#dick and jason do NOT deal with bruce like that

[leth-writes]

yandere reader x yandere batfam

SUMMARY: yandere batfam x yandere reader

WARNINGS: 18+ as always on my blog, though the work is safe for work. Typical yandere shenanigans.

MASTERLIST 

Requests are open!

Just thinking of a yandere darling. You’re a little intense, maybe just on the creepy side of protective.

But you’re not very good at it 🙁

You’re stalking them, they’re stalking you as you stalk them, it’s a whole thing.

They honestly might be relieved. They know where you are at all times, they’ve long ago put a tracker on you, but having you always hovering around eases their worries.

Tim definitely hacks the bugs you’ve put on them, making sure you aren’t accidentally catching on to the fact they’re night-time vigilantes.

Overall, though, I can see them LOVING the trackers you try to place on them. You’re so clumsy about it anyone would notice, but they pretend not to, just so your self-esteem doesn’t get hurt.

It’s like a kitten trying to fight a tiger; the tiger’s playing, the kitten is unaware of how bad their odds are.

There’s no way you’d be able to break into the manor by yourself.

They see it as enrichment, they just… leave a single window open, on the ground floor, into a rarely used family room.

Once they catch you planting the bugs all over the room, not even bothering to make your way throughout the rest of the manor, they’ll spend more time in the room, playing up their personas.

Bruce is especially amused; he’s really playing up the ditzy Brucie persona around you, entirely so that he can get close to you without you suspecting he’s onto you.

You’re really protective over him; there’s been times you’ve been gearing up to fight some creep at a gala who won’t leave poor ol’ Brucie alone. 

He doesn’t need your help, he’s working on a case, but he appreciates it nonetheless.

It makes him feel all warm and fuzzy, knowing you’re there. Even if there’s no way you’d actually be able to deal with the types of enemies he has.

You’re like pulling him off to the side, holding his hands in yours and staring at him so determinedly, eyes blazing. “Bruce, don’t be scared to tell me if someone’s bugging you, okay? I’ll handle it.” You tell him. Internally, Bruce is cooing. When he tells the others about it later, in the privacy of the cave, they’ll do the same.

You just think he’s too soft for this world. He needs protection! He thought Mexico was a continent!

He’ll definitely pretend to be super drunk just as an excuse to lean on you, his side pressed to yours and an arm slung around your neck. He loves the way he can feel the heat of your blush.

Dick is much the same way. You’ve signed up for his gymnastics class and you’re so determined to succeed at something he loves that he just can’t help but prioritize you. Some of the other students even complain about how obvious the favoritism is. Don’t be surprised if you miraculously win free 1-on-1 lessons with him. He just loves being able to physically touch and guide you, watching how flustered you get.

Sometimes you slip in a bit of information he knows isn’t really available to the general public, just little things about his time in the circus. It makes him happy to know how much time you’ve spent researching him, even if it is pretty baseline stuff, nothing too deep. He’s just appreciating your hard work!

Jason, you have a hard time with. He doesn’t appear in public often, so you spend most of your time just watching him read in the family room. He knows you’re reading the stuff he picks out, so he deliberately chooses books he thinks you’d like. 

When it comes to Tim, he’s definitely matching your freak. You get a tracker on him, he has 3 on you. He’s discreetly watching you watch him. 

Puts on a show, makes himself seem like any naive rich kid. You’ll never see the true predator until it’s too late.

Definitely fiddles with the trackers in his spare time, he loves being reminded of how much you love him; it plays right into those deep seated insecurities left over from his biological parents.

Damian is definitely the least subtle about it. He’s not gonna pretend to be something he isn’t, and he definitely wants you to step up your game. He’ll smash the trackers until you manage to get it into a satisfactory spot.

He will absolutely refuse to spend much time in the family room; he sees it as too easy. He wants you to work to learn more about him. His past is definitely one of the harder ones to dig up.

Cass can read the desperation on you, and just befriends you. She doesn’t really put up much of an act, and just satisfies your protective instincts by listening to your ‘suggestions’ about how awful her ‘friends’ are. They’re acquaintances at best, so you aren’t really accomplishing much of anything, but she feels it’s the thought that counts.

Just imagine when you’re finally kidnapped, and they’re like Surprise! We knew the whole time!

OH MY GOD THE HUMILIATION

They’re completely different than how you thought they were, and you slowly realize you’ve made a big fucking mistake, but oh well, it’s their turn now!

[crimsonwolf715]

I'm Not Sick, I'm Hungover

Jason walks out of his room, his head pounding from the hangover. He walks down the stairs to find Tim sitting at the table in sweatpants and a hoodie. 

“Hey,” Jason says as he walks over to the fridge. 

“Hey,” Tim echoes, sounding congested. 

“Are you sick?” Jason asks, turning towards Tim. 

Tim turns towards him, his face flush and a little swollen. 

“Yeah, you are for sure sick,” Jason says. 

Tim rolls his eyes. Jason grabs a bottle of water, then closes the fridge. 

“Are you sick?” Tim asks. 

“No, why?” 

“Your eyes are bloodshot and you have your headache look on your face.” 

“I’m not sick, I’m hungover.” 

“Don’t tell Bruce.” 

“I had zero plans to. Where is the Dark Knight?” 

“Dealing with something downtown. He took Dick with him.” 

“Ah, that explains why I haven’t heard him yet.” 

Tim nods, then returns his attention to the book that he has on the table. Jason sits at the table and starts sipping water. Cass comes running down the stairs. 

She looks at them. “Why aren’t you guys getting ready?” “Getting ready for what?” Jason asks. 

“Bruce called all hands on deck,” Cass answers. “I’ll meet you guys there.” 

She runs towards the library and Jason sighs. Tim looks up from his book. 

“Bruce is gonna know you’re hungover if you go,” Tim says. 

“Yeah, I know. Maybe if I keep the helmet on I can fool him ‘cause he’ll be distracted. Will you be fine here with Alfred?” 

Tim nods. “Alfred already knows I’m sick. He ran to the store to get supplies for something because we’re out.” 

Jason nods, then gets up. He ruffles Tim’s hair, then heads down to the Batcave. 

When Jason gets to the scene, the loud noises start to give him a headache. 

“Ugh, this is gonna suck, isn’t it?” he mutters. 

He looks for any signs of his family amongst the dozens of people on the scene. What the scene is, Jason isn’t really sure. Some goon-looking people are being arrested, and some people are bringing out things like paintings and an ugly chair. 

“Nice of you to join us, Hood,” Nightwing’s voice says from behind him. 

He turns to see his older brother with a shit-eating grin. 

“What do you want?” Jason asks. 

“Just wondering if you actually listened to the call or you just took Orphan’s word for it.” 

“I didn’t listen to it. What am I supposed to be doing?” 

“There are still goons hiding out, so dealing with them is top priority.” 

“Then why aren’t you doing that?” “Because Batman is working on that, I’m making sure that the officers are doing their jobs. That and talking to Oracle.” 

Jason nods, then points at the building. “There?” 

Dick nods. Jason heads towards the building and is so glad that the building’s insulated because he can barely hear the hubbub outside. He starts wandering the lower levels, running into Cass and Damian on different floors. Once he finally comes across a floor with none of his siblings or Dad, he starts checking the floor for goons. 

“Die!” a goon screams, running towards Jason with a bat. 

Jason grabs a pipe off the floor and throws it at the guy. While the guy just dodges it, he stops yelling. Jason grabs the man’s wrist as he tries to hit him with the bat and snaps it. The guy cries out, so Jason punches him in the mouth. 

“I am in no mood for your loud noises,” Jason says. “So stay quiet and I won’t hurt you anymore. Is anyone else on this floor? Nod or shake your head.” 

The guy shakes his head. “Batman got the rest of them. I hid and managed to get out.” 

Jason dislocates one of the man’s fingers, so he shuts up. 

“Thank you,” Jason says. 

“There you are, Hood,” Batman’s voice says from behind him. 

He turns. “Hey, Batman. I found a straggler,” Jason replies. 

“Good work. We’ve cleared the rest of the building, so bring him up to the police.” 

“Yes, sir.” Jason gives him a little salute and Batman shakes his head before heading upstairs. 

“Alright,” Jason says, turning back towards the goon. “Who do you belong to?” 

“What?” 

“What villain were you assisting?” 

“Penguin,” he answers. 

Jason grabs him by his not broken wrist and starts dragging him up the stairs back towards the surface level. When they get up there, Jason throws the guy at the nearest officer. The officer and the guy go down and Jason starts quietly laughing. 

Dick jogs over there and helps the officer up. “Sorry about Hood, he seems to be off today.” 

The officer takes the goon towards the cars and Dick walks over to Jason. 

“Stop laughing,” he demands. 

Jason stops laughing. 

“What is wrong with you today? You look off.” 

“Nothing,” Jason answers, shrugging. 

“We need to get a move on!” Gordon shouts. 

“Yes, sir!” the officers shout back. 

Jason cringes. 

“Are you sick?” Dick asks. 

“No,” Jason answers. 

“Batman, Hood’s sick!” Dick shouts. 

Jason cringes again. “I’m not sick, I just said that.” 

“Yeah, but the rest of you disagrees with your words.” 

Bruce walks over. “What are you two bickering about?” 

“He thinks I’m sick when I’m not,” Jason answers. 

“That’s because everything about him says he’s sick.” 

Jason flips him off as Bruce folds his arms. 

“I’m not sick, I swear,” Jason says. 

“Okay, but you’re getting checked out when we get back,” Bruce replies, then heads back over towards Gordon. 

Once Batman’s done talking to Gordon, he wrangles his children and gets them back to the Batcave. 

Jason comes upstairs with Cass, since Bruce had to drop Damian off at Jon’s house. Cass gives him a look he can’t quite read, then heads upstairs. Alfred comes downstairs not long after. Jason sits down at the kitchen table and puts his head in his arms. After a minute, he feels a hand on his shoulder. He puts his hand on the hand on his shoulder. 

“What do you want, Bruce?” Jason asks. 

“You’re getting your temperature taken,” Bruce says. 

“Mmhmm.” 

Bruce gives Jason’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, so he picks his head up. Alfred takes his temperature. 

“Well he’s not running a fever, sir,” Alfred says. 

“Thank you, Alfred. I can take it from here,” Bruce replies. 

Alfred nods, then heads back upstairs to check on Tim. 

“Did you at least wait until you were off patrol to drink?” Bruce asks. 

Jason sighs. “Yeah, of course.” 

“At least you’re not too bad off,” Bruce says. 

“Yeah, I already threw everything up on the way to the crime scene so I’m good to go, Dad,” Jason replies, giving Bruce a thumbs up. 

Bruce facepalms and sighs. Jason laughs, which makes the corner of Bruce’s mouth turn up a little. 

“Go get some rest, Jason. You probably feel bad.” 

“That I do. I am gonna go check on Tim first though.” 

“M’kay. Just don’t stay in there too long chatting.” 

Jason nods, then heads upstairs. Tim’s door is open and he’s working on his laptop. He knocks on the door. Tim looks up from his computer. Jason walks in and takes Tim’s laptop. 

“Hey, that’s mine,” Tim complains, several seconds after Jason takes it. 

“You should be resting, not working,” Jason says, putting Tim’s computer on the desk by the window. 

“But I have work due.” 

“It can wait.” 

“What if it can’t?” 

“Then Bruce will deal with it.” 

“Are you feeling better?” Tim asks. 

“Mmhmm,” Jason hums. 

“Then can you stay with me until Alfred gets back? Damian’s got a playdate with Jon.” 

“Yeah, sure.” 

Jason pulls the chair away from Tim’s desk and over to the bed. The two chat for a while, Jason doing most of the talking, before Tim passes out. Jason covers Tim up, then sits back in the chair. Jason dozes off not long after Tim does. 

Bruce walks to the doorway of Tim’s room. He sees Jason and Tim, both asleep, and smiles. He hears footsteps and glances in the direction. 

“Jason alright?” Dick asks as he walks over. 

Bruce nods. “Hangover.” 

“Oops. I yelled. Never mind, he deserves that for going out.” 

“I think you should all take better care of yourselves.” 

“Coming from the king of not taking care of himself.” 

“Why would I need to do that when you all take such spectacular care of me?” Bruce asks. “And yes, this is more of a do as I say, not as I do situation.” 

Dick nods. 

“What’s wrong with Jason?” Cass asks, popping up next to Dick. 

Bruce watches Dick tense up for a moment. 

“He has a hangover,” Bruce answers. 

“Okay, good. I couldn’t really tell but I knew that something was off earlier.” 

“Very observant of you,” Bruce praises her. 

She smiles, then heads downstairs. 

“She’s paying more attention to them lately,” Bruce says. 

“Them?” Dick asks. 

“Jason and Tim.” 

“Ah. Then it’s because they’re less likely to take care of themselves and she’s become aware of that.” 

Bruce nods. “Let’s let them sleep.” 

“Yeah, we can discuss the patrol schedule.”

[cdelphiki]

Jason spent the next few minutes with his eyes shut, trying his best to sleep, just like he said he would. He was doing a pretty good job at ignoring how Damian was sitting across from him, staring at him, still being all anxious about everything.

Really, he had no idea how to even help Damian with that, anyway. 

Bruce walked back in from the cockpit not long later, though, and Jason decided to let Bruce deal with his son. Since Bruce was all mad Jason kept his son from him and whatever. 

If he wanted to be a father, then he should prove it. And be a father. 

“Do you want a blanket and pillow, Jason?” was the first thing Bruce said. 

Jason opened his eyes and narrowed them at Bruce. “Yes,” he said after a beat, “Where were those last night?” 

Why had he and Dick both slept without blankets? 

“I thought you or Dick knew where they were,” Bruce mumbled, as he walked over to a cabinet and opened it. Sure enough, there was a stack of blankets on one side, and a stack of pillows on the other. He grabbed two of each and walked them over, handing on set to Jason, the other to Damian. 

Damian frowned hard, but took the set when offered.

[iliadicjasontodd]

Do you have any Jason AO3 fic recommendations? Or just DC AO3 fic recommendations in general?

Hello! Hi, yes I do.

So, of course, anything by yutro @boyfridged, first of all, such as paint it over, black out days, & leave no trace, but genuinely all of their work is incredible. They understand Jason on a fundamental level- though to say he understands only Jason that deeply would do him and his writing which is so, so skilled, a disservice :))

the clay steals the clay by zipadeea is beautiful.

I'm sure you're familiar with it, but PLUTO. by orpheusaki @damianbugs is, imo, a classic. It recalls some of the feeling of some of the best parts of Countdown for me, for obvious reasons.

all of ceramicheart's (who I'm not certain would want me linking his tumblr blog!) work also- in particular redshift, but all of that series and, like I said, I love all of her work. ultimate Kyle Rayner understander & beautiful writer.

What the Living Do, Anonymous, is one of my favourite fics, esp as someone trying to give Jason Cotard's Delusion at every possible occasion.

last word WISDOM better get some even too late by Esmenet is one of my favourite fics point-blank. the Anne Carson of it all...

Get Used to Dying, by papered_king is one I always associate with the above, stylistically also! Love the meta of this, love theatre as horror.

a second darkness by vlnlr @batphobique. This absolutely blew me away, and the script format was, personally, a major bonus. I will probably be reading this over and over again.

mushrooms at sunrise by bleepbloopskoodlebop & Amble On (and your friends will surely find you) by Nightsrk both feature Jason dealing with schizophrenia, and I am very, very fond of both.

the Emergency Line series by crucifixinhell

i am what i am by luuma.

dirt by sunspikes. It's horror to me.

Time Loop fic! Ad Infinitum; Modified by familiarities (twistsandturns)

The Cold Like Coming Home by cabezas_de_vaca.

Smashing Tail Lights by CunningCrow @redactedcrow. I have read this about 5 times. I am still (very patiently) waiting for part two. It was, I think, the fic I read directly after reading Lost Days for the first time.

Apollo by sparkypants. the horror of never letting go!!! the horror of bruce wayne specifically never letting anything go!!!

Incomplete, but which came first (the robin or the grave) by figofswords @figofswords. Two years on I'm still hoping for more but it's very good as is as well!

do you listen to the girl in red, white, and blue? by ThatSpicySeaFlapFlap. Stephanie Brown girl of all time Stephanie Brown

Trapped by lurkinglurkerwholurks. I must have read it about 15 times whenever I'm feeling anxious. Because something is wrong with me.

Song of the Insensible by Jade_green.

The Whale by chucklesbuckles if you want some very terrifying Jason, & Get Joker by them (featuring maybe one of the only Harley Quinn depictions in a fanfic I've found compelling, not that I know her well) also!

Your reflection, your bitter deception & dust in my mind by KangaRou.

Bloodstains Won't Make It Matter by skylarkblue.

This is orphaned, but The Last Laugh.

Enough by Lunette3002.

Batman Kills the Joker by DragonflyxParodies & Palimpsest by cabezas_de_vaca both take interesting metatextual approaches to killing that stupid clown.

You're No Hero to this Story, Just Another Wretched Pawn by EventualToast. The way this is written is so genuinely unmooring and perturbing; it feels very authentically like derealisation and the true experience of profound horror despite most of that being magic.

To My Brother by a_silly_gander, I’d feel less like St. Sebastian if you’d stop searching for another arrow by worthy_willow, i know (do you know?) by cuephrase, imperfections can be nice by mikkal, Where You Perfectly Stand by cherrysour, what's in your head? by sinistercacophany @sinistercacophony (also has very good aftg fics, as an andrew enjoyer I come back to their work often), . I am at heart just sentimental about Dick & Jason.

the prophetic spring by yellow_caballero @yellowocaballero. I need you to understand I barely ever approve of Reverse Robin AUs. It's a thing. I talked about it extensively. I don't even care about or actively dislike a lot of the characters this au focuses on but it doesn't even matter here, seeing as I've been a fan of this author's writing for ages. So much tragicomedy. If you, or anyone reading this ask happen to be a fan of TMA do yourselves a favour and go read their TMA work also.

Late Night Langoustining by whaleofatime. I rarely read fluff but I'm very fond of this one.

Stage Directions by confusedrambler.

I mention sparingly but arkham!jason was my first foray into DC at all- and so naturally Ill Weeds Grow Apace by LananiA3O is something I've come back to, mostly for nostalgia nowadays. And trauma of course.

So if you want to absolutely ruin your entire day and possibly week and possibly several months, Of Broken, Blazing Wings by FrEShAVocaNoob. It absolutely wrecked me, I felt genuinely unwell after, but it was worth it.

Clearly Calm and Keeping Terrorised by Batbirdies & the Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul series by bacondoughnut are others I think everyone knows, but I thought I'd mention them anyway.

Anyway, I'm sure it shows that I've got a bit of one-track mind when it comes to characters I read fic about, but I hope this is a good collection for you. It took me two hours in one sitting but for some reason I can't write an essay for my master's degree? Fascinating.

[notfeelingthyaster]

jason in that one "it's okay bruce" panel is so procedure show coded, from his pose to the nonsense he's saying

[anxi04]

tim and bruce have an odd relationship to the rest of the family. they don’t act like father and son but it seems like they have a “deeper” bond than the others

bruce seems to take tim’s advice more seriously, bruce actually takes a break if tim tells him, tim still gets benched but not nearly as much as he should, and most confusingly, tim benched bruce once. not alfred benching bruce, TIM.

normally bruce has to be forced to take a break, and normally by alfred, but if tim says “you’re benched for a week” bruce? listens?

they have no idea why. some of them ask dick if he knows since he was there but he’s just as confused

and then despite all that there’s also such a strain between them? it’s really on the line of a professional relationship and almost a care taker. it’s very confusing. and then the times bruce gives tim a present or anything like that and tim stops and stares at him for a second, like he’s dissecting bruce. no one is able to fully figure it. until bruce is de-aged to tim’s robin era.

tim is very adamant about most of them, but especially jason and damian, do not reveal their names to him. for the time being they have a strictly professional relationship with their father who doesn’t know them.

they finally get some of the picture when they see tim start acting as bruce’s caretaker. tim switches between being gentle “hey, you need to sleep” to screaming at bruce. it always works. tim knows exactly which version bruce needs and it scares the team cause that has to require some practice

they’re then also thrown for a loop when they hear bruce call out jason’s name in a shocked voice, which makes sense cause he doesn’t know jason is alive but jason still has his helmet on so what? and then they hear a voice none of them have heard. except dick goes pale and jason’s breath hitches. and suddenly tim is responding to jason’s name and acting weird, almost like what some of dicks stories described jason as. and it’s so fucked up when they’re watching time act like someone else and bruce going along with it

the dynamic they’re getting is also fucked up once again when, during one of bruce’s really bad days, tim straight up acts like bruce’s parent. and bruce reacts well.

they’re all horrified by this. the realization that tim and bruce’s relationship has so many layers and that they do act like father and son sometimes. except bruce isn’t the father and tim isn’t the son

[hijinxinprogress]

Coffee addict Never sleeps Tim drake ❌ 

Solving cases in his sleep off 87 energy drinks Tim Drake ✅

The coffee addict never sleeps perpetually tired Tim Drake thing is a widely accepted headcanon however that was elementary school tim but after he stayed up for a week straight subsisting entirely on coffee to decipher the bat weekly patrol schedule and how it aligns with rogue attacks/Arkham breakouts, he crashed then when he woke up it was fucking wednesday so he missed his chance to commemorate his discovery with pictures of Robin and he decided that shit would never happen again and made himself an ‘efficient’ sleep schedule so he could run around doing fuck shit, add to his robin shrine, and stay on honor roll bc he was even more pissed to see the gotham gazette had pictures of Robin with an on site interview credited to Vicki Vale (listen bowl cut tim had a one sided beef with vicki vale that included tim judging who gets better pics of the bats but she isn’t even aware that she’s competing with a whole ass child 😭 he’s sitting at the table with a mug of orange juice and looks at the newspaper snorts and goes ‘fucking amateur I could do better’) 

Regularly unsupervised tiny businessman in training Tim ‘Ten hours of uninterrupted sleep?? That’s so inefficient not to mention fucking stupid’ Drake is so pissed he missed getting shots of Robin dropkicking a rogue from 6 six stories up (for absolutely no reason dick just thinks it’s fun) that he just takes at least 3 hour naps every eight hours 😭 he refuses to spend almost half a day sleeping ‘for no reason when he could be doing something productive’ 

And he still does this as a bat but it’s just easier to tell if he didn’t take his nap bc he has less than zero impulse control and he’s just fucking done with everything like the gcpd is terrified bc tim’s saying shit like ‘This guys a fucking moron, I could’ve done this in half the time without killing anyone fucking loser doesn’t he know if you keep them alive you can prolong the torture?’ and ‘you’re like all hysterical and for what 🤨 ‘you blew up 83% of Bristol waah’ stfu and fucking rebuild it?? It’s only rich mfs that live there, it’s just a matter of them opening their fucking wallets’ once a new recruit made the mistake of asking if robin had adult supervision regularly and Tim responded with ‘well if you’re gonna snitch to cps like a little bitch then yeah’ and that cop did snitch so tim fucking doxxed him

Yj has just accepted that sometimes they will find tim in an air vent, on the roof, in one of their closets, or something just fucking knocked out then an alarm will go off and he’ll just get up like nothing happened but for the first couple of months they were probably concerned bc ‘I’ve never seen you sleep?? wtf are you on man’ and Tim’s confused bc ‘I slept next to you this morning wdym??’ and that’s how yj discovers tim sleeps with his eyes open

But one of the worst things about Tim’s ‘time efficient sleep schedule’ nonsense is that it fucking works he’s one of the most well rested and coherent bats even after back to back Arkham breakouts however the absolute worst thing about his sleep schedule is the likelihood of going into the cave and seeing tim staring in a daze but wide eyed yet somehow never blinking at the batcomputer with 57 tabs open on top of being unresponsive and thinking he has a fucking concussion or he’s been replaced but he’s just doing case work while muttering nonsense in his fucking sleep for some reason

[morninkim]

the son becomes his father or something

[covertblizzard]

jaykyle au where they're theatre kids in the same school but they're not the actors jason's the scriptwriter/director and kyle is the prop manager (i don't know the official terms sorry) and they'd probably do an amazing job on the backstage setting if they could stop arguing for 5 whole seconds about their artistic visions and ideas and how "this would obviously work better this way"

[clericxhood777]

Ed: Is this yours

*Damian clinging on his leg*

Bruce: Yes, I was wondering where he went

Ed: *Sighs* It's the third time this week

Bruce: You try raising four children

[roobylavender]

im really sorry if this question ends up being repetitive: but, if not for bruce’s over reliance on dick to regulate his thoughts and emotions, why would dick grow up into feeling like he needs to repress his emotions so much and his eagerness to act as people’s support? i know youve spoken about wolfman and his altering of their relationship but if ntt is generally an accurate portrayal of an adult dick, to me this nevertheless sounds like the consequences a parent-child relationship where the responsibilities are titled too much towards the child

i suppose this could also segue into asking for recs that would help me better understand your interpretation of their relationship 👀

not repetitive at all! to me the irony of wolfman's depiction of dick lies in that it is simultaneously something you can logically ascertain from prior canon but not for the reasons actually presented by wolfman. if that makes sense. he does extra work that isn't actually necessary to help explain why dick would act the way that he does because there's plenty of reasons for it without rewriting his history with bruce to have always been suppressed and edgy and dark. to me it makes far more sense to capitalize on the inevitable disconnect between bruce and dick as an adult and a child. batman: full circle is a good example of that dichotomy (and although it was published in the early 90s it built on mike w. barr's prior understanding of the relationship between dick and bruce that he wrote into the early 80s). bruce's primary concern for the people he works with is never standards or finesse but safety. he worries constantly about others coming to harm under his watch and with a child in particular those worries were exacerbated. he ran a tight ship not because he believed dick had anything to prove but because the only way dick could keep being robin was if he went about it safely. that was obv easy for an adult to understand. but not so much for a child

to bruce these worries were practical and par for the course (as well as an expression of his love and protectiveness) but for dick their consequences formed the crux of his entire world. as a child he idolized everything about bruce. his heroism. his work ethic. his skill. his resolve. his preparedness. if dick couldn't live up to the standard he set for himself in idolizing bruce then what could he ever hope to amount to? that was the thought constantly going through his head. and it's why the bulk of his childhood and primary tenure as bruce's partner was so precariously protected by the fact that nothing bad ever really happened during it (and admittedly this framing is convenient because even chronologically speaking nothing very significant happened in their history with each other until dick left for university in 1969) (i know dixon opted to write that whole shtick with dent in his version of events but personally i never found it necessary to do so). there is enough there in the idea of dick working hard for the course of a decade to embody who he believed bruce to be that lends itself to it eventually being difficult for him to healthily express himself once the rift between them actually began to emerge

because what about bruce was there to actually see that was broken and dark before dick became an adult? i know a lot of dick fans hate batman #408 because they don't like that it enforced "retirement" upon dick (which i personally believe is a conclusion they come to because of the way batman #416 re-framed the same scene) but to me that's an inaccurate reading of the text. batman #408 was about bruce (admittedly far too belatedly) recognizing that he could not in good conscience continue to ask dick to go out and be a vigilante on what he considered to be his own "orders". he viewed dick's close call with death at the hands of the joker as something directly of his own making. although their tenure with each other had been wonderful if dick wanted to continue to be a vigilante it had to be on his own terms and of his own volition. obv that was logical to bruce and it was something dick managed to accept in the moment. but it's still hard to go from always having a purpose alongside someone you idolized to finally being entrusted entirely to forge your own

in general i like the idea of dick the adult becoming privy to all of the personal problems and conflicts that come with being a vigilante. he was conveniently shielded from a lot of those problems as a child because all he had to do was be bruce's partner and hope to live up to the title. bruce had no reason to trauma dump on him or talk about his worries and concerns at length with him because it was never supposed to be dick's job to field those worries and concerns in the first place. he was a child. the only thing bruce wanted to do was to help channel his emotions through an outlet and provide him with a home to grow up in. but when you become an adult often that dynamic shifts. you're still not responsible for fielding those worries and concerns but you can perhaps be trusted with them. that's why i like the framing in batman #408 of dick now being a man. it's a subtle way to frame the double-edged sword of adulthood. the world is in your hands now but so will be the horrors that come with it. coming to terms with the real world that bruce lives in should be hard for dick. coming to terms with who bruce is when he's not perfect should be hard. coming to terms with how quietly bruce kept his grief because he did not see fit to overwhelm a child with it should be hard. that dichotomy of dick both wanting to be bruce's brother and his son should form the crux of their conflict with each other because you can't hope to be someone's equal and someone's protected at the same time in that kind of relationship. for dick to transition into the position of equal he has to expose himself to the fact that bruce is not in fact an idol but someone irrevocably human. and that should interfere significantly with his head and his own standards for himself

[just-an-enby-lemon]

Suddently got the realization that a Mecs Batfam AU would be so easy. Vampire scientist Bruce imortalizes his kids via steampunk tecnology it goes as one would imagine.

[starlooove]

I alluded to this in tags awhile ago but like. IK continuity doesn’t work this way and when things shifted from kooky and silly 40s stuff with psas scattered to like dark brooding whatever we’re supposed to take it as like either time passing with some hand waving to personalities or ‘it was always like this for them trust’ but thinking about dick specifically going from holy galloping grasshoppers Batman to dealing with Bruce in spyral and shit is so so so sad I can’t articulate it well rn but like everyone kinda agrees the shift happened after two face and jason but like no dick saw it all he saw it while it happened he saw Bruce taking tim to baseball games and then gaslighting him at 16 he saw the man who’d take care of a random baby on the fly threaten to send his youngest son back to the league he saw the man who helped usher in a new era of young heroes treat Steph like shit he saw the man who inspired hope for a future in civilians heroes and enemies alike take advantage of cass’ suicidal thoughts and separation from her own humanity he saw everything and he just has to. Deal. To everyone else this is just Bruce and ppl like Tim and cass justify it to an extent bc they love him and get exasperated and when Dick is angry but how couldn’t Dick be angry? That’s his dad and he’s being so fucking mean and idk I’m rambling

[batfamfucker]

Pavitr reminds me of Dick so much. They would be besties and bond over their hair together 😭

[trekkele]

I mean the problem with all that "Jason just wants to be loved and trusted again" is that there comes a point where you have, in fact, burnt all your bridges and flooded the river.

It's usually after the first murder attempt, not the fifth tho

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

🪶