#without any strings attached

[starry-bi-sky]

Clone^2 Damian

If you really think about, Damian's situation in the clone^2 au is... kinda tragic? Especially in the early months of his arrival. Like,,, think about it. Damian has always known he was a clone of Damian Wayne, that he was a copy of the blood son. There was nothing 'original' about him, not even his name (of which at least Danny has that). He was just... a replacement. A disposable one, to boot.

And he knew that, to an extent, by the time he was six years old. he might not have been actively acknowledging it -- he's six years old -- but deep down he knew. And like, he's six years old. Every small child craves the love and affection of an adult, especially their parents, and even though he knew he was clone, I imagine he still considered - and still does consider, somewhat - Talia and Bruce as his mother and father. And I really doubt he was... getting it?

Now, I know Talia loves Damian, her son. At least in some interpretations she does, and in this au she does. But... a clone of her son? I'm not so certain if she would have the same affection for baby Dames as she would for Damian. I don't think she would treat him badly, but I don't think Talia would treat him warmly either. Kinda just, distant. Colder than she would have been with OG Damian.

And, I know I've mentioned Damian's arrival from Danny's point of view, and its kind of comical kind of insane from his perspective -- a little boy clone of Damian Wayne falls through a portal and immediately attacks him. That sounds like a bad joke.

But, if you think of this from Damian's point of view? It's like he just got dropped into a scary movie. Like, think about it. You're six years old, and suddenly a portal, as green and as swirling as your grandfather's pools, opens up beneath your feet and sucks you through.

After an intense bout of vertigo, you end up in a massive, urban city -- completely different from the rural mountain palace that you lived in for the last six years of your life, and in this city, you don't know any of the language. You don't know what anyone is saying, you can't read any of the signs - you are completely stranded, away from home.

And then, to make things worse, you're facing a figure with a terrifying mask and eyes as burning green as the portal you fell through. Of course Damian's first instinct, six years old, is to attack. He's terrified.

And this figure, he's not a good fighter, but he's fast, and he dodges you quickly. He grabs your sword with his hands, and tries to restrain you, saying something in a language you don't know. Naturally, Damian is just scared. He's six! He'd just be learning how to read if he was normal child going to school.

This figure halfway through the fight yanks off his mask -- he realizes you're scared -- and looking at you now, is a youthful version of your father. This is a clone of your dad, someone you have never met but, six years old, still wants to. Damian gets defensive. This is an imposter.

But this imposter eventually gets you home with him - and he's using his little box, his phone, to communicate with you through a mechanical voice speaking in arabic. and it's frustrating. The boy, the imposter, can say whatever to you just fine, but trying to talk back is a hassle and a half. He's six, he doesn't have that much patience.

He wants to go home.

And so he keeps trying to run away. He keeps trying to find out of this hellish concrete jungle, and he keeps getting lost. It's loud, and busy, and there are people talking to you and you don't understand them, and there are rules and signs you don't understand - Damian tries to cross the street and nearly gets hit by a car. He doesn't know how the road signs work, he was never taught. They didn't get to that.

And he gets lost. And it gets dark, and Damian is brave, but he is six, and this is the worst stress he's been under in all his six years of life. He wants, desperately more than anything, to go home. Why wouldn't he? The only stable... semi-stable environment he was in just got ripped out from under his feet, literally! He wants his mother.

And it's not happening.

But there's something good to be said, at least. The imposter that looks like his father always comes and finds him, no matter what. He could have left that morning, and he will find Damian at midnight, frazzled and worried, and carrying an extra jacket with him because it is cold in Amity Park and Damian is six years old.

And sometimes Damian attacks him - he's scared and stressed and he doesn't want to be here. And every time he catches the sword. Even though Damian can see it cut into his hand and pearls of blood well up and stains his fingers. Even though Damian can see him wince in pain and bite his lip, he still catches it.

But with that little box, he coaxes Damian to come back with him. It's cold, it's dark, Amity Park is unsafe at night. They can figure something out tomorrow, please. And every time, he agrees, reluctantly. And the imposter takes the extra jacket he brought with -- a flannel, a hoodie, a jacket -- and he wraps it around him. It's warm, Damian's clothes are not that thick, and even though he thinks he might hate this imposter, he still sticks close to his legs as he leads him down the street.

And sometimes the imposter carries him, because Damian's shoes are not that thick, and he cuts his foot on broken glass while they're walking home. The imposter sits in the bathroom with him and carefully cleans the cut out, and makes sure it doesn't get infected.

There's hope you know, he still has it. His mother will be looking for him. She'll be worried. He's important to them. Damian may not be the original, but he is still a blood son. He is still her son. She will come find him. This nightmare will end soon. He can go home.

And then weeks pass, and nothing. Then months, and nothing. His family is not coming for him, and it hurts. Hurts more than anything. And yet while that happens, the boy he's attacked, and hurt, teaches himself arabic in order to speak to him. He takes Damian out of the house one afternoon and buys him new clothes, or tries to. And then he keeps buying him new clothes. He gives him blankets and gives up his bed to him until they can get him one himself, and steadily he teaches Damian english.

This boy is kind. Kinder than Damian's ever experienced, and he doesn't know what to do with it. He's devastated by the fact that he is not as important to his family as his family is to him. What do you do when you're six years old and you learn something like that? When a random stranger who looks like your father is kinder to you, and cares more about you than your family did?

And then Damian tells him he's a clone. He's Damian Wayne's clone, and he tells him his purpose - that their grandfather made him to kill him. And the boy, the imposter, Damian thinks he probably already knows that he's a clone. But he doesn't say that. He just nods, and asks him if he wants to tell his original about him.

Damian says no. He doesn't want to. He's tired of living in the shadow of his original. He wants to keep this to himself. This is his. For once, all of this is his.

And to his surprise, the imposter doesn't try and convince him otherwise. He just nods, and says okay. And when Damian asks why, the imposter - his brother - looks at him and says.

"I don't care about Damian Wayne. I care about you." And in Damian's gobsmacked silence, his brother continues. He tells him that if Damian doesn't want to tell his original that he exists, then they don't need to. They don't need to worry about the LoA going after him, because clearly if his 'grandfather' needs to make a clone of Damian in order to take him out, then whatever it was that Damian Wayne was doing to keep himself safe, was working.

"Wayne already has people in his corner, he's got Gotham's army of vigilantes to keep himself safe." his brother says with his eyes as blue as moonlight. "You, however. Do not." And he continues, and says that if Damian Wayne has the same training as Damian does, then he will be fine. He doesn't need to be aware of his clone. Because if DW doesn't know about Damian, then the LoA doesn't either.

And here's the thing. Damian would not have survived in the LoA for long. Not as a clone. No matter what, he was going to die no matter what he did, and sooner rather than later. The sword of Damocles was always hanging above his head in the League of Assassins.

That portal, and meeting Danny, saved his life. There's no way around it. And to an extent Damian knows this even at six years old. He may not be aware that he would've died, but he knows that meeting Danny was the best thing to happen to him.

It's no wonder after that, that Damian is as clingy to Danny as he is. Danny is the first person he's met to offer him unconditional love, with no strings attached, only pure affection.

[crazy-fangirl2524]

Nicky is the first person to stay for Andrew.

[partiallypearl]

sometimes for your mental health you just need to cry to a sleeping at last song

[simgerale]

alexus got gwen a gig at the country club (somehow), and long story short, her fear of having a dead-end job was conquered 💪

[mihai-florescu]

I do appreciate when well meaning people say the whimsy is still in me but i really cant help but feel that not a single activity brings me joy anymore. Its a bit of a chicken and the egg situation where i cant tell if im more prone to hopelessness about the world because i dont have things i like doing so the negatives are just easier to spot, or i cant enjoy stuff anymore because im too disappointed by life to find anything worth doing. But then how do i even fix it, cuz it just seems like theyre feeding into each other and there isnt really an escape

[two-calicos-in-a-trenchcoat]

Every bookbinding tutorial i found online: "DO NOT TRY THE COPTIC STITCH AS A BEGINNER ITS TOO ADVANCED"

Me who has only bound one book before and used a completely different method: "ehh it can't be that hard"

2 hours later

.....I was right. Its not that hard.

[raspberryjellybrains]

its been a billion years since I posted anything meaningful about mcga but I'm thinking about Alex helping Magnus with clothes.

I think Blitzen would love to help style Magnus, but I think he might accidentally end up being a bit overbearing, albeit with good intentions. He wants to help, but would probably end up tripping over his own fashion opinions more often than not, and Magnus would want to make his friend happy too much to actually voice his own opinions consistently. But Alex would understand that identity through fashion is something slow to be discovered on your own. It's not instant, it's a slow process of trying things and finding out what makes you feel good physically and emotionally. You can't pressure a person finding their own style, especially someone who's never had much room to do so and will likely feel guilty about making that room. She's gone through the process, and she'd probably be more than happy to help someone with it too.

I'm thinking about them going around to different stores and finding that Magnus likes second hand and low-end boutique stuff more than anything. Alex letting him onto her etsy account and buying his first piece of jewelry, taking him around to all of her favorite stores where she's greeted as a friend. Yeah, they could do all this in Valhalla, but where's the fun in that?

I think Magnus would like earth tones and dark, muted colors. He would avoid synthetic materials for their unnaturally soft textures and blue would make rare appearances. Alex would parade him around in his first pair of White Guy Khaki Shorts in five years, glowing with a silly sort of pride and Magnus feeling something kindle back to life in his chest at a growing collection or flannels, just like his mom. I'm imagining Magnus learning what it's like to live with his body, rather than despite it, and feel comfortable with himself in his surroundings for the first time since he was a little kid, taking a hike in the woods. And I'm thinking of Alex holding his hand the whole time.

[merlinssaggyyfronts]

on todays episode of ‘wow, merlin is literally this song’. yk what is horrifically merlin coded? waiting room by phoebe bridgars. “if you were a waiting room, i’d never see the doctor. i would sit with my first aid kit and bleed.” arthur is his waiting room. and merlin WAITS THERE. never free, always scared and in hiding, always lying, he never fulfills his destiny- he STAYS with arthur, in their little waiting room til its forcibly taken from him.

also the “know its for the better” over and over and OVER AGAIN, all of merlins sacrifices being for the better of destiny and all of albion. him keeping quiet about his magic, about all the things hes done (nearly letting mordred die, nimuehs death, poisoning morgana) because its for the better. because it was for destiny.

and all the people hes lost (will saying hes a sorcerer in his place before dying himself, freyas death, balinors death, lancelots sacrifice in his place) was all for the better. freya had to die to become the lady of the lake (and like what i think with wills death, so he wouldnt have anyone distracting him away from his destiny with arthur), balinor had to die so merlin would inherit his dragonlord abilities, lancelot had to die in merlins place so he could stay at arthurs side. merlin losing everyone was for the better. and personally i am not okay with that

[lovely-malice]

Just…I don’t think being a cocksleeve even has to be anything sexual for me. Maybe for my partner, but for me it’s not necessary. I’d be more than happy to just provide a warm hole for someone to slide into. Sometimes I imagine how nice it would be to bend over, ass up, feel slick fingers spreading my hole open and wide before replacing them with a nice thick cock. Just the pleasant feeling of being so filled, like it’s the only thing that matters. And maybe it would be! Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if they muttered in my ear, “That’s it, you’re doing so good. Now, I don’t want anymore thoughts in that pretty little head of yours, okay? This is all I want you to worry about, warming me up with your nice tight ass, and you’re doing such a good job at it too.” And all I’d have to do is drool happily with a completely empty head, nothing real except for the feeling of being pressed full, and that’s still all it takes to be called a good boy.

[ekanatsume]

love doesn’t have to be romantic. It’s strangers holding the door open for you. Friends laughing with you. The sun shining it’s warmth for you to bask in. The random bird or squirrel on your walk that doesn’t bolt when you pass it. There’s love everywhere, in infinitely many different forms

I actually wasn't talking about romantic love. The way you phrased it is beautiful. I think I'm too bitter to comprehend this rn. But I'll think about this the next time any act of consideration happens to me. Thank you for going out of your way to write this. I hope you have a wonderful week 💞

[quasieli]

Just one of those days where I already felt like shit cause rain = migraine and my family decided to up the ante by giving me a sensory overload 🙃

[snakesnifter]

like honestly i have weird feelings about toh and what the show is like (the fact that they got cancelled is bullshit and entirely dependent on homophobic disney! but this shall not be about that this is about the Numerous Flaws in the execution of the material)

the premise of the show i feel like is great such as weird kid gets adopted by female grunkle stan (which is honestly so revolutionary because barely any female characters are given the agency and age and crudeness that male characters are often afforded) and like her little tyrant but i have a lot of issues with the additional details and the execution and stuff.

such as with hexside and repeated character arcs (amity and hunter), characters that are in the main cast but so boring that they literally dont matter nor do anything plot relevant (gus and willow). the show has numerous issues in its execution that i take Issue with lol.

maybe ill talk about them more in depth or something but later

[jewpaw]

Being fat and shamelessly loving food is such a liberating experience. Realizing that I was allowed to love food was such a liberating moment for me. I learned that eating healthy doesn't inherently mean eating less, let alone starving myself. I still eat burgers and pizza etc etc but I also eat salads and fresh vegetables and protein rich meals and everything in between, because no food is a punishment. No food is inherently "good" or "evil" and your body needs carbs and sugars just as much as it needs proteins and vitamins. It needs balance, but there's no shame in any food. Literally anything is better than no food at all. Your body is a vessel and it loves you unconditionally. It doesn't know the difference between the tomato sauce on a pizza vs the tomatoes you chopped up and put in a salad. It just knows to take the nutrients from both and work with them and be happy to be alive.

[eeveearoace]

there's something so marcanne about "two" (sleeping at last)

[spideysatan]

It's okay if you can't catch your breath / you can take the oxygen straight out of my own chest

[nevermind-thanksthough]

confessions

i'm so in love with my partner. he's my first and it's scary and so joyous all at once. when we first met, one of our first conversations was

him: oh have you not seen that meme? the obama "lemme be clear" meme?

me: oh haha no

him: *pulls it up on his phone and shows it to me*

me, internally: a man of culture, i see