Cover sketch for I Love Birds, Nature Smarts Activity Book number 5! Not out until April 15th, but available for preorder now through Amazon and other retailers. PREORDER
(For anybody who has read my DPxDC fics you might know that I'm a huge fan of the "Unaging Danny" headcanon and this was directly inspired by that)
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The team has already heard about Phantom in one way or another. Yes, the tyrant "Pariah Dark" had his name mentioned in some places but it was called the "Phantom Zone" for a reason. "Phantom Zone", "Land of the Dead", "Underworld", "Limbo" and countless other names are listed and describe the same place.
It also describes a King be it vicious or kind, old or young, a threat or a peace keeper. The stories are so varied that it's impossible for the League to know who to expect when they receive a mysterious sticky note which falls from the sky during the meeting.
Soon.
The entire League is on edge, not knowing what to think until some members (Zatana and Constantine) recognize the symbol on the paperwork from ancient texts. The Symbol of the God of Time. Zatana says that Time works close with the King of Death and is send to bend at his will and often sends warning messages like this to alert those who are required to know. While Constantine just wants to leave before things get to be any more of a headache.
Days turn into weeks.
Weeks into months.
Most of the team thinks it was a mistake but one member of the team stays particularly on edge because the paper fell in front of them specifically. It isn't until they're on patrol in their area that another note appears with an address and a time and when they arrive in the area they make it just in time for a green portal to open and somebody to fall out of it.
They react, years of training tell them to catch the figure and when they do they discover a child no older than 14 under weight, pale with black hair and blue eyes, bruises covering them. They're breathing heavily as the kid leans against the heroes chest fearfully, the cape seeming much larger than them.
The hero doesn't know what to think when one final note appears.
Due to reasons which can not yet be discussed King Phantom is not safe in the Land of the Dead, you are here by entrusted with his protection. If you fail all will be lost.
i know the narration wasn’t necessarily being kind to him in the books but i honestly loved when george was like always trying to initiate them eating the cake or having a snack in meetings. he and i would get along SO WELL in that respect bc that’s my running internal dialogue anytime there’s a cake no one’s touched yet. him speaking this aloud i would love him forever
Thinkin of the lil robins and other kids and just, them trying to build Jarro a meat body maybe. Idk, still rotating Jarro and if he'd have one seeing as they had to build his human form via some different body parts and such...
Anyway did some sleep deprived sketches of each- though I just realized I didn't label Cullen, oh well lol. I like to think the first couple robins are all more flesh and exposed muscle looking as the Tunnels adjust to building bodies that can still, well, grow and develop.
They've only just succeeded in building a body that can move and semi function with Bruce after all, and even then it takes a couple years for that body to shift into something more alive with like, a stomach and such that needs more than time in the Hive and some Lazarus water for food and hydration. And even then it's another year or so of the bodies needing to be fed via IV before everything actually becomes semi functional as well, a body.
But anyway, his eleven children!
Dick's body starts out the most simple, but is also the first that they discover that the meat marionettes can in fact evolve seeing as he starts to grow electricity-producing organs almost akin to something like an eel.
Which is probably very distressing to Bruce because like, this is his baby?? Who can suddenly tase people which is fine, but what if it gets stronger?
Jason's robin body doesn't get a lot of evolution before the Joker Incident, and then it formed a cocoon to become the next form over a year or so. I do feel like his wings were fluffier and had some down still, not enough to prevent flight, but enough to slow down say, take offs.
By the time Tim & Steph comes around, their bodies have started to develop more armor similar to Bruce's. Like the bodies are slowly developing even when the Hive first creates them from the flesh walls as the Tunnels get better at building living moving bodies. Like it's still are mostly soft larva-esque chitin still, but It's still visibly learning.
And then with Cass her body is far darker, more similar to one of the Bats than the rest of the babies. There's still bits of color- bright yellows to warn for venom and poison- but it's such a sudden left turn that they're concerned about what the Tunnels might do next.
It's a relief when it goes back to more colorful designs with the next ones, even if Duke probably has ended up the most armored straight out of the flesh.
Honestly in general I feel like they're actually very soft if someone gets close enough to touch them. Like they look terrifying, especially in night when it's dark out, but compared to their parent & aunt they're like fluffy baby birds.
Something the kids in Gotham are probably familiar with, because the birds will help comfort scared people and victims while Bruce takes care of whatever caused their distress. Sometimes just crouches down and pulls out a small puzzle or something from one of his bags while waiting for the police to arrive while distracting the kids, his own and not.
Jarro if he does have a body like theirs, meat marionette or made by them, I feel like it looks more like some sort of hybrid of whatever the batclan are and some sort of aquatic creature. Like an aquatic (swimming?) xenomorph compared to a runner or a drone.
Visibly the same species, but looks almost like a similar caste or subspecies if that makes sense? But honestly if yall have any ideas I am open to them.
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Reminder that this Au is a combo of both mine and @phoenixcatch7 so check out their Possessed Doll au, and actually go check them out in general, they have a lot of fun ideas and drabbles <3
louise and linda are SOO mom and kid in this scene. like louise being so excited to show her mom a new cool thing she just found and linda's kinda exaggerated surprised reactions like she's never seen water from a fridge before. their dynamic in this episode is literally the sweetest
i've decided that i dont care about max verstappen domination anymore. i am swinging back around to it being funny. by how many seconds will he be in the lead in the next race? 45? a whole minute? maybe every other car on the grid will just break down and then max can do all 50 or whatever laps by himself. ferrari will still find a way to fuck charles over.
having no ability to regulate temperature is so fun like Yes i just stripped off a layer of clothes because I needed to stop sweating from my forehead, Yes I am now covered in goosebumps and shivering, Yes it will happen again as soon as I put my clothes back on
I will defeat the false goddess. I will save this world from those creatures and give humanity its freedom back!
Should the one leading the people of the world be someone with humanity or a creature that can merely masquerade as a human at will?
The children of the goddess have been defeated at last. The shape of the world will be forever changed.
Humanity is free now. The world is ours once again.
You are a child of the goddess. You must not be allowed power over the people!
Brigid :
The Demon's hair exhibits new color. It is like something from one of Brigid's old stories.
"One will be chosen by the spirits and granted their protection. And with that protection, great power."
In Brigid, we have legends. Stories containing people who have a spirit living inside of them.
Those spirit people have much strength. They are maybe able to fly in the air or race across the ocean.
Hair that shines and eyes that glow...
They have qualities that are not unlike what you are looking like, Professor.
Do not have doubt, Professor. The powers you have are like the powers of the legends.
Silly Petra, hopefully in Tru Piss and Supreme Bullshit, she's fully Adrestianised and understands her foolish savage folklore were only lies and deceit spread by those vile creatures masquerading as humans to keep control over Fodlan, but savage and ignorant as her people are, they prefered to buy those lies instead of "defeating" them all to free the world for humanity.
And people say Imperialism BaD, go figure!
But if Petra remains uncivilised and ditches Adrestia's warm embrace, she allows those creatures to rule over humanity again, propagating her foolish and ridiculous tales :(