controversial opinion re: "year 2" but i think it's a bit unfair to disregard it based on those 2 panels that state that batman is the only thing that makes bruce feel like himself (and similarly, based on bruce owning a gun and almost using it). they are not even meant to be taken at face value, the opposite, really; the whole book subtly subverts this idea. it showcases bruce getting too close to the darker side of batman (which is, i understand, a dichotomy that many people do not like, but also a dichotomy that barr does intentionally make murky within the wider narrative) and stepping out of it. and i don't think that it cheapens bruce's other motivations as batman; that it cheapens the value of his love and the fact that he seeks out to protect people from the fate he suffered when witnessing his parents' death; i think on the other hand, it teases out the irony of it. and it's not done in bad faith or as a "gotcha" moment; barr clearly has so much love for classic batman stories and for the character, and reading it within his whole dc run makes it obvious. bruce is not just batman; and batman is not only a dark blood-thirsty creature; but batman is an entity that mangles his relationship with the others; that isolates him in some ways; that makes it difficult for him to manage a family. vigilantism is not a straightforward power of good nor evil; it requires careful negotiation between justice and revenge; the civilian identity and the masked one; and that is not always possible. bruce is sometimes wrong, and his lifestyle requires sacrifices that other characters are not happy with; which ultimately might hurt them too. but barr never writes about it without immense sympathy for bruce's character and the characters around him too (look: the way he wrote leslie & alfred, all he said about robin's place in the canon etc.) and that's what makes good comics.
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His son's children
When Alfred looked into the security video of the front gates, he froze for a moment. Taking in the image of the two children there. One was a tall, red haired girl with a teal headband, confident but with a look of wary in her eyes. Behind the girl was a younger boy, black haired and wearing a NASA shirt, appearing to be reluctant like what they were doing was a bad idea. Alfred's stomach dropped just a little when he saw the boy and his familiar features.
A second later worry flitted accross his face, but still, because of protocol, he asked them for their reason for this surprise visit. No one expected any visitors this late, and Alfred knew if he looked over his shoulder, he would find one of the children snooping, trying to find out who their visitor could be.
Yet when he heard the girls request to see him, not Bruce Wayne, but him, Alfred Pennyworth, his stomach dropped even more. Knowing now for sure that he hadn't seen wrong with the boy's features. He buzzed them in, while his mind remembered old cherished memories of two you black haired toddlers playing together, growing up together until that one day. When he chose to stay and his significant other chose to leave. Sometimes, he wondered if Bruce still remembered the one that could have been a brother to him if things had gone different.
He doesn't regret his decision, but when he looked at the two worn-out children, no his own grandchildren, before him he mourned the fact that he had let his own son become astranged from him and Bruce. Having believed it to be the best with what Bruce had started to get up to.
But maybe it wasn't to late to make amends he thought as the young girl, clearly of the same vibes as Richard, like someone who had grown up to fast and taking on responsibilities that shouldn't be theirs, tried to explain that they won't call him grandpa if it made him uncomfortable and that they would only need a place to stay for a couple of days before they could move on.
Alfred's heart broke for them as he listened to the girls, Jasmine's hurried explanation.
During her explanation, he studied them more closely. Marveling at how much the boy, Daniel, looked like him when he had been younger. But also noticing the clear signs of injury he was trying to hide. He suppressed a huff, years of taking care of his reckless charges and other grandchildren, and their wounds had made him an expert in spotting these things. But it also gave him a sickening feeling. The injuries Daniel tried to hide did not appear like your average kind of injuries.
They were going to stay, Alfred would make sure of it and he would also let Bruce know of his findings. There was clearly more to his grandchildren sudden appearance than Jasmin was willing to explain.
Whatever endangered his grandchildren from his own estranged son. He would ensure that nothing would hurt them ever again.
His granddaughter did not need to list reasons to convince him to let them stay for a couple of days. And his grandson did not need to look this cautious and wary of him like someone was going to attack him any second.
Alfred was going to give them a home if his son couldn't. And if Bruce had a problem with it, he could take it up with his children. Clearly, if he looked over his shoulder at the noisy little ones, all of his other grandchildren could see that these two before him needed a home to stay.
Besides from the looks of it, they would fit right in with this family.
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I think there's something to be said for fanfiction that loves canon in a way that’s rude. Like thank you for this wonderful thematic tragedy made out of this character’s entire arc ending in death, it was emotionally and intellectually moving, but also fuck you fuck you fuck you they live, this time and every time they live, they never died, their flaws are not their undoing, actually they have no flaws, actually they save everyone, actually who cares about a story, any story, where this one dies, actually i cared about that story so much i made a new one, actually i cared so much i unmade the old one, you gave me morals and i left them for the mortal, but they’re mine now and i will never let them die, actually thank you, actually fuck you, strongly worded letter to follow
A kiss for canon and spit in its face all at once, it’s great
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