#Project much?

[tumblingxelian]

I was reading a post by @casscainmainly earlier & my brain went on a tangent regarding the "who is Bruce's favorite" thing. & no this is not gonna be a wholesome "Bat-dad doesn't have favorites" post, this is a "Bruce is too messed up to have the kind of coherent beliefs, feelings and focus for that kind of behavior.

This is not a man with a stable & consistent mood, this is a man who argues with his cowl in the basement while he has company over.

Anyway, I will address this in order of appearances so:

Dick is the "Favorite" in the sense he is in Bruce's eyes a Bruce who managed to cope healthily with his trauma, grow up, move on and be happy as well as a hero.

On some days, this inspires Bruce, and is what makes him feel Dick is better than he could ever be. On other days, this is why Dick could never measure up to him, why he lacks the iron will, the drive, the focus, to be the best he could be.

Jason is or was the "Favorite" in the sense that he was the one Bruce went in on eyes wide open, that's his son, no complexity or ambiguity about it like with Dick or Alfred, they are family.

How well he did is up in the air, but he was trying, which is why Jason dying was basically his parents all over again but now its a parent losing a child not child losing parents. He can't handle it so he consigns Jason to a pre-made tragedy rooted in criminality.

Tim is the "Favorite" in the sense he is the one Bruce sees the most of Bruce in, IE, dark haired, blue eyed, rich boy of Gotham. He is Bruce without the tragedy, & someone Bruce has less preconceptions about.

This is also why Bruce started up mind games and trying to make Tim eventually be Batman but also at other points clearly didn't see Tim as suitable or fitting as well, again, moods.

Stephanie, she is not his kid and was never at risk of being the "Favorite" but she was taught by him. As usual, he projects, he projects Jason, her father, her background & class, her existence as a girl, IE, damsel, in his mind (Writers outfight confirmed this).

He's never once seen her, but there were a few moments that showed they could have had something cool, but it was not to be.

Cassandra is the "Favorite" in the sense that she is what Batman wishes he had. All the skills and training in the world to a superhuman degree, no civilian life, an 'innate' grasp of the morality he grapples with, and the same obsessive drive.

Note, I didn't say Bruce, I said Batman and also that projecting what you want on a person isn't the same as favoritism, nor is it healthy, nor is it even consistent.

Cos Bruce also hates sides of Cass that remind him of himself, IE, he willingness to do what she thinks is right over obediently listen, her self sacrificial tendencies. & he resents sides that aren't like him, the more reckless, less coldly detached parts of her, or her stepping away from his ideal path. In many ways he's jealous.

Damian is not the "Favorite", but he is symbolic of one of Bruce's longest lasting and most passionate love affairs. He is also, like Jason a symbolic representative of family, of what he could have but for the mission.

Damian is also his circumstances, his history, his bloodline, his grandfather, and no matter what he does, he can't escape these things in Bruce's eyes, we are all defined by our families he thinks.

Duke is not the "Favorite", though he does have the least complicated relationship with him due to the era of his arrival and his time becoming a vigilante before they even engaged much.

What's more, Duke was a independent vigilante before he was Bruce's student and well practiced in establishing his own boundaries & definitely has some of that "he matched my freak" energy.

IE, Bruce deciding to become a vigilante at all, Duke holding him before a train to spark his memory, they have zero chill.

So while there'd definitely some projection given his parents, and jealousy/paranoia/admiration with his natural talent and powers. Its a more overtly mentor-like relationship which lessens some of the baggage.

Emphasis on the word, some and no this doesn't make Duke the "Favorite", because if Bruce can't major project, pedestal or pre-judge someone he can't 'bond' with them to the same extent.

Note:

Again, its harder with Bruce, cos its comparing where he was and what he became over a mostly linear period and then reboots happened, amnesia happened, Bruce's persona got shifted, this makes things complicated dammit >< But I hope this was interesting!

[sexygrammaticalerrors]

It’s always nice to hear from my fans!!!

[apollos-boyfriend]

something they don’t tell you about being autistic is that every character you write WILL end up autistic/autistic-coded whether you like it or not

[children-of-the-sun-au]

Rin:why? I don’t want my family to get hurt…

Macaque: She ABANDONED you! How can you still call her family?!

[ironshrikes]

check out the cowboy-wizard hat i made!

[emberfaye]

You know what?

I love you, fics that take months to update. I click on the newest chapter and have no memory of this place and get to go back some chapters and rediscover how much i love everything about this story.

I love you, fics that take years to update. I think of you fondly, and know your names, go search for you and see an update from this year and scream, diving in uncaring of any missed details (i will finish the update and read you in reverse because this is a treat you have bestowed)

I love you, fics that probably will never update again. Thank you for being a roman empire for my mind, thank you for teaching me about the ephemeral fandom experience, for inspiring a thousand million what if-s, for being a comfort read and a nostalgia read and a reread.

I love you fic writers, who jump into projects and stories with enthusiasm. I love you when you succeed in pumping out those chapters and that love doesn't go away when you stop.

I love you fic writers who post and then get in your own head and never feel confident enough to update, whether it's at all or whether it's just that one story.

I love you fic writers, who have a fandom or media hurt you to the point of abandoning or having a hard time with their WIPs.

I love you fic writers, who lose interest or have life changes or illness or bad memory. Thank you for being part of the fandom, a core part of the fandom. Thank you for the time spent in the fandom.

I love you, fic writers who try out something new and then stop. You're so valid.

I love you, WIP fics that may or may not ever get finished. Thank you for brightening my day in the way only you could have.

[sunlit-mess]

coping real hard

[aakiwa]

Yes I’m an Azula apologist—she deserved better; she deserved therapy and love and support and patience 🫶

[thislittlekumquat]

I think the reason protestants and nondenominationals call it "catholic guilt" is because they're jealous of our sacramental swagger (the sacrament of Reconciliation)

[greykolla-art]

Charlie: “I’m so glad my most villain-coded friend is at full power again! 🥰💕”

*throws this to you angst goblins like raw steak* ❤️

(No I will not do a part 2!❤️)

[candyje11yfish]

YOU'RE TELLING ME A FRYE FRIED THIS RICE⁉️⁉️

[ash-and-starlight]

sooo so happie to launch into space the art i did for this @zukkabigbang2024 for the beautiful fic

The Mercy of Magpies

written by the wonderful showstopping @ranilla-bean and betaed by the equally iconic @faux-fires. Featuring dilves, birdies, true love, war, crazy plans, dubious plastic surgery and a galaxy far, far away. Please check out the rebloggable fic post with its special cover art here (or jump directly to the fic, I can't blame you, it is That Good)

also, some extra juicy plot relevant characters pop up in later chapters and havent been included for 👀 spoiler reasons 👀 but you can already try to guess who they are who's that pokemon style <3

[diornies]

Suddenly, it's December by margaux paul

[feralforbeanix]

He loved her immediately I'm gonna cry

[worme4ter]

yo dudes so i'm currently making a tma book for my friend!

it's basically the tma wiki but in book form :)

(highly inspired by what pricklypearviking on reddit did just much less cool)

current status: i run out of printer toner and im in pain so decided to share this to pass the time

[noirandchocolate]

Several weeks ago one of my coworkers called me over into her cubicle and gave me a very unexpected gift. Her mother passed away recently, and she'd been packing stuff up at her condo to give to relatives and sell, so the home could be sold. The mother was an avid knitter and crocheter, and when my coworker came upon her stash of equipment, she told me, she "immediately thought of me as someone who might get some use out of it."

So, I have inherited a varied collection of knitting needles and crochet hooks, cable needles, sewing needles, and, best of all, now-out-of-print pattern books, mostly for blankets, because that was what this lady loved to make most. Plus, I also have a bunch of gauge swatches she made, pinned to little bits of card covered in perfect schoolteacher handwriting setting out the patterns they were made to test.

And also...

My coworker brought another bag, full of yarn and...knitted blanket squares. Her mother's last started project, before she got too sick to continue. And she asked if there was anything I could do with it.

It turned out, there are twelve completed squares, and I quickly located the pattern book they are from amid those given to me. It's a book of 60 patterns, meant to be put together however the maker wishes into blankets of 20 squares. I figured out which of the numbered patterns were already made, and selected eight more that I thought might go well with them.

So now! I am working on completing! My coworker's mother's last knitting project!

And I really am feeling very good about doing it.