I saw someone go "can we not normalize Damian being raised as a weapon without real emotions or feelings or a normal childhood?" and i think i'm genuinely speechless. Because, what?
Damian WAS raised as a weapon. That is fact. Kid was put through the fucking wringer since birth. Depending on the writer it's harsher or 'softer', but point remains that Damian was raised in what's essentially a murder cult with his only purpose being to kill and to take over the LoA or Batman's cowl one day. Even if we take a version with a softer blow (ex. one where Talia wasn't written to be horrible etc) he was still perma abused.
Nobody's normalizing that, it's just part of who Damian is, like how Dick's parents died or Jason died. It's an essential part of his character.
If we take that backstory and replace it with a normal childhood, none of his character development makes sense. Because the point is that he finally learns to be his own person instead of just the bloodstained sword he believes himself to be.
And nobody fucking said that he didn't have emotions?? Like, his feelings are the fucking point. The point is that despite everything Damian has so, so much love inside him. He regrets everything he's done, he even regretted it back at the league. But how are you supposed to escape a cycle of abuse and violence if you've been indoctrinated all your life? If you think that's normal? Damian was more than convinced that his way of thinking, that his compassion and empathy, were wrong so he pushed it down because Damian is starved for approval and is someone who wants to do everything right. It's only in Gotham that he learns to deal with it and to be himself. Being stoic or hiding your feelings doesn't make you emotionless or invalidate said feelings.
