#ask and answer

[amber-tortoiseshell]

seeing a maine coon next to a cat whose face hasn't been selectively bred to be Shaped Like That always makes me laugh a little

I don't know what you are talking about, nothing to see here just two cats with regular cat faces

[theladyphantom]

Baby Danny is gonna be the embodiment of the meme “I’m not a little kid anymore! I’m 16!”

Oh absolutely; Bruce will be putting on Danny’s seatbelt for him even when he’s eighteen—that’s his baby

[wynterwyndigo]

Did you see Dex’s new post..?

..no.. I was arriving at my grandparents and im sobbing in a bathroom.

[flamingpudding]

Can you write a fic about this if you can

https://www.tumblr.com/hello-eden/759003690226024449/is-it-a-enemy-or-a-child?source=share

Thanks for the ask, I will try! But first...

Link and credits to the original op: Prompt by @hello-eden

Now onwards! :D Hope you will enjoy....

-----------

Damian stared. There before him was no longer his Grandfather but a boy some years younger than him. He glanced over at his elder brothers. Richard was already on the coms reporting back. Drake was on his wrist computer typing away about something while muttering. He glanced back at the boy, suddenly realising that what he thought was his resemblance to his father could also be resemblance to his grandfather.

The boy before him, probably around the age six, had dark black hair with a white prominent sideburns, similar but far more prominent then Todds white forehead streak. The boy's eyes were not just the simple green Damian had been familiar with but one of the boy's eyes was red, heterochromia. Something Damian hadn't been aware his grandfather apparently had. All his life he had never seen his grandfather like this. The youngest that man had ever appeared had been 60, though Damian was acutely aware that his grandfather was far older than that.

But right now, there sat a six years old boy, his grandfathers ropes, oversized and barely hanging to the boy's shoulders, in the middle of the aftermath of one of his grandfathers plans backfiring. The boy glared at them eyes narrowed as he clutched the robes around himself, Damian noticed the shift in the boy's eyes, red and green wandering around but keeping them in his field of view. He noted how his shoulders tensed before they turned back onto them. It was clear his grandfather did not retain his memories.

"Hey there buddy." Richard, the one who probably had the best handle on small children among them stepped forward and Damian watched how his de-aged grandfather took a step back growling. Damian blinked, that was not what he had expected from his usually dignified grandfather, but then again, he was de-aged and a child.

"Where is mom?"

There was a pause among everyone and they could practically feel the drop in the air of reality hitting hard. With how old his grandfather truly was, there was no way his great-grandmother was still alive. Damian's head turned to look at his eldest brother, his eyebrow arched his masks on his face moving according to that. The silent question of 'now what?' Passed on towards Richard before he turned back.

"Some things happened, and we are here to help. You don't need to be scared of of, in fact it would be create if you could help us better understand-" He watched how his brother tried to gently explain the situation to his grandfather, a sense of strangeness filled Damian watching that seen but he snapped out of it as the boy cut Richard off with a small growl.

"Mom would never leave me. The only reason he would is if something happened to Ellie!" They stared and the conviction the boy spoke these words with, yet they all caught it the brave front the boy was putting on. The slight barely audible stutter, the wet sheen to his eyes as he stared back at them. It tucked at all their hearts. And Damian could accept it right now, this wasn't his grandfather Ra's Al Ghul, but a small boy lost and confused.

While Damian came to terms with the situation Tim caught on to something else. The boy before them asked about his mother, but then used the pronounce 'he', while Tim hadn't expected it that clearly indicated that Ras mother wasn't a simple female that might have died long ago. He had noted the use of a different pronounce that 'regularly' associated with the term mother.

Despite the show of hostility Tim crouched onto eye level of the boy. "Could you tell us your name, and age?" He tried to ask gently, the way he had seen Dick interact with children before. "We could help you find your mom then or maybe Ellie, if you tell us who they are?"

Tim ignored the looks his siblings were sending him and burning into the back of his head. It didn't matter if that was a small lie, they needed to calm the boy down and confirm information. While there likely was no doubt that this was Ra's, they still needed to confirm it, the de-aging happened to quickly before their eyes there was no guarantee that they really could completely trust what they saw.

Though judging by the glare the boy was now giving him, that had a lot of similarities of how Damian tented to glare at them at times. Tim could say there was no changes that, that wasn't Ra's. Still they had to proceed logically just to be on the safer side, in case this wasn't just a villain plan backfiring but a part of a bigger absurd plan, to appeal to their consciousness with the use of a innocent looking child.

The boy on the other and stiffened more, eyes darting towards each of them, then around the area before coming back to stay on Tim. In a way the teen hoped to see some sort of recognition. But instead he saw contemplation, the gears turning in the small boy's head as red and green eyes wandered over them once more.

"Dan."

Was the court answer they got after several minutes. Dick blinked under his mask glancing back at his siblings before at the child again. "What was that Buddy?" He kept his tone friendly and calm, anything to make the child feel safe at the moment, even if that child was Ra's Al Ghul.

"Dan, that's my name." The child version of Ra's, Dan spoke again eyes on them as the boy clutched the oversized robes around him tighter. Not speaking up more.

"Dan?" Dick heard Damian murmur, it was the least to say it confused them all but then again, Ra's was very old originally, he might have changed his names a couple of times during his life time so far. It wasn't like they could track down anyone anyway or keep to what Tim had told the boy, about trying to find likely already dead people for the boy.

"Anything else you want to tell use, Dan?" Dick ask gently in hopes to get anything more out of the boy but, realised a moment later that they hit a wall as the boy's eyes narrowed with dangerous glint. Something he tried not to react on as he had seen that kind of look from Damian before and dear god, this child version of Ra's was making them more and more aware that Damian was related to that man after all.

"That's all I am going to say." The boy growled a little, though Dick could still see the hints that all of that was just a brave facade to not appear weak before them. A mannerisms he remembered all to well Damian had for a long time when he first came to Gotham. A mentality of 'don't show weakness'. Dick sighed, this was going to be difficult to handle wasn't it?

Dan stared at the place these strangely dressed people had brought him too, by now he was wearing more fitting clothes instead of that oversized robe. Though the shirt and shorts where still to big for his current frame. For a moment he cursed his small build as he quietly walked about this 'safe house'. While Dan was no stranger to strangely clothed people or entities, he was wondering what he had gotten himself into as he watched them from the corner of his eyes. The last thing he remembered was being with his Mom and Ellie, they had just gotten back from a checkup with Frostbite and his mom had promised him that he was allowed a spar with Frightnight.

And then...

Suddenly he was before these people strangely dressed people in the mittel of what looked like a destroyed altar, robes that were way to big barely fitting him. While Dan acted bravely he couldn't help the childlike fear at the sudden change of situation. Frostbite had explained it to him and Elly, that because of now properly growing up their mentality would reflect on their actual ages now. It was annoying and by all means Dan didn't want to appear weak in front of potential danger, but his eyes still watered at the thought of his mom suddenly leaving him.

Sometimes he hated how attached he had gotten to Danny after all these years.

He glanced back at these 'heroes', his ears twitched as he tried to catch what the conversation the oldest of them was having on what appeared to be a earpiece communicator. Dan had noted that everything seemed, a lot more modern that what he was used to. It made him wonder if maybe something happened to the timelines again and he got flung into a different time. If that was the case he knew he could relax and just wait for his mom to pick him up, but at the same time Dan had a feeling that wasn't the case. There was no green post-it note from old Clockwork.

Keeping these people in his peripheral vision he angled his body away. One hand out to the side and definitely kept out of their side he tried to see if he could still access his ghost powers, he knew Frostbite had told them not to do that while they were still in a delicate state of re-aging but he needed to know, in case he needed to defend himself. It didn't have any Fenton weaponry on him either.

Dan hissed as a pain shot up his arm and he dropped trying to summon his powers, with a slight bout of annoyance. Okay Frostbites warning was valid, noted. Thought the next moment the kid dressed like a streetlight, Robin if he remembered right, snatched his arm up, inspecting his hand and Dan blinked for a stunned moment before growling. He didn't liked getting touched. He was just about to voice that when he froze.

Recognising something he hadn't before. "You...." He mumbled stunned. That kid had a ecto signature, it was weak, washed out and not really strong, but Dan recognised it and swallowed hard, it was similar to his moms and his own and Ellie's. Before he could comment on it more a gleam got his attention and suddenly Dan saw something else peaking out of the collar from the colourful dressed boy.

Without thinking Dan snatched it and stumbled back from the boy, inspecting the green, emerald like stone. The gold chain around it broke as he had ripped it of the others neck as he looked at it carefully, his thumb going over the smooth surface. While Dan did that he did not notice how Robin got held back by the teen from lashing out. He didn't noticed how the three 'heroes' seemed to hurriedly hiss and discuss something among themselves as Dan inspected the calling stone.

He would be a fool to not recognise this. It was a stone made from concentrated ectoplasm, it appeared like an emerald to mortals but in truth was made from his mothers ectoplasm. A calling stone, to call him when ever they were in trouble and his mom wasn't with them already. Dan clutched the stone, it looked different from the one he remembered his mother giving him. His head snapped up as he stared hard with narrowed eyes at the other boy only a couple years older. Noting some resemblances to Danny.

Suddenly he had the thought that maybe, just maybe Clockwork had sent him here on purpose. Because maybe these people had done something to his mother, to Danny, and maybe even Ellie too. Because why else would they have one of these calling stones.

"How did you get that? Where is mom?"

[purplume]

hello!!! I may be really late but can you draw Julie and Wally hangin out?

Here ya go!

Wally is a perfectionist when it comes to hair

[cbrownjc]

Do you have a theory for *how* we end up with Luke taking over from Eric? A clone, material ghost...?

Hello! 👋🏾

(So there are actually two asks I have before this one, but I'm going to answer this one right now, since I think it'll save time regarding other similar comments I've gotten.)

So yeah, I do have a solid, lore-based theory on what I think will happen. I didn't include this reason in my other post because it's long and complicated, and the post I made about it was already long enough. And I wanted to keep the focus on the production side of things, not the lore side of it all, which I think the show will pull from to make it happen.

Theory: What I think is going to happen to Daniel's character, and an actor switch from Eric to Luke with it

So, the "dies bad" thing that not only the show itself but Rolin and Eric talked about. I do not think they were joking, and I do not think it is a misdirect. Not really.

Because even as a vampire, Daniel is clearly ill. His body still shakes, meaning he likely still has Parkinson's, which, yes, would be consistent with the canon about neurological illnesses in the book, and that being turned does not cure a person of such things, as I've said here:

Reblog by @cbrownjc · 1 image

💬 2  🔁 15  ❤️ 54 · Okay, so I had to look up part of this -- alpha-synuclein aggregation -- because even though my mom had Parkinson's and I

There are also other things, regarding him needing antibodies and such, for unknown reasons.

So what I think is going to happen is that, at some point (maybe in EP307, maybe in Season 4), Daniel's biological body is going to die. Maybe from the illness of his body, maybe by some other method. But I do think his biological body is going to die.

And yes, when it comes to Anne Rice's universe, the fact that it's his biological body that I think will die is an important distinction.

So, to start: In Anne Rice's universe, two things are said to make up a person’s life/existence: The biological body and the etheric body. And both things are attached to each other by a thread known as The Silver Cord.

Rice had Louis’ character explain this concept in the book Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis:

[...]

[...]

[...]

And this next thing is the major point Louis makes about it all, a bit later in the same book:

---

All of this, with biological and etheric bodies and The Silver Cord, becomes a vital story component when it comes to where the story we are about to get goes, not only with Akasha and Amel, but, ultimately, Lestat himself, both in relation to the two of them but the Body Thief plot as well.

The Silver Cord, and how it works, also becomes a key thing wrt Louis as well.

Right after Season 2 ended, Rolin Jones talked about how the show was going to have to explain the concept of "the soul" and how it works in this world. And the show has already begun to do that, back in EP301, when we saw Baby Jenks die for a brief moment:

Lestat wasn't just tripping in this scene. That is Baby Jenks' soul -- i.e., her etheric body -- hovering above her biological body, which has died.

The reason that Lestat could see her soul, her etheric body, was because of the drugs in his system. [Put a pin in this, I'll come back to it.]

Now, Baby Jenks' biological body was dead, her heart had very likely stopped, but a person's brain does not die immediately when the body does. This is also discussed in PLatRoA when there is a discussion with Louis, Lestat, Fareed, and others about The Silver Cord:

Interesting quote, isn't it? Considering we just heard Fareed, in EP303, tell Daniel that a "B-level vampire" can live for up to two hours if their head is decapitated from its body....

Anyway, while her heart had likely stopped and her body was technically dead, her biological brain was likely still functioning, meaning she was able to be revived. (I am in no way an expert on medicine and medical procedures, btw, I am just going off what the books lay out about this.)

Anyway, when Baby Jenks died for that brief moment, the Silver Cord that connected her biological and etheric bodies was severed.

And yes, the etheric body has its own independent brain and heart, which makes it its own living entity. Which is why, when it is separated from the body, it lives on.

To help explain all of this even more, I have made this handy infographic that I hope can clarify it all even more 🙂:

This is the concept the show has to set up for all people who haven't read the books. Or, even more importantly, haven't read the Prince Lestat Trilogy of books, which is very much where the show is going when it comes to the overall story it is telling.

We've been getting final trilogy lore bombs and drops all season, really. Though it really all began to start ramping up, starting with EP304.

Post by @cbrownjc · 1 image

💬 0  🔁 7  ❤️ 31 · Reblog by @nalyra-dreaming · 5 images · The show basically lore bombed from the books Prince Lestat and Blood Communion in

So all of this, with biological vs etheric bodies, spirits, and Silver Cords, needs to be explained for any of the coming story to make sense to people who have not read those three books, especially. Because it is all critical to understanding the story going forward.

And I think Daniel's character is going to be the main key that the show is going to use to explain it all.

Because yes, as I said, I do think Daniel's biological body is going to die.

However, when his biological body does so? His Silver Cord will snap, and his etheric body -- his soul -- will be disconnected and freed.

And that is the first step on how I think the show will have Daniel die, but not leave the show.

But there will be more to it.

* * * * *

When a person in this universe dies, they don't always just hang around on Earth, at least when it comes to the book. Some stick around, but some move off to a different plane or dimension.

Some even go to hell. (Or, at least, what they think is hell.)

But I have a feeling the show is about to set up something that the Mayfair Witches TV show has already set up, which is that, before a person dies, they can bind their soul to an object. So that, when the body dies, the soul will remain on Earth.

I mentioned this concept before, in this post I made about two months ago:

Post by @cbrownjc · 3 images

💬 0  🔁 1  ❤️ 22 · Thinking about this. ☝🏾 And having Immortal Universe Lore ideas about it. ... man, why did that show go and make the May

For those who haven't watched Mayfair Witches (understandable), the spirit Lasher, before he died, bound his soul to the Mayfair Emerald Key. The character of Julian Mayfair, before he died, bound his soul to an old Victrola record player.

Both were able to live on as spirits until they were able to acquire new biological bodies for themselves. I won't go into it all here regarding the hows and whys. But I will say that Julian Mayfair did so by taking over his son Cortland's body and trapping Cortland's soul in the Victrola.

Side note: Lasher, being a spirit trying to create a biological body for himself, is actually the main, overarching plot of the first Mayfair Witches book, btw. Lasher basically manipulated and genetically engineered the Mayfair Family, over 13 generations, to do so.

So anyway, where am I going with this? Well, you did see the third image I posted in that above link, correct?

Yeah, Daniel's bowling ball. Which I've also already made a post about here:

Post by @cbrownjc · 11 images

💬 0  🔁 4  ❤️ 43 · Hey! okay so I might be reading too much into it but also everything with this show very intentional imo The colors r def

That bowling ball being the color of what Daniel's current eye color is, mixed with his book-canon eye color, is no coincidence, IMO.

IMO, something, some part of Daniel's soul is bound to that bowling ball. Which, I know, is nothing but pure speculation at this point. But the colors, and the way that thing changed color when Daniel got pulled into the "rapture" for a moment... I do not think it means absolutely nothing.

[Pin!] And this is what I wanted to come back to. Because, as I said, Lestat was high on drugs when he saw and was talking to Baby Jenks' spirit/soul.

Armand, in contrast, if we go by book lore? Would need no such help. Because even when Armand was still just a feldgling, he could see and perceive ghosts and spirits unaided by anything, so strong are his abilities with the Mind Gift:

Now, after this, Anne Rice doesn't really explore Armand's seemingly unique ability to do this, to see spirits that do not have solid forms. By the time of Prince Lestat, however, it seems every vampire can just do so.

But I think the show might be taking a different tactic to this... at least when it comes to souls/spirits that can not create solid, physical forms for themselves. I think Armand's ability to see and perceive intangible spirits will be a unique skill he has in the show.

And will be a skill used that ties into Daniel, and what I believe is coming with him... which will be this.

Daniel's biological body will die, his Silver Cord will snap, and his etheric body will be released and become an intangible spirit for a time... until he can learn to manifest a tangible body for himself.

* * * * *

Because for spirits that can do that, who learn how to do that, well, they very much can be seen... by vampires and humans alike. In the book Prince Lestat, there is even talk about such spirits wearing real clothing and not having to manifest clothes for themselves.

Also? It is said that every member of the Talamasca becomes a spirit after they die. We see this in the books with the character of Raymond Gallant, who became acquainted with Marius during the period in the late 1400s when Marius was living in Venice. After he died, he became a spirit and was around during the modern-day storyline of the Prince Lestat Trilogy.

And Daniel himself did say, in EP302, that the Talamasca has him "on retainer."

And yes, I know right now that some are thinking/saying, “Well, why can’t Eric just play the part of Daniel’s spirit/soul if this is what might happen!?”

First, let me say right now that yes, the show very much could just have Eric playing the part of Daniel’s soul/spirit, very easily in fact.

However, I do not think that is what the show is going to do. And that out-of-show reason will be for all the TV show production reasons I already laid out in my other post.

But when it comes to the in-show reason?

Well, look, the truth is, the show itself might just give the simple, in-book-universe answer for it as to why that is, which is that souls/spirits/ghosts — those who remember their human lives at least — like looking like their younger selves. 

Like, that really is just the simple answer to it all. 

And we do see this with two spirits in particular in the books (whom I will not name and spoil right now), both of whom had been turned into vampires when they were quite old and just, in the end, could not mentally deal with an eternity looking so, and having specific ailments still after, due to the age and health statuses when they became vampires.

Sound familiar? *Stares at Daniel’s shaking and other maladies*

That “do not turn the old and infirm” rule wrt the Great Laws, at least in the show’s universe, doesn’t look like it’s just there for vanity reasons, IMO, like it can kind of come off as in the books. 

That said, however? In the books, the two spirits I mentioned above, that we do know of who were turned when their human bodies would have been seen as “old and infirm,” again, they actually couldn’t handle it that they became vampires; they were old, and their bodies had been really sickly at the time they became immortal. 

As I said, in both instances, the minds of each of them broke because of it. And both ended up killing themselves (via fire) because of the pain they were in, because their now-immortal vampire status locked them forever into such bodies. 

And, when they both became spirits? Both chose to look younger, healthier, and more like the selves they preferred to have been if they had still been vampires. 

So, yeah, in the end? I think this will be the simple, in-universe reason Daniel will not keep his older form once he is just a soul/spirit. Just as the two vampires I explained about above didn’t keep theirs when they came back as spirits in the books. 

And the reason is simply that Daniel himself likely won’t want to stay in his older form. And that he will want to look more like what he thinks of as his best self, which will likely be some younger and healthier form of himself. 

And that’s it. 

And if you think the optics of him doing so look bad, and the show shouldn’t/won’t do it for that reason? I ask — when has this show ever cared about not doing something because of bad-looking optics about it? 

Yeah, exactly, it never has. And I don’t expect the show to start doing so now, either.

* * * * *

So yeah. Whether it is at the end of this season or the beginning of Season 4, this is what I think is going to happen to Daniel. His biological body will die, and he will become a spirit bound to Earth that, at first, probably only Armand will be able to see and interact with. And, over time, learning to be more than that.

In fact, if you want to see where I think Daniel's overall arc might be headed on the show? Here is where you should specifically look:

Book: Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis

Chapter: Two

Pay specific attention to: the character of Gremt and what is going on/seemingly has happened to him.

And look, in the overall? I think this all will give Daniel's character, actual arc, and storyline going forward, which is more than he got in the books.

Because the truth of the matter is? Lestat's line about Daniel living an "incidental life as a vampire" is true when it comes to the books. In the books, once Daniel was turned, he did absolutely nothing significant in the story anymore. He went mad for almost 20 years and was taken care of, and became companions with Marius.

Then, once he was well, he and Armand reunited and got back together.

And that's it. That's all Daniel, as a character, did in the story after Devil's Minion.

And that was never going to work for a TV show that was going to need Daniel to be a more dynamic character.

And frankly, it's why I always felt turning Daniel at the end of Season 2 was a mistake. Because if they had left Daniel remaining human for a few more seasons, I really do think there would have been much more to work with there, with his character, story-wise.

But the show didn't. Instead, I think they've decided to use Daniel to help introduce this important concept that does need to be introduced and explained to the audience, given where the overall story is about to go regarding The Silver Cord and spirits.

And could Eric play that spirit-form of Daniel? Yeah, he could. I just don't think the show will have him do so. And never planned to have him do so. That, once it happened, they would switch to Luke playing Daniel for the simple reason I laid out above, and in my other post.

Is it fair? Eh. I think Eric always knew his time on the show was dependent on how long they needed him for. He said some things towards the end of Season 2 that made me think he'd only been contracted for IWTV at that time, and nothing finite had been set with him wrt Season 3 yet. So I honestly don't think he feels like he'd be getting screwed over about all of this.

Now, are many fans going to hate it? Oh yes, I think that is for sure a given.

But do I think Rolin Jones cares?

No, I do not.

As has repeatedly been said, both he and AMC have said before this that they already expect some fans to drop the show after Season 3.

So, if some people do drop the show, IF what happens with Daniel's character, and Eric and Luke do happen as I've theorized here? They are already prepared for it.

Because IF it does happen? Then I really do think that it is something Rolin was already long planning to do when it comes to Daniel's character and story arc.

And as that man has said, he is not changing his plans, no matter who gets pissed off at him and what he's doing.

* * * * *

That all said, I don't think this would stop Eric from showing up in a guest spot or two if this is what the show ends up doing. I think it would happen in Season 4, even, especially if the show decides to end on a cliffhanger wrt Daniel's fate or something....

[call-me-lemon]

Will you draw jax and pomni watching fireworks? I think it would be r3ally cute since its 4th of July lol🎆🎇

I was a bit preoccupied yesterday, and they seem a bit preoccupied with each other...