#except for all the things he did wrong

[starry-bi-sky]

Unpleasant Revelations - DPxDC Ficlet Idea for the Stillborn Au

"Have you met my youngest, Damian, Mr. Masters?"

Its only from twenty years of long, hard experience and practice that Vlad doesn't increase the room temperature from 'borderline uncomfortably cool' to 'unbearably hot' the moment Bruce Wayne pulls his youngest and "only" biological son out in front of him.

He puts only in quotations because twelve year old Damian Wayne looks scarily, uncannily like one Daniel Brown. Jack and Maddie's foster son, second victim of their foolishness, and only other halfa in existence. Second only to him.

It's nauseating how similar they look. From the scowl and terrible glare on the young boy's face, to his brown skin -- which was only a few shades lighter than Daniel's, the shape of his nose, and even the strange winged edge of his eyebrow. Something that Vlad has long since come to find endearing on the child he considered a son of his own. The only difference was that Damian had dark, sharp green eyes.

Daniel's eyes were blue. The same glacier shade as his father's, who stood behind Damian with a proud, oafish smile on his visage.

It was infuriating how similar they look. Vlad might not have rapidly swung the room temperature from one extreme to the other, but he can't stop himself from letting the fury burning within his core from slipping out and raising the temperature up a few degrees.

Because it really only meant one thing.

Damian Wayne and Daniel Brown were related.

Damian Wayne and Daniel Brown were brothers.

Standing in front of him, it was clear as day. He can already picture a phantom image of Daniel standing beside Damian, the same scowl written on his face, the same glare carved into his eyes. The only difference being the dark, exhausted circles beneath them that seemed to be permanently painted onto his skin. The only thing missing being the permanent loneliness and vigilance permeating his being like a scar.

This, if revealed, would be enough to ruin Bruce Wayne's reputation. Or, at the very least, darken it quite a bit. The great philanthropist Bruce Wayne with another secret blood child? One related to his youngest? One that had been put into foster care? Seemingly thrown away?

It would be a firestorm.

One that Vlad is not keen on starting.

It would ruin Bruce Wayne's reputation, yes. But it would hurt Daniel in the process -- the harassment he would face alone might just be enough to break that fragile child completely. That was just not something he could allow. Or, even worse, bring him into his biological father's care and custody -- something Vlad was even less willing to allow.

It's not out of kindness to Wayne that Vlad will keep mum about this.

His grip on his champagne flute tightens, just a bit. He's still aware enough of the world around him to not let it shatter in his hands. His plastered, pleasant smile tightens around the corners, and he forces his focus to slide from Damian to Wayne.

"The resemblance is uncanny, Mister Wayne." He says, slanting his smile to the side slyly. Although he's not talking about the resemblance between Wayne and his son. Rage simmers beneath his skin, burning coal and embers in the core of his chest, nestled between his lungs, as he meets the man's eyes.

Wayne swaggles his head proudly, his ditzy smile widening as he squeezes his son's shoulder affectionately. Bastard, Vlad wants to spit.

He breathes in through his nose, and exhales out through his mouth. The champagne in his hand cools, and stops its unusual bubbling.

The Damian boy scoffs under his breath, his mouth still coiled upward into a scowl. With the revelation of his blood relation to Daniel evident, Vlad's not sure if he should find it endearing or not.

He is not Daniel, so he decides that it's just simply irritating. He decides to ignore it.

"And you said he was your only biological son?" He asks, voice lilting and head tilting. He knows its a suspicious question at worst, insulting at best. But considering Wayne's past proclivities, he can hardly call it an unexpected question.

Damian puffs in great offense, face twisting angrily. It reminds him of Daniel when Vlad insisted that he was wrong about something or other, and for a moment his heart swells, fond.

But this is not his child, and so the feeling quickly crashes and burns, simmering back into rage. This was not Daniel -- this was his replacement. A replacement that Wayne was free to keep.

Wayne chuckles, idiotically, as if he'd said some funny joke. Vlad's other hand, the one gripping his cane -- something he's required ever since he was dispatched from the hospital all those lonely years ago -- tightens instead. He grinds his teeth -- him and Jack Fenton would get along like a house on fire, he hates it.

"I can understand why you'd ask that, Mister Masters," Wayne says, squeezing Damian's shoulder again, "but yes, Damian is my only biological son. Although that doesn't mean I don't love my other children any less."

Bastard.

For all his posturing and flouncing about caring for his city and his children, Vlad never would have thought the Prince of Gotham capable of abandoning one of them.

But, well.

They all have their dark secrets.

And what one man throws away, another man picks up. If Bruce Wayne didn't want the treasure child that was Daniel Brown, then Vlad Masters was more than happy to take him instead.

"I see."

[mikkeneko]

....now considering whether I want to write a 'Find the shapeshifters' fic for SVSSS too

[sapphic-agent]

Part of me is glad that Mirio became the #1 instead of Bakugou. But the other part is wondering what the fuck was the point of claiming everyone would be the #1 then putting one person who wasn't even part of that group at the top

[fujii-draws]

OKAY! Chatot rant in tags below! Read at your own discretion.

[rooolt]

it is so weird to me that like all the kiddads are alike in the fact that they are deeply complicated characters who we as an audience have a fascinating view on from both their parents and children’s perspectives and they’ve all committed this great atrocity together and they all kinda consistently fuck up they’re kids a bit, AND YET, it seems that without a doubt sparrow consistently gets the most hate. Like omg free my man or persecute everyone else

[touchlikethesun]

okay so. don’t crucify me. but su she and jin guangyao do actually make some pretty compelling points.

[chronurgy]

might be alone in this, but I actually prefer essek being totally correct about the luxon not being a god more than any other theory. there's something so delicious in knowing you've proved evethying you'd always striven to prove, and then realizing that what you did to get there wasn't worth it. that you shouldn't have done it. to be totally vindicated, and have it not matter. to claim the title of the world's bestest, most smartest, rightest boy and realize it doesn't mean a damn thing

[longagoitwastuesday]

Kusakabe, dear, you're too beautiful to be saying that kind of stuff

[sanjiaftersex]

itachi is so freaking hot that all the smoke blurs my vision and then i cant see any of his crimes so really that makes him innocent i love you itachi

[catilinas]

hey I started reading masters of rome partly because of you posting about it (I'm on caesar right now), and I wanted to ask you if you feel like the author's inclusion of marian-era and caesar-era patricians all thinking the ahenobarbus family are a bunch of jerks is based on historical references, or something like the author taking artistic licenses bc of the later ahenobarbus married to antonia and obviously also nero being referenced super negatively by the sources means she can interpret the whole family as just one long line of men exactly like that. I thought it was very funny that they are such minor characters in the books but everyone's narration is taking casual shots at every ahenobarbus around being horrible as like ironic foreshadowing of nero, so I wondered if you knew if the actual sources had the same ironic foreshadowing! casual googling (I am a total roman history amateur) suggests there really hasn't been very much analysis of that family specifically since it seems to me they dont have a lot of sources about them until the early imperial era. also thank you for the incidental book rec as your posting about masters of rome moved it up my TBR list!

hiii i hope you enjoy mor! i can't say i know much about the ahenobarbi but i got the impression that colleen wrote everyone as hating them less because of the nero connection and more because lucius ahenobarbus cos 54 was an enemy of caesar who caesar portrays Less Than Positively in the de bello civile. like it's the same as cato and the rest of the optimates all being terrible and jealous of stupid sexy caesar, except because there are fewer sources on the ahenobarbi and they're all less major figures than e.g. cato it just becomes their entire characterisation. that being said if you want sources, the attalus name index is a good place to start :-)

[no-place-to-be-happy]

Between Gary, Angel and Rocky, who's more likely to start panicking once Avocato/Husk/Mordecai says that "The baby is coming!"? Lol

Gary 🗿I don't know, I feel like Avocato tried to prepare him so he wouldn't panic, mentioning that things usually go well without much difficulty and stuff like that.

But NO, Gary will immediately go crazy. For a few minutes of course, Avocato threatened to knock him out if he didn't calm down :3 (empty threat but he was stressing him out)

[gh-0-stcup]

Maybe Cas didn't assume you guys would let soulless kid with unfathomable power run around by himself or leave him alone with your family or involve him in cases before you sort out the whole soulless thing.

[kyouka-supremacy]

Failed a social interaction 0 injured 1 killed (me)

[yuridovewing]

if you say you like mudclaw but you also talk about how he shouldve been leader and wouldve made a better one than onestar then you do NOT appreciate that man… this guy agreed to make some riverclan rando his deputy and had no clue what he actually cared about, this dude would have crumbled on day one. to like mudclaw is to accept his flaws,,,,,,,, smh,,,,,

[quietwingsinthesky]

went into the notes of that poll going around about if people want more seasons of supernatural and was immediately slapped in the face with how different my priorities are in this fandom from. a lot of it. what are you talking about ‘destiel endgame’. girl the show has bigger problems to fix than that if it ever had more seasons. they taught a three year old that the best way to be loved was to continuously try to kill himself and then they made him god.

[sideprince]

You know who really bullied Neville? Steve Kloves.