#(He also doesn’t know how to interact with Damian. That stunted emotional communication was in there somewhere. It’s genetic).

[kizzer55555]

DP x DC: My Brother’s Ghost

So there are a bunch of fics where Danny and Damian are twins and Danny eventually has to go to Gotham or Damian/another bat interacts with Danny as ghost king. But I do you one better. Danny faked his death because of failing a mission/he actually died and his mother brought him back. (Or maybe he revived on his own after constant Lazarus exposure over time and knew he couldn’t go back). Anyways, Danny knew that he needed to go to Bruce Wayne in Gotham if he ever needed anything but only as a last resort as they would expect him to go there. So he’s been monitoring Bruce from afar and immediately knew when Damian joined the bats. He clocked him as the new Robin and started following his hero career more closely. He was content to watch his family from afar. Even after the accident. Then something happens where Robin was said to go missing and when no news showed up after a few days, Danny got worried so figured it couldn’t hurt to do a quick trip to Gotham.

He dresses in all black and a hood made using an old ninja Halloween costume. Not nearly as much protection as his old league uniform but with his ghost powers he doesn’t really need protection. Just anonymity. He goes to Gotham in phantom form, making sure all his white hair is carefully tucked in the black hood so only his green eyes remain. He uses his old assassin training and finds Robin drugged and captured in an old warehouse by the court of owls. Robin clearly isn’t thinking straight but Danny puts him in a simple choke hold to knock him unconscious anyways. Better safe than sorry. He quickly frees the boy and drops him off in an area he knows the other bats are searching. After watching to make sure Damian is safe and a bat finds him, he leaves.

Damian could barely remember his capture but he thought he saw a figure in black with glowing green eyes. He could have sworn the future was trying to kill him but…he woke up looking at another bat (or maybe even the manor). Did his family save him?

Meanwhile, Danny can’t stop thinking about Damian. Despite his assassin training, he was drugged and hurt. Danny thought he could handle himself. He thought he would be safe. But what if this happened again? What if the colony of bats wasn’t enough? So Danny couldn’t help the occasional visit to Gotham to make sure his twin was ok. Most of the time he didn’t do anything, just watched. Sometimes, though, there would be an instance where Damian got out of a dangerous situation and no one knew how. A building collapsed, Damian appeared unharmed outside. A goon was about to get a lucky shot? Somehow the bullet missed or the goon got taken out when no other bats were nearby. Fear gas? Damian faintly remembers warm hands hugging him as he struggled. And while he thought it was weird he heard his brother’s comforting voice when it should be a nightmare, he chalked it up to the fear gas anyways since there was no other explanation.

Yet every time there is a particularly dangerous encounter, he swears he sees the figure in black. Damian sees the figure more and more yet none of his family do. They swore to keep an eye out anyways in case. You never know. Sometimes the figure becomes more clear and Damian has tried to chase them but always loses them quickly. One time the chase lasted at least five minutes and Damian managed to corner the figure in an alleyway only for them to pass through the wall.

The bats suspect that this could either be meta abilities or magic. The funny thing is, there were no traces. No one sees the figure except Damian. No one hears them, and there’s is nothing to indicate their presence, not even footprints. It’s like they were never there and no matter how hard they try, there is no footage of the figure. Sometimes cameras glitch out and sometimes they only show Robin, sometimes neither or they seem to loop on themselves. So the bats are leaning towards Magic.

They call Constantine to give Damian a thorough check and he declares that Damian shows signs of interacting with a ghost. And that stumps everyone. A ghost? If it was a friendly specter like Deadman then he would help everyone, not just Damian. If it was hostile, it would never help Damian. So why is this ghost only focusing on the youngest bat and why? Is there even someone that would come back from the afterlife to help the demon brat, let alone have the will strong enough to manifest a ghost that can affect the living? Damian was a former assassin after all and he’s hardly the friendliest bat. So who would help him that has already died?

Throughout this, Damian is silent. Because there is one person he knows to have died that might do this. One person skilled enough to avoid the other bats and evade Damian during a chase. One person Damian would acknowledge as having a will stronger than his own. But something was wrong…because he was sure that that person didn’t have green eyes.

So the next time the figure shows himself Damian attacks. Not just a chase but an outright challenge. Hand to hand combat. And as Damian punches and kicks, the figure expertly parries each attack. And as the fight goes on, Damian watches. And he knows those moves. Those dodges. Those blocks. He can read this figure’s fighting stance like the back of his hand because he grew up with it.

And Damian knows without a shadow of a doubt as the figure disappears into he ground, that despite the changed eye color, the tan skin, the increased height, his brother’s ghost has come back to watch over him.

And for the first time in many years, Damian cries. That’s how the bats find him.

[louff4tw]

I really love the batfam but Bruce is far my favourite and it’s so tragic to see everyone hating him the most when others from the batfam have made the same errors too. They give him no mercy because he’s an ‘superhero/vigilante’ (it’s fiction bro, can’t apply real rules), ‘adult’ and therefore he ‘should know better’ rather than just being a person who has problems due severe ptsd and mental illness and even on the spectrum that all prevent him from normal interactions and communication.

Woe is dick with with abandonment issues, woe is Jason with ptsd, woe is Tim with neglect and loneliness and woe is Damian growing up in a harsh environment as if Bruce didn’t experience all that (I love alfred but he was a reserved military man who hardly met the physical and emotional needs of a 8 yr old kid?? And ur surprised he has stunted emotional growth?? Boo!! It’s also a defence mechanism—when nearly eveyone you love has left, what’s the point of attachment and showing you love them when they will leave anyway? Not a good way to think but you can’t help it. Some mentalities r hard to change)

Even for a city that took eveything away from him, he‘s still trying hard to help it— his personal mission isn’t to arrest all bad guys but it’s focused on to help those so the tragedy that happened to him won’t happen to anyone else and help people back on their feet by giving them a second chance. People who haven’t read comics act like he forced his kids to become robin even though they would have technically ended up in even worse positions (perhaps maybe tim but he would still lose his parents and either end up in foster care or with some random family members— he may remain neglected)

Then there areall these people, especially fanon batfam fans who continue to clown him. Even in light hearted fic their is so much disrespect, like how people treat their parents in tv shows (ex Ginny and Georgia). Idk if ur gonna tag something ‘Bruce Wayne is a dad’ or ‘bat dad’ then at least give him those qualities because istg half the batfam fics he’s tagged with those, he more of a ‘friend’ or ‘sponser’ than a parent. Or he’s there for decoration.

I avoid nearly all romance fics with batfam because half the time it’s the family arguing that ‘x is too good for bruce’??? And I’m like what ?? Time to drop the fic when I see this. I despise batcat with a passion (Batman 2022 has great chemistry so thats lowkey an exception) but in general it’s a nah for me. People act like giving Bruce happiness is a huge merciful act upon him and otherwise he doesn’t deserve it. He’s treated ok at best and demonic and irredeemable at worst.

I’m not shaming anyone ofc, because I believe that people can write whatever they want with whatever troupe/pairing and characterization because I ain’t the fiction police and they’re not real but I would always filter those fics and tags out. Out of sight, out of mind. I guess it’s a personal thing— especially since fiction is used to escape from reality for some people ya know?And for some it’s an outlet—maybe a coping mechanism so writing about bad parents helps them in a way. That’s the beauty of fanfiction and media. Usually I’m down to read anything and eveything but the only tag I ever regularly filter out ‘Bruce Wayne is a bad parent’ or ‘Bruce Wayne C+ parenting.’

Also I was wondering if you could recommend some Bruce/Batman centric blogs?

All of this!!!!!! Literally nothing to add as you said it all!!!! So dang true!

There are to many fics, I usually filter on AO3 with the tag “Bruce is a good dad” cause otherwise it’s all hate!

And I don’t follow many of the blogs even tho I should I go into the “batfam” tag from the search

Good luck!! If you find a fic and wanna know my thoughts on it send me the link and I’ll give it a read