one thing I hate is when people downplay Dick’s treatment of Tim when Damian arrives bc-- now, of course I’ve really only experiences fandom renditions of this experience-- but everyone acts like Dick is a saint when is reality, he lets Damian continue to harm Tim over and over again, and he calls Tim the problem because ‘Damian's trying to acclimate and you're riling him up’ but Tim was just there, getting threatened because he breathed too loudly. Again, this is completely against canon, and it could be a completely different situation in the comics, but when I read something and Dick is continuing to allow Damian to cause Tim harm again and again and again? That sets me off.
Of course, he doesn’t want to punish Damian because god knows how he was punished in the league, but at the same time, children need structure, and children need punishment to learn what’s right from wrong. There are ways to punish a child without hurting them mentally or physically, and even just having Damian own up to his actions and apologize to Tim would help, but Dick doesn’t do any of that. Dick is trying his hardest, but in the process he’s alienating Tim from the family.
I saw this thing where a parent would punish their kid by making then wear the ‘bad kid hat’ and the hat was just a plain ballcap and anyone else wouldn’t think anything of it, but the kids know that it means they’re in trouble so they avoid wearing the hat and, therefore, avoid getting in trouble. Discipline doesn’t just come in physical or mental harm, you can truly punish a child through the most meagre ways. Of course, I don’t think something like the hat would work on Damian, but Dick could find something that would work, I think.
It doesn’t matter, anyways, because the fact of the matter is that Dick letting everything that Damian is doing to Tim slide is not something that is okay and it’s something that I, personally, cannot let slide! All he is doing is teaching Damian that it's okay to hurt people, because Damian doesn't get any repercussions so Dick might not intentionally be teaching Damian that, but why would he stop when he isn't getting in trouble for it? I could go on and on about the way Tim is treated in fanon media (and some variations of canon media), but for now, I'll leave it at this:
Dick is no saint, especially when it comes to Tim. Just because he's trying his hardest doesn't mean that what he's doing is okay. He was shoved into a situation that was difficult for everyone involved and he had to take up two roles that he never wanted, but that doesn't make it okay for him to stand by and let Tim be abused-- because that's what it is-- by Damian.
