AU: it's like canon but with more research.

[runespoor]

Trying to write AU!Damian is making me really wish I'd read more canon!Damian. *sigh*

I sort of feel like I know him well enough wrt Steph/Tim/Dick/Alfred/Cass/I'll even say Babs because I work under the theory that Babs pwns all, but this AU version apparently requires me to think about Talia and Ra's and Bruce. *siiiiiiiiiiiiiigh*

Anyone wanna give me the rundown on that particular can of worms? Mostly what are his opinion/feelings on all of it, or the most recent revelations in backstory.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/__marcelo/]

Regarding Damian and Talia, the latest thing I remember is that when she had his spine repaired she installed a control device on it, which was later used by Deathstroke (at her request) to try to use Damian to kill Dick.

My reading of their current relationship is that she wants him to be Ra's heir, and being with Bruce was ok as a part of his training and education (the al-Ghuls look at things over the long view), but being Dick's Robin means that he's falling into much into his father's brand of tragic selflessness, and that can't be tolerated. And Damian... well, I'm guessing Dick is the first person ever that's sort of being nice to him, and he's Dick, so of course he's imprinting on him and will and has defied his mother to do that.

My feeling is that Damian idolizes Bruce, but at the same time sees him as limited. The al-Ghuls view Bruce like a multiple-clinic owning family would see a world-class surgeon that spends all his time doing voluntary work in Africa. Wasted potential. Damian, who has been told all of his life how great Bruce is, and at the same time how he has to do what he didn't/doesn't... Well, let's just say that for him Bruce is both paternal figure and symbol of rebellion against the family. Plus, Bruce isn't particularly cuddly, as we all know.

I'm kind of going by "The Kingdom" here, which isn't much in canon, but I think Ra's sees Damian as one of dozens of bets/investments/potential plans. It's way too early for Ra's to really be committed to what happens to the guy. For Damian... my guess is that Ra's is the only person Damian is truly afraid of, and Bruce's ability to consistently at least stall Ra's must be part of the reason why he idolizes him. I suspect that he sees being Batman as the only possible alternative to his family's plans for him (plans that he knows Ra's consider contingent on him being a worthy heir). Hence, the more teenage-rish and rebellious he gets, the more he'll want to be Batman. Part of it is to follow on his father's footsteps, but part of it is because Bruce is one of the only people the al-Ghuls respect.

[runespoor7.livejournal.com]

Okay, thank you for the detailed explanation. If it's not too much of a bother, can you remind me how much of the situation between Bruce and the al-Ghuls is because Ra's wants a man for an heir?

[http://users.livejournal.com/__marcelo/]

That's a good question - I'm not sure if Ra's hasn't given up on that or not.

In Red Robin #12 or thereabouts, to punish Tim for messing with his plans, Ra's went to Gotham and set up plans to have most people in the extended Bat-family and associates killed (Dick, Damian, Alfred, Leslie, Selina, Gordon, Babs), mostly to distract Tim into having to perform triage while he had Tommy Elliot (who, remember, is passing as Bruce these days) sign Wayne Enterprises over to Ra's.

Tim fooled him by a) Calling in all of his friends (metas included) to protect the targets ("I'm not Batman. I have friends.") and b) Using Bruce's will to pre-empt the transfer and have Wayne Enterprises passed to him. Kickass. Hell, Ra's called him "Detective" (capital-D).

After that, Ra's observed to Talia that Tim had surpassed his expectations at every turn, and that he thought he had found another man worthy of siring a heir....

(Amusing-to-me footnote: When Ra's checked via radio what was happening with his assassins, which prompted very cool answers from the impromptu bodyguards, Damian's response was "Ninjas, grandfather? I'm insulted." *Nobody* respects ninjas anymore!)