let go. “Dami, I promise to make you some of my infamous shortbread cookies.” At that request, Damian reluctantly lessens his grip.

“You imbeciles only have one minute with her,” Damian growls turning to his family acknowledging the fact that they also know his tatie. “59, 58, 57…” He starts to count down.

The older Wayne children knew he was serious, and they immediately jump to hug Marinette. Dick was smothering her having taken onto wrapping himself around her torso. She manages to stay afloat by resting Jason and Tim who were side hugging her. It surprised her that it wasn’t Jason who had the running start but wasn’t shock that it was Dick instead.

“10, 9, 8…” They all heard Damian continue. The moment the young Wayne managed to get to zero, he let out a battle cry and begins pushing his brothers out of his way. Damian latches himself onto her and glares at anyone that came within a certain radius of her.

“How the hell does the demon know Pixie, when he literally had no clue who she was yesterday,” Jason shouts as the excitement of seeing Marinette dies down among everyone.

Marinette chuckles and scoops Damian into her arms. If it was anyone else, Damian would have squirmed, complained, and demanded to be let down, but this is his tatie and he has little care for what his brothers think of him right at this moment.

“That’s because all Dami has ever known me to be was Tatie.” She explains as Damian grumbles into her neck.

“Wha!” The boys yell stimulatingly to which Marinette looks everywhere but at her nephews.

“How about this, let's finish eating the wonderful breakfast Alfred made first, then I will explain it all afterward.” She suggests walking over to the table as everyone behind her follows. They know to not disagree with her. She has just as much power as Alfred and could most likely get away with murder.

While they ate breakfast, there was growing tension. Everyone, aside from Alfred, Marinette, and Damian, wanted answers. Bruce watches his sister eat her portion of breakfast; he knows something was going on. Then he saw how quickly his youngest reacted to her like there was some form of bond that they share that he didn’t with his own son. Bruce isn’t that dense; he knows that without her his life would be filled with so much darkness and pain. She made everything tolerable, kept the family together even in their darkest of days.

When breakfast ended, they all gather in the living room. Titus trotted over to his owner and lay beside him.

“So, who’s first?” She asks as she pets Titus’s head as he was close to her and he let her.

“Back to my question before, how the hell do you know the demon?” Jason practically shouts pulling his ear.

“I’ve practically known about since his birth. Actually… even before he was even born. I knew Talia was up to something when she was constantly trying to get into Bruce’s good graces. As we all know, my ability to sense something is wrong is almost never incorrect. So, I followed her to the League of Assassin under a new identity. I was about to leave, but then she announces that she was carrying the league’s heir. I knew the child was going to Bruce’s.” She turns to Damian with a sad smile on her face. To this day, she hated the way Damian came into this world, but she would never give him up for anything.

“You side missions?” Bruce wonders aloud.

“Yes, when I wasn’t with the miraculous court or with the JL, I was with Damian watching after him. I became his caretaker when Talia took it upon herself to be his mentor rather than a mother. Did you know I was the first person to hold him? He had such a small tuft of hair.” Damian blanches when she started to gush about his childhood. He likes to keep that under wraps, but he wasn’t going to complain.

“Are you back for real…now?” It was Tim that has asked that.

“Oh, my petit oiseau de café, I’m here to stay. I can’t have you running Gotham without me.” Marinette answers with a wink, but she can tell by the looks of deadpan facials from the males she knew that they didn’t buy it. “I’m staying until the court needs me. That and I’m sure Kismet can bring a little luck to this city of darkness.”

“With that answer…welcome home, Sunshine!” Dick screams with excitement before flinging himself to his sister figure. Marinette catches the taller bird and laughs. However, the embrace didn’t last long as Damian pushes Dick off of her and takes over the filled space.

“Oi, she’s mine, you dolts, get your own.” Damian hiss at his brother who looked beyond offensive.

“Oh, hold on!” They all shouted, “We knew her first, you little demon.” This quickly became a tug-of-war for Marinette, who looks sheepishly between the boys, but she couldn’t help but laugh.

The second, Marinette was able to slip away from his nephews, she made her way over to Bruce. They didn’t say anything, though Bruce did hold his arms out waiting that that hug that they always do. Their embrace was not a short one.

“I miss you, Bruce.” She mumbles into his shirt.

“I miss you too, M.” Bruce pauses placing a kiss onto her forehead. “So, tell me about what happened in Brazil?” Marinette’s eyes widen at that request. She knew she had to come up with something fast, but she also knows that her big brother wouldn’t let that go. Brazil was an authorized JL mission that she joined Question and Huntress on, that didn’t end well per se.

“Oh, look the boys are about to break something.” She squeals turning their attention to the four brothers still wrestling on the floor. Sure enough, a loud crash is heard.

Bruce groans and wanted to yell at his sons for being too rough, but this was a typical morning. The boys would rough house at least three times a day before they all separated. Then again, it really depends on whether Jason and Dick decide to stay at the manor for long periods of time.

“Boys!” Marinette shrieks getting their attention to which they had the audacity to pretend that nothing had happened. They don’t want to play that game with her. There is a reason why she rules the manors better than Bruce.

“Yes, Tatie,” Damian speaks up first resisting the urge to run over to her and hug her in an attempt to make his brothers jealous. Who was he kidding, he would totally do that anyway just for the hell of it.

His brothers glance at him; however, it was clear that Jason was glaring more so than anything.

“What?” Damian shrugs, “She clearly wanted our attention, isn’t that right, tatie?”

Marinette sends Damian a smile that the family knows all too well, that smile was not her usual friendly ones, it was sinister. “Oh, petit oiseau, you have no idea. Now, it still early in the morning, and I don’t want to spend my first day with the family babysitting you four, or do I need to call the girls have girls’ day with them instead?”

The looming threat of having the girls spend time with Marinette instead of them was enough for everyone to nod in agreeance.

“Now who wants to be the first to read my newest family book?” Bruce silently raises his hand which she sees out of the corner of her eye. Digging into her purse she pulls out a new book with an enchanting cover with the title written in French. She then hands it to Bruce despite the cries of protest from her nephews.

“I saw his hand first, actually I saw Alfred’s first, but he already read it. Didn’t you, Alfie?”

“Of course, I did, Miss Marin Etta, it was another novel that will go into the family history.” He smiles at her, to which Marinette sends him a blushful smile.

“Thank you, Alfie. Now, who’s up for a family drawing session?” This time the boys gather around her. Damian hisses at his brothers daring them to come any closer as practical koala himself into Marinette’s arms. Jason stares at the little traitor, planning his downfall.

“I should have introduced Damian to her when he first arrived. That would have saved us so many headaches.” Bruce groans happily acknowledging the sudden change in his youngest at the sight of his sister.

“That would correct, sir. Shall I prepare you some tea and scones while you read Marin Etta’s book?”

“Yes, thank you, Alfred.” Bruce pauses for a moment to open the book, he is immediately greeted with the dedication page, a smile appears on his face, “Actually Alfred, how about you go spend time with M and the boys after you’re done.”

“Are you sure, sir?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I know you miss her just as much as the rest of us.”

Bruce turns his attention back to the dedication pages that read, “Une famille qui se bat ensemble reste ensemble même quand tout semble perdu.” A family that fights together stays together even when everything seems lost.

Tag List: *View my Tagging System guidelines for how to to be properly tagged or removed.

#maribat #sibling brucinette #auntinette #ml x dc #mlb x dc #ml crossover #dc crossover #this started because I wanted yearning batbros and clingy damian #I regret nothing

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ketchupqueenboiiii · 3 years

Text

day 13/14: god/dess au/reincarnation

@timari-month-event

[Short Excerpt]

Tim was not a lucky god. No that was Tikki, the primordial kwami of luck and creation. She and her fellow kwami spend most of their time bound to jewelry, mingling with mortals, occasionally butting into mortal affairs. The Judiciary gods find it better to watch the mortals from afar or incognito among them. But that's beside the point.

Tim, Bruce and Damian all chose a domain, well they drew straws and Tim got the short one. Bruce got the Heavens, Damian got the sea, and Tim got the Underworld. He had to review memos and paperwork to make sure each soul is were it is supposed to be. He also has to meet with special souls, like ones sent to the Isles of the Blessed, the souls of maidens who were vessels for the spirit of Delphi to make sure they safely get to Elysium per Dick's request, etc. But today is a good day. He finished all of the paperwork and he had no souls to met with today.

"Hey Timbo, you got someone to meet with." Said Jason after he barged into his office.

Good Heavens, he just can't catch a break, can he.

~ I got a little lazy so I am just going to explain the idea in bullet points

Mari is a reincarnating soul because of her connection to the Kwami, she is one of the spirits of the Guardians she gets reborn and is fated to become a guardian

Jason is Thanatos (god of death), the guy who makes sure soul travel to the Underworld. He has been doing it since the beginning of time, there was no order in the Underworld, he just threw them in and left to fetch the next soul. I want to say that he was god of war first before something happened and he transition to god of death

Tim is Hades, he does the paperwork and shit. He has to meet with special souls. Bart is Minos the judge of the final vote, Cassie is Hecate, and Conner is Charon. He spends most of his time in his office. And even though he is an immortal he found himself addicted to the mortal concoction called Coffee.

Tim and Jason are on good terms

Bruce is Zeus, who has gotten over his playboy antics, Talia is a nymph or something. Alfred is a mortal turned god lieutenant by Bruce and takes the form of old man because he constantly feels like one because of Bruce's shit.

Dick is a combination of Apollo, Hermes, and Aphrodite.

Damian is Poseidon

Babs is Athena, Cass is Artemis, Steph is Hestia. Duke is Erebus (god of darkness), a minor god who spends time with in the Heavens he is a little insecure about if he belongs there or not but it's getting better.

I called them the Judiciary Gods because Justice league.

SO the idea was that Mari was a primordial spirit and has died a lot, before the gods happened. She has died a lot and has met Jason on several occasions and are friends.

When Tim first takes the Underworld she had just gotten reborn so he has time to settle in before they met.

So when they do met Jason stays behind to watch the fireworks.

She comments about how much the place has changed and Tim is like '???? what? you haven't been here before??? how would you know??'

She explains that she is a Guardian spirit and since he is now the guy in charge of the Underworld she had to check with him before she got reborn.

He was like, 'bruh, why?'. neither had an answer.

So anyways, life went on and they spent a considerable amount of time together. She would spend as little as a couple of minutes in the Underworld to almost a century. At some point she started staying in his palace. They start to get the feels (if you know what I mean ;))

Imagine the fams confusion when they run into a spirit in Tim castle during an impromptu visit

Mari: *drinking coffee and completely under the impression that she's hallucination* Hey, Kon. Hey, Cassie. Hey, Bart.

Mari: *looks over* Did you guys, like, multiply?

Batfam: *has no idea who the fuck this woman is, she doesn't feel like a deity but they could be wrong*

Dick: Timmy?

Tim: *stopped immediately after seeing this* There, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.

Jason, Kon, Cassie, & Bart: *snickering in the background at the chaos*

Their affair goes on for a while and while they like their little get togethers they no it's not healthy. So Tim clears it with Bruce and offers her immortality and to be his wife. She's a little skittish and askes for a while to think it over.

the kwami give her their blessing to do it and she excepts.

She becomes the immortal liaison between the Judiciary gods and the kwami

They live happily ever after.

THE END.

#timari #timari january #mlb x dc #ml x dc #maribat #timinette

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miraculouscontent · 3 years

Text

(non-ml asks)

Anonymous said:

So the Pokémon anniversary a couple of weeks back showed two very different takes in the future of Pokémon. What are your thoughts on the Sinnoh remakes and Legends Arceus?

I really hate the Sinnoh remakes. It’s not that I hate the chibi style (I mean, Pokemon started that way), but like--remake the game but just make it “the 2D game but 3D”???? Why? And it feels disrespectful because every other remake has used the style of the other games they were in (so FRLG looked like RSE, HGSS looked like DPPt, ORAS looked like XY, and most of the time, the remakes looked outright better than the style they were based on). It’s a shame because I really wanted to see an improvement from Sword and Shield, which didn’t engage/interest me and... I don’t know if this will make total sense, but instead of an upgrade from Sun & Moon, it feels like an upgrade of XY? Like, XY’s problems but with better proportions.

I’m cautiously optimistic for Legends Arceus, if only because, “YES, AN ACTUALLY SINGLE GAME INSTEAD OF THE DUAL STUFF THEY KEEP PULLING” (which was absolutely unacceptable when they got to console stuff). I actually didn’t notice the framedrop issues because I’m used to running games on a laptop that clearly isn’t made for them, so I’m sort of immune to it. I haven’t decided if I’ll get it for sure but the premise intrigues me and I really like Arceus.

Anonymous said:

How is Moroha the Marinette of Inuyasha?

- needlessly tormented by the narrative

- things that other people do to her don’t get addressed

- people closest to her are usually awful

- awesomely overpowered yet narrative will constantly have her screw up and put her down/make her feel worthless

- gets sidelined/ignored in favor of other characters

Anonymous said:

In one of your Askplosions(don't remember which one, sorry), you said that you can't stand the Tomboy Lesbian stereotype, which, to be honest, I kind of agree with. But what about Tomboy Bisexual? I guess it's not as bad if a female character's tomboyishness/girlishness isn't used as a clue as to her sexuality(like "you know she's a lesbian because she's BUTCH!!!"), but there aren't really stereotypes associated with being bi that are based in masculinity or femininity(due to bi erasure sadly.).

kfdngjdfgd I like how you had to had that bis don’t easily get stereotypes as much due to bi erasure because you’re absolutely right.

“Tombis” are fine, I have no problem with them. Any stereotype to avoid then are just the general bi stereotypes.

Anonymous said:

I was just reading TV Tropes' page for "Gratuitous Princess" and holy shit the sexism on display here is really nauseating. It's exactly like "Improbably Female Cast"(there are too many female characters here and it's uncalled for, despite it being okay for characters to predominantly be men), in that it's basically insulting any story that has anything to do with princesses at all by saying it "isn't needed". TV Tropes has always had a way of including underhanded sexism when talking about female-dominated/aimed works or tropes having to do with female characters or anything designed to appeal to female audiences; the more feminine, the more ridiculed it is by TV Tropes, despite claiming to believe otherwise.

Similar to how I complained about their "Improbably Female Cast" trope, Gratuitous Princess claims that stories with "more princesses than is plausible for the setting" are this trope because any abundance of princesses is somehow bad or doesn't make sense, even if it would make sense for there to be that many princesses/all the characters to be princesses.

For example, they claim that an entire school of princesses is implausible and "gratuitous", but if the school is intentionally meant to be a "royal" school for girls to learn to be princesses(whether or not they were actually born into royalty), then it's not actually gratuitous and makes sense within the setting! If the story follows a monarchy, it makes sense to have lots of princesses, especially if it's aimed at young girls.

If the main characters are a group of normal girls who wish they were princesses and the story follows "fantastical" versions of their imaginary princess selves, then that also makes sense, especially if the story has "every girl can be a princess" as their moral or something. There's nothing wrong with stories like that, but TV Tropes claims they're unnecessary because anything involving princesses(stuff little girls like) are automatically shoehorned in.

Just look at the examples, which are all written in an unnecessarily derogatory way, with statements such as "for some reason, she's called a princess", or "the rulers should be queens, and yet they're princesses"(when it COULD just be a principality; do your research, TV Tropes), or "how this has anything to do with princessing is never explained", as if the mere fact that she's a princess is something bad or worthy of scorn.

They even claim Sailor Moon is this trope when Naoko Takeuchi simply wanted the story to revolve around a group of girls who just so happened to be reincarnated princesses who ruled over their respective planet. It's supposed to be a girl power wish fulfillment fantasy that appeals teenage girls by showing all the girly things they like as implements of power!

And yet TV Tropes disses it for just that, because anything that's made to appeal to girls can't ever make sense. Now, if they were complaining about how, in aggregate, shows about princesses or in which every female character is a princess can reinforce the notion that the only way for a female character to be noteworthy in any way is if she's a princess, then that would be different, but that's not what's happening. They're dissing princess stories just for existing. No matter what, TV Tropes always finds something bad to say about female-driven storylines.

Always. Just look at their page for "Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls", "Pony Tale", and "Frills of Justice". There's always a mean-spirited undertone, as if they hate the very idea of these stories and narrative devices existing just because they're designed to appeal to little girls. I'm not saying you're never allowed to critique those stories the way you would any other, it's just the WAY TV Tropes does it. They're not critiquing, they're sarcastically mocking. They're going about it all wrong! And it's especially obvious when they never do it to boys' shows, even though those shows often do have messages that can actually be harmful and even ignore or objectify women. But I guess the latter is why they don't care. Boys will be boys, am I right?

Oh joy, internalized/intentional misogyny!

Ugh, I’ve been lucky enough to stay away from those articles on TV Tropes. I hate it when opinions clearly start seeping into the article.

For example, “Kiss Your Hand” (I think that’s the name) sums up the whole “hand kissing” thing and goes into detail about how nowadays it’s considered more uncomfortable/creepy, which isn’t necessarily an opinion but just detailing how the times have changed.

AND JUST LET US FEMALES HAVE GIRL SHOWS WITHOUT MAKING BACKHANDED COMMENTS.

It’s the same thing with stuff like “chick flicks,” y’know? Maybe it’s just been having to hang out with my father and hearing him make dumb blond jokes and talks about how chick flicks are boring/bad but UGH, I’m sick of it.

Anonymous said:

Hi, so I was thinking about what you said about how there aren't words for guys who act either masculine or feminine, and I agree, it's totally unfair, but technically feminine boys are called janegirls(or femboys, I don't know if that's specifically an LGBTQ+ term or not, so excuse me if it is, but I've heard it used this way before), or tomgirls(even though last time I checked, the term "tomgirl" referred to either a girly tomboy or a tomboyish girly girl, but I digress).

As for masculine guys, I'm not so sure there's a term for it, I guess since deviation from masculinity is less acceptable for men than deviation from femininity is for women(because, you know, femininity=lesser. ;(), although there IS the term "macho"...but that tends to be used in a derogatory sense nowadays. I've also heard "boys' boy", "manly man", etc. TV Tropes has a trope called "Sensitive Guy and Manly Man" as the male counterpart to Tomboy and Girly Girl. So I guess there are terms.

I also just wanted to add that the term "tomboy" technically was originally a male phrase to describe a young boy who was boisterous, loud, mischievous, and out-of-control; in other words, a misbehaved, trouble kid. I don't know how or when it got attributed to girls, I think there was the term tomgirl at one point(though now it's just used for an in-between type of girl), but even that is barely used anymore. Not sure where or when the term "girly girl" came about, though, sorry to say. ;(

Yeah, that’s true. I’ve honestly never heard the term “janegirls” before, but I’d prefer if a “““masculine”““ girl was just called “tomgirl” instead. It feels less like “girl acting like a boy” and--yeah, calling a girl one thing or another just makes it look like they’re “““different”““ from “““normal girls”““ and I just roll my eyes.

Anonymous said:

Hi, I know the post you're talking about(in your fourth non-ml Askplosion) about a boy who related more to female characters! It was on BoredPanda and it was by Damian Alexander(it can also be found on his official Tumblr), and it was called "Guy Illustrates How Boys Develop Sexism From Seemingly Small Interactions With Adults" and it was all about how he loved female characters like Matilda, Alice, Mulan, Dorothy, Anne of Green Gables, and The Powerpuff Girls, and was routinely made fun of and discouraged from liking them, even from the teacher, who assigned everybody a paper(I mean not really they were probably in pre/elementary school but whatevs) about a fictional character they looked up to, but wouldn't let Damian write about Matilda, even though she let girls write about Spiderman, Harry Potter, and Peter Pan. And he basically talked about how this kind of societal attitude conditions boys to see girls as inferior and not worthy of being looked up to. It's really interesting.

Thank you! Now people can maybe go read it~

Anonymous said:

So you talked about how shows for women are considered lame and overdramatic, while shows for men are allowed to sexualize women and still be seen as good because they're MANLY, and it just reminded me of how TV Tropes has a page called "So You Want To Write A Shonen Series" and one of their points was literally that since teenage boys are horny, they'll relate to a male lead that pervs on girls and peeps on them dressing, but that you shouldn't have the girl be aware or actually hit the boy, because that has Unfortunate Implications. What were those Unfortunate Implications according to TV Tropes, you ask? Double Standard Abuse: Female-on-Male. Wow. So basically they're saying it's perfectly okay for a boy to sexually harass a girl and show absolutely no respect for her privacy because it's what "all" teenage boys want to see/do, but the second a girl actually defends her agency it's a bad thing, and they have the NERVE to say it's sexist against BOYS on top of that. Ugh. I just...

S...sexist against boys...

I can’t--I just--

Also, cue the girl punching/hitting and then the girl is immediately considering “aggressive” for defending herself from being perved on, and even if people say that the girl didn’t deserve to be perved on, they’ll be like, “bUT SHE DIDN’T HAVE TO GO tHaT fAr.”

Anonymous said:

I just realized something: the term "uncanny valley" literally comes from the Japanese words "bukimi no tani", meaning we LITERALLY wouldn't have the English term without the Japanese one. So, yeah, tropers can shut the fuck up now about tropes having Japanese names because "no one will know what it means!". -_-

These people DO know that words in the English language are compromised/inspired by a bunch of other languages, right???

eggchjf said:

someone probably pointed this out but ALSO not only does Marinette have Homura's VA, but Alya is voiced by Mami's VA (Carrie Keranen)

why did you have to ruin everything for me

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh

Anonymous said:

Hi, I'm the Madoka salt anon. And I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry for bombarding you with all those asks. I didn't mean to be a "monster", I guess I just got carried away because, let's face it: there aren't a lot of people who dislike this show. Almost everyone glorifies this show as feminist empowerment while dismissing other Magical Girl shows as lesser than or somehow less feminist despite being written by women for women. These people won't give female authors the time of day and so when a man shows up suddenly they jump on the Magical Girl Fan bandwagon and praise it for doing what the genre has already done.

And when you do hear a different opinion, that person gets told off, insulted, blocked, downvoted, whatever because how dare you hate this show written by men for men rather than the stuff written by women for women? I once saw someone on Quora ask why Madoka was so popular when all it did was use the cliche "time loops" concept in so many other plots, and the response was literally "You didn’t know what you were looking at, so mistook your opinion for relevant commentary."

Let that sink in. If you don't agree with people who like Madoka Magica, it's because you're simply too dumb to understand how deep and complex it is, and your opinion doesn't matter. I've also heard the similar "You have no idea what you just watched" or "You're not smart enough to understand it" or "It's too complicated for you" nonsense and I hate it. Because most of what Madoka does isn't even that twisted or hard to understand; it's relatively simple when you look at it. The show just makes it dark. Monsters stealing energy from teenage girls? Sailor Moon did that and did it better(and didn't just go after teenage girls/women, so it wasn't based off sexism and "teenage girls are hysterical"). Hardships of being a magical girl? Girls uniting against evil? Female friendships/romance? So many other Magical Girl shows did that, too.

Come to think of it, Madoka Magica didn't even have the girls fight back against the system because only Madoka found a way out and purified the girls souls? Girl realizes she's been going about being a hero the wrong way and is confronted with her own selfishness? Look at Utena, which mastered this much more skillfully. Magical girl gets in a love triangle with another girl, vies for the affection of a fragile white-haired boy, and loses? Princess Tutu, except that the other girl was also a Magical Girl, they became friends and actually rebelled against the system together, and Ahiru(aka Princess Tutu) didn't fall into the pit of despair because girls should be punished for their sexualities and compete against each other for men and if a guy doesn't like you, you're worthless.

Even the whole "these girls are liches" thing wasn't very complex and well-handled as a lot of people like to think: the gems are called Soul Gems because your soul is in a gem. Wow. So clever. And they're Grief Seeds because they're seeds released from grievous witches. Also(not) clever. Even the fact that the acronyms are reversed(SG, GS) because Magical Girls turn into witches just made me go "yawn, I get it".

The whole show is just very lazily done and designed and tries too hard to be scary and deep and complex and "not like those other Magical Girl shows" while also trying too hard to make the girls super cute but also super badass so that we both are led to think it's a traditional Magical Girl show AND feel bad when these girls die because whoops they weren't so strong and badass after all!

Not to mention the whole "Magical Girls become witches just like how girls become women" thing really pisses me off because it shits on the whole coming-of-age aspect of Magical Girl as well(strong girls embracing their agency as they prepare to enter womanhood) by instead demonizing the very concept so that "becoming a woman" is a bad, vile, horrible thing(because being a woman makes you "more powerful", so the more powerful a woman is, the more mentally unstable she is) and then topping it off by having Madoka save the girls from becoming witches, aka women, making sure they never achieve a more mature state and maintain a level of childlike naivete.

It has so many misogynistic themes and concepts(girls are emotional, girls are weak-willed, girls are impressionable, girls shouldn't be selfish, girls shouldn't try to be heroes, girls should be pit against each other especially over a guy, girls shouldn't achieve power or become women, and more, and more, and more), that are stated matter-of-factly within the story and always proven right by the narrative, and yet people gobble it up and anytime somebody points it out, they are met with utter hostility.

Some people even defend it by saying those things are true! People only like Madoka because it's written by a man and depicts women suffering, in a genre written by women and meant to empower girls, which they don't like. And also because anything a man writes is automatically deeper and more valid than anything a woman writes.

So that's why when I found out that you didn't like Madoka either I was more than happy to discuss it with you, but I realize now that I was going overboard. I was just so happy that there was someone who agreed with me and actually understood what I was trying to say and found it problematic, and the fact that you say you're not that well-versed in Magical Girl proves my point even more because you don't even have to watch much Magical Girl to know that this is fucked up.

If you want me to stop sending Madoka salt asks, then fine. I'll stop. I didn't mean to bother you with these asks, I just wanted to see your point of view on Madoka Magica when everybody else is singing its praises left and right and never stopping once to actually think about it(while also claiming that people who don't like it are the ones "not thinking".). Hearing someone who's actually critical of this nonsense show is refreshing.

Firstly thank you for the ask! It’s honestly not your fault, I’ve just been struggling a bit lately with ask overloads.

That doesn’t necessarily mean I want you to stop, but I’d rather discuss it over Tumblr DMs so things are more balanced. Walls of text can be a little overwhelming for me (that’s why sometimes I try to balance my own walls of text with screenshots).

Anonymous said:

I've been thinking of how much I hate the misogyny in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, so I decided that instead of just salting about it(even though I still do from time to time because they're legitimate critiques and boy is it fun), I'm going to start talking about what I would do to improve it. Now doing this may mean it won't be the "dark" anime many people have wanted it to be, but I've been thinking of it for a while and it's my personal opinion, so let's get to it:

First, I would still have the Incubators, though they would probably have a different name because the name "Incubator" is pretty skeevy and part of a lot of the misogyny in the show. They would still recruit magical girls(who are called "Puellae Magi" in-universe, at least in the English dub and possibly some other dubs as well), only they do it for a different reason: Incubators go after teenage girls who are leading rough, difficult lives, and the magical girl contracts help them to improve their lives and give them a reason to live. They still make wishes, but the wishes don't screw them over because of their secret "selfishness".

However, if a potential magical girl is unclear or unsure of what she truly wishes for, this may lead things to go haywire. Basically, the whole magical girl thing is more heartwarming and the Incubators truly want to help the ladies in need, not just leech off of them. There's also no Soul Gems, or at least, their souls aren't actually in the Gems. They're called such because the Gems are powered by their Souls, and rather than the girls losing consciousness and "dying" when their Gems are too far apart from them, they simply lose their ability to perform magic and their magic becomes weaker. They still have stronger bodies though, much stronger than average humans, because becoming a magical girl gives them super strength/speed/stamina and all that, just WITHOUT making them liches.

Their Gems are non-interchangeable, so you can only use your own, not another girl's. As for the witches, they still exist, but witches weren't the intention of the Incubators; they're due to a botched experiment and it's up to magical girls to not only fight and defeat them, but return them to their original selves, thus showing that hope always does triumph over despair. I would also have the magical girls fight not only witches, but ordinary criminals as well, because having them fight only witches gets a little boring and predictable.

And finally, while there would still be only teenage girls who are chosen to become magical girls, it wouldn't be because they're "the most emotional" or some Hysterical Woman shit like that. It would be something more empowering, like, maybe only teenage girls are chosen because they're the most capable of magic and are simply more powerful magically than everyone else. They would still have their powers as adult women, but you have to be a teenage girl(well, one with a difficult/horrible life) to be recruited in the first place, if that makes sense.

And maybe older magical girls(well, women) would be able to mentor and assist younger ones(which is very much in-line with the coming of age themes present in magical girl, women supporting and uplifting younger girls as they advance into womanhood). This would make the claim that women such as Anne Frank, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, and Queen Himiko were magical girls less...iffy, but I still wouldn't make it so that ALL influential women were magical girls, nor that humanity would be in caves without the Incubators. There'd also be transformation/detrasformation phrases of course.

In short, the magical girl system exists more so as a form of wish fulfillment, both in and out of universe, since it's for teenage girls with rough lives who are "empowered" by becoming magical girls and getting to live out a fantasy of fighting crime while looking pretty, as an exchange for getting a wish fulfilled that will help them improve their lives. Only teenage girls have this ability because they're the strongest magic users, not because of "female hysteria". In other words, the magical girl system exists to support and benefit the girls, rather than exploit them.

Now, since I mainly went over the magical girl system itself, I'll talk about the characters. Kyoko still loves to eat, is still relatively selfish, and still has discord with Sayaka, but they overcome it and become friends MUCH sooner and in a much more natural way. Mami and Kyoko's relationship will actually be stated in-universe, not just in some side material. Sayaka still has a crush on her male friend, but confesses to him before Hitomi does. At this point, he either says yes and they hit it off but eventually don't work out and decide they'd be better as friends, or he says no and she's sad but perfectly fine with that, and encourages Hitomi to go after Kyousuke. Hitomi may do it if Kyousuke turns down Sayaka, or she may feel bad about going after him after her best friend just got turned down, especially if she's worried about getting turned down herself, since Sayaka has known him far longer so she has even less of a chance, right? If Hitomi does confess, Kyousuke WILL say yes, but because his arm was healed due to Sayaka's wish, he's more concerned about playing the violin than spending time with his alleged girlfriend and they eventually fall out. This is keeping in line with Gen's claim that Kyousuke isn't a good match for either of the two girls. Though they may get together in the future.

As for Sayaka...well, she gets with Kyoko and it's actually made CANONICAL in-universe. I don't know about Madoka and Homura though, if she's less possessive of Madoka than she was in canon then perhaps she has a shot. Either way, I would really love if the ships were actually canon and not just queerbaiting. Regardless, Sayaka and Hitomi stay friends. Also, on a meta level, I would really love it if there were more female writers on Madoka Magica, and that the show was targeted towards a female viewing audience, which would mean toning down the fanservice(if not removing it entirely), as well as the troublesome aspects, as I've talked about earlier. And no "torturing young innocent girls and restricting their agency" since that's not what the magical girl genre is about and it never has been. This probably means more episodes though. Anyway, there's probably more stuff I'm forgetting, but to sum it up, this is how I would fix Madoka Magica. What do you think?

I think it’s a really good idea!!! Refreshing~ You know I’m all about fix-its.

Plus, all I heard was “Madoka Magica without being edgy” and I’m like, “yes please, I’m here for it.”

Anonymous said:

About Improbably Female Cast, it has come to my attention that Madoka Magica has been removed from the list. Someone in the discussion section of the trope removed it saying that since it's a magical GIRL show, it having a majority female cast isn't "improbable". The Touhou example is still there, though, because there's apparently something wrong with stories that have less men than women or have next to no men in them. Because a prominent male character is a requirement to tell a good story.

They also removed Strawberry Panic! because it takes place in an all girls' school, and Y: The Last Man, because it takes place in a futuristic world where almost all the men died. But still, the fact that those examples were there at all speaks volumes about the double standard there at TV Tropes. Even if the story has a realistic and plausible reason for the setting to be mostly female, as the examples above are, TV Tropes still considered them improbable. It's as if TV Tropes doesn't just dislike/question stories about a mostly female cast when it doesn't "have" to be, they dislike/question majority female casts in GENERAL! And the closest they have to a Spear Counterpart is Cast Full of Pretty Boys, which is a totally different trope: a cast in which most of the characters are "bishounen" aka pretty boys, because it appeals to a female demographic.

So it's "justified" but female casts aren't. And the playing with section reeks of "Stay in The Kitchen" sexism, with statements can be okay or even exist is if it's a harem or exists to titillate men who crave girl-on-girl interaction(and in fact, the main page lists this as their FIRST reason such a cast would exist, appealing to little girls and/or queer women is secondary/tertiary in their eyes), and the situations they propose in which the trope could be played with almost all involve the few boys attempting to hook up with as many women as possible or manipulating the women to fall in love with them, with the so-called justification that "the viewers just like their lesbians". And almost all their quotes(same on the Playing With page) are about people whining and complaining that the cast has too many girls in it. The Image Links section even has a link to a picture of two boys griping and bleating about the lack of boys in whatever show they're watching("They don't appeal to our demographic!" "Why are there no boys in our story?"), which TV Tropes has the nerve to call a "witty observation".

But what pisses me off even more is the fact that a predominantly female cast even NEEDS a justification in the first place. They only pulled specific examples of shows that supposedly dictated that the cast MUST be mainly female: Magical Girl shows, all-girls school settings, stories in which the entirety of men were killed off...only in extreme circumstances can you "resort" to using female characters but if the situation was reversed, the male equivalent wouldn't be considered improbable to BEGIN WITH. And this is despite the fact that the discussion page is FULL of people saying the trope should be renamed because of sexism, detailing many things I'm detailing right now, to the point where it's even gone off TV Tropes and is right here on Tumblr itself(one troper called it "PC whining", just ugh)! I just wish TV Tropes would realize the inherent sexism in calling such a cast improbable, since it makes it look like they're unhappy with the representation. Then again, they might be.

I’VE NOTICED THAT TOO, YEAH.

show: *has predominately female cast*

people: oKaY I guess that makes sense bUT ONlY BECAUSE--

And because misogyny isn’t as widely discouraged as... example, people would be absolutely crucified for complaining about a show having “too many POCs”... it means that those comments usually get ignored.

Anonymous said:

The Improbably Female Cast talk, especially the part about men complaining when stories have mostly female characters/seeing spaces that are 1/3 female as "majority female", reminded me of how I saw a study somewhere talking about the differences between how men and women dream, and it was saying that men's dreams tend to have more men than women in them, while women's dreams tend to have an equal amount of members from both sexes. Yikes. Even in their sleep men want women out of the picture.

And just in case you're curious, I found the study itself! It's called "Gender Similarities and Differences in Dreams", though if you look up "differences in how men and women dream" it should be the second thing under the link that also includes a snippet of the article. To quote the study itself: "there is a gender difference in how often men and women include male and female characters in their dreams: men dream twice as often about other men as they do about women(67% vs. 33%), and women dream equally about both sexes (48% men, 52% women). This is the largest difference between American men and women." Ouch. Granted, it's specifically talking about Americans, but I don't even want to imagine how even more skewed it probably is in men's favors for men in other countries(not gonna name drop any ACTUAL countries obviously.)! Internalized misogyny runs deep, to the point where men can't even conceive of women having a more significant role than them in anything, even in dreams.

And it runs deeper than that, too. I saw a post on Micechat called "The Smurfette Principle" by JMora. You probably already know what that is, but just in case you don't(or anyone else reading this doesn't), it's a trope describing the tendency for works to have a disproportionate amount of male characters with only one female in the group, if not the whole cast(named after Smurfette, the only female Smurf). The entire article is really well written and it discusses the gender disparity in fiction quite nicely, but what I'd really like to call your attention to is near the end, where they talked about how this effects kids, especially boys.

Movies that make most of their characters male while shoehorning females in female-specific roles are treating maleness as the default while femaleness is a special case, and this leads to films about men being seen as "unisex" while films about women are seen as "for girls" only. As a result, this leads to little girls being willing to watch movies about boys AND girls, while little boys watch movies only about other boys.

This also extends to the stories they write. Girls write stories with male and female protagonists equally, while boys almost exclusively write stories with male protagonists. Girls' stories tend to have a mixture of boys and girls, whereas boys' stories have all boys in them. It relates to what I was saying earlier about how men's dreams have mostly male characters while women's dreams are equal: how our society conditions boys to think that girls just aren't important and don't matter much. To quote the article, "Girls already know they can be the main pirates; it's the boys who aren't getting the message". Thankfully my little(male) cousin likes shows about girls and shows about boys just as much: he likes Pirates of the Caribbean, and he also likes Enchanted. But the majority of boys still dismiss shows for girls as "girly" as if girly is a bad thing but boyish isn't, and when they don't it's weird.

The best part is that this led someone else to realize their own mistakes regarding overrepresentation of men vs underrepresentation of women. A guy named Mouse Macabre realized that the comic he was working on had 8 main characters, 6 male, 2 female, and had to go back and work so that there was an equal amount. All he had to do was make two of his male characters female, and there you have it! Four male main characters, 4 female! Then why is it so hard for the majority of men these days?

Ugh, I don’t know. Like, as soon as people hear “we’re adding more characters for equality/to give women more attention,” it suddenly becomes “““forced.”““

Alright then I guess we’ll just have a bunch of white male shows then because adding diversity is forced and uNnaTuRaL.

We had POCs and more female characters and suddenly certain white males feel ignored and disenfranchised. :|

Poor things, not like there are ten millions other things they could be watching instead.

Also, inevitable response to the dream thing: men agreeing to dream more about woman... but they’re sexualized.

#other: non ml talk #other: ask and answer

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zerotosiki · 4 years

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Give Me A Second Chance - Maribat Ideas

Inspired by many reincarnation (isekai) stories. Since I love them, lol.

I am sorry, I was supposed to post a bonus story of A Little Too Much, right? But here I am posting another new one. But heyyy don't worry because the bonus is still in progress ;D. And I don't know if this one is interesting or not haha.

Maribat inspired by @ozmav

[Please check here for the update Ideas on this AU]

Before reincarnation, there's a lot of angst in this timeline :)

Marinette and her friends' age are around 20 - 21. They were adults. Hawkmoth still hasn't beaten. And Lila is never stopping making a problem to Marinette. The class already brainwashed by Lila's lies, and since no one ever pointing out the lies, Lila's kingdom is getting bigger, bigger, and bigger.

Adrien has tried to defend Marinette as best as he can but being too softy, his words don't have any impact on the class. Poor Adrien. Adrien as chat is tried to help Marinette too, in any way he can, every night he visits Marinette to comfort her as often as he can.

Gabriel got more strict as time passed, he gives Adrien more schedule, and always forced Adrien to befriend with Lila. He decided to include her as his partner's model, much to Adrien's distress. This put a lot of stress for Adrien, and because of this, he rarely got free time, which made him rarely can change into Chat Noir to help Ladybug when they're patrolling or whenever there's Akuma. This make him change, from the sunshine boy to a cold boy. No, he's not evil or anything like that, he'll still kind to Marinette but because he's already tired with his father and Lila's problem, he rarely smiles, and his eyes look so tired. At this point, they already know their identity because at that time, Chat Noir is so tired and he just blubbering out his problem about his father and Lila without he realized it.

Marinette always tried to help Adrien too. But she can't do anything. Since she doesn't have any friends (except Luka, Kagami, Adrien, and maybe Chloe) to be asked for help. Alya? She's already become Lila's right hand. Nino? Well, she doesn't know what Nino's thinking really. It's clearly he's worried for his best friend too, but when Marinette asks his help to ask Gabriel together about Adrien's schedules, he refused to help because it's Marinette. And Marinette is hated by his girlfriend, which was her best friend in the past, and now is her enemy, apparently. He doesn't want to break up with Alya because he's helping Marinette. This made Marinette very disappointed to Nino.

While other classmates aren't that close to Adrien so of course they don't want to included with this problem. And they don't even realize, the fact that Adrien is having a problem with his father and Lila. Moreover they hate Marinette, there's no way they will help her.

So Marinette tried to confront Gabriel with Luka. Kagami wants to help but she can't because her strict parent said to not interfere with Agreste's problem. While Chloe had transferred to another school in New York with her mother because of that incident. That incident involving the pesky girl ---Lila---.

But of course, her attempt to confront Gabriel was failed miserably. Gabriel continued to insist on his point. And before Marinette can counter his words, he kicked out Marinette and Luka, saying that if Marinette kept pushing him like this, he threatened he would break off her chance to work on Agreste's fashion industries.

Let's just skip to a final battle, shall we?

Since Adrien is very busy, he arrived on time, at that time. On the last battle, Ladybug with help from Viperion and Ryuko were battling Hawkmoth, Mayura, and Akumatized Lila. Somehow in this battle, Lila manages to turn all of the class into an Akumatized one, with their hatred to one girl, Marinette. This makes Ladybug, Viperion, and Ryuko having difficult on defeating them. Until Master Fu decided to get help from Chloe with horse kwami's ability to transport. With Queen Bee and Jade Turtle decided to drop in, their chances of winning increase.

The battle is really intense, it takes many lives. Including her family. Her friends. Her peoples. Many innocent people died. Marinette hope, after the battle, she can return all of this mess to before this battle begins. But the real question is... Will they win this battle? Chat Noir finally comes, although his appearance really makes you think twice. His eyes aren't holding any light anymore, his movement is rather sluggish. He really tired, but he forced himself to comes help Ladybug, his best friend, his partner. There's no way he leaves her dealing Hawkmoth all alone.

But Hawkmoth of course notice this. He grins, thinking that his chance to get the miraculous is finally come. When ladybug and her friends are battling with the remaining akumatized people, Mayura with Hawkmoth's command sends Monster to strike Ladybug. Ladybug almost got hurt before she was pushed to the side in the last minute of the attack. The one who pushed her is the one who got attacked. Which is... Chat Noir.

Chat Noir was grabbed by the monster after he got attacked. Ladybug tried to help him as quick as she can but the monster was quicker than her, and take off his ring then toss him aside like a rag doll. Ladybug of course catches him before he touches the ground. She tried to stop his blood, but it was useless, Chat Noir, no, Adrien, already knows this was his limit. He said "...Thank you for being my friend, thank you for considering me as a partner, thank you for helping me... I am sorry I can't help much... Goodbye, Marinette..." before he leaves, for good.

Ladybug then resumes her battle, this time with her tears on her face, and devastated feeling ---for losing a best friend, best partner--- on her heart. In the end, it's just Ladybug, Hawkmoth and Mayura. Lila disappeared somewhere, nobody knows. Viperion, Ryuko, Queen Bee, Jade Turtle, and all akumatized people have been defeated.

Ladybug feeling so tired, her body already reached her limit. Hawkmoth is approaching her, and she should stand up right now, but with her broken legs, and not only that, her transformation is already worn off not a long time ago, she can't do anything besides laying useless on the rubble. She tried to stay away as best as she can though.

Hawkmoth then takes off her earring, much to her horror. He laughing because finally! Finally, after many years of battling, he got the miraculous and now he can---

Hawkmoth suddenly collapsed and transform back to Gabriel, Marinette surprised but she quickly shook it off. She tried to get the earring back but someone else beat her. And that is.. Lila. Lila got the earring. And on her left hand, there is the cat miraculous. On the background, you can see Mayura as Nathalie is collapsed too.

Marinette felt shiver at the smile on Lila's face. This is the first time, she shows her fear of Lila. Which brought satisfaction for Lila. Marinette tried to persuade Lila but does she ever listen? Nope. Lila is telling her that she really despises Marinette from the very beginning. She really wants to ruin her life. And whenever she success to manipulate the class to bully Marinette, Marinette always shows her brave face, Marinette always ignored her class, Marinette isn't even glancing at her whenever she starts to tell her lies.

That's why she wishes that Marinette is gone. forever. Never born in this world. Before Marinette can stop her, Lila already used the miraculous power to realize her wishes. And white light envelops everything.

After reincarnation, this is the part where everything really starts ;)

Marinette is born in Gotham's city. At the very beginning, when she was born, she still has her memories of the past (Her life as Ladybug and all of the battle until her last moment with Lila). She thought she was born in a different place, different world. So she tried to forget the past or not thinking it too much. And she tried to live her life in this Gotham. But of course, the past still haunting her.

At 5 maybe? She begins to learn martial arts from her mother. She trains her speed, her strength, and her brain. Because this is Gotham. Criminal's city. Although she's not a Superhero anymore, she still has to defend herself, right?

When she's teen, she begins to study in Gotham's academy. There, she meets Damian Wayne. And they got close because of the project school.

She of course already knows Gotham's vigilantes, which is Batman and his robins. But she tried to avoid them because she doesn't want any trouble..? Not really, it's just because she, Marinette this world, is just a normal girl, so there's no way the batfam would take any interest of her, right?

She was wrong. Because she got close to Damian, to the point she is his best friend. Of course one of the vigilantes, which is Robin, would take an interest of her. She wonders why though. Yeah, go figure it out.

At 15 or 16, Marinette was walking with Damian to Wayne Enterprises. Damian was appointed by his father to helping his brother in translating between the foreign class for their trip to Gotham's city, while Marinette just accompanying him (at his request of course ;)).

At first, Marinette isn't really care with this foreign class. But after they got there. After they were introduced by Damian's brother to this foreign class. Marinette surprised. Really surprised, to see familiar people. Her classmate, Her best friend, and... Lila. She just froze while Damian introduced his name to the class with a perfect french's language.

Apparently, there's no one who recognizes her. Which is she realized until she saw someone who's not supposed to be in that class. The one who replaces Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

She realized she lives in the same world as the past but she just moved. When she supposed to born in Paris, she was born on Gotham. When she's supposed to attend Collège Françoise Dupont, she attends Gotham's academy. When she's supposed to befriend with Adrien, Luka, Kagami, and other people, here, she befriends with Damian and other people.

And she realized too, that in this world, there's still Hawkmoth terrorizing Paris, from the way the class talk.

At this point, I'm planning to make Marinette helping their old friends in defeating Hawkmoth, now that she knows his real identity. But of course, she has to befriend them first before she can help. Because I don't think they'll accept stranger helps? She is avoiding Lila as best as she can, though. And she's not alone of course! There's no way Damian would let it! She's too precious for him, anyway :D. She'll get help from the Batfam and probably from Justice too? Dunno.

That's all. I don't know if there's already the same idea with this though... And I still haven't figured out if :

I should put Tom and Sabine as Marinette's parent or they still live in Paris with different daughter/son (just for more angst) in After reincarnation.

I should put another original character or already existing character as Marinette and Ladybug's replacement in After reincarnation.

Any feedback is welcome ^^!

[Please check here for the update Ideas on this AU]

#daminette #damian x marinette #marinette x damian #damimari #maridami #ff: give me a second chance #my attempt writing #ideas

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 2 months

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On a one way ride

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/A2XdYWI by Sureidontcare “What did you just do?” Tony’s spiritual successor in another universe who was boringly called ‘Cyborg’ asked. “Oh, just purged some viruses from your system, don’t worry about it too much.” “Wha...” “You are not supposed to be here kid, how did you get into the Watchtower?” Red Flasher or something else (Tony couldn’t be bothered to memorize all of their names) asked. “I am the owner’s son.” “Are you smoking?!” Oh great, the Bat showed up. “It’s better than drinking,” Tony shrugged. “And I promised Alfred that I wouldn’t drink anymore.” “…you’re ten…how…” “I am nine,” Tony corrected the Bats. “Listen tall and creepy, I know you’re my dad’s furry boyfriend and all, but I really don’t care what you think. Come back to me when you get a ring on that finger, okay?” Nightwing fell to the floor as he laughed his ass off. Well, Tony was glad someone was entertained. Or: Tony Stark is reborn into the DC universe to introduce his patented brand of chaos. Words: 2615, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: DCU, Batman - All Media Types, Marvel, Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man (Comics) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: Tony Stark, Selina Kyle, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Batfamily Members (DCU), Damian Wayne Additional Tags: Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, I don't care for DC canon, I don't care for Marvel Canon, Not Canon Compliant, Canon? Who is that?, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Protective Bruce Wayne, Good Parent Bruce Wayne, Good Parent Selina Kyle, Tony is Bruce's son, Tony Stark is a mess read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/A2XdYWI

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the caped crusader #the dark knight #dcu #ao3 #ao3feed

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risingmoonyue · 4 years

Text

Old Soul

Summary: Talia always said Damian was an old soul. She just didn’t realize how right she was.

Fandom: Batman

Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Word Count: 3779

Trigger Warnings: Character Death, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Cutting, Child Abuse

Notes: This is a reincarnation fanfiction about Damian. It is to be noted that the reincarnated person does not know about Batman from their past life. There are a few religious hints in a place or two, but if you don’t like it you don’t have to read it. It’s also pretty easy to skip over. I am also ignoring the whole Ric Grayson thing and probably have gotten the timeline wrong, but neither of those really matter a whole lot for this fic.

On a separate note, I finally found the Keep Reading button. Beat that Tumblr!

Talia always said Damian was an old soul. She just didn’t realize just how right she was.

XXX

Damian al Ghul was born on a warm August night out of an artificial womb in a cold, cold room. Somewhere far away, nine months before, a talented young girl died far before her time. Somehow, that girl was aware of both these events.

She wailed as she was pulled out of a glowing green tube.

She was so cold.

XXX

Time passes, and she learns more. Her name is Damian. She’s a he now. He didn’t mind too much. Sympathy for both sides now, he supposed. She always went with the flow in the Before, and he would too in the Now.

He contemplated how different—how advanced, if he’s grasped his current surroundings well enough—his biology must be for him to be able to comprehend everything in the Before and Now when he was one. (He didn’t think he should ask.)

He learned his family legacy at two.

He officially met his grandfather at three.

He was trained since he was able to walk.

His first kill was the nursemaid his mother deemed too close to him after he learned basic Arabic.

He learned he could not be as he was when he met his mother.

In his previous life, Damian had been an actor. Who-he-was-Before had trained endlessly for years with a passion unlike any other. She was the best at what she did, and everyone knew it.

To survive, Damian-in-the-Now realized he needed a mask. A role to play.

At two years old, Damian donned the mask of “Ibn al Xu’ffasch”.

At two years old, Damian started the riskiest play he will ever act in either lives.

At two years old, Damian’s tears and screams silenced.

He felt so numb.

XXX

“Ibn” was a little snot. He was self-entitled, spoiled, and had a superiority complex.

Despite everything though, “Ibn” just wanted acknowledgment, being someone raised in a loveless environment. He had soft spots, but if he felt threatened, he fell onto the instincts brutally beaten into him and attacked.

He was a child raised in a horrible environment that adapted the best he could.

This was the character Damian made.

This was “Ibn”.

XXX

At five years old, Damian played “Ibn” constantly. The stage was set, he had memorized his lines, and it was far too late—far too dangerous—to back out now.

If he stopped, he knew, he would break into thousands of tiny pieces.

(He didn’t want to be doing this for nothing.)

(Maybe, maybe if he did this long enough, he would finally get to exit stage left, and go far, far away.)

(Maybe he’d get to act for fun again.)

(He liked that thought.)

Damian could only come out when he was safe, when there was an intermission in this big, long play.

Damian was never safe.

XXX

At eight years old, Damian completes the Year of Blood. He prays for forgiveness to God, even if he’s certain at this point he would never deserve anything close to it. He prays that the souls he so mercilessly slaughtered would find peace, even if he burns in hell forever for everything he’s done.

Damian feels dirty.

He has never wanted to cry more in the years of playing “Ibn”.

But Damian is never safe.

So “Ibn” must stay on—a mask that never leaves.

He was slowly starting to forget the life Before; starting to lose himself to “Ibn”.

He didn’t want to forget—he didn’t want to become “Ibn”. He’d rather die.

Was it bad that Damian wanted to die?

XXX

At ten years old, Mother sends Damian—sends her son “Ibn”—to his father. Damian was expecting a detective, one who could fight well enough to impress Mother and Grandfather.

That is not what he sees. Oh, the man is still a seasoned fighter and a brilliant detective. That much is true. But...

His father is a grown man who dresses like a bat. His father is a furry. And, supposedly, a superhero. Which was weird, because he didn’t realize superheroes were real. (Then again, at this point he had found enough differences to establish that he was from an alternate universe.)

Mother left these bits out when she spoke with “Ibn” about him.

He supposed it was just his luck he was reborn into a family full of assassins and furries.

Damian wasn’t quite sure what to think about that. Regardless, it likely doesn’t matter what Damian thinks of the man. His father had—had sexual intercourse with Mother of all people, who has been pit-mad for as long as Damian can remember. (And God, wasn’t that an image he wanted out of his head.)

Surely his father was just like Mother?

After all, it’s all he’s ever known in this cruel world.

No, much better in the long run for “Ibn” to stay on, even as Mother leaves him cold and alone in Gotham.

Father may not say it, but he knows he’s unwanted.

XXX

Damian doesn’t understand. He doesn’t understand anything here.

Back in his previous prison abode home, the rules were clearly defined. The stage was set, the props were up, the script was written, and “Ibn” was made for center stage.

Bat Father didn’t want “Ibn”.

As “Ibn”, he was a burden. Unuseful. A monster in human skin.

There was no way to accept “Ibn” in his life.

Damian wanted to cry. He couldn’t switch masks, he couldn’t. If he did, he would break. Shatter into a thousand tiny pieces cutting into his flesh and bones.

He couldn’t subject himself to that.

Damian didn’t want to be here.

Damian didn’t want to be anywhere.

Damian wanted to die.

But he couldn’t.

Mother and Grandfather would bring him back in the pits whose water already stained his eyes green.

And he would break. But this time there would be no escape.

Damian wonders why he was even born.

XXX

Damian had the feeling that if he were born here, he would have loved them—been a real family, like he can foggily remember having in the Before.

Father is large and strong, an unchanging pillar in a mess of chaos. Despite his furry status (which he will never ever speak of out loud), he has proven to be a reliable man and an even better fighter. Damian respects him so much. Especially his no-kill policy.

Grayson is a smiling, warm light that Damian desperately wanted directed at him. The man had a temper, but did his best to treat him kindly, even with Ibn being an unwanted mess in their lives. He reminds Damian of an acrobat—a fellow showman—Who-he-was-Before knew in life. He was always smiling and finding a reason to laugh. Damian wonders what he’s doing now.

Drake is a certifiable genius, who also happens to be around the same age as Who-he-was-Before. He thinks that it would’ve been fun to talk with him, pick his brain, and make stupid Gen Z jokes no one else got to make. Damian was sad that Ibn had to take such a negative light on him. He thinks they could’ve been close if they met in the Before. He's sad Ibn has to hate him.

Todd reminded him of home at first—of Mother, of Grandfather, and of endless bloody steel—but as he gathered more information about him (always know who poses a threat to your legacy, my son), he decided Todd was much closer to Damian and Ibn—to himself—than anyone at the League. He was someone who died and woke up again in the cold, cold dark. Damian wonders if Todd is more like him than he realized. Maybe he had a Before too. Maybe he was also an unwilling actor on this great stage. Even if he wasn’t, they remained the same at their core—a broken soul inside a bruised and battered body.

Alfred reminded him of the misty images he had of Grandpa from the Before—always bustling about, finding something to do, scolding everyone when required, always with words of wisdom to impart. Damian missed Grandpa. He always knew what to say or do.

He wishes Ibn didn't always try to kill everyone. He hates killing people.

Maybe in another life, Damian would’ve been born here. Maybe instead of a Mother’s pit-tainted love, a Grandfather’s twisted teachings, and a legacy of blood, shadows and death, he could’ve had this.

Maybe.

Ibn decides there is no point thinking about this.

Damian decides this whole business terrifies him.

He’s s o c o l d .

XXX

At ten years old, Father dies.

Damian couldn’t bring himself to be surprised, even if Ibn acted otherwise. Everyone around him seemed to die eventually. Everyone but him.

He resigned himself to returning to warm nights and cold, cold blood-soaked steel.

XXX

Damian didn’t understand.

They had the chance to send him back. “Ibn” had been a burden on them. “Ibn” never listened. “Ibn” was a murderer. They should have abandoned him, just like he deserved for all the blood on his grimy little hands.

Why did they keep him? Why make him Robin? This wasn’t in the script. This wasn’t in the script at all.

Damian didn’t understand.

XXX

For the first time since the Before, Damian felt warm. Grayson—Richard, he allowed, if only in his head—kept him, cared for him, taught him, scolded him, trusted him, treated him like the child he was never allowed to be. Let him be that child.

Didn't force expectations on him. Explained exactly what the rules were.

Damian didn’t need a script here. For once “Ibn” was slowly showing the actor underneath. Not quite, but…

Damian thought that if he let himself break, Richard might just pick up the pieces.

Maybe he’d finally live.

XXX

Father returned. Richard—Grayson—left. Only back to Bludhaven, but left all the same. Left him with Father and Drake.

He felt cold again.

He didn’t know how to act around Father and Drake.

Damian didn’t think about breaking character anymore.

XXX

Mother placed a bounty on Damian’s head.

He didn’t know why it hurt so much. It was in character, after all. A future act of the play he just didn’t look at for fear of what lay ahead.

It was completely in character.

So why did it blindside him so much?

Nothing seemed to make sense anymore.

His Father’s family never stayed on the same script—or even a script at all. One moment everything was going as predicted, then the next the entire course changed, and the characters completely changed while Ibn stayed the same. He wished their scripts would just choose one and stay there. It would make so much more sense.

(He wished Mother’s script would change.)

(Mother’s script was full of death-tainted love with the magic of the pits corroding its edges.)

It really shouldn’t hurt this much. It was just all one big play, after all.

So why did it hurt so bad?

XXX

Mother killed him.

She created a clone that was and wasn’t him, the body but not the soul. An actor who had no other.

She ignored his cries to stop, to call off his pitiful brother that only listened to her commands and nothing else.

She killed him.

He finally got what he wanted.

So why was he not content?

Why was he still hurting?

Why would it not stop?!

He wondered if he would be reborn again.

Would he have an After, and leave Damian and Ibn to become Who-he-was-Before as well?

Or would he be reborn like Todd and Grandfather and Mother, with the evil magic of Lazarus that corrupts and changes?

Damian wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

He was fine staying dead.

Really.

He was.

XXX

He woke up.

Father came for him.

Father revived him, without using the Lazarus Pits.

Father smiled at him.

He was fine with not waking up. But now he thinks he’s fine with waking up too.

Damian felt warm again.

Maybe he would stay this way?

XXX

Grayson was dead.

Damian died so the man would live, and the man doesn’t have the decency to at least stay alive to see Damian again.

Damian wished his Father’s family would stop making him feel warm again. It wasn’t worth it when the cold inevitably came back.

So much pain, so much emotional whiplash, so much cold-then-warm-then-coldcoldcold.

“Ibn” was becoming harder to maintain. Someday, he knows, he won’t have the chance to take off the mask, to exit the stage before he breaks. Still, he maintains character.

Actors don’t break character.

No matter what.

Outside, Ibn stood strong and proud.

Inside, Damian was falling, falling, fading, slowly being embraced by the cold, cold dark.

XXX

Jon was nice. For all that he and Ibn got off on the wrong foot, Ibn liked him.

Ibn liked someone Damian liked.

Damian didn’t think it would happen in his lifetime, not this quickly, and not someone unrelated to Father.

Damian thinks it’s nice to have a friend like Jon. Jon seems to understand him in ways a lot of other people don’t. Jon somehow managed to see the actor without knowing he was seeing him. It was weird. (He'd be a natural actor, Damian thinks)

He somehow knows when Damian is feeling so, so cold; more cold than normal. When he is, he takes Ibn-and-Damian somewhere quiet, and they just… sit. And talk. And just be.

It’s nice.

Damian is glad he has Jon as a friend.

Damian isn’t scared to feel a little warm around Jon.

Just a quiet warmth, only with him. He never took it anywhere else. It was a special kind of warmth, reserved for special times and special people. Like a family that chose him regardless of his wishes, of his past; a sibling he never knew he had.

Jon was his grounding rock in this chaotic mess of a play.

Damian had missed having a best friend.

Damian thinks it may be worth living if he can make Jon smile more.

XXX

Sometimes, in a rare good mood, he would gently teach Jon how to act. The way to direct attention to his hands at all the right times, how to keep a poker face, how to fully immerse yourself in your role. How to decide a script for yourself and to stick to it. How to use the skills on and off the stage, and the differences between the two. Warns him about the dangers of long-term roles, of a semi-permanent mask. Of becoming too immersed, of losing yourself. They never said anything about it. This time was something special. Something theirs. (He thinks Jon has probably realized by now that Damian always wears his mask.)

Damian liked using his skills for something good in this life. (Someone to pass them on to, just in case.)

If this was the closest Damian ever came to removing his mask (even closer than with Grayson), neither of them ever said a word.

It was better that way.

XXX

Grayson was alive.

Grayson was always alive, and Damian didn’t think he’d ever been this angry—this hurt—ever, in the Before and the Now. Never for this long, never this intensely.

In the Before, Damian’s anger came slowly and burned quickly, never staying long. He went with the flow. His forgiveness came quickly, but his memory lasted forever. He went with the flow always, he still did when he could, but—

But he was so ANGRY.

Damian thought death might be better than this hot-cold-burning anger.

Was this what being warm around someone brought him? The hot-cold-burning feeling?

He didn’t like it.

The numb cold was safe. “Ibn” was easier in the cold. Why couldn’t he just stay cold?

Why did Grayson always make him feel again, no matter how hard he tried? Why did Grayson keep messing up his script? Even Jon, a key cast member, never did that. Jon danced around, a supporting role in the cast of characters, supporting him as he could from the sidelines. He was like a senior understudy, learning as both the backup and his own role. (But there was no equivalent of how special Jon was, Damian knew.) His times became his own, making use of every second of spotlight. Grayson always seemed to jump onto the stage regardless of the script and do whatever the heck he wanted.

Damian sometimes thought that the only way to feel completely numb again was to just die. For good.

XXX

He tried.

He slit his wrist.

He really tried.

But he couldn’t. Once the blood started pouring, he thought of Jon, Father, of Drake and Todd and Alfred and Grayson and how warm they sometimes made him even if he was sure they had to hate him so much—

He couldn’t.

He couldn’t die.

He cursed his selfish heart, that despite his best efforts, still craved that beautiful, comfortable warmth.

He just wanted to feel numb again.

He looked at his bleeding wrist, staunching the blood, and felt just an inkling of that numbness, and—

He kept doing it.

XXX

Damian was very careful after that first time. He never cut too deep, and “Ibn” never showed any signs of wounds nor pain (no grandson of mine will show such pathetic weakness).

(He started pulling away from Jon. He didn’t want to taint his warm-warm-light with his dark-dark-cold.)

Everything was fine.

Everything was completely under control.

(It had to be.)

XXX

It wasn’t enough. Soon cutting didn’t seem to help, didn’t seem to bring back that blessedblessednumbness and he needed it and he didn’t understand why and he just wanted to feel that numbness one more time—

XXX

Damian got careless.

He cut too much, and he cut too deep. He would live, but hiding them was next to impossible with the weather warming up and the humidity hanging in the air. It would be so hard for Ibn to hide them.

God, he was so tired.

XXX

They were on patrol. Everyone was there for once. Grayson was visiting from Bludhaven, and Todd was hanging around from wherever he left to when he was globetrotting.

His Father and his three sons, all on one patrol together. With Damian.

He should’ve known it would be impossible to hide his wounds.

All it took was Drake grabbing his arm to stop him from leaving. He showed pain. He cried out in pain.

Pathetic.

He’s an actor. He was supposed to keep to his role. No breaking character in the middle of a scene.

Ever.

But he did.

And now they know.

XXX

They wouldn’t stop asking questions.

They were in the Medbay, and as they inspected and treated his wounds, they kept asking WHY and HOW and with WHAT and it's all Damian can do to keep “Ibn” up and running.

He isn’t sure how much longer he can last.

XXX

It’s Todd that finally got Ibn—Damian—to break.

Damian knew that Todd had stayed in the League for a time after being revived. He was Mother’s “pet project,” so to speak.

He just hadn’t realized Mother talked about him to Todd during that time.

“You know,” said Todd, his eyes sympathetic and knowing as he tried to get Damian to open up, “Talia always said you were an old soul.”

That sentence. That one blasted sentence that defined his very existence in this world.

It broke “Ibn” to pieces.

And shattered Damian along with it.

XXX

Damian didn’t stop crying for hours. He was so tired, and this was just all so wrong, he didn’t want to break script, he shouldn’t, but—

He was so tired.

XXX

In the end, Damian told them.

About the Before and Now.

About Mother and Grandfather.

About the warm-and-cold.

About the numbness he needed.

About how he wanted to die, but couldn’t.

About “Ibn”.

About the grand play that was his entire life.

About the scripts everyone and no one seemed to follow.

He told them everything.

XXX

They listened in silence.

Damian didn’t dare look at them. He didn’t want to risk seeing—something. Anything. He didn’t want to see what was going through their thoughts.

He didn’t know how they would react. They never stayed on script. Why should they adhere to any kind of script at all now?

Why expect anything good to come out of this?

He was a broken mess, a freak of nature. He was a murderous monster who was bred to feel no grief nor guilt nor sadness.

He wasn’t supposed to care.

WHY

D I D

H E

XXX

Damian closed his eyes when he finished. He didn’t even want to chance seeing their reactions. Their rejection. Their hate. Their disgust.

He had no mask to hide behind.

He was already broken.

He didn’t want the broken shards of what was left to be pulverized.

He waited for the sounds of their rejection, of their hate, of their disgust. Scorn, anger. Something. ANYTHING. He just hoped that whatever they did, they didn’t drag it out. That they got it over with.

Maybe then he could finally die?

“Damian.” That sound. It was his name. But it was careful. Delicate. Within it was a tone that felt so familiar. It reminded him of the warm feeling he sometimes got. He remembered hearing that tone in the Before, but… What was it? He used to know, he knew, but he couldn’t remember anymore.

“Dami… You know we love you, right?”

What?

Love?

Him?

Damian’s eyes popped open in surprise. He didn’t understand.

Those words. He couldn’t comprehend those words. Love?

Damian?

The one who created Ibn al Xu’ffasch?

The one who played Ibn for years? Who played him for so long he could barely remember who “Damian” was?

Who could love someone like that?

He told them so.

Why did they look so sad?

Why did they look so scared, so horrified, but still have that- that warmth, that emotion- that love in their eyes?

Damian didn’t understand.

D A M I A N D I D N ’ T U N D E R S T A N D !

Why?

WHY?

WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY—?!

Damian started crying again as warm-warm-so-warm arms circled around him, encompassing him with a warmth he hadn’t felt before, not in this life.

It was like the stage lights were replaced with sunshine instead.

His ears were barraged with the sounds of endless warm-warm-warm words, saying things he thought would be impossible to attribute to him ever since he was small.

The dead girl-now-boy.

The actor.

The creator of “Ibn”.

The coward who hid behind a mask for over eight years.

Damian.

All of him. Maybe, Damian thought, feeling so, so warm, he could be okay again.

Just sitting here, surrounded by this warm, warm love.

(END)

Whoo boy. If you’re still here, thanks for reading! Lemme know what you guys think, and if you want to see more from this AU!

Now, if you excuse me, I’m gonna go read something fluffy.

#batman #batman au #batman fanfiction #angst #hurt/comfort #reincarnation #damian wayne #talia al ghul #ras al ghul #bruce wayne #dick grayson #tim drake #jason todd #jon kent #oc #trigger warning #batfam #reincarnation au

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Marvel’s WandaVision Episode 3: MCU Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

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This article contains WANDAVISION Episode 3 spoilers, and potential spoilers for future episodes, the wider MCU, and Marvel Comics. We have a spoiler free review here.

WandaVision episode 3 is the first full color episode of the series, and moves the setting from the black-and-white 1960s of the previous episodes to a vibrant Brady Bunch-esque Technicolor of the early 1970s. There’s lots of fun weirdness to find between the lines, both from a Marvel and MCU Easter eggs standpoint and callouts to classic sitcoms of its era.

Let’s get to work…

SITCOM INSPIRATION

Let’s start with the big one…

The Brady Bunch

This episode borrows almost the entirety of its aesthetic from all-time classic sitcom The Brady Bunch. Wanda and Vis’s house strongly resembles Mike and Carol Brady’s humble ranch home inside and out. The gorgeous wide wooden staircase in particular is a real tell – as is Wanda’s bold ‘70s attire that seems to be right out of Marcia Brady’s closet in later seasons.

The opening credits title card even adopts the 3×3 grid format as seen on The Brady Bunch. Of course, the Wanda and Vision household isn’t as jam-packed as the Brady’s but there is an undeniable underlying theme of family throughout this installment.

Mork and Mindy

Mork and Mindy was a 70s-into-early-80s show with a weird sci-fi couple, in the sense that the husband is an alien. In the final season, there’s a one-and-done pregnancy storyline episode called “Three the Hard Way.” In it, Mork is the one with child. Due to his alien biology, an egg comes out of his navel and out of it hatches an elderly man, as their people age backwards.

Other Sitcom Stuff…

When Wanda tries to hide her pregnancy from Geraldine, she holds a small basket of fruit in front of her large stomach. This is likely a playful homage to all of the not-so-creative ways that sitcoms have tried to hide actress’s pregnancies over the years. And funny enough, it seems like the fruit Wanda is eating at various points in the episode corresponds to the fetus size as outlined by their doctor.

The doctor’s name is “Dr. Stan Nielsen.” As in the Nielsen Ratings. And maybe Stan as in, you know, Stan Lee…

And now for the Marvel and MCU stuff!

Scarlet Witch

In the opening credits when Wanda is reading a magazine on the couch and using her powers to vacuum, she’s reading another issue of Glamorous (which we saw in episode one). This magazine features a woman in a red bathing suit, kind of like some of the skimpier Scarlet Witch costumes Wanda has worn through the years in the comics.

Vision

Similarly, the scene of Vision barbecuing on the patio shows him wearing an era-appropriate shirt in his comics colors of green and yellow. The swingset he’s struggling to put together is also in his colors.

Wanda’s Pregnancy and the Twins

When Wanda gave birth to her kids in the comics, something similar to what we saw here happened: nobody, not even the doctors, were aware that Wanda was carrying twins, so the arrival of the second child was a surprise to everyone.

Watch everything Marvel and more on Disney+, right here!

The way Wanda’s pregnancy rapidly progresses through the episode feels like a reference to Avengers #200, one of the most hated issues of any Marvel comic. In the comic, Carol Danvers is discovered to be suddenly pregnant and goes through the entire process over the course of a day or so. Nobody really bats an eye at this and all the creepy, questionable parts are handwaved as a good thing.

When Wanda’s pregnancy starts causing chaos, she and Vision strike a pose based on The Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1.

Not particularly relevant right now, but in the comics, none other than Doctor Strange delivered Wanda’s twins. Given all the ways that this show is supposed to tie into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (some of which we think we’ve already spotted), this is just worth a mention.

Billy and Tommy

The twins are named “Billy and Tommy” just as they are in the comics. They were later reincarnated as Billy Kaplan and Tommy Shepherd. You likely remember them as Wiccan, the First Gentleman of the Kree-Skrull Alliance, and Speed…uh…his best man?

Very briefly, because a full discussion of this would take a while: Billy and Tommy were born to Wanda and Vizh in 1985’s Vision and Scarlet Witch. They were unmade when it was revealed they were figments of Wanda’s powers and imagination, imbued with shards of Mephisto’s soul and reabsorbed into Master Pandemonium’s arms in West Coast Avengers. They reappeared as heroes in the first Young Avengers series, and reunited with their mother in Avengers: Children’s Crusade. That is an extremely quick summary of what might be the most Gordian continuity knot in the entire Marvel Universe.

Geraldine

Teyonah Parris returns as “Geraldine” for this episode, but this time it’s even clearer that there’s more to her than meets the eye. As we’ve pointed out before, “Geraldine” is a cover for Monica Rambeau, the daughter of Carol Danvers’ best pal Maria Rambeau, and someone who will play a significant role in Captain Marvel 2.

“Geraldine” tells a rambling story about her boss, “Mr. Haddix.” There’s no obvious immediate Marvel connection with the name. However, it might just be part of the motif – the stork tries to eat the fish on Geraldine’s pants, maybe it’s actually “Mr. Haddocks”? We’re still not finding any Marvel connections with this one, though.

It’s also probably not an accident that Geraldine’s cover story involves her working for an ad agency. The commercials are one part of the show where reality peeks through vividly. Ad agencies are, in a sense, manipulating reality for consumers to make them want a product more, and there’s no shortage of reality manipulation going on here.

Geraldine is rocking a striking blue and white outfit, with starburst type designs on them that could either recall the log she wore as Captain Marvel, Pulsar, and her other superheroic identities…or possibly dimensional portals.

SWORD

Geraldine is wearing a SWORD pendant, so it’s pretty clear who she’s working for. Those pesky SWORD agents seem to be everywhere, from our pal The Beekeeper to the folks monitoring Wanda in that command center to…well, who else in Westview is working for SWORD?

While we’re talking about Mr. Haddocks and Geraldine’s job, the cereal in Geraldine’s work story – Gravity O’s, with the marshmallow moon men – is likely a nod to SWORD’s mission in the comics, when they used to watch space rather than “sentient weapons.”

We wrote more about SWORD here.

AGNES

Agnes’ brooch looks like it has three witches, one holding a scythe. There are a few options for what this might be referencing:

The obvious one is the three witches from Macbeth who use prophecy to steer the main character to his doom.

Less obvious and much more unlikely is the Weird Sisters, Quasar villains (!) working for Maelstrom, an Inhuman/Deviant hybrid who has had several run-ins with the Avengers

And the least likely: Jennifer Kale (from Man-Thing), Satana (sister to Damian Hellstrom and the Daughter of Satan), and Topaz (of Werewolf by Night…fame?), three Marvel witches who starred together in a four-issue Jemas era series in 2004. It’s definitely not this one.

Pietro and Age of Ultron

Geraldine mentions to Wanda that Pietro was “killed by Ultron,” referencing the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. This is clearly one of the memories Wanda is trying to suppress with her sitcom antics, and it doesn’t go well for Geraldine/Monica…who finds herself “banished” back to the real world of the MCU.

We wrote more about what the Pietro connection could mean here.

Westview

We actually just wrote in detail about the significance of Westview (which is kind of a real place, too), but here we see the town’s slogan: “Home, it’s where you make it.”

Wanda is indeed “making” her home in whatever image she feels most comfortable with at the moment, so this is a further clue to the House of M-esque shenanigans that seem to be going on with her.

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Other Marvel Stuff

Not strictly a Marvel thing, but the opening credits feature a lot of hexagons, the same kinds of shapes you see in beehives, which brings our creepy beekeeper friend from episode 2 to mind.

The paint cans in the nursery are from a fictional brand known as “Simser” which promises “a universe of color.” Jeremy Simser who works as a storyboard artist on WandaVision, and who is also doing work on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. So…perhaps “a multiverse of color” might have been more appropriate?

Dottie’s husband fill is reading a newspaper with a headline that says “TWO FIRE HYDRANTS ADDED ON MAIN STREET” but the paper is folded so it says “TWO FIRE HYDRA” at one point. Also…twins. Note the “twin motif” on Phil and Dottie’s lamp, too.

Wanda sings a Sokovian lullaby to the twins.

The episode goes from fullscreen to a more MCU-appropriate and cinematic widescreen when it cuts to Geraldine/Monica back in what appears to be the real world. Not that there was any doubt, but whatever is happening in “sitcom land” is definitely not reality, and time travel has nothing to do with whatever’s going on here.

The final song is The Monkees’ “Daydream Believer” which was also used in trailers. The title is pretty on-the-nose if you consider the dominant House of M-esque theory about what’s actually happening on this show, and that Wanda is using her powers to manipulate reality.

THE COMMERCIAL

Hydra Soak implores its consumers to “Find the Goddess Within.” We don’t have to tell you what HYDRA is, but what about this “find the goddess within” stuff?

Well, we can kind of speculate that this is a reference to the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, in which Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster will end up becoming the new god/goddess of thunder, just as she did in the comics.

Spot anything we missed? Let us know in the comments!

The post Marvel’s WandaVision Episode 3: MCU Easter Eggs and Reference Guide appeared first on Den of Geek.

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