LOVE that my lasting impression on the batfandom is “dick grayson’s love is not a pizza” and “dick grayson but a wee bit more morally gray than fandom lets him be- he killed the joker for tim drake don’t forget, and indulged a lot of violence on damian’s part”

also mary’s excellent point that tim stans don’t understand that dickie g had as much right to give the mantle to someone who needed it as tim drake had to it in the first place. damian wayne was 10 years old and he needed a family and a place to belong

i think without robin he would have become a monster and dickie g was right to step in and say no sir he’s gonna be a hero sir!!

damian wayne pre robin:
sometimes i go into a fugue state and commit atrocities
damian wayne post robin: sometimes someone threatens my brother and i go into a fugue state and hit them really hard bc he doesn’t like it when i murder anyone and i like him too much to make him sad

the joy dick feels when he realizes damian like genuinely understands now that murder will have a lasting negative effect on his own psyche and society at large and chooses to abstain for reasons beyond “what if richard stops loving me” i tell you NOTHING

Can compete with or fill the hole in my heart that damian wayne has left

ideally:
damian: even if i kill 109 people today, richard will still love me and even if i pick up a blade again my mother will still love me
damian: but i don’t do either bc i see why they might be hurt if i do; healthy middle: batarangs