#FOR EXAMPLE i'm 90% sure that we're supposed to take 'bruce is depressed' at face value but consider my alternate interpretation

[silverwhittlingknife]

urban legends <3

OKAY I like so much about this comic but in particular there is a very small writing detail which I love and am OBSESSING about:

The comic starts with "my...um...Bruce" and ends with "you're my son."

Why do I love this, let me count the ways...

We start the comic with Tim talking to Bernard:

Tim: Things have been weird with my... um...Bruce. Tim: Remember I told you about Dick? He's...he's like my older brother.

So we start with a hesitation and a decision NOT to call Bruce his father. And another hesitation before deciding what to call Dick, and then going with "he's like my brother" instead of "he is my brother." Which shows us Tim's feeling kinda insecure about his connection to the family. (A classic Tim worry!)

(And even though Bernard doesn't bug him about it, the thing that hangs over this whole comic is that Tim hasn't come out yet. It's been over a month! They're dating! And he's avoided telling his family. And the comic doesn't tell you "he's not sure how they'll react," but it doesn't have to. Instead we get "it's been over a month and he still hasn't said anything and he's hesitating over what to call them," draw your own conclusions.)

(And other little low-key moments: Tim didn't call Dick because he wanted to talk to him in person, not over the phone, and he's hesitating asking Bruce to spend time together: "Do you want...um, do you want to investigate with me?" And ostensibly it's worry about Bruce, because that's what Tim's distracting himself with, but also you've got all these little threads of anxiety everywhere because every conversation is a potential opportunity to come out if he could only find the right opportunity, so every moment is charged with that uncertainty both for the reader and for Tim.)

AND THEN

At the end Tim finally confesses and Bruce isn't reacting badly but he's not being especially effusive either - he's staring off into the distance speaking in monosyllables.

So Tim segues to "By the way, I have a gift for you!"

And although Tim's always trying to help, we know that right now he's being especially tryhard. Because Tim tells us that they don't normally exchange gifts. But he felt the need to get one this Christmas. Just like he felt the need to hang around trying to help Bruce.

And THIS is the moment when it finally dawns on Bruce that Tim isn't just trying to help, he's also trying to get reassurance

AND THEN THIS EXCHANGE

Tim: Thanks... Batman? I know we don't do gifts...but I made this for you. It's to help if you get hurt and none of us are there to help stitch you up. Bruce: You don't have to try to make me happy, Tim. I am happy because you're my son.

1) Tim calls Bruce "Batman" (impersonal!) and oh, here's an awkward gift.

2) Bruce responds by calling him "Tim" (personal!), and saying, you don't need to prove yourself to me, my love is unconditional, I love you for who you are NOT what you do for me, and "you're my son."

And one of the reasons that line hits so hard?

Because this is exactly the phrasing that Tim was hedging around at the start of the issue.

So implicitly, we've got Bruce sensing something of Tim's insecurity and responding to it. So he's not responding just to the offered gift but to the underlying motivations and they don't talk about it but ahhhhhh

And then they go back to the codenames but now it's an affirmation <3

Perfect coming-out Christmas story. <333