#but he's not terribly bad either

[firesofdainix]

hey hey tell me more about Hideaki!! I wanna know more about him!!

also if you could give me a color pallet for him that would be perfect

OH MY GOD IT’S MY BLORBO'S TIME TO SHINE!!! This man has been living in my head rent free ALL MONTH so I think he needs a necessary introduction.

(You're lucky I made a little concept ref sheet for Hideaki. His hair is HORRIBLE to draw.)

ANYWAYS, his shitty tragic ass life story is under the cut. The blorbo needs his moments <3333

Tw for someone killing a baby brutally, beheading, some violence

Okay so first of all, he's HELLA old in ninjago history. He was a member of the VERY FIRST Elemental Alliance, which included Morro I. His Element was the long-lost and extinct Element of Seasons. This and the Element of Weather were originally from the Great Devourer, offered to humans who managed to evade its venom. Hideaki was a very lucky guy because of his encounter, to the point he was regaled as some kind of hero. Season is a hard Element to make sense or understand about, that even Hideaki doesn't know how he can fully control it. So, the least complicated version of the semantics of Season is that it can summon a season willingly in a controlled area. Although that takes a LOT of work and needs True Potential, so Hideaki taps into the traits of the Core Elements and correlates it to the season he wants to summon.

He awakened his powers at a very young age, and just at 14 he awakened his True Potential in a very fantastical way. FSM noticed his power and notified his parents (and a confused Hideaki) he was an Elemental Master and would like for him to join his alliance. His parents and siblings were quite protective of Hideaki, and were a bit tense and suspicious of a man who just appeared out of nowhere to recruit their son to what seems like a gang. Hideaki, very excited to meet new friends, insisted on going with FSM to travel the world. Right speaking of which, his relationship with his family is VERY good, he has three siblings as well so it's a big family. They are very close, too close to the point he feels as if he's too codependent on them. That's why he chose to go with FSM, so he can learn to handle himself.

As a person, he's a very fun, bubbly, and optimistic person, however he's VERY naïve when it comes to meeting new people. He sees everything, initially, in a black and white worldview, He always obeys the FSM's rules out of sheer idol worship and wanting to be useful, seeing everything in black and white. But despite his bubbliness he's very bad at socializing, often getting distracted with insects, running off to come pet them and getting lost because of a bad sense of direction. Most Elemental Masters have to go looking for him, often being annoyed by how ditzy and clueless he is. It doesn’t help they're older than him by a few years and he was only 14 when he joined. He's also pretty bad at socializing, because whatever he says can be taken in a VERY wrong out of context way.

He barely has any friends (because, you know, he has a big age gap with the others) and the others really didn't want to connect with a little kid, unlike FSM, who's very fond of him. He wishes he has a better childhood than what he had. But, his only friend in the entire Elemental Alliance was the first Elemental Master of Wind, Morro I. They were the only person in the entire world who can match his rambunctious and wilder side, but unfortunately Hideaki is the one who has to keep them in check. They always make reckless or intellectually impulsive decisions where he often forgets he is currently with a buddy, and Hideaki bears the brunt of their decisions. He tries to dissuade Morro I from his many, many awful decisions, but to his dismay he continues to not listen to him. However, he continues to stay with him, simply because he was the only person who can tolerate and understand his giddiness and personality.

Hideaki can summon seasons, and his appearance is also changed depending on which season he uses, or what his current mood is. Because he is usually seen as a happy, smiling young man, his hair, which is pink since birth, his hair is vibrant and very soft-looking, like spring is always like. In the picture above his 'spring colors' is the first picture. With the pink highlights. He is barely in a 'winter mode' simply because he believes his sadness is not quite important to the mission.

As an able Elemental Master, Hideaki was very good at listening to FSM's orders and also his superiors. The only thing he is flawed with is his ability to be distracted. If Morro I is good at evading and being as fast as the wind, Hideaki, is gifted in heavy lifting, though he has more limits unlike the Master of Earth. He can try and drag a grundle back into unclaimed lands using a rope or chains, one of his prime weaponry. Because his Element can somewhat be four separate elements entirely, he uses different kinds of weapons to mediate his power. Since he uses spring a lot he uses a longbow regularly, having perfect aim. He has decently strong control over summer, using a kusarigama, a decent but weaker control over autumn, in which he uses a kama, and he has a very, VERY weak link for winter, simply because his personality contrasts with what winter is usually seen as.

Anyways, when Morro I was arrested for the crime of being so obsessed with FSM, Hideaki was so hurt by the way he showed his true colors. He tried to fish out another response or confession from Morro I, but what he heard from them was heartbreaking: the person he cared about the most... Didn't give too shits about him. He didn't watch Morro I's exile, and he felt embarrassed over the fact he had a crush on them. Since the only person he has gotten along with was gone, he was alienated even further from the Alliance. So he does solo missions, aware the other Elemental Masters don't want to give him the time of day. FSM tries to convince him to socialize, but he really doesn't know how to socialize, only putting on a front that he was still nice and approachable.

When he was 16, a few months after Morro I was exiled, he was patrolling the areas near a rather large forest filled with dangerous plants and animals, a portal above him opens, and, alarmed, he jumps out the way soon as a dark figure falls, and into the ravine near Hideaki. While he was still addled and a little shocked about the portal hanging above him, he calls out to the new stranger if they were okay. The responder sounded feminine, and, after telling them to hold still as he tries to rescue them, something leaps out from the ravine and catches him in a tackle. When he meets with their eyes, it was like love at first sight.

Apparently, the creature in front of him was an Oni, a predecessor of the First Spinjitzu Master and was tasked to bring him back, dead or alive, for their cause in the First Realm. Her name was Kokoro, and she was mainly forced to follow in her parents' footsteps by the Omega or she will be killed. She knows that her being taken here was just a banishment in disguise, but she didn't seem to care. Her Realm was devastated after the incessant fighting of the Oni and Dragon, and seeing Ninjago, she didn't WANT to find the FSM and kill him for it. Sympathizing with her, Hideaki shares a few bits of his life, and the two of them hit it off, something in them clicking when they first laid eyes on each other. Kokoro started to live with Hideaki in his family home. While his family were, at first, a little wary over an Oni staying in their home, immediately warmed up to her.

After a year of knowing each other, their feelings for the other didn't seem to fade away or become platonic. Instead, it grew stronger every time they spend time with one another. They confessed to one another during a private night, and well, they're both teenagers and let the hormones win, so... Hideaki finds out that Kokoro is about to have a kid he's a little tense, panicking even. He's NEVER had one of his dumb, teenage-driven decisions backfire SO horribly in his face before, being the first time he's ever done anything out of impulse. But in the end, while he did receive some scolding from his parents that became a really, REALLY big misunderstanding (Hideaki thought they believed Kokoro was a horrible influence on him, they just want to help), he and Kokoro ended up running away from home. He still had contact with the Elemental Masters, but he omits any details of his Oni wife because he fears their prosecution.

Some background over this hesitant omission: when FSM left, the dragons did send their best warriors to find him, but when he expressed he didn't want to return to the First Realm, the dragons had no choice but to respect his choices. However, the Oni warriors, especially the embodiments of Vengeance, Anger and Deception were very keen on taking him back to win a war they caused. Why do you think the Elemental Alliance was formed? Not only to defend Ninjago's citizens from attacks of primordial creatures, but also from the Oni. They try their damndest to drive out the Oni, and while they are successful, somewhat, some decided to stay, such as Mystake, but only the FSM knows. Kokoro is a stronger type of Oni, since she's one of the daughters of the Oni of Anger. It's why she regularly has some angry outbursts that only Hideaki can calm down. She gets carried away when she gets WAY too angry. But she doesn't hurt anyone, she just has a big impact in her surroundings. Kokoro is the one that carved the mask of anger after fighting her father with Hideaki when they, by coincidence, found him in a secluded and unknown part in Ninjago. It was a metal ass fight.

Anyways, when he is not doing his Elemental Master work, he usually does house chores, making accomodations for Kokoro, or being a generally nice and pleasant person to be around with. He helps a lot of folk near his area with their lives, helping them settle, babysit, whatever. He's regarded as that towns handyman since he always seems to know what to do. Hideaki didn't know that, even when he tried to keep Kokoro a secret, only referring to her by name or his wife, some of his contemporaries got way too suspicious. He always evades the idea of visiting her, he's never shown them any kind of significant material that belongs to his wife, to the point they just think he's making up excuses to escape his work. So they followed him home, and not only did they find out Hideaki’s wife, they also found out she was Oni and like... idk they're beefing with a guy who just turned 18.

So they put the worst assumptions they had on Hideaki and his wife, and immediately tattled on him towards the FSM. Okay, so we are getting on neutral ground with him. I think the FSM is a very interesting figure. He is good, but sometimes he can get a little suspicious of people. He has trust issues after being used and abused by the Oni and Dragon for so many years. When the Elemental Masters forwarded what they assumed Hideaki was doing, well. He didn’t want to believe it at first. The Elemental masters mean well, probably (if having a grudge on a kid means well idk), but they said things blown out of proportion, way too based on assumptions and delusions for it to work. FSM denies their assumptions, but decided the only way to discover if it was true or no was to confront Hideaki. Following him to his home (since Hideaki couldn't say no to him) he, some Elemental Masters who insist on accompanying FSM, engage in a tense dinnertime with Kokoro, who just gave birth (Hideaki still couldn't find the time to hold his new kid in his arms too). FSM purposefully cuts himself (Oni and Dragon alike are very interested in his blood), and Kokoro reacts accordingly, her mind hazy, going out of control as she turns to a full Oni.

that's when FSM admonishes Hideaki for his secrecy. He lets the other Elemental Masters restrain Kokoro, and FSM gives Hideaki a chance to explain himself, to debunk what his comrades tell the FSM. He was always a firm believer of someone admitting their lies and their sins face-to-face... However Hideaki DOES NOT work well under pressure, nor when his baby and wife is currently being held hostage so his thoughts, his confessions and everything he says is incomprehensible garbage. He even made a few mentions of the Oni of Anger and how they destroyed him without the FSM knowing, to which FSM'S trust for Hideaki breaks more. Initially, despite the offenses and panicked testimony, FSM was going to let Hideaki free, except he is exiled from the Elemental Alliance.

The thing is, Hideaki prioritizes his family first. Before FSM can reassure him he is not mad, the Master of Fire... Killed Hideaki's baby. Not an accident, he literally burnt the baby alive until it was reduced to nothing but literal ashes. It was as if something unlocked inside Hideaki; with an enraged growl he breaks free, attempting to maul the Master of Fire like a bear. Even Kokoro was enraged over what they'd done to her child, impaling the first Elemental Master of Nature, letting him die as she tries to scramble to pick up the child's remains and kill the master of fire. The master of fire INSISTS he hadn't done that, that something was controlling him, brainwashing him into fucking killing a baby. I wonder who it was. Anyways things got ugly immediately, Kokoro got murdered by a happenstance of circumstances, that not even Hideaki or FSM could explain it in detail. In the end, FSM cursed Hideaki after murdering the master of fire and earth, thinking that the Preeminent was simply collecting souls not to feel lonely (because he’s still quite naive, despite seeing Preeminent’s true form. he GENUINELY thought she wanted a companion and assigned her Hideaki).

The Elemental Master of Lightning beheads Hideaki out of grief, and when Hideaki opens his eyes to the new afterlife awaiting him. Everything was... a dystopia. A ruin of every ruin. Desolation and destruction that predates anything he knows about Ninjago. And at the center of it all, lies the Preeminent, who has her wish come true. A new companion... but he wasn’t willing, and she treats him more as a pet than anything else. Against his will, since he IS the first inhabitant of the Cursed Realm, he is married to the Preeminent, but no matter how much force and situated affection she has for him, in his heart there only lies one girl. Kokoro, whom he was very, VERY far away from.

At first, he still held hope. Hope that he will see Kokoro again, to hold their child, but the days turned to weeks, months, and then years. The Preeminent had enforced him with all kinds of orders and laws, to the point that his happy, humane and optimistic side started to fade away, leaving only the ugliest parts of him; his lack of social awareness, his awkwardness, his intense insecurity. The years in the Cursed Realm turned him to the very thing he hated the most: something he considers a bad person. These negative attributes of his personality was also paired up with an increasing amount of apathy and indifference (he started accepting that every soul that came here was forsaken and deserved to be punished like him), and cruelty and idleness he shows to his new subordinates. He thinks he can wither like this forever, to act as if nothing exists, as if he doesn’t exist, as if his only dream in this afterlife was to be tortured and held captive by the Preeminent forever.

But someone stopped him from spiralling in those horrid thoughts, as late as he can be. Five thousand years since he came to this realm and was stripped of the humanity he had, a Cursed soul younger than him showed up. 17 years old, clearly having been deceived by the Preeminent as Hideaki observes him from the Head of the Cursed Realm, as he fights off many, many ghosts, winning glory and the authority of everyone in the Dystopian Ribcage. Called the champion, this man was. He interested Hideaki a lot, but he refuses to think or talk about him. He may ascend the Head soon, so what could he possibly say to him? That is, until the Preeminent told him not only was he the Elemental Master of Wind, but he is named after his old friend, Morro I. Immediately the most interested he has been since he was exiled to this Realm, he seeks the young ghost out to obtain information from him, whatever it is. He didn't know what information he wants from him, but it was enough to make this already static afterlife feel... A little more entertaining.

And it did. Hideaki properly gets the chance to meet Morro after one of his combats. Morro had just finished one of his more iconic fights (him against Arcturus, the Anacondrai general), and seen than a particular silhouette he has not ever come across the amphitheater was watching him, he immediately books it. However, Arcturus was feeling a little petty over losing a fight against a teenager that he corners him and almost beats him up if Hideaki didn't intervene. Sending the Anacondrai on their way, he gets a one on one with Morro. The young man wanted to talk to Morro, but he was sent away by a large wind, so he decided to volunteer to host Morro's visit towards the Cursed Realm palace, that's when they started talking. While at first, since Morro was jaded by human interaction and suspicious over anything that tries to interact with him. Hideaki was no exception; he treated him quite callously and occasionally misinterprets his body language and stand offishness as him thinking he is above all of them. Morro has a strong hatred over the Cursed Realm's elite society living in her head (which Hideaki is a part of) because they're living good afterlives in her head.

However, after a few more years of some forced spending time together (the Preeminent wanted her husband and her champion to have a better relationship for publicity), Morro started to understand how and why Hideaki is the way he is. Sooner and later, he developed an understanding and more intimate relationship with Hideaki. It’s not romantic, but it is definitely more platonic than what was intended by the both of them. Not getting into it but it’s like friends-with-benefits type of relationship, except they do have a particularly strong bond. However Morro doesn’t really like him in a romantic way (he’s not that romantically attracted to anyone at all), while Hideaki simply hasn’t moved on from his first wife. They’re not affectionate with each other, but everyone who sees them interact and share relationships know that they are quite close to each other. They occassionally talk, had multiple rendezvous that leaves the Preeminent seething, knowing how one another would feel and act given the type of situation, and even leaves others debating and fighting over what their label were.

Hideaki dislikes the fact that Morro cares too much about a title he never got in his life, and wants him to let go of that ambition. However Morro doesn’t like the fact that he acts as if he doesn’t care about his life anymore. He tries riling Hideaki up with the promises of destroying Cloud Kingdom for separating him from his family. He has no interest with the Preeminent’s ambitions of taking over all the sixteen Realms but makes no plans stopping them, having given up the ability to care about the morality of the situation. However, once he asks Morro if he was still willing to possess the Green Ninja to find the Realm Crystal, he did not expect Morro expressing vengeance and the desire to plunge the world into misery. Despite his hesitance and dislike of having to exert too much of his energy into something that will most likely fail, he was fond of Morro. He didn’t want him to die because of his naive foolishness, and so, decides to help him.

This of course blows up on everyone's faces, as Morro loses against a bunch of teenagers with facemasks, and Hideaki was being smug towards both Preeminent and Morro about how this was a HORRIBLE idea and he knew it. Despite all of this, he feels nothing but acceptance over his fate, and believes he accepts getting scorched to death by water. He does, however, become tense at the thought of his loved ones being judgemental and not loving him any longer simply because he is different and not the man Kokoro married. Idk what to do with this story plot point but he does reunite with his family, don't know how to do it while making it emotional. He also plays widely into this kind of fanseason but also AU thing of mine in which Morro gets an on screen redemption arc. Anyways yeah that's it for his story, it was bound to have a happy ending for him since he deserves it.

Anyways some trivia time tee hee:

Here's a more detailed reference picture of Hideaki I drew out of funnies if you want more color palette references. He ALWAYS wears his training gi, if he is not he wears traditional kimono. I don't have any color palette for his Cursed Realm design but here's a basic sketch of it. He's obsessed with the idea of wearing tons of armor because it's a sign you can protect people you love.

Initially his character would be a little more of an asshole than his final ones, I had his character already set up in early July during the time of making TAGOMJTR (my Morro redemption fic) and waited for a time to implement him in the story. He was supposed to be Morro’s 'only friend' who betrayed him to go to the Head of the Preeminent and left his ass, which made him grow bitter. I actually had to scrap a moment in TAGOMJTR and Morrotober because that little blurb doesn't fit what I have for Hideaki anymore.

Although I had an impulsive thought about turning Hideaki into a genuine, good friend for Morro because he needs some rest between all things, so here we are! I fluctuated back and forth over his actual personality because him being unhinged or snarky and flippant isn't really how I envision him. Besides I need him to contrast Morro- Morro caring too much about life while Hideaki doesn't really give a damn anymore. That's why he's a lot more stoic and apathetic than usual, but it's clear he has a better moral compass and standing than Morro has.

The way I thought of their character is a lot more 'wow what if Morro got fucked over by a ghost in the Cursed Realm' then it turned to 'wow what if an Elemental Master was also condemned' and Hideaki was made. He's mainly based off cold characters who became the way they are because of traumatic events. I think Morro deserves a companion that tries to talk him out of many things rather than someone who betrays him and destroy the last of his kindness.

He's also actually a Demon Slayer oc with the same element at his disposal (breath of Seasons) but they're WILDLY different characters at this point with varied accomplishments. They also have different appearance.

[raynewolferune]

DC x DP Prompt: Bruce is bad at emoting but at least ghosts are empathic (too bad bat kids are not)

Was reading Twincognito on AO3 when I stumbled across this gem again:

~

" “Danny, Tim. I was just…checking in. Is everything alright?” Curse his inability to make meaningful conversation when it wasn’t a life or death situation.

They glanced at each other and shrugged.

Then Danny hauled himself out of the bed and walked over to Bruce.

Bruce tried not to let too much excitement show on his face. "

~

Now I really want to read a story where Bruce adopts Danny post Meta trafficking and is being his usual emotionally constipated self. His kids keep getting mad at him because he's treating their new meta brother who was trafficked poorly (generally being stilted in conversation with him, walking away hurriedly mid-conversation, avoiding Danny when he's feeling really awkward, etc). They think Bruce is discriminating against Danny for being a civilian, meta, dealer's pick, but really it's just Bruce being horribly socially awkward. Danny knows this because of ghost empathy and find the whole thing hilarious. The whole thing comes to a head with the Bat Kids staging an intervention in the Bat Cave.

[helloilikepurple]

DC X DP - Mirrors

Did Danny want to live in Gotham? No, of course not. Did he have a choice? Nope. When does he ever?

Now, he may be technically homeless, but he's also technically dead, so human laws technically don't apply to him. So, naturally, he pics out an empty mansion so big even if the owners were to come home, the chances they'd run into each other would be really low, and settles in.

This 'mansion' happens to be Drake Manor. Look, Danny lived in nowhere Illinois and kinda had his hands full dealing with ghosts, a double life, bullies, and being actively hunted. He doesn’t know much about celebrities. If you tell him the name of someone super famous, it might sound vaguely familiar, but that's about it. What he knew was superheroes and vigilantes (some of them, okay, give him a break). That's about it.

So the name Drake in connection with Gotham didn't ring any alarm bells. He did some surface level research: the Drakes are dead, survived by their only child, Timothy Drake-Wayne, who now owns their house but was adopted by some other super rich guy called Bruce Wayne and doesn't live in it, leaving it empty for the foreseeable future.

It was the perfect place!

Danny didn't explore much, partly because he didn't care to and partly because he was too tired to from healing. He cleaned up after himself, used only his bedroom (chosen for being tucked way back and out of the way), the attached bathroom, and the theatre occasionally as a treat. He lived off of the provisions packed for him, ectoplasm and water from the sink.

Cut to, few weeks in.

Danny's got a new routine, he's taken his stitches out, and is still super fucked up, but a lot better than when he arrived. He hasn't been outside since he arrived, but ghosts don't need Vitamin D anyway. Is he slightly depressed? Maybe. But he's also dead, so, bigger priorities.

Tim is looking through his stuff for something or other, and it occurs to him he probably left it next door. He hasn't been to Drake Manor in months, but he sort of really needs this thing, so he sucks it up and borrows a car because like hell is he walking the several miles from this front door to that one.

He goes to his old bedroom, opens the door, and comes face-to-face with himself.

And Danny doesn't know what he's supposed to do in this situation.

Listen, Danny doesn't always make the best decision in the moment. It's a very normal flaw to have! So he tells who can only be Timothy Drake-Wayne himself when asked, that his name is Timothy Drake, and this is his house, and, actually, who are you and how did you get in?

This causes Tim to assume Danny is himself from another dimension who he accidentally dragged to his dimension by messing with the Time Stream to get Bruce back. Danny continues to accidently fuel this misunderstanding without meaning to.

(This is not helped by the fact that a DNA test doesn't disprove this. Danny's DNA is corrupted, but what Tim does get is identical to himself. This is how Danny finds out he was adopted, and how Tim, much later when misunderstandings are cleared, meets the identical twin brother he never knew he had.)

[canisalbus]

i've returned for 2 seconds to tell you that they're not leaving my head. (sort of unrelated but i've been thinking as well. what if vasco died before machete ? what would go down)

.

[persephryne]

Making Aegon a rapist was straight up bad and lazy writing.

Let me elaborate.

In the show, the first thing we learn about Aegon as an adult is that he is a rapist. We haven’t seen him yet but still we already know that he is an horrible despicable rapist, especially since Dyana is so young, which pretty much makes him a pedophile too. How could anyone root for a man like that ? And that’s where the problem begins.

Rhaenyra had already been established many times as the rightful heir to the throne in season 1. It has been made obvious that she would make a decent Queen too. In the meantime, it had already been shown that Aegon is not even a good person. He’s selfish, inconsiderate, a bully, and does not act like a prince at all. To put it plainly, he sucks big time and we as viewers already know it. Add what we saw in season 2, how reckless he gets, how he’s an alcoholic immature asshole, how he obviously knows nothing about strategics nor how to rule efficiently, or even how bad he is at high valyrian, and you can’t have anyone tell you in good faith that he would’ve been a better ruler than Rhaenyra.

However, had Aegon not been made a rapist, you would still feel for him even though he is not cut out to rule. Because he knows it too and tried to escape it and he was forced to attend his own coronation . Because this crown that he did not want does not fit him, even though he really tries to show that he is not as worthless as everyone seems to think and he just keeps failing. You would feel for him because the war ,that he has started when he was made an usurper by the people around him, has cost him his son’s life. Because the brother, who is partially responsible for his son’s death has now betrayed him and tried to kill him with dragonfire. Because the injuries he suffered make him look more and more like his father who never cared for him, never loved him and that he definitely hates. Which also probably why he tries so hard to make his mother proud of him and love him but he can’t and his main attempt has left him half-dead, half-burn. Not only that but his dragon, with whom he has the strongest bond known in Targaryen’s, history probably died during this futile attempt to prove himself. The only thing about his Targaryen’s heritage that he seems to care about has been destroyed all because he wanted to prove himself. Because he truly resents his Targaryen’s, his father’s heritage, it’s obvious, just as it is obvious that he didn’t want to marry his own sister but was forced to. It’s completely legitimate of him to want to distance himself as much as possible from everything that is Targaryen related. He is indeed more of an Hightower than a Targaryen, but can you really blame him for that ? Would you not try to fit somewhere else too, if you were in his place ? It’s all absolutely and undeniably tragic.

I wholeheartdely believe that, even if you would’ve root for Rheanyra to be Queen, you woud’ve probably still thought that Aegon, as bad as he is, did not deserves this much pain.

But because he is a rapist, well, he honestly does.

By not trusting the audience to see that Aegon is not a good person, nor a good a king, without having him comitting a literal crime, by making Aegon a rapist, the writers have annihilated any possibilities for an internal conflict regarding Aegon and Rhaenyra. The whole concept of « teams » just goes down the drain because of this lazy, manichaean, writing. And that, my friends, is bad writing at its peak.

[quins-makeshift-menagerie]

mmmmmMMMMMMM

[spacedace]

Had an idea, thought I'd make it a prompt, 3k+ words later realized this wasn't a prompt anymore but a ficlet 🙃

Anyway, here's the first almost 2k of Talia being a good parent and deciding to not go with either Bruce or Ra's and go off and do her own thing and raise Damian and oops she got attached to Jason while checking in on Bruce and saved him from dying in Ethiopia. & now has 2 sons lol

-

When her Beloved and her father demanded Talia make a choice, of who she would choose, she didn't hesitate.

She chose neither of them. She chose her child. She chose herself.

Outwitting both Ra's al Ghul and Batman was no simple feat. They were both brilliant, relentless and with endless resources at their command. It was why their clashes were as devastating as they were. Immovable objects and unstoppable forces the both of them. If there was something they wanted, it was something they would have.

But not her.

They would not have her.

She had her own networks, her own people, her own keen intelligence and sharp cunning. It took time - time she really didn't have - and a great deal of pain and loss, but she slipped them eventually. Shrugged off the shroud of who she had been - who she was made to be - and stepped confidently into her new life.

Her son was born nine days after her freedom had finally, fully been assured.

He was small and perfect in every way. Soft and warm cradled close to her chest, unblemished by the cruelty of the world as he slept soundly in her arms. Even as exhausted as she was after such a long labor, she couldn't bring herself to sleep. Her attention narrowed down entirely on his every quiet breath, his downy soft hair, his round peaceful face.

In the weeks that followed his eyes would shift and change from a newborn's blue to her own green. It would take years before she could know if he inherited any of his father's features, but that was fine. He was hers and hers alone.

She named him Damian.

In another life she would name him with her father in mind. That her son would rise as Heir to the Demon and conquer the world. That he'd stand as ruler of all.

In this one, she named him with hope in her heart that what he would master was his own life. That he would never be forced to bow to the will of anyone else. To be made to act as servant or puppet. Let him tame his fate into something good and kind and happy.

She did her best to give him the life he deserved.

Lavished him with all her love and affection. Gave him everything he could ever want or need. The friends she began making for herself - not just trusted allies, but friends - laughed that she would spoil him rotten. It was probably true, but she didn't have it in her to care.

Her son would have the childhood he would have been denied if raised raised in the home of either of their fathers. Her father would have demand harsh lessons and frightened obedience and impossible standards. Damian's would have tried - she knew her Beloved would have tried - but his heart would always be for his city first and all else, even his children, second.

Talia kept tabs on both of them, covertly. Ensured she always kept a healthy distance from anything that involved her father or his people. Gathered stories of her Beloved's exploits to share with her son when he was old enough to hear them.

It gave her insight on just what choosing her Beloved would have meant. Reassured her that while not choosing her father had been the right choice, choosing her Beloved would have been the wrong one.

Bruce Wayne was a good man. Brilliant and driven with his kind heart and admirable goals. Breathtaking in his skill and ability.

Disappointing in his parenting skills.

Talia knew she was lacking as a parent herself. That her own upbringing had left its scars and that try as she might she'd undoubtedly end up doing the same to her own child over the years. But she always pushed herself hard towards improving, in making herself better for the tiny boy that she loved more than anything else. And she felt satisfied that in the very least that when presented with options on how her and her son's life would be, she'd made the one that was best for Damian.

Not the life of an assassin or a vigilante, but the life of a child.

A child who was taught some of the skills of both the worlds she'd turned her back on, admittedly, but only ever for his own protection. Damian was safer knowing how to hide, how to escape, how to fight. She had done her best, but there was always the looming threat that they might be found one day. She needed to be sure he was ready, if that time ever come.

She didn't teach him the way she was taught.

When her son fumbled or failed she gently corrected him. Walked him through what he'd done wrong, how he could improve. Made a game out of the experience so that he came running up to her on toddling feet with bright eyes begging that they have a lesson. His excitement and delight in it all made him a better student then her fear and desperate need for her father's approval and affection.

There was a day she caught sight of him, all of four years old, tiny face scrunched in a look of concentration as he practiced the form she'd taught him the day before with his small, wooden practice sword. Some of his father's features lingered at the edges of his face, but he'd deepened his resemblance to her by picking up her mannerisms and expressions. Her son, going through the same steps and motions she had when she'd been his age, little body wobbling as he turned to fast before plopping on the ground with a tiny oof.

Talia had small silver scars on the back of her hands, so thin and so old as to nearly be invisible anymore. They burned all the same as she recalled herself stumbling in nearly the same way. Stomach churning as she remembered the terror she'd felt as her instructor had snatched her up by her hair and drug her over to a low table, holding her hands in place with a massive hand. The way she'd bit her lip hard enough that her mouth filled with blood as he struck her with the thin lash, knowing that if she cried the punishment would be all the worse.

Damian only blinked his big green eyes and scowled the same way she did whenever something of minor importance didn't go the way she wanted it to. Then he saw her standing there in the doorway watching him and his face lit up, bright as the son and just as beautiful as he jumped to his feet and darted over to her. Tiny hand clinging to the loose fabric of her pant leg as he begged her show me again Mama!

It was moments like that where she knew beyond any shadow of a doubt she'd made the right choice.

Her father would have broken her brilliant, kind hearted son. Would have done to him what was done to her to forge Damian into a weapon.

Her beloved...

He would never hurt her son like that. Not the way her father and his loyal followers would. But she couldn't ignore the fact that Damian would still be hurt all the same under his father's tutelage.

Talia knew the man she loved well. Adored his strengths, but was not blind to his flaws. He kept his heart well guarded, hidden behind imposing walls of silence and razor wire of words he didn't truly mean. Still kind, but horribly distant when it came to those he cared for most. It shielded him some, perhaps, but it left those who loved him feeling lost and alone.

She saw how Dick Grayson had grown over the years. Tall and clever and lonely and bitter. Fighting for independence, for acknowledgement, for his father to speak words of love and respect. Things Bruce felt but almost never said unless he thought things were dire.

She saw too how the heavy weight of her Beloved's priorities weighed up on his second son.

Young Jason Todd who saw magic in the harsh world he'd been drawn into and desired to be the protection for others that he never had growing up. She saw much of herself in him, though he faced the world with far more hope than she had at his age. He was a bright boy with a good heart that had weathered a harsh upbringing that Talia could sympathize with. There was a familiar anger in him too, broiling just beneath the surface, flaring up and burning him as much as everyone else when triggered.

Most of all though Talia could see the desperate loneliness that had marred her own life in the boy. The soul deep fear of abandonment. The painful desire for love from a father that always seemed to stay at arm's length who spoke rarely of affection and often of missions to be completed.

She kept a close eye on her Beloved's second Robin.

When he left for Ethiopia, searching for family in a stranger that had already given him up, she'd followed.

Jason only ever wanted family and love. A good boy, bright and fierce and brave. A boy Talia saw a lot of herself in, who faced the world with such determined brightness in spite of the pain and hardship he'd known.

Shelia Haywood took that boy that Talia had grown so fond of, took his trust and his love and crushed it beneath her heel. Callously handed him over to the Joker without a second thought. As if he was disposable, as if he was nothing more than a puppet to use and toss away when it suited her.

Talia had risked everything when she'd decided she would not choose either her father or her Beloved. She'd turned her back on her entire life, everything that had ever been and ever could be on either side. She spent months running, hiding, fighting and killing, in orchestrating a plan that could outwit and outmaneuver the two most brilliant men she knew. And she'd done it all so that her son could live free, as master of his own life.

Jason Todd had come to Ethiopia looking for a mother.

Talia, with blood on her hands and a burning warehouse behind her as she carried his broken body to safety, made sure he found one.

[silverwhittlingknife]

"the fault, dear Brutus -" (Julius Caesar)

Quotes from A Critical History of English Literature by David Daiches. Panels from Death in the Family, Under the Red Hood, Lost Days, and Batman and Robin.

[sugarr-moon]

“none of artis actions are justified and everything was her fault shes a shitty parent who got her kids killed and a genocidal maniac”

“arti was completely justified and all of the scavengers deserved to die for killing two innocent babies”

nuanced character enjoyers:

[blue-eli]

Skuld in quantum design :)

[sparklecryptid]

upon further reflection, in an all the bastards verse where things went to shit, it is most likely either Thanatos or Persephone that go 'hey maybe our father doesn't deserve a kingdom' and promptly usurps him.

[shitpostingkats]

Another reason I prefer the yugioh dubs to the subs is in the subs when a character gets asked if they have crush on someone they’ll go “GWAH?! (>///<) Wha- no, you stupid... ⸝⸝⸝o⸝⸝⸝o⸝⸝⸝ Well... except..."

Meanwhile in the dub characters get asked about their love lives and just respond by going:

[miekasa]

worst tropes

men dating women in the same career/field as them an get silent/bitter because she's having a big moment/is more accomplished than him

men dating women in time-demanding careers and then are upset that their careers demand their time

men with podcasts

men dating independent/emotionally unavailable women and then are upset that they are independent/emotionally unavailable

men who can't drive

best tropes

friends to lovers

men who can drive

love on purpose, love that's intentional, love that's not rotten work because it's you

[eirianerisdar]

Could Toto not. What do you mean "we could shine more with an Italian in our car". Make a better car and stop thinking that pulling a rookie out of F2 too early will be amazing

The last time something like that worked out was Max. But that's because he's Max. Historically people reaching F1 too early struggle for a good few years.

[erythriina]

sort of but not technically for @terrortracks - here is an untitled ‘survives the expedition’ solving playlist for you all <3 (more commentary in the tags lol)

listen on 8tracks here

1. All These Things That I’ve Done - The Killers

over and in, last call for sin / when everyone’s lost, the battle is won

2. The Only Thing - Sufjan Stevens

faith in reason, i wasted my life playing dumb / signs and wonders, sea lion caves in the dark / blind faith, god's grace, nothing else left to impart

3. Wasteland, Baby! - Hozier

when the stench of the sea and the absence of green / are the death of all things that are seen and unseen / not an end, but the start of all things that are left to do

4. Blue Ridge Mountains - Fleet Foxes

terrible am I, child, even if you don't mind / in the quivering forest where the shivering dog rests…

5. We Both Go Down Together - The Decemberists

i laid you down on the grass of a clearing / you wept, but your soul was willing

6. Olympians - Andrew Bird

you start spitting out anathemas…

7. Love Love Love - The Mountain Goats

love, love is going to lead you by the hand / into a white and soundless place

8. King and Lionheart - Of Monsters and Men

in the winter night sky, ships are sailing … past the wondering eyes of the ones that were left behind / though far away / we're still the same / howling ghosts, they reappear in mountains that are stacked with fear / but you're a king and i’m a lionheart

[the-faultofdaedalus]

shadowheart is a werewolf you CANT change my mind