Dragon Head AU

This came to me through music and vaguely inspired by one fic on ao3 I cannot find. I thought I had it bookmarked. Thanks to @peterchubs for listening while this au took shape.

What if, like in Batman Beyond, Damian returns to League to lead it one day?

I think for this AU Damian meets his father briefly, but after seeing that he isn't the perfect heir, he goes back to Talia to reform the League. Bruce tries to stop him but finds there's not a lot he can do.

Since the year of Blood and Goliath coming into his life, Damian had started to doubt the wisdom of his grandfather. The killing of the Dragon Bats and Damian owns distaste for killing innocents have planted a seed of rebellion. One that meeting his father and seeing how he operated allowed to grow.

Damian believes that the world needs to be protected, that someone must fight for the earth, and it's innocents. He begins to recognise that killing is a hard choice and should not be the first course of action but sometimes can not be avoided.

After he gets back from Gotham, he discusses these ideas with his mother, not sure what to expect. Instead of a lecture Talia kisses his head and tells him that he is growing into the man she hoped he would become. A leader, a true mix of two great bloodlines and ideologies.

Talia Al Ghul looks at her son and pledges to aid his reforms. Talia embraces him as she promises to protect him. Damian learns love from her.

Next, Damian approached Mara, his cousin. It was a tough conversation. Mara is understandablely distrustful of him. The last time they met, Grandfather had made them battle, Damian had scarred her and won Grandfather's approval. Something he now has mixed feelings about.

Mara doubts him at first, and it takes a while, but even her loyalty is tested by Ras orders. Damian is the heir, and if he reforms the League he speaks of, Mara promises that The Demons Hand will support him.

Over time, Damian gathers more allies inside and outside the League.

A girl named Maya tries to kill him in revenge for her father but reluctantly befriends him.

Damian learns more about compassion and redemption from her. They become almost siblings in their closeness. Maya becomes his advisor and spymaster.

The turning point where Damian decides that he cannot wait to inherit the League but must overthrow his grandfather comes when Damian meets his brother.

Damian had heard rumours of his grandfather's labs. A place his mother ensured he never entered.

Damian isn't naive enough to think he was ever exempt from his grandfather's cruelty. But the way the lab in particular was avoided fills him with dread.

He finds it after Maya infiltrates a restricted wing of Nanda Parat. She says he needs to see this now and drags Damian to it.

Inside are pods growing versions of...him? He thinks? And on a medical table strapped down and unconscious is his mirror image.

He boy is taller than him, seemingly older, and instead of his mother's brown waves, the boy has striking white hair that is straight and fine.

His body is covered in scars. Damian looks around and finds files and notes of torture parading as science.

It is in that moment that he decides Ras Al Ghul must die.

Maya gets the boy out and hides him in Damians' rooms where only his most loyal enter, just in case Maya guards him and Damian destroys the lab.

He calls Mara and his mother and tells them that Damian will be the Demons' head sooner than expected.

They launch the attack at Dusk.

It is not an easy battle, but in the end, Damian drives his sword into his grandfather's chest and sets his body on fire, so not even the Lazarus Pit can restore him.

It is not an easy transition. For months, Damian and his family struggle to gain control of their forces and dismantle Ras more insidious operations.

But they manage it.

Respawn or Alexander as he chooses to call himself helps. Damians brother is learning how to exist outside of training and the lab and becomes his Brothers head guard. The two grow close, and Damian learns to be gentle with a boy that was hurt similarly to himself but so much worse.

Damians League is very different from its predecessor.

All jobs that they do are vetted to ensure they don't cause unnecessary damage, targets family, networks, and history is considered.

Life is to be respected whenever possible. For all being. Death is never a first course of action, but Damian will kill to protect innocents and the earth.

They no longer train children. It's not allowed until the person can consent. Any found abusing or hurting their children are punished severely.

There are no more inhuman experiments. Instead, Damian puts the Al Ghul billions into health and climate research. He goes so far as to hire Poison Ivy to regrow rainforests and other suffering botanical areas.

He also covertly funnels money into the green energy sector and lobbying groups for better regulations on environmental issues, health, and care.

Damian invests in communities that safeguard habitats and endangered species. Freeing some from human trafficking and exploitative corporations.

Everyone working in the League or with it observes a strict code of ethics. Their life is forfeit if they are found to have harmed innocents or betrayed their ethos.

The reforms had been thought to be too idealistic. A childish dream. But they work.

The League of Assassins becomes what it was always meant to be, a force for good that operates in the shadows.

Damian is still ruthless. All of his people are deadly, and no one who breaks his rules survives.

Damian wonders if his father would accept him like this? If his improvements are enough?

One day, Maya suggests he will never be a Demon, and Damian is a Dragon. The name sticks.

Not many outside of the Assassin's notice the changes in League at first. Not even Batman.

Damian is 21 by the time he has enough time to consider trying to approach his father again. His mother has not forgiven her Beloved for not embracing Damian all those years ago, and Damian can't bring himself to reach out to the imposing man he remembers.

Jonathan Kent is the first to discover the new Dragons Head.

He only finds out what the League is doing when he interrupts the forceful dismantling of an animal smuggling ring. It is one of the rare times Damian is performing a mission himself but when he heard how many endangered species were being held he left before Maya and Mara could scold him.

Respawn joined him with a laugh and asked if they could stop for takeout. Damian reluctantly agreed.

They are finished dealing with the leader of the traffickers when Superman 2.0 busts in.

He is very confused about finding a masked man comforting an injured baby orangutan while his companion teases him.

It's adorable that the man glares while still babytalking the scared primate.

Jon almost doesn't notice the body on the floor.

"What is happening here?"

The two turn to him and their guard rises immediately.

The one holding the animals clears his throat. "We are freeing these animals, you can either help or be removed Son of Kal El."

"How do you know who I am?"

"It's my job. So are you helping or no?"

Jon glares. "I don't know who you are."

"You can call me the Dragons Head and that," he points behind him "is my guard Respawn."

"Never heard of you."

"I am the head of the League of Assassin's."

Jon is suddenly much more on guard. The man looked too young to be Ras al Ghul.

"Did you kill that man?"

"He was wanted in three countries for trafficking and animal abuse. We offered him a choice, and he decided to attack us." The Dragons Head says reasonably.

Jon sighs, but in the end, the well-being of the animals takes priority right now. He can just try and arrest them later.

A part of him as he looks at the cages, the misery doesn't feel particularly bad for the man.

The Super secures the animals, and when he turns to interrogate the duo more, he finds them missing. With the orangutan.

After he reports the incident to the Watchtower, there is concern all round.

The bats are called in for an investigation. What they find shocks them all. Ras has been dead for five years, and the new head has even more connections worldwide.

They still kill, but they also do so much good. It causes a divide in the Justice League.

Those without a no kill rule suggest an alliance.

Those with one refuse to entertain the possibility.

So, a compromise is reached after days of debate, a fact-finding mission, and a diplomatic envoy to discuss their options with the Dragons Head.

Batman offers to lead it because of his contacts only for said contact to refuse to entertain them if Batman is there.

The League doesn't know the reason Talia Al Ghul glares at the vigilante, but the Batman is forced to stay put. Nightwing takes his place.

Jon is chosen to be part of an envoy to meet the new head, given he met him before.

They are greeted at Nanda Parat by an army. A show of power and strength to the heroes now in their midst.

Jon and Nightwing approach cautiously only for the crowd to part as they approach, revealing Talia Al ghul and a group of young people.

"Richard, good to see you again." She begins.

"I'm sure." The man in question quips.

Before the tension gets even worse, Jon interrupts. "When will we be meeting the head?"

Talia smirks and moves aside. The people behind her do the same. "My son, Damian Al Ghul the Dragons Head."

The man that steps forward is beautiful. Very clearly his mother's son with sun-kissed skin and green eyes. Jons breathe catches.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquitance, officially." The Dragons Head greets them.

They two heroes are invited inside and assign guest rooms. It's not until dinner that any actual negotiations take place.

The League of Assassin's is not opposed to the alliance with the Justice League, but only if their ethics remain intact.

They debate terms for days.

"The League respects life but understands that sometimes you have to kill what destroys the natural order." Damians argues.

Jon fights the urge to raise his voice. They have been going in circles of hours. "Because you never know for sure! You can't be certain that killing won't make things worse or that the person wasn't framed or can't change for the better."

Damian smirks. "That is true for every decision, that if I don't kill than that person kills others because I didn't stop him when I had the chance."

Jon groans. He can find fault in the logic, but some part of him agrees with it. It does not help that Damian is unfairly attractive.

"I'm getting tired of this. Would you like to walk with me to the garden?" Damian asks, gracefully standing and dragging Jon with him by the arm.

Jon finds himself distracted from escaping the Assassin's grasp by the sudden closeness.

They walk together in silence in a courtyard filled with jasmine flowers.

"I admire what you are trying to do. I get frustrated myself at never seeing progress, but ideals can be corrupted. Just look at the previous head." Jon says quietly.

"That is why I am open to trusting heroes. I'm terrified of becoming like my grandfather. If I allow the Justice League to know some of my activities, then there is a check and balance. If I go too far, they will be able to stop me."

"Stop you how?"

"Kill me if necessary."

"What!" Jon is incredulous. Damian looks so at peace discussing his own death.

"If I become what I swore to destroy. Death would be mercy."

Jon doesn't know what to say to that. His eyes fall to how Damian holds him arm still and lays his hand over his.

Jon stays at Nanda Parat for weeks, even when Nightwing leaves.

He and Damian spend every day together always ending sitting side by side amongst the jasmine. Their conversations starts drifting away from either League.

Jon learns that Damian has a small zoo of pets. That his innermost circle consists entirely of his family. That when he smiles, he has dimples.

Jon opens up about his doubts, about his temper and the weight of his fathers legacy.

Jon tells Damian about how he agrees that killing might be necessary but how he fears what he'll become if he allows himself to take a life.

Damian holds his hand and promises that he would never ask that of him.

They strike up a friendship, then something more.

Damian kisses him one day, and Jon sighs in relief.

Jon decides to go back to Watchtower after he receives a call from his father. He promises Damian he will return.

The Justice League makes him report on his findings and then almost immediately sends him to space.

He is away for two months.

When he flies to Nanda Parat Damian welcomes him home.

The two Leagues sign the alliance. Jon is named the diplomat between the two.

Some object, especially after Damian and Jon get married but are soundly ignored.

People like to think Damian corrupted Jon. But his rage and need to affect change for all has always been a part of him.

Damian is his anchor, his safe haven.

Jon is Damians guiding light.

My Jondami AU Directory

This will be updated as more AUs and Parts are posted!!

Jondami Addams Family AU

Damian had always been off to the civilians of Gotham. He is stoic, over formal, and polite. As he grows older, he becomes more otherworldly.

Green eyes that almost glow in the dark, an uncanny ability to be aware at all times and inhumanely fast reflexes, many whisper that Damian Wayne is something other than human.

Only to see him standing across from them smiling.

But as intense as the youngest Wayne is, he is also captivating. Graceful, beautiful, and unattainable. Damian Wayne glides around the halls with only a few friends that when he changes his voice just so listen without question.

There are theories he may be a vampire. But the people of Gotham don't care as long as he doesn't feed on them.

Jon Kent, while perfectly normal and affable on the surface, is unintentionally unsettling. The boy is tall and handsome, but sometimes, if you look long enough at him, you realise he doesn't blink. For minutes, hours even.As if he has momentarily forgotten. Sometimes, he doesn't even breathe.

Jon is happy and excited by life, finding joy in strange places. It's not morbid persay, but he laughs at Lex Luthor attacks and gets excited at aloen invasions. He is the first to offer to go back for hurt classmates or, as he grows older, jokingly challenges people to duel him.

When taken up on his offer, Jon produces two swords from seemingly nowhere and fences them with a wild grin.

He always wins. Performing gravity defying stunts and viscous parries.

Even when someone tries to hurt him, he smiles, seemingly unaffected.

When asked where he got the sword. Jon will dreamily sigh and say his darling gave it to him.

Jon Kent is nice but definitely very odd. Metropolis figures they have bigger problems to worry about.

When Damian and Jon fall in love, it shocks people because, in a lot of ways, they are a mismatched couple.

Jon towers over Damian in soft colours and grins, while Damian is all sharp edges and black designer items. Jon laughs and shouts, while Damian merely raises his brow at anything that happens before him.

But there is no denying that they absolutely adore each other.

They are attached to each other at all times, Jon grasping and kissing his partner at the smallest provocation. He calls the youngest Wayne pet names, whispering praises into his skin while others look on, going do far as to start confessing his love like a prayer at Damians feet.

Damian accepts the affection with a smirk. Purring his own teasing and loving words at his boyfriend. Dragging his hand over his chest and staring at him as if he is his the very centre of his universe.

At particular moments, Damian speaks in Arabic, causing Jon to almost swoon and kiss Damians hand in a way that makes others look away immediately.

The level of love would be cringe worthy in any other couple, but between the two, in all their oddity, it feels natural.

Unfortunately, neither ever gets more normal. In fact, it gets worse as they grow older.

Their house, according to neighbours, is full of strange sounds at all hours. With 'family', most of whom look nothing like either man arrive and stay seemingly at random.

When asked who they are, you get a vague answer of sibling, uncle, or cousin. There are a few family members who look suspiciously like well-known villains but what they don't know for sure probably won't kill them.

Some visitors to the house look like frankenstiens monster or a zombie.

The neighbours start to ignore the number of people who are visible lying bleeding when they know on the Wayne Kent door.

They ask even fewer questions when they don't see those people leave.

Then there is the garden, while the houses around them boast manicured lawns and perfect fences. The Wayne Kent home features climbing vines, an overgrown patch of weeds and larger plants that the neighbourhood children swear have teeth when you get too close.

The plants, carnivorous or not, are nothing compared to the animals and pets that now occupy the sprawling grounds.

There are cows, turkeys, and possibly more than one dragon. Though few believe that.

Bats fly out of the attic, and large birds appear on Damians shoulder Everytime he goes outside. One little girl said she saw a tiger once, but for their own sanity, her parents disregarded her story.

Most mystifying of all are the children. The Wayne Kent twins appeared one day seemingly out of thin air.

When asked whether they were adopted Jon Kent said no.

When asked if they had a surrogate, Damian looked impassive and answered "in a fashion" before gilding away.

The twins had Damians green eyes and Jons curls and grew to be just as peculiar as their fathers. All too intelligent stares and a love of pointy and dangerous things.

Some tried to make shining jokes but were quickly shushed by nervous friends and relatives who remembered the unexplained misfortune that followed anyone who crossed the Wayne-Kents over the years.

The Wayne Kents are very welcoming to anyone who comes into their home. But very odd.

Runaway Damian AU

This is from a reply I got yesterday.

I've written before about Damian running away from Bruce, but what if he runs away from Talia?

An eight year old Damian, after the year of blood, looks at a baby Goliath after he had wiped out an entire species and cries.

What he has just done is so antithetical to the virtues his grandfather expuses. The tenants of stewardship that was meant to be the core of the League.

It was a horrible thing, a dishonourable thing he had just done. All on his grandfather's orders.

How could mother and grandfather talk of protecting the world while orchestrating a genocide?

How do they preach of ensuring peace of the world while perpetuating cruelty? Against the innocent, against animals, against him?

There, in that cave, Damian Al Ghul realised that something was deeply wrong with everything he was raised to believe and that maybe being a failure in the eyes of the Al Ghul was correct.

Maybe it was better not to be an Al Ghul at all.

So Damian grabs the last of the Dragon Bats and runs.

He is too much of a coward to confront his mother, never mind his grandfather. If he is lucky, they will assume he has perished.

Mother will greive him, Grandfather will find another heir. If he were braver, better he would return to the League, try to change it as its prince, but Damian is a child that doesn't want to hurt anymore, doesn't want to kill anymore. Two things that are required for the future demon head.

Damian and the newly named Goliath make it to a village after a day of walking.

Damian has very little money, no food, and no plan. His running away was impulsive, but if there is one thing Damian is good at, it's surviving. He works odd jobs, lies to strangers, and begrudgingly accept their kindness.

He dodge those who are a little too kind for fear they try to reunite him with his family. He ignores their worried looks.

He and Goliath move on every few weeks for fear that the League will catch up with them.

The dragon bat grows quickly, guarding his owner.

He learns much in his time wandering and truly starts to understand how wrong his time in the League was. The world deserves to be protected but not in the image of one man.

He travels through forest, mountains, and desserts. It's only after months of wandering that he has a destination in mind.

The little boy manages to smuggle his way onto a boat eventually and stowaway until they reach the US.

The League is always a little more cautious in America due to yo the large number of hereos in the country. It'll provide him more safety.

He settles in Metropolis eventually, the city free from his mother's allies. He makes a new identity, Damian Steele, and raids old League cash reserves for funds.

He finds that not many reputable people are willing to hire him, so Damian puts his mother insistence on a finance education to use and invests what he can once he builds a laptop from savaged parts. Sadly, between feeding himself and Goliath, he doesn't have much left over for housing.

Sleeping on the street is nowhere near the worst thing he has ever done.

He gets by like that for months. Unnoticed but at peace. Goliath and him keep each other safe. Damian finds a home with the Strays of Metropolis. Cats, dogs, even raccoons flocking to him as he offers them food and company.

He even joins free courses online for school, testing out of most of US high-school and onto university.

His stocks rise, and he has enough to buy an empty warehouse under a shell corporation so he and his animal friends have somewhere safe and warm to sleep when the winter comes.

All in all, it's not the life of a prince, but Damian finds he enjoys it. He is about 14 by the time his routine changes.

The problem comes when someone tries to take him hostage in a hairbrained scheme to taunt Superman.

Damian fights back, sword and dagger in hand before the hero even arrives.

A very confused Jon Kent has to wrestle a heavily armed child about his age off of Brainiac. The kid hisses at him as he grabs him by the collar.

He looks at the bleeding villain, who is now unconscious and decides the stranger with the sword takes priority.

"You're safe now! Where are your parents? Is there someone I can call for you?"

The boy glares at him and remains silent. Jon sighs. The boy is not filthy or notably neglected, but Jon can see so many healed injuries with his x ray vision, and the boys hair has grown into his eyes.

Whatever is happening here, Jon doubts it's good. Just as he is about to ask more questions, the boy manages to twist his entire body midair and cut the fabric the super holds him by.

Jon goes to grab him again, but the boy flips over his arms and sprints into the darkness. Jon is about to follow when Brainiac wakes up.

Superboy decides to find the mystery boy with the knives another time.

Damian makes it back to his warehouse and decides to avoid the overly bright hero at all costs. It does not work as Superboy makes it his mission to track him down.

Thus starts a very frustrating game of cat and mouse. Damian abuses his training and access to a dragon bat for quick escapes from the annoying kryptonitian.

Superboy corners him one night on a roof top.

"Isn't it your bedtime?" Damian spits, trapped and tired from the constant game of hide and seek.

"What about yours?"

Damian glares, "You have to have parents for that sort of thing." It comes out sadder than he meant it to.

Jon reels but decides not to press that particular point. He knows a lot of orphans.

"Well, it's nice to actually hear you speak after all that, What do I call you?"

The boy sighs, "Damian."

Jon grins "Okay we're friends now!"

"No we're not."

The boy of steel just laughs.

After that night, Jon finds Damian more often, and slowly, the other boy opens up to him. He meets Goliath and goes to the warehouse that Damian has renovated it into a livable apartment, though it is covered in animals. It quickly becomes Jons favourite place.

His new friend is so kind and smart. And so beautiful with his long hair tied up and pretty green eyes that sometimes Jon can't breathe.

Not that Damian needs to know that.

Jon should probably tell his dad about Damian, but he has been sneaking out to see the other boy for months and doesn't want to be lectured.

He convinces Damian to stop crime with him after he reveals just how skilled he is. He even goes so far as to pick out Damians' hero name, Flamebird.

They do this for about a year before Superman catches on. Jon is honestly surprised it took him this long.

The man of Steel walks in on his son, stopping a bank robbery when he is supposed to be off planet.

"What on earth are you doing?! Your mother is worried!"

The robbers freeze at the elder Supers appearance.

"Dad!"

"Don't Dad me! You have school tomorrow!" He scolds only to stop when he spots another teen with a katanna beside his son, clad in a black supersuit and mask with orange highlights.

"Who is this?"

"Da-"

"Flamebird, pleasure to meet you, Superman." The young man introduces himself politely, hand outstretched.

Clark shakes his hand flabbergasted. He looks over at a blushing Jon. "You gave him a kryptonitian name?"

"He deserves it!" His son pouts.

Clark sighs. "Both of you are going to explain everything right after we sort this out!"

The boys nod uneasily.

They stop the robbery, and Damian takes father and son to the warehouse. The army of pets surround Jon and Damian as soon as they step inside. Damian makes them tea as he tries to explain.

Clark is less than impressed by Jon hiding so much from him and is horrified by Damians' story and living situation. The ex assasain refuses to live on Kent Farm, though.

Clark does accept that there's very little he can do about it now, though. Going by how Jon clings to his friend separating them will be impossible.

He is still grounded for a month.

Flamebird and Goliath become the new members of the Superfamily.

When they are both sixteen, Damian has enough of waiting for the kryptonitian to work up the nerve and asks Jon out instead.

The Super blushes and squeaks out a yes. Damian teases him, but Jon shuts him up with a kiss. One Damian happily returns over and over again.

Clarks pointedly does not ask his son why he wasn't home that night, but he does give both boys The Talk.

Kon falls over with laughter when he hears.

Nightwing finds out about the new hero from Clark and goes to bond with his new name partner. He comes to enjoy the cranky little gremlin and decides to introduce him to Bruce at some point to see if the Bat will resist adopting the teenager.

Damian only warms up to Grayson after he teaches him acrobatic moves and helps him feed his Strays.

It is all going well until Clark is kidnapped. All of the supers, including Lois and Damian, mobilise to beat up Lex Luthor. Only to come face to face with the Justice League.

Everyone ends up at the Watchtower afterwards, where Batman interrogates the strange hero that fights like a League assassin.

Superboy does not like this, and Nightwing backs him up. Flamebird sits with the two men behind him, all three staring down an increasingly annoyed Batman.

Jon scoops his boyfriend onto his lap when he starts talking about the year of blood and his training at the League of Assassin's.

Damian answers what he can, and when he reveals that he is Talias son, Bruce has a sinking feeling.

He runs a DNA test as soon as he can, Dick makes sure to be there when he gets the results.

He laughs at a panicking Bruce. "You won't even have to adopt this one! And he's a hero already! Is vigilantism genetic? Is the adoption addiction? Because the kid has a lot of pets!"

"Shut up."

"You and Clark are going to be in laws!"

"SHUT UP!"

Gotham Med AU

An answer to the replies I got from @gosuckmydickgrayson @chomumo

If DC says Med Student Damian isn't interesting enough for a comic, I give you my pitch for a Doctor Damian Run.

Damian Wayne starts his internship as the youngest in his class. He is dual specialising in trauma surgery and paediatrics and everyone looks at the famous Wayne heir and assumes that he bought his way through med school. Got his rich father to pay for him to graduate early.

There are rumours and comments before Damian even puts on his scrubs. The few who knew him in med school sneer and gossip about how he was at the top of the class, no matter the subject. Those who don't know him know of him through Brucie Wayne's reputation and imagine a party boy just like his father.

Even his attending doesn't expect much, Gotham is a hectic place, especially for those who have to deal with the aftermath of its violence and chaos. Gotham General Hospital has the worst retention rate of any Hospital in the country.

Those who stay, stay because they care and because someone needs to. The veteran doctor and nurses look more akin to battle medics then medical professionals in a supposedly privileged country.

The interns not only learn how to take care of their patients but also how to survive. There are classes on deescalation, self-defense and emergency evacuation, and preparedness classes all staff must complete alongside their board exams to be licensed to work in this city.

Gothamites are the best equipped first responders in the world. Nurses and Residents place bets on how long it'll take the interns to drop out and how many will still be there by the time the internship ends.

Everyone who heard about Damian Wayne becoming a doctor expects him to crumble under the pressure. For a sheltered rich boy to falter once the reality of practising medicine in the most crime riddled city in the world sets in.

They do not get what they expected. Doctor Damian Wayne starts his internship like someone who has done this for years.

He follows orders, can stay up 24 hours or longer without complaint, does not flinch at any of the horrific things they see as they help with surgeries, and the emergency room, which is almost permanently understaffed.

He keeps quiet but is polite and professional in the face of surgical interns posturing. He is easily the most competent and quickly earns recognition from the higher-ups.

Damian has a steady hand and is courteous to patients, especially children who almost universally adore him, much to the youngest Waynes confusion.

During the extra classes Damian completes them without bating an eye and after he recognises a particularly rare parasite in a patient one day, the diagnostic department keeps trying to poach him.

The first time the hospital is attacked by rogues Dr Wayne save 3 lives and disables a bomb, claiming his father insisted he learn how to be ready for all situations.

The youngest Wayne becomes the Gotham Med Darling.

It earns him respect and envy, and jealous people have an unfortunate habit of becoming cruel.

Those who whisper and spread rumours of nepotism and preferential treatment are shut up when they can't even insert a line correctly or shut down by nurses who have a soft spot for the boy that reminds them of their sons.

They try to exclude Damian or find fault in his actions, but it's like he knows their every move.

Point out he is making a big leap with a diagnosis? well damn Dr. Wayne was right!

Try to take his patient away from him? Guess who got in early and just so happened to finish the surgery before the patient died.

Accuse him of buying his way through life? The boy performs seemingly impossible medical feats that no billionaire parent could buy them.

Try to suggest he is sleeping with someone to get the best cases? His boyfriend brings him lunch and coffee every day, and the two are so sickeningly sweet that no one believes a word of the slander.

Accuse him of cockiness or not caring? It's revealed that he volunteers at Leslie Thompkins free clinic in his spare time, donates his entire salary, and the first time he lost a patient on the table needed to call his brother because it shook him so badly.

Eventually, they stop trying, either quitting the program after the third Jokerized victim they struggle to treat or they use Damian Wayne as inspiration to better themselves for their patients.

That does not mean Doctor Damian Wayne isn't weird, though.

Dangerous impossible situations seem to follow him, be it vigilantes requesting him by name while actively bleeding out or the sheer number of villains that kidnap him.

He attracts trouble. Always involved in odd, rare medical mysteries. He even helped the GCPD track a new drug once and saved a victim of human trafficking after she appeared in the ER with an ear infection.

He deduces who is dangerous or how to help those who are desperate.

He got engaged after his partner gets caught up in a hostage situation and adopts a baby girls left in the NICU. He gets married on a random Tuesday in Vegas, annoying many of the staff that wanted to attend his wedding.

He performs surgery during blackouts, invasions, and attacks. Takes down goons, aliens, and on one memorable occasion Killer Croc. He dissappears at random but is always there as soon as a code is called. No one ever sees him running, though.

It's is all pretty tame by Gotham standards, Batman regularly buys them lunch and coffee after mass attacks.

Damian Wayne saves lives and causes chaos while doing it.

Gotham Med embraces him as one of their own.

black hair, blue eyes

It’s a coincidence, with Dick, and Bruce thinks little of it. They share so much beyond dark hair and blue eyes, beyond trivial appearances. Besides, Dick enjoys putting on a show when Bruce’s colleagues gape at him, when they swear the boy looks exactly like his father and question where Bruce has been hiding him all this time. “Sent me off to a circus for eight years. Can you believe it? Dad,” he’ll say, solemn, hand over his heart as he clutches Bruce’s tailored sleeve. “I bunked with an elephant. How am I supposed to function in high society now?” Bruce ignores him, ignores the polite, bemused laughter that accompanies his charade. It hasn’t yet been a full year, but the boy is laughing, the boy is calling him “Dad” with no hint of sorrow, and Bruce realizes they don’t share as much as he once thought. Dick refuses to remain a boy forever, and Bruce isn’t as careful with Jason. His eyes glint blue like the gunmetal of the hubcap he’s trying to steal, and Bruce steals him instead. Drags him screaming from the streets, binds him in a cave and lays down the rules for belonging to him. Bruce takes him from the night, returns him to the night, and Jason’s eyes burn with a fire Bruce has long since extinguished in his own.  It remains only a matter of chance. Alfred comments on the parade of dark-haired boys that have passed through the halls of Wayne Manor, and Bruce ignores it still. He ignores it until the day that blue fire goes cold in Jason’s eyes, until he cradles the lifeless form in his arms and wonders what might have happened if the mugger had shot him, Bruce, that night long ago instead of killing his parents.  No more, he tells himself. The end. Dick joins him at the graveside, and Bruce can’t bear to look at him, or his own reflection in the lake that borders the grounds. He focuses on the wispy gray of Alfred’s hair instead, tries to forget that it was black and full when he was a younger man. 

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(getting a taste of my own medicine) actually this is okay. Is this what you guys have bene whining about? Jesus christ

People who long for some imaginary idyllic past that never existed aren't reading enough female-written classic literature or they aren't paying attention when they do, because the imagined social contract of men holding power and wealth and using it to provide for and protect women has never worked.

Jane Austen emphasizes marrying prudently, but without sufficient independent wealth (rare), a woman's life becomes tied to a good man's survival. Mr. Dashwood inheriting late and dying early put his wife and daughter's fates in the hands of his selfish son. When women cannot work, they must hope that their fathers live until they marry, hope that their brothers will take care of them, and hope to be provided for as widows. Even love matches can end in ruin if the man holding the money is incompetent, as Mrs. Smith in Persuasion emphasizes. But men are supposed to provide for the dependant women in their lives, Jane Austen points to this social contract again and again, so why does it fail? Because there are almost no consequences when men refuse to do their duty. No one shuns John Dashwood for the way he treats his female relations. The only ones with the power to hold men accountable are men themselves, and why would they do that?

Not to mention that a man can uproot his entire family's life without any need to consult them (North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell), the jobs available to women were degrading and poorly paid (Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë), escaping abuse was dangerous and legally difficult (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë & Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë), being born as an intelligent woman was seen as a curse because it was useless and wouldn't get you married (The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot), etc. etc. etc.

Elizabeth Bennet might have gotten her fairy tale ending, but Charlotte Lucas would have given her left kidney to be able to get a job and pay for "comfortable home" all on her own.

Also anyone who has a problem with no-fault divorce legislation should be sat down and made to read Jane Eyre.

(Tradwives should also read Jane Eyre and her refusal to be property.)

This is important.

This is what people are.

We want to be useful, and we want to make people happy

Pay attention to this.

Motherfucker effortlessly whipped out a balloon animal while talking about entropy and looking like a regular contributor to the Washington Post. I wish him nothing but the best in life

My toxic trait is that I am far more interested in the socio-economic and geopolitical implications of ABO settings than the smut.

For example: I can't read any ABO AUs set in England or France because while I can suspend my disbelief far enough for a gender trinary set up, I can't suspend it enough to believe those two countries would still be distinct entities in a alternate history where Richard the Lionheart could have impregnated Philip II.

If there was a viable dynastic future with Richard, Philip would have climbed him like an oak and dragged him to the altar if he had to. It's a match that makes perfect sense from both their points of view: Philip gets Aquitaine back under French rule, the best general in Europe on his council, and a powerful check on the Angevins... then unexpectedly (after Henry the Young bites it) the entire Kingdom of England for his Capetian dynasty. Richard meanwhile gets to stick it to his father, secure Aquitaine's prosperity, and gets the leverage to start pushing for his mother's release. Then when Henry kicks the bucket Richard doesn't actually have to be King of England in anything but name: Philip can run the countries and unify the Crowns and what not while Richard runs off to go Crusading.

Plus they also like, loved each other and stuff and being able to get to be together long term instead of being torn apart by politics would have been cool. But I'm mainly obsessed with the historical and dynastic implications.

All this to say any ABO au set in England or France that doesn't have them united as a singular Anglo-Frank empire is doing it wrong.

pomegranates are so damn difficult to eat like could you be less of a metaphor and more of a fruit for a second im trying to have a snack

The YouTube Blockout is still happening

Even if this is your first time hearing about it, you can still show your disapproval of the new policy by joining the blockout/boycott.

How?

Stop using YouTube. The best way to show our disapproval is by completely ignoring YouTube until they roll back this decision. There are lots of alternatives, and we are working on a masterlist. If you absolutely have to use YouTube in some capacity, I highly recommend using a front-end client like FreeTube. It gives you more privacy and doesn't have ads, but the best option is still to boycott YT entirely.

Use Google products as little as possible. I have switched over to Firefox, and there are lots of alternatives for lots of Google products. If anyone's interested in a specific list, I'll share what I find.

Sign this petition:

If you're interested, there's a Discord server for this, too, started by @gentleman-velvet. Look at their blog for more info about that.

But why are we doing this? Why should you care?

I'll let YouTube themselves explain it for me.

[Alt: A screenshot of the YouTube policies page that reads: "For all U.S. accounts, YouTube employs a dual approach by using self-declared age as well as the application of an age estimation model that uses machine learning to determine whether a user is over or under 18. Regardless of the birthday in the account, this technology enables us to deliver age-appropriate product experiences and protections, treating teens as teens and adults as adults. How it works: We use AI to interpret a variety of existing signals that help us to determine whether a user is over or under 18. These signals include the types of videos a user is searching for, the categories of videos they have watched, or the longevity of the account. When we identify a teen user, we’ll automatically apply our safeguards, including: -Disabling personalized advertising and restricting age-sensitive ad categories -Turning on digital wellbeing tools -Adding safeguards to recommendations, including limiting repetitive views of some kinds of content. Users have the option to verify that they are 18 or over by using a credit card or a government ID. We only allow users who have been inferred or verified as over 18 to view age-restricted content that may be inappropriate for younger users.]

Read that all the way through. According to YouTube, if their AI thinks you watch childish content, regardless of the birthdate you associated with your account, your account could be restricted until you provide either a government-issued photo ID or a credit card to verify your age. This is what they themselves are saying.

Personally, I don't want a private company to have images of my ID or my credit card. I feel that that is an invasion of my privacy. I fear what might happen in the case of a data breach. And Google has fairly frequent data breaches. Just search (with any other search engine) "google data breach recent" and see for yourself.

And consider adults who don't have either a government-issued photo ID or a credit card. What then? It would appear from the policies described on YouTube's website that they are just out of luck in that instance.

This could very well affect animation on YouTube. It could affect gameplay videos. It could affect anything and everything that their AI might deem "childish."

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Like to charge reblog to cast

this 'being really tired after work' thing is really getting in the way of this 'pursuing my artistic hopes and dreams' thing has anyone else noticed this

When Should You Describe a Character’s Appearance? (And When You Really, Really Shouldn’t)

It’s one of the first instincts writers have: describe your character. What they look like, what they wear, how they move. But the truth is — readers don’t need to know everything. And more importantly, they don’t want to know everything. At least, not all at once. Not without reason.

Let’s talk about when to describe a character’s appearance, how to do it meaningfully, and why less often says more.

Zoom In, Don’t Glaze Over: How to Describe Appearance Without Losing the Plot

You’ve met her before. The girl with “flowing ebony hair,” “emerald eyes,” and “lips like rose petals.” Or him, with “chiseled jawlines,” “stormy gray eyes,” and “shoulders like a Greek statue.”

We don’t know them.

We’ve just met their tropes.

Describing physical appearance is one of the trickiest — and most overdone — parts of character writing. It’s tempting to reach for shorthand: hair color, eye color, maybe a quick body scan. But if we want a reader to see someone — to feel the charge in the air when they enter a room — we need to stop writing mannequins and start writing people.

So let’s get granular. Here’s how to write physical appearance in a way that’s textured, meaningful, and deeply character-driven.

1. Hair: It’s About Story, Texture, and Care

Hair says a lot — not just about genetics, but about choices. Does your character tame it? Let it run wild? Is it dyed, greying, braided, buzzed, or piled on top of her head in a hurry?

Good hair description considers:

You don’t need to romanticise it. You need to make it feel real.

2. Eyes: Less Color, More Connection

We get it: her eyes are violet. Cool. But that doesn’t tell us much.

Instead of focusing solely on eye color, think about:

You’re not describing a passport photo. You’re describing what it feels like to be seen by them.

3. Facial Features: Use Contrast and Texture

Faces are not symmetrical ovals with random features. They’re full of tension, softness, age, emotion, and life.

Things to look for:

Let the face be a map of experience.

4. Bodies: Movement > Measurement

Forget dress sizes and six packs. Think about how bodies occupy space. How do they move? What are they hiding or showing? How do they wear their clothes — or how do the clothes wear them?

Ask:

Describing someone’s body isn’t about cataloguing. It’s about showing how they exist in the world.

5. Let Emotion Tint the Lens

Who’s doing the describing? A lover? An enemy? A tired narrator? The emotional lens will shape what’s noticed and how it’s described.

Same person. Different lens. Different description.

6. Specificity is Your Superpower

Generic description = generic character. One well-chosen detail creates intimacy. Let us feel the scratch of their scarf, the clink of her earrings, the smudge of ink on their fingertips.

Examples:

Make the reader feel like they’re the only one close enough to notice.

Describing appearance isn’t just about what your character looks like. It’s about what their appearance says — about how they move through the world, how others see them, and how they see themselves.

Zoom in on the details that matter. Skip the clichés. Let each description carry weight, story, and emotion. Because you’re not building paper dolls. You’re building people.

genuinely, and i say this with love, this is the funniest fucking tag i've had on a post in forever

"perhaps he was an actual murderer" he was at risk of single-handedly killing an entire army so they bargained him down to one murder per day. he killed his own son. he killed his best friend. he killed a bunch of his other foster brothers.

it's just. it's just murder all the way down

"at some point" more like at all points. continuously and creatively.