its really late and I should be sleeping but Tony Stark!reader (for context) keeps me up as I think about the parallels between her and Bruce. Both driven to extreme levels of distrust and a need for control due to the fear of losing their loved ones but also dreading being the ones responsible for it, so of course they clash. They want to protect the other on their own terms, but how can they do that when they’re just as adamant and stubborn as each other? Even in self destruction, a trait they share, yet fail to connect with even this mutual understanding of suffering because they will never reach out for consolation or comfort. Instead, they push and yank away. Never towards.
Bruce recognizes this side of him in you, sees how it flares, and wants to stop you from turning out like him, to stop you from making the same mistakes. But you’re too similar to him in the end, and just like him, you carve your own path and anyone trying to impede you from even making your own errors is suffocating and controlling. Maybe he was, anyway. Controlling, that is. On your worst days, when you didn’t follow every order, it was dangerous and a cautionary flag to him. You’re reckless and impulsive in a way Bruce isn’t, calculating the risks and going ahead for the hell of it. You allow yourself to be driven by your desires, a stark contrast to Bruce’s discipline, and he tries to correct it from you. In the end, you just amp it up to spite him.
But Bruce can tell there’s something you want from him. Or did.
You never needed his approval, because you were his child all the same, a different dynamic from the Robins who play the additional role of being by his side on the field. Yet you sought it out incessantly. It’s his fault for being unable to handle his own composure when you were a child. He believed it the best option, to take a step back and wait it out until you communicated what you needed (which, you were a kid with emotional constipation. Of course that wouldn’t go well) because each time he tried initially, you would blow him off, so Bruce figured you’d say what you needed when you were ready. Instead, you were doing the same, waiting for your dad to take the final step. Your similarities led to a stand off that was never breached, but it’s those same similarities that kept that distance wedged there. You’re a near exact copy of him, so you’ll be fine, is what he thinks.
Now? It’s like watching a movie of himself. You’re doing the same thing he did — still does, sometimes. A certain type of ego that locks the weak interior away from the eyes of others. Bruce has gotten better at letting himself seek out people and rely on them when the situation becomes difficult (with gnashing teeth but he’s better at it) but you’re still young and making mistakes. He doesn’t know if there’s anything he can do or say to get you to listen. Maybe the only way is watch you crash and burn so it clicks.
In a way, he feels responsible for what you’ve become. Even when he was pissed about your take over of the company, he wouldn’t push you away, because to him, he failed you, so all he can do is try and remind you that he will be there to help you resolve whatever mistake you make next, because you’re his daughter and he loves you. No matter what.
(there’s something to be said about the contrasting relationships Bruce has with you vs the Robins. Not only were you his first kid, and he handled that situation terribly, which as a result was just a bit better prepared to be a parent for Dick and Jason, but there was also this sort of reliance on the others that he never had with you. Not a caretaker or emotional sort of reliance per se, but a tether to Bruce Wayne, not just Batman. While, yes, you’re a result of his life as Bruce Wayne, you also have no involvement in his life as Batman. The others have been affected by the crime and injustice Bruce is fighting against, even Damian as being from the League, and they’re a sort of beacon of his goals, a reminder of how he wants to prevent even more children of ending up like them. I suppose in a way, you are, since your dad is Batman, caused by the murder of his parents, but it’s still a different dynamic. You’re not out in the field with him. When Bruce is out facing against the most vile of criminals, watching the lowest dregs of humanity, you’re not physically there next to him to ground him, not like the Robins. Not to mention that for a portion of your life, you spend it against him.)
if i were a tfp decepticon, you would catch me defecting so fast after watching megatron lose his ex that didn't remember their messy breakup. like, what do you mean you put us through all this work to cover up our history, call a prime by his former name, avoid killing any autobots in front of him, and keep him stowed away on our ship for months and you STILL FUMBLED?! no, i have no respect for megafumbler. none at all
