#twisting the unhealthy and frankly disgusting way he viewed her into something cute and sweet

[duskdog]

David Cain possessing Cass and making her like him is eerily similar to how Batman seemed to view her in the beginning -- both had a very specific person they wanted Cass to be, and in both cases, it was basically just a better version of themselves. I suspect a lot of people would say "well the difference is that David was abusive to Cass" but let's be absolutely honest with ourselves: Batman was, too. It wasn't exactly in the same way as David, and Cass was older and had more autonomy, and Cass herself enabled the behavior somewhat (but let's remember Cass was also still a minor, and had been raised in an abusive way that would have taught her that being treated this way was normal for her at least), but Batman absolutely dehumanized Cass in a way similar to her father because he didn't see her as a person in her own right, but as a perfect extension of himself and his ideals. He actively encouraged her to have no life or identity of her own outside of Batgirl. He deliberately cut her off from her best friend (one of very few friends that she has, total), at least partially because he couldn't bear the thought of anything influencing her away from his idea of perfection. When she's in emotional turmoil over someone dying on her watch, all he cares about is how much of a failure she is for it (something Cass is particularly sensitive about), and he repeatedly stresses the need for absolute perfection. I don't think we can or should ignore how emotionally damaging this is for someone who already loathes themselves for their one "mistake" and who views themselves as nothing more than a weapon. When he sees the tapes of her murdering someone, he twists himself into pretzels to believe that the tape is fake -- not because the concept of a child killing someone is repulsive, but because the concept of Cass killing someone is repulsive. Why is the concept of Cass killing someone repulsive to him? Because it makes her unlike him. And because if he has to accept that it's true, he knows he might not be able to forgive her for that. Nevermind that she was a horrifically-abused very young child who had no way of understanding what she was really doing. Batman doesn't give a shit about any of that, or how Cass herself feels about it -- he only cares about whether or not she's who he wants her to be. Is it any wonder that Cass took to him so quickly, particularly after being alone for so long? She saw someone who was like her, true, and who gave her violence purpose... but he was also someone who objectified her in the same way that David Cain had, and that, to her, was love.

I think it's an interesting comparison that for all David's faults, the one thing Cass never doubted for a second was that he loved her. Her two biological parents are an abusive monster who wants to possess her and make her like him but who always made her feel loved, and Shiva who in her own way wants to help Cass and build her into the best version of herself she can be... but would never for as long as either of them will live tell her "I love you."