Damian being an artist is so dear to me in many ways, he can use this creative outlet to show how he views things, people, himself in such a deeply vulnerable way without having to say it.
Give me a Damian who paints his family portraits for their birthdays or just for himself, give me Wayne brothers each painted in Damian's style but distinctly different from each other. Different elements are highlighted for each person.
Give me Dick painted in chunky, light strokes reminiscent to van Gogh.
Give me Bruce painted in colors just off from being black and white.
Give me Jason so desaturated or monotoned that when Damian uses color for his eyes they almost glow green against everything.
Give me Cass unshaded and abstract.
Give me Duke painted in the brightest of bright colors against the darkest of shadows, bonus points if glow-in-the-dark paints were used.
But Tim? Tim has always been terribly difficult to draw, Damian just can't get his face right.
He won't let Tim best him in this way, it's unacceptable, but Damian will not let anyone see his artwork not at it's best. He does everything he can just not to draw Tim's face—his favorite is to spiral Tim's face, maybe he'll leave an eye or paint whatever flower he thinks best represents his brother that day right in the middle.
And Tim just loves it.
The first time Damian painted Tim and gave him the piece, he was uncertain of how it'd be received though he'd deny this with every breath in his lungs. He was prepared for Tim to hate it, to get angry that he distorted his face in such a way—and he could see the same thoughts on the faces of everyone who saw Damian present it to Tim. Why wouldn't he hate it? It'd be disrespectful to anyone, especially if the artist and the muse had such a disastrous relationship. He couldn't be blamed, but Damian was prepared to blame him regardless.
Tim was silent for what felt like hours when he laid eyes on the portrait Damian had painted of him. He hadn't expected any portrait Damian painted of him, if he ever painted one of Tim at all, to make him feel so... seen? Understood? Viewed in a way Tim could have never described?
If Tim cried? That's none of your business.
Damian Wayne gets caught by the press while sneaking away and hanging out in civilian clothing with Red Hood and Bruce finding out they know each other isn’t even his biggest problem. his biggest problem is that the interviewer asked what his connection is to the crime lord and why they have on camera the guy calling Damian ‘habibi’, and, panicking about whether or not Bruce seeing this interview could leak Jason’s identity, to throw him off the trail Damian said that Red Hood is his parent.
Interviewer: wait. but… i thought that Bruce Wayne was your biological father?
Damian, panicking even more because both Jason and Bruce would kill him if people thought that Brucie Wayne was the Red Hood’s identity: what, don’t you support trans people? Hood was my mother.
Jason only finds out what Damian did when after a week of confusedly nodding at the trans pride pins people kept wearing and pointing out to him on the street, and Damian refusing to look him in the eye, Nightwing shows up during patrol crying laughing about how Bruce Wayne got asked during a gala about his secret affair with a crime lord and held his champagne glass so tightly it exploded in his hands.
Bruce, on the other hand, got sent the interview clip by Tim halfway through breakfast, whereupon hearing the audio start Damian climbed out the nearest window to get away. after a slightly paranoid text to Talia about whether or not she was in Gotham wearing a face covering helmet every night, be proceeds to freak the fuck out. he has no idea who the Red Hood is, or how Damian knows him. He also has no clue that Red Hood knows HIS identity, and fully plans on showing up to Wayne events in the helmet to antagonise Bruce by stealing food and demanding they talk about the ‘custody arrangements’ of their son. all he knows is that Damian broke a window in his haste to Not Explain Anything, and that Dick and Tim are wheezing hysterically on the other side of the house.
More deaged Tim stuff ft deaged Dami :)).
I hc that Tim also knows Arabic and Dami didnt know that so he always says nice things to Tim in Arabic (cuz he thinks he cant understand) and one day Tim just responds in Arabic and Dami is SHOOK.
Thinking about Damian who gets called 'a selfish prick without a heart or the emotional capacity to give even a sliver of a fuck' and he just hides how much that hurt him until eventually he comes up to Bruce or one of his brothers crying because is he really that heartless? is he really so selfish and cruel?
Are YOU keeping your chicks warm through the winter? Why we should take notes from Bats on childcare
Do you think the rouges think there is a new Robin every time they change something about themselves because honestly the robins all look pretty similar so the only way to tell was in the style choices
They know Batman gets a new Robin occasionally but they don’t know when which leads to them thinking that Batman got a new sidekick after like a hair cut or a suit change
Riddler: oh I see Batman got a new Robin needed the newer version hm?
Tim drake got a hair cut: (gets punched when he pauses in confusion)
Tim in the midst of puberty and his voice got deeper: stop right there joker
Joker: ooh a new bird to kill how fun I should get my crow bar polished
Harley and ivy robing a bank just as Damian shows up
Harley: ok this is getting ridiculous we need to have a intervention for you batsy there is no way you can give your children enough emotional support and attention if you adopt a new one once a month
Damian who redesigned his suit: wha-
Batman pinching the bridge of his nose: same kid Harley
Ivy: are you sure about that
Harley: yea are ya sure you didn’t adopt one without realizing it batsy?
Batman glances at Damian unsure:
Damian: Father!
nightwing being hurt in the field, and over comms he can’t get out what was wrong, nearly in shock, and jason puts on his best batman™️ voice and says “robin, report.”
and it snaps dick out of it enough to say concussion, possible broken ribs, and a gash in his side.
no one talks about it, and then a year later, damian does the same thing to tim
pay attention to him NOW
was actually not going to draw the movie superbat but then the idea of battinson having an awkward crush on superman took me by a chokehold
Tim calls a family meeting and everyone thinks he’s coming out as bi.
He comes out as Santa.