twilightrobin

[twilightrobin]

I have a personal headcannon that Bruce takes in a lot of emergency placement children. You're telling me he's got a huge ass manor and a penchant for helping children and that man only has six or seven kids?? Nah that man is taking emergency placements left and right (this also goes into Give Bruce Wayne A Baby because he'd have foster babies)

[twilightrobin]

[twilightrobin]

You know what I'm tired of seeing

"Oh but Batman just should kill the Joker and the Joker should stay dead."

Like why only him? Because he is his long time rival? Because he killed a Robin? Because he killed innocents? So has every other major Batman villain but you don't hear people wanting to cheer for Batman to kill them. I mean Two Face has come close several times of killing not just one but two even maybe three(?) Robins. But it always comes back to the clown. I'm starting to think the fanon has a more unhealthy obsession than with DC and the Batman himself. And it's become a tired topic honestly. It's like a lot of other villains have done just as much damage as Joker has done with the innocents and the city yet you rarely hear people saying Batman should kill them. And it's like if you truly want that on Batman you don't know Batman nor understand why he puts on that cowl in the first place.

[twilightrobin]

Then Jason never kills again.

[twilightrobin]

Batman Appreciation Post #9

Very Demure

Batman Master Collection

[twilightrobin]

"Why does Batman need to be a billionaire?"

"He has to fund the Justice League. They often have a space program."

"But couldn't he do more good if he just invested-"

"The Earth is routinely invaded by aliens, gods, and the forces of an extraterrestrial god of tyranny."

[twilightrobin]

The shit Bruce has to do to maintain Brucie Wayne literally keeps me up at night. I think about the comic panel where the security guy was like, “check the bathroom, he accidentally locks himself in there sometimes” at least 3 times a day

And on my Bruce Wayne isn’t Batman post I was like, yea he definitely does that shit. Like does he just go about his day, looks at something and goes, “yea, it’s time to be stupid”

[twilightrobin]

I believe that if Harley Quinn was on roller skates and Batman had to apprehend her, he would simply level the playing field and chase her on skates too. I trust him to be a man of equality in this regard

[twilightrobin]

Batman: I have decided I will reveal my identity to one person

Justice League: !!!!

Batman: *walks over to Green Arrow*

Green Arrow: Wait wha-

*Hot steamy make-out session right in front of the League. Jaws are dropped, Superman’s eyes are red, there’s tongue*

Green Arrow: … huh

Batman: *raises an eyebrow* Do you understand?

Green Arrow: *now completely aware that Batman is Bruce Wayne due to how many make-outs the two of them have had over the years* Surprisingly yes

Justice League: ?!?!?!

Batman: That’s all *sweeps out of the room with a dramatic flare of his cape*

[twilightrobin]

Future State: Batman/Superman #1

[twilightrobin]

Bruce Wayne outside of Batman

So I saw this: 

Bruce Wayne could do a lot more to fight crime in Gotham City by funding youth programs with his immense wealth instead of dressing up like a bat and dishing out vigilante justice. (just-shower-thoughts)

And thought it would be a cool to research Bruce as a philanthropist and Wayne Enterprises as a business. You know, instead of applying to jobs or cleaning. 

Basically all Bruce does all night and day is give to charity and help people. 

Weiterlesen

[twilightrobin]

please make a post about bruce wayne being autistic

I already have, for several years now I've been saying that Bruce Wayne is neurodivergent and most likely autistic, but I don't think I've made a very detailed post specifically here on Tumblr so... Might as well?

With the arrival of "The Batman" and Pattison giving us a Bruce Wayne portrayal that most definitely reflects a neurodivergent Batman the way he should be, more and more people are starting to adhere to the autistic!Bruce headcanon and I'm all for it but many still argue that it's not canon to the comics, I beg to differ (and I'm hyper focused right now) so let's make a post about it, shall we?

Proof that canon Bruce is very likely in the autistic spectrum

For starters, Bruce canonically has PTSD (and anger issues that come with it) and OCD. He also suffers from acute anxiety and depression but none of this takes away from the fact that he's been autistic-coded for decades and not just in the comics, in fact, I'm going to be talking about the character across several types of media.

Also, remember that autism is a spectrum and every person is different.

Let's start with this actual panel from "Batman: The Imposter", it's a recent (2021-2022) black label comic but it's relevant since it features the point of view of a therapist/psychiatrist on young Bruce.

But now, let's get to the rest.

Brucie is excellent at mirroring, masking and generally BS-ing people!

As an adult he uses scripting a lot and his detective skills to pick up cues from people and act as they expect of him. Very good at playing pretend, not so good at real relationships. He reads people through factual data, analyzing micro-expressions, posture and words like a puzzle rather than naturally understanding social cues. (Additionally, he actually has fun playing different characters like Brucie or Matches.)

He's extremely empathetic (my god, so much hyper empathy) but also struggles with alexithymia.

He feels so much empathy that he literally cannot stop caring, he cares so much that he tries to protect the city with his bare hands, throws money at a million causes and will always go the extra mile for people (such as, for example, offering a Wayne Ent. job to an underage prostitute to get her off the streets).

He feels all this compassion but can't quite express it, he has a lot of trouble being emotionally demonstrative and picking up the right social cues, vulnerability does not come easy to him and neither does abstract expression.

He uses a flat tone, he's monotone and generally expressionless when he's not trying to fake a reaction or emotion, so he comes off as disconnected and disinterested and that causes friction with people like Dick and Clark.

He tends to express himself more in actions than words precisely because verbal expression is hard for him (unless he has time to plan out his speeches or is being very blunt).

Examples:

When Dick tells Bruce he's dating Babs and Bruce just grunts and shows no reaction, Dick misinterprets as lack of interest but Bruce actually just has no idea what reaction is expected of him.

He's incredibly blunt and to the point, he says exactly what he means and sometimes comes off as very confrontational, he doesn't go through the trouble of lying to make people feel better (I don't want to think about the Ric arc but... the Ric arc). If he has to lie to play a part or mask, he will often resort to sarcasm.

When he wanted to adopt Tim he was so bad at putting his intentions in words that Tim couldn't understand him and Bruce had to ask Alfred to explain/show him.

He hates small talk with a passion and goes out of his way to avoid it, he says what he has to say and leaves, if he wants to know how someone is doing he will go check/spy on them rather than simply ask (literally does this with the whole family). This also extends to Batman's habit of just disappearing mid-conversation once he feels he has as much info as he needs.

When Bruce gets engaged (and I'm referring to the almost-wedding with Selina in this case) he has trouble telling his kids and best friends about it because he doesn't understand why it would be important to them and doesn't know how to say it.

When Bruce is proud with Damian's efforts reigning in his violent tendencies early in their Batman and Robin partnership he had this interaction with Alfred- A: "Did you tell Damian you are proud of him?", B: "Of course.", A: "What exactly did you say?", B: "I said I found his efforts commendable.", A: *sigh* "Couldn't you just say you are proud of him?", B: *visibly confused* "Isn't that exactly what I did?"

When he and Dick have that rough patch where Dick leaves and stops being Robin (right before he becomes Nightwing), a lot of that bs is because Bruce can't properly express himself and pushes Dick away instead telling him that he's letting him go for his own good.

When Jason comes back as Red Hood and is so pissed at Bruce for not killing Joker to avenge him and for replacing him with Tim? Bruce could have told Jason that he did in fact try to kill Joker to avenge him but was stopped by Superman (and a whole lot of other bs) and he didn't replace him with Tim, he rejected Tim and Tim stalked him and made himself Robin against Bruce's wishes. Would this explanation had helped with Jason's anger? Probably not but Bruce didn't even think to try because he didn't know how to express himself and that bullshit spiraled out of control.

Clark: "I know you didn't bring me back because you like me." B: "I don't...not like you."

Another canon interaction- B: "Family is...good." Jason: "What are you trying to tell me?" B: "I just told you." Dick: "He's telling you he loves you." B: "Isn't that what I just said?"

Hyper empathy- he pays for the Graysons' funeral and takes Dick in literally out of empathy, he sees himself in this boy and he thinks the most rational reaction to this is to adopt the kid, and he does it again with Jason.

SO. MANY. ENGAGEMENTS. He's so bad at expressing or even understanding emotion that when he falls in love he does it HARD and is really bad at expressing it so he just jumps right to the ring. Granted, this is a product of writers re-hashing the same classic climax and drama tropes with love interests over 80 years of history but I went through the comics and counted, Bruce was engaged at least 9 times (11 if we don't nitpick too much).

(I have a hundred more examples but this is getting long as it is.)

Real emotional expressions are rare and that makes them stand out, they can also be extreme and/or inappropriate.

Some examples of his extreme emotion reactions could be adopting the kids so easily, or punching people as a first instinct when he gets mad or overwhelmed, even when it's unnecessary (I could give a dozen examples of this one but my favorite is during the Court of Owls nonsense when he discovers the Owls put an electrum implant in Dick's tooth and rather than explain this to Dick while they are having a calm conversation about the CoO, he just pauses to punch Dick in the middle of the conversation in order to knock the fake tooth out, talk about a drama king).

Lack of social skills.

He doesn't even try to be social as Batman (and we've established that Brucie is a mask), and often misses certain jokes or sarcasm and has a very skewed sense of humor (often finding things funny that others don't or saying amusing things totally unintentionally).

His grunts or just outright refusal to answer certain things. Vocal stims. He seems to actually go non-verbal from time to time.

He has a lot of complex feelings but often doesn't understand them or know how to show them. Canon Dick, Clark and Jason don't often 'get' Bruce and become very frustrated by his lack of communication and his avoidance of emotional topics.

One of the reasons he connected so well with Cassandra Cain before Rebirth is because he doesn't have to talk to her, she can understand his feelings purely through his body language and that is clearly a massive relief for him.

When he's alone with Selina he shows a very soft romantic side but even there he has trouble knowing the right thing say or what is expected.

As an example, the proposal comes to mind- B: "marry me." S:"no" [some time later] S:"ask me again, but this time ASK, don't say it at me." B:"will you marry me?" S:"yes".

(Also, literally all his repressed reactions to the break up after she left him at the altar.)

He has canonically had meltdowns as a child in the comics (and shutdows in the "Gotham" show). It can be argued that some of his extreme (often violent) reactions to certain things as an adult could also be called meltdowns.

Rejection sensitive dysphoria. I think this one is really obvious, the man would rather block out anything emotion-related than face rejection, it's often a big trigger for his depressive tendencies.

He has "special interests".

Batman started as a symbol (let's not forget he has a bat phobia) but he became obsessed with all things bat-related, obviously. But he also has more specific and personal interests- detective work (he will make up puzzles if there's nothing to solve or he will actively look for trouble if everything else has been handled), making gadgets, dinosaurs, Grey Ghost, Zorro comics, classic lit, etc.

He hyperfixates on his interests and hyperfocuses on specific tasks A LOT to the point of injury and forgoing basic needs. A good example of his hyperfocus is how he handles specific Batman cases.

He info dumps! Enough said.

He has told Gordon that he "doesn't change his routine" and there was a whole panel about the importance of routine for him, including doing the same rituals every night. When he has to take a break from patrolling due to injuries, more than once it's been shown how it's almost physically uncomfortable for him to have that routine interrupted even when there's no specific case to follow up on.

Sensory issues!!!

Bruce has shown to like quiet and darkness, he's shown in some forms of media to be sensitive to bright light, he prefers to avoid crowds when he can, he has a massively high pain tolerance, he has a specific type of clothes he feels comfortable in and doesn't deviate from them (not the bat-suit but rather his damn turtlenecks).

He is a picky eater and likes very spicy food and sweets (autistic people either prefer bland foods and certain textures to avoid overstimulation or they go for very strong intense flavors precisely because they need the stimulation, Bruce is the latter, Alfred often sways him with sweets and it's official that his favorite food is spicy mulligatawny soup). In fact, he's such a picky eater that he has stubborn eating habits (like forgetting to eat entirely) and doesn't see anything wrong with feeding young Dick nothing but chips because it's "what Dick likes".

The entire design of the bat-suit could be connected to sensory things: his cape is very heavy, which could be connected to pressure stimming (it's so heavy that when Dick becomes Batman he complained and had to have a lighter cape made), if you really think about it his cowl is designed in a way that can filter out excessive stimuli (lights and sounds) and help him focus on specific things, etc, etc.

As a kid he connects better with adults because of his intellectual level, but as an adult he connects a lot more easily with children and teens.

This is shown both with people he rescues and with the people around him, there's a reason he connects and works so well with the young Robins but starts having communication issues with them when they grow up. (It's not mentioned often but a typical trait of people in the spectrum is that they tend to have problems connecting with people in their own age group).

Outside of life-or-death situations he often avoids physical contact as much as possible, even with people he cares about, and sometimes even when he's clearly touch-starved he doesn't usually initiate contact.

It seems to depend a lot on the level of trust he has for people. If a person he trusts initiates it he gets awkward but enjoys it, Dick is a good example; if a person he's not close to initiates contact he often shows annoyance or discomfort. It requires a high level of intimacy for him to initiate contact but when he does he's extremely affectionate (scenes with Selina or any of the his kids come to mind).

He likes making lists, files and hoarding information.

There's a scene where someone apologizes because the info they gave wasn't helpful at all and Bruce's reply was "I know more than I did 10 minutes ago. I like information." He also keeps very extensive (and often invasive) files about people he knows and has his famous contingency plans for every superhero he knows.

He's very methodical and organized about these things (like his case files and reports) but...

...he's a naturally messy person as seen by the state the manor and cave fall into when Alfred is not around and has difficulty taking care of himself, not because he's some sort spoiled rich man-child but because he underestimates his own needs and limits. EDIT: this is executive dysfunction. Both Battison and comic Bruce seem to need prompting for basic things like taking a shower or cleaning up after themselves as they seem to forget their own needs.

When he's not masking, he has a very atypical body language, such as his skulking and looming, avoiding eye contact, his evasiveness, the way he can stay inhumanly still for long periods of time if he needs to but is also extremely impatient and often doesn't stay still (I remember a panel where the cave computer takes 8 seconds to process some data and Bruce still complains it's too slow and needs and update, much to Clark's confusion).

.

I have more but this list is so long already and I'm tired.

I also had some comic panels but I don't have the patience to find them and pick out them out (tumblr has a 10 picture per post limit anyway). Might edit this later if I find any. If anyone knows the different sources, comic issues or has the different panels and gifs, feel free to add them.

SMALL EDIT: Martian Manhunter also claimed that being in Bruce's mind is very unpleasant. This could easily be because of the amount of trauma or intrusive thoughts from OCD but it's also very possible he was talking about experiencing the world and likely sensory overload from Bruce's perspective.

[twilightrobin]

Okay, so hear me out. There are species of animals that reject their offspring if they don’t “smell” right. Like something about the pheromones are off and thus the vibes are bad. You can’t be mine, you smell funny. Similarly, we know that hormones and neurochemical reactions play a large part in bonding between human babies and parents. Our brains are swimming in chemicals that have us looking at our squishy, decidedly odd-looking newborns and saying “it’s so cute, I wanna bite it.”

My dudes (gender neutral). My people. My fellow nerds. Superman initially rejecting his clone because he doesn’t smell right. The kid was in a soup of artificial, clone-making chemicals and he doesn’t smell like he should. But what the fuck is he supposed to smell like? Superman having no frame of reference for this crazy feeling, for this intense dislike of a person with his face, and struggling internally with it because he knows logically that this deep revulsion doesn’t make sense. Problem is, he physically can’t help it. Something about this kid makes his teeth itch and his fingers twitch.

Then the kid takes a shower and changes his clothes and oh. Why would I push him away? That’s my baby. Hate him? How could I hate my baby? My baby. My sweet, perfect, amazing angel baby. My baby. My baby. My baby. Mybabymybabymybabymybaby.

And it’s probably hilarious from the outside looking in, because Superman looked ready to light the kid on fire a minute ago and now he’s all gooey-eyed. No thoughts, just sappy smiles and burying his nose in the clone’s hair. He’s ready to pluck the moon from the sky and hang it on a string for his kid. It’s sweet and adorable.

It’s also completely, utterly terrifying. Seeing how quickly one of the strongest beings in the known universe fell victim to his own biology, how wildly the pendulum swung from one extreme to the other. Batman’s immediately planning a trip to the Fortress to gather intel on this reaction. How long does it last? Is it normal? Is it supposed to be like this? Does it have anything to do with the clone being a teenager and not a newborn? Would it be worse with a newborn? Does the League, does he need contingency plans for this?

And Superman—Clark recognizes the sudden shift, but can’t do a thing about it. He should be scared of how every concern in his mind gets swept away by this out-of-control hormonal response, but he doesn’t want to do a thing about it. He can’t help the smile plastered on his face when Kon—what a perfect name, a beautiful name for my baby, mybabymybabyMYbabymyBABYMYBABYMYBABYMYBABY—sighs contently in his sleep or scrunches his nose in disgust at new foods, new sensations.

Something in Clark’s eyes says “I don’t know what’s happening, help me,” but it quickly gets snuffed out by “I will flip this entire universe over if a single hair on my baby’s head is out of place.” And honestly? Yeah, it’s scary, but every parent he knows—Bruce included—totally gets it.

[twilightrobin]

I've always been a fan of fic writers making playboy philanthropist Bruce Wayne constantly being surrounded by elite women and models. It's a common trope, it's cute, it's perfect for his persona. It's been canonically animated, too.

But I raise you this: the women somehow always crowd him because he's safe.

Bruce Wayne, from the view of reporters and other socialites, is seen as a very attractive and alluring man. He's captivating, he's silly but in a very charming way. He's fun to be around with. Of course women would fawn over him, right?

Wrong.

They crowded him because Bruce had never, in any of his interactions with them, made them feel uncomfortable. If anything, he's very accommodating and comforting to be around. Bruce is the one spot where they're safe from leering gazes and lewd comments. Bruce let's them sprawl all over him however they liked, ordered them whatever drinks they wanted, and not once raised his hand with the intention of disconcerting them. He's respectful, he's polite.

He listens very attentively to their gossip, and he does what he can to fix or help them. He offers advice or simply a listening ear. And if they actually did come over with the intention of sleeping with him? Sure, he's all in. He's like this protective friend that they can run to when they need a safe space.

He'll book an uber if they've drunk too much or even let them spend a night in the manor. Most ladies have caught him taking off his blazer to cover a lady trying to fix her attire, or gently guide her away from an alarming interaction that she couldn't escape from herself. He doesn't brush off opinions or input from them, instead he listens and let their ideas gain their spotlight. This, in turn, has benefited Wayne Enterprises so many powerful connections and remarkable business partners.

Women adore Bruce Wayne, but not for a reason most would expect.

[twilightrobin]

the ideal Bruce Wayne is “unbearably pretty, but also looks like he’s had his nose broken and reconstructed several times to a keen eye”

[twilightrobin]

Superman in the new movie hating social media is so funny to me so I did these terminally offline Clark (ft Supergirl)

[twilightrobin]

actually how do we know bruce would care if jason killed the joker. if you think about it, like, i’m pretty sure every time jason made an attempt on the joker’s life jason made a point of letting bruce know beforehand and actively antagonising him WITH the murder, which i feel like at that point with bruce’s morals he probably felt like he had no choice but to go and put a stop to it? like if he didn’t then he was actively encouraging and being complicit to a murder, which, y’no, isn’t really batman’s deal. but like, how do we know that if he was kept out of it that he would even give a fuck. i want a scenario where jason kills the joker and waits around his safe house just. expecting batman to come take him down as revenge, and when nothing happens he gets impatient and shows up to the manor like two weeks later all defensive and ready to fight and he storms in guns drawn, and its just like

Jason: look I don’t fucking care what your shitty opinion is, the clown is dead and I do not fucking regret it so if you wanna lock me up then you’ll have to-

Bruce, sipping coffee at the dining table: ah, Jaylad, you’re joining us for dinner, that’s great!

Jason:

Jason:

Jason: I killed the joker tho

Bruce: yes I saw that on the news, it’s a shame Batman wasn’t aware until it was too late. oh well! it’s not like we can change the past, anyway want some coffee?

Jason:

Jason: *stares incredulously at Tim and Damian*

Tim and Damian: *give equally confused shrugs*

Jason:

Jason: ……y-e-e-s-?

Bruce: I’ll go pour you a mug and let Alfred know to set dinner for one more! :D *leaves*

Jason: *baffled*

Tim: so we could have just fucking killed him ages ago-

Damian: it seems so, Drake. yes.

Tim:

Jason:

Tim: unbelievable.