DPxDC My Brother in the Mirror

Damian doesn't like mirrors.

He never mentioned the fact to other members of the family, but they are detectives and vigilantes, it's their job to be observant. Which, after so many years, becomes a habit.

Damian doesn't actively avoid the mirrors - he has a mirror in his bathroom, he didn't express any discomfort over going into a mirror labyrinth at some carnival they've attended (he expressed disgust over taking part in something so stupid, in his words, but that's a whole another story), and he actually spent a few minutes in front of the funhouse mirrors when no one was looking, watching his own reflection distort in various ways. He also has no problems with his self-image - he doesn't mind pictures of him taken at any time (unless it's Tim, but that's, again, a whole another story), he's drawn a few self-portraits that were rather accurate and he liked them.

He just doesn't like mirrors. For some reason.

His family, both close and extended, never questioned it. They did some gentle research to see if the dislike was caused by some kind of problem Damian was experiencing without telling anyone, but when they found no proof of that, they've just decided it was some quirk of his. Everyone has quirks. Dick doesn't like eating cereal like a normal person, Tim despises sleep, Steph is at war with any color other than purple.

That is, until one day, Tim witnesses Damian sitting in front of a mirror.

He is not even aware of it - the whole family is having a game night, and through some arguments and rearrangements on the couch, Damian ends up sitting on the left side of it, where his back is turned to one of the three mirrors in the room. Tim, who's lost the last round, is slumping in an armchair nearby, pointedly looking away from the screen where Damian and Jason are enthusiastically competing over the first place in Mario Cart. Of course, Tim can't just not watch it since he needs to know their strategies. But turning back around would also be admitting defeat.

The solution? Easy, watch the screen through the mirror.

Which is when he notices it.

Damian in the mirror doesn't act the same as Damian in the room. Out of the corner of his eye, Tim can see the real Damian moving around, shoving Jason with his elbow, fully concentrated on the game, and yelling something. Damian-in-the-mirror is sitting unnaturally still, the back of his head over the couch unmoving.

Tim forgets all about the game when Damian's reflection starts to turn around. Slowly and carefully, eerie in the way the horror movies are, the boy in the mirror turns his head around like an owl, his neck twisting inhumanely.

His eyes are green. Green like the toxic waste, like Jason's madness, like acid in cartoons, like the Waters of Lazarus.

Damian in the mirror smiles, his unblinking, gliwing eyes fixed on Tim, and his teeth are sharp and pointy, and there are too many of them, humans can't smile this wide.

"-im? Tim!" A hand nudges him in the shoulder, and Tim looks away from the mirror, finding Dick standing over him. The noise of the game room returns all at once, and, wait, when did it become quiet for Tim?.. He must have a strange expression on his face because Dick's easy smile falls slightly, and he frowns, "Is everything okay?"

Tim looks back to the mirror, but the green-eyed boy in the mirror is gone, and the mirror only reflects Damian as he is: sitting on the couch.

"Yeah," Tim shakes his head and forces a smile on his lips, "I just zoned out."

"Okay," Dick pats him on the shoulder and gives him the controller, "It's your turn now."

Tim takes the controller and turns around, facing the screen. Tim throws a quick glance at Damian, who had slid down on the couch so his head would not be in the reflection anymore. Tim sees the cold, warning hint to his eye, a clear do not speak of it message.

Tim doesn't like that the mirror is now behind him.

Thesis: Jason is actually mildly affectionate towards Damian, or at least generally tolerates him as a family member

Fact 1: Jason calls Damian 'Demon Brat' (not sure if it's fanon or canon, I think I've seen a research post about Batfamily nicknames somewhere but I can't find it right now)

Fact 2: Jason speaks Russian (I'm pretty sure this is canon, I've seen mentions of it)

Fact 3: In Russian, the word 'брат' [brat] means 'brother', literally, and 'demon' is pronounced and spelled the same way as in English, 'демон' [dæmon], so 'demon brat' would translate to 'demon brother'

Conclusion: No conclusion, do with this information what you will

DPxDC Dead No Brain

The reason I love Tim/Danny so much is because these two highly intelligent yet absolutely deranged at times individuals do not question each other. You know the phrase, "I say 'jump' and you say 'how high'"? It's that, but they don't even ask 'how high'.

Tim, 28 hours no-sleep, crazy eyed, breaks into Danny's dorm through the window at unholy five in the morning, all up in his Red Robin gear and with blood on his face, and asks Danny to come with him because he needs to test if a human can, in fact, walk with one leg cut off up to his ankle and the other one stuck in a bear trap? Yeah, okay, Danny can manipulate his body shape in ghost form and phase on a bear trap. "You owe me a coffee for waking me up," and they are on the way to the crime scene.

Danny shows up to the manor unannounced with no prior introduction to the Batfam, leaves a homemade albeit a bit green-tinted apple pie for Alfred in the kitchen, and strolls straight down to the BatCave to bother Tim with a burning question of 'what if I duplicate myself, impersonate Joker, and spend a week ruining his mad clown reputation by throwing group mime performances in broad daylight'? Sure, Tim already has a compilation of funny fails he wants Danny to do while he's at it. Do you mind questioning a ghost of the latest murder victim on the way?

And they see zero problems with it. That's what relationships are for, Dick, shouldn't you of all people know you need to trust your partner?

Jason/Danny comes as a close second in this department, but I feel like Jason has more of a 'fuck it, I'm in' kind of vibe. Is he up for any kind of shit his partner comes up with? Sure. Unless he thinks it will do more harm than good to his partner specifically. Does he come up with a detailed plan to screw DalvCo in every way possible from reporting its Instagram account as scam to rearranging all the furniture in Vlad's mansion by gluing it to the ceiling? I don't think so.

Tim/Danny is the power couple in my mind.

Only the 'power' in question is often vaguely threatening for the sanity of everyone in close range.

DPxDC Phonecall

[A cut-out scene from a fic I may never write]

Tim watches Cass tilt her head to the side. It's not an alarmed gesture, more of an indicator that she's seeing something interesting but has not decided what exactly. Meanwhile, John takes the phone away from his ear and points it, screen forward, to the empty space between him and the Bats.

What happens next, Tim can only describe as squeezing an elephant through the eye of a needle, only, somehow, literally. Constantine's phone lights up in toxic green, the same color most Bats know intimately, and Tim hears Jason's sharp gasp. Then, the green spills over the edge of the screen, slowly forming a hand, then a shoulder and a head, then another hand, chest, stomach, and, before any of them can ask what is going on, a boy steps on the stone floor of the Cave.

At first, he looks green and kind of gooey, a semi-transparent body made of Lazarus Waters with something akin to a snowball resting in the middle of his chest. But then, the colors start bleeding into him from inside, making his skin a pale, whitish gray, and his hair snow white. The clothes he wears are also monochrome, with a black cropped hoodie over a turtleneck, black pants, and white gloves and boots.

The boy opens his eyes. Those are still entirely green, like two swirling vortexes of Lazarus inside his eyesockets.

"Ew, I hate traveling through tech," the boy grimaces and shakes his hands out, like getting rid of an unpleasant feeling. His voice sounds a little off, like there's an additional echo to it, but, as he turns to the Bats, a white ring forms over his waist and separates in two, traveling up and down his body. When the light of them fades, in front of them stands the very same boy, only now he looks a lot more human. Black messy hair, icy blue eyes, red oversized hoodie and black cargo pants, a slightly slouched posture, and a dazzling smile.

DPxDC Al Ghul Twins Quick Thought

DPxDC Sky Pirates

Some of you may have noticed that I love to re-imagine concepts and adapt them into different settings. So, today, I present you with yet another dpxdc fantasy AU, and this time, it's Pirates.

Only just 'pirates' seemed not exciting enough, so I have Sky Pirates.

Amity Port, a place on the outskirts of Gotham - a floating continent under the rule of Waynes. A town on the edge of the world, with only the Vast Skies beyond its piers. Flying ships moored in the docks, sails of all the colors you can imagine, taverns, inns, and shops run by all the people you know: Old Kinght Fright, Jinnee Desiree, and Lady Lunch, to name some.

Royal Guard Valerie Gray, who left Amity nearly a decade ago, is now back, and she brought guests with her. Two Princes of Gotham, straight from Bristol: Tim and Jason. Only they are not here for a simple visit.

A Sky Curse over both of them, with feathers piercing their skin from inside, causes them to seek the help of a skies witch since none of the mages, witches, or warlocks all throughout Gotham could help them. But sailing the Vast Skies with no clear destination is a task for no battleship.

They need something else.

A crew of pirates who never back down from adventure when offered a fair price. A ship that had sailed far beyond any trade would go. A captain that their Royal Guard can trust, even if begrudgingly.

And, maybe, a new friend that also has feathers under his sleeves.

Is this an advertising post for my new fic? Yes, yes, it is. 'Free as the Wind' by corkinavoid, here is a link, enjoy.

What I did was I took the concept of 'Danny has Wings' and the idea of space pirates from 'Treasure Planet', mixed it with some 'Pirates of the Caribbean' aesthetic, threw in some magic, added a generous amount of fantastic skyscape worlds and a dash of adventures that end in love, and winged it.

Also, have some art I shamelessly found on Pinterest to set the mood:

P.S. The fic has soundtrack links included

DPxDC Recount Your Kids, Batman

[A loose continuation to this post]

Talia doesn't visit the Wayne manor. At least not regularly nor officially. All the batkids and Batman know she comes sometimes, just to check up on Damian and maybe bother Bruce from time to time, but this is the first time she has ever shown up to a dinner.

And, as they all take their seats, she gives Damian a long curios glance. Then, she looks to Bruce.

"Is that everyone?" She asks, easy and lighthearted. One might think she is simply not acquainted with the number of Wayne children or that she is teasing Bruce on the sheer amount of them. But Damian is looking down to his plate, and Tim knows for sure Talia keeps up with Wayne's head count, and Dick is fairly certain Talia would never tease Bruce, at least not so subtly.

It could have been some sort of a hint at Jason. If he was not here, that is. But he is, for once, so this is really all the family at one table.

"Yes?" Dick tries, looking around the table just to make sure. Steph and Babs are not here today, but that's definitely not what Talia could have meant. Bruce also looks just a little confused, which is a nice change of pace since he looked guarded and on edge from the very moment Talia showed up.

The woman hums, her eyes studying Damian. The youngest bat keeps his gaze down on his empty plate. No one really understands what's going on, but they all feel like there's something important and heavy hanging in the air.

Then, Talia stands up and turns to Alfred, "We will be dining later. It has come to my attention that kids are a lot more secretive than I thought," she explains cryptically and smiles at Bruce, "Beloved, will you come with me to the training grounds? I have something to show you."

DPxDC Afterlife, But It's A Bar

[discontinued, feel free to add on]

It was weird. Not wrong, alarming or dangerous type of weird. Not good or comforting either.

Just plain weird.

It all started a few days ago, on Wednesday, to be exact. On a rare occasion, Jason was patrolling outside of his territory ("cover for me, I have a date" my ass, Replacement), and he spotted something out of place. A neon green, almost toxic colored sign that read "Afterlife".

Honestly, who names a place like that? But judging by the placement and design, it was a bar, and Jason could almost appreciate the irony. Maybe it had a slogan along the lines of "our drinks will send you beyond the lines of life and death" or something. But at the same time, it could be interpreted as "alcohol can and will be the death of you," which, technically, is not the best PR campaign for a bar.

Jason decided to visit the place anyway. He was curious about the implied death joke, sue him.