#Crystal Brown also says it to Steph right?? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

vikingpoteto · 1 year

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I posted 5,590 times in 2022

That's 1,075 more posts than 2021!

70 posts created (1%)

5,520 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@basilsbestpainting

@kumikoumae

@spelviin

@cari28ch3-me

@six-feet-underneath

I tagged 3,064 of my posts in 2022

Only 45% of my posts had no tags

#dbz - 280 posts

#jason todd - 237 posts

#spy x family - 234 posts

#red hood - 131 posts

#toh - 124 posts

#tiger and bunny - 120 posts

#stephanie brown - 91 posts

#howls moving castle - 90 posts

#jon kent - 87 posts

#poison ivy - 80 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#i have adhd okay if you start describing something withflowery words i will get distracted and two paragraphs later i forget what was happen

My Top Posts in 2022:

98 notes - Posted May 25, 2022

I know we joke a lot about Bucky and Sam being gay on a boat while the other Avengers break the universe but where were the other Avengers when they randomly announced a new Captain America

103 notes - Posted February 20, 2022

1: Consider this me asking about your platonic ships 👀

2: Thank you for the rock 😌

2. I'm glad you appreciate it.

1. LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT JASON & STEPH AKA DISASTER TWINS as opposed to Dick and Donna's Wonder Twins

So this little Robin starts as a street kid. Their father is a criminal, their mother struggles with addiction and they have to grow up way too fast. They try to do good in any way they can but unfortunately they die by the hands of a sadistic criminal that torture them brutally before their death. They get better. Am I talking about Jason or Steph? TRICK QUESTION IT'S BOTH.

Cue Under the Red Hood. Jason is coming back and he has this whole thing planned. It's gonna be theatrical and dramatic and he hears that another Robin just died. Well, it looks like Mr. Black Mask specifically has a target on his back, doesn't he?

More years later. Steph is back as Batgirl. We pretend we do not see most of Jason's shit after UTRH. They finally meet. They bond over the fact that they're the only batfam members that can cook and know how much a banana costs. (No, Bruce, it's not ten dollars.) They're both sarcastic and quippy and dramatic and they get on like a house on fire. Steph likes to sit on his shoulders (she likes to be tall) and he gets fiercely protective of his new little sister.

(Eventually, Steph doesn't know why, but she tells him about her pregnancy. And Jason, who canonically hugged Sheyla Haywood and commented on how hard it must've been for HER to abandon him, simply pets her hair and says that he can't even imagine how strong Steph is for making that decision for her child's sake.)

(Steph wants to resent him, because back when she was Robin, Bruce couldn't handle her because she reminded him too much of Jason in ways Tim never did. But she finds out she can't. She knows how he feels like the family "outcast" and she wants to be a bridge for him. She wants to make Cass understand that Jason isn't bad even if Cass despises him. She finds that she has more in common with him than with the rest of the bats after all.)

They joke that they're the Robins that went wrong (if you joke about something enough it must stop hurting, right?) and, if Nightwing and Troia are Wonder Boy and Wonder Girl, Jason and Steph are Disaster Boy and Disaster Girl. Disaster twins. Jason points out he's at least two years older. Steph argues that that can't be true because he was dead for six months, so he's a year older tops. Cue long hours of pointless bickering over technicalities.

Crystal Brown fully adopts Jason. She invites him over for dinner as often as she does Steph (and it serves as a bittersweet reminder of what Catherine Todd could've been if she recovered but it also feels like home) and she gets so excited when she hears that Jason would've loved to go to med school (with a minor in Literature, of course.)

Steph tries to convince Jason to come public that he's alive and go to college with her. They'll talk shit about their classmates and show them trustfund babies what real top notch students are like.

They like the same musicals and they listen to Broadway soundtracks when they're together. They changed their patrol schedules to run into each other more often and chill while they're doing a stakeout.

Eventually, they have to go to the Batcave for one reason or another. There are painful memories. They stick together, reminding one another that they're not the odd one out, they're not alone this time. They never have to be anymore.

110 notes - Posted April 4, 2022

art by jupiterwave_, inspired by my fic for @vioislit

674 notes - Posted April 14, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

hear me out: Dick Grayson is deadly allergic to kiwis. One time, (Robin) Jason wanted to sneak out and asked Dick to provide a distraction. Without asking a single question, Dick promptly looked Bruce and Alfred in the eye and took a bite of an unpeeled kiwi.

4,485 notes - Posted August 7, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #thanks tumblr #so maybe i was going through some shit

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incorrectbatfam · 3 years

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Stepmom!Selina?

She sees what she's getting into from a mile away, but she welcomes it because Bruce's kids are a part of him, and she loves all of Bruce.

The kids all see it coming too, and while some (Damian) take longer to warm up to her, she's welcomed into the fold with open arms.

Selina's got a heart as big as her partner and while she's not always perfect, you can see how much she cares.

As a former foster child herself, Selina understands Duke's unique experiences and traumas from the foster care system, so whenever he needs to talk, she's the first one he goes to. Sometimes he doesn't want to (or need to) talk, so they'll watch boxing matches or she'll teach him little bits of Mandarin. If the kitchen isn't busy, they'll try their hand at new TikTok recipes, and film themselves either succeeding or debunking the original poster.

Being raised in isolation to be a human weapon meant Cass missed out on a lot of the things daughters typically learn as children/teens. The evening of Cass's first gala, she didn't know the first thing about doing her own hair and makeup. She's braved assassin armies, but her self-made disaster of bobby pins and eyeshadow nearly drives her to tears. Selina swoops in, wipes Cass's face with gentle reassurances, and walks her through step-by-step.

Selina considers it a privilege to have watched Dick grow from the spunky little Robin to the man he is today. Even though he's taller than her, she still ruffled his hair when he does a good job. She also keeps the first ever birthday card he gave her, which includes a pop-up bat signal and scented stickers, and remembers all of his favorite radio stations. Also, when Bruce does something, Dick goes tattling to Selina.

For a while, Carrie mooched off of her siblings' Netflix profiles, but everyone got tired of her messing up their algorithm and she was forced to make her own. She soon realized how much freedom she had because no one could see what she was watching. Selina caught on to the power trip and started researching and watching snippets whenever a new show comes out. That's how she stopped a bunch of preteen girls from watching Squid Game.

Tim often gets overlooked as not just the middle child, but the child who appears put-together and regularly takes on adult responsibilities. Selina, however, remembers that he's still a teenager. She regularly checks in and gradually teaches him that it's okay to let go and act his age. Selina encourages him to call his Young Justice friends outside of missions and take small acts of rebellion against Bruce. When Tim and his boyfriend snuck out to a famous lover's lookout, Selina gave them the car keys and covered for them.

She noticed that Jason really enjoys hanging out with Harley Quinn, bonding over not just Joker trauma but other shared interests like music taste. After Harley turns to the antihero side, Selina discusses with Bruce and they start inviting Aunt Harley and Aunt Ivy to dinner. The first time they do that, Harley is so excited that she baked a three-layer cake just for Jason. Literally, in strawberry frosting, it said, "THIS CAKE IS FOR JASON ONLY." Finding someone that Jason can relate to remains one of Selina's proudest accomplishments.

She's trying her best, but she makes mistakes too. For instance, although Wayne Manor has plenty of kitchen space, Selina does her cooking at Harley and Ivy's because Ivy can offer her fresh plant-based ingredients that suited Damian's needs. When Alfred's not available, she sends Damian to school with healthy, flavorful vegan lunches shaped into Cheese Viking characters. One time, she was tasked with bringing brownies to a PTA meeting. Incidentally, Harley was simultaneously baking a... different kind of brownie for a block party (you can see where this is heading). When an angry superintendent demanded to know who was responsible, Selina wisely kept her mouth shut and thankfully, so did Damian.

Cullen loves concerts, but he's a huge introvert who gets anxiety when he's left alone in a crowd. Selina becomes his concert buddy, and she'll go as all-out as he does. Sometimes that's showing up to a garage band dressed-down in hoodies and sunglasses. Other times it's painting their faces and looking like they just came out of a Hot Topic blowout sale. She even listens to the discography beforehand so she can blend in. Selina learns a lot about Cullen through this, because nothing says more about a person than the music they listen to.

Harper, though looking rough around the edges, turns into a giddy little kid at interactive science museums. During one of these trips, Harper got distracted by the giant Newton's Cradle so she didn't notice a fourth grade field trip sweeping up Selina. When they reunited at the gift shop, a chaperone had given Selina a school t-shirt and she was put in charge of grading ten kids' assignments. Harper laughed so hard that she spewed lemonade on the museum owner. Neither of them will let the other live that day down.

Selina and Barbara openly talk about guy stuff, and Selina is more than happy to offer advice in times of need. They're both pretty liberal talking about that stuff, and one time they did a tier ranking of all the Gotham Rogues based on how effective their gimmick is (Joker was the only S-tier). They then proceeded to get into a debate on whether or not Man-Bat and Killer Croc should qualify for the list, which led to them staring each other down at dinner while the other family members sat around them confused.

Steph's school offered a Mother's Day breakfast. Although Crystal Brown was doing her best and wanted to make it, she was scheduled a double-shift that the breakfast fell right in the middle of. Selina reached out to Crystal and with permission, went in her place. Afraid that Steph would publicly reject her, Selina sat in the parking lot for ten minutes as Bruce amped her up over the phone. Steph, thinking that no one would no up, was ecstatic and said that she couldn't have thought of anyone better. They enjoyed stacking up waffles and making the girls who bully Steph envious.

Long before she and Bruce got married, Selina made it clear that she would not be relegated to the gender-typical role of a homemaker, and Bruce happily concurred because it's 2021. They knew that to give Alfred a break, they'd have to take on some chores themselves. Instead of dividing up a boring old chore chart, they find ways to make cleaning fun and collaborative. They'll dance around the halls in mop slippers, play "guess the stain", and race their roombas. The kids see this and start modeling the behavior in their own ways—Dick swings from high places to dust them, Damian trains his pets to pick up garbage, and Cass and Duke compete to see who can clean the most bathtubs.

Some parts of the Manor are due for redecorating, so Selina and Alfred make a day trip out of interior design sketches, flipping through furniture catalogues, and looking at paint swatches. It sounds boring at first, but the menial tasks meant they had plenty of time for conversation, and she finally understood why everyone respects him. They also made room in the afternoon for a stroll through the park and afternoon tea, where he told her and her only the secret to a perfect scone.

The other Justice League partners welcome her into the group too. Whenever Selina's in Metropolis, she joins Lois and Ma and Pa for Sunday brunch where they share what their kids have been up to. Iris shows her life hacks to cooking large batches of food in a short time. Selina and Dinah discover an online store dedicated to selling vigilante gear and go on a Cyber Monday spree for their whole families. Steve Trevor, Diana's partner, teaches Selina how to fly with the invisible jet so she can surprise Bruce with the batplane.

After overcoming their initial conflicts, Selina and Talia hold a high amount of respect for each other. Talia sees Selina as not just a capable combatant, but a worthy partner to her former beloved and stepmother to her son. Selina, after spending all that time with the kids, understands the motherly love that Talia holds for Damian and makes it abundantly clear that she would never try to replace Talia in the boy's life. Regardless, looking after all those kids is hard, so they are very much open to the idea of co-parenting.

(Selina doesn't know it, but all this makes Bruce fall in love with her all over again.)

#ask #anonymous #selina kyle #catwoman #gotham city sirens #gotham rogues #batfamily #batfam #batkids #batsibings #batclan #batman family #dc comics #headcanon #tw food mention #tw mental health mention #tw drug mention

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incoherentbabblings · 2 years

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I was wondering. Did Stephanie's mom like Tim or did she never really have an opinion on him?

Oh! Crystal and Tim are fun because they never really have a conversation outside right at the beginning with Steph being pregnant and Tim pretending to be Alvin. Depending on how much you think Crystal put the pieces together, you can see her thinking either way. If she just thinks Tim is Tim, and distinct from Alvin and Robin, then Tim is a freaking godsend for her erratic and flaky daughter. If she does put the pieces together... It's a bit more complex. And I'm pretty sure Crystal put two and two together. Maybe. By the end.

So, a timeline of Crystal and Tim moments, featuring Crystal's hilariously inconsistent character design . I think I cover everything, but as you'd expect there's not much post 2004.

Under the cut due to length~

Robin (1993) #60 and 61

To start off, Crystal did not think much of Alvin, because he seemed the type of guy that usually hung around the Brown household, like Arthur, like Dean, like those other useless guys. But, a couple of eavesdropped conversations later she's more baffled by him than anything. She didn't know or understand why this kid was so important to her daughter. Which is a bit sad really, the more I think about it.

Robin (1993) #64 and 65

Also Crystal's magically changing colour jacket. Though to be fair perhaps she brought a change of clothes. Sorry. Tangent.

But then in the great 'Who is Robin under that mask debate' Steph gets a bit hysterical and lets it slip that Alvin is Robin. Crystal is mighty baffled me too ma'am but by God she is trying.

Robin (1993) #84

So here's where a split could happen. Crystal learns that Alvin was Robin. Just a few weeks later, Tim shows up. I don't think Crystal makes the connection at this stage actually. Tim is a very conciliatory, quiet, sweet boy. God knows where Steph met him but honestly where does Steph meet any of the dudes she brings home?

Tim thinks quite kindly on Crystal, albeit a little patronisingly too. He compares her to a workhorse don't work yourself to the point of being shipped off the glue factory Crystal sorry sorry and one of his arguments for saying Steph needed to go home was because Steph and Crystal needed to take care of each other.

On another tangent, Steph argues that she's not responsible for her mother's sobriety, but it's an interesting look at how Tim views parent child relationships. Steph has the right idea, in hindsight, but still. Generational trauma~

Robin (1993) #119

So Tim ends up presenting himself as a peacemaker. Level headed and more likely to reign in Crystal's somewhat tempestuous daughter. More evidence of that is how familiarly she speaks to him when Steph is avoiding him. Like. Okay. If I were Steph's mother, and I knew my daughter was sulking because she said that she caught her boyfriend cheating on her (regardless of the truth or not - that was what Crystal was told), and my daughter did not want to speak to that boy, I would not be so casual and chit-chatty over the phone with him. Imagine having a more friendly relationship with your daughter's ex than your own child. But hey. Little bit yikes Crystal.

Robin (1993) #126 and #127

Tim doesn't speak to Crystal again. He keeps his distance at Steph's funeral, and does not maintain any relationship with the girl's mother. I don't expect him to, he's only sixteen for goodness sake. But from Crystal's point of view, it very much looks like Tim tried very hard to keep Steph on the straight and narrow, but failed. Whether or not she at this point has concluded that Tim is Alvin is Robin, when Tim and Steph were dating, before Steph died, I think she liked him.

The role of Tim being a mediator presence for Steph and her mother funnily enough continues after Steph's return, where he takes Steph to the hospital to see Crystal. He watches Steph quite suspiciously now, the joy of having her back leaching away for the good old 'she lied to me' trope. Perhaps he is jealous of how Crystal is treated versus himself.

Robin (1993) #174

And that's it.

UNLESS.

Batgirl (1993) #24

So if we go with the - it was Tim not Dr Mid-Nite that saved Steph because of that running Mid-Nite gag in RR and Batgirl then I'm glad Crystal thinks he's still nice. Even more so if Crystal, who by this point knows Steph is Robin and potentially Bruce is Batman, I would actually be disappointed if she hasn't put two and two together for Tim.

Anyway, the relationship between Crystal and Tim is significantly warmer than say Steph and Jack. Crystal probably sees Tim as a steadying influence, and Tim is shown to think nothing of Crystal but as someone who needs help from time to time and ought to have a functional relationship with her daughter. Perhaps he is projecting.

Oh, one more thing, Crystal may have been unsure of Tim, but she never encouraged her daughter to beat him up in the back garden with shears. So… she likes him better than that, at least.

Robin (1993) #80

Actually no wait, the way this is framed Crystal doesn’t even know who Dean is. ‘Now what did he do to make you so mad?’ Does Crystal even know who the father was? I don’t think she did!

Sorry, this has gone on long enough hasn’t it!

#dc #stephanie brown #crystal brown #tim drake #batfam meta #ask and i'll babble

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sqoiler · 3 years

Text

On the Thursday of the last week of kindergarten, the DVD that Miss Martinez was going to play turns out to be scratched beyond recognition, and so she gets out construction paper, scissors, markers, and glitter glue.

“Father’s Day isn’t for a few more weeks,” she says. “But why don’t we make some cards, just like we did for Mother’s Day, okay?”

The kids all get to work, reaching for the pile of brightly-colored paper. Stephanie Brown, who will be turning six in August, is the last one to get up. She shifts through the leftover colors--black, a pukey shade of green, blue, white. She picks up the black one and takes it back to her desk. She does not want to make a stupid card for her stupid dad. The other kids at her table are enthusiastically chattering about their dads’ favorite colors and jobs and drawing crayon drawings onto the paper. The girl next to her is cutting a snowflake out with safety scissors.

Steph picks up a white crayon and stares at her blank card. Across the room, Dexter raises his hand.

“What if we don’t have a dad?” he asks. Steph remembers from Mother’s Day that Dexter has two moms.

“Make a card for someone else,” Miss Martinez suggests. “Your grandfather, maybe. Or a neighbor, or a hero.”

A hero?

Steph looks at the black card before her, and her white crayon. She smiles.

And she makes a Father’s Day card for Batman.

-----

On the Monday of the last week of first grade, Mrs. Arnold, the art teacher, sits down her class and passes out white paper.

“Father’s Day cards,” she explains. Stephanie Brown, seven in August, considers making her own father a card. She didn’t get him anything last year but he didn’t seem to notice, and she’s not really that mad at him this year. But he didn’t seem to notice, and when Steph thinks about it, she thinks Robin probably doesn’t make Batman a card. Steph could make another card for her own dad at home, and make one for Batman at school.

Mind made up, she reaches for black markers and gets to work.

-----

On the Tuesday of the last week of second grade, Stephanie Brown, almost eight years old, sits down in art class and carefully draws a black blob with pointy ears, and a red and green and yellow stick figure, next to it, and she tries to remember what Nightwing looks like, and when she can’t remember she just draws Robin again but bigger.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY, she writes in red marker, and she closes the card.

------

On the Wednesday of the last week of third grade, Mrs. Arnold passes out watercolors in art class with pieces of thick paper, and tells them to make presents for their dads. Stephanie Brown, nearly nine, hasn’t seen her dad in almost four months, and she uses up almost all the black water colors at her table painting a picture of Batman.

------

On the last week of fourth grade, nobody sits down their class to have them make Father’s Day cards.

On the Thursday before Father’s Day, Crystal passes Stephanie Brown, age almost-ten, a card bought from the store and tells her that they’ll mail it to Blackgate the next morning. Happy Father’s Day, the card says. You’re the best dad ever! the card says.

Steph stares at it for a long time.

Then she tears out a piece of notebook paper and folds it in half, taking the rainbow gel pens she got in December and picking up the pink one. She squints at it and sees that it’s nearly run out, so she picks up the purple one instead.

When she’s done drawing Batman and Batgirl and Robin and Nightwing, she decides she likes purple, and she folds the notebook paper inside the card her mother gave her, and she doesn’t mail anything to Blackgate the next day.

-----

On the last day of fifth grade, Mr. Robinson turns on The Great Mouse Detective and sets out a stack of colored paper and scissors. He tells the class they can do whatever they want during the movie and even sets up chips and cookies, then he sits in the back of the classroom and maybe falls asleep. Stephanie Brown, ten-going-on-eleven, wants something to do with her hands, so she takes a black piece of paper and cuts out a batsymbol. She learned how to draw them by sticking her head out her window at night and looking at the sky, and she’s proud of her newfound skill. When she’s done cutting it out, she’s not really sure what to do besides maybe tape it to her shirt, but her dad’s been out for a week now and she thinks he’d be mad if he saw that.

Instead, she folds it in half and writes HAPPY FATHERS DAY across the middle using white-out. Skye, the girl who sits next to her, leans over and asks what she’s doing, and Steph pauses. She’s...she’s not really sure why she keeps making these. To prove a point, maybe. She’s not really sure what point, though.

“Do you think Batman ever gets cards?” she asks in a whisper.

“Yes,” Skye says. “Probably every day.”

“Oh,” Steph says. “Well, I probably won’t send it then.”

“Okay,” Skye says, and then she downs half of her dixie cup of orange juice and turns back to the movie. Steph puts purple glitter glue on her batsymbol.

------

On the first week of April, Stephanie Brown, age seventeen, pulls a plastic bin out from under her desk. There’s a cardboard box beside her, and two other cardboard boxes on her empty mattress, full and taped shut. There’s a full duffel bag of clothes next to her, and her posters from her walls have been taken down and rolled up. All she has to do is finish going through her desk, and then she’s done. The rest of her things will be sold or something, she’s not sure.

She pries off the lid of the bin before her and takes out old school binders and ragged notebooks, paper folders falling apart and ancient art projects. She lifts out a collage she probably made in seventh grade and tries to decipher the meaning behind it. There is a cutout of red heels from Kohls on top of a blue betta fish.

Steph decides it will go in the trash pile and sets it aside, lifting out a yellow plastic folder. She opens it, curious, and lifts out a black paper batsymbol. She gasps when she opens it.

Her Father’s Day cards!

Of course, she had never sent them, so she has all--she counts quickly--six of them. She looks them over, laughing at her kindergarten misspellings and looking at the evolution of her drawing ability fondly. This is--she totally forgot about this. Steph closes the folder reverently and puts it on top of her duffel bag. There’s no way she can get rid of this--especially with the purple cape still in the hidden part of her closet. Especially not with where she’s packing up to move to.

----

On the third Sunday in June, Stephanie Brown, age eighteen-in-August, takes up her yellow plastic folder from where she hid it under her new mattress, and she leaves her room, tucking it under her arm. She gets like four steps down the hall before another door opens, and already an accusing voice says, “What’s that?”

Steph whirls around.

“None of your business,” she says. Tim makes a face at her and she makes the same one back, because she is very mature. To prove her maturity, she slides down the banister on her way to the kitchen.

Dick and Cass are in there, doing the dishes. Steph watches them for a second and then says, “Why do you have dishes at this hour?” ‘This hour’, upon checking, turns out to be almost noon, but nobody wakes up early in this house.

“Breakfast for Alfred,” Cass says.

“You can do that?” Steph asks, thinking that Alfred would get offended if someone tried to cook for him.

“You can today,” Dick says, shrugging, and Steph frowns, realizes that they ganged together to make breakfast on Father’s Day for Alfred and didn’t invite her.

It was probably an accident, she reasons, but then she remembers Tim and turns to face him.

“Why didn’t you make breakfast for Alfred?”

“I was sleeping,” he says.

“He’s impossible to wake up so we called it a lost cause,” Dick says. “We have extra pancakes, though, help yourself.”

Steph is still a little affronted, but she knows that she’s the newest person in the house and she’s only staying here until her mom’s done with rehab and whatever, so they probably didn’t think she’d want to be included, even though Alfred is everyone’s grandpa, even Babs’s. She goes to pick up a pair of pancakes and bites into one, deciding syrup can wait, and she leaves before they can rope her into conversation. Besides, she’s a little scared they’ll start referring to whatever plans they have with Bruce, and she doesn’t know how she’s supposed to react.

She heads to Bruce’s study and pushes open the door, glad to find him in there. She thinks if she had to search for him she’d probably lose her nerve and chicken out. Bruce glances up for like half a second and then looks back at the computer, and she takes a deep breath and steps inside fully.

Now or never, she thinks, and so she marches right up to him and slams the yellow folder on the desk.

“What’s this?” Bruce says, and Steph isn’t really sure how to explain, so she says, “It’s, uh, I found it when I was packing my stuff, and it’s...it’s from a while ago, but I thought you might, um…”

She trails off as he picks up the folder and opens it, raising an eyebrow at the contents from inside. She kinda wants to look at his face, but also totally doesn’t want to do that, so instead she looks at the desk, and opens her dumb mouth back up. “They always used to have us do Father’s Day cards at school or whatever and I never wanted to make one for Arthur so I made those instead ‘cause...well I don’t really remember why but whatever I thought you might want to see them.”

“Stephanie,” Bruce says, and she shuts up and bites her lip, looking up at him. “You...made these?”

“Yeah,” she says. He looks back down at the cards in his hands, all spread out--even the one that was intended for Arthur that Steph never sent. He touches the one from kindergarten. “Um. You can keep them.”

Bruce stands up. Steph isn’t really sure at all what he’s thinking, but he steps away from his chair and wraps his arms around her, holds her tight.

“Thank you,” he whispers.

“Happy Father’s Day,” she says, and when he squeezes her she closes her eyes, exhales, and squeezes him back.

(based on this post x) (ao3 here x)

#(posts fathers day fic in december)#stephanie brown #bruce wayne #brotp: slap #my writing #long post

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duketectivecomics · 4 years

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Hey I was wondering if you know the official order of bruce gaining all the kids including harper, Barbara, and stephanie? I know its Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian but where does the other 3 and duke and cass fall in? Tia!!

So I’m gonna assume that you mean the order in which they get adopted, since finding First Appearances is one of the easier things to google for any character. (Getting First Appearance issues afterall is part of the reason some comics retain their value, so it’s usually well documented when a character first shows up. Side note: DCUguide is an excellent resource if you’re looking to comb through appearances for characters, although I’d also recommend asking for reading lists from other fans, since usually those have been curated down to essential storylines only)

I tried to provide actual issue #s where I could, but a lot of the time in comics, it’s usually something that’s dropped or hinted around or casually mentioned rather than outright boldly stated.

Also some of these characters span DECADES and their histories change depending on continuity. So I tried to account for that where I could.

But also canon is fake and everyone in fandom cherry-picks anyways so yknow. Keep THAT in mind too.

Before we dive into this, I wanna have a quick convo on what Legal Guardianship vs Adoption is.

While guardianship includes some of the same responsibilities as adoption, it also comes with a few key differences, such as allowing any living parents (also possibly any living relatives) to contest the guardianship. Adoption would make the child fully and solely the potential parent’s responsibility, and would nullify any legal ‘say’ that the biological parents may have. Also of note, is that guardianship does not allow the child in question a claim to inheritance unless the guardian specifically wills it to them, as there is again, a bit more of distance that is placed between the child and guardian, as more of a mentorship is expected to take hold. One way to look at it is that adoption is permanent (& usually a longer drawn out process bc of that), while guardianship can be more legally flexible.

With that out of the way, let’s start~

Dick: pre-flashpoint/52, it’s stated often that Dick was actually Bruce’s ward, that Bruce has legal guardianship over Dick. I know this is a nitpick and doesn’t matter bc it’s usually retconned/ignored in favor of Dick being adopted. But I think it’s a fascinating point of potential contention nonetheless. especially given the historical reason, that it was absolutely unheard of at the time for a single man to adopt a child, but no one would bat at eye if he was taking Dick in out of a sense of altruism & duty. Contract this with decades later, when he DOES appear to adopt Jason outright, which puts some friction in place between Dick & Bruce. and well, you’ve got a whole story & conflict to explore right there.

Barbara: Usually dons the Batgirl cowl after Dick becomes Robin (the only exception to that was The Batman (2004) cartoon and it was absolutely galaxy brain of them honestly) She has her own Dad though (idk if y’all know him? Jim Gordon? Yknow? The Commissioner?) so she doesn’t get adopted. She’s considered a core batfam member mostly in the sense that she’s been there so long and esp as she makes herself absolutely essential when she becomes Oracle. She has never, and will likely never be adopted by Bruce (bc again. W h e n is that gonna come up? When Jim dies? L m f a o)

Jason: pre-crisis it’s assumed from the go I guess? I could only find slight confirmation and ended up finding more info that there was a custody battle and that Bruce would won Jason back officially in Detective Comics #548. post-crisis, Jason’s history is redone, though & I remember his adoption being touched on, but could not for the life of me find a particular issue. N52/Rebirth it’s simply assumed from the go as far as I’m aware.

Tim: Batman #654. This was after his father died, though he’d been Robin at this point for at least a decade. For n52/Rebirth as far as I can tell he’s also been outright adopted by Bruce (though I think he’s parents were still alive but in Witness Protection? Idk. I haven’t read at all for Tim’s history there so take that with a heavy grain of salt)

Steph: another one who is not adopted (Crystal Brown is very much alive and taking care of Steph (barring the time Leslie Thompkins squirreled her away after faking Stephs death BUT)) She does show up pretty soon on Tim’s tail when he starts as Robin. Again, she’s considered a staple of the family because of how long she’s been involved with them. I like to think of her like Kimmy in Full House. She’s a Good Friend who’s Constantly Showing Up and is one of the family through mutual agreement on everyone’s part.

Cass: Batgirl (2008) #6, though like Tim, Cass had been Batgirl for nearly a decade at that point in continuity. She’s shown and stated many times that she considers Bruce a father/father figure and likewise that Babs, who had been mentoring her, was the closest she has to a mother. In n52/Rebirth, I have yet to see or hear about official adoption for her, but again. We usually ignore canon on that part anyways. I mean they made her into Orphan so uhhhh. Not super great yknow?

Damian: since he is biologically Bruce’s, it’s never really addressed as far as I’m aware (I have yet to read Damian’s appearances Altho he’s next on my Robin list). I personally think it’d be interesting to explore the fact that he was likely born outside of the country and what that means for Bruce gaining legal custody & whether or not Talia would contest that? I’m sure there’s probably SOME thinkpieces about it out there, but I’ll search for them on my own time eventually

And now we’re getting to *drum roll* Harper and Duke!

Harper: her appearances are mostly kept to the n52 runs, though with Tynion returning to Detective, it’s likely she’s coming back into Rebirth soon. She’s a unique case where, due to her abusive home life, she emancipated herself and took her brother, Cullen, with her. Neither she nor her brother were adopted by Bruce, and as far as I’m aware/understand, they’re fine with it that way. I know Stephanie was living with them at some point (it’s dropped in Batman & Robin: Eternal at least?), so I certainly think it would have been nice if DC also brought them into the fold like Steph. Just a couple of kids who are Really Good Friends with the family and continue to insert themselves in batfam business lmao

Duke: I actually addressed this fairly recently here! Duke’s guardianship (bc like Dick, Duke is not outright adopted by Bruce, likely to afford Duke’s parents the opportunity to regain custody should they recover from Joker’s toxin) its a little more up in the air at this point in Batman & The Outsiders. Since Bruce is very clearly taking both him and Cass away on globetrotting adventures. It would make things EASIER ofc if he is under Bruce’s guardianship. But given that it’s not really addressed, it’s led most of fandom to simply assume it instead. And really? Considering that DC themselves probably doesn’t realize that they’ve written themselves into this corner, it probably won’t be fully addressed or recognized anyways.

So to answer your first question actually: Babs, Steph, and Harper? Not adopted, likely never will be, but they ARE interspersed fairly regularly in the line-up. Everyone else? Varying degrees of being under Bruce’s guardianship if not outright adopted.

We’re all happy that they’re here, though!!! And we love and appreciate them ALL.

#batfamily #fandom stuff #asked and answered #silencespeaks10 #randywrites #today on: randy googles it!#ive read quite a bit of batfam stuff but there were some things i did have to google again to confirm #and as always i highly recommend reading for urself when you can!#but here's the best tl;dr that i can give for the time being!#long post #<- for mobile users OOOOF its long

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our-happygirl500-fan · 4 years

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Okay okay okay okay, I know I’m asking a lot of stuff and probs annoying you. I’m currently reading about the character but what about her and Tim?? Like can I get a run down of everything about them. The good and bad?? Everytime I see things on here it’s either making Tim to be so bad (Anti-Tim ig) or Steph to be so bad and I’m sure they’re both at fault, yea?

No I’m happy to help.

Both Tim and Steph have made mistakes but not in an awful way and more in a ‘these are literal children dealing with serious situations while also trying to be in a relationship with one another’.

The Steph being bad stuff entirely comes from the fact that she’s a female love interest to a boy who’s one half of a popular mlm ship, she’s made mistakes here and there but they’re human instances where she’s trying to do her best, fandoms often tend to erase or demonise female characters in any any fandom if they are involved in a ship. It’s a sexist habit that comes from reducing a female to only her romantic relationship and ignoring all her other connections and reeks of misogyny. There’s also some slut shaming as Steph was a teen pregnancy & a victim of sexual assault multiple times.

The anti Tim stuff is a bit more complicated, partly it’s a response to sexism where so many fans are sick of the misogyny directed at Steph that they go full throttle the other way or it comes from fans genuinely uncomfortable with Tim’s actions as this is comics and comics are usually written by sexist men which means Tim sometimes takes actions or says something that is not so great.

The important thing to remember about Tim and Steph is that they are each others best friends and they have been through so much together to the point where even if they were not dating they would still be one of the most important relationships the other had.

There is some worry that Tim and Steph feeds into each others complexes

Tim and Steph both experienced neglect growing up in different ways which makes their attitude to love very different.

Tim's parents were never around most of the time which makes him sort of desperate for love, for validation and most of the time he seems to be of the sort that love is something he can earn if he just does the right thing or achieves the right goal which reflects on how he probably thought if he got good grades or made his parents proud they'd notice him more they'd spend time with him more.

Steph's childhood of neglect I guess you could say came from the sickness of her parents Arthur Brown was abusive to both his wife and daughter and Crystal's drug addiction making her barely able to raise Steph half the time. More often than not it was Steph taking care of the house hold and her mother than any adult looking out for Steph.

With the neglect Steph went through she knew that there was nothing /she/ herself could do to change it, she couldn't magically make her mother quit taking drugs or stop her father from committing crimes by winning an award or behaving well, heck most of her childhood was just trying to keep her and her mum alive so in contrast with Tim who is desperate to receive love Steph is desperate to give love. Because if she's giving love to this person that means they care about her too right?

This comes across in how easy Steph is willing to poor love into people who are even remotely nice to her like the second Barbara or Bruce stop treating her like shit she's immediately like 'I would die for you'. The second her mother is sober enough to notice her Steph is there being like 'mom I love you I would protect you with my life'. Cass is slightly nice to her? She is now Steph's best friend.

Tim is desperate to receive unconditional affection while Steph is desperate to give unconditional affection which would explain why they are drawn to one another but enough about the meta and onto their actual history.

Steph became a vigilante originally to stop her fathers crimes, the entire point of Spoiler was an abuse victim taking agency back from her abuser and due to Tim being Robin and also investigating the same crimes the two would run into each other multiple times, there was an attraction between the two however neither truly pursued anything due to the fact that Tim was dating another girl and Steph was ‘seeing’ a guy (though the relationship was implied to be unhealthy as he was significantly older, Steph only being around 14 at the time, and showed little in Steph’s actual well being).

However despite the two already being in relationships the two developed keen banter together and quickly began to enjoy the others presence what arguably set then on the path towards a relationship however is when Tim very nearly died and Steph managed to save him at the last second, Tim was so relieved that he kissed Steph sparking a romantic interest from Steph and Tim beginning to realise he had feelings for her.

Steph would then continue fighting crime outside of her fathers crimes as Steph realised that as Spoiler she could help other abuse victims such as herself. Steph’s entire life can be described as falling through the cracks in the system no one caring about the abuse and unsafe situations that she grew up with and Steph’s early journey as Spoiler is her realising that even though no one had cared when she was abused and hurt she could be the person who would care for other people so no one would suffer the way she did. Steph aiming to fight crime meant that she and Tim ran into each other even more working multiple cases together until it eventually culminated into Tim admitting that he had feelings for Steph but due to his loyalty to Batman he could never tell her his secret identity however Steph told him that that was enough for her, the two ended their previous relationships and started dating.

This is actually where a lot of criticism over the relationship is from due to the obvious power imbalance Tim knows every detail of Steph’s life while controlling all information Steph has on him and only lets her interact with Robin. Tim has also been shown to be rather possessive of Steph controlling her interactions with other members of the superhero community and expressing alarm in her spending time with other heroes who are not him.

There is also the fact that for a large part every man Stephanie has ever interacted with have been abusive in some way, her home life was incredibly dangerous due to her mother and fathers friends all being criminals or victims and Steph had to deal with at least two instances of child predators growing up so to many readers it becomes increasingly obvious that Tim might very well be the first man Steph ever interacted with who treated her with human decency and that is why she fell in love with him.

After the relationship started Steph found out that she had become pregnant from her previous relationship and the reader discovers that Steph’s previous boyfriend on top of being awful to her was also using her for sex. Steph tells Tim about the pregnancy fully expecting him to break up with her however Tim states that he is going to be there to support Steph. The two grow even closer as Tim becomes someone for Steph to lean on wearing disguises to take Steph to birthing classes and helps Steph through the process of putting the baby up for adoption. Tim is even there when the child is born.

The incident made Tim and Steph even closer and afterwards the two continue dating and remain close, Steph quickly becomes what could be considered Tim’s safe place as he is able to leave any problems as Tim Drake or Robin away and simply enjoy being with her and during times where Tim is unable to visit Steph he is shown to be tense and disgruntled without the positive emotional outlet however after nearly over a year and a half of dating Steph begins to realise that the dynamic of the relationship is uneven as Tim has complete control and knowledge over her own life while she knows nothing about Tim’s life out of the mask. Steph begins to worry about merely being used and starts openly wishing that Tim would let her be more involved with his life outside of Robin.

Tim meanwhile is beginning his rebellious phase against Batman and Bruce takes actions to try and nip it in the bud as Dick’s rebellious phase ended with Dick leaving Batman for the Titans and Jason’s rebellious phase ended with Jason dead. Bruce attempts to control Tim by using Steph revealing Tim’s secret identity to Tim. After that point Bruce would continually manipulate Steph in a gambit to manipulate Tim and Tim expresses frustration at Bruce using Steph to get to him.

Bruce and Steph’s relationship is incredibly complicated in its own right as Steph has a childhood admiration of Batman as he was the only one who seemed to be able to stop her fathers abuse by putting him in prison. This childhood admiration causes Steph to follow and respect Bruce no matter how many times his actions hurt her. Bruce on the other hand has a lot of issues regarding Steph as Steph reminds him a lot of Jason and Bruce puts a lot of his unresolved issues regarding his dead son on her which as you might assume does not end well for Steph at all.

Outside of Bruce’s meddling however Steph and Tim grow increasingly close no longer having to worry about secret identities the two go on regular dates and are there for each other in every aspect of their lives. However Tim’s father finds out about Robin and forces him to quit and Steph who had been dating Tim ‘batman needs a Robin’ Drake for years was firmly of the belief that ‘Gotham needs a Robin’ at which point Steph herself becomes the fourth Robin though it is heavily implied that once again Bruce is manipulating Steph in order to manipulate Tim into coming back.

Then DC enters its dark ages where they kill off characters left and right and Steph is tortured, raped and killed in a Gotham wide gang war primarily for Bruce angst so that Bruce can go ‘oh god it’s Jason all over again I knew she was girl Jason I knew it’ mean while Tim has what can probably be best described as a mental break down over Steph’s death and the subsequent death of his father and multiple friends. This causes Tim to become cold, cynical and increasingly dark and pessimistic (he has depression).

However Steph comes back to Gotham two years later alive again and it is revealed that Leslie Thompkin’s essentially kidnapped Steph to Africa for two years and faked Steph’s death in order to try and save Steph from being a soldier in Batman’s crusade. Steph was Leslie’s ward for two years but realised that she could literally not stop fighting crime as in Africa Steph literally started dressing up as an African legend and started fighting crime there, eventually convincing Leslie that they needed to go back to Gotham the two returned and Tim was over the moon to see Steph alive kissing her on sight, however Tim realises that he essentially had a break down over Steph death for nothing and expresses resentment over Steph letting him believe that she was dead for two years. Steph who had spent the past to years recovering physically and mentally from the trauma of being tortured for days prior to Leslie faking Steph’s death and Steph essentially not having had a choice in Leslie’s plan to fake her death is just like ‘I don’t know what to tell you buddy’

Steph is still Tim’s emotional home, immediately relying on her for emotional support once again and the two are shown to still love each other however the two had changed a great deal over the time they were apart. Steph having had an adult finally care about her well being for the first time in her life grew much more positive into someone who believed in the inherent good in people and in hope while Tim had grown harsh and dark and cynical. The two even joke about how Steph has become an optimist while Tim had become a pessimist. Steph is like a beam of light for Tim who had become increasingly dark and Tim finds himself being both wary of it and drawn to it.

Then Bruce gets back to his old tricks of using Steph to manipulate Tim and gives Steph instructions to challenge Tim in order to improve Tim’s skills as a crime fighter. Steph on Bruce’s orders employs and assassin to fight Tim however the assassin goes to far and Steph is injured trying to protect Tim. Tim realising that Bruce is once again manipulating Steph to get to him as well as having an inherent fear of Steph dying again demands that Steph should not be a vigilante any longer never mind that Steph literally can not stop fighting crime which causes a rift between the two.

The superhero community then believe that Batman is dead and Tim leaves Gotham to prove that Bruce is alive while Tim is gone from Gotham Cass makes Steph the new Batgirl and Steph becomes incredibly close to Barbara and Damian and as Batgirl makes several friends within the masked community no longer having her interactions be controlled by Tim or Bruce. Steph starts coming into her own and building up her self confidence, when Tim returns he is once again upset that Steph is still fighting crime his fear of Steph dying still going strong and acts condescending towards Steph’s attempts to help him however Steph proves herself in sheer level of skill and prowess and Tim accepts her as a vigilante and the new Batgirl accepting that Steph will not die again. Tim then attempts to rekindle their romantic relationship however Steph realises that she had been too dependent on Tim’s love and wishes to improve herself as a person before she even thinks of entering a relationship again. The two remain close friends however Tim expresses attraction towards Steph multiple times (Tim is the horniest little fuck during this time in their lives and Steph is literally out their trying to live her life and better herself as a person and get a university degree it’s hilarious)

If Convergence is to believe the two would always eventually get back together in one way or another the two issues being about their romantic interest in each other and getting back together.

After the reboot happens when they meet again Tim immediately expresses romantic interest in Steph while Steph herself is wary of Tim as in this universe both her mother and her father are criminals who have tried to kill her and Steph has effectively been homeless living in public libraries or where ever she can. It is unknown when but Tim offers Steph a place to live at his apartment and a some point the two eventually enter a romantic relationship.

A lot of fans have criticised this as Steph is entirely financially dependent on Tim for food and shelter and once again Tim holds more power than Steph in the relationship. Also in the rebooted universe Tim is Steph’s only support system as her parents tried to kill her, her father murdered any civilians she was close to in order to hurt her and any connections Steph had before the reboot have had vast amounts of their history erased.

Steph has also been shown to be responsible for a lot of Tim’s mental health as she has to stop him from crossing lines or going off the deep end multiple times it is described as Tim having a tendency of walking a dark path when he is alone.

Steph and Tim are both presented as each others support systems in current comics and when Tim wanted to leave Gotham in order to research the multiverse Steph went with him as the two rely on each other.

I don’t believe there is a good guy or bad guy in their relationship both Tim and Steph want what’s best for each other but sometimes these views don’t line up which causes conflict but at the end of the day they are two people that care about each other a great deal and whether they are in a relationship or not they will always be one of the most important people in each others lives.

The relationship is criticised by the fandom as fans either fetishise mlm relationships and are angry at Steph ‘getting in the way’ an unfortunate trend in all fandoms and on the other side many are tired of female characters being reduced to their romantic relationships.

TimSteph is a cute ship with a deep connection and a lot of history proving that they care about each other a great deal but sexism and misogyny are things that exist especially in fandom spaces and that creates a nightmare.

#asks #DC comics #stephanie brown #tim drake #dc #timsteph #boy these two have been through a lot #but yeah the ships fine people just hate woman and fetishise gay relationships

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spviler · 4 years

Text

╰ ﾟ OLIVIA HOLT. CIS FEMALE. STEPHANIE BROWN, known as SPOILER to some, has been at nox for SIX MONTHS. SHE has come all the way from GOTHAM CITY and has worked with BATFAM/HERSELF. people in nox say the TWENTY-FOUR year old are SARCASTIC and IMPETUOUS but those who know them well, say they are also DETERMINATED and ENERGETIC. hopefully they find what they’re looking for.

ok first of all hi y’all i’m jules and i’m very excited to be here, i could talk about myself but let’s be honest i’m not the one you’re here for, so let me get started with this. basically based of new earth because i have my reasons fhllsg

QUICK STATS:

FULL NAME: stephanie brown

ALIAS: spoiler ( current ), robin/batgirl ( former )

AGE: twenty-four

GENDER/PRONOUNS: cis female/ she/her

SEXUALITY: chaotic bi

BIO:

stephanie is the daughter of the low class villain cluemaster aka arthur brown and crystal brown. all throughout her childhood her father has been in and out of jail and her mother struggled with a lot of problems including pills addiction. all that to say that she really did not have a good childhood.

once her father returned to their home claiming to be reformed she didn’t believe one second of it, taking upon herself to spoil his plans she made herself a suit and learned as much as she could about it, left some clues for batman and robin in hopes they could help her put her father away. and since then she started going by spoiler.

she got hooked and there wasn’t anyone that could get her to quit the vigilante gig and started bettering herself, annoying heroes as she went along to train her.

it was all fun and games until she got pregnant at fifteen and had to retire her cape for a short while, she had no doubt in her mind that she wanted to go through with it but she also knew she could never give the child a good life and didn’t want to put someone else through the type of childhood she had so she gave the baby up for adoption and not much linger after she was back in the vigilante game still as spoiler.

there was a moment when her father passed away that she was way more careless than usually because working through emotions in a healthy way? who is she. and went on a vigilante rampage. but she soon got her shit together.

the second there was robin job opening steph took it upon herself again to make her own robin suit and apply for that job. she got it and went with batman doing the things they did.

stephanie was not always taken seriously by people even after trying to prove herself countless times so this eventually got her in the position to try to prove she was capable of doing something by herself and got well she got herself killed.

but not really she just faked her death so the big meanies would live her alone ( because who even stays dead in comics? ) when she came back she went by spoiler once more and all was right.

eventually she took the mantle of batgirl after cass moved on from it. as she was fighting as batgirl she was making her way through college and having a part time job because she was paying her way through it because she is just that badass bitch.

with the mantle of batgirl she finally got the respect of some people that she was admired but well after a while she went back to spoiler

now steph is quite found of gotham and the suburbs she grew up on and never really thought about leaving ( besides that time she was “dead” ) but she was very intrigued by the notion of nox and how it would be a safehaven, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to look for herself.

so six months ago she decoded to move there and see all the fuss that it was about.

anyway i’d ramble more but i probably shouldn’t, so i’ll leave at that if you’d like to plot hmu or just give this a like and i’ll come to you, either way id love to talk it out.

#noxhqs.intro #this is a big mess but pls love me

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thewritingstar · 4 years

Note

I would ask you 1-100 but that's a huge request and doubt you'll do it, UNLESS🤔🙃

UNLESS....

1. Name- Deanna or as everyone knows me, Star

2. Nationality- American

3. Age- 19

4. Birthday- April 5th

5. Zodiac sign (or your primal zodiac sign)- Aries

6. Gender- Female

7. Sexuality- Bi/Pan (im fine with either)

8. Your looks (add a picture or describe yourself)- Dark brown hair, greenish eyes and body of a 12 year old boy

9. What do you/did you study?- Animation

10. What’s your current job like?/What job would you like to have?- I work in an ice cream shop just as a job but i wanna be an animator or writer for shows

11. Your birth order- Youngest of 2

12. How many siblings do you have?- One

13. Do you have good relations with your family?- for the most part

14. How many friends do you have?- I would say I have about 8 close friends and then just a ton of other friends

15. Your relationship status- single but accepting applications

16. What do you look for in a SO?- usually a pulse and good hair

17. Do you have a crush?- kinda but also no

18. When did you have your first kiss?- haven't yet :(

19. Do you prefer serious and meaningful relationships or casual dating/one night stands?- prob meaningful

20. What are your deal breakers?- smoking and drugs and how they treat others

21. How was your day?- well i just woke up so i guess good.

22. Favourite food & drink- Raspberry iced tea/Vanilla Lattes and Chowmein or burgers

23. What position do you sleep in?- either on my side or stomach. Im usually curled up in a ball so prime cuddle position...just saying

24. What was your last dream about?- I think it was about cake..

25. Your fears- bugs and the overwhelming thought of me being a failure

26. Your dreams- being someone where others can be inspired by

27. Your goals- to live a life with no regrets (i know typical right?) but also have a successful career.

28. Any pets?- 2 doggos

29. What are your hobbies?- drawing, painting, writing, video games, reading

30. Any cool places in your area?- kinda but you gotta drive to them so not really

31. What was your last awkward situation?- me stuttering over my words at work

32. What is your last regret?- idk

33. Language/s you can speak- English and barely any French

34. Do you believe in astrological stuff? (Zodiac, tarot, etc.)- hell yeah

35. Have any quirks?- i can make a guinea pig noise and can stand on my head for a while.

36. Your pet peeves- having my neck being touched and mouth breathing

37. Ideal vacation- Any disney park

38. Any scars?- only mentally

39. What does your last text message say? “Shes being a big girl and taking 5 classes.”

40. Last 5 things from your search history- im to lazy to check but prob youtube or fics

41. What’s your [device] background?- Phone background is a painting from a museum and my computer is a bunch of Nintendo items

42. What do you daydream about?- being a voice actor or a pirate

43. Describe your dream home- one that looks like a castle

44. What’s your religion/Your thought about religion- I was raised Catholic but i really dont practice it anymore. I think it its a beautiful thing and alot of good comes from it, however i dont like it when it is used to harm others or defend evil people

45. Your personality type- So i took a test based on the 16 different ones and I am an Advocate type which apparetnly is very rare and less than one percent of the pop are it. https://www.16personalities.com/ heres the link if you wanna take it!

46. The most dangerous thing you’ve done- I used to suck on batteries as a child

47. Are you happy with your current life?- for the most part

48. Some things you’ve tried in your life- Snorkeling in Hawaii (which i almost died), Crystal Cave tour and donuts which i hate

49. What does your wardrobe consist of?- hoodies and graphic tees

50. Favourite colour to wear?- black

51. How would you describe your style?- comfortable and sometimes i look good

52. Are you happy with your current looks?- ye

53. If you could change/add something to your appearance - impossible or not - what would it be?- I want blue hair one day

54. Any tattoos or piercings?- have my ears and now my nose pierced but i do want tattoos in the future

55. Do you get complimented often?- usually for my hair and i find it happens often

56. Favourite aesthetic?- Gothic and pastel

57. A popular trend that you dislike- crop tops

58. Songs you’re currently obsessed with?- “Good Night Moon” by Go Radio

59. Song you normally wouldn’t admit you like.- My Little Pony and Sofia the First songs slap

60. Favourite genre?- pop punk or pop

61. Favourite artist/band/genre? -Panic!, Taylor Swift

62. Hated popular songs/artists?- I wouldn’t say hate but im not really a fan of Billie Ellish, maybe i need to sit down and really listen but its just not my jam. I think shes a cool person and i love watching her on tv and what she stands for. By i hate Drake and Chris Brown for sure.

63. Put your music on shuffle and list first 5- Head above Water, Happy when im sad, Love bug, Casual affair, I believe. So Avril Lavigne, Jonas Brothers and Panic!

64. Can you sing or play any instruments?- Im not the worst singer but im also not fantastic and i can’t play

65. Do you like karaoke?- sometimes

66. Own any albums?- like cds then yes

67. Do you listen to radio? What stations?- not anymore

68. Favourite movie/series?- Any disney or pixar

69. Favourite genre of movies/books/etc- YA like adventure books

70. Your fictional crush/es- oh here we go. Juvia and Gray (Fairytail), Catwoman, Danny Phantom, Captain Hook and Regina Mills and Henry (Ouat), Steve (stranger things), Riddler (gotham) and Molly Hooper (Sherlock) and prob more.

71. Which fictional character is you?- prob a mixture of Momo and Deku from My Hero and Honey from Ouran

72. Are you a shipper? List your otps, if so. Am I a shipper? ha. aight Gruvia, Nalu, Gajevy, Jerza, Kiribaku, Kacchacko, Todomomo, tododeku, LadyNoir and the love square, Captain Swan, Outlaw Queen, The powerpuff girls and the rowdyruff boys (respected partners) and like five thousand others

73. Favourite greek god?- Hades and Persephone

74. A legend from where you live that you like- literally nothing from where i live

75. Do you like art? What’s your favourite work or artist?- love art and i cant just pick one

76. Can you share your other social media?- i mean you can follow me on twitter at StarsnShortcake but all thats there is my shitty tweets and interactions with my friends and Voice actors lol

77. Favourite youtubers?- Mikes Mic, Macdoesit, Twamiz, Larri, Dan Howell, Amazing Phil, Jenna Marbles, Shane Dawson, Steph Inc, Garret Watts, and like a ton more

78. Favourite platform?- Tumblr or twitter

79. How much time do you spend on the internet?- too much

80. What video games have you played? Which one’s your favourite?- I love anything Nintendo

81. Your favourite books (manga also counts)- Kingdom Keepers, Suicide Notes and the Selection Series to name a few

82. Do you play board/card games?- Yes

83. Have you ever been to a night marathon in cinema?- nope

84. Favourite holiday- thanksgiving for the food

85. Are you into dramas?- ye

86. Would you use death note, if you had one?- haha ye

87. What changes would you make in the world, no matter how impossible, if you had the power to?- no racism, sexism, homophobia and legal marriage everywhere. Also that no one goes hungry and everyone has a nice place to live.

88. Could you survive a zombie apocalypse?- probably

89. If you had to be turned into a paranormal being, what would it be?- a hot demon

90. What would you want to happen to you after your death?- I turn into a goddess

91. If you had to change your name, what would be your pick?- ooo Celeste is a cool name

92. Who would you switch your life with for a week?- hmmm Tara Strong

93. Pick an emoji to be your tattoo- either the stars or the black heart or the fireworks

94. Write 3 things about yourself - only one of them must be true- Ive never eaten a chicken nugget, I can do the splits and I have cat

95. Cold or hot?- hot

96. Be a hero or be a villain?- oooooo um im a sucker for villains

97. Sing everything you want to say or rhyme?- Rhyme

98. Shapeshifting or controlling time?- Shape shifting, i could be a plant

99. Be immortal or be immune to everything aside from natural death?- bold of you to assume i would wanna live forever

100. ….. or …..?- :0

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS ANON CAUSE IT TOOK FOREVER.

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bapyess1r · 6 years

Text

Sum’n Bitch: pt3

|2 years later…|

“Why won’t you just tell me what to do, Steph? Just tell me! I’ll do whatever you want. But I will not let you treat me like a damn carpet. That I won’t go through again.” I could hear my father say behind the door. I looked over at Nicole and sighed.

“Do you think they’re gonna get a divorce?” She asked me. I shrugged.

“It’s possible…” I frowned.

“Good. Then I won’t have to have a freak like you for a sister.” She snarled, turning on her heel to go to her room.

2 years ago, I got in trouble for making Nicole bald. My father and her mother went out to dinner to discuss our punishment. Instead of discussing punishment, they ended up talking about each other’s lives and found that they were kinda similar. They continued talking for a while and they soon began to date. Knowing my father, he’d propose to her once they reached a year. He moves quickly that way. My sweetheart of a father. He fell for Stephanie’s elegance and humor. She fell for his strong arms and big heart. The thing about my dad was that he was always there to listen to you and regardless of whether you wanted to talk or not, he managed to get it out of you and make you feel better. Stephanie was a good cook and was pretty. Overtime, she would take Nicole and I shopping for dresses to go to formals and dinners. She didn’t like the fact that I did magic though. Throughout my school years, I had gotten stronger and started practicing physical magic like binding, immobilization, telekinesis, false memory; but the trouble came as I practiced levitation… This particular night, I was practicing levitation on myself. I had gotten the hang of levitating simple things like books, pencils, dressers…. my bed even; so I decided to try it out. I sat on my bed, crossing my legs and whispering incantations, white candles lit all around me. I focused on my breathing and relaxed my muscles, thinking to myself “light as a feather” repeatedly. The words spilled past my lips like a prayer. It was quiet and peaceful…..until I heard her scream.

“OH MY GOD! MOOOOOM!!!!” Nicole was hollering bloody murder, running down the halls. My heart was pounding and I was terrified. I didn’t want anybody to find out anything yet. Especially my father. I flopped on the bed from midair and ran after her.

“Christ, Nicole, what is it?” Stephanie asked, placing a hand on her shoulder, my dad looking at me with worry. This happened often, Nicole telling on me. However, tonight felt different. This wasn’t any regular terrorizing moment….

“Maya’s a freak! Mom we can’t stay here anymore! She’s a demon! She’s possessed- fuck I don’t know! Something’s not right with her!” She cried grabbing my father’s arm.

“Dad I’m not-”

“She was floating above her bed just now!” She shouted.

“Steph-”

“She’s a devil worshipper, mom!” She said and I began to panic.

“Daddy, help me!” I cried, hyperventilating uncontrollably. I shook my head as I backed away, the ground beginning to shake like an earthquake. I was terrified. Nicole latched onto Stephanie and screamed. My father tried his best to get us to calm down so he could quickly think of an evacuation plan. But once I stopped crying and my anxiety calmed, the ground stopped vibrating. I looked at my family with confusion and terror. I was genuinely afraid of myself.

“You did that? You did didn’t you?! I knew it! Mom see I told you! She worships Satan!” Nicole screamed, pointing at me.

“Nicole, relax. She’s not a devil worshipper.” My father said rushing to me, holding me close to large chest.

“Are you positive, Virgil?! She’s always got her head stuck in some weird leather book and it’s in a language I don’t understand!” She exclaimed.

“It’s not the bloody book of Satan!” I screamed.

“You guys I swear! You have to believe me!” She cried. “She was like four feet off her bed when I went in there! Candles were lit, there were a bunch of weird rocks out-”

“Daddy, they’re cleansing crystals!” I shouted.

“Ok that’s it! I’ve had enough of this.” Stephanie said pushing by us all to go upstairs into my room.

“Stephanie, what are you doing?!” I yelled, running after her. But my father paused me.

“Maya, stay right here.” He said running upstairs after her.

“Like hell I will!” I exclaimed, running up after them. By the time I had gotten to my room, the door closed in my face. I banged on the door until my fists hurt. “Don’t touch my shit!” I screamed. I could hear them shouting things that I couldn’t make out beneath the sound of clutter and movement. Then I heard something large hit the floor, causing a loud noise. I jumped. I was genuinely worried about what was happening behind my closed door.

“What are they saying?” Nicole asked sinisterly, instinctively I turned and punched her in the gut, not feeling even the littlest bit of guilt, before turning to place my ear to the door again.

“This is against God in every way, Virgil, and you just let her do this?!” I heard her shout.

“It’s books, candles, and a couple gemstones, Steph! What’s wrong with that?! She’s not hurting anybody!” I heard my dad defend me until his second marriage fell apart and that hurt my heart.

“So everything Nicole had been telling me was the truth and I didn’t believe her… I didn’t want to believe her. I didn’t want to be against my own step daughter!” Stephanie yelled, rummaging through my things.

“So then don’t!” my father snapped.

“Spell books, Virgil?! Really?!”

“They’re white spells! They’re innocent!”

“Jesus Christ…” They went on like this until they stopped arguing about me and started arguing about each other. Nicole and I sat by the door until it opened. She would leave and come back when things sounded interesting but I stayed by the door faithfully. When it finally did, Stephanie looked at me with a never before seen look of hatred. “Nicole, pack your things. We’re leaving.” She said before walking away. The look on my father’s face was heartbreaking. I glared at Nicole with tears in my eyes.

“What did I ever do to you?” I croaked, trying my hardest to breathe. “I hate you….” With that, she stood and walked away, her lip trembling. I couldn’t tell if it was from anger or sadness. But I wasn’t alright after that… I turned to look at my dad and his eyes were filled with sadness as he looked back at me. I curled into a ball and began to cry. I didn’t do anything but why did I feel so guilty. I also felt slightly privileged to have a father that would accept me and protect me regardless of whether he was married or not. “Dad… I’m sorry…. I never meant to….”

“This wasn’t your fault, baby girl…. You have to believe that…” he told me, engulfing my small frame into his arms, kissing the top of my head. Even though he said that, I couldn’t believe it. I knew it was my fault. By the time Nicole graduated, she and Stephanie had moved out and I had transferred to a new school. We moved to the middle of Butt-Fuck-Nowhere, Kansas. I had to say goodbye to Louise and I cried a lot that day. I hated Nicole Healy for destroying everything good in my life.

|Lawrence, Kansas|

It was a week before my senior year began and we just moved into our new house. When junior year ended, it was the greatest gift I could’ve ever received. Being 19 was a breeze. My summer had come and gone rather quickly though. I had one year left to complete in an entirely new school. No one knew me at all. It was awful. I didn’t know anyone in Kansas. ‘What would I even talk about with these people?’ I thought as I decorated my new room with succulents and candles. I groaned at my new surroundings. It was nothing but farms and small town communities. Something like a fall postcard. Had my situation been a little different, I might’ve loved it. There was nothing interesting here. I set up my plants along the windowsill and hung up trinkets from the ceiling when the doorbell rang. I looked outside my window (just to be nosy) and saw the prettiest black car sitting in the driveway. The very same car that I begged my father for when I got my license but all I got was a stupid, beat up junkyard Ford truck. I almost didn’t notice my name being called whilst admiring its beauty. I looked in the mirror to fix my big, coily hair, adjusting my red checkered shirt as I made my way to the front door. I was greeted by a tall man with dark hair and a salt and peppered beard. He was tall with kind brown eyes and a friendly crest white smile played across his lips. Standing behind him was the most gorgeous pair of young green eyes that I had ever seen. His jaw was chiseled and he had short, classically spiked sandy blonde hair. His face bore a look of confidence and I also picked up hints of obnoxious cockiness. I didn’t know how to feel about that trait just yet. He was broad shouldered and his wide, muscular chest was covered by a thin grey tee shirt; his arms long and probably the size of my head. He was a bit shorter than the other man but I could tell he was at least 6 feet even….

“Maya. This is John and Dean Winchester. They’re our neighbors.” My dad said in a positively toned voice.

“How ya doin’, sweetheart?” The older man whom I believed was John put out a large hand for me to shake with a warm smile. Shyly I took it and shook. My eyes wandered to the 1967 black Impala but the younger one locked eyes with me, interrupting my train of thought and line of sight.

“Hiya, princess.” Dean smirked with a quick wink. He may have been cute but I could always smell trouble when it was presented to me and Dean Winchester was the epitome of trouble.

“Howdy…” I said, completely unamused by his greasiness. I tried once more to look at the Impala and he turned to see that I was ogling the vehicle.

“Y’know, it looks a lot better up close if you wanna check it out.” He said and I looked at him with a closed lip grin, nodding immediately. “After you…” He said gesturing the way. I looked at my father biting my lip and squeezed between John to run towards the shiny beauty.

When I got to it, I peaked my head inside to view the beige leather interior, smiling from ear to ear. I walked around it, admiring every dip and curve of its shape. “Is it yours?” I asked.

“Nah, she’s my dad’s. We work on her together.” Dean stated proudly, sitting on the hood of the car.

“She?” I asked raising my eyebrows.

“We call her Baby.” He chuckled.

“That’s hot.” I joked and he laughed.

“Yeah. It catches on.” He smiled. He was damn near a perfect human being. His eyelashes were long and brightened the seriousness in his eyes a bit. The cocky smile played across his smooth pink lips as he watched my hands slowly glide over Baby’s shiny black coat of paint. “You wanna ride?” He smirked. I whipped my head to look at him with widened eyes, my face burning red.

“Y-You mean the car right?” I stuttered. I was completely flustered. ‘Of course he meant the car, dumbass!’ I thought, mentally smacking myself for my stupidity as he hopped off the hood.

“What did you think I meant?” He grinned as he stood towering a whole extra head and shoulders above me. The wind blew, pushing my hair in different directions as I bit my lip hard, trying to think of something to say. I decided to just not answer the question.

“Hey dad! We’re gonna take a ride!” I shouted to my dad, jumping into the passenger seat of the Impala as he and John held their doorway conversation.

“Oh- ok. Be- Hey! Be safe! Wear a seatbelt!” He shouted.

“I know, daddy!” I chirped.

“Aye, Dean! Keep it under 80, buddy!” John yelled with a laugh.

“Yeah, yeah!” He said as he pulled the keys from the front pocket his dirty jeans. He climbed inside and sat down with a grunt. He jammed the keys in the ignition and turned the volume all the way up on the radio, “Immigrant Song” blasting obnoxiously loud. I smiled and began to bounce up and down in my seat with excitement as I heard Baby purring beneath the music. I could feel the engine running from where I sat. “YOU ALL SET?!” He shouted above the music with a grand smile.

“HELL YEAH!” I chuckled.

“Hell yeah!” He laughed as he stepped on the gas.

We drove down the street at lightning speed. We may have been going a bit faster than 80. The wind blowing at my face, the roar of the car, the attractive company… I felt like my day was starting to turn around. During our adventure, we stopped at a gas station and bought a ton of snacks and a case of beer. “I won’t tell anybody.” He said to me with a toothy grin. We bonded over our choice of snacks: mini pies, bbq chips, the mini pizzas that you cook in the store; all the way down to the gummy bears and sour gummy worms. We took our snacks and drove all the way out to a secluded area by a lake where we decided to kick it and shoot the shit for a while. Dean and I got to know each other rather quickly. He wasn’t much older than me. Only 21. He loved his family. His face lit up like a Christmas tree whenever he brought them up. Like me, his mother passed away and I still remembered the sting when my mother took her own life. His mother passed in a fire though, which was arguably worse. However, I believe that losing a mother is the worst thing that could happen to a person in general. Our father’s were there though. And Dean had a brother about my age. He just recently went to college. He didn’t leave on the best of terms, but I could tell that Dean was still proud of him. I told him all about my interest in magic and that I was a witch in practice as I sat on the roof of the car with my legs crossed, devouring my cheese puffs. His face contorted a bit as I spoke and that worried me; I feared that I might’ve messed up a friendship. “What kinda magic do you do?” He asked me, casually sipping on his summer lager before continuing to eat his nachos.

“What do you mean ‘what kind’?” I said, knitting my eyebrows together. He took his lager and sat it in the roof next to me, taking a couple steps back from the car to look at me.

“Y’know. What kind? Like do you practice black magic, Hoodoo, Wicca spells, campy magic, alchemy, ceremonial magic…” he listed them off and I got more and more confused. Maybe I didn’t know as much about magic as I thought I did. “You don’t even know?....can you even do anything?” He chuckled. Maybe he was taking me for a joke. Maybe he didn’t think that I was serious.

“Well...yeah-”

“Mmmmm. And what is it that you can do?” He said sarcastically.

“I can levitate.”

“Pansy shit…” he coughed.

“Excuse me?” I chuckled.

“I said we need...some fans n shit. Because it’s hot out here.” He chuckled nervously.

“You’re so full of shit!” I giggled.

“And so are you! Show me your levitation.”

“I can’t do it on command….. I need my candles….” I pouted as a corner of his lips pulled up.

“If you’re a real witch, you should be able to do it no problem.” He teased as he approached the car, resting his forearms on the roof. He was absolutely right. “Look… I’m not gonna tell you to stop doing what you love. I’m just sayin’ dig deeper.” He said grabbing his beer to take a sip. “You don’t need candles to cast spells. Candles are there to raise inspiration. Now there are a few spells that require a candle but that’s because someone probably made this candle with ingredients used to cast a spell.” He explained. I just listened, soaking up all the information he had to give me.

“How do you know so much about this stuff anyways?” I asked scooting to the edge of the roof to dangle my short legs off the side.

“I uh…. I like to read.” He said.

“Liar.” I chuckled.

“Seriously!” He laughed, smacking my calf. “Ok so maybe I watch a bit too much TV.” He said with a chuckle.

“I knew it. It’s all bullshit.” I laughed.

“It’s not! I promise. I may or may not have tried a thing or two.” He shrugged.

“And what do you know about witchcraft?” I smirked.

“You’re not in any position to judge me! You can’t even levitate without your candles.” He was mocking me. But he didn’t push me away at all. The more we talked, the closer he got to me. He was a fair bit of distance from me when we first got here. Now, he stood so close, grinning in my face. He began to open up to me about his feelings and told me all about how he would go traveling with his dad and brother. We debated healthily over whether cherry pie was the best pie. He swore it was because it was his favorite but I knew for a fact it didn’t hold a flame to my dad’s sweet potato pie. It was beauty in itself. Then we would talk about music. He was a strong classic rock supporter and I was right along with him. For the first time in a long time, I found a kindred spirit almost identical to me in every way. Eventually, the night came and I had to say goodbye. After he drove me home, we traded numbers and stayed outside of the house continuing to talk a while longer. “So there’s a new burger joint opening in town and I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go?” He asked me suddenly.

“You had me at burger.” I grinned. Eventually, dad opened up the door. He and John were drinking beer and watching a baseball game.

“So you finally came back, huh?” John joked from the living room as we came inside.

“Where’d you guys go?” My father asked.

“I just took her to Clinton. We grabbed some snacks, sat out there, got to know each other a little bit…” Dean answered. He looked to me and I just smiled. Not a fake smile but a real smile for once.

“Cool...cool. Sounds like you had fun.” He said, a hint of relief in his voice.

“Yeah, we had a good time.” I said. A moment of comfortable silence passed over and John groaned as he stood up to put his beer bottle in the trash.

“Well, Virgil. I had a great time. We’ll have to have you and your lovely daughter over for dinner some time, yeah?” John smiled as he and my father shook hands.

“Sounds like a plan.” My dad smiled.

“Alright then! Guess we better be headin’ out.” He said. “It was nice to meet you, Maya. You guys enjoy the rest of your night. Dean!”

“Yup!” He said militantly. When it came to his father, he was like a soldier awaiting further orders. He looked at me and winked before following behind his tall father. “I’ll pick you up in the morning?” He asked at the last minute.

“Okay.” I smiled shyly.

“10 alright?”

“10’s fine.”

“Alright! I’ll see ya.”

My father and I waited in the doorway from the to see that they drove off safely and finally went inside. “What are you guys doing tomorrow?” He asked me as I went to grab a bottle of water.

“A new burger place just opened up. We’re gonna go.” I said smiling a bit too hard.

“Oh ok…. that Dean Winchester looks at you like he likes you. I don’t like it.” He joked, hugging me and kissing my cheek.

“Dad!” I groaned in embarrassment as I settled into his hug. He sighed.

“Do you like it here?” He asked me.

“I mean… it’s not Texas but…. it’s an adjustment.” I answered as honestly as possible. “I’ll be ok.”

“Are you sure?” He asked. I nodded.

#supernatural fanfic #supernatural fandom #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural #supernatural poc #supernatural smut #supernaural imagines #supernatural headcannons #sam and dean #sam winchester #dean winchester #sumnbitch #dean winchester x oc #sam winchester x oc #fictober18

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chronicbatfictioner · 6 years

Text

Theater of the Soul - Chapter 20

Thanks to Barbara and Dinah — and to no small extent, Diana Prince's — collective efforts; the news of Napier's death and investigation were kept to a minimal. As Barbara predicted, the local police had started with the more 'obvious' suspect: Jason. That, too, was kept out of the news. At least in Gotham.

When Jason was finally able — and allowed — to tell and reveal the things he remembered of the times following the accident, he was accompanied by Bruce, Barbara, and Dr Kent Nelson. The whole questioning by the police took part at the hospital, in Jason's room. Although Jason had asked for Tim to be there, too, Tim had to miss it - the police came at seven a.m.; clearly expecting Jason to be alone. None of them must have predicted Bruce and Barbara coming from the Wayne Tower penthouse - located right next to the hospital. Nor did they expect the insistence of Nurse Crystal Brown — Stephanie's mother — to not leave Jason unsupervised by an adult until Dr Kent Nelson arrived, mere minutes before Bruce and Barbara came in.

Jason's smile at Stephanie when Tim brought her in was majestic.

"Thanks for having your mom look out for me, Blond-- Steph." he said, quickly correcting himself.

Stephanie shrugged. "I told her it was you who'd gotten me to theater. All she said was not to follow your footsteps further." she grinned mischievously. "...and you still may call me Blondie. I liked having a nickname."

Jason laughed. "Ha! Yeah, I agree. I'd tell me not to follow my footsteps, too. But it would be kinda moot. Besides, this adventure is far from over, I think."

And oh, boy, was he right. Again, Tim had to give Barbara credit for somehow being able to manage the company while running an investigation under the radar.

They had eventually decided to hire Victor Sage, who had ended up interviewing Jason only with Tim present - by Jason's own consent. There was virtually no gaps from what Jason told Dr Nelson and the cops with what he'd told Sage.

Jason had recalled a few fights while he was somewhat unconscious, both involving Danny or Ellie; and Tim was certain that if Sage — or the cops, for that matter — would cross-check Jason's words against Danny or Ellie, they would corroborate the stories. Sage confirmed it a few days later, as he called with the report of having chatted with Danny and Ellie, and their mother.

What Sage brought along was the news that the local police had not come to either Danny, Ellie, or their mother. That, in Tim's mind, confirmed his suspicions that the cops would likely blame Jason for Napier's death, and blithely overlooking the underlying issue of Napier holding Jason prisoner and neglecting his injuries.

For the legal defenses, though, Barbara finally decided on Kate Spencer. Spencer, a former ADA of Gotham City before she 'crossed over to the other side' and became a Public Defender, was well known to be a ferocious defender of the wrongly accused. She was also known to flat out refuse to defend criminals or those she knew to be guilty. In spite of the numerous complaints from said criminals, she did not care, adamant on only defending the innocent.

"We need to come up with a different angle." she said when they gave her Sage's report.

"So relying on the lost street kid with daddy issue is no longer in the books?" Dick quipped.

"Definitely not. That might work for you, Grayson. But not in this case." Spencer said. "I would like your permission to dig through Wayne House's business deals." she directed the comment to Barbara.

"What are you looking for? I'm not going to forbid you from looking, just maybe I can help if I know what you're looking for." Barbara replied.

"That's what I don't know, actually. There could be something in the papers — finances, deals — that lead to Napier or, presumably, the person who wanted Napier dead. There has to be a cross in there somewhere. There is just no rhyme or reason why Napier would zoom in to Jason instead of Grayson here, for instance. Or maybe even to young Drake here - he's got some assets of his own that Napier could assimilate without much fanfare or effort."

Tim blinked as a schematic started to appear in his brain. "Oh, I think I know what you're looking for. The first question of a murder is not 'who did it', right? It's 'who benefits'." he said. "You want to see if anyone other than Napier would benefit from his own death."

Spencer glared at Tim with such intensity that Tim reflexively curled back into himself and kind of hide behind Jason. "You... I think you would've been a more beneficial hostage, but I can also see why you'll be more of an effort. You're smart..." she paused and looked at Jason. "not saying you're not, just..."

"No need to backtrack, lady, Timmy is a genius. Not smart. He'd seen a scheme from miles away even before anyone come close." Jason waved her off. They have decided on having the meeting in Jason's hospital room, and Jason was quite happy with it, he did not feel like he was being left out. But for Tim, the main reason would be the fact that Barbara has full control of all kind of surveillance devices within the hospital. If there is an anomaly - i.e. a bug or a hidden camera; she would know right away. "What scheme then, Timmers? Care to share with the rest of the class?" Jason prompted, prodding Tim to get out from behind him.

"I'm not sure yet.." Tim admitted reluctantly. "It's just... I thought it a bit-- kind of jumping the gun with the way Napier had built his scheme. He would not need to get you seen in LA's theater industry like he'd done. He would not need to make you visible in the industry, even by booking you the shows you've deemed to be small gigs. He could just get you there, and then ditch you, banking on the idea that you won't call Bruce to get you home out of shame for doing small gigs instead of 'major' LA shows." he explained.

"Even if he wouldn't call Bruce, Jay would've called me." Dick pointed out. "Or Babs, or you."

Jason nodded. "Yeah. Probably Dick, though - he owed me fifty bucks. Still owe me, actually." he said, pointedly ignoring Dick's dirty looks at him. "I'm not stupid enough to not know how to call collect." He added, maturely emphasizing his statement by sticking out his tongue at Dick.

"Or he could've gotten you hooked to drugs or alcohol - quicker still even with you resisting." Tim pointed out. "I'm just reading out all kinds of scheme here - maybe more of the 'fallen angel' trope of Hollywood."

"I don't and won't do drugs, ever." Jason replied. Then he paused, looking at his IV line. "Okay, maybe once my pins are out, I'll stop. But this thing is prescribed." he added defensively, pointing at the IV.

"That's just saline, you only have painkillers when you go to sleep, and the next painkillers are on standby for physical therapy sessions." Barbara told him.

Jason glared at her in surprise. "What?? You mean I can ask for painkillers after physical therapies?? Why didn't you tell me this yesterday?" he demanded.

"Well, you didn't look like you need it." Barbara pointed out. "They did give you one at night, didn't they?"

"I was miserable the whole day!" Jason protested.

"Guys? Focus?" Dick groaned. "Tim was giving us his theories here."

Jason pouted, but returned his glare to Tim. "Go on. I might be persuaded with alcohol, though. But turning someone to an alcoholic can't happen overnight."

"Right. Worst case, but simpler scenario, still, he could just trafficked Jason out of the country." Tim continued. "Instead he just drugged Jason and dumped him out of the way. I'm still not... clear on why."

"I think he just wanted to destroy Bruce." Jason shrugged. "I mean, we all know who Bruce's favorite son is." he added with an waspish grin toward Dick. "And by that I mean the one Bruce would move mountains for. Taking me would not make him move mountains."

"He would, too!" Dick protested. "But, anyway. Regardless of the 'why,' you're still not answering the 'who benefits' question." Dick reminded.

"That's just it. I can't see Napier benefiting much from destroying Bruce. If he wanted fortune, he could just... collaborate, maybe?" Tim mused.

"...on Burlesque shows?" Dick scoffed. "No offense, but he should've collaborated with the Kane House for that. Not us."

"I agree," Jason nodded. "So when did Kane House asked to join again?"

"You're not expecting Kane House to..." Dick gasped.

"Oh no, no. Just curious." Jason clarified. "I mean, I've told you before I left that at this rate, the only houses that would remain in Gotham would be the Wayne and Cobblepot--"

"That's it!" Tim suddenly exclaimed, startling Dick and Jason.

"Jeez, Tim, warn a guy!" Jason retorted.

"Sorry, guys. Just... that's just it. No one would benefit if the Wayne House is destroyed but two: Kane House or Elliott House." Tim said. "Kane House had opted to join Wayne House, due to their familial ties. Elliott House?"

"Mama Elliott have been whistleblowing that she would rather merge than vanish..." Barbara said. "But her son... not so much."

"I thought Tommy Elliott is a physician?" Jason said. "Why would he care for theaters?"

"I don't know. Buuut..." Dick shrugged. "It's the most... well... plausible thing I've heard."

"Right, so we'll bookmark that theory for now and look for supporting evidence." Spencer remarked. "I need to be in court in an hour, folks, so if you'll please excuse me."

They thanked Kate and ordered some Chinese food for their dinner - even after the protests of the nurses. Hey, Jason has problems with his legs, not his tummy. And he's a growing boy. Or so Jason claimed. Plus, it's not like he wouldn't eat the hospital food, anyway. Not even the threat of gaining too much weight to hinder his physical therapy session could deter him from eating.

#Jason Todd #Tim Drake #Dick Grayson #JayTim #Barbara Gordon #Stephanie Brown #Kate Spencer #no-capeAU #SoulTheater!AU #BatFam #Victor Sage #Kent Nelson

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vikingpoteto · 2 years

Note

1: Consider this me asking about your platonic ships 👀

2: Thank you for the rock 😌

2. I'm glad you appreciate it.

1. LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT JASON & STEPH AKA DISASTER TWINS as opposed to Dick and Donna's Wonder Twins

Steph tries to convince Jason to come public that he's alive and go to college with her. They'll talk shit about their classmates and show them trustfund babies what real top notch students are like.

#stephanie brown #jason todd #spoiler #red hood #disaster twins #poteto rambling #god i needes this thanks bestie #i have a lot of feelins about these two #canon won't let them team up because they'd be too powerful #but i would die for a red hood & spoiler team up

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incoherentbabblings · 3 years

Note

Hi!

I love your content, your love for TimSteph, and I was actually going to ask what you love so much about them. I, for extra credit for English, decided to write an analysis of Stephanie (and why I love her so much), but I just got into comics, and cannot really put my feelings for her in words ... which is odd, considering how much I love her and writing. Also, I was going to do a section on why TimSteph is narrative genius, and I needed help elaborating on that too.

Could you help me out, please? Thanks!

(I feel the need to mention that I have read quite a lot of comics with Stephanie in them, though not all. I'm not much of a comic book fan, but I'm really interested in the Batfamily!)

I'll be very happy to write out bullet points that you could talk about, and feel free to go through my ask and I'll babble/TimSteph meta tags for anything that you think may be worth discussing in your own words - there's like four or so years of stuff there to spark your brain.

HOWEVER!!!! Keep in mind though that much of what I have written is half based on textual evidence and half me just writing what I like/wish would crop up in canon.

For example, yes I like to draw comparisons between Tim being cold and Steph being warm, moon and sun and so on, but there's genuinely nothing in text to hint as this being an actual character trait or symbolism. If anything Tim's stated to be warm several times, more than Steph.

So, and I am sorry to be so blunt, but if I take your request in bad faith for a moment, don't use either directly or indirectly what I've written for your work. Especially without actually going and reading the arcs I talk about. A lot of the time it doesn't hold up under genuine textual scrutiny, and we want to be good academics here! There's Death of the Author and then there's me making crap up because I want to include it in a fanfic. Not the same thing! My blog is called IncoherentBabblings for a reason after all!

I will therefore say this: If you want to write about Steph as a character, I would use the below video as a point of reference. Using the below, you can then go into why she resonates with you the way she does, or why her relationship with Tim is so interesting to you.

youtube

If I were you: focus on her dynamic character development: cynical to idealistic. And use three points in her publication history to do this: her introduction in Detective Comics, War Games, and Batgirl. I am sorry to recommend War Games as something to read but it is important to her character. Use the Stephanie Brown Wiki to help!

That lends itself to a biography of her character, a look at her motivations and values, her role within the batfam, and so on. You can also use this to make comparisons with her peers, specifically Tim moving in the exact opposite direction development wise; Babs and Cass in their approaches to Batgirl; and the other Robins through her similar character progression as Dick, which in turn allows her to be a good mentor to Damian, and finally how her character arc runs perpendicular to Jason's. Does that make sense?

Anyway, let's get going! If I were to write an academic piece on Stephanie, these are the main points I would work through. In other words, this is what I would do. You probably will not need nor want to go into this level of depth, and you will want to make it much more personal about why she resonates with you, which may be different to why I love her. So don't worry about touching base with all of them. This is like... 10,000 word essay level stuff. And don't get overwhelmed. I've taken your request far too seriously is all.

Again, I can't write it for you! You gotta do the reading and writing I'm afraid.

...But I still wrote 1,500 words anyway. Gosh darnnit.

Steph’s Character Development

Always keep three points in her character history in mind – her aged 14/15 in her introductory arc in Detective Comics, her aged 16 in War Games, and her aged 18/19 in her Batgirl run.

How does she change? How does she grow as a character? What events caused these changes? Compare that angry 14-year-old trying to choke her father, to the 19-year-old crying happily on the roof. A lot happened between those two points! Outline the main plot beats.

Steph's Role as a Batfam Character:

Protagonist or Antagonist: Supporting Protagonist

Static or Dynamic: Dynamic (think of her character development - angry to alturistic; she softens in her life outlook and in the way she treats others as the years go by)

Minor or Major: Minor and we all mourn that fact :(

Foil or Symbolic: A foil to Tim Drake (and to a lesser extent the other Robins, specifically Jason Todd)

Importance of the character/Position in Society: Fourth Robin, third Batgirl, own superhero. Tim's girlfriend, Cassandra's best friend, one of many of Bruce's 'children'. Initially introduced just as a one-off character for a small arc in Detective Comics, brought back with the intention of being a supporting character to Tim Drake, and eventual love interest. Eventually gained enough popularity on her own terms to support her own solo comic, but has since returned to a supporting role. The character she supports, at the end of the day, is Bruce Wayne.

Motivation

What influences their decisions?: Stephanie's dynamic characterisation comes in here. Compare her motivations during her introductory arc, versus why she does what she does in War Games, versus why she dresses up at Batgirl - Stopping her father, getting Batman's approval, need for redemption.

What do they value?: Values emotional openness, vulnerability, second/third/fourth chances.

Goals/Hopes/Dreams: No long term goals/hopes/dreams in the domestic sense... Continue to be vigilante. Be respected by her peers. Continue to improve self worth through deeds. Graduate college?

What are their views: Views the justice system and police as corrupt, but still trusts in the inherent goodness of people. Focus is usually on the individual, rather than societal or structural.

Actions

Behaviour, Attitudes, Impact on Story and other Characters, Internal Struggle (Wants versus Needs): This is why I think you are best to look at three points in her story - Intro Arc, War Games, Batgirl. Focus on her Wants versus Needs - Steph's take a very long time to align, but they finally do in Batgirl.

Character development is usually driven by the conflict between what a character wants. The plot forces them normally to confront the fact that what they want is not gonna work out, and what they needed instead takes priority.

Everything usually goes tits up for Steph when she is in the driver's seat of the narrative because what she wants from a situation is rarely what she actually needs to happen. See every time she seeks Bruce's approval. She wants it. She absolutely does not need it. And only as Batgirl do we get that acknowledgement, which coincides with her being at the healthiest point in her life emotionally. Look at what she wants as Spoiler during her introductory arc, as Robin/Spoiler during War Games, and then as Batgirl. Why is she so unhappy in the former two? Why have her wants finally aligned with her needs with her time as Batgirl?

Character Traits

Personality: Cynical but perky. Sardonic but sincere. Think about how she changes over the time. This can be attributed to her different writers, but - for example - is there a universe reason for why Batgirl Stephanie is so much more socially awkward than Spoiler Stephanie?

Strengths & Weaknesses: Link these two together because Steph is a very good example where her strengths as a character can simultaneously be a weakness. Her determination can lead to her making ill conceived decisions. Her empathy can lead to her putting her trust in the wrong people. Her forgiving nature can lead to her being taken advantage of. Her temper, whilst landing her in hot water, can also just as often get her out of it.

Relationships

How do they interact with others: Focus on which characters pop up in all three arcs – Steph and her parents; Steph and Bruce; Steph and Tim. I am chucking Cass out the window here, sorry Cass, but if you’re focusing on these three arcs, Cass doesn’t really fit in.

How others view them: Conditional love/affection from her father and Bruce. Unconditional love/affection from Tim and her mother (though both are not without serious pitfalls).

How they view others: Stephanie has explicitly never loved her father. She has also never explicitly hated him either. What does that say about her? Look at her changing closeness with her mother. What changed between them, and again, what does that say about Stephanie? Crystal got sober, supported Stephanie through her pregnancy, Arthur was removed from their lives, Stephanie makes a conscious effort to be closer to her after returning ‘from the dead’, though continues to lie consistently to her. Stephanie admires Bruce, whilst also right from the get go insisting she does not answer to him. She never quite lets go of wanting that approval.

How does society view them: Her outsider role within the Batfam. She never quite belongs, and at points her closest relationships are actively discouraged from seeing her. Which Tim specifically never entertains. This outsider nature bites literally everyone in the butt during War Games. Her outsider status is still in place by the time Batgirl concludes, due to its largely self-contained nature as a book, but this is less being an outsider more having earned to right to operate independently. Trust has been given and earned.

Dialogue

What does she say and how: A teenage girl in New Jersey from a working class background has a very distinct voice. She does not mince words, nor does she hide what she is feeling. If she is happy, she will say so. If she is annoyed, she will say so. What she won’t do is ask for help when she needs it, due to her background formulating a need for her ‘to do things on her own’.

Think of famous/important Steph quotes from the three arcs I keep talking about – the excuse me if I don’t jump when you bark, the I really was part of the legend, the only variable you can control is yourself. These show how Steph views others and herself.

When I was writing I Would Have Loved You, I literally made a spreadsheet where I have picked out what I think are pertinent quotes from every New 52 issue featuring Tim or Steph along with a synopsis that explained what they were up to/what the main theme of the issue was. Not saying you should do the same because I’m just that goddamn anal when it comes to this sort of stuff, but the point is – look for quotes by/about Steph which highlight the above things we’ve talked about. You have thirty years to go through!

Author Intention

What purpose does this character serve?: A character that young female readers could get attached to – the every girl/girl next door archetype or a character that young boys could have a crush on – the kind of girl who’s into the same sort of stuff as you, I think Chuck Dixon once said of her, from her initial appearance. Fodder for Bruce and Tim’s man pain in War Games. Batgirl it’s a combination of filling the void for a female lead solo character in the batbooks, but also tonally taking on a much lighter and self-contained book that new readers could jump into very easily, directly compared to the more lore heavy Batman, Detective Comics, and Red Robin books.

What is the author trying to communicate: Steph’s character shows that determination can only get a person so far, a support system and doing things for the right reasons (again remember that want versus need argument) is the only way a person will genuinely succeed.

What is her main theme?: Balancing cynicism and idealism – doing acts for the right reasons, and discovering what these reasons actually are.

...

Is this even usable for anyone but myself? Possibly not!

Still... Go write! And good luck!

#ask and i'll babble #stephanie brown #tim drake #timsteph #dc #anon i am sorry if i misconstrued your intentions #but i hope if nothing else this helps you verbalise why you like steph and timsteph by extension #good luck for your writing!

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secretlystephaniebrown · 7 years

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Why Rebirth’s Stephanie Brown isn’t the Same as Preboot Stephanie Brown

Hi I’ve got opinions about how the reboot has been handling my girl.

I’ve been enjoying Detective Comics for the most part, but I’ve been frustrated with Stephanie Brown’s role in them for a while. And I think I’ve finally put my finger on it.

Special thanks to @renaroo for all her help finding panels and issue numbers!

Below the cut is 2k of screaming and panels.

Stephanie Brown in the preboot era was a kid with a bad past. Her mom was a drug addict, her dad was abusive and a villain. She lived in poverty for at least chunks of her original run as Spoiler. She dated older guys, one of whom got her pregnant and ran away, and has been implied to be a sexual abuse survivor.

And as Spoiler, her life wasn’t necessarily better. She dated Tim, and they had a pretty decent relationship, but Tim didn’t tell her his secret identity, on orders from Batman. For reasons. (Bruce later told her his identity without Tim’s permission, which… doesn’t really make things better.) From day one, she was an outcast from the family; she regularly got locked out of the Batcave, wasn’t informed about major developments in the family, and Bruce denies her training and resources. She even suspects that this is because of her family life.

(Robin (1993-2009) #100.)

@renaroo and I have talked about this, and a part of Bruce’s reaction to Steph during this time period was clearly based off Bruce’s recent trauma because of Jason’s death. Steph, Cass, and Tim’s relationships with Bruce in the preboot were all tied to that event. Tim stepped up as Robin, providing Bruce with the balance and support that he knew he needed, so Bruce couldn’t really send Tim away. Cass had no secret identity, no life to return to. Bruce looked at her and saw his own morals concentrated, a dedication to the cause that he thought makes Cass an ideal protégé and possible successor down the line. (Not that it ever happened of course because of course it didn’t.) Besides that, Cass was a better fighter than he was, and had been looking after herself for years. Firing her wasn’t very effective, although he certainly tried in the later parts of Cass’s initial Batgirl run.

But Steph?

Steph was none of those things. Bruce didn’t need her, she wasn’t trained and capable like Cass. Instead, everything that Bruce saw when he looked at her probably remindd him of Jason. A mother lost to drug abuse, a father entrenched in crime and violence, a kid from the less great parts of the city. The parallels were right there to Bruce. But Bruce was too late to save Steph from this life, unlike Jason. Instead, Steph had decided to save herself. But he looked at her, and he saw a kid with no training and no experience. And he’d just lost a partner from a background very similar to hers.

He told her to go home. He never really stopped, not until she became Batgirl. (Although they had some amazing bonding moments as well, which I’ll probably make another post about later)

As a result Steph was an outcast for the majority of her run as Spoiler. She got brief flashes of integration and family; she teams up with Cass, works with other heroes like Black Canary, Huntress, and Oracle. She worked with Tim and Bruce as well. But just as often, Bruce did things like forbid Cass to patrol with Steph and the aforementioned locking her out of the Batcave and not telling her that the family was undergoing a MAJOR crisis at the time.)

(Batman: Bruce Wayne: Murderer? Robin (1993-2009) #98 - Yes Bruce was in prison at the time, but you’d have thought that SOMEONE would have thought to tell her he was unavailable.)

The end result of this should happen when she becomes Robin. Steph becoming Robin should have been cathartic; a culmination of Steph’s hard work paying off and Bruce recognizing her place in the family. And it was for a while!!

(Detective Comics (1937-2011) #796. Making me nostalgic for what could have been. Steph with anger issues and a complicated but growing relationship with Bruce? Amazing.)

Instead, it was a cheap stunt by DC. Steph got fired, Steph screwed up by starting a gang war, Steph died. (And then came back in an outrageously OOC manner, but that’s another story.)

We got some of the catharsis of her becoming part of the family in Steph’s run as Batgirl, but it was undermined by a lot of things. To make her Batgirl, Miller began what Tynion and the Nu52 (and later Rebirth) continues to do.

They take away what makes Steph interesting.

Steph’s anger issues were integral to her early character. She canonically went to visit her father in prison to fight him. Her anger was not once touched upon in Miller’s Batgirl. Her status as a teenage mom was similarly erased. Her trauma at the hands of Black Mask was only hinted at once, after Steph was shot in the head, when she saw him in a flashback.

(Batgirl (2009-2011) #6. Don’t worry, this will never come up again.)

And her friendship with Cass, a relationship I would say was defining and important to Steph, was washed away, with Cass not even appearing in Steph’s history of the Bat Family. Steph still had to fight for her acceptance in the family; Babs didn’t want her to be Batgirl, her first ever meeting with Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne was a disaster, and she struggled to find her place. There was still catharsis there; she built a team and support network for herself, and it was wonderful, despite my issues with that run.

Miller also started moving Steph away from her roots with her mom; Crystal in Miller’s run was clean and she and Steph seem to have achieved financial stability. But in the preboot, both of those worked, since we’d seen how far they’ve come. Arthur’s abuse wasn’t directly stated, but his attack on her specifically through Black Mercy mad it pretty clear that there were still elements of abuse present, even if the events Steph had referred to in previous stories weren’t shown.

But Tynion doesn’t have that history to build off, because the Nu52 annihilated Steph’s entire history.

Steph in Batman Eternal is from a perfectly happy middle class background, with her parents already split up and with joint custody. Her dad isn’t abusive (in fact, him being a supervillain appears to be a complete surprise to her), her mom isn’t an addict. She’s never been a teenage mom, and although she starts a relationship with Tim off page, she knows his secret identity from the beginning.

(Batman Eternal #3)

And Bruce accepts her into the fold right away in Detective Comics. As a fan of Steph, the catharsis is there on a meta level; Stephanie Brown is accepted enough by the company to allow her to be in the comic which they named themselves after! What a change from the days when Steph was brutally killed off and then banned from appearing in any medium! But in universe? That catharsis doesn’t exist.

So suddenly, Tynion is faced with a character with many of Steph’s traits; the name, the upbeat attitude, the costume, with none of her history or markings.

(Sidenote: Steph’s anger isn’t completely non-existant in the Nu52/Rebirth era: Selina notes that Steph is angry during Steph’s appearance in Catwoman #42.)

(Catwoman (2011-2016) #42. Thank you for this moment, it’s a balm to my soul.)

Steph’s inclusion by Bruce in this initial team he sets up is a fascinating choice. He’s integrating her into the family from the very beginning of her character arc. This could have been a chance to let Steph grow in new directions; she could have grown closer to Cass and Harper, have Bruce and Kate as mentor figures, and explored her relationship with Tim in new and exciting ways. She could have met Duke and Jason and bonded with them over their similarities.

But instead, Steph and Cass barely interact, Harper’s relegated to cameos and sage advice, and Steph’s character is instead defined solely by her relationship with Tim. She has a few nice moments with Bruce, like the hug I’ve been waiting for ever since I got into comics.

(Detective Comics (2016-) #940. THAT HUG)

But overwhelmingly I’ve been left wanting more, and not in the good way. It’s not satisfying. Steph has some great moments in ‘Tec and even some great lines, just like during her run as Batgirl. But there’s a kind of hollowness there for me, lacking the heart and soul of Stephanie Brown.

Tynion also makes some strange changes with Steph; she loses her snark and attitude that even Miller managed to maintain.

(Robin (1993-2009) #56. Just hanging around, you know.)

(Detective Comics (1937-2011) #796. Poor Bruce has to hang around with snarky teens.)

She’s lacking her relationship with gravity.

(Batgirl (2000-2006) #20.)

She also no longer loves being a hero and doing good, instead having her arc being dedicated to… saying that superheroes shouldn’t exist… while still functioning as a vigilante… (I really don’t like this kind of arc in comics, not going to lie, so I’m predisposed to not be happy here. But I still think this is a RADICAL departure from Steph’s prior characterization.)

(Robin (1993-2009) #100. Here we see Tim planning on retiring, and knowing that Steph is hardly about to stop being a hero.)

It all culminates, of course, in Steph’s departure from the team after Tim’s death. She calls out Batman for his actions, raises some valid points about how he’s not really parenting Cass (which… Tynion continues to ignore, because what, letting Bruce adopt Cass and teaching her to read? Nah, she’s too busy learning Shakespeare and hanging out with Clayface.) And after that moment of awesome she… leaves.

(Detective Comics (2016-) #947)

She becomes the outcast again. But this time it’s her fault.

And it’s so frustrating to me, this idea that Steph’s isolation is her own fault in Rebirth. That Bruce offered Steph a place and a team, but that she rejected it, is so aggravating. Steph’s isolation is supposed to be Bruce Wayne’s mistake which she pays for throughout her superhero career. Steph wants this place with the family, fights for it tooth and nail in the preboot. Now, if Steph had gone through the preboot arc, fighting for this, trying to earn it, and then turning away from it out of frustration with Bruce? I’d have been willing to listen, and might have even been excited for it.

(Detective Comics (2016-) #957. This is just such a departure from preboot Steph that it boggles my mind.)

But this is a Stephanie Brown who has not been a hero for long. This is Stephanie Brown, who is about the age preboot Steph was when she became Robin, new and inexperienced (meanwhile Tim is exactly where he was in his own timeline when Steph was Batgirl, a frustrating process that’s also familiar.) Steph is younger than she was in preboot and less competent. So are Barbara Gordon and Cass. The Batboys have gotten to grow up and improve. The Batgirls were forced backwards in both age and ability, and yet were older when they started their superhero careers, making them inherently less experienced then their male counterparts.

Part of it is, of course, DC’s refusal to let the Batgirls move forward in the status quo. Babs can’t become Oracle again, Cass can’t become Batgirl, and Steph can’t be Robin or Batgirl. The Batgirls (and Harper) are all now around the same age, and their relationships have been completely and utterly decimated by the retcons and reboots. Steph and Cass aren’t best friends, Babs isn’t a mentor to either Steph or Cass. Steph’s relationship with Bruce is no longer the complicated beast that it was pre-Flashpoint, she still hasn’t met Damian and established their bond, and her first interaction with Dick was an aggravatingly airheaded “kiss me sexy Batman”.

(Batman and Robin Eternal #2. Just. Why.)

And her relationship with Tim is lacking some of the most interesting elements; the drama of Steph’s history and Bruce’s disapproval. But despite its blandness, it continues to be the front and center of Steph’s arc. It’s what drives her away from the others and causes her to isolate herself. Steph functions as a manic-pixie figure to Tim, encouraging him to live his dream, while still being the goofy and funny partner he needs, with her primary motivation being his death.

Her goofiness and mourning are both clearly about to pay off in a manner which I am terrified about. In Detective Comics, Anarchy clones Steph’s phone. A phone which, it was shown in the previous issue, to contain information which could compromise Tim (and by extension everyone’s secret identities).

(Detective Comics (2016-) #963. Oh look and Tim even told her it would be a bad idea! Haha, how funny!)

(Detective Comics (2016-) #964)

We could be about to witness War Games, reboot version.

But this time, there will be no one to blame but Stephanie Brown. She chose to isolate herself, she was sloppy with her phone’s security, and she was fooled by Anarchy.

If Tynion does what I’m scared he’s going to do, we’re looking at some next level bullshit.

I live in fear.

#Stephanie Brown #DC #Detective Comics #Steph Reads Comics #DC Rebirth #Steph vs The Bat Fam #Steph Writes Steph (Brown) Meta

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grrlwonder-archive · 7 years

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RULES. repost, don’t reblog. tag ten. TAGGED. the bae @magicxecustos TAGGING. @perfectforayear, @thirdwcnder, @theredwonder, @yallneedahero, @favdream, @thegreatunxter, @notbctmcn, @twerpzilla, @illuminatedflight, @xmarksthescott, @futuresuper, @canary-noir, @cacciatriice

BASICS.

FULL NAME. stephanie alice bellinger NICKNAME. steph, stephie, stephers, eggplant wonder AGE. 22 (verse dependent) BIRTHDAY. august 17 ETHNIC GROUP. caucasian NATIONALITY. american LANGUAGE / S. english, swahili, basic spanish & french SEXUAL ORIENTATION. heterosexual, bicurious ROMANTIC ORIENTATION. panromantic RELATIONSHIP STATUS. single (verse dependent) CLASS. lower HOME TOWN / AREA. gotham city, new jersey, usa CURRENT HOME. an apartment in the city with a rather lousy landlord PROFESSION. law school student

PHYSICAL.

HAIR. honey blonde with golden reflects, about mid-back in general length EYES. generally described as blue, though they tend to look teal in certain lighting. too round to be almond shaped, too wide to be considered round. bright & almost child-like, but they’re often narrowed in suspicion NOSE. once it was cute & button-y, now it’s a little too long & wide. it has suffered too many fractures, most visible one the bridge now FACE. round with rather chubby cheeks, a pointy chin, wide forehead, & slight widow’s peak LIPS. full & a little round. if she’s not wearing only chapstick, she has on a deep, almost burgundy shade of lipstick, or a bright red lipstick. they tend to be chapped from picking & biting at them COMPLEXION. fair, but she tends to tan easily during the summer BLEMISHES. there are a few scars from missions gone wrong, one faded one from when she had chickenpox and picked at when she was five SCARS. her entire body is littered with soft, faded scars. from knife to bullet wounds. there’s a particularly nasty knife slash that goes across her chest; it starts on the middle and ends just short of her left nipple. TATTOOS. when her daughter turned 1y/o she used a fake a id to get the outline of a star on purple on her right shoulder blade HEIGHT. 5′5″ WEIGHT. 129 lbs / 58.5 kg BUILD. slender, small waist & wide hips, well toned FEATURES. tends looks fairly average from an outside perspective, especially because she tends to slouch a little as to not attract too much attention ALLERGIES. USUAL HAIR STYLE. down, doing its thing, or up into ponytail or braids USUAL FACE LOOK. serene & approchable USUAL CLOTHING. she wears a lot of muted colors & denim. the occasional leather jacket is a must, along w/ her staple military-green jacket

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S. major abandonment issues. failure. the sound of drills. scalpels, needles, & other medical equipment ASPIRATION / S. to do & inspire good on others. prove to the world that your background doesn’t define you POSITIVE TRAITS. witty, chatty, friendly, approachable, upbeat, resilient, persistent NEGATIVE TRAITS. sarcastic, quick-tempered, vengeful, cynical, stubborn MBTI. enfp-a the campaigner ZODIAC. leo TEMPEREMENT. sanguine SOUL TYPE / S. hunter, caregiver, helper all at 17 ANIMALS. eagle VICE HABIT / S. social drinker, former smoker FAITH. agnostic GHOSTS? was one once AFTERLIFE? been there, done that REINCARNATION? don’t wanna find out yet ALIENS? one is her best firend POLITICAL ALIGNMENT. fairly liberal. anarchic, even ECONOMIC PREFERENCE. indifferent SOCIOPOLITICAL POSITION. shrug emoji EDUCATION LEVEL. high school diploma, law student

FAMILY.

FATHER. arthur brown MOTHER. crystal agnes bellinger SIBLINGS. none EXTENDED FAMILY. not in too much contact with her aunts & uncles, grandparents are deceased. cassandra cain is considered an surrogate sister NAME MEANING / S. stephanie: french origin, crown. alice: english origin, of noble kin HISTORICAL CONNECTION ? none

FAVOURITES.

BOOK. the adventures of alice in wonderland MOVIE. none 5 SONGS. one girl revolution - superchick, don’t hurt yourself - beyoncé, royal jelly - deap vally, cool girl - tove lo, uprising - muse DEITY. - HOLIDAY. new years MONTH. - SEASON. fall PLACE. the top of wayne tower WEATHER. as long as it’s not too hot or cold, she’s okay with whatever SOUND. the laughter of children by the closest playground SCENT / S. sweet / candy TASTE / S. warm mashed potatoes with gravy FEEL / S. silk, cotton, warmth ANIMAL / S. cats NUMBER. - COLOUR. eggplant

EXTRA.

TALENTS. playing the piano. great marksman. quick learner BAD AT. handling abandonment & rejection. thinking before talking TURN ONS. suits!! confidence. intellect TURN OFFS. disregards for others. cockiness. HOBBIES. doodling. training. reading TROPES. action girl. the chick. girly bruiser AESTHETIC TAGS. cityscape, bruises, neon, bats, shadows, denim, leather GPOY QUOTES. “believe you can and you’re already halfway there.” – theodore roosevelt

FC INFO.

MAIN FC / S. gigi hadid ALT FC / S. nicola peltz OLDER FC / S. margot robbie & charlize theron YOUNGER FC / S. - VOICE CLAIM / S. -

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1. if you could write your character your way in their own movie, what would it be called, what style would it be filmed in, and what would it be about? A1. action movie all the way. it would feature the batman: eternal story w/ some major changes regarding steph’s involvement; mainly i would mingle in some of preboot history. occasional flashbacks to stephanie’s god awful childhood to provide background on why she’s so angry at arthur. crystal wouldn’t disappear by the end of it.

Q2. what would their soundtrack / score sound like? A2. a healthy mix of soundtrack music especially composed for the movie & some post-punk, rock, hip hop to add to the atmosphere of gotham

Q3. why did you start writing this character? A3. i’ve said it many times before, i was always fascinated by the idea of there ever being a girl robin in the comics that i had never heard of. when i learnt she was batgirl, by heart-eyes levels went off the roof. the more i read about steph, further i liked & identified with her. whens entered roleplaying she seemed like a nice fit for me to grasp as i continued to get more involved in comics. i didn’t plan to fall so much in love with her character, but after writing her for 4 yrs, i’ve become practically a one woman stephanie brown defense squad

Q4. what first attracted you to this character? A4. two words: girl. wonder

Q5. describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse. A5. she tends to speak & act without thinking, mostly in the heat of the moment. while sometimes it is blessing, some others she has ended up severely damaging other people & her relationships with them. this has made her be a little more guarded with her feelings, evading to even say the good things.

Q6. what do you have in common with your muse? A6. i also tend to put my foot in my mouth, though it takes me far more to realize i’ve done it. i try to keep an optimistic look at things too, but inside i’m cynical as they come. i can also be just as hardheaded tbh

Q7. how does your muse feel about you? A7. i think she likes me--most of the time. when i’m not putting her thru needless pain & suffering just cuz it’s entertaining for me.

Q8. what characters does your muse have interesting interactions with? A8. goddamn--well, there’s a lot of people i’ve interacted w/ over the years, so it’s hard to pick & choose. there’s definitely a lot of people i loved interacting w/ that now are sadly gone, & there’s nothing i can do about that. but anyways, let’s see if i can do this

there’s cass, who is as close as it gets to having a sibling for steph. they’re always Up to Something; either between them or against each other. when things get low for one, they’re always for each because they know what it’s like to be seen by others (& amongst the bats themselves) as potential trouble. they’re truly the epitome of the term hetero life partners.

then there’s tim. they have had their ups & downs, but they’re finally at a stable place where they can call each other close friends once more. joint patrols are only made awkward by the fact they are naturally awkward people. (also the earth 3 threads are 👌👌 certified gold)

on the other hand we have tim who is both a blessing & the bane of steph’s existence. everything is made 10x worse by the fact that they there’s a major lack of communication & repressed feelings between them. but hey, even if they took one step forward & two steps back, there has been some progress made.

we also have kon who is slowly but surely becoming one of steph’s favorite people. he’s alway down for some shenanigans. he’s for steph to be around, and he’s definitely made up for the time he had her flying unwillingly.

lately addison & steph have had some super interesting interactions. steph sees a lot of herself from back in her spoiler days in the young vigilante, beyond the obvious physical similarities. she wants to help her reach her potential in a more consistent manner than she had herself--now if only addy would let her know wtf is going on, that would help.

this is getting super long so i’m just gonna quickly mention sheri, tim, kuvira, kory & scott (im prolly missing a few people but this is too long already forgive me. basically, if ur tagged in this thing ilu ok 💖)

Q9. what gives you inspiration to write your muse? A9. i guess seeing the people above & just people i want to interact w/ really brings out my muse. reading & re-reading comics definitely does help too; i constantly have this nagging feeling to fix where dc fucks steph up tbh

Q10. how long did this take you to complete? A10. i dunno--like 2-3 hrs?? i drafted this & came back to it a couple of times lmao

#*let the puzzlement fit the crime. ❪ m; hc ❫#*kiss me sexy batman. ❪ ooc ❫#electroqueueperang #long post --

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incoherentbabblings · 4 years

Text

An Endless Hope (9/9)

After a horrendous blizzard falls over Gotham, Tim undergoes a sharp change in character before disappearing. Upon discovering what has become of him, Stephanie sets off on a solo journey in a magic realm to bring him home, meeting some faces who seem awfully familiar along the way.

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Cassandra could be just as obsessive as her brothers. She may have been a little quieter about it, but an instance where her best friend and closest brother had gone missing two months ago had lent itself very neatly to her sitting by Kane bridge all day every day, watching, waiting for them to arrive back home. Sometimes Duke would join her, when he didn’t have school or some daytime mission to attend to, and the pair would sit in silence, watching the water. The storm and its heavy snowfall had long since gone, nothing more than an interesting memory for most of the residents of the city.

It had not taken long for Batman to track down and threaten Klarion into returning Tim and Stephanie in one piece (when he was determined to find someone, he found them). But Klarion had been of no help, simply stating that both were alive, and to let them be. If disaster struck, he would be sure to inform them. It was a difficult task, certainly, but Batman should have some faith in his underlings.

Bruce had shaken Klarion until Teekl had intervened, and the pair had vanished since. Efforts with other, friendlier, magic users had not yielded any results. So, Bruce had taken his frustration out on the innocent crooks of Gotham. Being told to sit back and wait did not sit right with the family, but it seemed that was what they must do. No news was good news according to Klarion.

Bruce’s February birthday bled into Dick’s own late March birthday, which in turn became April. It was on the at 3pm on the 12th of April, a day when both Cassandra and Duke were watching the water, Cassandra up high, perched and hidden from sight on the bridge's girders, Duke, sat on the pebbly beach, that Bruce rolled up in one of his fancy cars. Cassandra stayed in place whilst Duke went to greet the billionaire.

As always it was windy down by the water, stripping away any warmth the spring had brought with it. Chewing his lip, Duke shook his head at Bruce, and saw, even if he was trying to hide it, a slight look of hope become dashed.

Bruce collapsed onto the pebbles himself, work suit and all, and Duke joined him.

“Tomorrow we are going to find Klarion again. No more games.”

Duke nodded vigorously. “Good. How many of us are coming?”

“All of you. I’m not interested in his silly nursery rhymes or his damn cat getting in the way –”

Cassandra’s wail, words stolen from her, made them both look up to her, then across to what she had seen. She leapt down several levels, creeping out further over the bay.

“Cassandra!” Duke howled, “What do you see?”

She took a moment to respond, then she looked back to Bruce, yelling, “It’s them! It’s them!”

Two heads broke the surface of the disgusting water, and even from as far away as they were, the black-haired boy and blonde girl were unmistakably Tim and Stephanie. Cassandra continued to yell towards them, trying to catch their attention. She saw and heard Tim bounce enthusiastically. He whooped, waving up and across the bay when he saw who was waiting. Stephanie meanwhile moved so she could cling to Tim’s back. Even from this distance, Cassandra could see she was tired.

Bruce’s stomach dropped in painful relief, and he shouted their names, encouraging them to come to shore. He saw them bob in the water, then slowly, steadily, begin the swim across the river.

Duke gasped and fumbled to find his phone. He strangled out,

“The others, I have to tell the others!”

Watching them swim that last mile was intolerably painful. Cassandra, nearly unable to bear waiting for them to reach land, moved back towards shore, jumping down the levels until she reached the beach and Duke and Bruce. Duke was on the phone to anyone and everyone in the know, telling them that the young pair had found their way back, and to meet at the Manor when they could. Bruce, who was in the process of ripping off his shoes and jacket, was unable to wait for his children to reach the beach themselves.

He ran out into the cold water at the same time that Tim and Stephanie managed to reach a shallow enough area to walk. Tim seemed to be holding out better than Stephanie, who struggled to get to her feet. The pair stumbled straight into Bruce’s arms, and the three collapsed back into the water, holding on tight.

“You’re both here,” Bruce gasped disbelievingly. Tim was pressed in a tight hug against his chest, Stephanie burrowed in between his shoulder and neck. He noted that, aside from Stephanie’s drastic haircut and a general air of exhaustion, the two were unharmed. Stephanie was holding very tight to Tim’s wrist, seemingly unable to let go.

Behind him, Bruce heard Cassandra and Duke running out to join them. The water was cold, as it was still only April, and filthy, but the family could not find it in them to care.

“I’m sorry Bruce…” Stephanie mumbled, sounding close to tears. “I lost your scarf.”

He would have dismissed it out of hand, but Cassandra body slamming the group and Duke splashing next to them did not allow him to reassure her.

“You’re home!” Cassandra crowed. “You’re home, you’re home, you’re home!”

Tim snickered and hugged his sister, letting go of Stephanie. Bruce did not miss her aching gasp as he did so.

“How much time did we miss?” Tim asked.

“Two months,” Duke breathed, tugging Stephanie onto her feet and out of the cold water. Stephanie immediately whirled so she could see Tim in the river with Cassandra, only half listening to Duke when he continued, “We were close to using the nuclear option. How did you get back?”

“We got to the river and jumped. Came back the way she came.” Tim went back to Bruce, shivering in the cold water. Bruce picked Tim up, and together they walked back to shore. Trying to make Bruce understand, Tim pushed, “Steph did it, Bruce. All by herself. She found me and saved me.”

“Not entirely by myself. I had a lot of help along the way.” As they trudged to shore, Stephanie wrung out her short hair. Cassandra immediately ran her hands through it, face showing blatant curiosity. Stephanie shook her head, looking like a golden retriever drying herself, then backed off so she could stand next to Tim again. “It’s a long story.”

“I need to hear all of it,” Bruce pushed.

Duke counteracted, “But let’s go home first. I’ve called everyone, they’ll be on their way to the Manor.”

Tim’s chest bloomed with warmth at the thought of Alfred and Babs and even Damian. Stephanie, red cheeked from the cold, also smiled but then it froze, and cracked.

“Home,” she agreed, looking guilt stricken. “I need to go to mom.”

“I’ll call her. I’ve been keeping her in the loop Stephanie, don’t worry about that. You did good.” Bruce’s determined and confident tone set her at ease, leading her to hugging Bruce tightly. Ruffling her wet hair, he murmured, “Not sure about the hair though.”

Despite her exhaustion, stress and general overwhelming events of the past eight weeks, Stephanie managed a bright laugh.

“We’re home!”

Tim had not been lectured by a mother in what was probably a decade, however the rantings of a rarely worked up Crystal Brown somehow felt deeply familiar (and oddly comforting to have someone even care that much).

It must have looked a little odd to the rest of the family, Crystal Brown, pink turtleneck and white work coat on, ranting in a manner that – knowing Mrs Brown’s usually placid nature – meant she was really ticked off. Bruce was a black dressed column behind her, nodding emphatically with his arms crossed. Tim and Stephanie were sitting, still damp and smelly from the river, on some priceless loveseat, looking like a pair of drowned rats. Tim found his shoes very interesting. Stephanie was pouting at her mother as Crystal got more and more heated.

“And where did that dress come from? And your hair! Did you hack at it with a knife?”

“...Yes,” Stephanie grumbled. Crystal continued as if she had not spoken.

“...And for what? Him?” Crystal yelled as Stephanie blinked, taken a little aback by the level of ranting her mother exhibited. “Believe me when I say I understand you won’t be dissuaded Stephanie from these masks, but I am just asking that you give me warning before you disappear for two months and maybe ask yourself if – if a boy is worth all this! I am going to have a stroke one day from the stress of this you know!”

Bruce blinked, knowing better than to get involved, even if his gut instinct was to defend Tim. It wasn’t like the boy had decided to go on a life-threatening trip. Tim gulped, but Stephanie held onto Tim’s hand tightly.

“He needed help mom. End of discussion.”

Crystal snorted derogatively. “You could have given me some warning before going off on another suicide run.”

Stephanie blanched and Tim grimaced. Bruce sighed, like he was about to start speaking his piece, but Crystal was not done.

“I want you to move back home.”

Tim finally looked up at Crystal, whilst Stephanie’s mouth dropped open.

“What?”

Crystal’s voice wavered as she said, “You heard me,” and even to Stephanie she sounded unsure if it was a viable solution to her worries.

Tim felt Stephanie’s hand twitch around his own. Guilt rose, making his throat choked up. He imagined if Stephanie was standing, she would be stomping her feet.

“Mommy, I love you but no way.”

Bruce coughed awkwardly, “Perhaps if we took a day or two before –”

“Maybe you should, Steph.” Tim quietly interrupted. Stephanie whipped her head round from glaring at her mother to stare at Tim, mouth dropped open. Tim gave the weak explanation, “It’s my fault, and maybe it’d be better for you if...”

Stephanie’s nostrils flared, and she frowned. When she spoke, unlike her mother, there was no doubt in her rebuttal.

“No, it is absolutely not. You didn’t choose to be hurt like that. You didn’t choose to be taken away. It’s not your fault. I did choose to bring you home. I chose to go on that journey. I could have said no, but I didn’t. My choice, my agency. You and my mom don’t get to send me away because of misplaced guilt.”

They had a wordless conversation, Tim guilt ridden, Stephanie confident and entreating. She knew what he was doing. Thinking of himself as a burden when he was anything but. She reached over and took his other hand and Tim felt his eyes sting wet.

“Stephanie,” Crystal pushed one last time. She did not sound cruel, or unreasonable, just deeply worried. “I don’t know what I have to do to get through to you.”

Stephanie looked at her mother, mournful. Finally, she said, “I won’t move back in with you. I want to stay with Tim.”

Tim was mistaken, there was nothing comforting or familiar about the look Crystal was giving them. Like her only daughter, the daughter she had already lost once, was a ticking time bomb. And Tim was the one with the clock counting down the minutes.

Part of him wished that Stephanie had left him in the cold.

But then Crystal left, as she was unable to bear the argument anymore. To Tim’s partial shock, Bruce was not far behind her to try and say his piece, as if now was the best time to actually contribute and speak to Stephanie’s mother. A moment of silence passed after the door clicked shut, then Stephanie fell forward onto her knees, crying. Hands hovering over her shoulders, reluctant to comfort her if she did not want it, Tim gulped.

“Steph, I… I’m so–”

“Don’t,” she interrupted, no bite to her tone. Instead, all Tim heard was exhaustion. She kept her head down and, quietly sobbing to herself, said, “Don’t you dare.”

Tim was not party to Stephanie and Crystal’s follow up conversation the next day. He felt like he did not deserve to be. However, whatever had been exchanged allowed Tim and Stephanie to return to their apartment. He contemplated speaking to Crystal himself, but a sharp look from Stephanie had killed that idea stone dead.

At least, after one week of questions, hugs, praises, warnings, and overly nervous parenting from Bruce, Tim and Stephanie were allowed to go home. Their first night back Tim had stared at the window, not out of, only looking away when a message from Duke invited them out to patrol.

Getting back to normality he supposed. Stephanie had taken one look at the message, sighed, then shook her head. She had been down in the dumps all week, and though Tim thought patrol might do her good, she refused.

“You go,” she pushed. “I need an extra day or two. Then we’ll go together?”

Tim looked back at the windowsill, an idea forming in his head, then nodded. He needed to go, to get back into the literal swing of things. He was ready. She needed just a bit more time. For once, it seemed Tim was quite willing to try and put everything behind him, but Stephanie was not. She had a lot of catching up to do as Stephanie Brown, and she didn’t have the pre-made excuse of being the somewhat flighty son of a billionaire who had a habit of disappearing for months at a time. Apparently, according to some gossip sites, her and Tim had eloped and had a two-month honeymoon in Curaçao. Stephanie very much would have preferred that lie to the truth.

An issue continued to plague her in the week that she had returned. Bruce had called it out early on, and even now she still chided herself when she was caught doing it.

She couldn’t bear for Tim not to be in her line of sight. She was petrified that the minute she turned away, the moment he shut the door behind him, he would be stolen away once more. Tim knew that she was struggling a little, but he felt no overwhelming need for space. But how to prove he would not be taken or leave again? Especially as the first time wasn’t exactly planned. They could only take things one day at a time, and her encouraging him to go on patrol without her was a massive show of faith. Tim hoped she knew how much he appreciated it.

Tim lingered around her a little anxiously before he left that night. Not being subtle at all, he watched her comb her hair, finding the static cloud of blonde a little amusing, then he watched her brush her teeth and wash her face. In a deliberate effort to cheer her up, he insisted she wear his sweater to bed.

“It’ll make me happy,” he said.

Steph knew what he was trying to do, but she nodded. Tim smelled like comfort, and it would do until the real him was home. He kissed her very sweetly, then promised he would be back.

Stephanie smiled, but in the back of her head she could not shake the feeling that once he was out of her sight again, he would not come back. Tim tried to ignore how washed out she looked. He tried to ignore how guilty he felt.

He carefully shut the bedroom door behind him, heading down to the Nest, and Stephanie lay in silence. Eventually exhaustion won out over anxiety and she fell asleep before Tim came back home.

She would not wake until ten the next morning. When she did, she found Tim resting a hand on her cheek. His fingers were warm, and she sighed sharply, almost like a cry. Her heartbeat settled. He’d returned to her.

She understood somewhere at the back of her mind that this anxiety would not leave so easily. It would take some time before she would feel comfortable letting Tim out of her sight for long, but she had to do it. It wasn’t like she could shackle him to her leg. She felt Tim shift on the bed sheets next to her, as if he had been watching her sleep and now recognized she was awake.

“Morning,” she croaked.

“Morning. Come on,” he replied, hand moving up to her hair. He stroked it in a calming motion for a moment or two, until he spoke again, voice quiet. “I’ve got something to show you.”

She could practically hear the smile in his voice. She would have happily gotten up, but found she was still too tired, like her five hours of sleep was restless. When she sighed and raised her arms like a child, Tim scooped her up from her warm cocoon and carried her down the stairs to the living room. Setting her down near the lounge window, he waited for her drowsiness to dissipate and for her to realise what was on the windowsill.

He snorted a laugh at the sight of her, frizzy hair defying gravity, in thick cotton shorts and his fading black sweater. Her cheeks were flushed pink and he caught glimpses of sleep that she scrubbed away as she yawned.

She blinked, rubbing her eyes once more, then did a double take.

“Our flowers!”

There, sat in two separate boxes, were her lilac roses and Tim’s red. Tim smiled, a little smug, and she tottered over to them. The red, which had been struggling when she had given them up, were thriving in their home. Stroking the petals, she looked back to Tim. Her eyes were damp, but she was smiling,

“How’d you convince Ivy?”

Tim shrugged, playing the humble boyfriend. “Wasn’t too hard actually,” he explained. “I went as Tim, not Red Robin. She knew who you were, who I was, what we were to each other. I guess she thought I had nerve and thought it was funny.”

Stephanie went back to Tim and pressed his cheeks tightly, making his lips pouty.

“She wouldn’t give up plants for a joke.”

“No.” Tim wrapped one arm around her waist, the other sneaking down her arm to hold her hand. Stephanie welcomed the grip and yawned at the comforting feeling of his solid build around her. Hands slipping back with her elbows resting on his shoulders, she shut her eyes, content, as Tim continued, “But I think she believed me when I said I owed you big time. Understatement maybe but I… Steph. It’s the least I could do. They belong to us. They’re our flowers. You gave them up to find me. You found me, so I took them back. Simple as that.”

“Thank you, Tim.”

Tim did not share her happy tone, murmuring sadly, “You’re welcome. Thank you for coming for me. Even if I think I didn’t deserve it.”

“That’s such a terrible, awful, rotten lie you tell yourself.”

“The flowers aren’t enough though,” he said bitterly. Stephanie’s sad sigh did nothing to deter him, and he rocked them in their embrace from side to side. “You went through hell to find me,” Tim whispered.

She kept her eyes closed. “I hear remorse.”

“Maybe.”

“You would do the same for me.”

“But I didn’t.”

Stephanie opened her eyes finally when Tim let her go. Wringing his hands, Tim looked guilt ridden. “When you… When Leslie took you away. I accepted what I was told. You were gone, one way or another.”

“I don’t really think the two events are comparable.” Gently, put with enough force to make Tim huff, Stephanie punched his gut, trying to smack some perspective into him. “Oh, come on. Don’t tell me my mother of all people is making you --”

“I won’t leave you,” he interrupted firmly. “I... not willingly. I won’t ever be that cruel. I won’t put you through hell. Not for nothing.”

Stephanie frowned, and not for the first time Tim ran his hand through her short hair. He made a little bit of a face when his fingers reached the ends of the strands so quickly. It was enough for Stephanie to tilt her head and give him a look of warning.

“I thought the flowers might help,” he concluded. “You’ll know when something has really gone wrong between us when they wither up and die or something.”

“Like in a fairy-tale.”

“Like in a fairy-tale,” Tim confirmed.

Stephanie glanced back at the pair of boxes of flowers soaking up the dim Gotham sun, then looked back to Tim. She smiled, and in the morning light Tim vaguely thought she looked like she was glowing. Unable to help himself, he kissed her. Even in his misery, Tim knew he wasn’t strong enough to let her go. She made him so happy. Even if he hated what he put her through, she had a staunch desire to stay and he was too selfish to want any other kind of relationship with her. It was her choice, Stephanie said. Their relationship, her love for him, her journey to bring him home. Her choices mattered.

What she saw in him...

The kiss ended too soon for Tim, and when he went forward to try to kiss her again, she leaned away, pressing her fingertips to his lips. Her face had grown solemn.

“Any luck finding Klarion?”

“Huh?”

“His magic is still in – on – me. I don’t think it’s good for me to have an anxiety attack every time you go to the bathroom.”

She was joking, only slightly, but the look in her eye contained a warning. Her fright of being separated from Tim was not going to go away on its own, not so long as that homing beacon of a spell Klarion had cast lingered in her chest.

“You’re frightened it’ll get worse?”

“Look me in the eye and tell me it wouldn’t be just our luck for me to keel over from a heart attack or something because of a stupid spell.” Pressing a hand to his sternum, Stephanie simultaneously stared at his heart whilst also looking right through him. Almost as if speaking to herself, she whispered, “Why is it never easy, Steph?”

Something about her haunted look frightened Tim into action. He pulled her into an embrace, then dragged her over to the sofa to properly hold her. Playing with her fingers, he mused what he could do for her. Determination settled in his mind.

“I can do it. I’ll find him and fix it. My turn to look after you.”

She snorted softly, nuzzling his chest. “Your turn? It doesn’t work like that.”

“Maybe. But you remember what we talked about, back when we were at the garden centre?”

Stephanie frowned absentmindedly, “Disneyland?”

“Kind of. What makes an adult an adult?”

“Oh.” She reached up and returned her hand to the centre of his chest, feeling the solid thump thump under her fingertips. “You have an answer?”

“You first. I wanna see if they match up.”

Stephanie thought about her journey, about who she met and the help and hindrance she endured. She thought about the old woman by the river, and the old woman in the snow. She thought about the lonely little boy and the proud princess. She thought about the self-absorbed witch.

“When you’re a kid, the centre of the world is you. Everything you do is determined by how it will affect yourself. And not even in a selfish way, it’s just you’re not capable of self-sufficiency, so you look to others to help you, to make all the hard decisions for you. Growing up… it’s learning to put others first, right? Or at least… counting yourself as just as important as others? It’s about being able to make those choices to care and carry them through. Does—does that make sense?”

Tim sounded proud when he replied, “Right. It’s why people with bad childhoods have such weird understandings of their place in the world, y’know? So, you take care of me, and I take care of you. We’re not fourteen anymore Steph.”

“No.”

He kissed her forehead. “I promise not to break your heart. I’ll do one better and fix it.”

Scoffing, she pressed her lips to his neck as they embraced. “You don’t half make it skip a beat, Tim.”

He pulled her down, so they were laying on the sofa. Again, he resumed playing with her hair. Regardless of length, that had not changed. Looking to her lips, he kissed her gently, enjoying the puff of her she released when they pecked.

“We’re nearly there,” he whispered.

“Where’s there?” Stephanie grumbled, pulling him back for another smooch. He broke away, a little amused, a little embarrassed.

“Our happily ever after,” he said, cheeks pink. “Isn’t that how it goes?”

Stephanie laughed, loudly and brightly and beautifully. Cradling Tim’s jaw, she rubbed his cheeks with her thumbs. Pressing a slow kiss to his forehead, she whispered, “Sure thing my Prince Charming. We can only hope.”

#dc #timsteph #my fic tag #tim drake #stephanie brown #duke thomas #cassandra cain #crystal brown #bruce wayne

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