weird figure of the dark

so i would say my interpretation/hc/thoughts are that it's a very intense pull in both directions. he wants a normative family that recreates what he lost when his parents died (dad, mom, baby) and if dick had his baby he could have that. but he's also terrified that he's permanently damaged dick and worsened him and darkened his life in a way that he can never atone for, so he wouldn't want to get dick pregnant because that would be an even more permanent and life-altering change he's inflicting on dick (and he would see it as "inflicting" imo). but also if dick has his baby dick is tied to him forever, dick is connected to him in a way that transcends wardship or even adoption. but if dick is tied to him that way dick can never be free of him and bruce WANTS dick to be free of him. but dick is the most important person in the world to bruce and bruce wants to keep him close. but a child with dick would be too good for bruce, bruce could never live up to that, bruce could never earn that kind of happiness or normalcy. but if dick had his baby dick would have to stop trying to get himself killed constantly and bruce wouldn't have to always be so terrified.

O-okay, let’s get into this, shall we?

*grumbling* Would you rather work for Lex Luthor or the Joker- *shouting* Lex Luthor, by like, a fucking mile!

Yes, yes, working for Lex Luthor is basically like being an Amazon employee that makes weapons of mass destruction, which is bad. Lex is like Donald Trump mixed with Mark Zuckerberg mixed with Jeffrey fucking Bezos, it’s not a great mix. He does not treat his henchmen well. Their lives still suck, and they are probably monitored on how long they take piss breaks for.

But let’s analyze what working for Lex Luthor is like versus the fucking Joker. With Lex you probably get a dental plan, a health plan, a paycheck, and the guy that you’re fighting really cares about human life. Superman will hit you just long enough to knock you out, so you’re not a treat, so he can stop the problem.

If you work for the Joker, your payment is you’re not fucking dead. You say one wrong thing? Bang. You don’t laugh at his jokes? Bang! You do laugh at his jokes? Bang! You think Joker gives a fuck about a henchman?

Who’s Lex Luthor’s right-hand-man? It’s a woman, you sexist, her name is Mercy, she’s awesome. Who’s Joker’s right-hand-man? Bob? Nah, he’s dead. Harley? Tried to kill her multiple times. Slappy? Who the fuck is Slappy?

The best case scenario of working for the Joker is that you fight the fucking Batman! And that presents its own fucking list of problems. If you stop Superman as a Lex Luthor henchman, Lex’ll be pissed, but he’ll be at least happy that Superman was caught. If you stop Batman as a Joker henchman, you better have a fucking coffin picked out yesterday.

This isn’t a fun hypothetical question, this is a screening technique that the doctors at Arkham use to determine your mental health! There is a right and a wrong answer to this question, and the correct one is Lex fucking Luthor. Thank you for coming to my fucking Ted Talk, have a nice day.

And how he raises his boys to do the same...

In Batgirl Year One #4, we see Bruce dictating what Dick is allowed to call Babs. You could argue this is control over his "brand," but it's part of a larger pattern of control over Babs throughout this run:

And it's immediately followed by drugging & abducting her to the Batcave, where he interrogates her to try and find out her identity...

Followed by drugging her again and making it clear that she does not get to decide what is done with her identity or her body

They maneuver her unconscious body multiple times in this issue and forcibly unmask her. Alfred and Dick are Bruce's accomplices in this. Dick occasionally challenges Bruce, but never with any real seriousness. There is no reciprocity in Barbara and Bruce's relationship here--she is entirely at his mercy at all times, and he wants her to be aware of this & works to crush her down whenever she defies him.

Bruce controls Steph also from as soon as he knows who she is: we see him do this in Detective Comics #649... her third appearance

Her identity is a bludgeon he can deploy against her-- and he's eager to do it immediately. He always goes for this blow (and yes, I'm aware he uses Tim's secret identity against him later + sabotages his relationship with Steph... but he only does it to Tim after he's been really upset with him. With women, he will deploy it right away)

In this case, Tim is apparently the first one to discover Steph's identity, but immediately gives it to Bruce, who then uses it against her. (I am admittedly so very tired so my chain of events could be off here as I am kind of throwing this post together).

He ambushes Helena with Dick to scold her for not being good enough while calling her by the hero identity she's currently not using, revealing that he's "known from the start" who she is.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120

He browbeats her into giving up the cowl and Dick cooperates with him, calling Helena by the same name:

Then he takes the costume and basically kingmakes Cass into the new Batgirl... then prefers that she never step out of the role. The one girl he chooses and she can have no other identity. The moment she "gives up" the secret, he supports her & builds up a way to avoid getting it back.

Batgirl (2000) #14

Like -

He cannot allow the Kory’s trauma to be minimized or forgotten, when it so often is. Her compassion, kindness, and optimism do not negate that she was a victim of slavery and experimentation. Yet, so many characters act as such. It’s honestly appalling, considering that half of every issue is complaining. But while most are throwing their hands over their foreheads in woe every story about something or other in their past, there is no acknowledgement of Kory’s. And specifically in this case, where it should be the most relevant topic in the room, the tragedy of discussion, it is still neglected.

Dick doesn’t let this happen. Dick doesn’t let Kory be pushed around and further allowed to suffer in silence, because she is the type to take on that suffering rather than make it the burden of others. Dick is the first to validate and emphasize the depths of this mistreatment.