#i did it for my girl steph

[nerd-in-distress]

i bit the bullet and checked how much the npmd cast recording was and it was pretty fucking cheap so i spent my lunch money on that. no regrets. i missed these nerds. its amazing being able to listen to this so easily.

[introspectivememories]

high school timber is all about repression!!!

it's about bernard desperately trying to prove to himself and his parents that he's straight!! because his parents already don't like him and he cannot be gay. not now not ever!!!! so he puts up this front of a ladies man and he picks a girl he cant ever get together with and maybe he kisses like 3/4 of the female population at grieves and gains a reputation but hey! at least he's not gay! but he's so caught up in making sure his eyes don't to stick too long on tyrone's face or michael-from-biology's eyes or kabir-from-study-hall's thick thighs that even his attraction to women is under a filter. and it's not that he doesn't like women, he does! very much so!! but it's that he's soo caught on not being perceived as gay that he cant show his attraction to women the way he'd like to. it's all under this filter of what he thinks Real Men who are attracted to women act like so it's this brash, loud, crass, thing and it's not him at all. it's "ooh tim, ms. winters is soooo hot!" or "hey kayla, why don't you and i get to know each other a little better, if you know what i mean?" or "god her tits are soo big. she's so fucking hot!" and all this other shit when he really means, "tim, why the fuck does your stepmom have such a pretty smile?" or "kayla, you said you liked yugioh? i'd love to hear more about it!" or "god fuck, that girl has such pretty hands. i think if i held them i'd combust." but none of that is how a Real Man likes women so he shuts that shit down before it even has a chance to come up. it's fine, he's fine. so what if no one ever holds him like he holds those girls? it's fine. he'll take the manwhore label and the fuckboy title and he'll give out as many kisses as those girls want and if sometimes when he's kissing a girl he wonders what it'd be like to sit on kabir's thighs or if tyrone's lips really are as soft as they look, that's just the devil speaking. and if sometimes when he walks back into the cafeteria at lunch, lipstick still smudged on the corner of his mouth, after making out with a girl and his eyes skirt over tim's lithe body and he wonders what it'd be like to draw out the same sounds he's heard girls make when he kisses them, or what it'd be like to brush his thumb over tim's hands, or what it'd be like to hold tim or press a kiss to his shoulder, or a million and one other things, well that'll just have to be another one his secrets.

and it's about tim who's in a relationship with stephanie and his dad knows he's robin and he doesn't have time to figure out why his mouth goes dry when the light hits bernard's hair just right. he's too busy trying to figure out a way back to his nightlife. and so what if bernard has pretty pink lips that look very plush? so what if he's looked at some of his teammates and thought they were handsome? he's not blind!!! he has a girlfriend! and he loves her! and so what if his hand brushes bear's during fourth-period bio? so what if the tingles last all day? it was just some static! and it doesn't matter that when bear laughs his eyes get squinty and they water over -- cause bear always laughs so hard he almost cries -- and it sounds like bells. and it doesn't even matter, that sometimes when bernard walks back into the lunchroom, 10 minutes before the bell rings, lipstick smeared across the corner of his mouth, lips tilted up in the most charming smirk he's ever seen, that his chest fills with jealousy. it doesn't matter that his hands clench into fists so hard that his nails leave crescents marks all day. it doesn't matter that he wants to be bear's flavor of the day, week, month, whatever. he wants to leave the lipstick marks!! he wants to know if bear really is as good as he hears the girls speak about!!! he wants to know "that thing bernard does with his tongue!" is! he wants to drape himself over bear the same way he sees those girls do! he wants to know what bear's hands feel like gripping his waist. he wants, wants, wants!!! but it doesn't matter. it doesn't. he's got a girlfriend, her name is stephanie, she's gorgeous and, most importantly he loves her. he's too busy for bernard anyway.

[soleminisanction]

Like I mentioned on my previous post, there’s a particular aspect of how Steph got fired from being Robin that I find particularly interesting. (And based on your tags, @alvindraperzzz, you're going to enjoy this as well ;) )

So, just as a reminder, this is the deal that Stephanie and Bruce make when he agrees to let her be Robin:

"You're on probation. You don't learn any of the big secrets. And the first time you disobey my orders, is the precise moment you're out. No second chances."

Here's what makes this interesting: Tim also had a probationary period. It took place between 1989's "A Lonely Place of Dying" storyline and 1991's Robin miniseries, happening in scattered pieces across bits of Batman, Detective Comics, and other associated books.

Aside from changes in comm-tech between 1989 and 2003, there's only two major differences between Steph's probationary period and Tim's. First, Tim already knew the biggest of the Big Secrets, so he gets moments of interacting with Bruce and Alfred in civilian mode and even stays with them during school holidays. And second, Tim was not allowed his own costume and was forbidden from going out on patrol. Presumably, this second difference comes from a mix of Bruce's implied scheme to lure Tim back, Steph already having copious experience on the streets as Spoiler, and just general management of their differing personalities.

The important thing is, during this time, Tim was under the same restrictions as Steph: stay out of this fight, and if you disobey me you're gone. And there came a time, right at the end, where Batman wound up in a dangerous situation versus a supervillain (in this case, Scarecrow) and the would-be Robin chose to break the rules. What's interesting is the parallels and differences between the two scenes, and how, if you're paying attention, they're pretty consistent, despite their very different endings.

For one, in Tim's case, he's not initially on the scene, and he doesn't have contact with Bruce (like I said, 1980's comm-tech -- Oracle wasn't even a thing yet). This means that he isn't defying direct orders when he chooses to act. And he doesn't rush in himself right off the bat -- his first choice is actually to dial up Commissioner Gordon on the landline.

It's only after he runs out of ways to get a hold of Batman and warn him of the danger that he makes the decision to go out. And he does so very conscious of the fact that this is going to cost him Robin, in spite of the months of work he's put in.

Stephanie, on the other hand, is on the scene and has a direct line to Batman. She's chattering in his ear the whole time, to the point that he has to tell her to be quiet because she's distracting him. And when the fight gets going, he tells her repeatedly that he's doing fine, don't come in here, stay in the plane.

She lasts maybe fifteen seconds before abandoning her comms and diving in.

She doesn't wait or consider her options. She doesn't even give their deal so much as a passing thought. She simply assumes that she knows better than him and leaps in without thinking. Which mostly just demonstrates that a) she doesn't trust him which is bad when you're trying to form a partnership, and b) she can't be trusted to follow orders.

Also, frankly, she demonstrates poor judgement by completely misjudging the situation. Bruce does not need her help. Even injured, he's doing just fine. Stephanie rushing in is nothing but a distraction and, ultimately, what loses the fight.

Tim, on the other hand, judged the situation correctly. When he arrives on the scene, Batman (and innocent civilian Vicki Vale, not shown for space) is in trouble. He's been caught by Scarecrow and genuinely needs the back-up because he's being psychologically tortured.

Another parallel is that both Robins wind up in trouble as a result of coming to Batman's rescue. Which makes sense, they're teenagers versus adults with super-tech, training and horrible fear chemicals.

In Tim's case, he gets doused with fear gas (specifically "essence de trauma" because this was back when Scarecrow had specific strains of his stuff) which trapped Tim in an illusion of the very recent attack on his parents. Seriously, this is happening like, the day after they buried his mother.

But! He pulls himself out of it with the help of what might be hallucinations or might be the ghosts of Jason Todd and the Earth-1 Dick Grayson (it's never explained because this was the late 80s and nobody questions this stuff when half the creative staff is running on cocaine.) He then manages to turn the tables on Scarecrow and actually save the day.

Stephanie, on the other hand, gets herself caught.

Which, like I said, loses Batman the fight. And more importantly, it puts Steph's life in danger and she's not able to get herself free.

And it isn't like she doesn't have the opportunity, in-universe. This is where the scene ends, but Bruce recaps on the next page how Scarab, quote, "Left Robin tied up, but alive and uninjured" when she stole the Bat-plane to make her escape.

So, if you're a reasonable person, I hope you can see how there's already multiple strikes against Steph that don't really apply to Tim: she broke the rules thoughtlessly instead of with consideration, she defied direct orders instead of taking initiative on her own, and she completely misjudged the situation, putting herself in danger for no real reason and costing Batman the fight.

But now, we come to the difference that almost everyone overlooks, but I think is the real key to the whole thing: how each Robin behaves in the aftermath.

Because, see, Tim comes to Bruce immediately afterwards and owns up to everything.

I really like this scene because what Tim says here is very deliberate. He doesn't make excuses or try to deny anything. He simply explains himself and then apologizes, fully willing to accept the consequences of his actions.

It's a very mature thing to do. I couldn't have done it at 13. I'm not fully confident I could do it now, at 33. And in return, Bruce says this:

This is the story where Tim earns his wings. In the next two pages, he's given his costume and is officially made the new Robin. And it's because he demonstrates, through his actions in this story, that he understands both the weight of the legacy and the very real responsibility he's about to leap into.

Compare that to how it goes down with Steph.

Like I said in my previous post, despite Bruce saying she'd be out "the precise moment" she disobeyed him, Bruce doesn't fire her immediately after the Scarab incident. Instead, the story skips ahead by three weeks, until after Bruce has recovered from his injuries.

This is something he's shown consciously choosing to do, though he doesn't explain why. I like to think it's to give her time to consider her actions.

Note the difference in the way that Steph behaves: she shows up in her costume, with the standing assumption that they're going to go after Scarab. The only thing that she thinks would've prevented them from doing so is Batman's vision not healing.

She feels "guilty" about him being blinded, but that just demonstrates that she doesn't really understand the situation -- Batman was blinded while she was in the plane. Which implies that what she feels "guilty" about is not disobeying him sooner. The fact that she put herself in danger, the fact that she broke the rules, these things never cross her mind.

You'll note that she doesn't apologize either. Again, it's probably not deliberate, but "I feel so guilty, it was all my fault!" is not the same thing as "I'm sorry." The former is what you say when you're trying (consciously or not) to get the person you've wronged to comfort you. To tell you that it's okay, you didn't mean to do it, everybody messes up so don't feel bad. Which you'll note that Bruce does.

It's only after Steph does this, comes to him acting like nothing's wrong and they just had a little oopsie-daysie on the way to their next rip-roaring adventure, that Bruce finally drops the bomb.

Note the "direct order in the field" specification.

Stephanie only starts to admit that she did something wrong after she realizes she's going to be punished, and even then, she's not apologizing, and she's not owning up to her actions. She's making excuses, trying to wheedle out of the consequences of her own actions. And not once does she ever seem to internalize that she could have died.

And all of this is very in-keeping with her personality as established up to his point.

In short, while the two situations are very similar, Stephanie's actually demonstrates the exact opposite of Tim's: even after years of being Spoiler and multiple occasions where her own life, civilian lives, and the lives of people she supposedly cares for have been on the line, she's still treating this all as a game where the most important aspect of the outcome is how she feels about it. It's not just that she made "one mistake," this is part of a pattern for her, one that demonstrates very aptly that she does not understand the danger she's putting herself in, doesn't respect the guidance of the people who are trying to teach her, and frankly, has no interest in ever getting better, because she doesn't think she has a problem.

It can't be her fault, after all. She just made a little mistake! It's everyone else who're being unfair to her, holding her to rules and agreements she never meant to honor, and they'll all see as soon as she can prove them wrong...

And we all know where that leads.

Now, there are people who believe that this entire issue is simply unfair to Stephanie. And yeah, there's an entirely different discussion to be had about the out-of-universe decisions surrounding this story, the intention of the creators, etc. But I think everything that happens here in Robin #126 is as in-keeping for Steph's personality as the events of Batman #457 are for Tim. And I believe that, in both, Bruce's reasoning is fair and based on sound judgement, not sexism.

Still, they're very fun to compare. The nuances between the different relationships is very interesting.

[talknerdytome18]

People on Pinterest please stop shipping Cara with men. She's a canon lesbian and the men you are shipping her with (Connor and Zach 😭) are clearly gay (my hc is actually real, trust me) <333

Unfortunately based on this one Tumblr post that said they shipped Lauren/Zach (that's a story for another day) and the comments were saying that they shipped Cara/Connor or Cara/Zach. Guys, she's a lesbian and shipping her with men is erasing her sexuality. Hope this helps <333

[mamawasatesttube]

just remembered how megfitz made tim think about how bernard is so much better than all the other relationships he'd "settled for" and was once again briefly consumed by rage. meghan you apologize to zoanne wilkins right the fuck now

[horsechestnut]

Reverse Robins Tim changing his name from Oracle to Spoiler after Stephanie's death.

[weaverofink]

stephanie brown aka my favorite cringefail bisexual

[peggycatrerr]

At least our ship is canon.

You're a fucking snob. "Oh I'm so much better than these fans because I do my fandom differently" BUT YOU DON'T. Marvel fans are the absolute most cliche fans. Lmao this superiority complex people who don't watch OFMD have is honestly just masking the most intense jealousy. You've never watched the show, but you KNOW you're better than the people that do? Get the fuck out of here. You're pathetic.

HOLY SHIT GUYS I'VE BEEN ON TUMBLR FOR NEARLY A DECADE AND THIS IS MY FIRST BIT OF ANON HATE OMG. OMG WHAT DO I DO I WANT TO FRAME THIS <333

[welcometogrouchland]

Also in the replies of the Steph concept art on twitter announcing she was gonna be in a new project at DC (posted by Travis Mercer), there were at least 3 comments saying "will Tim be there?" I don't care how hard you ship timsteph I'm exploding you with my eyeballs if you do that on my girls post again

[slautertm]

IN THE AFTERMATH OF NERDY PRUDES -- MAY BE REBLOGGED AND ADDED TO ( under cut for triggering content & spoilers ) :

i got to say this first. steph still has the gun. and it can bounce from her nightstand to the glovebox of her car.

steph begins to abuse alcohol. i have talked about it HERE, but to go into more detail, within the first week it's something she uses to go to sleep. she carries a flask to school for a month ( sometimes touching it, sometimes not, fully wanting to be found with it and sent home ) in case she needs something to pull her through the day. even on mornings when she is just hungover she really does not drive herself to school until after homecoming when she's slowing down a little bit. it's something she is trying not to lean on too heavily but it is something she is struggling to kick completely for awhile. she is trying her best to hide it from anyone and everyone though.

she does not miss school that first week and does not consider it unless she decides to go to pete's and / or grace ( but refuses to go to grace's house ) or somewhere with the two. after that she is pretty on and off with how often she goes to school till january or febuary of 2021.

checks 15,000 dollars from the mayor / 'the city of hatchetfield' was donated to the families of ruth fleming and richard lipschitz in order to aid in funeral costs. the mayor was reported missing by his daughter two days after those letters of condolence and donations were delivered. max's family does not receive money, but the mayor's office does send a rather large bouquet of flowers.

she attends every victim of max's and max's own funeral. she brings flowers. she sits in the back ( and or by pete ). she does not cry at any of them but does when she gets a moment alone afterwards (but gets close at richie and ruth's).

frequently has nightmares about the lords in black ( especially tinky, wiggly, and nibbly ) and about pete being dead. sometimes about richie, ruth, max, her dad and their own cold ghosts having... not the kindest things to say as they attack. mostly about the lords in black and pete being shot.

cannot do loud noises, eSPECIALLY not SUDDEN loud noises.

stops going to parties all together - i feel like she goes to one but is very quickly and suddenly overwhelmed and leaves ( and calls someone to get her ).

the very first thing she does after school that first day is she gets right to work on preparations for when her dad's body is found / when hatchetfield gives up on him- which she is not expecting to be long. the mayor being gone after years and years of being elected mayor the weeks before the election? something must have happened. she is hoping to be left enough money to properly bury him but is also not banking on being left any money so it's a lot of research, a lot of looking through her dad's office for answers or for lawyers information, trying to figure out how to adult in a matter of weeks. she's really struggling but trying her best to hide it.

steph comes into... a lot of money in the aftermath of nerdy prudes, but honestly only saves a portion of it for herself- that portion is the money made from selling house and then 200,000. she doesn't want it and honestly for a longtime is giving it away to people who she thinks need it - ( and she has accounts made in which she intends to give to pete and grace, though grace first has Less. but also if she finds out what you are up to miss chasity that money is going bye bye miss ) she writes herself a will even before she comes into her inheritance ( and of course has to edit it ) but honestly feels wrong about sitting with so much

very much so is... not leaning on pete ( and to some extent, grace though her own feelings on grace is... complicated ) . she is trying to avoid talking things through her own trauma and instead focus on taking care of both of the surviors but especially pete. it's her way of an apology until she can find the courage to utter to words... and then say it again ( yes. i do know it's life or death and she knows it to but steph really does feel bad and is haunted by the fact that she almost killed him, that she was talked into that, and really feeling like it should have been her.) it's not something she gets over, even if a conversation is had about it.

now for grace - is steph feeling protective over grace? yes. does steph feel a little closer to grace to consider her a friend ( or at least an almost friend, inviting her to do things )? yes. HOWEVER. steph does feeling growing irritation as time passes for grace just abandoning them there after max got to the gym as well as for everything that happened- the latter being mostly a defense because she sits there thinking about what if's. how fast she puts what grace is doing together is dependent on how grace is carrying herself- but honestly... steph feels like she is being held together by tape so much of the time- so she is a little bit naive. she is not so naive to people going missing which leads me to my next point..

multiple people starting to go missing due to grace’s evil Power Move really does trigger steph’s protectiveness and while she before was putting on a sort of mask of ease, being put together, that sets her off and she gets noticably tense and is withdrawing from everyone that isn't pete and grace as she tries to figure out what the fuck is happening. steph is slightly paranoid, and her little flinching and nerves are Wide Awake as she tries her best to QUICKLY figure out what the FUCK is going on so that no one else or limited people get hurt.

[paleode-ology]

“It’s NOT a micropenis!!!” no it’s a clitoris <3 trans king

[tangled-wires-and-a-dead-heart]

Steph when the literal dark gods don't want her phone and actually want her to kill pete:

[wisdom-walks-alone]

im so serious some t*m drake stans are so misogynistic when it comes to stephanie brown I'm not even kidding holy shit

[figofswords]

man doing research for my steph essay is just continuously making me mad about her treatment in the writing. girl i’m sorry chuck dixon can’t write women i’m so glad becky cloonan has you now

[stephthestallion]

i just cooked a big meal for my family and now i’m daydreaming about cooking for Big Daddy, our family, and the Memphis Mafia in Graceland’s kitchen 😌

[starlooove]

Dickbea JayDana timtam I will always love u