“Dick closes his eyes and wishes on aeroplane lights.”
CAN WE PERTEND THAT AIRPLANES IN THE NIGHT SKY ARE SHOOTING STARRRSSSS
Anyway, this chapter was. Interesting. In a good way! I love a “through the years” type thing like this! Good build up makes the inevitable climax all the more cathartic!!!
I just also wasn’t expecting that beginning with the kid being hit by his mom with a sandal. Most abuse fics don’t touch on corporeal punishment, and authors’ avoidance of it is pretty justified considering how normalized it is across all types of cultures. Like, I read that and was confused for a while. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a teensy bit uncomfortable once I figured it out. I guess it’s always going to be such a grey area, but you wrote it well!
All of the relationships shown were also mirroring a more civilian(? No idea if that’s the right term, but I just mean in the sense that they aren’t back flipping over each other during their fights) version of Dick & Bruce’s relationship, which I think is awesome! Especially that fight between the girl and her dad where she said that he only hit her after work when he was angry. AND THEN YOU DROVE IT HOME WITH BRUCE HAVING “VIOLENCE LINGER IN HIS BONES” BCUS OF BWING BATMAN???? Ouchy. Bruce, get better RIGHT NOW
And the way Dick justifies the abuse by thinking that he and Bruce are “different”? That he isn’t his kid??? Ouchhhh brooooo. I DID love how Dick confronted Bruce with the “no parent should ever hit their child.” Feels like a pre-view of the actual fic, but I guess that’s what build up IS lol. I just wish we could’ve seen the thoughts going through his brain at the the moment. I wonder if he’d half-way remembered/realized the abuse he’d inflicted on Dick before Dick had said that the two of them weren’t father & son. Was he hurt over that btw, or did he, just like Dick, ignore the hurt over Dick’s (justified) rejection of their familial relationship in favor of taking the excuse for his abuse that Dick readily handed to him?
And gosh, Dick protecting Bruce’s honor in that school fight only to get put in a literal chokehold for it later sucks so hard. Like, Bruce. BRUCE, HE WAS DOING IT FOR YOU. STOP BEING STUPID
anyway, I’m done for now. I’m very excited for the abusive-but-complex Bruce in the next chapters! The messier and more complicated, the better!!!
Comment on even through the torture, it's the hardest goodbye
HelpMePlzImBeggin on Chapter 1 Mon 24 Nov 2025 06:19AM UTC
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