(no subject)
ESSAY ON DAMIAN.
Warnings: Falling headcanon, general Batman spoilers, wishing on unicorns and other things that will never exist.
Things about Damian!!
-He's a podbaby. His mother, Talia, did not even bear him in her womb. The boy has never been hugged. Ever.
-From day one, he was engineered to be the ultimate specimen (whether you think Talia raped Bruce or not, Damian is the spawn of two epic people). As such, he is, I believe, a tool to be implemented, in his mother's eyes. The whole al Ghul family is lousy with people who intrinsically believe they are better than others, and Talia has passed this on to Damian.
-His entire life has been about training to be Robin, to be Bruce's aide. This was to throw Bruce off his game and allow Talia a way to get him off balance and capitalize on that. Also, what a great way to load off your kid on someone else :Db Damian knows he's an object, but he doesn't know how to be anything else so it doesn't occur to him not to be satisfied with this. He has everything he wants. He is what his mother always wanted him to be, and he's connected to his father. He is at the pinnacle of his existence.
At ten years old.
Yeah. Let's say that again. His entire life to this point was to be Robin. And now he is Robin. Eventually he may become Batman! But if Batman 666 is anything to go by, that's the most depressing possible future ever. It includes:
-Selling his soul when he's 14 to save Gotham
-Telling himself on a daily basis that he has to cheat because he knows he will never be as good as Bruce or Dick.
-Living alone with his only companionship being a cat named Alfred.
So, at ten years old, it can only decline from where he is. And I do not think this is good enough. I want more for this character. If I thought Batman 666 was the end-all be-all, I could not play him
THAT BEING SAID I have this thing for redeeming him. Not like he's going to wake up one day and realize the error of his lifestyle and become a perfect angel. No. I want to see the psychological effects of being raised for one purpose. I want to see him realize there are more options and that people can love him and not know how to react to that. I want to see him get frustrated and angry and have outbursts in public and not know how to cope with feeling helpless and vulnerable in a world he has no idea how to function in. Because let's face it: the kid is a genius but he doesn't know how to take care of himself. He's a brilliant fighter, if impulsive, but he doesn't know how to sit in a classroom. He doesn't know how to listen, or really be listened to. He acts out because that's how he gets results and I wonder what would happen if someone suddenly decided that wasn't good enough and he would have to try harder and stop taking the easy way out.
It's never going to happen in the comics. Redemption stories aren't all that interesting if they deal with teaching someone how to take public transportation and not strangle people, and I realize that my intense desire for seeing redemption is pretty gratuitous. It's a bit like taking a stray cat in and expecting it to be the perfect house pet.
But you guys, I play Mary Marvel and Katara. Part of me just wants to save things.
FEEL FREE TO COMMENT/QUESTION/DISAGREE/CREATE DISCUSSION. Also if you're curious about a particular aspect of my headcanon like IF HE EVER SLEEPS or something. IDK.
Warnings: Falling headcanon, general Batman spoilers, wishing on unicorns and other things that will never exist.
Things about Damian!!
-He's a podbaby. His mother, Talia, did not even bear him in her womb. The boy has never been hugged. Ever.
-From day one, he was engineered to be the ultimate specimen (whether you think Talia raped Bruce or not, Damian is the spawn of two epic people). As such, he is, I believe, a tool to be implemented, in his mother's eyes. The whole al Ghul family is lousy with people who intrinsically believe they are better than others, and Talia has passed this on to Damian.
-His entire life has been about training to be Robin, to be Bruce's aide. This was to throw Bruce off his game and allow Talia a way to get him off balance and capitalize on that. Also, what a great way to load off your kid on someone else :Db Damian knows he's an object, but he doesn't know how to be anything else so it doesn't occur to him not to be satisfied with this. He has everything he wants. He is what his mother always wanted him to be, and he's connected to his father. He is at the pinnacle of his existence.
At ten years old.
Yeah. Let's say that again. His entire life to this point was to be Robin. And now he is Robin. Eventually he may become Batman! But if Batman 666 is anything to go by, that's the most depressing possible future ever. It includes:
-Selling his soul when he's 14 to save Gotham
-Telling himself on a daily basis that he has to cheat because he knows he will never be as good as Bruce or Dick.
-Living alone with his only companionship being a cat named Alfred.
So, at ten years old, it can only decline from where he is. And I do not think this is good enough. I want more for this character. If I thought Batman 666 was the end-all be-all, I could not play him
THAT BEING SAID I have this thing for redeeming him. Not like he's going to wake up one day and realize the error of his lifestyle and become a perfect angel. No. I want to see the psychological effects of being raised for one purpose. I want to see him realize there are more options and that people can love him and not know how to react to that. I want to see him get frustrated and angry and have outbursts in public and not know how to cope with feeling helpless and vulnerable in a world he has no idea how to function in. Because let's face it: the kid is a genius but he doesn't know how to take care of himself. He's a brilliant fighter, if impulsive, but he doesn't know how to sit in a classroom. He doesn't know how to listen, or really be listened to. He acts out because that's how he gets results and I wonder what would happen if someone suddenly decided that wasn't good enough and he would have to try harder and stop taking the easy way out.
It's never going to happen in the comics. Redemption stories aren't all that interesting if they deal with teaching someone how to take public transportation and not strangle people, and I realize that my intense desire for seeing redemption is pretty gratuitous. It's a bit like taking a stray cat in and expecting it to be the perfect house pet.
But you guys, I play Mary Marvel and Katara. Part of me just wants to save things.
FEEL FREE TO COMMENT/QUESTION/DISAGREE/CREATE DISCUSSION. Also if you're curious about a particular aspect of my headcanon like IF HE EVER SLEEPS or something. IDK.