Clone^2 Damian
If you really think about, Damian's situation in the clone^2 au is... kinda tragic? Especially in the early months of his arrival. Like,,, think about it. Damian has always known he was a clone of Damian Wayne, that he was a copy of the blood son. There was nothing 'original' about him, not even his name (of which at least Danny has that). He was just... a replacement. A disposable one, to boot.
And he knew that, to an extent, by the time he was six years old. he might not have been actively acknowledging it -- he's six years old -- but deep down he knew. And like, he's six years old. Every small child craves the love and affection of an adult, especially their parents, and even though he knew he was clone, I imagine he still considered - and still does consider, somewhat - Talia and Bruce as his mother and father. And I really doubt he was... getting it?
Now, I know Talia loves Damian, her son. At least in some interpretations she does, and in this au she does. But... a clone of her son? I'm not so certain if she would have the same affection for baby Dames as she would for Damian. I don't think she would treat him badly, but I don't think Talia would treat him warmly either. Kinda just, distant. Colder than she would have been with OG Damian.
And, I know I've mentioned Damian's arrival from Danny's point of view, and its kind of comical kind of insane from his perspective -- a little boy clone of Damian Wayne falls through a portal and immediately attacks him. That sounds like a bad joke.
But, if you think of this from Damian's point of view? It's like he just got dropped into a scary movie. Like, think about it. You're six years old, and suddenly a portal, as green and as swirling as your grandfather's pools, opens up beneath your feet and sucks you through.
After an intense bout of vertigo, you end up in a massive, urban city -- completely different from the rural mountain palace that you lived in for the last six years of your life, and in this city, you don't know any of the language. You don't know what anyone is saying, you can't read any of the signs - you are completely stranded, away from home.
And then, to make things worse, you're facing a figure with a terrifying mask and eyes as burning green as the portal you fell through. Of course Damian's first instinct, six years old, is to attack. He's terrified.
And this figure, he's not a good fighter, but he's fast, and he dodges you quickly. He grabs your sword with his hands, and tries to restrain you, saying something in a language you don't know. Naturally, Damian is just scared. He's six! He'd just be learning how to read if he was normal child going to school.
This figure halfway through the fight yanks off his mask -- he realizes you're scared -- and looking at you now, is a youthful version of your father. This is a clone of your dad, someone you have never met but, six years old, still wants to. Damian gets defensive. This is an imposter.
But this imposter eventually gets you home with him - and he's using his little box, his phone, to communicate with you through a mechanical voice speaking in arabic. and it's frustrating. The boy, the imposter, can say whatever to you just fine, but trying to talk back is a hassle and a half. He's six, he doesn't have that much patience.
He wants to go home.
And so he keeps trying to run away. He keeps trying to find out of this hellish concrete jungle, and he keeps getting lost. It's loud, and busy, and there are people talking to you and you don't understand them, and there are rules and signs you don't understand - Damian tries to cross the street and nearly gets hit by a car. He doesn't know how the road signs work, he was never taught. They didn't get to that.
And he gets lost. And it gets dark, and Damian is brave, but he is six, and this is the worst stress he's been under in all his six years of life. He wants, desperately more than anything, to go home. Why wouldn't he? The only stable... semi-stable environment he was in just got ripped out from under his feet, literally! He wants his mother.
And it's not happening.
But there's something good to be said, at least. The imposter that looks like his father always comes and finds him, no matter what. He could have left that morning, and he will find Damian at midnight, frazzled and worried, and carrying an extra jacket with him because it is cold in Amity Park and Damian is six years old.
And sometimes Damian attacks him - he's scared and stressed and he doesn't want to be here. And every time he catches the sword. Even though Damian can see it cut into his hand and pearls of blood well up and stains his fingers. Even though Damian can see him wince in pain and bite his lip, he still catches it.
But with that little box, he coaxes Damian to come back with him. It's cold, it's dark, Amity Park is unsafe at night. They can figure something out tomorrow, please. And every time, he agrees, reluctantly. And the imposter takes the extra jacket he brought with -- a flannel, a hoodie, a jacket -- and he wraps it around him. It's warm, Damian's clothes are not that thick, and even though he thinks he might hate this imposter, he still sticks close to his legs as he leads him down the street.
And sometimes the imposter carries him, because Damian's shoes are not that thick, and he cuts his foot on broken glass while they're walking home. The imposter sits in the bathroom with him and carefully cleans the cut out, and makes sure it doesn't get infected.
There's hope you know, he still has it. His mother will be looking for him. She'll be worried. He's important to them. Damian may not be the original, but he is still a blood son. He is still her son. She will come find him. This nightmare will end soon. He can go home.
And then weeks pass, and nothing. Then months, and nothing. His family is not coming for him, and it hurts. Hurts more than anything. And yet while that happens, the boy he's attacked, and hurt, teaches himself arabic in order to speak to him. He takes Damian out of the house one afternoon and buys him new clothes, or tries to. And then he keeps buying him new clothes. He gives him blankets and gives up his bed to him until they can get him one himself, and steadily he teaches Damian english.
This boy is kind. Kinder than Damian's ever experienced, and he doesn't know what to do with it. He's devastated by the fact that he is not as important to his family as his family is to him. What do you do when you're six years old and you learn something like that? When a random stranger who looks like your father is kinder to you, and cares more about you than your family did?
And then Damian tells him he's a clone. He's Damian Wayne's clone, and he tells him his purpose - that their grandfather made him to kill him. And the boy, the imposter, Damian thinks he probably already knows that he's a clone. But he doesn't say that. He just nods, and asks him if he wants to tell his original about him.
Damian says no. He doesn't want to. He's tired of living in the shadow of his original. He wants to keep this to himself. This is his. For once, all of this is his.
And to his surprise, the imposter doesn't try and convince him otherwise. He just nods, and says okay. And when Damian asks why, the imposter - his brother - looks at him and says.
"I don't care about Damian Wayne. I care about you." And in Damian's gobsmacked silence, his brother continues. He tells him that if Damian doesn't want to tell his original that he exists, then they don't need to. They don't need to worry about the LoA going after him, because clearly if his 'grandfather' needs to make a clone of Damian in order to take him out, then whatever it was that Damian Wayne was doing to keep himself safe, was working.
"Wayne already has people in his corner, he's got Gotham's army of vigilantes to keep himself safe." his brother says with his eyes as blue as moonlight. "You, however. Do not." And he continues, and says that if Damian Wayne has the same training as Damian does, then he will be fine. He doesn't need to be aware of his clone. Because if DW doesn't know about Damian, then the LoA doesn't either.
And here's the thing. Damian would not have survived in the LoA for long. Not as a clone. No matter what, he was going to die no matter what he did, and sooner rather than later. The sword of Damocles was always hanging above his head in the League of Assassins.
That portal, and meeting Danny, saved his life. There's no way around it. And to an extent Damian knows this even at six years old. He may not be aware that he would've died, but he knows that meeting Danny was the best thing to happen to him.
It's no wonder after that, that Damian is as clingy to Danny as he is. Danny is the first person he's met to offer him unconditional love, with no strings attached, only pure affection.
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some thoughts about astarion because i'm tired of the internet reducing him to one thing
when bg3 came out in early access, astarion was always seen as the extremely flirty, confident guy who enjoyed sex (or so we thought) and spoke about it like it was his favourite thing. he was also kinda marketed as the “sexy vampire”, so you can understand why many people saw him that way based on the little amount of content we had. even while playing act 1 and act 2, many players still might think of him like that because he does have a very charismatic personality and he asks to sleep with you very early on, so it just automatically makes you think he’s genuinely happy doing that and being totally serious.
BUT!!!!!!! we end up finding out later on that’s NOT the case and it was all part of a plan to seduce us in order for him to gain protection. he opens up about his past and his trauma and how he was forced to use his body to lure people back to cazador. he struggles with intimacy and relationships in general because of this. that’s why i really hope that people stop reducing him to “hot sexy vampire that loves flirting and having sex with everyone” when that is not who he is, he’s literally traumatised because of sex due to being forced into it and he’s slowly trying to heal. he’s also so much more than just “the hot vampire”, ya know? if you actually put in the effort to get to know him, you will see who he truly is underneath and he has many loveable traits to appreciate.
you may not see the “soft” side of him very often because he hides it, but it’s there!! one thing i noticed that really stood out to me was that when i gave food to an orphan in act 3 and he approved. back when you first met him, he probably would’ve done the opposite or had no reaction at all. i also saw a clip of someone trying to romance karlach and astarion and he literally told tav to choose karlach over him because he can see that karlach loves her. he said normally an arrangement would work for him but after everything karlach has been through, he doesn’t want to get in the way or see her hurt. letting tav go is also hard for him as well but he still thought about someone else. he could’ve whined or been possessive or jealous but he didn’t do that at all. where are all those people who reduce astarion to “the guy that flirts and sleeps with everyone” now? seriously. that’s not what he does, and when he was forced into it by cazador, he was trying to survive, he didn’t do it for his own pleasure. it’s not a “hot” personality trait of his, it’s literally trauma. and because he did it so much, he got used to it, and that resulted in him disassociating and feeling empty.
apparently if you ask him to join you and sleep with the drows at the brothel (something i will never make him do in my playthroughs), he only says yes because he struggles to say no. but he disassociates. and if you’re in a high approval relationship with him and he loves you, he will feel safe enough to express his feelings and say he’s not comfortable. this happens before you fight cazador. i’m not sure if he gives the same response after, but either way, if he joins in, he will always disassociate and it’s not something he wants to do despite what he may say.
that being said, it’s obviously still okay to appreciate his beauty and attractiveness, because he is very beautiful. he appreciates it and even likes being called beautiful. calling him “hot” and “sexy” isn’t a bad thing either, we know he can be and i'm sure he knows it too! it’s just annoying when people act like that’s ALL he is and they don’t even mention anything else about his character. the love scenes are beautifully done too (i personally prefer the second one after you’ve stopped him from doing the ritual, because that’s the one where he decided he truly wanted it and felt safe and comfortable because he genuinely loves you), and i actually would’ve been fine if they didn’t have any scenes like that at all because it’s totally understandable and valid if he didn’t feel comfortable, but i just hope that people don’t take things too far and over-sexualise him just because of how he appeared to be in the first half of the game and the way he’s often marketed on social media. and yes i know he’s fictional and nothing on the internet is going to hurt his feelings!!!! it’s more about the fact that he canonically has sexual trauma and many people still say really disturbing stuff even AFTER they find out about that, and it just makes me uncomfortable to think that people are okay with treating someone like a sexual object especially when they've said they're traumatised and it makes them uncomfortable. idk if this makes sense 😭
but yeah he doesn't want to flirt and sleep with everyone as i've seen people claim. and if in an alternate universe he did, and he did it on his OWN terms, and the other people he had relationships with enjoyed it too, then good for them! absolutely nothing wrong with that if there's consent, respect and honesty. however, that's not the case with what happened with astarion, because 1. he was forced into using his body WHEN HE DID NOT WANT TO and 2. he misled people and lured them to a miserable fate. it's so horrible and devastating for everyone involved. sex was never something fun for him, and it certainly isn't a "personality trait" of his. it was a survival tactic. he was forced to. he didn’t want to.
obviously when he becomes more comfortable, then it's totally understandable to get excited when he flirts and shows physical affection. he can be so charming, funny, sweet and romantic and i love that. it’s so beautiful to see him heal, genuinely find comfort in someone for the first time and experience intimacy that he feels ready and comfortable for. he deserves to love and be loved on his own terms instead of being forced. but again, he is so much more than the guy we were introduced to at the beginning. the internet just sees one thing and sticks with it but i really hope people start to actually appreciate him for who he is and the complexity of his character.
aaaaand i just had to leave this here <3
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hi!! 🍄 for the WIP ask game 👀 did I see something about uncle4uncle?
I just think it would be kind of romantic if Lan Qiren, still suffering from the wound he took when the Wen burned the Cloud Recesses, was instructed by his personal physician to go spend a year in a warm climate, gentler on his lungs, like oh say I don’t know. Lotus pier.
And Shufu’s old student, now the Jiang sect leader, is eagerly rolling out the red carpet and inviting his former teacher to come stay as long as he’d like, we’ve made up such comfortable guest quarters for you, no one’s allowed to clown around this pavilion at night when you’re trying to sleep! Don’t worry, I remember the Lan cooking and I’ve given the cooks personally hand-written recipes that don’t involve six cloves of garlic and a whole chili pepper in the morning congee! This is because one time Lan Qiren told Jiang Fengmian within Jiang Cheng’s hearing that Jiang Cheng was a pleasure to have in class, so dutiful and attentive and eager to learn. (Jiang Fengmian: 😕 I’m sorry to hear he was such an uninteresting pupil.)
Lan Qiren has a very nice time chilling in Lotus Pier, on vacation from once again de facto running the Lan sect on behalf of an incapacitated family member, and is enjoying daily quiet morning time with Jiang Wanyin, having regular conversation with him where he’s reminded how much they have in common, and playing his guqin for him every night in a private pavilion while Jiang Wanyin actually relaxes enough to sprawl and listen to the sound of the music while they look over the lake. They kind of fall in love but in a really quiet way where no one says anything but the very idea of giving up the peaceful daily companionship they’ve found with one another feels like a knife to the heart.
Forces opposing this union: A) neither of them would ever make a move unless something dramatic happened. Jiang Cheng is not a shifufucker and Lan Qiren would not overstep. B) Lan Xichen is still a basket case and Lan Wangji is not equipped to substitute for Xiongzhang indefinitely. At some point LQR is going to have to go back home.
I think maybe what happens is LQR goes back home but his health takes a turn for the worse once he’s back on the cold mountain doing the stressful work again; LQR’s personal physician bitchily reveals this to the general Lan family, like how much longer do you expect him to do this before he dies of it, and they’re all fighting about it when Jiang Cheng, who’s been informed of the health relapse, shows up with a sedan at the bottom of the mountain to take him back to Lotus Pier, and argues with everyone and reveals personal knowledge about Lan-laoshi that makes everyone’s eyes go wide because damn. He shared some shit with you, didn’t he. Lan Wangji is not okay with this—I think he probably takes LQR for granted, but more importantly, I think it’s extremely funny if Jiang Cheng continues his CQL tradition of upsetting the hell out of LWJ while having no clue he’s doing it—and Lan Xichen is like no, no, we’ll muddle through somehow, uncle, go be with the one you love (and then collapses back into a puddle as soon as Shufu is gone).
JC and LQR then go back to Lotus Pier and continue having an ambiguously queer gay pseudo marriage unless I feel like making them kiss. (Jin Ling, after having spent one day together with Jiujiu and Lan Qiren: 🧐 uncle it’s kind of gross, but..do you maybe want to kiss that old guy the way Da-Jiu kisses Hanguang-jun? *Jin Ling has been ejected from the server and yeeted back to Lanling*)
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On Kouyou and Mori's relationship
@2offayyo-kzt THANK YOU FOR ASKING because you prompted me to talk about Kouyou and I love talking about Kouyou. Original post the reply is referring to.
Okay most of it comes from the Kouyou / Mori / Chuuya scene at the closing of the guild arc. First off: in chapter 37 we are made aware that Kouyou decided to stay at the agency of her own accord. Besides from the reasons she had to stay, it's just pretty cool how it's confirmed that Kouyou doesn't feel like having Mori's orders or will she has to answer to and just... Pretty much is free to do whatever she wants. She doesn't care about what Mori requires from her - Mori who most definitely would have wanted her back at the pm as soon as possible - and just acts of her own accord, which is something that even Chuuya doesn't do.
Following up, Kouyou and Mori also reflect over how she's perfectly capable of freely leave the pm, yet she chooses not to (btw her little smirk following Mori acknowledgement of her abilities is SO cute). Again, it goes to show how independent she is from Mori (pretty much putting her on his same level I guess?), being able to leave the pm facing no consequences or retaliation, and just in general how master of her fate she is. It's nice, it's RARE for a franchise where female characters are usually just thrown from one side to the other by external factors and rarely get to choose for themselves.
Then - and so far I strayed a bit from the initial matter, but this is most relevant to the point I was making in the original post - she says “Shut up. I'll sew your mouth shout.” There's A LOT in those lines because it plainly shows how she just... Doesn't fear Mori, doesn't fear calling him out on his creepy behavior, doesn't fear (playfully? ← arguable) menacing him. She's just so unbound and free and self-governed, and totally unbothered by Mori unlike any other character (except for, well, Elise, who's part of Mori herself). It's a joy to see.
Next, the volume 10 extra. The “that's why I told you”, “I'll punch you”, it all goes to reinforce the concept that Kouyou is perfectly unafraid of Mori and doesn't shy away from calling him out and scolding him even sternly. But it's especially interesting to compare her behavior with Chuuya's. Where Chuuya tries to find accomodations for Mori, Kouyou scolds him, and later even accuses Chuuya of being “spoiling him”; their approach is completely different, and as a consequence their relationships with Mori are diametrically opposite. Again, back to my initial point: even Chuuya, who is one of the most self-reliant characters of them all, knows he has to answer to Mori, and accordingly treats him with respect; Kouyou is perfectly unbothered and unafraid.
And even more examples: chapter 42, Kouyou openly arguing with Mori's decision, lacking that mentality that is shared between pm operatives that Mori's plans are infallible and there's no point in questioning them (just think about how sure, confident and even smug Chuuya was about Mori's plan during the Guild arc, chapter 22). Chapter 43, Kouyou spending “half a year's worth of founds” to attack a government van, which I can guess goes against what Mori wants for the pm (lol) and once again just shows how Kouyou... Freely bosses around and does whatever she wants, answering to no one.
With this I'm not saying Kouyou doesn't care about Mori. She DOES care about Mori, she just doesn't in a “subordinate is loyal to their superior” kind of way. She cares about Mori, the thing is that she does because she chooses to and not for any other constraint, which arguably makes her the person that is closer and most loyal to him?? Because she has no second means for being loyal to him, and just does that because she wants to, which makes her loyalty the truest, most authentic one. And Mori knows that, and that's why she deserves to be the next pm boss, and I know they (authors) will never make her but she deserves it and she's the pm boss of my heart end of conversation.
Headcanon time while we're at it, I like to think for Kouyou to address to Mori so informally and familiarly is a way to make up / compensate for the trauma she underwent with the previous boss. When Mori killed the previous boss, she swore she would have never lived in fear again, and even though she ultimately decided to stay in the darkness, it's now her choice; a choice she personally and freely makes despite being aware of potentially, realistically being able to leave at any moment. Addressing Mori as he was her equal is a way for Kouyou to remind to herself about how free and unbound she is.
About Mori and Kouyou, I like to think they had this siblings-like relationship since before Mori became boss I mean, they canonly go cherry blossom sighting together. I like to think a very small, subconscious part of Mori killed the previous boss because Mori held resentment towards him for hurting Kouyou- but that's definitely straying too far alcbdklzbdkskxbks. I like to think Kouyou wanted Kyouka in the pm because she genuinely believed that under hers and Mori's lead Kyouka could be happy, that the pm was the place that most would have welcomed Kyouka, welcomed what Kouyou believed to be her nature.
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