Squirtle-Path

Yet I don't think twice about prying one of my dog's jaws open to make them take their medication (just eat it when it's in the hot dog, Obi, ffs).

I like to imagine Bruce has regular realizations like this around Clark. He's reaching out and guiding Clark in a direction. He's grabbing a violently angry Clark by the shoulders to tell him to calm down. He's putting himself in Clark's space regularly, touching him, commanding him, arguing with him.

Bruce does something like grab Clark's arm to stop him from chasing after some villain and only afterwards realizes that Clark could have snapped his wrist like a dry twig. Bruce pushes him to sit down when he's injured and Clark just goes, even though Bruce watched him take an entire rocket to the chest without budging not a half-hour ago. Bruce prods at a bleeding gash and Clark just makes an unhappy sound and pouts at him instead of knocking the other man into next Sunday.

Clark lets him do it.

Because what do you mean they went to the batting cages for some silly fun to watch everyone flail at an unfamiliar sport, only for Shane to need three practice swings before figuring out the force and timing needed to start hitting every single pitch? What do you mean he sets the course record at the mini golf place they have the Pike twins birthday at? What do you mean he learned how to play cricket over a long weekend in the UK? What do you MEAN your Canadian ass that grew up on a calm, tiny lake went to visit Rose in LA and just learned to surf from “some guy” one of the days she was busy??

Shane doesn’t get why they all think it’s so crazy. He’s a professional athlete, he’s good at full body and mind control as well as adaptability and hand-eye coordination, and he’s so used to being the best in the world at hockey that he views being mundanely good at anything else as barely noticeable. He argues with Troy over whether he counts as being good at basketball just because he killed them all at the basketball shooting game at a Dave and Buster’s

They all start making bets to see who can find a sport Hollander isn’t good at. Harris is convinced he’ll win with figure skating because Shane’s muscle memory will want to work against him with a technique that’s so similar but also so different, only for Shane to come out of an afternoon learning from his old friend who was at the Olympics with the ability to do simple jumps and spins and is insisting the whole team learn so they can incorporate it into plays. Harris is not allowed to make suggestions after that

Steve starts school early. He graduates early. Everyone is under the impression that he's older than he is and he never fixed this misconception because, really. How often does your age come up?

All to say that Robin is kinda shocked when she's getting cash out of Steve's wallet and, "We're the same age."

"Yeah."

"Actually," She says, staring at Steve's unfairly photogenic driver's license photo. "I’m older than you."

She lets that sit before, "Oh my god! You're just a baby."

"Um, no?"

"You're just a little itty-bitty child and everyone lets you put yourself in danger first because they thought you were the oldest," She laments dramatically. "Next time, I will be the one who is in danger."

[part 1] [part 2]

Jason: Its because Dick was the golden boy and now Bruce is vainly searching for someone he loves as much as him.

Tim: Maybe he was just using that decade as a trial run to see how a side kick adjusted to becoming a fully fledged vigilante? And once Dick proved the concept he went all in?

dude.

Jason does in fact have the right to ask. Bruce gave it to him implicitely. Because Bruce a) positioned himself as Jason's father, b) blamed Jason for Garzonas' father trying to get revenge on Batman and Robin and dying for it, c) argued that it was the natural actions of a father to try and avenge his kid.

Either Bruce IS Jason's father, and he failed to live up to the standard he set, or he isn't, and he sold a lie to an orphan to put him in the line of fire to deal with the loneliness of his eldest leaving the nest.

Jason, when coming back to life, seeing the Joker alive, must have felt incredibly betrayed and foolish. "I thought I'd be the last person you'd ever let him hurt."

Jason's ultimatum in Under the Red Hood is asking Batman to put his money where his mouth is.

Was it the natural thing for Garzonas senior to set-up an ambush to gun down Batman and Robin because fathers should avenge their sons?

Was it really Jason's fault back then that three men died in a failed scheme? When Batman toppled the pile of cars on top of Garzonas senior, when he tricked the subordinates into shooting each other, can we still blame Robin for not seeing this coming when he 'maybe' pushed Garzonas off the balcony?

If it is so inevitable that more deaths would follow a son's murder, why is the Joker still alive?

And if it wasn't, if fathers don't normally take bloody vengeance, then perhaps the three men that died should be blamed on the man that 'pushed' them?

Maybe Batman already had blood on his hands.

even after the identity reveal, Damian refuses to step down. the moment he perceives the family as being unfair to Jason, the moment they seem to overlook him or brush him off, Damian will be there to tell them off and remind them that, actually, Jason was talking first.

what’s probably even more dumbfounding to them by that point is that Jason lets it happen. it forces them to realize that Jason hardly fights for himself, to be heard or acknowledged. and for those of them that had been there when Jason first joined the family? it’s a painful reminder of the skittish boy they had first got to know

Damian takes his duties of brother very seriously. when Jason first joined their family back in Nanda Parbat, his mother had been very clear when explaining to him that his brother was in no state to speak or stand up for himself due to his catatonic state. Damian had made it his mission then to not only defend but also promote his brother’s interest. it would be unbecoming of him to let anyone diminish or take advantage of the more vulnerable member of their family until he could do it for himself