There was a fanfiction I've lost it through time, I could probably find it, but it was Bruce whose favorite child was Tim and they did it in such a way where Bruce was not a bad parent. He just had like a slight favoritism and it was the same way people do Cass.
I think it's really interesting, the interpretations of who Bruce's favorite child is, not because I don't think he has one.
That man, 100% has a favorite child it's more of who everyone interprets as the favorite children that I find interesting.
Objectively I feel like it tells a lot about people when they interpret Jason or Cass as the favorite.
Jason, kind of says multiple things. Either it's because something really horrible happened with him, or it's because he's the child that makes the most noise. I've also heard the logic that he favorites the idea of Jason, but majority of the time people go based off of Red Hood Jason being the favorite.
Cass is in the exact opposite way. She is super un problematic. She listens to Bruce there's no argument about the no kill rule and she's the only girl. Cass if we go based off fandom interpretations she logically does make sense.
It is really sad and also kind of funny that we do not assume Damian's the favorite even though a lot of families the youngest is the favorite.
So I'm gonna come at this from a different angle, but I feel like I've also talked about this before.
Bruce's favorite children are pretty much Dick and Tim.
I'm going based off of the comics.
Dick is firmly the first baby. He is the child that in Bruce's mind no one can live up to, but also he himself cannot live up to. Whenever I discuss Bruce and Tim I'm always taking about how they are Dick's biggest hype man.
Bruce's favorite things to say about Dick is either Batman's not as good as Nightwing, Dick's gonna lead the justice league, I need to be more like him. He's the best. He's amazing.
Tim is Bruce's favorite child in a much more complicated way. Bruce is pretty consistent talking about him in a way very similar to Dick. It's Tim is so smart. Tim is amazing. Bruce I feel like in a way got very attached to Tim not just because of Jason.
This has been something I think I've talked about, others definitely have but sometimes I think Bruce's relationships with people tend to be based off of certain things and people don't seem to notice that.
Bruce and Dick have such a fundamental relationship in each each other's lives that it tends to almost get looked over. A lot of people give Alfred this kind of Bruce always listens to him all this stuff.
Bruce has a consistent characterization of blatantly, ignoring that fucking man.
If Alfred is talking, Bruce is literally zoning the fuck out.
Bruce does not do that with Dick.
Don't get me wrong there are instances of him, not listening to Dick, but they're very mission oriented.
Now you look at the relationships, Bruce has with people the best relationships he has are with people Dick likes.
Titans and people like that aren't included in this because they're not people Bruce Wayne would necessarily hang out with the only teenagers he's dealing with are the ones he likes and adopted.
Bruce and Superman essentially kind of raised dick for a lot of years and we have kept the Superman and Batman friendship for so long. Dick Grayson loves Superman.
The other bats I think are actually a great example of if Dick likes them Bruce does too.
To be very truthful, I am really dumbing down these relationships just to discuss this point. Majority of these are way more complicated but bare bones.
Tim is always extremely well liked by Dick. This is a great example of a character that will never actually lose the place in the batfamily he has. Very ironic, considering the fanfiction written about him. Brutally honest Tim is a fundamental and is never gonna have that taken away from him. He has the sign off from both Dick and Bruce, which means he's always having a place at the table.
Damian weirdly complicated because Bruce seems inconsistent on his actual opinion of this child, but he definitely seemed to warm up to him once Dick did. It's a little hard though because that really depends on what comic you're reading, but we saw a character growth after on both ends.
Jason,Bruce has worked with, however, when Dick seems to like Jason, which that is a very complicated question because Dick does not seem to have a set opinion on Jason and Jason seems to be doing wacky shit sometimes. But I would very confidently say if he got in good with Dick, Bruce would tolerate Jason far more.
When he does get along with Dick, he also seems to get along with Bruce, but most likely that's because comics,it does further my point.
Stephanie was not really liked by Dick at first honestly, I kind of don't even think he really likes her now. That's a bit of the problem with Dick we really only get good interactions with certain characters because that is a part of what makes money. Bruce thought I also feel like it doesn't really like Stephanie, but then we kind of got to a point where Tim and Stephanie were good. So Dick was also good with Stephanie and then Bruce was ok with her too.
Perfect example look at any comics where dick is kind of mad at Barbara magically Bruce is also mad at Barbara.
I'm not oblivious, though to the fact that many people recently, including myself have been discussing that if it wasn't for Tim and Dick, we wouldn't have the batfamily.
So of course, these are the people centered, but Cass is also an example of one certain people like this person the others follow.
I cannot feel the life of me remember what comic it was but I have a memory of a dick lthanking Cass or something for saving maybe Tim or himself and he kind of hyped her up.
Duke is a questionable one for this point because I cannot off of memory think of a great interaction that was point blank normal. When I say that, I mean, there's not a whole lotta drama it is like a normal every day average thing. Also not the adoption moment either or foster whatever.
You can't use a really emotionally charged moment for things like that because it's inherent bias. It's not a casual kind of thing, you put your best face on when you're about to adopt a child. Or if you think you're all about to die.
It's a Tuesday where you're hearing your son bitch about someone and you're like oh fuck yeah I'm adding them to the enemies list.
I definitely think it's a pattern of Bruce likes people if Dick likes people. Dick likes people if Tim likes people so essentially, I wonder if one of them has like a point sheet where they walk by each other in the middle of the day and go fuck that bitch. Then for the next like month, one of the family members is treated like absolute shit and they have no idea why.
Here's the thing, though I really like angst.
To play with this concept, a little bit in a shitty way how much of this do you think it's very obvious to the other family members?
Bruce is making patrol routes and immediately ask Tim and Dick or places them just where they want to go without even asking.
How much of the stuff in the manor is actually very much Tim and Dick focused? Alfred does the shopping though right? He likes the people and prefers the people who aren't causing Bruce an issue so Dick and Tim are also his favorite.
How many people have been kicked off a case simply because Tim wanted it?
Does Bruce only remember presents for certain children?
Do I think realistically it's probably much subtler than that sure, but when doing a slightly problematic Bruce Wayne I push that shit hard.
Tim and Dick, get new cars and bikes pretty consistently too. Don't get me wrong, I've seen the argument that they're buying it themselves but sometimes it's very obvious Bruce bought that.
Something about the dynamic of Bruce being a shitty parent, but also being a good parent to specific children at the same time really gets me.
Simply because this is a common thing in real life.
It's not a good thing in real life. It's a very problematic behavior, but it's so basic in comparison to Bruce's highlight reel of worst fatherly choices.
That it's so fun to explore. 
