#my first time drawing cass i've realized...

[protosymphonette]

heyyyy promise not to be mad buuuuut... i turned your friends into marketable chibis. yeah no they're really cute and small now. we can't turn them back sorry.

[malenjoyer]

tim used to be my fav robin a long time ago but I've started to understand why so many ppl don't like him

he was an okay character in the 90s/2000s but now with all of the other characters that have been added to the batfam he just brings so little to the table. he pales in comparison and has just become white guy with blue eyes number 738393. everything that stood out about him can be found in other characters, in the other robins, but better (big brother-little brother with dick&damian, solo robin adventures with damian, detective robin with maps, timsteph with daminika, family outside of the bats with damian or maps, etc).

it's so bad that in adaptations he's the most likely to be omitted (and can we blame dc?). steph is omitted as a robin more than him but in her case it's misogyny; what's tim's excuse?

he contributed to some important aspects of modern robin but those aspects are far better utilized by other robins. and I think steph is better off as a cass cain cast character bc, although dc is misogynistic and racist, cass has far better longevity than tim as a character and I think she has so many great things to achieve. so steph becoming part of her cast is a far better option for her popularity + perhaps steph could have her own solo stuff in the future bc she also is more interesting than tim. steph even has her own hero alias as spoiler which is already far more than tim has done post-robin. I frankly can't blame dc for not knowing what to do with him bc there's not much to work with and he doesn't stand on his own as a character

I actually had a lot of difficulty liking Tim or getting started on Tim at first because of this but the Old Media Lover brain took over. I think, yeah, it’s super doomy to think about the future of Tim drake and I have pondered what could be done about him and whether they’ll let him move on.

I really do think the power of being a fan is being able to take the character you loved before and simply create a universe for them where they have that future that you want for them. My friend and I have discussed a potential future for Tim that we really like and it honestly involves an aspect that other people probably won’t like- leaving gotham and leaving the “batfamily”. It’s one of my secret projects.

I guess once you realize that you don’t have to wait for DC to give your favorite character a better ending, you can just write it or draw it, it’s easy to stay a lot more optimistic.

Because when you say this for Tim drake, it’s hard to not say the same thing for Batman- the incapability to move on. For Batman, it’s part of the charm, but you realize gotham will never heal, Batman will never heal, or else the story will change. That’s the consequences of being a story that must go on. Once you think about that, it all gets very depressing because you realize eventually characters have to regress or stagnate because they are a product.

My point is, as a fan even though these are valid criticisms, I don’t believe you have to lose interest in characters if you truly don’t want to. A company doesn’t have control over your imagination. You can fix him. You can give him what he needs. It’s easy to get swept up by the negativity of being a comic fan especially with other people saying the same points and agreeing with you but you are put on this earth to be happy and enjoy life. So you can give him a new path if you want

[somerandomdudelmao]

Hi Cass! First off I love all your stuff, huge inspiration ❤️💜💙🧡

You mentioned that you have to work fast because you’re in the animation industry then in the tags said you have ADHD. I’m a animation student struggling with my ADHD so I was wondering if it would be ok to ask how you handle staying focused and being motivated? Cognitive dissonance hits hard sometimes 🙃

Hm. The thing is, I work in the animation industry, but I'm not an animator. I'm a storyboard artist. It's very different.

When I was going into this whole thing, I was thinking a little bit about becoming an animator. Because let's be honest, the final product coming out of the hands of animators looks a lot cooler than a rough and crude storyboard. But I also realized very quickly that being an animator is literally the worst thing for my brain. It requires attention, perseverance, precision, and worst of all, it takes time. I tried to do one animation and realized I had none of those things. My brain was turning the whole process into torture.

So I started looking at other options and turned my attention to storyboarding. Because storyboarding is pretty much the opposite of animation when it comes to the creative process.

Drawing has to be fast and rough, you constantly have to come up with something new (and an adhd brain loves novelty~) And most importantly, angles, composition shots and characters are constantly changing.

I don't get stuck for two hours drawing the same face 500 times with careful precision. I play out whole scenes with lots of action and different emotions going on. It's entertaining.

And because some stages of the work can be done very sloppily, it makes it easier for me to overcome my paralysis and take it on.

I'm not going to say this will work for everyone. But for me personally? I think I've found the perfect job for my adhd brain haha

Of course, some amount of struggle is still present, but I'm stuck in a country where it's almost impossible to get adhd medication, so I've just accepted it~

[cigarettesandinevitablebetrayal]

WIP Weekend

So, the inimitable @idlenight tagged me in this a few days ago, but I've got some slightly different things to present today.

For one, I've put aside my other fics to work on what I've called the Bespoke FHR collection - a sprawling edit/rewrite of my Sidestep routes, written specifically to account for all their little quirks and behaviours. I do a reading of them in a server with some friends biweekly and right now we're at the end of Cass' Retri run. So here's a little snippet of that:

"Do you have your masks?" you whisper. "Yeah. Got a spare in my jacket, if you want it. Inside pocket," Pelayo mutters back. Rosie shifts the jacket in her lap. "Why? It's not like the Boss is setting anything off anytime soon." You take the mask from Rosie, stuffing it in your own jacket pocket. "Never know when you might need to throw together something, and hospitals have some mean, heavy grade shit." Pelayo gives you a weird look, but doesn't argue. It's technically a break in character - Ace is the facilitator, the social butterfly, the pretty face, and definitely shouldn't know how to rig a chemical weapon. The slip in behaviour is too low on your priority list right now to bother salvaging. You can only hope that they assume Ace has hidden depths or just let it slide. They slow down to let your take the lead and your mind wanders while you head for a storage closet that looks promising. The mask rests against your palm in your pocket and you realize this will be the first time Ace has ever worn one. You've never been on a job with the group as Ace. Sidestep is the frontman — Ace, the hand in the shadows. It almost feels wrong to change that but, at the same time, it's almost like a right of passage. When this is all over, you'll have to share a round with the gang to celebrate.

And then, because I've been trying to learn how to draw, have some sketches and other strange drawings:

I'm now tagging...... @disastersteps, @autistic-sidestep, @nebuluxx, @gonesoft-ish, @reapersmarch, and @kidhellion (hope y'all don't mind the ping)

[z-nightshade]

Same anon as before !!

I loved reading your thoughts on the two and I share the same ideas !!! Sabo's my favourite OP character and you're one of the first writers I've read from that I really enjoy the characterisation of when it comes to him , even if he hasn't been around for long in your series.

I can agree that he's hard to write for lol and the insight on him and Ace growing up and changing the way their move around the world is so fun. Ace learned to be more open and caring in his pursuit to pick up the slack and become a better brother for Luffy after Sabo 'died' in comparison to Sabo losing his memories (+ his brothers..kinda) and that tenderness that kept him more open and trusting of the world is soooo augghhh to think about.....the brothers ever.

That love and kindness are still there but it's more buried away then it used to be and it's super interesting to think about auggghh. Can't wait for future chapters of your fic and the meeting between Cass and Ace <3 they will dig their claws into that little freak and whack some sense into him.

(also love the tid bits on Cass and Sabo's frenemy status, really hope they have some time to actually grow to like / care for each other, down with the government #frenemiesagainsttheworld )

Also ! You're the person who inspired me to start drawing Sabo with snake bites haha, thank you for that.

I'm a big fan of cryptid Marine killer Sabo. I think that boy should be terrifying. I think he should be unhinged. I also think he should be Luffy's biggest enabler ever alongside Zoro and Robin (and in AOO, Cass)

I love that, when separated from each other, Ace and Sabo took on traits the other had. When they were together, that wasn't necessary but when separated they needed to learn what the other had to survive and thrive. They balanced each other out and needed to find a different way to achieve that balance without each other

Cass and Ace are so soft in a way that's so different from Cass and Luffy and Ace and Luffy. I love them so much <3 Cass is going to smother Ace in their love and affection no matter what. (they're a self hating hypocrite and I can't wait for literally anyone to realize that and call them out on their shit)

As for Cass and Sabo, they're so interesting to me because they're so different than Cass with Ace and Luffy. They sort of distantly care about the other (Sabo more so than Cass. Cass would 100% be upset if something bad happened to Sabo) but they're by no means friends. It's a huge part of why Cass allows themself to ask Sabo for help with Ace. They respect him and his skills and the things he'll do for his brothers a lot. And moreover, they don't feel responsible for him in the same way they do for Ace and Luffy. (How long will that last? Who knows)

They're co workers with a common goal who love the same people so much. There's a mutual respect in the knowledge there's no lengths they wouldn't go for Ace and Luffy plus there's a sort of symbiotic nature to it. Cass has the knowledge, but not the skills to act on it. Sabo has the skills, but he's missing the knowledge needed to make a difference

I could go on about them for a while, if you couldn't tell. They'll get to actual friendship eventually, they just need to spend more time together (and Sabo needs to nail down what he knows and believes about Cass)

Also,

*inhales* SABO WITH SNAKE BITES! SABO WITH SNAKE BITES! SABO WITH SNAKE BITES! SABO WITH SNAKE BITES! SABO WITH SNAKE BITES! SABO WITH SNAKE BITES! SABO WITH SNAKE BITES! SABO WITH SNAKE BITES! SABO WITH SNAKE BITES!

Don't be shy, anon, send a picture (only if you want to)

[overthedub]

Going into some canon x OC ship territory for All Ships Ship Week at #ficwip, starting with Annadoc! I've been insane over them since 2018 when I first started writing a multichapter fic about them in Phase 0/1 (Over the Dub). Now writing the sequel multichapter fic into Phase 2 (All Out of Song)!

Tell us why you love them:

I got into Gorillaz at a weird point in my life, which is probably the best time to get into them tbh. I'd heard their music way before I properly got into them in 2016 or so, but I fell into the hyperfixation rabbit hole when I realized they weren't just a band, but a cartoon band with lore.

I ate the lore (written by Cass Browne) up immediately. Murdoc was so ridiculously my type it made me mad lol.

Honestly, I just love writing ships that don't go out of their way to change things about the other, but they end up making each other better people anyway. That and ships that can banter and be a little mean between themselves.

I came up with Anna because I initially wondered to myself how Murdoc would handle a partner who was (seemingly) the opposite of him at first glance. It spawned like three fics lol.

Rewatch/reread your favorite moments:

Hm, I guess one of my favorite moments to write was that bit in Chapter 27 (the one I got a commission made for from @/ mamonsinon):

That and in the most recent fic, the entirety of Chapter 9 :)

Playlists:

Made a couple fic playlists for my fics here:

And here:

I am planning to make a new playlist with songs that fit them from later decades than the fics take place though!

Other Murdoc x OC ships I like:

Hailey x Murdoc (from The Dorkzilla's series The Niccals Saga)

Angel x Murdoc (art by Tchosan)

Share a prompt/idea for others to share:

Murdoc in a skimpy outfit and an OC paired with him as a classic cape-wearing vampire. It'd be a funny switch-up from what people usually draw him as.

Share a favorite headcanon:

This won't ever make it into Falling Out the Sky, but I think that even before Anna moved into Kong, Murdoc would dare her to watch horror movies thinking she'd get scared and cling to him the whole time.

Anna loves horror movies, though, and Murdoc is the one that ends up clinging to her while she watches stone-faced. They stopped watching any horror movies that feature Satanic imagery since he keeps talking over them to point out inaccuracies or laugh at inappropriate times.

Make a meme:

(Don't worry, they both think the other is hot, so it's fine)

Art commissioned by @/jankybones!

And with that, we got another blackout!

[gamesception]

Sception Reads Cass Cain #19

Batgirl (2000) Annual #1 Writer: Scott Peterson Pencils: Mike Deodato

The Main Batgirl solo is again left at a cliffhanger mid-arc while we look at a side issue. Maybe I should have done episodes 4-6 back to back, out of chronological order? But I've had a lot to say about issues 4 and 5, so the little breaks looking at side issues I don't have as much to say about has been a nice change of pace to buy breathing room. This time we're meeting a character named Aruna? I don't think I remember her at all. These sorts of annuals are sometimes used to have a popular established character help launch a new IP that will continue in another book. If that's what was happening here, then it's a nice show of confidence in Cass from editorial. And we've got Scott Peterson writing, so that's good, but we've seen Deodato draw Cass once before, and it, uh...

Oh.

Oh, no.

...

Honestly, it's not all that bad. Most of it's fine. Much better than the last time he was drawing Cass. There are even some panels of Cass that I really like, like this one:

But man, those first couple pages are rough.

Anyway, yeah, while this is a 'Batgirl Annual', it exists to introduce Aruna Shende, as part of a 'DC World' thing going on at the time introducing some new international heroes and I guess seeing who sticks. Aruna is a shapeshifter with a stunt person/special effects artist alter-ego working in the Bollywood film industry while investigating the disappearance of her parents when she was a child. Bruce & Cass bump into Aruna while looking into the kidnapping of the lead actor in a film she was working on and they have a little adventure together. Aftter that there's an extended character backstory segment just for Aruna with no bats at all.

It's pretty solid. I like how Cass is able to identify Aruna when she's using her abilities to disguise herself. This is still silent Cass, but she's fairly active and expressive in the part of the issue where she's present.

As for Aruna, she's an interesting character, with a solid backstory, and its honestly a shame DC never really did anything with her after that.

There is one bit that stuck out to me though relating Aruna's story to Cass...

After her parents were taken by mysterious suited agents, Aruna was left as an orphan, living on her own on the street, forced basically to grow up that way while also growing into her powers and using them to take care of herself.

Which is very similar to how Cass lived on her own after running away from David at age 8, basically until she met Barbara during No Mans Land when she was like 16 or 17. During that entire time Cass survived on the streets, on her own, without even the ability to speak, relying on her abilities to survive.

That's a part of her life that, as far as I can remember, the old continuity never really explored outside of this one flashback with Mr. Merc from issue 1. What was life like for her? Did she form connections with anyone? She's seen the world from this abject state of poverty, seen people around her desperate to survive, presumably saw people supporting each other and tearing each other down... she was living on the streets at least as long as she was living with David Cain, it should be a big part of her world view, so much formative stuff should have happened during that period. Really meeting and spending time with people other than her father for the first time. her first crush, probably. realizing how different she was, and what her father's training had really cost her in terms of the ability to communicate and connect with other people. How does growing up in abject poverty color what she thinks about her fabulously wealthy life when she is eventually invited into the Wayne household?

And not something modern writers can really go back and fill in, since, from my limited understanding, in the reboot continuity she goes pretty much straight from assassin life to bat life without this in between period.

[fenrir-wolf-of-gotham]

This was an ask by a person I don't want to be associated with anymore. Its also one of my favorite asks I've ever received because I got to talk a lot about my f/os in a deep way so I'm gonna repost it as a non-ask.

This is the ask game it was drawing from.

🧡: Tim Drake. He and I struggle to find things to talk about. We're just not very compatible socially. I suppose you could also say Bruce fits this. He's not happy about Cass being with someone romantically because nobody will ever be good enough for her but he does care about my opinions. He knows I'm very objective when I'm distanced from a situation. Now, I know this isn't part of the question, but Duke Thomas is my best friend. We're both Metahuman Vigilantes who grew up in Gotham, though he grew up in Burnley and I grew up in New Gotham. We still had very similar childhoods minus the fact I’m Irish and he’s African American.

💚: Oh absolutely. Cass and Steph are very protective of me and it is not helped by the many seductive villains in Gotham (even some guys believe it or not). Steph is the most open about how much she doesn't like other people flirting with me but Cass dislikes it more than her, she's just used to holding her emotions in. Cass will just stare angrily at them while getting physically close to me but Steph gets really sarcastic and passive aggressive (the first time it happened she grabbed me by the arm and loudly called me her boyfriend while telling me we were going on a date "right this second"). My obliviousness to when people are doing that means they also get the fun of seeing me completely miss social cues they picked up on hours ago. We have a code for when people are flirting with me that Steph or Cass asks me, "Did you water the tulips?" We don't have any Tulips. We only have a Peacelily that I bought for our room after watching Hot Fuzz (my favorite movie).

💘: For Cass, I caught feelings first and knew it the moment I saw her unmasked. Cass and I worked together on missions before that point and I respected and admired her but I definitely caught feelings once I saw her without her mask. It was also shot into overdrive when I saw her exercising in the Batcave (you could cut metal on her abs). Later, Cass became a little obsessed with me after she realized I could deliver a decent challenge as a fighter thanks to my metahuman powers. That evolved into romantic affection and she realized it after she saved my life and kissed me. We started dating.

Now we get to talk about Steph's side of the story which was much more emotionally taxing for her. Imagine you're Steph. You've been waiting for Cass to actually ask you out because she obviously has to know that you like her (Cass did not in fact know that Steph liked her), you know she likes you (Cass did not know that she liked Steph despite the emotions being there), and she never has a boyfriend so there's plenty of time for her to ask you out in between the boyfriends you keep bringing along just to highlight how much you're not into anyone but her (this was not her best plan).

Imagine all of that.

Now also imagine that this new vigilante rocks down to electric avenue, Cass seems to fall head over heels for him despite barely showing any interest in guys up to this point, and now they start dating within a few months of being friends despite the fact you and Cass have known each other for two years and have saved each other's lives on multiple occasions, one of which involved an explicit confession of love that she somehow managed to miss completely (see figure a).

Imagine all of that.

So she was trying to get over that when Deathstroke kidnapped her and injected her with a serum that made her emotions go into overdrive and manipulated her to follow his orders in an attempt to kill Batman.

Cass and her had a duel which ended with Cass hugging her until she stopped fighting and just started crying and emotionally laying all this out while I beat up Deathstroke.

It was a close duel but I won. Yes I am very proud of that fact.

A few days later I started taking Steph out to places to try and see how compatible we were (me and Cass called it "Operation: Stephside"). We went to a tabletop game store and played a few games with each other, we went to a music concert, we stayed home and played video games, and then later we went on a picnic which was when Steph started to get suspicious. Steph told me that, while she did like me, she wouldn't help me cheat on Cass which was when I told her what was really going on and that we were considering making it a throuple. Steph got really nervous but I made sure to let her know she had passed all the tests in no uncertain terms with flying colors. Then we headed back to the manor where the three of us spent our first night as a couple playtesting a game I had made in the Batcave.

It took a while but Steph finally got her perfect romantic ending.

You have no idea how funny it is to me that it took some random guy to finally get me and Cass together.

I absolutely love how incidental I am to your version of the story sweetheart.

Oh shut it you know what I mean. The irony that it took a man for two girls to finally go sapphic for each other? That doesn't usually happen.

Heh, yeah I get what you mean.

[thepaperpanda]

The Emotional Reunion || Sirius Black x fem!reader

Masterlist

Summary: After meeting Sirius in the Diagon Alley, you're in shock - did he actually escape Azkaban prison or was your mind playing tricks on you?

Warnings: none

Word count: 959

Authors: Bear & Cass

A/N: today’s prompt: Cuddling

He despised the number 12 Grimmauld Place. With all of his strength.

However, since escaping Azkaban, Sirius has offered the home to the Order of the Phoenix. It became his secret hideout, where he tried to get his life back on track after being imprisoned for a long time.

Despite regretting his decision to stay there, Sirius discovered one argument that proved he was wrong with all the hatred he harbored in his heart for so long - he met you nearby one day.

You couldn't believe what you saw when you first saw him; were your own minds playing tricks on you?As soon as you realized that it was him, there were no words to describe how happy you were. The first thing you did was throw yourself into his arms and embrace him tightly.

Sirius didn't want to draw attention to himself by embracing you in the middle of Diagon Alley, so he asked if you'd like to have a cup of tea near where he stayed. 

As you gripped Sirius' shoulder, your arm twisted away from you; the next thing you knew, everything went dark; your eardrums seemed to be squeezed deeper into your skull; the next thing you knew, you and Sirius were standing in the middle of a long, dark corridor.

Seeing the place, you smiled; there was no way he could take you anywhere else. Just to make sure he was really here, you glanced at him again. "It's going to take a lot of tea if we want to discuss everything," you whispered, smiling at him.

Kreacher was asked by Sirius to make a pot of tea and prepare some biscuits he had baked the previous day.

He then led you to the living room, where he invited you to sit on the couch. "There isn't much to talk about. I've been immersed in the most poignant darkness you could ever imagine."

Looking at him, you shook your head; in an attempt to make any sense of what you were saying, you moved your hands frantically. "Why didn't you contact me or come see me? How did you escape?"

"Let me keep it a secret forever, it cost me everything," he said as he crossed his legs. "I did not contact you because it was not a wise idea; they were searching everywhere for me, which could have led to trouble for you."

"With or without you, I tend to get into trouble, especially with my niffler running around," you rolled your eyes and moved closer to him. "I've been worried. Every day I wondered how you're doing. I've missed you dearly."

"So many years, right?"

As you stared at him, you sighed and said, "Too many years, indeed."

Seeing your expressions, he could tell you were relieved that he was free again. Taking your shoulders in his arms, Sirius embraced you, hugging you softly. "I'm so happy to see you doing well, Y/N."

Hugging him as tight as you could, you smiled. There was no way you could keep it together anymore. "There is no single word that can describe my happiness now. I thought I would never see you again in my life, but here you are, with me again."

As he brushed a strand of your hair away from your flushed cheek, he asked, "Will you join us in our fight against Voldemort?"

"Does Niffler like shiny things?" You asked, raising an eyebrow as you cupped his hand and nuzzled it. "Of course I do. It's been a long time since I promised to follow you no matter what. And I don't break my promises."

Kreacher quickly served tea and biscuits.

Slowly, Sirius played with your hair as he held you close. "Upon hearing how eager you are, I'm conflicted. It won't be easy or safe, but I can't afford to lose you."

You nodded. "Let's not think about that right now. Let's just enjoy the tea."

A small mug filled with hot liquid was handed to you by him as he said, "I wish you could meet my godson. I believe he will play a major role in the battle against Voldemort."

Before taking a little sip, you blew on the cup and smiled softly. "I'm sure I'll have a chance to meet him."

He downed the mug quickly, returned it to the table, and then wrapped his arms tightly around your figure, holding you close. "I missed you so much. Every night, I dreamed about you."

Putting the cup away, you sat comfortably on his lap. As your arms wrapped around him, your head rested on his shoulder. "There are no words to describe how much I missed you. When I first saw you, I was sure that you were a ghost. Thankfully, I was mistaken."

"The only thing that brought light to the darkness surrounding me was you. Whenever I thought of you, I felt a little better."

"It doesn't matter anymore. You are free and back with me," you said softly, gently touching his chest.

The pieces of Sirius' heart that had been struggling to fit into this world became so quiet as he cuddled with you, as if they had found peace, as if they needed your glue to bridge their gaps and connect together again. "My love," he said quietly.

Assuredly, you said, "I am here and I am not leaving. I will never let you go."

The soul connection of your eyes, your sweet touch, and the strength of a long-awaited hug told the story of the emotional reunion Sirius was experiencing. Having joy take center stage once again, filling Sirius' heart to the brim, was a sweet release, a relief that made him gasp quietly. "It's so pleasant to be reunited."

[infernalrevenge]

Hey there😊 I was wondering if I could request some headcanons for house dimitrescu s/o coming out as ftm perhaps reader is nervous to tell them afraid that he'll get kicked out and broken up with. I've been in a really bad funk lately and this would help thanks in advance

Hey bro, I feel you on this one. I hope this helps lifts your spirits in some way, this funk will pass and you'll be groovy once again :P

(CW transphobia in the form of non-acceptance but just as the reader's fears. Spoiler alert: They never materialize hehe.)

Alcina Dimitrescu

You were quite nervous to approach Alcina about this, as much as anyone would be about something this personal.

She always projected this image of an old-fashioned matron, whether she knew it or not. You knew she loved you, but it was still hard to shake the possibility of her not understanding.

You were prepared for the best case scenario to at least be some confusion on her part, and focused on that instead (and not the possibility that she would deem you disgusting and make you leave her presence at once.)

You steeled your nerves and knocked on the door of her office, swearing you felt your heart jump when she invited you in.

As soon as you mentioned wanting to talk about something important, she put her things down and had her full attention directed towards you. You weren't sure if that was worse.

With as calm of a tone as you can muster, you came straight out with it.

You hadn't realized you were looking at the floor the whole time, too afraid to look up and see her live reaction.

However, you didn't really have to wait long for a reply as she leaned down and tipped your chin up to her.

The disdain you feared would be on her face was completely absent, instead her expression was soft and loving. It made your heart skip in a different way than earlier.

"Thank you for telling me this, my love. That must've taken a lot of courage to say. Just know that what I feel for you has not changed -- I love you for the man you have always been, and always will be."

Bela Dimitrescu

Your relationship with Bela was all about "comfortable existence" -- you two count reading different books in the same room as doing something together.

The news you wanted to share with her, however, wasn't something you're sure would fit the "comfortable" atmosphere you two fostered over time.

You didn't want to ruin anything by coming out, but at the same time you knew you couldn't keep it from her forever. You wanted to be yourself around her, and telling her would be the first step to that reality. You just hoped she would understand, or at the very least was willing to understand.

When the time came, the two of you sat back to back while you did your own thing -- you were writing something, and she was drawing.

What she didn't know was that you were basically preparing a whole letter to come out to her and explain your situation as best as you can.

At this point, your parchment was full of crossed out lines and blotches of ink where your pen idled for too long -- you wondered if she noticed the pile of crumpled rejects on the other side of you too.

After a while, Bela was just about to turn around and ask you if something was wrong, she could feel how tense you were against her. But then, you slipped the paper to her and had her read it.

All the while, you had your back turned, knees tucked to your chest as you wished a black hole would swallow you up the longer the silence dragged on. You really wished you had telepathy or something right now, because you couldn't tell what she was thinking.

But all she did was take her place next to you, taking your hand and resting her head on your shoulder. Physical affection was rare from Bela, so this might even be enough of a confirmation of her reaction.

"I still love you, you know? If this is who you are and what makes you happy, then I'm more than okay with it. Thank you for trusting me with this."

Cassandra Dimitrescu

You and Cassandra talk about anything and everything under the sun. She's always been the type to speak her mind, especially when she gets excited.

You felt comfortable discussing anything, but this... well, you didn't really know how to get into it.

You wanted to tell her, of course. You just never found the right opportunity to (possibly because Cassandra led the conversation most of the time.)

But you knew you couldn't avoid this forever, not if you wanted to be with Cassandra for as long as you could. A part of you nagged at the fear that this would be cut short if you did say it, though.

You decided it was best to just be out with it before you could lose your nerve. After spending the night pondering over it, she barely even got to greet you before the words "I'm trans!" came tumbling out of your mouth.

"Uh... what?" (Was that a confused 'what' or an angry 'what'?)

"I'm... transgender...?"

"Oh okay. That's nice, good for you."

"You don't know what that is, do you, Cass?"

".......not exactly."

After some explaining and a crash course on terminology, you get a gentle nudge on your arm as a response -- her way of saying it was more than okay.

And that she wished you weren't so scared of telling her, but even you had to explain that, perhaps if you had any past experiences of coming out situations gone very wrong. She would seethe in anger on your behalf if you told her those stories.

If no one else were around at the time, she would definitely kiss you, just to assure you of how much her feelings for you remained the same. She didn't want any of your worries or insecurities from before this moment to stay in your mind, and she would do anything to make them melt away.

"You didn't have to be scared of telling me, but I'm glad you did. Tell me, not be scared of me. Guess from now on, you can be my handsome little man-thing, huh?"

Daniela Dimitrescu

Daniela is easily the most carefree (and oftentimes, careless) among her sisters. She also doesn't take a lot of things too seriously.

As a consequence though, you feared that it meant she wouldn't know how to handle the news. What if she didn't get it and would be weirded out by you?

Daniela wasn't dumb, you knew that, but you were still prepared to explain things if needed. She had always been curious so you weren't afraid to answer any questions she might have. You wished she would have some tact about them though.

She often drags you into mischief and a lot of the time you would relent, but the one time you stopped her first and mentioned needing to tell her something important, she was the one who tensed up.

Was she in trouble? Did you realize you stopped loving her all of a sudden? Were you going to die?! (She's a bit of a worrier when the words "we need to talk" come out of anyone's mouth.)

You were silent for a little too long and she starts to tear up, her worries getting the better of her before you stepped up to give her a hug. This already wasn't going how you planned.

After you managed to calm her down, you decided it was best to just spit it out already.

Fortunately, the revelation didn't hang in the air for too long. Daniela responded almost unexpectedly.

"Oh... wait, is it male to female, female to male, or something else?"

"Uh, female to male. So I'm a man. A trans man."

"Oh cool!" She takes your hands. "You got a new name picked out? If you're taking suggestions, I think--"

Wait what?

Turned out, she was pretty aware of what being trans meant and had read up on it in books before. She didn't just read for entertainment, she retained other information too.

Still, you couldn't help the sigh (and maybe a quiet sob) of relief when she pulled you close for another hug, this time in celebration of you and living your truth.

"Of course everything's okay, babe! You're still the same wonderful human I fell in love with. I always know how to pick the cute ones."

[autumnalwalker]

Favorite Line(s) Tag

Thank you for the tag, @blind-the-winds.

Passing the tag to @dogmomwrites, @cljordan-imperium, @ceph-the-ghost-writer, @oh-no-another-idea, @affectionatemeconopsis, and an open tag for anyone else who wants to join.

I've already mentioned previously how Day 140 of The Archivist's Journal is generally one of my favorite things that I've written, and that a certain exchange written at 2am for Chapter 12 of Empty Names is one of my favorite bits of dialogue I've put together. But if we were to go by "favorite dialogues between two characters" (or what passes for dialogue in The Archivist's Journal) then there are suddenly a great many contenders in The Archivist's Journal and there's another scene in Empty Names that, while less fun, I like better for showing an side of Sullivan and Road that doesn't normally get shown.

These are going to get a bit long, so dropping it under the "Keep reading" line.

The Archivist's Journal, Day 185:

The beach itself was pleasant enough, once we finally got there.  If Maiko was frustrated with my pace, she did a good job of not showing it.  As suspected, the prospect of swimming exhausted me simply thinking about it, but I was still able to wade a short distance into the waves, letting them wash around my knees and allowing my feet to sink into the sand.

Close my eyes and turn my face to greet the sun.

Stretch my arms wide as if to embrace the sea.

Breathe deep of the salty air.

Listen to the surf before me and birds behind me.

Allow myself to smile.

As my arms grew tired I let them drop and slowly opened my eyes as I turned to look back at Maiko.  She was still at the treeline, half hidden behind a trunk as I’d first glimpsed her those months ago.  I waved to her.

The twofold pause of one who’s realized they’ve hesitated.

She gave a small wave back.

My smile faded.  I walked over to her.  Asked if something was wrong.

Silence save for the birds and the waves.  Four beats of the sea’s heart.

She said she usually tries to avoid spending time in exposed areas like this.  Too easy to be seen without realizing it.

I considered what to say to that.

Waves in.  Waves out.

Waves in.  Waves out.

She added that she’d begun to get lax about that, but seeing people at the spring the other week had her on edge once more.

Another beat.

I imagined taking her by the hand and running toward the water.

Waves in.

Her momentarily too surprised to resist, letting herself be dragged along despite being more than capable of stopping.

Waves out.

Protests about the possibility of being seen.

Waves in.

Reassurances that no one ever comes to this particular stretch of beach but me.

Waves out.

Easing into the sea.

Waves in.

Playful splashing about in the water.

Waves out.

The both of us allowing ourselves to relax and let our guard down.

Waves in.

Telling her that I’m sure no one in the Village would have a problem with her.

Waves out.

And if anyone did say anything, she had friends to stick up for her.

Waves in.

A good day with her coming out of her shell and me feeling that I had helped.

Waves out.

I nodded, said I understood, and thanked her for indulging my whim to come out here.  We walked back to the house in silence.  As we did, I wondered if I should have acted on that fantasy.  It was a nice idea, but who’s to say it was a good one?  Who am I to force a fairytale idea of “helping” someone on another?  Would it really have been helping, or was it just a self-aggrandizing fantasy about saving or fixing someone? And if it was a good thing to do, I’m not the sort of person who could pull it off.  Maybe Lin could, or even Cass.

And besides, I was tired.

Empty Names, Chapter 4 - Prince In Gold

Every so often he turns through a door and into a room and cuts through it to another hallway that geometry would have demanded intersect with the first had not the sorceress Bridgewood once said otherwise.  The portrait room.  The lesser library.  The skull room.  He’s halfway across the verdant drawing room (as opposed to the xanthous drawing room or the aquatic drawing room) when he notices his friend asleep on the moss-green couch.

Sullivan freezes, not wanting to wake them, but their eyes flutter open a moment later all the same.  Had he made more noise than he realized, or was it the glow of the fireplace coming to life with his entrance?

“Hey Su,” they mumble with a voice still groggy from sleep.

“Hey,” he whispers back.  “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Is fine.  Not that asleep anyway.”  An obvious lie.

“We have plenty of real beds around you’re welcome to use, you know.”

“Mhmmm.”  They slowly shake their head.  “Never could get used to ‘em.”

The corner of Sullivan’s mouth curls up into a faint smile at old memories.  “Right.  I’ll let you get back to sleep,” he says and then turns to leave.

“Su,” whispers the voice behind him.  He stops and turns back around.  “Since you’re here, can you tell me a story?  Please.”

“Sure thing.”  He takes a seat on the floor leaning against the couch, one leg outstretched while the other makes an arch to rest arm on knee.  He looks up at his friend and asks “One of the classics?”

They shake their head.  “Something I missed while I was away.”  Their voice still sounds half-asleep.

“I’m afraid there’s not much to tell there.  It’s been pretty quiet here lately.”

The light from the fireplace reflects off pleading eyes.

“Well, I suppose there was one thing,” Sullivan concedes.

“Oh?”

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.  He breathes out and stares into the fireplace.

[ame-gosh]

Hi! So I've read your Cass x Rapunzel comic (BEAUTIFUL btw I adore it) and I had a question!

So obviously Rapunzel loves Cass, but I got some hints that she's still with Eugene? But wants to be with them BOTH romantically? Maybe? (Honestly if she does then Good For Her we stan a poly relationship) but I was just curious if that's what's happening or just my interpretation and I'm misreading

(Honestly I love the idea of Rapunzel being with both Cass and Eugene in different but equally full of love romantic relationships. Also the GOSSIP is hilarious to think about)

THANKS ok long story short I left things a little ambiguous because starting out with the first comic I had zero plans other than an urge to get out some Feelings that s2 tiptoed up to but waved away because Disney, and then the other two+ were less angst/commentary (mostly) and more a setup for the whole Cassandra's Tangled Adventure thing. They're meant to kind of co-exist in the margins of the show and not totally take sides, because at the time I felt like that was a fun challenge (I guess it's easier for me to wishfully pretend like the comics fit if they don't actually change what happens in the show. Except for the Epilogue animatic which kind of does take a side bc at the time I thought that was the last thing I'd draw, and then the Question happened)? Which would mean yes, Rapunzel is still in a relationship with Eugene, but very much grappling with untangling (oops) her feelings towards both of them.

THAT SAID I'm of two minds:

1. I think it would be good character development and a welcome challenging of the fairy tale archetype for Rapunzel to realize that yes, Eugene is a dear, dear friend but the very new and intense feelings she had immediately after her imprisonment of 18 years weren't necessarily True Love! And if they were, they can change, and it's ok for them to change, and there are many different kinds of love!! So despite the social expectation of her needing to fall in love with the prince charming character, and after actually living life for a while and discovering who she is, she finds that Cassandra would be a better fit romantically (especially when it comes to themes of freedom and stuff, and there never being an unchanging Happily Ever After, and since Cass was literally designed to be Raps' complement in almost every thematic way, but that's a whole other essay) and through the comics and afterwards she's tentatively, cautiously untangling these feelings and unlearning all of the expectations that'd been drilled into her but desperately not wanting to hurt Eugene in the process

OR

2. All of them very much end up together because absolutely yes the poly angle is cute as hell and very good in so many ways and why shouldn't she have two partners she's been through enough! They all have! and the banter would be incredible and the kingdom would flourish under the rule of the royal coronan power throuple

Even then these things aren't mutually exclusive, and you can definitely have a self-aware deconstruction of the heteronormative true love trope AND they all are in a relationship, and anything in between or beyond. Idk! I'm just a fan artist!

Anyways yeah thanks and I'm really glad you enjoyed them!

[batfoonery]

Crafty Batkids

Literally. Just batkids doin' crafts. As someone who does..... way too many crafts to list here (I'll send a list if asked but just trust me) I feel like I've gotten a good feel for this.

Dick

My man grew up in a circus, regularly checking ropes and tensions....

Macrame. He's a pro at macrame. Maybe he doesn't do it often, but like. For his friends, he'll sometimes surprise them with lil gifts.

When any of his Titans buds move he makes them those fancy hanging macrame plant holders. Donna and Kori both love them, and have been known to fight over them during white elephant/dirty Santa type gift games.

Probably doesn't have the ability to sit still for long periods of time, so can't do anything that'll unravel if he puts it down. It takes him a long time to finish a project, so he really only buys materials as he starts a new one, and doesn't have any excess stuff lying around his apartment.

Jason

You cannot tell me he doesn't crochet to unwind. Like. Idk if he's any good at it, but he def angry crochets.

Probably has been working on one scarf for like five years

Never has consistent stitches

Likes touching all the yarns at the store

Probably just enjoys squishing the yarn in general tbh. It's slightly more satisfying than ever actually doing anything with the yarn.

Cass

One time Bruce took her to like. Silver Dollar City or somewhere else that had someone with a loom, and she was fascinated. She made him buy her a shawl and then made Tim put together a power point about why she should have a loom.

Bruce ended up caving and buying her one that's skinnier, for like table runners. It's great, because she's mostly fascinated with making gradients in her weaves.

She learned Swedish Weaving (it's a like an embroidery/weaving hybrid) so she could embellish her works.

Mostly gives them out as gifts. She gave one to Selina, who guards it possessively. Harley tried to borrow it once and about lost her fingers.

Probably also learned to make little tassles for the ends

Tim

Attention to detail? Obsession over the minutia? Oh. You know my boy is an epoxy resin artist.

Has a crafting station in his room that's meticulously organized. There's cubbies for pigments, flowers, glitters, bits of ribbons and strings, etc etc

Probably makes all kinds of thing tbh. Phone cases, trinkets, you name it. But pens are his favorites, because they're both simple and practical. There's like a whole army of pens that just... keeps growing in Titans Tower because he always forgets where he's put his.

None of his teammates realize he is the source of the pens. They (Kon, Cassie, Bart) just think the pens are an infestations and/or are pairing up and making baby pens. But Cassie and Bart love them bc ✨aesthetics✨

Probably has a tik tok or an insta where he posts videos of himself de-molding things to soothing lofi tracks. Literally just. All the vibes. It's gorgeous.

Steph

Also all the vibes. She is a bujo/stationary queen.

Her collection is much messier than Tim's, but has a surprising amount of overlap. Sometimes they borrow things from each other, and have collabed on their social accounts (he makes journal covers, she makes them into notebooks, he supplies her with pens, she uses them when making a weekly/monthly set up, etc)

Stickers and glitter everywhere

Probably sponsored.

Canonically draws cute little cartoons in the comics, they absolutely are a regular on her socials and in her bujos.

Duke

For some reason I don't peg him as being as craft-oriented as his closest-in-age sibs? He probably has less expensive coping mechanisms tbh

That being said I can see he would enjoy those stores where you go in and paint pottery and they kiln/glaze it for you? Like he isn't into sculpting it himself, but painting the little kitchenware pieces or statuettes is relaxing.

He paints mugs for all his sibs on their birthdays, and for Alfred.

Alfred probably has a whole army of custom mugs made for him by the kids, now that I'm thinking about it. Like half of them are from Duke, because he doesn't know what else to do with them. There are just so many because it's so simple.....

Kate Kane, Tatsu Yamashiro, and Jeff Pierce also all have mugs. Actually... Lowkey highkey I can see that Tatsu might have introduced Duke to this kind of stuff in the first place? I can see that she would enjoy something simple that you can do while trying to clear out your mind.

Damian

Well. Damian is a gifted artist, but this translates differently into actual crafts. It just does.

He's probably a good printmaker. Not only does this take advantage of his art skills and keen attention to details, but it's one of the oldest artforms still in practice today. Most printmakers develop their techniques by perfecting one of several forms of the art, which have been passed through generations, and have a really firm grip on art history. Those stories would appeal to Damian, in addition to the craft itself.

Damian is the most likely of his siblings to be able to sit still for prolonged periods of time and do a repetitive motion. In fact, it may actually be something he can enjoy if it means he can just zone out for a bit. So, he's probably actually decent at spinning yarn. If the sky is grey and rainy, he drags out a wheel and some pre-sorted rolags and spins yarn, exclusively for Cass, who then weaves it. He enjoys the progression of colors in the fibers as much as she does, and they bond over it.

The feeling of different fibers slipping through his fingers is also really soothing. Bad day? Time to spin some merino, because it slips like water through his touch. Need to feel grounded? Time to spin a cotton blend, because you have to be present enough not to chafe your hands on the rough fibers...

Probably also really good at embroidery, for the same reasons. Plus, it's really satisfying to feel and hear the pbt-psht, pbt-psht of the needle and thread pulling through the taut fabric.

Bruce

Obviously knows how to forge/metalwork. I like to imagine he's also dabbled in lost wax casting.

Probably has little trinkets he made when he was younger scattered around the house. Maybe he donated a few to charity auctions.

Has made rings/jewelry pieces. But doesn't talk about them. (One ring went to Selina, and a pair of earrings went to Talia)

Alfred

The all-talented, all-knowing. There's probably nothing he can't do. He already sews all their outfits. So I mean.

Sometimes it feels really good to have something to stab. I'm not saying he does needle felting, but I'm not saying he wouldn't.

Probably was the one who taught Bruce about lost wax, and the one who helps Damian research about printmakers.

Silently supplies all the kids with all the art things.

Has a chest in his room filled with all the things that he's been gifted with over the years. There's little uneven macrame hanging from when Dick was just getting the hang of it, lumpy scarves that are too short for anyone to realistically wear from Jason, linen sets made by Cass, various trinkets from Tim, handmade cards and notebooks from Steph, mugs from Duke, and old embroidery pieces from Damian in unevenly stained hoops.

[thatblondeperson]

Hi! I'm the girl who recommended "All I've Ever Known" from Hadestown from your most recent chapter, which, by the way, completely blew me away.

I wish I could send some of my own TimSteph thoughts/writing towards you, though I haven't done much. You are an excellent writer and I love your interpretations of both characters. They're so perfect together.

1. Do you have any fanfics concerning them coming after this one?

2. You have no idea how much it kills me that I have to wait 7 days to read another chapter. This fic should be CANON and no, I'm not joking.

3. Also, I recommend listening to Mr. Blue. It reminded me of Chapter 9 (was it?) when Steph said she was worried about Tim's mental health.

4. You said in Chapter 11 that you had a soft spot for Steph playing piano (that happened) and there would be more of "fun" Tim. Is it coming soon?

5. Have you seen Marcus To's art of TimSteph? They're so cute.

Again, so sorry for the long questions/responses. I just love TimSteph, which is weird, considering I'm not THAT big of a shipper and I'm more of a book fan than a comic book fan. I actually preferred DickKory when I got into the Batfam comics, and I still have them ranked high, but over time, these two grew on me. It was like, "Ooh, these guys are great BFFs! They can't get any better--"

Then I realized that they were dating, and the more and more I thought about it, THE MORE AND MORE IT MADE SENSE. I COULD WRITE A 10-PAGED PAPER ON WHY THEY WORK SOOOO WELL.

But IncoherentBabblings beat me to it with her incredible post on "Why TimSteph is Nice," and it's one of my favorite posts ever.

Hey hey!! Sorry, busy couple days at work!

I am so happy that you've been enjoying the fic!! I listened to the song and it's so so sweet!! I totally get the TimSteph vibes from it, where it's just the two of them clinging to each other in the face of everything else.

If you ever post anything lmk! I'm always happy to see more TimSteph content! You are too kind about my writing! I am just happy that I'm finishing my first multichapter fic like this. Never finished a big project before, honestly never thought it would happen.

1. I have a whole to-do list of little projects, god knows when anyone will see those. I'm drafting little things now that I'm winding down from FMWBTY. I am gonna be doing a collab project with @incoherentbabblings but we are just in the planning stages so far.

As far as with this fic, I would love to do a sequel to write the relationship more on this timeline, but we'll see! There's a lot more I'd like to cover, idk if it would be as long of a project. I do want to utilize Cass and Damian though, I want to bring them in since Cass is such an important person to Steph, and I'd love to see some forced bonding hilarity between Tim and Damian with Tim playing nice out of respect for Steph lol

2. lololol yeah I though a week would be a good amount of time in between chapters. It's better than waiting for me to write the chapters, I promise. I made my first draft of this thing in 2019!

3. I will listen to that too! It's on the list!

4. I use "fun" in an odd way. I'm trying to have Tim relax around Steph and act like himself again. He's kinda been battered by a lot of shit over the years, so he's kinda receded in on himself. I will drag him out a bit, but that's where a sequel would also be fun. Let him be a jokey, lovey dovey boyfriend for Steph.

5. Love Marcus! Hope to be able to commission a TimSteph piece from him someday. I do wish that she was drawn with more wavy, kind of untamed hair, since I just like the idea that Steph has this super thick hair. But his art is literally always stunning, such clean line work and I like that he doesn't draw the men too bulky, and that the women aren't oversexualized.

Long questions are fine! I think a lot of us started with DickKory in the form of RobStar in the Teen Titans TV show, that was definitely one of my first major ships, and it was a painfully wonderful slowburn. Wonder where I latched onto that trope? 🤣🤣🤣

Idk when I hopped onto TimSteph. I think I just latched on after I started reading Tim because their dynamic was so fun and sweet. And then fandom, cuz when I joined there weren't so many antis and Steph haters. Truly sad to see now.

Thank you thank you THANK YOU for all your support!! I definitely plan to keep writing TimSteph while I still have ideas! ❤💜

[hectorandvarian]

Remember the past - "Goodbye and Goodwill".

Attention: Not all things in series can someone likes. I'm no exception. All following criticism which concerns not only this series, but also some others will be pure subjectivity. I know this post won't garner as many notes as praising the series. Well, I value honesty more than notes, so let's get started.

So, the third series of the season concludes the storyline of Vardaros and forces to say goodbye to favorite characters. But how did it happen? Very depressing, in my opinion. Cliched, strained and stupid.

And yet, first we need to talk about the plus, of which, in my opinion, not very much:

* I liked the scene where Eugene and Vex save Quaid, lance, and Hookfoot from falling into the abyss. The only moment where I was scared for the characters.

* The coolest moment of the series - farewell to Vardaros. It was sad to say goodbye to Quaid and Vex, but still, it was a very sweet and heartfelt goodbye. Let's hope this isn't the last time we see them.

For me, the specific advantages of the series over. Let's go by cons:

* "Cliche" -Two friends want to have a holiday, but quarrel because of different views.

You know, I've seen this kind of story in about five TV shows. And I do not mind if the cliche skillfully inserted and uniquely complement, but here these words do not fit. You see, Rapz decides to have a farewell party, but everyone likes Cassandra's ideas, so they fight. And here two problems: first, why you are going to do them celebration? You have freed them from the yoke of the Baron and Anthony. Moreover, your main mission-to follow the trail of black rocks. Why do you spend so much time on not super important things?

And second of all, don't you think it's a bit overdone? Rapz for a long time is Vardaros, and still do not understand that the local people mentality is different from the residents of the Corona? Doesn't she realize they have a different perception for the holidays?And Cass? Great contests like "batting each other out"and" swimming with piranhas." And if someone died, what would she tell Quaid?

Why is everyone so stupid?

Why Rapunzel couldn't draw a picture of a Groundhog for Lance? Why can't Rapz and Cass find a middle ground between their concepts? Was it really so necessary for the creators to quarrel with their friends? That's just in the same series with "Battle of the Brave" they did it much better and more logical than here. Why can't Eugene try our girls on with words? He's the master of conversation! (though I admit the handcuff joke was the funniest in the series.) And after all, why couldn't Lance and Hookfoot use their brains to figure out that a huge, angry beast wasn't fit for a party??

This series does not extend the story of Vаrdаros, shows new characters or improving old. Here, it is fashionable to say, we even have a regression, for Rapunzel and Cassandra quarrel almost over nothing.

As a result, the series turned out to be protracted, cliched and simply boring. In a good series, time passes quickly. In the series "Goodbye and goodwill" every minute lasted like two. Yes, this series has beautiful backdrops, some jokes and conflicts, but for me that's not the main thing. A good story and interesting action with characters-that's what I need. But I didn't get it. The writers could tell a more interesting story, such as "What happened to the Baron next?"or "What was Eugene in childhood is associated with Vardaros" or even "Black rock spoil life in Vardaros". But no, it's very bad here. On my view-one of worst series second season. Only the ending and saves the series from complete failure.

[cjsmalley]

Continued:

The day is spent doing various activities to keep the kids busy as they await news.

Since they know the Secret, the former Robins give them some basic self-defense lessons and the Royals show off their own skills.

"I have been instructed in the blade since I could walk," Damian explains seriously, "Father allowed me to keep training in such weapons, finding me tutors, so long as I promised never to kill again unless in self defense or defense of others' lives."

"Damian was one of my first trainers," Danielle adds, grinning, "it's how we first bonded. He's a good teacher, once he realized he didn't need to hurt me like his former teachers hurt him."

Bruce frowned; he knew how the League operated, but he had assumed an al-Ghul would have been better protected.

"As if," Damian snorts, when he voices this, "al-Ghuls must be the best of the best, Mister Bruce. No al-Ghul is allowed any weakness no matter their age. I was trained harshly as Grandfather expected perfection from those of his blood. Anything less is shame upon the bloodline."

Damian smiles, "Father and Mother, however, while they expect us to do our best, they also allow us to be children. Not just weapons or heirs to be forged and molded in their preferred image. They, and Danielle, were the ones to teach me the concept of 'fun' not just satisfaction in a job well done."

"He was so stuffy!" Danielle explains further, "So formal all the time! But we got through to him. We figured out he likes art, he's good at it, so Dad and Mom had a studio set up for him and everything."

"Grandfather did not like my hobby," Damian confides, "he believes art, creation, is a waste of time and beneath an al-Ghul. Father and Mother however, not only encourage it but supply the needed materials. I have studied under many artists who reside in the Zone and continue to, alongside my other lessons. As of this moment, I am training in watercolor."

"My father was an artist as well," Bruce smiles, "landscapes in watercolor mostly, though he dabbled in oils and portraiture."

"Truly?"

"Oh yes. I believe we still have his studio."

"We do, sir," Alfred puts in, "shall I ready it for his highness? I dare say Mister Wayne would have been overjoyed to share his passion."

"Perhaps if I spend more time here, Mister Pennyworth," Damian replies respectfully, "I doubt Father or Mother will object to my requests but I do not wish to put you out for nothing."

"Nonsense, young Prince," Alfred shakes his head, already standing up, "do you have any preference as to brand of materials?"

"He's been using one hundred percent cotton paper sketchbooks," Danielle injects, ignoring her brother's blush, "a number six round, flat, and quarter inch dagger bushes, and Cotman by Windsor and Newton. Also a drawing set by Faber-Castell. It has like two pencils, an eraser, and a couple charcoal sticks.

"Thank you, your highness," Alfred nods, "Timothy?"

"Already on Amazon," Tim has his phone out, "those brands exist here too."

"I shall look over the furniture, make sure it is in proper, usable condition as well as air out and dust the room."

"I'll help, Alfie," Jason follows the butler out.

"You do not--" Damian begins but Dick cuts him off.

"No we don't," he agrees before adding, "we want to, your highness. I've an acrobatic gym area and Cass has a dance studio, in the Manor. Tim has his gadgetry lab and Jason has the library. When Duke figures out what he wants he'll get it too. Bruce doesn't mind, at all."

"No, I do not," Bruce agrees softly, crouching, "Damian, your highness, I would have given you the same had I raised you. As soon as you had shown interest in any hobby," he laughs, "I'm rich, we can afford it. If you are sure about spending time here I want you comfortable like everyone else, to have fun."

Then he looks to Danielle, "And you, your highness? Do you have any hobbies?"

"Me?"

"Yes, any siblings of my children are welcomed here as well," he motions around him, "I know we just met but I hope, in time, you'll become comfortable here too. Perhaps call me uncle or cousin Bruce. Damian is gaining his grandfather's art studio, what do you want?"

"I--I like languages and cultures," she admits, "when I grow up, I want to travel if I can. I always go with Dad on official trips."

"She's quite good at languages," Damian adds, for revenge, "she speaks four fluently and three more passably. She can read two fluently as well."

"Really?" Dick looks impressed, "what languages do you speak?"

"English, Spanish, Latin, and Esperanto fluently, Mandarin, Japanese, German, passably. She can read French and Classical Latin," Damian replies when she doesn't.

"A lot of the old court's stuff's in Latin and French," she explains, blushing brightly, "treaties I have to know as Princess, that stuff. Spanish is common. Wulf only speaks Esperanto. The others were just for fun?"

"Oh, Jason's gonna love you now," Dick chuckles, "he's our language nerd. He reads the books in their original language when he can."

"A map room for you, then," Bruce decides, nodding to himself, "we'll fill it with maps, globes, and travelogues. That way you can plan out your future trips."

"Maybe we can take them on trips," Tim speaks up, "if their parents say it's alright. Some things must be different between our worlds. B, I've ordered the art supplies. I'm working on the maps."

"Good job, Tim."

The Phantom siblings can only look at each other in shock.

"Also," Bruce speaks to Tim, "order a dog bed and some toys for Cujo."

"Got it, B," the teen nods seriously, "and a leash, because I don't think leash laws make an exception for ghost dogs."

"Good idea."

"I'll call Babs," Dick decides, "get her ready to set up some papers for them so we can get passports."

A portal opens, causing everyone to freeze.

An old ghost exits, holding a stack of paperwork, "Your highnesses."

"Clockwork," Danielle says worriedly, "is Mom--?"

"The Queen has not delivered her child yet," the ghost replies.

"Why are you here, Clockwork?" Damian questions.

"I bring copies of your paperwork so Barbara Gordon can create identities for you, young Prince," Clockwork answers even as he shifts into a child.

"Mister Bruce, this is Clockwork," Danielle introduces, "he controls Time so he knows almost everything. He's the one that told us all your secret IDs. He's Dad and Mom's most trusted advisor and one of our potential guardians should they get destroyed."

"Well met, Dark Knight," the ghost is now a young man, handing the paperwork to Dick, "and you, Nightwing. However, I must be going."

Another portal opens and he disappears.

TBC...

mind if I give a dp×dc prompt?

Constantine means to summon the ghost king but instead summons the ghost prince who is currently has a fork hanging out of his mouth.

Damian just wanted to eat lunch with his adoptive father king phantom, in peace.

I just want to put that I love this prompt, and will enjoy writing this so much!

Now, onto the big question: How did Damian become the Ghost Prince of the Infinite Realms in the first place?

And of course, the answer is obviously because of Ra's al Ghul. I could think of it as two ways.

One would be Ra's summoned the Ghost King and offered his son in exchange for immortality. Danny not only denies him, but still takes Damian with him because he's obviously better off anywhere but there.

The other way would be Damian would be forced to watch the summoning as Ra's possibly wanted to show him his ascent into being immortal. Though, when summoning Danny, he just looked around, saw Damian, grabbed him, and disappeared back through the summoning circle while flipping off Ra's al Ghul.

Now, what's the Ghost King supposed to do with the human kid he just kidnapped without a second thought?

Sure, the kids previous living conditions probably wasn't the best. I mean, how would it when the man had an entire pit of rotten ectoplasm? But Danny was pretty much still a kid himself. And he had his kingly duties on top of that. But that doesn't mean he was just going to dump the kid somewhere else and hope for the best.

So what does Danny do? He goes to his sister.

Jazz is conflicted about the whole ordeal. On one hand, it was good for Danny to rescue the child from the possible dangerous situation. On the other, they had a whole child that they didn't know what to do with.

Damian was confused about the entire situation. He was there with his grandfather (whether by force or his own accord depending how he got there) to watch him summon the King of the Dead in order to establish himself as one of the higher beings in this world to rule it. Instead, the King, who turned out to be no more older than him, denied his grandfather upright before grabbing him and vanishing back into the same portal he was summoned from.

Now, he was sitting between the Ghost King and an older teen. Sister, maybe? Either way, he was unsure as to what to do now. He had no idea how far he was away from the hideout of the League. And if the King was as powerful as legends told, he doubted he would make it far if he were to run anywhere before he was caught.

So, Damian believed that the best thing to do in this situation was to try and get onto the Ghost King's good side until he could find what would be the next step. So his next words shocked both him and the woman he was talking with.

"I want to stay with you, Great King of the Dead."

So! Damian decided that staying with the Ghost King, or Phantom, as he preferred to be called at most, would be best. Of course, his request threw the king off guard along with the girl. But it was all he had up his sleeve and he was going to use it.

And now that that was settled, a lot of things followed suite:

Danny, with the gain of a new charge, called in Sam and Tucker for a full on meeting on what to do with the kid along with Jazz.

Of course with Danny officially kidnapping him, he was under Danny's care. The Ghost King's care. That was basically signing some sort of second death wish.

With all of his friends and family being alive, they decide the best place for him to leave was in his castle in the Ghost Zone. There was plenty of room there! And he was sure that it would be safe. Maybe. Hopefully. You know what? He'll probably have to do a quick check before he officially brought to the castle.

That being said, he would also have to warn those who stayed in the castle the arrival of his....guest? Kidnappee? Ward? A kid that he took from the environment that was not safe for him!

Surprisingly, the ghosts were excited about the development. So excited, in fact, that when he returned to the castle with Damian in turn, there was already talk about the Ghost King's heir was already going around of all the realms. That was fine though. If the word spread around fast enough, hopefully that that meant he would be easily protected against any possible attacks.

Danny introduces to some of those he can. A few members of his Rogue Gallery who he gotten closer to over the time, Ellie ("It's big sister Ellie, now! I can't believe you just kidnapped a kid like that!")

Others were introduced to him as well. Especially Frost Bite and Fright Knight. Both of which were interested in meeting his sudden charge. (But with the way he saw the kid eyeing Fright Knight's sword, it's best their unsupervised interactions were kept to a minimum.)

And seeing that he was a kid himself, it was going to be weird raising one that's probably not much younger than him. Clockwork sure did get a kick out of it though.

Here is a list of possible outcomes that come from Danny and his friends & family raising Damian:

He doesn't grow up to be as stiff and cold as before. With Danny and the others around (especially Jazz's "Aunt Jazz, Damian," Aunt Jazz's mandatory sessions about his life with the League of Assassin's) his formality is more royalty like instead of an assassin waiting to strike. Though, there is a bit still there.

Training. As being accepted as the ward and possible heir of the Ghost King, it meant that that Damian would have protection and would have to learn the ways of the Infinite Realms. Both its politics and ways of combat. That was fine, Damian was sure he could handle it. He was raised by the League of Assassins after all. But he was wrong...so wrong. His first training session showed how he fared as a human against a ghost. But he wasn't deterred and continued fighting. (It was alright in the end, because he got his own ghost sword. Of course, it didn't send the opponent into a realm of neverending nightmares, but it was still good. Danny was sure he heard Damian cackle madly when the sword was presented to him.)

Bonding time with Danny and his friends. He would most likely learn about Danny about how he became Phantom and King of the Infinite Realms, as well as a bit of his friends and family that was with him the entire time.

Even if he is Danny's ward, that doesn't mean that he keeps him in the Infinite Realms the entire time. He often took Damian out to various spots that he deemed alright for some bonding between the two to get to know each other a bit more personally.

He would even allow Damian some time alone in the human realm if he wanted it. Of course, he would only leave him for about an hour or two before picking him up again. During that time he would simply work on some kingly duties he couldn't do with Damian around.

Overtime, Damian would become more liminal than most due to all the exposure in the realms. Of course he wasn't a full on ghost, but the most he could do was float, fly and even turn invisible. But even that would take a lot out of him for too long.

After a while, Damian would be referred as "Little Prince" or "Prince of the Infinite Realms".

All. The. Animals. With all of the ecto-based animals along with the blob ghosts, he would be in absolute heaven.

Now, I want to bring something else up to this prompt: How would Bruce react?

Depending on how Danny kidnapped adopted Damian, there are two ways that Bruce could find out.

Bruce gains word from Talia after a League of Assassins member finds her and tells her of the passing of Ra's al Ghul and the kidnapping of his grandson. Both of which happened by the hands of the Ghost King.

Words gets out that Ra's failed to get the Ghost King under his control to grant his wish of immortality and that the Ghost King took his grandson as well.

Either way would be how Bruce managed to have a biological son that he was unaware of. Which could also lead to him digging into anything he could find about the King of the Infinite Realms, even seeking JL Dark for any information. Of course, their information isn't up to date and he think that Damian has been kidnapped by the cruel Ghost King Pariah Dark instead of Danny Phantom: The King who can't say no to a kid with a sword bigger than his own body.

So yes. This whole ordeal would just be chaos from beginning to end.