#only reason he stayed

[confessedlyfannish]

DP x DC Writing Prompt #5

Damian does not glance back at Bruce when he knocks on the door. Instead they both wait in silence.

After a moment, the door opens.

"Hello," Jasmine, Jazz, Fenton greets politely, unsurprised to find the Waynes on her doorstep. Damian's expression grows ever darker at this revelation.

"Hello Ms. Fenton, are your parents home?" Bruce asks, placing a firm hand on Damian's shoulder, to ground as much as to restrain. To his credit he does not shake it off.

"No, they're out of town for a conference," the eighteen year-old says, opening the door wider. "But I think you'd better come in."

Bruce would normally decline, but Ms. Fenton is a legal adult and he has already, even unknowingly, waited 16 years. Damian makes the choice for him, striding past the threshold.

"Please take a seat," Jazz says as she leads them to the living room. She ignores Damian's swinging head as he takes in the home. It is deceptively large, a 90s style house filled with modern furniture. The walls are bright, with purple and green accents that would normally feel garish but somehow work. The stairs leading to the second floor are lined with family photos that Bruce yearns to take a closer look at. "Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water?"

"No, that's alright, thank you," Bruce says, taking a seat on the long plush couch. A men's windbreaker lies haphazardly thrown across one of the arms. A closed container of Oreo cookies sit on the coffee table next to a physics textbook open to chapter 16, half covered in highlighter and filled with sticky notes. There's a child's painting framed next to the tv, a handprint made to look like a thanksgiving turkey in bright blue.

For the home of experimental scientists, it is cozy and well lived-in.

Damian repeatedly glances at the stairs through the doorway.

Bruce clears his throat. "We were hoping to--"

"I've texted--oh, I'm sorry," Jazz says, having spoken at the same time. Bruce gestures for her to go on.

"I've contacted Danny, he should be here soon. He was out with some friends." Jazz explains. As she hadn't pulled out a phone in their presence, Bruce can only deduce they have some sort of camera at their front door. This also explains Ms. Fenton's complete lack of surprise at their appearance.

"So you know who we are." Damian says, the first words he's spoken since they arrived at the house and the longest sentence he's spoken since they arrived in Amity Park.

"I do," Jazz says, calm in the face of Damian's clearly simmering anger. Bruce trusts him not to attack Ms. Fenton, but he still watches him carefully.

"He told you about me," Damian says. It is the same question, but it is also not.

"He did," Jazz says.

Damian swallows. "I see," he grits out.

Jazz's neutrality slips and her face softens in sympathy. "Damian," she starts hesitantly, but before she can say anything else the front door opens.

A moment later Bruce's son walks through the doorway, and Damian is on him.

This is what Bruce hoped to prevent, but despite his numerous checks of Damian's luggage his son has still managed to smuggle a small dagger, which he now produces and swings in a calculated arc at Daniel Fenton's jugular.

Danny dodges cleanly, and dodges every swipe thereafter in a manner that speaks to continued practice long after his time at the League. Damian is a perfect product of his training, but it is up against Danny his flaws come to light. He is just as good as he always was, but Danny is better.

In a matter of seconds Damian grows frustrated and sloppy in his attacks, completely atypical for him. Danny takes Damian out at the knees and pins him down with one arm, pressing his face into the carpet.

"Calm down," he orders. His voice is deeper than Damian's at sixteen to his twelve, the accent that still traces Damian's words completely gone from his speech. Damian growls and thrusts his head back into Danny's face, meeting it with a sharp thunk. He rolls up as Danny recoils, putting distance between them. Danny glares at him from several steps away, hand to his forehead. Damian tosses the dagger into his other hand as he charges, and to Bruce's surprise Danny does nothing more than turn his face to the side, allowing Damian to draw a sharp line down his cheek.

Damian stops dead in his tracks.

"Are you done?" Danny asks, blood beginning to pool at the seam of the cut.

Damian's expression is stricken, eyes stuck on the blood starting to drip down his brother's face.

"I said, are you done, Damian?" Danny asks. His voice is cold.

Damian hears him this time, and he flushes red. "I--you--"

Danny sighs. He looks at Jazz, whose expression is back to carefully controlled.

"Are you alright?" he asks her. She nods.

"You left me," Damian accuses, standing there holding his bloody dagger limply.

Danny turns back to him, raising an eyebrow.

"You left me," Damian repeats louder, rapidly blinking.

"Yes. I did." Danny provides no excuse nor any explanation. His stance is unyielding.

Damian's eyes bounce wildly, shifting to Jazz and Danny slides smoothly in front of her, protectively. He looks at Damian warily, not as if he is his brother, but as if he is a danger. Damian flinches.

Hope is the last to die, Bruce thinks, watching as that last bit of hope Damian had is extinguished, the knowledge working its way through every inch of his body like ice in his veins. His eyes darken. He turns and runs from the room, the front door slamming shut not a moment later.

Jazz stands up, pulling a few tissues from the box on the coffee table. She presses them to Danny's face, cupping his cheek until he holds it himself. "I'm going to go get the first aid kit," she says gently. It is a thinly veiled excuse to leave them alone, and Bruce is grateful for it as she heads for the stairs.

They both wait until her footsteps have faded, taking each other in. Bruce looks at his mother's eyes and the sharp turn of Talia's nose. Damian's everything, four years older.

"You shouldn't have come here," Danny says, throwing himself on the armchair Jazz has just vacated.

"You know who I am," Bruce says carefully.

Danny glares. "I've kept your secret. She nor my parents know."

"I know," Bruce says. "That's not what I meant. You know who I am. And who I pretend to be. So you know I am familiar with masks."

"And?" Danny asks, looking vaguely bored.

"And so I can recognize when someone is wearing one. Damian will too, once he's calmed down."

Danny's expression sharpens. "No, he won't. Because you are going to go to back to whatever bed and breakfast you're staying in, pack up, hop in your private jet and fly him back to Gotham immediately before the League realizes you've gone. If they haven't already," he mutters.

"This is about the League then," Bruce says. "Do you not believe I can protect you?"

"I don't need your protection," Danny snaps, and watches Bruce actively extrapolate with a dawning resignation. "So this is the World's Greatest Detective at work," he says, slumping bonelessly into his chair, the first teenager-y thing he's done.

"Damian's in danger from the League," Bruce says. Danny glares from his slump. It's almost cute. "And as long as the League doesn't know about you, he's safe."

"Draw your own conclusions," Danny says, baring his teeth. Damian often makes the same face. "As long as you leave."

"I can protect him. I can protect you both," Bruce says. "Let me help you."

Danny closes his eyes. He centers his breathing in an exercise someone has clearly walked him through in the past. Bruce would bet money on the adoptive sister waiting patiently upstairs.

"Mr. Wayne. You are not my father," he says. "My trust in you extends to the point that I left Damian in your care, but that is where it ends. And that was when it was sanctioned by the League. By coming here you have endangered those sanctions."

Bruce disregards the sting, doubling down on his analysis. Talia had left Damian with Bruce well after Danny had left the League. But Danny speaks as if the decision had been his.

Or perhaps, Bruce realizes, it is not that Danny decided upon it, but that Danny allowed it to continue.

Bruce takes a second to review what Oracle had gone over with him before they left for Amity. Daniel Fenton had by all accounts, since leaving the League, lived a fairly normal life. His adoptive parents were eccentric scientists dabbling in the occult but their findings that bordered pseudoscience circulated a very niche community of like-minded eccentrics. The bulk of their income came from alternative energy, a more viable source of study that they'd veered harder into in the past year or so, a government contract with the EPA currently in the works. This had in part funded a vacation to an all-inclusive resort the family had taken that past summer.

Danny received average grades in school, above average in science and mathematics, declining sharply in his freshman year and sophomore year before evening out around the second semester. He had gotten into fights repeatedly with one student in particular, suspended for two weeks following an incident that resulted in a the student receiving a black eye. Teachers reported him to be highly intelligent but distracted and removed. They had recommended he be evaluated for an attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He had no social media. He had missed multiple picture days. The ones he had attended he was sneezing, or a blur of movement, even going so far as to fall off his stool, legs flailing. Bruce had drank up every last one as Barbara had waited patiently.

A normal life. A family vacation to Bermuda. Average grades.

His freshman year, distracted and removed. The same year Damian had arrived at Bruce's home. Masks upon masks.

"You have informants within the League," Bruce says. Danny, to his credit, has no discernible tell. But there is no other explanation. "What will you do, if they find out you are alive?"

"That is none of your concern," Danny says, but he might as well be saying whatever I have to.

He never stopped practicing, after all.

"If they go after Damian, it is my concern."

"And that is why you need to take Damian back to Gotham before they do." Danny says. "I will take care of it."

Damian had barely spoken since he had realized Danyal was alive. But Bruce had seen the reverence in his eyes as he looked at the file.

"الوريث الصحيح" he had murmured. The rightful heir.

"You are proposing going after the entirety of the League with no backup," Bruce says. "Even if you think they won't kill you, you won't win either."

"Maybe they will," Danny says lightly. "Kill me. That would also work."

Bruce inhales sharply. "Danny," he starts.

"Go home, Mr. Wayne," Danny says, pushing himself up with one hand. The other still clutches the wad of tissue to his cheek, partially soaked with blood. "Go take care of your son."

"I'll go," Bruce says, "I'll take him to the Watchtower. And then I'll come back."

"Mr. Wayne-"

"I should've come for you," Bruce interrupts. "Sixteen years ago. I should've come for you."

Danny's brow furrows. "You had no idea I existed."

"But if I had. I would've come. I never would've left you there. And now that I know, I am not leaving you now."

For the first time Bruce watches Danny be completely caught off guard. He openly gapes at Bruce.

"You would've died," Danny lands on, voice thin. "They would've killed you."

"Unlike you, I would've brought backup." Bruce says, mimicking Danny's lightness.

He's lying. Sixteen years ago he would've thrown himself at the League to save his newborn son without a plan, without a thought beyond rescuing his baby.

Danny barks out a laugh. "You would've laid siege to Nanda Parbat with The Big Blue Boy Scout?" he looks wistful. "That would've been rad."

Bruce sees his opening. "Danny," he stands, eye to eye with his son. "Let me help you."

Danny evaluates him. "The Batman," he says softly. "I didn't want you to come, then. I didn't need one more person I had to prove myself to. All I wanted was to live amongst the stars, in the quiet of the cosmos."

"You want to be an astronaut," Bruce says. At Danny's cocked head, he says without shame, "I read your essay on personal heroes. You wrote about Edward White. Ad Astra Per Aspera."

Danny smiles slightly, sadly. "It is a rough road."

"You can be whatever you want to be," Bruce says. "I won't stand in your way."

"Even if I want to be Danny Fenton?" he asks.

"Even then."

Danny sighs. "I don't need your help Bruce," he says. "No," he says as Bruce opens his mouth. He pulls the wad of tissues away from his cheek. Underneath the splotches of dried blood the gash in his face has cleanly knit itself together, a faint white line now all that remains.

"I don't need your help," he says clearly. He holds a palm forward, and a green fire grows from its center, until the flames are licking delicately up his fingers.

"I know The Batman does not kill. But I am not a Robin. I am something else entirely," Danny says, his eyes reflecting the green of the flames. Or not, as he looks up at Bruce, his eyes green all on their own. They are sad. This is why he stayed away, Bruce realizes. Not out of fear. Danny is not afraid. Danny is tired.

But for his brother, Danny will wake up.

"And If the League takes one step towards Damian, I will raze them to the ground."

#Danny I AM RETIRED FROM MURDER Fenton #the informants are ghosts #the thing about deductive reasoning is sometimes you deduct incorrectly #particularly when you don't know about the ghosts #danyal al ghul #damian wayne #danny phantom #batman #dp x dc au #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc #dp x dc prompt #bruce wayne #this is an au where damian doesn't get blown up and lose most of his vital organs #like bruce still isn't a super responsible parent but no nine year olds blow up so that's something #danny: he only blew up once so he can stay with you #batman: he did get speared straight through but we fixed it #danny: he wHAT #i wrote this instead of eating dinner #because drafts are for the mentally healthy #tbh i don't think his name would be danyal al ghul in this one #he's trying really hard to stay under the radar I don't think he would choose essentially a homonym

[kraviolis]

blight dump

#the owl house #amity blight #alador blight #darius deamonne #hunter toh #the golden guard #hunter deamonne #aladarius #mine #toh #2023 #you can pry autistic amity and autistic alador out of my cold dead hands. #the only reason alador is so chipper in the morning is if he stayed up all night and got the classic 6am second wind

[goldengirlgalaxy]

Danny arrives in the DC universe and, for one reason or another, decides to help fight some bad guys. But he doesn't do it as Phantom or Fenton, oh no. He doesn't want either of his identities to get mixed up in all this nonsense and get traced back to him. So what does he do?

Crappy cosplay.

He's in Metropolis and Superman needs a little help? He's showing up in a blue tee with a paper superman symbol visibly tapped on the front. He's wearing blue jeans with red boxers over them. He's wearing a cheap mask of Supe's face that was clearly bought from the dollar store.

He's in Gotham? His cape and cowl is a curtain duck-taped into a barely passable hood with paper for the mask and toilet paper rolls for the ears.

Wonder woman? It's some kind of swim suit, put over his clothes mind you, and he has a wig that is clearly made of a mop.

He's showing up in bootleg merchandise, clothes that are the wrong color, accents that are made of paper and visibly taped on, armor that is made of cardboard and tinfoil, literal undergarments on the outside of his clothes, symbols put backwards or upside-down, costumes that generally look like he put them together in five minutes.

At some point, it becomes some sort of game amongst the Justice League to see who the cosplayer will dress up as next. They have a betting pool to see who's the next one to be cosplayed.

#dp x dc prompt #dc x dp #dp x dc #dpxdc #danny phantom #as a joke he tries to stay on theme when cosplaying someone #as in he'll only use powers that he can reasonably say belong to that hero #if they use weapons he'll bring those weapons #but they're actual weapons #at some point everyone believes this kid is a meta whose power is the ability to gain a person's powers by dressing up as them #at some point all the League is fighting against someone so Danny duplicates himself so he can be there as everyone #that changes the theory to there being multiple cosplayers

[currentlyonstandbi]

#what if i just never emotionally recovered from this . wouldnt that be something #star wars #sw rots #revenge of the sith #rots novelization #anakin skywalker #darth vader #you know what. it's the fact that after everything that has happened anakin still chooses to stay with sidious #even after he knows all he's ever done is lie to him. is use him. is be yet another person on a list of people #who've only ever wanted him for his power #anakin HATES sidious by this point. he despises him. he wants him dead. and yet he stays #because he has no reason not to #he's destroyed everything and everyone who he's ever loved and has loved him in return #and as twisted as it is.. sidious is all he has left now. sidious and all of his anger and all of his terrible grief #so he stays . because he has no reason to leave #and it's not until rotj that anakin finds himself faced with a choice which isn't really a choice at all #because from the moment he realised luke would never join him in overthrowing sidious and ruling the empire #there was only ever one decision anakin could make #because in that moment he looked upon the last reminder of the love that existed once between him and padme and he found his reason #to finally break the cycle of violence #he couldn't kill luke because he loved him ! even among all the anger and pain and regret. anakin loved his son #and just as anakin's love drove him to the dark so too did it help guide him to the light #whatever. this novel destroyed me. gonna have 'this is how it feels to be anakin skywalker forever' on my mind for 3-5 business days

[hughmanbean]

Crimes Against Existence

The High Queen Phantom has expressed concerns about the state of law within the Mortal Realms.

Walker, sensing a chance to redeem himself in her eyes, volunteers to go out and report the state of the lands to the Queen. She seems pensive, but agrees. Under strict conditions that Walker must NOT detain nor arrest any mortals that would not have been taken into custody or otherwise punished by mortal authorities in the same situation.

She hands him an addendum to his book the Duke has written up for him to use as reference while he operates in the Mortal Realms.

He reluctantly agrees and makes his way to a mortal settlement with that he can sense has strong criminal influence.

He follows the trail to one of most crime-infested cities on Earth: Gotham. His guards clean out an old office, and he sits himself down into a desk.

He turns on the TV and tunes into a random channel. A man who seems like he'd fit with the Far Frozen is locked in combat with a skilled mortal in some sort of outfit. After a bit of research, Walker learns these are the rogues and vigilantes.

Well, this explained quite a few of the High Queen's problems. Though she doesn't know of them just yet.

Now, how do we rectify that?

#dpxdc #dcxdp #dp x dc prompt #dp x dc #Walker #Ghosts have gender set to optional. The ones that didn't start out as human or anything like that just never had it ingrained. #Walker can absolutely alter how any authorities operate when they interact with him even if slightly. #I mean think about it. #The only reason that hasn't happened was cause he stayed in the Infinite Realms before #Walker's concept is a little hodgepodge. #I'll flesh it out a bit more later #Vlad is the Duke of the Infinite Realms #redeemed vlad #good parents jack and maddie #Why not? #Walker is Maddie's father #Although not explicitly said. #I find it a very fun concept to play around with I mean come on! #Walker hates Arkham Asylum #They can't rehabilitate or keep their inmates for the life of them #And incompetence is just as bad as breaking the rules #I realize that I've just thrown ghosts into Gotham for various reasons lately #And I'm working on it #Danny's the Queen I would trust

[ancient-romes]

its an absolute fucking crime they didn't keep this in

#rvb #red vs blue #chucker #lavernius tucker #leonard church #“I wish you were staying” “we have a lot of history” GOING INSANE #THIS IS THE LAST TIME THEY EVER SAW EACH OTHER :( #Church saying tucker is basically the only reason blood gulch is tolerable. this is the closest thing to a confession as we'll ever get #Also Tucker loves junior so much i love him #he gotta find his kid!!!!!

[aroaceleovaldez]

im really not a fan of Rick's recent trend of recycling bits of his writing that got a good reaction the first time and acting as if that's a valid substitute for. actually bothering to write something original a second time around. It's clearly just there as a callback and nothing more.

It's "Nico's rage exploded" and "Percy's rage exploded" with the exact same paragraph formatting. It's CoTG having titles like "My Singing Makes Things Worse, and Everyone Is Totally Shocked" (reference to TLO, when Percy says he thinks his singing would cause an avalanche) or "Pretty Much the Best Good-Night Kiss Ever" (reference to TLO "Pretty much the best underwater kiss of all time") or any other number of near word-for-word references to the first series. It's Nico calling Percy "seaweed brain" in Un Natale Mezzosangue (when Percy says in TTC that anybody but Annabeth calling him that is a major offense). It's Nico and Will falling into Tartarus in TSATS word-for-word referencing Percy and Annabeth in House of Hades, despite it not making any sense for their characters (and otherwise being written as Percabeth 2™). It's the show making huge changes but keeping random "fan-favorite references" (mostly overusing "seaweed brain" and "wise girl" and emphasizing percabeth) only because they're popular in-jokes and considering that a faithful enough adaptation to market it heavily as such. It's lazy writing.

And it's a disservice to the series and to the audience, because it clearly shows Rick doesn't have original ideas anymore (though given all his writing is heavily derivative to begin with, it begs the question how much was original in the first place and how much he has difficulty when he doesn't have a structured mythological plot to work from) and that there is an expectation that the audience will just sit down and accept that behavior hook-line-and-sinker. Everything recently is clearly such lip-service to the audience, either in retcons that are overt speaking-to-camera acknowledgements of things he's been criticized on or wink-wink-nudge-nudges of community in-jokes that have no business in the actual text (see: over-use of ship names in canon). Especially since Rick tends to be about 5 years behind on the fandom uptake. It's just so disappointing to see.

#pjo #riordanverse #tsats crit #pjo tv crit #rr crit #< OH BOY A TRIPLE #MCGA's reference to Jason's concussions in the chapter titles is on thin ice but can stay for now #callbacks can work! in-jokes and references can work! see: Percy's dam joke in Son of Neptune #or Percy in the musical making the joke about his singing causing an avalanche as a reference to TLO #or any other number of references in the musical #but you need to know when they belong and when they ABSOLUTELY DO NOT #and when it's a fun nod and when it just feels like you're copying your own homework #a great example actually - i was recently reading an *excellent* fic by @vivitalks #and in it Jason uses the phrase ''you knock me out'' as a fun nod to Jason's ''you're a knock-out'' in TLH #that's a good little reference! that's how you do it! #a character who has already used one phrase uses a similar phrase. because theyre the type of person to say that phrase. #that's already been established. and it highlights something about their character that they return to that phrase #in that fic it highlights that Jason is a total dork especially when it comes to romance #Percy's ''dam'' joke reference in SoN works because it's only used once very briefly and it's very quickly brushed by #and it's literally Percy making a reference to his own past and acknowledging that he's doing that. it's his own in-joke! that's reasonable #it's not reasonable to expect FOUR DIFFERENT PEOPLE to have the EXACT SAME REACTION to FALLING INTO SUPERHELL #especially when they're established to all be EXTREMELY DIFFERENT CHARACTERS with DIFFERENT DYNAMICS #long post //

[ethanhuntfemmefatale]

sometimes i think about an AA universe where Edgeworth didn't have to be shuffled off every 5 seconds so he could maintain credibility as a rival....where Phoenix didn't have to win every case...yes AA is a game yes i understand why it did that for the narrative. but when I look at those lonely scared 24 year olds from AA1 i can't help but think that their version of a happy ending would be to be able to get used to each other. to face each other over stupid cases and small things. Sometimes one winning, sometimes the other, until it hardly matters anymore, all that matters is finding the truth together. I want them to take each other for granted!!! i want them to look at the other across the courtroom and say "time to face this bitch for the hundredth time i guess!!" these poor bastards have never had anything approaching emotional stability before let them have each other damn it

#idk im just. emotional #i feel like at that age?? at that place in their character development??? romance aside that would be legit be #the best happiest situation for both of them. and i feel things when i imagine it #we see so much of the grand gestures intense moments side of their relationship #they're always helping each other in their darkest moments and stuff like that but i wish they could also have #a very mundane professional dynamic. bitchy and prickly and earnest cause they both care a lot. and loving in their way #it's sad to me that so much of fic revolves around the idea that 'when phoenix and miles start dating miles will finally stay' thats #so tragic!!!!!!! am i the only person who thinks that's tragic #the game had to keep them apart for Narrative Reasons but i know my boy miles edgeworth and he would want to get bored of that spiky hairdo #and that handsome face. from seeing it in court so much. #narumitsu #wrightworth #phoenix wright #miles edgeworth #ace attorney #aa1 #aa2 spoilers #aa3 spoilers

[ludaroace]

god ok im thinking about ramon and how strange and confusing and scary everything must be to him because spreen died and now he watched his siblings parents die and one of them came back and the other's children are convinced theirs is coming back. spreen never did. why didn't he if it's an option? is it ramon's fault?

and now he might be losing the only person that has ever constantly been in his life and he can't even talk about it because the only other person that knows is pac. and he hasn't seen pac in like a week and honestly what could he even say/do to make things better when the situation is so far out of everyone's control?

and what if ramon is IS the problem and fit dies and can't come back like tubbo? what does he do then? because like he said before, he doesn't know who he is without fit. he is so proud to be fit's son and can't imagine living without him.

and what does he do if whatever happens makes everyone so mad at them - that fit dies and he loses most of his family in one go because technically he has been aiding in spy work against most of them? they'd have every right to hate him and not want anything to do with him anymore and he'd be mostly alone again. he'd have pac and thats it.

#qsmp #qsmp ramon #like dear god imagine learning that dead people don't stay dead but for some reason the only one connected to you did #and you have no idea why and now there's a chance the most important person in your life will die too #and you can't trust that he will be able to come back because the first didnt so why would he #ramon tag

[summonerj]

Danny goes to the DC universe to see his comic book heroes in person, but they’re all children when he first gets there, as in when Wonder Woman was a child. And he sticks around a while. He’s their “Imaginary” friend, they all have different names for him because of this. None of them realized that the boy from their childhood was real for a variety of different reasons… until Batman realizes that his children’s imaginary friends all describe his from his childhood. The other heroes that also have kids find this out themselves

You can kinda know what happens next

#dp x dc crossover #dp x dc #dc x dp #danny fenton #danny phantom #batman #bruce wayne #wonder woman #diana prince #dc robin #Danny didn’t expect to stay long so he just didn’t bother explaining #He also didn’t expect to be found out… for some reason #Because a child with snow white hair and glowing green eyes is obviously the default form of imaginary friends #To be fair he made it this far with no one the wiser #He picked a hero and stayed with them for a while before moving on #He has pictures #He played with Jason’s ghost in the ghost zone so he wouldn’t get lonely. Jason only remembers this as a nice dream #He also made sure Tim had someone in this time period #Coincidentally this was also when he left Dicks childhood.. so angst? #Damian did know he was real for obvious reasons #damian wayne #tim drake #jason todd #dick grayson #richard grayson #nightwing #red hood #red robin #robin damian

[mccromy]

Character: *is canonically violent and abusive but has a sad backstory*

Normal people: he isn't real and it's cool and fun to explore his character in different scenarios

Freaks: he was right actually AND he is a poor little boy, he was MISUNDERSTOOD. actually those children were abusive towards him first but the narrator was unreliable so :/

#i AM talking about Shen Jiu but I got hit by a flashback of another fandom doing this exact same shit you know what I'm talking about #i do like fics with SJ!! i don't hate him bc he's not real :) and I do find him interesting #but some people will just... be absolutely convinced that he's just some tsundere baby and actually lbh did deserve to be you know #whipped and starved #svsss #like not in a jokingly way they'll actually believe he is a good person and like.... reduce his character to a tsundere?? #the fun of him is how complicated he is!! he's got reasons but not justification #he was unjustly accused of shit he didn't do he was justly accused of shit he did do #he didn't want to kill lqg he did want to kill lbh #he loved yqy he stayed in the cang qiong sect for him even though he hated it there #he was incapable of loving anybody else #he was not incapable of caring but he was so traumatized he kept recreating his traumas #but now with him in the position of power #anyways this can be applied to a lot of characters #not only sj like #severus snape remember that shit jesus #and many more

[fanbliss]

So Marinette moves to Gotham for ( insert reason) and a few weeks later finds a kid with blue eyes and black hair in her studio/ apartment sitting on the counter with a half empty cookie jar and a cookie in his mouth looks like a deer cought in headlights one night, the night that she was finally sent to sleep by Tikki because she's been awake for four days and just walks over to the kid and puts him on her lap and falls asleep on the couch.

#dp×dc×mlb #maribat #jason todd #marinette is a badass #mominette #dp x dc crossover #Danny accidentally got deaged in another universe #he snuck in to get some food #cookies are the only reason he stayed #tired lady has mini gods in a box #he like the cat one #Jasonette

[haunted-xander]

Ryne and Gaia are like. Such good parallels and foils to each other it makes me just a little insane.

Like Ryne is sweet and caring and she always wants to help others and make them feel better even to the detriment of herself because she has seen and known suffering and doesn't want others to have to live like that too. If she can make someones life better, even if just a little bit, then she will. But she also puts everyone elses well-being and feelings so far above her own that she often ends up trying to help in a way that doesn't actually solve anything because it still ends up with someone hurt (such as trying to properly fuse with Minfilia knowing it might end up with herself disappearing). She's not a doormat, but she does have some people-pleasing tendencies.

Gaia, however, is the exact opposite. She's prickly and sarcastic and thinks of herself and her needs first and foremost, everyone else is secondary. It's not that she's cold or uncaring, she doesn't ignore people's problems, she just doesn't see them as her business most of the time (A product of being raised in Eulemore most likely). She doesn't consider the long-term outcome of what she does or says, she lives solely in the present and the future is a problem for when it happens.

These opposite traits also play into each other. Ryne inspires Gaia to care more about others and Gaia inspires Ryne to prioritize herself more. Gaia makes Ryne live more on the moment without thinking solely of what the future will bring, and Ryne makes Gaia think more on what her life will be going forward and to actually consider what she does and says and how that affects things. They feed into each others good traits (Ryne's caring nature and Gaia's sense of self) while also helping them deal with the bad traits (Ryne's people-pleasing and Gaia's aloofness).

Their pasts are good paralells too. Ryne was isolated and lonely until Thancred took her away but even then, he was distant and emotionally neglectful, so she ended up lonely in an entirely different way. Gaia had a family and caretakers that she wasn't particularly close to, but after the 'Fairy' started talking to her they got even further away until she couldn't even remember them, and the 'Fairy' was the closest thing she had to a friend even though it was what isolated her to begin with. Ryne had constant companionship but no support, and Gaia had 'support' but no companionship.

Even just. Regarding the whole identities thing they are just. Perfect. Ryne has lived with Minfilia's shadow on her shoulder her entire life and never got to learn who she actually is. She thought that she had to become Minfilia for her life to be worth anything, that it's the only way her existance is justified. The person closest to both her and Minfilia(Thancred) indicated(in her mind at least) that he wanted Minfilia to be here in Ryne's stead(which wasn't really the case but she didn't know that). The only way to get her out of that shadow was to remove her from the identity of Minfilia, hence why her new name is so important(as well as the hair and eyes being her natural colors instead of Minfilia's all too recognizable ones).

But Gaia didn't even know about Mitron or Loghrif until Eden. She had the 'Fairy', but to her it was just some voice in her head which was nice enough to her. To her, Loghrif is just some lady Mitron loved, she has no real connection to her. She has a connection to Mitron, both as the 'Fairy' and as remnant feelings from Loghrif, but none to Loghrif herself(aside from the obvious reincarnation stuff). Gaia has always been her name. It may have been Loghrif's originally, but she is so far removed from that identity that even for all of Mitron's effort to 'return' her to Loghrif, it'd never work. Loghrif is Gaia, but Gaia is not Loghrif. Simple as that.

Eden's story works so well because Ryne and Gaia are opposites in that specific way that compliments each other, rather than pits them against each other.

#idk if this is articulated properly i just have a lot of feelings about everything all the time #yes yes its another ryne post by yours truly. i am insane about her okay #ALSO this isnt even touching on the parallels between the resolution with the unhealthy dynamic between their 'guardian's #like ryne & thancred managed to confront the source of their issues regarding each other and move past it #they had the ability to create a healthier dynamic and by god they would work to make that happrn #and they did #whereas gaia & mitron seperated and let go of each other because it was the only positice outcome they could get #gaia couldnt let mitron hang on to a dead womans ghost and mitron cant make gaia into loghrif #but unlike with thancred & ryne theres no moving past loghrifs existance and effect on their dynamic #so the only option is to let go #(mitron was also MUCH further gone in grief and longing than thancred but the point still stands) #(even if mitron had the state of mind to be like. reasonable. i dont think he & gaia shouldve stayed around each other) #anyway. eden rules i love my little lesbians thats all good day/night/whatever time it is for u everyone #ryne waters #gaia #thancred waters #minfilia warde #mitron #loghrif #final fantasy #final fantasy 14 #final fantasy xiv #ff14 #ffxiv #xander rambles #xander being insane about ryne

[poorlittleyaoyao]

Taking screencaps of the Unexpected Meng Yao Mention was going to take too long, so here's the scene in full! It encapsulates several changes that the drama makes to the chronology and the character dynamics! NMJ is the active force behind his and MY's separation in CQL; rather than MY incapacitating NMJ and fleeing to escape punishment for the captain's murder, NMJ straight-up exiles him with no trickery from MY involved whatsoever. While NMJ is upset about this, it was his choice/moral obligation, so he doesn't appear to bear MY any ill will over it.

Given that lack of ill will, it makes sense for him to inquire how MY is getting on with the Jin clan even at this juncture... EXCEPT! Except. He didn't send MY to the Jin with a nice recommendation letter here. He fired him and sent him packing with an actively bleeding stab wound! Drama NMJ really thought--or really told himself--that not only would an injured MY make it to Lanling in the first place, but that the man who personally kicked him down the stairs for existing would hire him even after he was banished from another sect. He really wants him to be alive and thriving!

JZX's bewildered reaction to his questions drives home just how ridiculous that prospect is, and you can see NMJ go through it. No, his father was never going to accept him; even his awkward half-brother who doesn't even know him can tell you that. Yeah, stab wounds kill people, like JC pointed out on the day of the exile! Drama NMJ is confronting the fact that MY might in fact be dead, and this hurts him.

Once JZX exits, the scene cuts to JC sadly holding Suibian as he and JYL cry about missing WWX. That transition seems deliberate!

And then in the scene after that opens with WLJ, frightened of the WWX in her nightmares, overhearing WC complain:

Don't worry, da-ge, he's fine. :)

#nie mingjue #JZX being aware of his father's views on MY (and presumably any other bastards) is also interesting #bc given the relative lack of relationship between the half-brothers even though JGY *planned his wedding* #either JZX was ordered away from interaction (and obeyed) or preemptively stayed away bc the vibes were too awkward #was proud of JZX this episode honestly. he held so many conversations! he said so many sentences! #anyway so so much discourse about wither JGY or NMJ could be averted if people could keep their canons distinct #bc this here is NOT the vibe I personally got from Novel NMJ at all--and for good reason! MY faking suicide to Ty Lee him was fucked up! #the virtue in being into only one canon is that you can't mix them up bc there's nothing to mix it with 😌

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

wondering about Frank and insects but specifically about how it looks like the WH insects are highly stylized, so does Frank even know anything about real butteflies/insects?

& if he saw a real one, would he recognize it? are all of the species names he applies to the WH bugs real, or are they all made up like "Vibrant Eyespot" or "Fluttering Heartwing"?

and then there's the question - does the neighborhood have some of the more 'undesirable' bugs like moths, worms, roaches, spiders? does it have bugs outside of the generic groups of beetles and butterflies? like are there mantids? leafbugs? dragonflies? weevils? or are those too specific/complex/not-cute for the Playfellow Workshop to have included?

and then there's the question of what are the bugs? props? puppets? are they alive or do the neighbors just perceive them as such? Do they even exist outside of art, storybooks, and animated segments? I highly doubt they're alive like the neighbors are, since in the gif of Frank's head spinning, the framed butterflies' wings are moving. which is kind of horrifying if you think about it for more than a second.

just... the critters Frank loves so so so much being a complete fabrication... every piece of knowledge he prides himself on / delights in knowing being utterly Untrue... oof

#by not-cute i mean that most bugs dont sell well as marketable plushies #cute butterflies? round adorable beetles? those fit right in with a vibrant puppet-y world #so it'd make sense if those are the only two bug groups that exist #along with like. caterpillars of course. i can also see bees being a probable candidate for Existing In The World #AGHHHHH THIS HAS BEEN EATING AT ME FOR DAYS NOW #been questioning how the neighbors' consciousness and awareness manifests as well #might make a different post on that since this one has a Topic and id like to Stay On It for once #well. its related. but that deserves its own Pondering #welcome home speculation #i dont know what else to tag this as! #absolutely unprompted #ALSO ALSO are there any animals outside of insects? #does the neighborhood have birdsong but no birds? if one listens real hard to it will they notice it looping? #do they have squirrels? critters in general? is that why wally doesnt know what a rat is? he'd have no reason to. #in his world they simply don't exist. #anyway but i wonder how frank would react to seeing a real butterfly (& insects in general) #the WH ones are gigantic in comparison and overly-colorful and friendly & cutesy #wouldnt it be painful if he was scared of them. if they look too alien. would it be the spongebob butterfly episode all over again #many many thoughts tonight.... #but also.... #what if he tried to frame a real one. expecting it to be Fine and Alive when he pins it bc they always have been #theyve always been perfectly happy fluttering in their frames #but a real one would fucking die. so. yikes #traumatic core memory unlocked! frank frankly has discovered Death

[thewitchoftheweed]

Fan theory: Narinder wasn’t the one who asked Forneus to give up Aym and Baal.

It’s been established that at the start of the game, Narinder is imprisoned and unable to interact with the physical world…unless, of course, that person is dead. The Lamb has to die in order to be offered their deal, and presumably Ratau has also died and been resurrected at least once.

Forneus is very clearly not dead. When she talks about her children, she says this: “And yet one lackadaisy summer day, my beautiful children were taken away… a gift, they said, for the one they loved most, the one that waits… I wept, I keened… But how can one say no to a God?”

Someone physically came and took her children; meaning it wasn’t Narinder, as he can’t physically enter the word anymore. They were taken as a gift. By who?

Ratau is a fair assumption. He served as the vessel before the Lamb. But given he fell out favor for being unable to perform a sacrifice, it seems out of character for him to be able to separate two children from their mother and then sacrifice them.

“A gift, they said, for the one they loved most.”

Shamura is referred to with they/them pronouns. And they say this about Narinder: “He was gluttonous in his ambition. And in my imprudence I loved him.”

The god Forneus speaks of is Shamura.

Shamura loved Narinder the most of all their siblings. After a thousand years, in a moment of clarity, they tried to ease his solitude by sending him companions.

Who he not only kept, but held in a place of honor beside him.

#cult of the lamb #cult of the lamb spoilers #Aym and Baal also seem loyal to him #considering they volunteer to face the Lamb on his behalf #so not only did Narinder accept their gift #he took care of them #I wonder if it was Shamura’s last ditch effort to stop the prophecy #that if he had a reason to stay he wouldn’t loose the final vessel on them #or maybe #they just felt bad for locking him in Hell without anyone to talk to for 999 years #christa.txt #my posts