#I wish more people would discuss Bruce’s pervasive pattern of abuse and how it affected his kids

[fifiophobia]

If Nightstar got her own comic storyline, I hope DC explores transgenerational trauma with her.

⚠️ Content warning for parental abuse

Section 1: Her Parents and Gramps

Koriand’r was sold into slavery (some versions she was sold as a child), was experimented on, and is often taken advantaged of due to her kindness.

Dick witnessed both of his parents die, he became a vigilante when he was 10, was physical/mentally/emotionally abused by his adopted father, and he watched Blüdhaven explode.

Bruce watched his parents die, failed to save his son from dying, and struggles with his mental health to the point where all of his relationships have fallen apart at least once.

I’d go on with each member of the Batfam but that would take all day. I picked these three because I feel like these three had the most influence on Mar’i (not to say there wasn’t anyone else who influenced her)

With how these events affected these characters and their relationships, it makes me wonder how it would affect their relationship with Mar’i.

We actually saw Mar’i struggle with her fear of death because of her family’s history with death. Perhaps this could be something to start with.

A trait she shares with Bruce and Dick is obsessive perfectionism because all three of them feel burdened with the task to save everyone. This has resulted in most of Bruce’s relationships to deteriorate, and in Dicks perfectionism. Poor Mar’i would most likely pick up something similar in her life.

Section 2: Breaking the Cycle

Something that isn’t talked about much is how Bruce’s abuse affected Dick and his overall family. If you don’t believe me when I say Bruce abused Dick…

(Unfortunately, Dick isn’t his only victim and Bruce also engages in other types of abuse. Not to mention there are more examples of Bruce hitting Dick and being an overall messy parent and putting Dick through parentification)

Seeing how Bruce’s abuse affected Dick, it makes me wonder how it would affect Mar’i and how he would hurt her. Would he put her through a similar parentification he put Dick through? Or would he do something else

Since Mar’i has some of her moms’ influence, it makes me wonder if she’d put her foot down and confront Bruce about all the terrible stuff she did to the batfam instead of excusing his behavior and blaming herself.

I think she’d be the type to tell Bruce:

“This is why your family doesn’t want to be around you. It’s not because you’re this loner who ended up getting stuck with a bunch of kids against your will, it’s because you’re an emotionally immature coward who takes your pain out on others. How is it you can figure out the biggest mysteries in the world, but you can’t figure out why 10 year olds aren’t good replacements for your parents or therapy!”

I just hope Mar’i breaks the cycle of abuse and perfectionism.

After all, one of Mar’is main motifs (the star) can represent the past, hope for the future, optimism, goals, and our ancestors.

If you have any more suggestions, please let me know.