just want to ramble about tim a bit..
tw for mentions of child neglect, child abuse, depression, suicidal ideation, depression, etc.
Sometimes I truly think Tim serves as a parallel to what Bruce's life would've been like if he didn't have Alfred. Although Tim's parents were alive for a while they may as well of been dead bc they left without proper supervision for most of the year in order to travel for work. And the few times they were home they treated him both like a mini-adult meant to serve them and as a punching bag.
Now I know what you're thinking, if his parents were so awful why didn't he look for help? For a long time Tim thought everyone hated their parents. He heard kids complain about how much their parents annoyed them at school, after all. But then he started to go to galas and see Bruce interact with his kids. They'd get into arguments but at the end of the day they seemed happy, like they loved one another. That's when Tim started to realize his dynamic with his parents wasn't so normal after all.
As he got older he prioritized his family's company and reputation over his health. It made sense to him to do this bc his parents did treat him better if their company was doing well and as long as the public loved them.
Because of his shitty childhood, Tim has always struggled with depression, as well as frequently thought things such as (I wish I was invisible, I wish I was wallpaper, which Tim would find out when he started going to therapy, counts as suicidal ideation). Tim also got bullied a lot for being gay & trans + for skipping two grades (his parents pushed him to skip said grades, he was smart enough to do so but doing so made him a social outcast).
Following Batman, Nightwing & Robin around gave him a sense of purpose and even though they never saw them he liked to image they were friends, doing things such as eating a snack from his hiding spots when he saw them stop to eat a snack.
In many ways saving Bruce also saved Tim and I think about it a lot.
