#Steph would love her

[internetgiraffekid1673]

Dicking around with a traditional sketchbook:

[mamawasatesttube]

beef no one at dc thought about but that i would love to see: cassie sandsmark finds out steph (on bruce's orders) nearly got tim exploded to death, when he is the very last one of her emotional support idiots alive, and she does NOT forgive, and she does NOT forget. she will be holding this against steph (and bruce, but that's a whole other list and also this ain't about him) until her dying day. Fucka You, Basard.............. if this moron gets exploded she'll fucking snap because she can't take any more grief. did you even think of that..... no!!!! smh!!!!!!

[dcxdpdabbles]

Hi, would it be possible for you to write something about stephxdanny where danny has an ice core and can only visit steph in the winter season, usually in the other seasons they talk through a laptop that danny made with the help of tucker? or something like that, have a nice day.

Steph has been counting down to the first day of winter. She had worked her ass off to make sure all cases she was assigned were completed.

She spoke to her teachers beforehand, asking for any classwork they would give her. Steph had even informed her mother that she would be on a trip so she would not have to worry about her (or listen to her lectures) for a while.

She had told Bruce she wanted to be benched for a couple of days. He seemed almost relieved by her request, letting her know they would only call upon her in an emergency.

Everything was all set for when Danny would arrive. She will be taking her boyfriend on a winter wonderland tour in Gotham. Each section of the city had little festivals, events, and fun holes in the walls.

Danny will arrive on time this year for the winter arts festival. Disregarding the few booths dedicated to Christmas decorations- as Danny hated that holiday with a burning passion due to years of resentment. He only associated bad members of his parents arguing around that time- there were many things she knows he adored.

Like those natural soaps from Mrs. Miller on Street Nine or the unique winter edition fudges from O'Malley's Bakery.

There is so much excitement coursing through her veins that she has to do the most push-ups until she's so tired she has to go to bed. Otherwise, Steph will never get a wink of sleep and will be too exhausted to enjoy seeing her boyfriend again.

In the morning, Danny will be going through the portal. The thought whispers in her mind and a large grin blooms. Not caring for the sweat pouring down her face or the slight shake in her arms, Steph thinks about it repeatedly.

Pumping her arms up and down, she giggles as butterflies flutter in her belly.

The following day, she gets up earlier than usual to shower, shave, and spend an hour on her hair. Usually, she doesn't bother that much, as her hair isn't too hard to manage. A good comb with a headband was her usual go-to style, but today, she wanted to curl it and braid some snowflakes into it.

Steph had taken ages picking out a good outfit. She usually dressed well, but this would be the first time she would see Danny in nearly a year. Who could blame her for wanting to look good?

She skipped out of her house, going to the oldest cemetery in Gotham. The place where she first met Danny all those years ago, ignoring the stun looks she received on the street. It wasn't often that she did her make-up that wasn't stubble or that she forgo casual wear, but when she did well, she knew she was a knockout.

It's something the Waynes always played up at the galas. There was a danger to being this pretty; she knew that better than most in places like Crime Alley, but Steph knew that if she thought she looked good, why not show it off if she felt good?

There was nothing vain in being comfortable and happy in your own skin. Steph would kick the ass of anyone who said otherwise.

Her strike was long and confident as she slowly entered Old Gotham. The buildings started to look less metal and glass, turning into red bricks and wooden beams. She takes a moment to appreciate the buildings, breathe in the lovely winter air, and take in the sounds of the city slowly coming to life.

There wasn't a lot of foot traffic in Old Gotham, seeing as most of the stuff here was protected for historical tours, some courtrooms, and the occasional little shops and restaurants.

It could have been a good tourist place, but when people came to Gotham, they tended to go further into the city where all the chain stores, newer buildings, and shopping malls were. It was why Steph had run away to her when she was fourteen. She knew that most people who visited Old Gotham were either retired or locals.

Half the time, the streets only had a few people walking them, looking into windows of small businesses or taking pictures of the old buildings. She had figured none of them would care if she ran away from home after her shitty dad got too drunk once.

Steph had been young then, too small to start her Spoiler crusade on her Da, and had chosen life on the streets as better than that hateful place. She had wandered into the cemetery, climbing into a mausoleum to escape the snowstorm that passed through the city, and sitting with he back against the coffin, feeling small and miserable.

She had never been one to fear the cemetery or the dead. She knew that living men were much worse, but even she had screamed when the coffin's lid had suddenly slid off, revealing a bright green light.

The portal inside the coffin would open at winter's first noon, then close on winter's last noon.

She remembers stumbling backward, too frightened to think correctly and run, when a head slowly reached out of the portal, gripping the side of the coffin, and a boy her age heaving himself out of the coffin with a grunt. His snow-white heart sparkled in the portal's glow, his slightly tan skin blemish-free, and his glowing green eyes pinned her to her place.

He was the definition of beauty. If it had been a movie scene, she knew the musical theme for him would have been flutes, harps and singing angles harmonizing as he slowly smiled at her.

She threw the brick she picked up in the alley as hard as she could at his face. Danny's head snapped back, nose breaking, and a gush of green blood oozed from his face as he cried out, "Why!?"

Steph pulled out the gun she had stolen from her father, aiming it at the boy who swearing and cursing up a storm from his little portal. He froze when he saw it aimed at him, the sound of her releasing the safety loud in the small stone room.

Neither mentions the slight shake in her fingers- before Bruce trained the fear out of her- as she glared at him. "Dead things should stay dead."

Then Danny had done what made her fall for him. He made two finer guns at her while narrowing his eyes. "You pull that trigger, and I'll pull mine."

"What? I have a gun!" She snapped only to watch him smirk with enough mischievous glee in his eyes that it felt like a slap. How was something dead able to seem more alive than she was?

"So does most of America. You ain't special." The boy taunted, and for some reason, that made her laugh so hard that she ended up on the floor wheezing. The conversation had been much smoother when she wasn't aiming a weapon at him.

She discovered that he was a being that could only visit her world during winter through the means of an ancient society that long ago vanished from history. He went by the name Danny. He could snap his fingers and shift into a human-looking boy, and the most surprising fact about him was that he genuinely seemed to love how different humans lived in Gotham.

She had gotten so used to how her city was terrible that she had forgotten what was good about it. The sights she saw in everyday mundane life were something Danny had waited a whole year, saving up every penny, to see.

She also found out he had the money and the smarts to get them a nice warm hotel room- separated by a door- and a love for peppermint lattes. He offered her cash to help him explore the city, and the rest, as they say, was history.

Now, three years later, every winter, Steph compiles a list of places to go, things to do, and people to meet, rekindling the love for her city burning brightly in her chest.

She protected this city by stopping her dad and breaking his plans. Her spite and hate for him was the reason.

But Danny had turned into the motivation. Into her heart. That kept her going because he saw this place- and her- as something worth crossing the realms to.

She places the two letters and a warm pastry bag on the ground. She sits down, crosses her legs, and checks her watch again. There are only five more minutes till the clock strikes noon.

Steph leans back, eyes on the lid of the coffin, waiting for a movement that will alert her that her heart has returned for another incredible three months.

Danny can't stay once winter ends; just like the snow-white of his hair, he will melt in the spring. He warned her long ago that if she really wanted to give her heart to him, then it would suffer bruises of their distance. He would care for her and her heart as much as he could, but there were rules to this world that did not allow him to truly become a part of it.

She had told him that no matter how long it would be, she would love him through each season, year, and moment she drew breath. No matter how long it's been, she will always be sitting in this exact spot again and again, every year, for this moment.

The moment winter returned him to her.

The coffin shakes a little as a familiar glow shines through the small cracks.

[welcometogrouchland]

Was skimming through some Dixon era BoP for no particular reason and came across a scene where 3 DIFFERENT MEN (Dick Grayson, Ted Kord and Jason Bard) all show up to Babs' door at almost exactly the same time bc they're all in love with her.

Birds of Prey (1999) #19

Which is, A) really funny on its own and B) actually extremely based from a representational view. Oracle was important as disability rep in comics for a lot of reasons, one of which being that she got mad bitches in her wheelchair. She had too much swag and they had to kill her

[monstera-modd]

Through new skin and connections #6 DPxDC

When Danny Said He Wanted a Break, This Is Not What He Meant! Also apparently now he has a… boyfriend?

24 Hours Earlier…

It all started when his parents surprised him and Jazz, with an unexpected trip to Gotham, New Jersey—for a ghost expo.

So, they packed up, and for the last thirteen hours, they had been crammed together in the GAV. Fortunately, all of his parents’ ghost-hunting gadgets had been stuffed into the trunk, leaving him with only one thing to worry about: the gun his dad kept fiddling with in the front seat. Thankfully, it hadn’t exploded or shot him. Yet.

Finally, they pulled into the Orchard Hotel. Old Gotham, his mom had said—for the charm. Whatever that meant.

All Danny saw was fog. Or smog. Either way, it didn’t matter—he wouldn’t be able to see the stars at all. Stupid city.

Once they had everything set up in their room, his parents announced they were heading to the expo, telling him and Jazz to enjoy themselves. Jazz, for her part, declared she was staying in for some peace, quiet, and no ghostly business.

"No, you don’t count, Danny."

Which left him alone.

Well, he was in Gotham—might as well take some pictures of gargoyles or something for Sam.

For the next two hours, he explored, checking out things he could show Sam and Tucker when he got back—the ancient Egypt exhibit, Ivy’s gardens, etc. Things were going well.

Then, between one breath and the next, his ghost sense went off.

A wisp of blue mist curled from his lips.

He managed to track the ghost into Gotham’s sewer system, twisting and turning through the tunnels as he chased it down. Finally, he got close enough to yank out the thermos and seal the ghost inside.

"Man, can’t I just get ONE day off!"

His voice echoed down the tunnels.

Then, silence.

Too silent.

A low, hissing growl reverberated around him.

Slow. Measured.

Like something huge was waiting in the dark. Sizing him up.

Danny stiffened, fingers hovering over the thermos’ lid, ready to open it again in case his capture had company.

Then he saw them—two yellow, slitted eyes gleaming from the shadows of a side tunnel.

Unblinking. Watching.

His stomach dropped.

Not a ghost. Run. Run. RUN.

The water rippled.

Danny barely had time to shift before something massive lunged from the depths.

Killer Croc.

He bolted. But he didn’t see the teeth until it was too late.

Fangs clamped down on his shoulder.

Pain exploded through him.

His vision blurred as Croc’s jagged teeth pierced flesh and ectoplasm alike, locking onto him like a vice. But it wasn’t just pain—something wrong crawled through his veins, spreading outward in a sickening wave.

Danny screamed.

Instincts misfired as his ghost form glitched between tangible and intangible. His breath came in ragged gasps, hands shaking as the burning spread.

With a strangled cry, he lashed out—a ghostly wail ripping from his throat.

The sonic blast slammed into Croc, sending him staggering backward with a snarl. He wiped his mouth, flicking away a droplet of glowing green blood.

Danny staggered, clutching his shoulder. His legs felt… weak. Heavy.

Something was wrong.

He needed to leave. Now.

Croc lunged again.

Danny shot up through the ceiling, flying fast.

He only stopped when he crashed into a dumpster.

________

Tim was not pouting.

And he was totally at the manor right now—not walking around downtown Bowery tracking a case. Pshh, you’re crazy.

…Okay, maybe he was kind of tracking a case. But none of this was his fault.

He had almost gotten caught while out, and now he’d lost the person he was tracking. And to make things worse, he couldn’t use his phone or call Oracle because that would ping his location here—which, again, was not the manor.

This was all Steph’s fault.

Like, yeah, okay, maybe he did eat Alfred’s last cookie. Big deal. That didn’t mean she had to be a total bitch and tell everyone he hadn’t slept in over three days. And then get him benched over it.

Now, with no lead to follow and no real excuse to keep going, he was stuck wandering aimlessly, trying to pretend he wasn’t sulking. He could just head back, but that meant admitting defeat. And if he was going to be benched anyway, he might as well make the most of it.

He was just passing one of the city’s many dark alleyways when—

BANG!

The noise was loud, echoing off the brick walls.

Under normal circumstances, his instincts would’ve kicked in immediately. Investigate, assess, act. It was part of being Red Robin.

But he wasn’t Red Robin right now.

He was Tim Drake-Wayne.

And Tim Drake didn’t fight crime.

…But he was nosy.

Slowing to a stop, he backtracked to the alley entrance. At first, he didn’t see anyone—just the usual grimy brick walls and trash littering the pavement. But then, his gaze landed on a dumpster shoved hard against the wall, a massive dent caving in the metal.

His brow furrowed. Hesitantly, he called out.

“Uh… hello?”

For a moment, there was only silence.

Then—A low, barely-there hiss echoed from the shadows.

Tim froze, his vision slowly adjusting to the darkness. Now, he could just barely make out a long, dark… tail?

Now he was just confused. Should he call this in?

With that thought, he reached down to pull out his communicator while simultaneously keeping an eye on the animal - thing - under the dumpster. However, before he could press the button, he spotted a pale gray hand peeking out. And wasn’t that concerning? Because now, this might not be an animal at all, but a person . A meta ? Maybe something like Croc?

That theory was confirmed when the pale hand turned into an arm, then a torso -thankfully attached to a head ( don’t ask )- and… yeah, it was a snake person.

A snake person who, as of yet, hadn’t noticed Tim as they slowly regained their bearings and looked around.

Then Tim kicked a tin can.

Alarmingly familiar glowing green eyes snapped up to meet his.

Is this one of those pit monsters Damian is always going on about? Tim wondered as the creature let out a loud hiss, baring very long, very sharp fangs– fangs he would very much prefer to stay on the other side of.

“Umm… are you okay?”

Okay, maybe talking to the possibly hostile snake creature wasn’t the best idea, but honestly? He was at a loss for what else to do.

“I won’t hurt you… if… if that’s what you’re thinking,” he added, shifting nervously under their unwavering stare. The way they were looking at him sent unpleasant memories clawing their way to the surface– not something he needed right now.

Then, without warning, they hissed again -eyes darting in every direction- before lunging straight at him.

Moving on instinct, Tim rolled out of the way. When he stood back up, ready for a fight against what he now definitely thought was a snake person—probably a venomous one—he realized... there was nothing there.

Nobody but him stood on the empty street. No sounds of movement, no creature slithering through the trash. Just… nothing.

_______________

this is part 1! i was too excited to add more and love the suspense!🫶🏼😆💚

Edit: why does this look smaller on my phone than on my computer 🫠 I thought I wrote more! Also added a bit more to this chapter!

Now up on my AO3!!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64163269

[lesbian-cowpoke]

So I'm CONSTANTLY bringing up this issue, where it's the first appearance of Stephanie as Robin, so let me just show it to yall.

It is so so real to me. Tim's parents love him and he loves them. Bruce and Steph work together well. Steph wanted to kill her dad because he killed her mom. Bruce respects Steph and saw greatness in her. STEPH CALLING BRUCE DUSKY!!! Steph being respected. It is so so important to me. This is my Batman and Robin.

[casscainmainly]

The Feelings About Cassandra Cain Alignment Chart

Like the Dick Grayson chart, open to change. Not moving anyone down though Cass is just this loved <3.

[logical-emotion]

i like to think that after npmd , grace started acting just slightly different (aside from. stealing souls yk) like missing church occasionally, lightly swearing, slightly worse grades, etc... some visual changes on art would be cool too like her bow being a little disheveled and her having small eye bags

[geeky-nightphilosopher]

🦇Batfamily & Friends🦇

Duke: *fist bumps Steph and Cass* How's my sister from another mother.

Cass: *beams*

Steph: *pauses* That doesn't sound right.

Duke: It doesn't. Brother works best, but you ain't a dude.

[hood-ex]

"Love" and "proud" and "family" come up so frequently in bat comics now. Bleh. Bring back something I can relate to like emotional constipation and repression.

[mamawasatesttube]

"oOoOohhh kon is just sooooo sad about tim/ber for forever and he's pining but he's trying soooOOoo hard to be happy for his best friend and it's just sOoOooo tragic and bittersweet that tim/kon never worked out and he's sooo sad for life--" im actually going to start beating you people over the head with a brick made out of all 100 issues of superboy (1994) until you start to comprehend that kon is a character on his own whose life does not revolve around tim. jesus fucking christ

[isogenderskitty]

why are we not talking about how funny it is that steph is DELIGHTED to meet The Fabled Micropenis Guy

[welcometogrouchland]

[ID in ALT] Steph and Damian doodle! This taps a bit into their pre-52 dynamic so that's what I was thinking design wise at first but I wanted to draw it w their more recent designs as well to stay hashtag current and topical, so you get both/a fusion, lol

[unfinishedslurs]

every robin gets a freebie

reverse robins in the aftermath of the death of filipe garzonas

A CD was in the mail within the next week, blank but for a note that slipped out when the envelope was opened. You should really trust in your birds more often, B. Learn from your mistakes for once. 

Jason felt bile in his throat. It was body cam footage, blurry and half obscured, of Robin and Garzonas on the roof. Footage that still clearly showed Garzonas taking a too-far step back, Robin lunging to reach him, and then…

But that’s not what happened, Jason doesn’t say. His tongue feels swollen and thick in his mouth. 

Batman takes off the cowl solemnly. “Jaylad,” he says. “Jason. I’m so sorry for doubting you. I never should have…”

He can’t be here anymore. He can’t be in this cave, can’t stand Bruce looking at him like that, can’t stand to even be in the vicinity of the Robin uniform he no longer deserves. 

He bolts for the exit.

“Jason!” he hears Bruce call, but he doesn’t stop. He can’t. Not even when he nearly runs into Alfred, not when Damian tries to grasp his arm, not when Duke asks him what’s wrong or when Tim yelps in surprise and drops his cane jumping out of the way. He just runs, out the manor door and into the night. 

For a split second the figure on the roof is overlaid with Gloria. Beautiful, resigned Gloria, who was so scared of what Felipe would do to her that she would do anything to stop it. 

Then he blinks, and he’s on the rooftop with the Spoiler. 

“Relax,” Spoiler says, “I’m not gonna jump. I'm only three steps into my five-step plan for world dominance. Can’t leave that unfinished. Imagine the paperwork.”

“I dunno.” Jason’s hands are shaking. “You seem like the kinda freak who would enjoy that.”

Spoiler lowers her mask, and Stephanie Brown smiles at him. 

“How did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“You know.” His voice wavers. “You know. You know what I did. How did you…why did you…what was the reason?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes!”

“Call it tradition then, I guess.” Steph sounds almost amused. “Robin’s flock together.”

“But you don’t like me.”

“Who told you that?”

No one, but she doesn’t exactly go out of her way to talk to Jason. He just kind of assumed. 

Tim’s awkward around him. Sometimes they’re fine, like when he wandered into the library where Jason was and asked if he wanted to get ice cream together. Other times he wouldn’t see him for three weeks. Jason tries not to think about the nights Tim has had dreams that left him cackling loud enough to wake Jason up the couple times he’s stayed the night at the Nest, or the things he heard Tim shout about little birds and broken nests when he was fear gassed. 

It kind of sucks, being your brother's biggest trigger. 

(Those three weeks may be a case of mutual avoidance, but Jason will never admit it.)

When he doesn’t say anything, Steph sighs. “How much do you know about when I was Robin?”

“Uh,” he says, caught off guard, “not much, I guess?” He knows that it was because something was going on with Tim. That’s about it, really. He asked once, when he was still new to Robin and the Manor. He didn’t ask again after he saw the look on Tim’s face. 

“Bruce didn’t really want me. Damian didn’t think I was worthy of the mantle, and took every chance he could to remind me. Tim was pissed at me for it. None of them wanted me there, and I tried so hard to prove them wrong. To be the Robin I knew I could be.”

That…can’t be right. The few times he had asked about Stephanie Brown, Tim had nothing but good words to say. Bruce and Damian spent so much time wallowing in their regrets it was insane. For her to say nobody wanted her there, when her absence was a shadow that followed them constantly around Wayne Manor, was baffling. 

Steph looks down at the helmet in her hands. “All I wanted was their approval, and it made me stupid. I overestimated myself. That’s how you get killed in this game, kid. Don’t get too cocky for your britches, and all that.”

Jason is shaking again by the time they get to the Nest. He hesitates at the window, sending a pleading look to Spoiler that she completely ignores ushering him in. 

Tim spins around in his tricked out gaming chair, frown pulling oddly against the wide scars on his cheeks. He flicks his comm off. “Steph?” Then his eyes found Jason. “Jason! Thank God, we were starting to get worried about you. Duke told everyone to give you space, but…”

His mouth is too dry to say anything in response, so he just shrugs. Tim tilts his head, examining him, before looking at Spoiler questioningly. 

She takes off her mask again, lowering her hood and shaking out her hair. “We need some help,” she explains, and nudges Jason forward. 

He stays stubbornly in his place, head tilted towards the floor. Steph sighs. “If you don’t tell him,” she says, “I will.”

He whips his head around. “You promised!”

“My name is literally The Spoiler.” She bares her teeth at him. “I get that you’re nervous, kid, but I do not have time for this.”

“For what?” Tim says. God, Tim’s going to be like a dog with a bone with this. He’s never met a mystery he didn’t want to solve. “Just tell me what’s going on.”

“I killed Filipe!” He blurts out and freezes, moving immediately to hide behind Spoiler. She doesn’t let him, grabbing his shoulder and holding him firmly to the spot. 

Tim gapes at him. “You…” he trails off, slowly turning to Steph, who holds his gaze steadily. “The footage?”  

“I have connections.”

“Of course you do.” He rubs a hand over his face. “How are we playing this?

What?

“We keep going along with what’s been presented to him,” Spoiler responds without hesitation. “B’s paranoid, but he’s also the king of denial. There’s no doctoring on the tape itself, he won’t look any deeper.”

“And Damian?”

“Like he gives a shit.”

“True,” he admits. “Duke wouldn’t care enough to check either way, so that just leaves Cass.”

Steph swears. “Fuck, Cass. Do you think she’ll say something?”

“Yes. Ugh, yes she will. Fuck.”

“Think you can talk some sense into her?”

“Maybe.” He squints at Jason. “I’ll probably play up the ‘ridden by guilt’ and ‘will never happen again’ angle. He definitely reads it.”

“What the hell are you two talking about?” Jason finally says, lungs fighting for air. “I—I killed someone!”

“Not according to Bruce, you didn’t.” Tim tells him. 

“You want me to lie?”

“Yes.”

He looks at Steph imploringly, begging her to explain, but she doesn’t even look at him. “Chill out, kid,” she says, “We all get a freebie.”

“Damian got more than a freebie,” Tim points out. 

“He’d tell you it was his right as the blood son.”

“Stop joking!” He shouts, chest heaving for air. “Just—stop it! Why aren’t you telling Bruce? Why are you making plans to lie to him? What’s wrong with you?”

Tim exchanges a heavy look at Steph, before reaching his hand out to Jason. Jason takes it, trembling. 

“Plenty of vigilantes have to make hard choices when it comes to stopping people the law can’t touch,” he tells Jason gently. “I work with people who all choose different things. When it comes to people like Garzonas, who will keep doing it over and over with no remorse…it’s not a method I recommend, but sometimes there’s only one way to stop them. If Robin made that choice, I wouldn’t blame him.”

He can’t stop the tears from welling in his eyes, because this is Tim Drake saying it. Damian was the first Robin, yeah, and Steph left her undeniable mark with her cheer and wit, but Tim wore the mantle twice. He made it into something new, something a bit brighter in the dark nights. Then, after Steph, he made it into a memory. Bright yellow for her hair. Red for Superboy. Even after they both came back Jason wore their colors, because Robin was persistence, and spirit, and clever words followed by hard punches, and bravery and a million other things, but it was also hope and love and remembrance for the lost. 

He wouldn’t forget that. “Why are you so okay with this?”

“You know I’ve had to make that choice too.”

Jason almost laughs, but refrains. He’s heard the stories. “Never sounded like much of a choice.”

“It was.” His eyes snap to Tim’s at the sudden edge to his voice, and Tim meets his eyes carefully. “I was fully aware of what I was doing. It’s not something I’ll ever do again, but it was my choice, and I won’t have that taken from me.” 

“I don’t think I can be Robin anymore.”

“Well, we all have to give it up sometimes.”

“Are we really doing this?” Tim asks, after he thinks Jason has fallen asleep. 

Jokes on him, Jason doesn’t think he’s gonna sleep ever again. 

“Are you seriously getting cold feet now? I thought you loved lying to Bruce.”

“I don’t love lying to Bruce, it’s just—“

“‘—necessary sometimes,���” she finishes. “Whatever. Like you don’t love the thrill of it.”

Tim doesn’t bother denying it. “This isn’t just lying to B, Steph. This is—are we really going to cover up a murder?”

The room drops ten degrees. 

“If you’re not going to back me on this, we can go somewhere else. Don’t want you getting your hands dirty or anything,” she sneers. 

“You know I’ve always got your back,” Tim says. Jason thinks back to what Spoiler told him earlier about her time as Robin, and wonders if that might not be as irrefutable a truth as he’d always thought it was. “I’m worried about Jason.”

“You wouldn’t need to be if you would just help him out—“

“You saw him. The kid looks like a ghost. He looks like I did. Don’t—no, Steph, I’m serious. I’m worried about him. At least I didn’t have to hide that I killed the Joker. You think keeping this bottled up will be good for him? It’s going to kill him.”

“The alternative is telling Batman that his precious Robin killed someone. You remember how that went last time?”

There’s a long pause, and then he hears Tim hiss an exhalation behind clenched teeth. “Don’t bring that into this. Jason’s not me.”

“That’s the fucking problem. You were his golden boy—“

“Seriously? You think I was the golden boy?”

“I’m hardly his favorite,” Tim scoffs. “Jason is.”

There’s a shocked silence. Then Stephanie scoffs. “You can’t seriously be jealous.“

“I’m trying to tell you it’ll be different from me. Have you seen him with Jason?” He waits, but Steph doesn’t answer. “He laughs. He laughs, he smiles, he’s fucking…happy. Jason makes him happy. I never did that. None of us ever—“

“Jesus, Tim,” Steph says roughly. “You made him plenty happy. Damian, Cass, Duke, you all make him laugh—“

“Not like Jason does.”

“You willing to risk the kid on that?”

A beat, and Tim sighs. “No. But it’s different now. Jason has us. All of us. It wouldn’t be like last time.”

“Jason’s not me.” He pauses, almost like he’s debating what he’ll say next, before he says, “He’s not you, either.”

Steph stays silent for so long Jason wonders if she climbed out the window and left. 

Finally, she exhales. “He’s not you, and he’s not me,” she agrees, “but Bruce is always going to be Bruce.”

They sit in silence for a long moment. Finally Steph speaks up. “Are you really jealous of him?”

“No, Steph. Jesus.”

“You’re such a liar.” It’s affectionate this time, though, clearly poking fun. 

Tim sighs, heavier than the teasing warrants. “It’s not him. It’s not him, and it’s not you, I just…I was never able to give up Robin on my own terms. I never…I never got to feel like I was putting it down. It never stopped feeling like—“

Stephanie doesn’t say anything. Eventually, one of the chairs slides back, and Jason hears a cane clacking on the ground. A cabinet opens. “Did you want coffee?”

“What happened to those awful sodas you were addicted to?”

“I assumed you wouldn’t want one,” Tim responds, voice dry. There’s no indication of their discussion in either of their tones. “Considering the first thing you ever did in this apartment was go through all my stuff and make fun of my taste.”

“Fuck it. I’m feeling abominable tonight, I should have something to fit the mood.”

“Shut up.” The fridge opens and shuts, and there’s a quiet thunk like a hand catching something out of midair. Then two drinks crack open. 

“God, I forgot how awful these were.”

(some undetermined amount of time later)

Bruce: Dick you can’t kill Tony Zucco. Batman and Robin do not kill.

Dick: Steph said Robin gets a freebie >:(

Bruce: 

Bruce:

Bruce: STEPHANIE-

[stickyvoidpaper]

I feel like steph and Jason have inside jokes.

Steph: God, why the hell do you give more leniency to Damian than anyone else. He's an asshole.

Jason: ... You promise not to tell anyone.

Steph, leaning in: Tell me everything you know right now

Jason: Everytime he gets a little too annoying, a little too up his own ass, I just think - "I fucked your mom", it does wonders to the psyche.

Steph losing her mind : What The fuck

Jason: It also works for Dick, you know how broken up he was about Kori.

Steph: WHAT

later

Steph: damn my moms being really annoying about studying, saying I should get my head down and focus.

Jason : Hey, you should introduce me to her, I'm sure I could find a way to distract her.

Steph : STAY AWAY FROM MY MOM

[casscainmainly]

I headcanon that Jason, Cass, Barbara, and Duke are the major lit lovers in the Batfam, but they have very different tastes. Jason's taste leans toward British literature, stuff like Shakespeare and Alexander Pope (and Austen of course), but he also enjoys dystopian novels like Brave New World, 1984 etc.

Cass loves contemporary novels, including romance (stealing this from Shadow of the Batgirl!). She prefers stories with happy endings, and she also loves detective fiction, specifically British/American Golden Age - I think she'd adore Agatha Christie's cosies.

Barbara has the most diverse reading taste, and is the only one who can discuss books with the others without it devolving into a fight about whose taste is better. Her specialty is feminist fiction, stuff like Virginia Woolf, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Audre Lorde. She's not big on poetry, though.

Duke is THE poetry fan. He's a big defender of contemporary poetry, particularly poetry by POC authors, and loves Hanif Abdurraqib, Toi Derricotte, and Ocean Vuong. He does love Harlem Renaissance too, but makes fun of Jason if he brings up Langston Hughes (along the lines of 'oh is that the one Black poet you know?'. Jason, as a genuine Hughes fan, hates this). Duke, like Cass, loves detective fiction, but he prefers hardboiled noir over cosies. Cass and Duke get into tons of fights about this.

Duke and Jason both loathe BookTok, while Cass enjoys it. Barbara is neutral but prefers BookTube. They tried to form a book club once but Barbara didn't show up (she knew what would happen), Duke left halfway (he can be very elitist in his literature views), and then Cass threw Jason out a window (he insulted her reading taste).

These are just my thoughts, feel free to disagree/add on with any of your own!