duskdog

[duskdog]

just three apples tall btw

[duskdog]

Fanon doing its best to "give the Batfam very distinct personalities and looks" = reducing every character to a couple of flat, cliche personality traits that rob them of all the depth and nuance that makes them feel real. Here's something people don't seem to understand: you can't just compare an issue here and an issue there and say "this is inconsistent characterization". Sometimes it is, yes. But when you look at literally any of these characters over the entirety of their existence, you get the fuller picture. You see patterns emerging. You get a real idea of the person they're supposed to be. And sometimes, yes, there's bad writing. It sucks, we all hate it. Sometimes a writer does really botch a character, and we should recognize that, and call it out when it happens. Some characters suffer from this more than others. But here's a secret: real human beings are inconsistent, too. There are a million small things that influence every decision we make. Sometimes easygoing people snap and lose their temper. Sometimes short-tempered people handle a triggering situation with grace. Sometimes selfish people do altruistic things. And sometimes the reasons for these out-of-character reactions, and sometimes they can be as simple as having a headache because you're in caffeine withdrawal. And sometimes, there's no reason at all -- people are just complex creatures who don't behave in cookie-cutter fashion. It's wild to me that anyone can look at a character as complex as Stephanie Brown and actually say "zany waffle girl is better because it's a distinct personality". That only counts as a "personality" if all you care about is using the character as a background face or prop for your 20k slowburn enemies-to-lovers Jason/Tim fanfic where Jason is randomly a POC because he was born in poverty and apparently POC = poor people (unless they're asian, like Cass, which makes her well-behaved and perfect in fanon-land).

Hot take but I prefer fanon Batfam to Canon batfam because at least fanon does its best to give each of the batfam very distinct personalities and looks.

I love living in a world where blue eyed black haired white boy doesn't describe half the group, ya know?

[duskdog]

David Cain possessing Cass and making her like him is eerily similar to how Batman seemed to view her in the beginning -- both had a very specific person they wanted Cass to be, and in both cases, it was basically just a better version of themselves. I suspect a lot of people would say "well the difference is that David was abusive to Cass" but let's be absolutely honest with ourselves: Batman was, too. It wasn't exactly in the same way as David, and Cass was older and had more autonomy, and Cass herself enabled the behavior somewhat (but let's remember Cass was also still a minor, and had been raised in an abusive way that would have taught her that being treated this way was normal for her at least), but Batman absolutely dehumanized Cass in a way similar to her father because he didn't see her as a person in her own right, but as a perfect extension of himself and his ideals. He actively encouraged her to have no life or identity of her own outside of Batgirl. He deliberately cut her off from her best friend (one of very few friends that she has, total), at least partially because he couldn't bear the thought of anything influencing her away from his idea of perfection. When she's in emotional turmoil over someone dying on her watch, all he cares about is how much of a failure she is for it (something Cass is particularly sensitive about), and he repeatedly stresses the need for absolute perfection. I don't think we can or should ignore how emotionally damaging this is for someone who already loathes themselves for their one "mistake" and who views themselves as nothing more than a weapon. When he sees the tapes of her murdering someone, he twists himself into pretzels to believe that the tape is fake -- not because the concept of a child killing someone is repulsive, but because the concept of Cass killing someone is repulsive. Why is the concept of Cass killing someone repulsive to him? Because it makes her unlike him. And because if he has to accept that it's true, he knows he might not be able to forgive her for that. Nevermind that she was a horrifically-abused very young child who had no way of understanding what she was really doing. Batman doesn't give a shit about any of that, or how Cass herself feels about it -- he only cares about whether or not she's who he wants her to be. Is it any wonder that Cass took to him so quickly, particularly after being alone for so long? She saw someone who was like her, true, and who gave her violence purpose... but he was also someone who objectified her in the same way that David Cain had, and that, to her, was love.

I think it's an interesting comparison that for all David's faults, the one thing Cass never doubted for a second was that he loved her. Her two biological parents are an abusive monster who wants to possess her and make her like him but who always made her feel loved, and Shiva who in her own way wants to help Cass and build her into the best version of herself she can be... but would never for as long as either of them will live tell her "I love you."

[duskdog]

YOUR STEPHIE DRAWING HOLY MOLY!!!

i loveeeee when people draw her og fit

AHH thank you! And it’s my favorite outfit of hers. Such a fun era of comics. I miss her og suit a lot!

[duskdog]

Stephanie chart please??

The Feelings About Stephanie Brown Alignment Chart

Duke, Jason, Tim, Cass, and Dick versions. Stephanie Brown you will always be loved by people who aren't misogynistic old men <3. These are my interpretations/preferred versions of their relationships of course, so open to change!

[duskdog]

Maybe Ollie encouraged her to stay because he's just trying to provide a wide selection of potential girlfriends for his daughter to pick from.

the crazy thing is that even in universe there literally was no reason for cissie to be there for more than like 2 issues. like josh himself wrote it perfectly fine with cissie being like i don’t wanna be here lol. SO WHY DID SHE STAY?? WHAT PURPOSE DID IT SERVE JOSH. WHY IS SHE AT THE FUCKIN FAMILY DINNER

[duskdog]

I think we're agreeing on that, actually -- as far as Steph's relationship with Tim contributing to her death, I was coming at it more from the angle that the instability there ultimately deepened her self-esteem issues, which contributed to that eventual desperate need to prove herself (to Batman specifically, but to everyone ultimately). I feel like there was a lot of instability in her relationship with nearly everyone, a lot of situations where someone would help/encourage her, only to later shut her down painfully, then later help/encourage her again. Bruce was the most overt of these, and the one most cognizant of what he was doing (at least for part of it, IMO, though not all), but he certainly wasn't the only one -- none of her relationships were ever a relationship of equals. This constantly-shaky footing contributed to the stronger, more independent side of her personality slowly breaking down. When I go back and read Steph's journey pre-War Games, I feel like I'm watching someone's self-esteem and self-confidence being systematically chipped away, one tiny little piece at a time, until she reaches a point where she feels that no one believes in her, and she's having an increasingly hard time believing in herself as a result. The low self-esteem is starting to win despite how hard she's fighting, and by the time she becomes desperate for Batman's approval, she's probably aware on some level that she doesn't feel right anymore -- that the part of her that was bold and strong enough to put on a costume and brave danger to spoil her father's plans is fading away a little more every day. Gaining Batman's approval would gain her everyone else's approval, too -- and, by extension, she probably thinks it would restore her self-confidence, too, and make everything right again. (It's not that simple, of course, but she wasn't in a state of mind to realize that.) I would LOVE to read a deep-dive from you on how Steph's approval complex with Batman comes about!

It’s been one of those days. It’s Time for me to violently defend stephanie brown on the internet beyond what should be considered reasonable or good.

I saw an older anti stephanie brown post which blamed Steph for Robin #87 (when Bruce reveals Tim's secret identity to Spoiler and offers to train her) and all the comments and reblogs and whatever were ragging Steph and it pissed me off and it made me sad so I'm going to break down why being mad at Stephanie for something Bruce Wayne did is insane, why Stephanie is genuinely in the right, and why having the same opinion as Alfred "boy mom" Pennyworth is embarrassing.

This ones gonna be more rambly and less analysis like than my other Steph posts for the record, I just kinda need to get this off my chest.

Let's break it down.

When Batman first brings Steph onto the team as Spoiler he tells Steph Tim's secret identity. When Tim finds out his secret was told to her, he freaks out. Tim's perspective is super understandable. He feels betrayed by Bruce, because he didn't even consult or ask Tim first, a clear betrayal of Tim's trust and the supposed equality of their partnership. Especially in light of how much Tim feels he has sacrificed to keep Bruce's secret.

But lets look at the situation from Stephanies perspective. Because she is just NOT at fault here.

Here are the facts: Stephanie is approached by Batman, who has in pretty much every interaction beforehand been cold and dismissive, and who she expects to tell her to quit being Spoiler again.

This man has only ever shown an ounce of approval towards Steph's vigilantism one time before this, for like one line in Stephs very first appearance. For him to be asking her for help sets off serious alarm bells. Steph is "really scared" when Batman asks for her help to find Robin.

Robin #84

Furthermore, its important we don't take Batman at his word here. Bruce is withholding information, something he does with Steph a LOT. He says "no one" knows where Tim is, and in Robin #87, he clarifies that Robins transmitter went dead.

Robin #87

"No one" is an exaggeration of epic proportions, given that Batman has not checked Tim's boarding school, or contacted Alfred, the location which it is overwhelmingly likely he is at, and the person who would be able to check extremely easily.

Robin #87

Because Bruce didn't want to go to Brentwood himself and run into Alfred, or have to speak to Alfred, on account of their fight in Officer Down, he sends Steph.

While the fear and worry Steph is portrayed with in Robin #84 doesn't really carry over to #87 (one of the numerous inconsistencies between these two issues) the fact of the matter is Steph is misled by Batman about the stakes of Tim being missing, which she is led to believe are much higher than they are.

In addition to this, Stephanie was under the impression that Tim was only ever holding back his secret ID soley because of Batman's wishes, that Tim was just waiting on Batman to change his mind.

Robin #56 #75 #82 #62

Tim will assert this is true later, and he certain says this is true beforehand.

If he's telling the truth, he doesn't have an issue with Steph knowing his identity. He has an issue with Batman telling her without checking with him first.

How is Steph supposed to infer this?

Steph has no reason to think it's important that Batman checks with Tim, because Tim has made it abundantly clear to her that he does want her to know but has just been waiting on Batman's approval.

Let's look how Steph acts when she meets Robin knowing his identity for the first time.

Robin #87

Steph enters the situation seeming to believe Tim will feel happy for her and relieved that their relationship no longer has to be as one sided as it has been. She still leaves room for Tim potentially having conflicted feelings, by mentioning she "hopes" that it's okay with Tim that she's finally on the main team. Tim, as mentioned early, freaks out.

Again, Tim's frustration is understandable. But let's look at Steph's dialogue for a second.

Robin #87

She says "we can be together now". This is weird and really interesting choice, because Tim and Steph have been dating for the entirety of No Man's Land and over the course of her entire pregnancy. This is a substantial amount of time. So what does Steph mean by "now"? There are two explantations.

Steph and Tim were not on speaking terms before this, because Steph was under the impression Tim had been cheating on her. He isn't cheating, but it surprisingly never gets resolved. Like the many other threads which were brought up in Robin #84, it gets completely ignored in Robin #87 and onward. Steph could be referring to the fact that she believes they couldn't be together because he was supposably cheating, but now that she knows his secret identity, he has no reason to cheat anymore. This is a super flimsy idea however, and given the fact that no character brings up how Steph believes Tim was cheating with Star after Robin #84, the logical conclusion is that it was either resolved off screen, or retconned.

The second explanation is much stronger. Steph says "now" because despite the fact that they have been dating for so long, their relationship has been extremely unbalanced. She's been closed off to half of Tim's life, something she agrees to when they first get together, but clearly has taken a toll on her. To the point she says "now" because, to her, the relationship never really truly started.

Robin #80

This isn't a stupid or petty complaint, for the record. Tim has seen her at her worst, he was there for there immediately before and after childbirth, but she doesn't get to know anything about an entire half of his life. This is especially true when you consider much Tim was in control of their communication.

He can show up at her house anytime, but if he doesn't initiate contact Steph's on her own. In Robin #80 for instance, Steph is presumably just hopping around rooftops hoping to bump into Tim, because she has no other way to find him.

Robin #87

And after Steph expresses excitement that they can finally be in the balanced relationship, a real relationship, she is rebuked with a violent "No!" that she seems to lean away from. And in the next panel, she asks, confused: "What?" in a small speech bubble which gets entirely ignored. In fact, neither Batman or Robin speaks to, or even addresses directly Stephanie for the rest of the encounter.

When Robin storms off without even a look to Stephanie, Stephs reaction is (big Shocker) to blame herself. Batman uses neutral language to place the blame on Tim, stating that Tim feels betrayed. In direct contrast, Steph actively disagrees, clarifying that Tim was betrayed, and more than that, she directly places the blame on both her and Batman's shoulders.

Robin #87

But Stephanie is a prop in the plot. Tim doesn't yell at her, he runs from her. Because she isn't Stephanie Brown, his girlfriend who has been in a massively unbalanced relationship, who is overjoyed at finally getting to be in a "real" relationship with him, she's the person Batman told Tim's identity to. He's not angry at her, he's angry she knows his identity and Bruce didn't bother to ask if Tim could tell her. He's angry at Batman. This conversation, this whole drama, is about the partnership between Bruce and TIm.

Stephanie Brown, who believed Tim was just waiting for the Batman go ahead, had no reason to think Tim would be anything but as happy as she was. Importantly, Stephanie Brown is seriously just not to blame in this situation, even if she blames herself (which as I've discussed before, is a running theme with her characterization, her low self-esteem and occasional tendancy to blame herself for the actions of others).

Not to mention, Tim doesn't blame Steph either. So if you're reading Robin #87 and somehow coming to the conclusion that Steph is a monster, please reassess.

Robin #92

How does Alfred factor into this? I'll make it quick.

Robin #88

Oh no Alfred, I'm so sorry that your loyalties to Master Timothy run so deep that you HAVE to yell at the teenaged girl who was more of a prop than anything in that encounter and had no reason to think Tim would be hurt. Oh no, really that must be so hard for you. Well, at least we know he's consistent, I'm sure if he's this mad at Stephanie, he's fucking fuming at Bruce Wayne, right? Right? Right?

No, of course not. Alfred Pennyworth, hypocrite extraordinaire is out there actively defending Bruce to Tim. Which no one asked him to do.

It's all "in his defense" and "you knew the perils" and "master bruce's crusade ill afford the delicacy of privacy required in affairs of the heart" and "stop feeling sorry for yourself"

I cannot believe he has the gall to yell at Steph for this. Talk about wounding Master Tim deeply bro, just wait until its Tim's 16th Birthday Party and Alfreds applying his stupid latex mask with a smile on his face. Sorry Alfred, you’re not always wrong, but when you’re wrong you’re really wrong.

That’s all. Goodnight 🌙

[duskdog]

Behold the trio of Blonde teenage girl heroines fucked over by DC

[duskdog]

I'm so glad someone else acknowledges the power imbalance in Tim and Steph's relationship. Tim can visit her on HIS terms. He can answer her emails or calls on HIS terms. He can ignore her whenever he wants, and drop back into her life whenever he wants (and this isn't theoretical -- we have canonical evidence of him clearly ignoring her communications, as demonstrated in the panels above). If literally anyone else was in a relationship where one side held all the power to keep the other at arm's length whenever they wanted, the internet would be screaming about how this was a red flag for cheating. But when Steph -- a teenage girl who has literally never had a single trustworthy man in her life (Dean, Arthur, Bruce, the coach who turned out to be a drug dealer, the creepy uncle who showed up just to be gross in one issue, the babysitter who outright tried to molest her) -- feels insecure in a relationship where she's inherently not allowed to be on equal terms and is intentionally kept in the dark about most of his life, and reacts with suspicion and jealousy, somehow that's an unforgivable flaw in her? To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of their relationship. I have more sympathy for Tim than I do for Bruce, because Tim was just a young boy still trying to learn to cope with leading a very stressful double life on top of all the usual bumps and bruises of teenage relationships, so of course he wasn't going to be perfect, but I think their relationship contributed to Steph reaching the breaking point that eventually led her to take the actions that resulted in her (almost) death.

It’s been one of those days. It’s Time for me to violently defend stephanie brown on the internet beyond what should be considered reasonable or good.

I saw an older anti stephanie brown post which blamed Steph for Robin #87 (when Bruce reveals Tim's secret identity to Spoiler and offers to train her) and all the comments and reblogs and whatever were ragging Steph and it pissed me off and it made me sad so I'm going to break down why being mad at Stephanie for something Bruce Wayne did is insane, why Stephanie is genuinely in the right, and why having the same opinion as Alfred "boy mom" Pennyworth is embarrassing.

This ones gonna be more rambly and less analysis like than my other Steph posts for the record, I just kinda need to get this off my chest.

Let's break it down.

When Batman first brings Steph onto the team as Spoiler he tells Steph Tim's secret identity. When Tim finds out his secret was told to her, he freaks out. Tim's perspective is super understandable. He feels betrayed by Bruce, because he didn't even consult or ask Tim first, a clear betrayal of Tim's trust and the supposed equality of their partnership. Especially in light of how much Tim feels he has sacrificed to keep Bruce's secret.

But lets look at the situation from Stephanies perspective. Because she is just NOT at fault here.

Here are the facts: Stephanie is approached by Batman, who has in pretty much every interaction beforehand been cold and dismissive, and who she expects to tell her to quit being Spoiler again.

This man has only ever shown an ounce of approval towards Steph's vigilantism one time before this, for like one line in Stephs very first appearance. For him to be asking her for help sets off serious alarm bells. Steph is "really scared" when Batman asks for her help to find Robin.

Robin #84

Furthermore, its important we don't take Batman at his word here. Bruce is withholding information, something he does with Steph a LOT. He says "no one" knows where Tim is, and in Robin #87, he clarifies that Robins transmitter went dead.

Robin #87

"No one" is an exaggeration of epic proportions, given that Batman has not checked Tim's boarding school, or contacted Alfred, the location which it is overwhelmingly likely he is at, and the person who would be able to check extremely easily.

Robin #87

Because Bruce didn't want to go to Brentwood himself and run into Alfred, or have to speak to Alfred, on account of their fight in Officer Down, he sends Steph.

While the fear and worry Steph is portrayed with in Robin #84 doesn't really carry over to #87 (one of the numerous inconsistencies between these two issues) the fact of the matter is Steph is misled by Batman about the stakes of Tim being missing, which she is led to believe are much higher than they are.

In addition to this, Stephanie was under the impression that Tim was only ever holding back his secret ID soley because of Batman's wishes, that Tim was just waiting on Batman to change his mind.

Robin #56 #75 #82 #62

Tim will assert this is true later, and he certain says this is true beforehand.

If he's telling the truth, he doesn't have an issue with Steph knowing his identity. He has an issue with Batman telling her without checking with him first.

How is Steph supposed to infer this?

Steph has no reason to think it's important that Batman checks with Tim, because Tim has made it abundantly clear to her that he does want her to know but has just been waiting on Batman's approval.

Let's look how Steph acts when she meets Robin knowing his identity for the first time.

Robin #87

Steph enters the situation seeming to believe Tim will feel happy for her and relieved that their relationship no longer has to be as one sided as it has been. She still leaves room for Tim potentially having conflicted feelings, by mentioning she "hopes" that it's okay with Tim that she's finally on the main team. Tim, as mentioned early, freaks out.

Again, Tim's frustration is understandable. But let's look at Steph's dialogue for a second.

Robin #87

She says "we can be together now". This is weird and really interesting choice, because Tim and Steph have been dating for the entirety of No Man's Land and over the course of her entire pregnancy. This is a substantial amount of time. So what does Steph mean by "now"? There are two explantations.

Steph and Tim were not on speaking terms before this, because Steph was under the impression Tim had been cheating on her. He isn't cheating, but it surprisingly never gets resolved. Like the many other threads which were brought up in Robin #84, it gets completely ignored in Robin #87 and onward. Steph could be referring to the fact that she believes they couldn't be together because he was supposably cheating, but now that she knows his secret identity, he has no reason to cheat anymore. This is a super flimsy idea however, and given the fact that no character brings up how Steph believes Tim was cheating with Star after Robin #84, the logical conclusion is that it was either resolved off screen, or retconned.

The second explanation is much stronger. Steph says "now" because despite the fact that they have been dating for so long, their relationship has been extremely unbalanced. She's been closed off to half of Tim's life, something she agrees to when they first get together, but clearly has taken a toll on her. To the point she says "now" because, to her, the relationship never really truly started.

Robin #80

This isn't a stupid or petty complaint, for the record. Tim has seen her at her worst, he was there for there immediately before and after childbirth, but she doesn't get to know anything about an entire half of his life. This is especially true when you consider much Tim was in control of their communication.

He can show up at her house anytime, but if he doesn't initiate contact Steph's on her own. In Robin #80 for instance, Steph is presumably just hopping around rooftops hoping to bump into Tim, because she has no other way to find him.

Robin #87

And after Steph expresses excitement that they can finally be in the balanced relationship, a real relationship, she is rebuked with a violent "No!" that she seems to lean away from. And in the next panel, she asks, confused: "What?" in a small speech bubble which gets entirely ignored. In fact, neither Batman or Robin speaks to, or even addresses directly Stephanie for the rest of the encounter.

When Robin storms off without even a look to Stephanie, Stephs reaction is (big Shocker) to blame herself. Batman uses neutral language to place the blame on Tim, stating that Tim feels betrayed. In direct contrast, Steph actively disagrees, clarifying that Tim was betrayed, and more than that, she directly places the blame on both her and Batman's shoulders.

Robin #87

But Stephanie is a prop in the plot. Tim doesn't yell at her, he runs from her. Because she isn't Stephanie Brown, his girlfriend who has been in a massively unbalanced relationship, who is overjoyed at finally getting to be in a "real" relationship with him, she's the person Batman told Tim's identity to. He's not angry at her, he's angry she knows his identity and Bruce didn't bother to ask if Tim could tell her. He's angry at Batman. This conversation, this whole drama, is about the partnership between Bruce and TIm.

Stephanie Brown, who believed Tim was just waiting for the Batman go ahead, had no reason to think Tim would be anything but as happy as she was. Importantly, Stephanie Brown is seriously just not to blame in this situation, even if she blames herself (which as I've discussed before, is a running theme with her characterization, her low self-esteem and occasional tendancy to blame herself for the actions of others).

Not to mention, Tim doesn't blame Steph either. So if you're reading Robin #87 and somehow coming to the conclusion that Steph is a monster, please reassess.

Robin #92

How does Alfred factor into this? I'll make it quick.

Robin #88

Oh no Alfred, I'm so sorry that your loyalties to Master Timothy run so deep that you HAVE to yell at the teenaged girl who was more of a prop than anything in that encounter and had no reason to think Tim would be hurt. Oh no, really that must be so hard for you. Well, at least we know he's consistent, I'm sure if he's this mad at Stephanie, he's fucking fuming at Bruce Wayne, right? Right? Right?

No, of course not. Alfred Pennyworth, hypocrite extraordinaire is out there actively defending Bruce to Tim. Which no one asked him to do.

It's all "in his defense" and "you knew the perils" and "master bruce's crusade ill afford the delicacy of privacy required in affairs of the heart" and "stop feeling sorry for yourself"

I cannot believe he has the gall to yell at Steph for this. Talk about wounding Master Tim deeply bro, just wait until its Tim's 16th Birthday Party and Alfreds applying his stupid latex mask with a smile on his face. Sorry Alfred, you’re not always wrong, but when you��re wrong you’re really wrong.

That’s all. Goodnight 🌙

[duskdog]

so who is gonna do it who has artistic talent

[duskdog]

That guy who works at the music store in Robin #111 is so unbelievably real because I have said this on so many occasions about stephanie brown I’m always saying this about her. Tears and all. Everyone’s so fucking horrible to her, her life fucking sucks. This guy is a real one.

Robin #111 (1993)

[duskdog]

Green Arrow (2023) Ollie is like: "Look at my children! Roy Harper: WORLD'S GREATEST MARKSMAN! Connor Hawke: WORLD'S GREATEST FIGHTER! Mia Dearden: oh shit, I have a daughter, fuck I forgot all about her for a while, I missed that kid... huh, anyway, what were we talking about again?"

[duskdog]

I messed up and wasn't able to all of @stephcassweek but I figured Id do at least one piece.

Stephcass wedding! And me pushing my butch steph agenda~

[duskdog]

Stephanie deserved a memorial in the batcave post War Games. I don’t care that she didn’t really die, it’s the least she deserved after all the bullshit she was put through.

[duskdog]

God, that last panel there (from #55) just kills me. This girl is wearing a full-face mask with no eyeholes or anything, and it's half in shadow, and you can still see the anguish there as Steph leaves her. It's like Cass knows. She doesn't know exactly what Steph is going to do, but deep down she knows Steph has reached her limit and something has broken inside her friend, and something terrible is about to happen. I can imagine it: just for an instant, that horrible, creeping certainty that this time, Steph won't be coming back. And for months afterward, that horrible, creeping certainty that if she had just heeded that feeling and just chased, just this once, that Steph might still be here.

Since it's StephCass week, I wanted to share one of my fav StephCass moments, from Batgirls #16. Cass' promise to never abandon Steph hits so hard when thinking about their relationship in Batgirl (2000). They have so many good moments it's easy to forget one of the longest running threads in their relationship: Steph leaving Cass, and Cass letting her go.

From Batgirl (2000) #28, #38, #53, #54. It all leads to their final confrontation in #55:

Before she can give chase, Cass gets called away by Batman. Though rooftop tag is a cute tradition between them, in reality Cass never chases after Steph, not once; this final time, letting Steph go results in her death. Of course it's not Cass' fault, as much as it's not Steph's, but she probably does blame herself in some capacity.

Which is why that moment in Batgirls #16 is so moving. For two people who have been torn apart time and time again, sometimes by external forces, sometimes of their own volition - for someone like Cass, who spent most of her life without someone to come home to - finding someone who stays, who fights to stay, is incredibly special. They won't leave each other alone. They never will.

[duskdog]

For real, though -- for anyone who hasn't really put much thought into it, think about what that meant for her. Like it's not hard enough just telling a bunch of kids (peers, which she hasn't actually had in a long time, or maybe ever) that you have an incurable disease that has a lot of stigma and misconceptions associated with it... but it also opens her up to all sorts of other scrutiny. People are going to assume things about her past, and about her character. People are going to ask uncomfortable questions. And even if she's prepared for that, and willing to explain for the sake of education, it's all tangled up together, and every answer only leads to more personal questions. It's not going to be a secret that she was trafficked and abused, and there will be people crass enough to want details, which is stressful even if she says no. I'm sure she had a lot of supporters, but there's also a lot of casual cruelty in the world. There will be people who make prostitution jokes. There will be people who dare their bros to go up and ask what they can get for twenty dollars. There will be people who call her a junkie or a tweaker. And then there will just be the people who are perfectly nice to her, but no longer consider her attractive as a potential partner, or just no longer view her as "normal" and act weird around her as a result. And all this, after spending her life with no control and no autonomy, no right to her own space or her own body. She's on display in an entirely different way now, and it must feel exhausting and overwhelming and very, very scary. But it's what she chose to do, in the name of education, and in the name of advocacy for herself and for others like her who may not be able to advocate for themselves. Hell yeah, that's brave.

I still say one of the bravest things I've ever seen a character do in the comics was Mia after realizing she had HIV, going to her school and telling the other kids about it so that they would be better educated.

That's some bravery right here.

[duskdog]

My brain came up with an idea and you're all gonna suffer with me.

Okay so Mia has this scene right before she leaves her street life forever.

Now imagine her as Speedy being able to be the hero she wished she had as a kid!

Imagine her being able to keep another girl from being abused by her father like she was!

DC, Please! I need it!