She’s living my dream right in front of my eyes.
peepaw and his baby boy
Losing my mind over this dude
Batman: Son of the Demon
Melisande (Talias mother) to me was a figure of light and love for Talia in her formative years. While her father would train her, the only times he’d ever go easy were when Melisande asked him to. She was an excellent care taker. Soft and warm in contrast to the cold callousness of Ra’s. She who would hold Talia and sing her lullabies, stroke her back and hold her hand. Who could persuade Ra’a to do the best thing when doing the right thing wasn’t possible. Beloved by her people. Her death scarred the family forever. Ra’s pushed harder, his recklessness caused him to use the pits more than he should have, and caused Talia to train relentlessly day and night. It hardened both of them, but Ra’s was already stone to begin with.
This is a very very cool post. I personally refer to Talia as the heart of the demon as well, but I had never put much thought into the others, aside from Nyssa. I’ve dabbled with her a bit, but not even remotely close to as much as Talia!
since al ghul isn't really a surname — it's a title, meaning "of the demon," i started thinking about the different monikers (i.e., organs) that could be attributed to the other members of the family.
ra's is the head, the mind that plots, the will that commands. rúh, the soul, is the unseen force—the essence of the dynasty.
talia al ghul – the heart (qalb) talia is the emotional core of the al ghul family, often torn between loyalty to her father and her love for bruce wayne. her decisions, though calculated, are deeply driven by matters of the heart—love, betrayal, and faith. she embodies passion and connection, making her the family’s qalb.
dusan al ghul – the shadow (dhil) dusan, the "white ghost," operates in the margins of the al ghul legacy. his role is one of quiet devotion, cast aside, yet, always present. his loyalty and sacrifice, earn him the title of the dhil, the shadow that follows without faltering.
nyssa raatko – the spine (amud al-faqr) nyssa is the backbone of resistance and rebellion within the al ghul family. her strength and defiance against her father’s rule position her as the amud al-faqr, the spine, unyielding and essential for standing tall against opposition.
melisande – the blood (dam) melisande represents the lifeline that connects the family to its mortal roots. her role in the al ghul saga may be fleeting, but her influence flows through talia and the family’s lineage, much like blood sustains life. she is the dam, a vital yet often overlooked element.
sora – the lungs (riyah) sora, ra’s al ghul’s lost love, is the breath of life that once inspired him. her memory fuels his ambition, and her loss suffocates him. she is the riyah, the lungs, symbolising both the life-giving force and the void left behind when it is gone.
damian wayne – the hands (aydi) damian, born of both the waynes and the al ghuls, is the agent of the family’s will. whether building or destroying, his actions carry the burden of legacy. as the aydi, the hands, he represents both creation and conflict, the tangible force that shapes the future.
athanasia al ghul - the pulse (nafas) athanasia is the constant heartbeat that keeps their future alive. she sustains life, binding the waynes and the al ghuls, a reminder that their stength lies not just in their past, but in their ability to endure and evolve. this vitality makes her the nabadh, the pulse, the promise of renewal.
mara al ghul – the eyes (ayn) mara is the family’s watcher, a presence that perceives more than what it reveals. she is a visionary, seeing not just what is before her, but what lies beneath and beyond. she is the ayn, the eyes, ever watchful, attuned to every rhythm and dissonance.
[ we know very little about dusan's wife, but i think that she would be the sawt, the voice, a balance between silence and sound. ]
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I saw the comments you left under some of my posts and I love them. Do you have any more Talia and Brutalia headcanons?
I always do!! And I will be posting tons of hcs as I post my writings and art here down the line. I come up with them on a whim usually so I’ll just say the ones I’ve been pondering lately!
Also, I’m so sorry if I was spamming you 😭 I was scrolling Brutalia tag in the middle of the night and didn’t realize that like half the most recent posts were you!!
To start, I’ve been thinking about the Lazarus pits a lot lately. Especially everything between Talia and Nyssa, and the effects and details of her brainwashing. It is a confusing timeline that I’m trying my hardest to piece together, but it seems like DC has sort of just pushed that to the back of their minds? Which is unfortunate, honestly, because if they wanted a true villain Nyssa would have been the clear answer. Instead, we ended up with evil Talia for seemingly no reason… until that black Pearl stuff showed up, and then also disappeared.
The timeline I’ve pieced together, loosely, is made with an effort to stay as true to canon as possible while also keeping away from the extremely ooc writing. I want to find a way to keep in that brief moment of freedom she had when she was running LexCorp, as well as her journey toward becoming a mother. Which I will detail a bit now, because I love to think of Talia’s relationship with motherhood!
Talia has always loved children dearly. However, the idea of being a mother herself was always sort of scary. She’d lost her own mother when she was young, and never really had a clear example of how to mother a child aside from distant memories. (I can detail my hcs about her relationship with her mother soon as well, bc those are some that I hold close to my heart.)
It wasn’t until she’d been with Bruce for a while and spent enough time around Jason that she began to feel that ‘maternal pang’ so to speak. Jason is such a bright eyed child with so much potential, and each moment she’s spent around him she only seems to like him more and more. Bruce tells her not to spoil him so much but she can’t help it! Her relationship with Bruce and Jason give her a small amount of hope for a more normal life away from the league, though she is not yet at the stage where she would be able to fully leave her father.
When Jason died, it hit her like a truck. She’d distanced herself from Bruce at that time, thinking that her presence would only cause more trouble for them if the rest of the league suspected her of defecting. So she hadn’t gotten the chance to say goodbye, or try to make things right. She brings him back for Bruce’s sake, but for her sake as well. She would have ordered the Jokers head if she could have, but she couldn’t directly cross Bruce in such a way. If Jason’s death would ever be avenged, she knew he’d have to do it himself.
Talia doesn’t just raise him from the dead and train him right away. She spends a long time nursing him back to health, taking baby steps with him. She has some of the best doctors in the world taking care of him, and when he shows the signs of being ready, then she starts his training. She doesn’t train him with hopes that he will be a killing machine. She tries to teach him responsibility, and good judgement. She tries to right the wrongs that have been committed against him as much as she can. And then he’s gone.
This is where the timeline is a bit iffy. I’m wondering if Damian would have been born at that time or not? Would he have been incredibly young? In my head, it does make sense for him to be born by then. Talia distances herself from Bruce and Jason not only for their safety, but because of the series of miscarriages she’d had in her effort to have a child with Bruce. All were kept a secret from him, except the first. She was ashamed and depressed for so long because of it. After a few tries, she’d gotten desperate enough to run back to her father for help. The Lazarus helped her birth Damian, a perfectly healthy baby, finally. But with everything that happened, it felt unfair to return to Bruce with a baby out of nowhere.
I could sit here and ramble about this for hours and hours but I’m unfortunately very busy today. Please stay tuned and I’ll continue with more of these ramblings when I can. Thank you for asking! Please give your opinions on what I’ve written, because none of my hcs are set in stone and I would love to hear if I’ve gotten something completely wrong. Although it should absolutely be noted that the version of Talia I’m writing isn’t directly related to canon. :)
Happy Mother’s Day!
This poem giving Brutalia like either one of them could be saying it either way
This dress from the Heaven Gaia 2020 SS collection was so gorgeous. The entire collection was gorgeous.
bro the new bangalore skin ……………………………..