#please let damian wayne al ghul heal into a emotionally functional adult

[maybe-in-another-universe]

damian wayne is an emotionally stunted child, that much is true. irrevocably so, even. and yeah, most of it is due to the leagues influence and training especially in his formative years, but also bruce wayne (or even dick grayson) is not an emotionally-responsible poster child.

in a way, his negative behaviors are reinforced through bruce and dick’s (and possibly alfred’s?) way of parenting him. (lack of deeper conversation, not setting healthy boundaries or expectations, not setting consequences or explaining why his actions were wrong, etc) and yeah he’s an assassin child, he’s not going to be the paradigm of mentally and socially stable, but they way they handle it is a disservice not only to him, but also to those who face the brunt of his actions.

that leads to one tim drake. he was robin when damian was brought into the family so naturally that’s where a large bit of his own insecurity of his place in the family (because he focuses on securing his spot in the family, rather than looking around and realizing he had one as soon as he was introduced to bruce wayne; again tho not his fault) is focused on. it’s a disservice to tim because he keeps getting the shitty end of the deal, while damian faces no real or meaningful consequences. on top of this, he receives no real apologies from either damian or the adults in their lives who are supposed to protect them.

(and yeah they’re teenaged vigilantes, there’s only so much danger the adults can protect them from but a better effort could be made easily.)

not only does this hurt the future social and familial relationships of damian but ALSO tim. it gives tim a reason to feel mistrust in not only his brothers but also the adults in his life. i see a lot of people defending damian (in relation to tim) by saying “he’s a kid, he was trained by the league of assassins, it’s not his fault, he’s just trying to find his place.” and to some extent they’re not wrong, but they’re also neglecting the fact that TIM is also just a kid. not only was he just a kid, but a emotionally (and physically) neglected kid. these behaviors could set him back emotionally as well.

it is important to remember that this isn’t necessarily damian’s fault. his actions? yes. should he take responsibility for them and own up to his mistakes? also yes. but i can also acknowledge that he’s a teenager— a young one at that. mistakes are going to be made, but it’s also the adults’ responsibility in his life to make him understand the weight of his actions and their consequences for others.

granted, these are fictional characters so take everything i say with a grain of salt, this is just stuff i’ve been thinking on when interacting with the fandom (specifically focused on the realm of fannon) anyways sorry for the essay

tldr: damian and tim are somehow both failed by the adults around them, even after leaving one shitty environment for a better one. it’s not their faults entirely, outside factors, especially in the forms of guardians, also play a role.

#dick grayson #damian wayne al ghul #tim drake #batfam #dc comics #dc batman #nightwing #bruce wayne #red robin #family dynamics #please let damian wayne al ghul heal into a emotionally functional adult #dc robin #batman and robin #fannon #fannon interpretations of familial relations

[maybe-in-another-universe]

the oddly similar circumstances between aftg’s neil and the dcu’s damian is kinda weird

Both of them:

were left behind by their mothers

found a father figure in their new social circle

created an extremely strong bond (borderline dependence) on a specific member of their new found family

have horric backgrounds involving copious amounts of murder

deny that they like said specific member of the family they bonded with (granted— in very different ways)

have their old abusers wanting revenge on them

have horrific familial ties

have a hard time accepting help

are learning to function is a different environment and is struggling™️ to keep it in check

#please let damian wayne al ghul heal into a emotionally functional adult #damian wayne al ghul #bruce wayne #aftg #all for the game #neil josten #dc batman #dc robin #i’ve connected the dots #you haven’t connected shit #listen my two hyperfixations have a seemingly lot in common and i’m beginning to think the problem is me