And so we live

I didn’t fear for Christian Bale’s Batman, because of his ability to seem in control even in some of the most strained scenes in the movie. I had a feeling of ‘he’ll pull himself together and do this’

Ben Affleck’s Batman seemed so stoic and determined where his grief had turned more to anger and vengeance, than soul-deep sadness. And he always seemed to me like he would accept death if it meant taking down someone who hurt his family.

And while other Batman portrayals are certainly not the same as these two I’ve highlighted, I don’t feel like they’re completely separate either.

But Battinson..? He seems so in the throes of grief that he can barely hold himself together. A fic I read almost put perfectly with their Alfred saying “sometimes the only reason I knew he was still alive was because I could hear him breathe”. And that’s how I saw Bruce in the beginning of the movie. A man only alive because he has not died yet.

And this might be an unresolved hero-complex, but I wanted to actively crawl into the screen the hug this poor sad man. Even after when he was self-determined to save Gotham in the batsuit, it truly also didn’t feel like he put himself that much higher than scum. He’s doing it for his city and like it’s a duty. I feel like it encapsulates what I really love about Batman, that he lives and breathes for Gotham even when it’s barely able to give back. He’s doing it because someone had got to.

It makes me both worried and proud of him when he achieves what he sets out to do, and it makes me deeply happy to see him evolve, learn and become a better version of himself.

My favorite part about battison is the rawness of his humanity. It's ugly, it's real, it's so full of love so desperate in it's nature that it's harrowing to watch. In real time you see a trainwreck of a man breaking himself apart in hopes to be something more and more when at the end of the movie, you see battison comforting a scared girl that you can see him accepting that his humanity isn't a sin but a part of him.

I grew up watching batman stuff with my big brother ie; the movie and especially the Arkham games. They always made him to be something intangible and maybe that was the point but then battison shows up with all his pain and in the end, Batman's point was that he was made by a child who lost him world in the most gruesome way and grew up believing he has a debt to pay to the world, to Gotham. I love him, I hope he gets a multicoloured child in the next movie to give him a heart attack.

His youngest brother brought little Bruce’s hand up, resting his forehead against the back of B’s hands. “You were supposed to be safe”, he growled into Bruce’s hand. He emphasised the word safe, spat the word out with so much offense that as if with enough strength, Damian could will his wish into existence and rewrite this cruel moment of Bruce’s past and morph it into something kinder, something more befitting for a man who will spend the rest of his adulthood covered in the same kind bruises and walk the earth with bones broken ten, twenty times over from protecting a city that bites the hands that try to hold it with even the slightest hint of kindness and later, from protecting the whole world with the strength of his heart and the wit of his mind as his greatest weapon.

“You were supposed to be l—" Damian’s breath hitched, and it was a terrible sound.

Loved. Dick finished in his heart. You were supposed to be loved.

Or

Bruce Wayne gets de-aged back to the time where he was under Philip Kane's care. The batkids find that his body is covered with bruises.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65727181/chapters/169265599

Was writing the third chapter of my fic when the planning notes I made sounds insane out of context

I know that the BatFam has no problem undressing around each other, sometimes they get sprayed and need to help each other out too, as acid spray is a bitch on the skin.

But I kinda like the idea that on a rescue mission, Batman’s suit gets torn excessively across the torso/back/legs or something.

And he’s like ‘as long as my cowl is okay, no one is the wiser’

So they rescue some people, it’s at a big gala, all his current and former business partners are here, some more favorable than others.

He rescues a particular lady, one he remembers has been with him for many years, and was one of the people to help stand up for him when he was first reintroduced into the social scene after the Wayne murders.

He sets her down carefully, and as he turns his back, he hears her whisper to another gala guest.

“Have you seen his body?”

“Yes, he truly looks like a monster”

But!

I really like the idea of the kids turning completely obsessive with Bruce. Not in a weird way. In the sense that, since legit every other parental figure in their life is dead/incapacitated/murdered. They only have Bruce.

So as they finally find solace in Bruce (in this hc it’s WetCatBattinson, cause he’s pathetic and l love him so much). They go completely insane with the idea that he could be killed, or even so much as hurt.

The first time they each see him stumble into the cave, and collapse onto the floor calling for Alfred, they all lose their minds. This is their new family and they can’t even protect it. They have to protect him. Protect him. Protect. Protect. Protect him.

Dick starts it of course, his family died in front of him, and he goes on a revenge spree. When he finally calms down and accepts Bruce’s genuine care for him, they go after him together. But when the worse villains then come on the radar. And Bruce gets severely hurt, Dick completely shuts down, he’s even more feral than before, screaming and yelling that he’ll kill everything, and he’s even freaking out at Alfred because Bruce seems uncomfortable in the treatment he’s doing. (he was resetting his dislocated shoulder).

Jason as well, he’s a street kid, and never really had true comfort, ever. And suddenly his life is a fairy tail, he has a strained relationship with his brother, but his new guardian seems to love him. It’s less sudden as it was with Dick, but no less than. It’s a gradual obsession, with everything he does, everyone he interacts with, goes to galas with, what is he doing when he’s not with Jason.

It certainly can’t be more important than him, certainly Bruce loves him more than anything, they’ve been fighting with their lives on the line together for so long now. Bruce loves him, more than anything right? Right?

He has to.

Jason loves him more than anything.

So Bruce has to love him just as much.

When Dick sees this child standing still, but absolutely seething when Commissioner Gordon put his arm around Batman when he was happy a case was finally over. And a small smile, was ever so slightly visible, on the otherwise emotionless Batman.

Dick recognizes that look, a look of deep possessiveness, one he saw in himself, before breaking off on his own in Blüd, but was sitting just beneath the surface. Bubbling up whenever he sees Bruce get hurt.

He pulls Jason aside, maybe making sure he doesn't go too far like he did, and lash out at the people near Bruce. He has to play this carefully if he wants to keep being right by his side. And to make sure Bruce is still happy. It would make him sad if his children went too far for him, even if they think it would be better for that scumbag who was flirting with Bruce, to die. They can't do that, not in public at least. They can uncover the scandals and make sure they're no longer on the guest list, but they can't go too far.

Bruce can't be sad.

Not because of them.

When Tim enters Bruce's life, his deep obsession has already been festering for so long. This is his idol, and he needs help. He needs Tim's help.

He needs him.

Like how much Tim needs him.

When he takes up the mantle, and Bruce is in his fragile mindset, worrying about Tim all the time, since he can't fuck up another time.

This is completely different from what Tim is used to. His idol worries about him, about what he eats, how much he sleeps, if he gets hurt and how he feels at all times.

This only fuels Tim's obsession even more, he's not just a hero, he's Tim's and Tim's hero alone. And Tim won't let anyone break him when he's spent so much time trying to build him up again. Nothing will get in the way of Bruce being happy, not the villains and certainly not some second rate annoyance at a gala, who's company Tim can make disappear overnight if he looks at Bruce that way again.

When Jason then comes back and the Titan's tower incident occurs, it goes a little differently.

Tim lets it slip that Bruce is his now, he doesn't need anyone other than him. He won't let anyone or anything make Bruce break down like that again.

Jason, like Dick, sees it. Sees this child become what he too was, and he ends up talking to him about what he means. Jason realizing that everything Talia told him, maybe wasn't as true as he thought, maybe Bruce really did care.

Tim might recognize this as a chance to make Bruce even more happy, so he doesn't have to read pride and prejudice while crying to the grave anymore. Won't have that shimmer of sadness in his eye anymore when he looks at the display case in the cave anymore. That Alfred decided was a good idea. It had been an interesting week when Tim uncovered that little titbit, but had shelved it when it had made Bruce sad that they were fighting.

So Tim will entertain the idea of Jason also getting space in Bruce's life, if it resulted it him being more happy. Like it did when Dick was there.

And Jason will take the time to uncover what truly happened while he was gone, maybe his parental love for Bruce wasn't as shallow as he had thought, while he was presumed dead.

So while Jason still finds fault in Bruce's methods, now it also has the undertones that if these scumbags continue to walk. They'll continue to hurt Bruce. And if Tim sends a list of people who needs a good scare for making Bruce uncomfortable, then nobody has to know.

When Damian makes his appearance, it seems to rock everything once again.

Damian has had to listen to both his mother and grandfather talk about this almost perfect specimen. How he was going to be the truly perfect one.

How could he not be obsessed with this man, he's supposed to be him perfectly, and then be even more.

When he finally meets him, he might start out wondering what was even special about him, but slowly he also starts learning why not giving in to killing is almost harder.

He starts seeing who he truly is as a hero, why people look to him as a beacon of hope.

While his obsession started extremely high, falling a little flat, but then taking on a new light, that almost makes it hard for it to not become even stronger than before.

Tim is now the one to see it, how Damian eat the same, trains the same, talks, and walk the same way as Bruce. Almost trying to entirely engulf Bruce's existence into his own. But it's also tittering on too much, it's worrying Bruce. And Tim can't have Bruce become sad because the new child, and if his disappearance would make him even more sad, he'll just have to show him the right way to go about this.

Tim talks to Damian about how it might not be a need to become Bruce, but because Bruce has now become what Damian has always needed in his own life, a strong force that would be the good for the many, taking not the easy way out, but the right way. An existence that sees Damian for what he is, and not what he needs to become.

Cassandras obsession is almost overflowing after a few weeks after being welcomed into the family. Never feeling safe, but now having a place that she can return to and call home. And people who accept her and her past. Working with her to make it better.

She strives to be better in the way her new parent wants her to. But also sees how this life is breaking him down, how he bleeds and hurts for the city, for the city to then still treat him like a criminal.

She saw how it was breaking him down when he couldn't be there for his family, and when the newspapers were speaking badly of his choice as CEO. And the sadness in his eyes when he's too late to a disaster, putting the blame on no one but himself.

Tim and Damian both see how she lingers in the shadows, how she'll put herself at risk to make sure more people get out safely, and how she doesn't seem to care about her injuries until Bruce would pull her to his side to protect her, which only seemed to distress her even more that he's focusing his time to protect her when she could protect herself.

They both sit her down, trying their best to explain how their health is absolutely essential to keeping Bruce happy, if they get hurt he'll be sad, so they cannot get hurt unless absolutely no other option is available.

They explain how to keep Bruce happy, what to avoid with him, how to get him out of situations he doesn't like in public. And how best, to make sure no one harms him.

No one will harm Bruce Wayne

not if his kids have any say in it.

(even if that someone is himself)

~~~~~~

This is a very rambling idea, but I really like obsessive characters. And it fits in my head that the kids absolutely have the potential of turning entirely obsessed with their new parent, since at this point, they don't have anything else.

I did the characters I'm familiar with most, since I'm not entirely clear on Steph/Barbara/Duke. And Duke/Barbara still have parents. Steph also had the potential for obsession when she wants to become Robin, but I'm not sure enough to write it out.

This might also be my more calm version of this take, so tell me if you want a little more feral one too hahahahah

my idea for this was also inspired by this post, by @siriusly-dc

Steph, once he and Stephanie patch up their relationship will follow the same intensity as the rest of the batkids me thinks. Cause this man pays for her anything without even batting an eye. Oh, her mother is a drug addict??? Talk to her and give her rehab. Also Bruce will want to do right by her cause the way he treated her when she first became Robin back when he was drowning in his grief, horrible, he feels so guilty. They're dynamic is so hilarious. Steph and Jason have an interesting parallel so there's that. She's just as bad as the rest of them. This girl will eviscerate any Bruce bad mouthers on site. Bruce doesn't care but she's petty as hell

For Babs I think it wouldn't be so obvious from the outside but she has the potential honestly. Cause obviously Jim Gordon doesn't want her to fight crime and Babs have to hide this side of her from him. It must feel so lonely. And then Bruce came and saw her wanting to help, wanting justice so how could he not help and guide her. That must her made her felt so seen. So now as Oracle, she releases all the blackmail that she got and destroys them.

Duke Thomas is a menace cause his first reaction to having his parents jokerized was to start his own version of a vigilante team and just beat people up. Once he masters his powers, it's on sight. This man has blinded so many people. Like Bruce help him, gave him the means to fight for what he believed and not to mention, a whole pack of siblings to keep him company - a new start. It's insane how much this emo man changed all of their lives. Of course they're gonna be a little insane about him (aside from the fact that they're all also very traumatized and that pain manifested into motherhenning Bruce)