#apparently i had pent up feelings about stephanie brown wjdjdjjejdjsks

[danny-chase]

Character Ask: Stephanie Brown

- first impression

...it very well might have been her calling Dick "sexy batman" and i laughed so hard

- impression now

Hooooo boy she deserves so much better. She's the underdog in and out of universe that no one has ever taken seriously. She's been used by men out of universe for cheap drama (war games) and a prolife PSA that wasn't interested in exploring the trauma of what they were putting her through instead just using her to parrot talking points and make them come out of a teenage girl's mouth (and won awards for it mind you) instead of considering how she would actually feel. In universe she's used as a pawn, mere bait to attract her boyfriend back to a role she's currently filling because that's all she's seen as good for. Comic writers don't seem to think it's a problem to write her not/ex-boyfriend as having the authority to fire her. Or to write her as responsible for "fixing" his mental health. Like are you kidding me? I have so many thoughts and feelings about how that is not her job and Bruce asking her to do that puts undue pressure on someone who literally just came back from a traumatic experience herself and needs care and support. I have feelings about how comics killed her off and then said ohhh, let's bring her back in a way that justifies the men in her life being able to blame her for things. Let's bring her back in a way that makes her seem worse. So my impressions on her now? At her best in her Batgirl run, she's defiant of her treatment, and a ray of hope despite everything life and batman editorial through in her way. And she deserves to give literally everyone a piece of her mind.

- favorite moment

I really liked her interactions with Damian. The moment she realizes Damian doesn't know how to be a kid and takes him to a bouncy house. Because I love that Steph can be that person to someone, and it was short but it was so sweet.

- idea for a story

I think it would have been interesting to see Dinah be a mentor to her, there were a few issues where they interacted with Dinah scaring her dad away from her house and protecting her. I don't really think Dinah's the type for sidekicks but I think it would have been interesting if she took on and trained Steph. Alternatively Dinah as a mentor would make for an interesting story, the one comic I read were they interacted in cataclysm (i think) made me craving more.

- favorite relationship

Her friendship with Cass. I really like the post that points out it's not perfect. And just like that's what makes it so good! It's compelling, there's shared trauma and bonding, it falls apart, there's regret, there could be more done with the reconciliation - the whole Cass passes on her mantle to Steph thing. It was interesting. Steph dying while she felt that Cass betrayed her? Cass being the only one to go looking for Steph during war games? 😭😭😭😭

- favorite headcanon

Thinking about her college major is always fun. There's a great post out there that makes a good case for psychology iirc, I'd also love to see nursing, like her mom.