#let Stephanie brown be the best batman ever

[your-dad-the-fag]

I think they should let Stephanie be Batman, even if it’s just for a few minutes so she can have a go at every Mantel that tends to be passed down

Also I think it would be hilarious for like one night a year batman is a blonde woman who’s robin changes every year (they all play rock-paper-scissors for the position)

[girlkisser13]

love tropes with the bat family

characters: bruce wayne, richard "dick" grayson, barbara gordon, jason todd, timothy "tim" drake, stephanie brown, cassandra cain, duke thomas, and damian wayne

bruce wayne

arranged marriage

• the marriage was arranged by his parents and your parents to merge the two most powerful families in gotham, providing both financial stability and social influence. bruce only went along with it because he wanted to honor his parents’ last wishes.

• initially, there's a distance between the two of you. he’s so consumed by his quest for justice and his role as batman, that he doesn’t really have the time to truly get to know you. meanwhile, you’re just trying to understand your role in his life.

• publicly, the two of maintain the appearance of the perfect, high-society couple, attending galas and charity events. behind closed doors, the two of you sleep in separate beds and barely talk to one another.

• alfred becomes a mentor and confidant to the both of you, helping your navigate your new life together and offering uncle iroh level advice.

• it isn’t until you get hurt, that he begins to realize the depth of his feelings for you.

• DEFINITELY says the, "who did this to you?" line.

• this marriage brings a new dynamic to his life. you have your own skills and resources and you become an integral part of his crime-fighting efforts.

• your presence in his life helps him heal emotionally, offering him a sense of family and home. this support strengthens him, making him a more balanced and effective hero.

• you both work towards a shared vision for gotham, combining your immense resources and influence to create lasting change, honoring the legacies of both your families.

richard "dick" grayson

you fell first, he fell harder

• charming and attractive, it’s hard to not fall in love with dick grayson. he’ll flirt and send compliments someone’s way, effectively tampering with their feelings. it’s no surprise when you find yourself having romantic feelings for him.

• despite your best efforts to keep your feelings hidden, dick starts noticing the little things—how you laugh at his jokes a bit too eagerly, how your eyes linger on him a bit longer, and how you're always there to lend a hand.

• as you spend more time together, you can't help but be more obvious about your feelings. you find excuses to be near him, offer to help with his missions, and bring him coffee during late-night patrols.

• one day, during a particularly dangerous mission, you do something reckless to save him. that’s the final push he needs to confront and confess his feelings for you.

• ANGRY LOVE CONFESSIONS>>>

• he never noticed you. but now that he had, he couldn't un-notice you.

• once you found your way into his heart, it’s hard for him to let you go. more and more, he starts finding himself constantly wishing for you presence.

• he constantly tells you how much you mean to him and how he can't imagine his life without you.

• this man met you, fell in love with you, and has been falling ever since. <33

barbara gordon

the korrasami trope (i didn’t know what else to call it)

• both of you had feelings for dick, but he ultimately chose you. after he made his decision, she began to act extremely cold towards you.

• despite this, you constantly went out of your way to ensure that she didn’t feel left out. you included her in activities and made an effort to show her that your relationship with dick didn’t have to affect your friendship with her.

• she becomes jealous when she sees you and dick together and for the longest time, she thought she was jealous of you because you were him. she soon realizes that she was actually jealous of HIM because he was with you.

• during the times when dick was busy with his duties as nightwing, the two of you would often find yourselves alone together. these moments of forced proximity brought you closer, and that’s when she started to develop feelings for you.

• you start to notice subtle changes in her behavior around you. she becomes more attentive, goes out of her way to spend time with you, and shows a genuine interest in your well-being.

• she struggles with her feelings for you, torn between her loyalty to dick because of their friendship and her growing love for you.

• girlie is down HORRENDOUSLY for you. <33

jason todd

enemies to lovers

• you hate jason, he hates you. just the thought of him irritates your whole being, shakes your bones in anger, his name leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.

•this man will NEVER stop bothering you, he likes to see you stressed out and angry, but he lowkey thinks it’s cute that’s why he likes to piss you off.

• you intrigue him, when he started to bother you he was legit hating on you but as time flew by, he somehow liked your attention on him.

• being an annoying piece of shit= your attention.

• despite your differences and the fact that you and jason mixed like oil and water, on in the field, you guys grudgingly tolerated each other, working together to take out your enemies.

• the tension between the two of you is so thick that during mission briefs, bruce has to seat you guys across the room from each other, unless he wants to hear mumbled insults back and forth and glaring between you guys.

• the rest of the bat family teases the two of you relentlessly because they’re convinced that you guys are the perfect match for one another (they’re absolutely right).

• when he finally realizes that he has feelings for you, he tries to convince himself that he doesn’t in fact like you romantically but that he was just admiring your skills in the field.

• he actually finds himself looking out for you on missions, even though he won’t be upfront about it.

• he becomes somewhat awkward to be around, and the rest of the bat family immediately capitalize off this to bully him with it. but regardless, he finds himself drifting towards you a bit more, and picking up on some of your habits. as much as he hates to admit it, he wants to know more about you.

timothy "tim" drake

friends to lovers

• tim heavily values trust and loyalty. as friends, you’ve always been someone he can rely on, whether it's sharing secrets or working through problems together.

• despite being one of his best friends, he isn't overly expressive with his emotions. he shows his affection through small, thoughtful gestures – bringing you coffee, remembering your favorite snacks, or staying up late to help you with something.

• he gradually comes to the realization that he has feelings for you. once it hits him, he begins to avoid you, trying to process everything.

• however, he starts to get like physically sick because he misses you so much. plus, you called him to ask if they'd done anything wrong and the pain in your voice was too much for him to bear.

• it was impossible to ignore the change in his behaviour. for one, he couldn't speak to you in person without his face turning blindingly red. plus, not only does he struggle to look you in the eye, but he is also CONSTANTLY stuttering around you.

• when you decide to confront him about it, he kind of just blurts out that he’s in love to you. much to his genuine surprise (but literally no one else's), you told him that they loved him too.

• sometimes, he feels like an idiot for not saying or doing something about it sooner. you frequently tease him for not having picked up on his own feelings sooner— but for once, he graciously accepts it.

stephanie brown

fake dating

• after your ex breaks up with you, steph devises a plan to get back at them and make them jealous.

• the two of you were already best friends so it couldn’t be that hard. right? RIGHT?

• you’re both aware that damian doesn’t buy your little arrangement one bit. he just doesn’t believe that the two of you are dating because you’re such good friends. (and they were roommates!!!)

• steph has this raging pride when it comes to damian, so she’s made it her personal mission to convince him that you and her are actually dating.

• it takes a while for you two to get into the hang of it, but once you do, it’s like a regular routine.

• steph would definitely fall for you first. she’d hide her feelings behind your little charade, until the fake dating stuff starts extending into the time you two share together when no one else is watching.

• she still gravitates towards you on the couch when everyone has left after dinner at your place, pressing kisses to your cheek when she leaves even though everyone else is already gone. there’s no need to continue acting like this but she does.

• the fake dating thing really starts hurting her because she thinks that you don’t really like her like that (you do) but its nice to pretend that you do in those moments, that it’s all real even though its not.

• the people who know of your secret knows that steph has fallen for you (except for steph herself, and you because you refuse to believe it).

• like, come on, she’s your BEST FRIEND (side eye). the two of you are idiots in love.

• the moment she realizes she’s in love with you is on another one of those dates that you both know you don’t have to go on but still choose to have anyway (your ex is already clearly jealous).

• she’s been getting this small tugging feeling with you a lot over these past few months.

• now she finally realizes it’s because she’s in love with you. <33

cassandra cain

childhood best friends to lovers

• growing up, you became adept at reading her body language and expressions, creating a deep, intuitive understanding between the two of you.

• as kids, you both trained together, pushing each other to become stronger and better. these sessions were filled with friendly competition, laughter, and mutual support.

• you two had a secret hideout where you would escape to whenever the world felt overwhelming. it was a place filled with memories, laughter, and dreams for the future.

• whenever she had nightmares or struggled with her past, you were always there to comfort her. your presence became a source of peace and security for her.

• you both shared a love for a watching old martial arts films and cooking together. these activities brought you even closer over the years.

• once she was settled into her new life with the bat family, she reconnected with you over lunch and there was a moment where it all clicked. her heart nearly gave out the moment she saw you walk through the cafe door and smiled at her.

• she was in love with you. she had been for a while now. but back then, she had taken your presence for granted. it was something she just expected to be there. but now? now it was different. now it made sense.

• it was a very natural progression from a friendship to a relationship. she felt safe with you, and she never had to worry about being misunderstood. after everything that she’s been through, you were the person who stood by her through all of it. <33

duke thomas

brother’s best friend

• one thing about you and duke is that you can both take a secret to your grave.

• no one ever finds about him sneaking out of your brother’s room during their weekend sleepovers, to cuddle up to you on your bed.

• no one finds out about the secret dates you go on in the next town over, so that you don’t get caught.

• no one finds out about the secret phones you both use to contact each other.

• if you have to be in the same room together, he’s not even making any eye contact with you. it’s better to ignore each other in public.

• it would be WAY too obvious that the two of you are dating.

• when you guys are seven months into the relationship, cuddling on his bed, he asks "how long do you want to keep us a secret?"

• to which you reply "not any longer than you want to."

• so yeah, you can both keep a secret– until you decide you want to share it to the world.

• your brother is disgusted, but happy for you. emphasis on disgusted tho. <33

damian wayne

academic rivals to lovers (except he’s been in love with you this whole time)

• damian has always admired you from afar. everything from your biting wit to your competitive spirit always made his heart flutter. falling in love with you was almost inevitable.

• sarcastic, creative remarks as comebacks to one another’s argument, teasing and joking words that lead to banters and bickering.

you: "are you reading?"

damian: "it’s amazing how you have eyes but never see the use of them."

• you don’t know if it’s due to your clashing beliefs and ideas that you two just can’t get along. or is it because he just refuses to do so? eitherway, he still irks you off in multiple ways. even when it’s just the sound of his breathing.

• the two of you compete against each other in terms of being the best among you, as such your relationship is treated as something simply born and made by a competition, an unnatural way to form a connection with another but that’s just how it is.

• the fact that you two work really well when it comes to projects and research is something that can’t be denied. even when there are countless arguments being shared because of differences in opinion, you two still end up getting the work done flawlessly.

• despite everything, there was never a time that you two have touched on a sensitive subject while arguing or have you two have said anything personal and mean that it crossed the line. it’s just some useless and close-to-nothing banters that always occur— becoming a part of your daily routine.

• and of course, the two of you don’t lose your sense of academic "rivalry" when you two start dating.

[i-care-bout-things-too]

Batfam Ages:

Okay, there is no such thing as an exact science when determining the ages of the Batfam, but the easiest thing you can do is work of the concrete ages that you /do/ know, and make them fit with canon events to the best of your ability. Now, canon changes all the time—which definitely makes this a challenge, but I’m going to just explain my process for determining their ages and you can disagree if you’d like, or you can use this to write fic like I do where ages are semi important,

Let’s begin. I’m going to give you the arbitrary number of 15, this will be important later.

Dick Grayson:

Depending on the canon, Dick is 8, 10, 12, or 15 when his parents die. All of these numbers will have problems depending on which you pick, but I go for the safe bet of 10 years old. Why? Well, a little known fact is that Dick ends up in juvie after his parents die, and he’s not immediately taken in by Batman. Thus, it takes a little while longer for him to become Robin, which doesn’t immediately happen after he becomes Bruce’s ward anyway, because Batman doesn’t immediately go and spill the beans. Thus, Dick ends up in Bruce’s car at around ten or eleven, but doesn’t become Robin until he’s 12.

Now Dick is Robin up until he’s about 18, when Bruce takes Robin from Dick because it’s too dangerous and Dick refuses to quit. Dick joins up with the teen titans full time, and he’s still Robin for a little while longer until we get Nightwing, aka Discowing, for the very first time at age 19. Simultaneously, while this is happening, a little kid is stealing the Batmobile’s tires.

Jason Todd:

Our beloved street rat Robin, Jason Todd, swings a tire iron at Batman and then gets taken out for fast food. It’s great, it’s cute, it doesn’t immediately lead to his adoption though, either. No, instead Jason ends up in an orphanage that is trafficking children. Bruce shows up one day to check up on Jason, and is made aware of this by his soon to be first adopted son (yeah, you heard me, Dick isn’t adopted yet). They take down the trafficking ring, and Bruce adopts Jason. Jason then becomes Robin at age 13.

Unfortunately for our boy, he was widely disliked by comic fans across North America, DC did a little telephone poll, and by a few hundred votes, DC changed comic history forever by killing off a high profile character what seems like /permanently/ for the first time ever. No resurrections this time. (Hah, right!). Which is to say, Jason Todd has the second shortest run as Robin at just two years, dying at age 15.

Tim Drake:

So then we get Robin numero 3. Tim Drake sees Batman getting darker and more violent and goes y’know, someone should do something about that. He tries talking to Nightwing, but he’s in a bad place with Bruce after learning Jason died via a Newspaper (yeah, Bruce sucks for that one), and tells Tim he won’t be going back to Robin. Thus, lil Timmy Drake gets an idea in his head. He looks himself in the mirror and goes, I can fix him, and then, Tim Drake becomes Robin at age 12.

Tim Drake has one of the longest runs as Robin, with only a mild interruption from a lil blond Bat.

Stephanie Brown:

Stephanie Brown starts off as the vigilante Spoiler, whose whole purpose in life is to spoil the plans of her C-list villain dad, Cluemaster. She meets Robin (Tim), hits him in the face with a brick, and then ends up dating him. Unlike most characters who appear a few times and never come back, Stephanie manages to stick around. She gets pregnant at age 15 (it’s not Tim’s, and no she did not cheat, this happened priorly), she gives birth, the baby is put up for adoption, and she becomes Robin after Tim’s dad, Jack Drake, finds out Tim is Robin and bans him from it. Tim is forced to quit and Stephanie picks up the mantle. She’s clocks in the shortest run as Robin, working with Batman for about two months before Bruce forces her to stop. Tim picks up the mantle again, and Steph goes back to being Spoiler—only to get killed by Black Mask, making her the second “Robin” to die. DC does retcon her death, and we later learn she was only badly beaten and sent off to live in a foreign country before she makes her return.

Jason Todd, Again:

While all this is going on, stuff is happening behind the scenes. Namely, Jason coming back to life. A common misconception here however is how long Jason was actually dead. While I wouldn’t be able to find the panels to confirm it, the true number is a “short” 6 months. Yep, while years passed in the real world, possibly decades, actually, Jason was dead all of 6 months. According to the books, he undigs himself from his grave six feet under (because Superboy punched through the multiverse or something?) and ends up wondering around Gotham as a mindless little zombie. Conveniently, Talia al Ghul stumbles upon her beloved’s lost little bird, and she decides to take him home and train him. He’s with them for a bit, gets dunked into a Lazarus pit, comes back very very angry, is shipped off to the all caste for a bit, and upon his return to the al Ghuls, is informed he’s been replaced by little Timmy Drake.

Jason makes his whole plan, and decides to make a splash by returning to Gotham wearing an old moniker of the Joker’s and taking over Gotham’s underworld. He beheads a few criminals, tries to kill Tim, tries to get Bruce to kill the Joker, and doesn’t really have success in those latter two objectives. That puts Jason at age 19, roughly. We don’t really know how to count the months he was dead.

Damian Wayne:

Shortly after Jason’s unmasking as the Red Hood, Damian Wayne turns 10 years old and beats his mother, Talia al Ghul, in combat. His prize is to be taken to his father and given to him for training. We know definitively that Damian is 10 thanks to this we can measure out the age gaps between the others and get their ages at this point in time. Dick at age 19 became Nightwing, while Jason is made Robin at age 13, so they have a six year age gap. Jason dying 2 years later at age 15 leads to Tim becoming Robin at age 12, they have a 3 year age gap. Tim is Robin for 3 years before Jason comes back and Damian trails after him a few months behind, putting Tim at around 16/17 while Damian is 10. I tend towards 16 instead of 17 because DC stopped aging Tim for a while, so it just makes more sense to pick the lower number. Thus, when Damian is 10, Tim is 16 as is Steph, Jason is 19, and Dick is 25.

Thanks to Damian being quite young, DC has kept an active track of how and when they age him. We know Damian is only with Bruce a few short months before he disappears into the time stream and Dick makes him Robin, and we also know that Damian’s 11th birthday is celebrated after Bruce is reinstated to the proper time. However, DC follows this up by killing Damian and making him the third Robin to die, the second to do so in the suit itself, and he’s dead for a significant number of months. In this time, Dick also dies—as in his heart is stopped by Lex Luthor for a few seconds, and then restarted, after his identity is revealed on live TV. Bruce decides to let the world believe Nightwing died and stayed dead, and Dick is sent off to Spyral to do secret spy stuff for Bruce. There is an issue around here in the “Grayson” run that claims Dick is twenty-one years old, which is ENTIRELY incompatible with the time line I just painstakingly established, and I go ahead and outright dismiss it because it clearly doesn’t work with a majority of canon. While Dick is with Spyral, Damian is brought back to life, and he goes on a year of redemption (which doesn’t actually last a whole year, but I digress). He and Dick meet again, and we move into Rebirth somewhere around here with the conclusion of Spyral and Batman and Robin Eternal.

General Events:

Damian turns 12 presumably sometime during rebirth, although not specified, I do believe Truth and Justice issue #6 to be his 12th or 13th birthday, but I lean towards 12 because of the costumes everyone wears in the issue. Steph is spoiler, Cass is Orphan, Tim is Red Robin, Red Hood has yet to don his solo Outlaw uniform, and Barbara is Batgirl.

I can’t name a specific issue for Damian’s 13th birthday, but it’s canonical that Damian turned 14 in his solo Robin series, Robin (2021) while he was off finding himself before the Lazarus Tournament, and since then, there’s been the Shadow War, Batman Vs Robin, Dark Crisis event somewhere around there, the Lazarus Planet event, Gotham War, DC Knight Terrors, and Beast World event, which catches us up to the modern day world.

Since Damian hasn’t yet turned 15 despite ALL of that going on, and is still for now at least, 14, that means Tim and Steph are 20, Jason is 23, and Dick is 29.

I know I mentioned Cass and Babs, and I would love to give you a proper age for them but I don’t know where to place them in DC canon like I do the others, however people do commonly place Cass roughly around the same age as Jason making her 22 or 23, and Babs tends towards being 6-8 years older than Dick, although that is an age gap DC has been slowly bridging over the years. Still, I put her at 35 years old. I don’t have a reference for Duke Thomas either, but he’s commonly placed as being two years younger than Tim making him 18 currently.

Lastly, I bring back the arbitrary number of 15, given that that is the number of years that separate Dick and Damian, I also use that age gap between Dick and Bruce—meaning that Bruce took Dick in when he was 25, and placing Bruce at 44 years old in main continuity.

Overall Ages Currently:

Bruce Wayne: 44

Barbara Gordon: 35

Dick Grayson: 29

Jason Todd: 23

Cassandra Cain: 22

Tim Drake: 20

Stephanie Brown: 20

Duke Thomas: 18

Damian Wayne: 14

[punkeropercyjackson]

Stephanie Brown has such fucking girlproblems.I'm being dead serious,not joking or mocking.Her dad was abusive emotionally and psychically and her mom was a drug addict who had to rely on her in a significant amount of places but when she recovered she was able to be a proper parent to her and there's a strong emphasis in their relathionship to them finding solidarity in being abused by the same man who had position of power over them as a husband and a father respectively.She's autistic and never learned how to mask so growing up until Robin 1993,she had no real friends and all the other kids thought she was a freak and isolated her on purpose when she's always been such a kind and upbeat person who does her best at everything

She turned to sexualizing herself and letting men exploit her because that's what society teaches girls entering puberty how you earn your worth and become a true woman.At only 15,she mocks a 14 year old Tim for being a virgin as she reveals she's now a teen mom.Her boyfriend who got her pregnant is implied to be 18/19 and SHE is shamed instead of him when she was a fucking child and even more vulnerable than normal children and he was GROWN.Tim has plenty of mistreatment thrown at him too but he's gotten praise and care Stephanie did has because he's a boy unlike her.Bruce literally picked on her as Batman and Robin and he still got to be with her in her last moments instead of her mom or her loving and protective boyfriend or her best friend who was first female friend she made fullstop and gaslight her about seeing her as a real Robin to save his own ass and NEVER EVER faces consequences for it

Almso NOBODY ever appreciates her instead of making fun of or hating her in-universe AND out of universe.Slade,the military member who's creator stated his core character is a pedophile who abuses kids even non-sexually,has more solo runs than her and is given more sympathy too.She's so much like Roy in personality and has her own homoerotic childhood superhero best friends relathionship too that parallels his and Dick's so much that 'Stephcass and Dickroy are the same ship in different font' should be a very common DC take but what excites people in him disgusts them with her and Roy isn't even allowed to be with the one he actually loves in favor of the man who ruined his life and comics history.Now isn't that ironic?Does how Jason treat him mean Roy is 'female-coded' now?

Like bffr-You as a woman stanning and especially being attracted to a male character dosen't magically mean he's a woman.And this ain't about transfems because this is peak cis fandom brainrot girl mentality and to white tboys,know that Stephanie is infinitely more interesting and trans swag filled than whatever basic white boy protag you claim is trans and make up a nonexistent personality for as you ignore canon queer poc and that Jason's cast is of women and characters of color with his story never being a trans metaphor but about poverty,trauma and mental illness.He's not for your bigoted lil asses and more importantly,Stephanie is not your jester.HER story is about girlhood and the suffering it brings but also the joy too.Stephanie Brown is my everything and she is to tons of other women as well,not just a nothing to you.Work on that shit instead of your smut wips

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

My Jason Todd Rec List and Character Manifesto! (Edited and updated 28/01/2024)

This is a fuckin mess my ghouls, but I got categories and I got opinions and who can stop me from typing em out? Certainly not @lazaruspiss who is the reason this thing got made!

The format is gonna be

title and page numbers (No #s if I'm recommending the whole title) picture Summary and general notes My estimate of how unhinged he is in this portrayal What his morals are like; note this isn't about whether he's a protagonist or antagonist

Since cream rises to the top, let us start with:

The Creme de la Creme

The best of the best. The most fun, the most compelling, the most interesting looks into his character.

Green Arrow (2001) #69 - #72

This one really does have it all. Jason runs rings around both Batman and Green Arrow at the same time, all the while going after a goal neither of them ever truly figures out in large part because this story wasn't afraid to let Bruce be either wrong or lying about Jason's motives. It also wonderfully leverages the ways in which the Bats and the Arrows are really good foils for each other. I think I'm going to be turning over the ways these interactions went down for a long ass time. I've been really wanting to go page by page for a comparison between the way Jason treats Mia in this and the way Jason treats Tim in the Titans Tower showdown. Bottom line for this one: It's just so good!

Jason's sanity level: Six out of Ten hinges affixed. He's got a solid grip on things, is reasonably level headed, only problem is he might have completely forgotten how to interact with other human beings outside of combat. Love him for that.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Sympathetic Villain. Decidedly willing to mow down some "brain donors", and his goals are pretty morally grey, but he clearly still has a strong code of ethics.

Joker: the Man Who Stopped Laughing

With Jason's return to being an antagonist after a long stint in the Hero bin comes his return to being really fucking dangerous and whip smart! My boy quotes serious philosophy that gives him a real point to make against non lethal vigilantes and cops! I also think the part where he lets himself be arrested just... it says so much and all of it is wonderfully interesting and feels fitting for his character. He's kept deeply human, and just all of this portrayal gels together really well.

At the time of writing, this comic isn't finished yet, so I'm going off of like 12 issues in which he appears less than the Joker, but what is there is phenomenal, even with Gotham War having... Minorly Derailed Jason's role in things, and one or two inevitable scenes where ya just have to accept that he's not as trigger happy as he should be because DC is married to the Joker.

Also I like that he's friends with my favorite, Stephanie Brown :3 and he and Rose's chemistry is nice. On top of all that? It's a fun comic. Like, I generally hate the Joker, but I found myself enjoying watching the Joker do his Joker things in this one.

Jason's sanity level: Nine out of Ten hinges affixed. Level headed, calm, careful, really the only reason this isn't a 10/10 is cause he's obsessively focused, which like, honestly is pretty reasonable I think.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Clearly Justified Antihero. I almost put down Hero on this one, but ultimately he is just far enough over the line with how he treats the less threatening of the rogues like Killer Moth.

Batman (1940) #408 - #411 Jason's debut featuring Ma Gunn's School and his first ever outing as Robin fighting Two-Face

Just LOOK at this PRECIOUS BOY! I wanna pinch him on his cheeks and give him a handful of these bad boys

Jason has a ton of personality to him right out the gate. The first story has Ma Gunn as the villain and she's a lot of fun. The second story in here with Two-Face is also enlightening with regards to Jason's early personality, even if it's not quite as fun.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Hero.

Under the Red Hood would be next if it wasn't already filed under ->

Foundational Texts

This is the shit that defines Jason as a character. Much is mutable in any given comic, but somehow, someway, all depictions of Jason are impacted and informed by these three stories. Enough has been said about all of them that I'm gonna keep it brief.

Red Hood: The Lost Days

Jason's sanity level: Eight out of Ten hinges affixed.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Antihero. He kills some incredibly nasty people, while also doing some genuinely heroic shit. The only places where his morals deteriorate are in the presence of Batman and the Joker.

Under the Red Hood

Jason's sanity level: Four out of Ten hinges affixed. Remember how his morals deteriorated in the face of Batman and the Joker? Yeah, that's mostly because he's way, way too personally invested to think straight about them. He's strategic as fuck, but this is not a stable man's strategy for dealing with his issues.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Sympathetic Villain. He is a revenant, a vengeful juggernaut, and breaks an awful lot of eggs making this brilliant disaster of an omelette.

Batman (1940) #426 - #429 A Death in the Family

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Hero.

Joker becoming an ambassador to Iran plotlines count: One too many.

Solid Storylines

These ain't the vaulted heights, but not everything has to be the Sistine Chapel. They're solid, and if you're wanting more Jason I do certainly recommend them.

Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer and Countdown to Infinite Crisis

Jason is in what I like to call his Purposeless Depression Era during this. It's after his plans in Under the Red Hood fail and he's really just got no place to go, no place to be, and in fact is keenly aware that on a cosmic level, he truly does not belong in this world anymore. He's supposed to be dead. There's something I find quite neat about this team up, with Donna Troy and Kyle Raynor and Bob, it's out of the ordinary for Jason, it's not bat related, and the ways he fits and doesn't fit with the other characters are just neat.

I especially recommend Gotham by Gaslight. The plot will be a lil hard to follow if you haven't read the others, but Jason by the end hopes to return to Victorian Era Steampunk Gotham and the moments of him hoping to literally leave his universe behind are both sweet and sorrowful.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed. He's just sad and lonely.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Hero. Even if only Donna is willing to tentatively try to see him that way.

Robin (1993) #177 and one page of #182 and the front half of #183

Despite how much Jason is known for it, I think this is the only time we see him trying to run organized crime outside of Under the Red Hood (and uh debatably Battle for the Cowl). Short lil string of appearances, but critical for understanding how he's seen by Tim during this era if you care about that, and it really cemented my understanding of Jason being strangely honest and forthright.

I think the major way other Bats fail to comprehend him is that they expect him to manipulate through lying, which just isn't his style. He doesn't lie about his motives; he doesn't obfuscate his tactics; he doesn't hide how he's feeling. Hell, he doesn't even try to lie his way out of prison! I could not tell you why this series of interactions gave me this impression but it is why I have such faith that when Jason says something, he probably just means it, even when characters like Dick or Tim assume otherwise.

Pity this was the lead up to Battle for the Cowl.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed. He's even attempting to pick himself up out of his Purposeless Depression Era slump at the start.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Antihero.

Nightwing (1996) #118 - #122 aka Brothers in Blood aka the One Where Jason Gets Tentacles

COWARDS and KNAVES will tell you "the tentacles are so icky and everyone is so OOC" or whatever but again they are KNAVES and COWARDS because bitch this shit is GREAT

Jason: Wow! My bestest big brother killed someone who deserved it, so now I (the person he's rejecting only because I kill people who deserved it) have a real chance at being his family again!! :D Hooray! :) Dickie-Bird why don't you look happy to see me? :) Dickie-Bird I went out of my way to get us matching outfits and stalked your work and killed people in your name so it's nice and easy to make room for me in your life! :) :) :)

Dick:

Jason's sanity level: Two out of Ten hinges affixed. My mans is off his rocker and I adore him like this. Frankly, the entire storyline is unhinged, and it only feels appropriate that Jason is similarly bonkers in yonkers.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Villain. You can sympathize with him, and he is still trying to carry out justice, but I have to call it for straight villain when he's threatening to bomb a building full of innocent people.

Batman and Robin (2009) #23 - #25

I don't have much to say about this one. It's good. The above page is pretty much the highlight.

Wait actually I do have something to say and it is that I would like to lick Jason's abs, pls & thx, because the other highlight is that Winick clearly believes in redeeming Jason's value as a villain through sex appeal and it is working lmao

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed. Certifiably sane, he's passed all his psych exams!

Jason's moral compass bearing: Villain. He threatens to bomb a train station full of innocent people. While he does do that in service of freeing himself and Scarlet, thus making it not completely self centered, I still gotta put him firmly in Villain.

Nightwing (2016) 2021 Annual

In high contrast to the previous two in which Jason acts as a villain to Dick, this one has them working together and the tentative peace and cautious trust they've got going is interesting to me. This Team Z era Jason is interesting to me in general, though I don't know much about him.

Jason's sanity level: Nine out of Ten hinges affixed. He's quite chill, but there's just this little edge to him that says his relationship to violence is a little too casual a little too deep to really be fully hinged.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Edgy Hero.

Your Mileage May Vary

These stories I can't recommend without major caveats or warnings, but I still think are worth mentioning.

Gotham War (It's such a mangled mess that I'm just gonna link a reading guide.)

So, the main problem here is that Gotham War spans five different titles and had three different authors whose renditions of Jason do not feel cohesive or even coherent. The funny thing is though, each rendition has real merits, and while it doesn't go far enough in condemning Bruce's horrifying treatment of Jason for many people's tastes, I have to point out that it's one of the only comics to condemn an instance of Bruce mistreating Jason at all. The fact that the other Robins come to his defense is a HUGE thing! The bar may be in Hell, but it did clear the bar!

Due to how disjointed it is, I'm going to very loosely separate Jason out into two versions of himself. Think of these not as hard lines, but more a spectrum he slides across depending on what author has him that issue.

Jason Primus combines the ideas in Jason's Under the Red Hood speech about controlling crime rather than trying to stomp it out with his more Heroic modern interpretation. He's a chill, funny, smart guy whose protectiveness over the mooks is really charming.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed. Jason's moral compass bearing: Hero.

Jason Secundus is much more violent, not used to working with other people, and paranoid and antsy in a way that causes him to take it out on people who really don't deserve it. This is a compelling take on him, though I like him closer to Jason Primus. His trauma has clearly shaped him a lot, both for better and for worse.

Jason's sanity level: Seven out of Ten hinges affixed. Jason's moral compass bering: Anti-Hero, most of this focuses on him antagonizing two former Joker goons which kinda doesn't work well cause they're mostly scarecrow goons actually and also at one point he hurts them in a way that borderline just seems like stress relief. It's nothing worse than what we see Batman himself doing countless times, but it's still jarring because we've been made to strongly sympathize with the goon in question.

Batman: Three Jokers <- I read it while typing this up, so I got a lotta thoughts

Guh, this one is just fucking sad

So, I don't mind a story being blunt with its message as long as the message actually holds up. Unfortunately, this three parter's attempt at the cycle of violence lesson is... bad. Real bad.

Jason in it is neat! This is a good Jason portrayal somehow despite literally everything about the way this comic frames him! The narrative expects us to believe he is a danger to society on the cusp of becoming another Joker, because he *checks notes* shot the Joker dead, shot at a Joker loyal guy, and roughly interrogated an injured child abuser. At no point does he show signs of wanting to hurt innocent people. At no point does he show signs of doing any hurting without premeditation or a need to defend himself. I'm baffled by this.

My kingdom for a fucking CRUMB of nuance, I swear, smh...

I hear a lot of people hate his one sided romance towards Barbara. This is understandable as it squanders the opportunity to have a female character not be stuck as the narrative sponge for man emotions. I like it from the perspective of a Jason fan, and give condolences for the Barbara fans. It's not healthy, and good fucking job on the janitor sweeping away his letter to her so poor Babs doesn't have to deal with that shit, but I do like Jason's desperation to be loved by someone, anyone, who might show him compassion.

Jason's sanity level: Six out of Ten hinges affixed. He's sad, he's lonely, he needs some PTSD specific therapy, he's a bit creepy about his crush on Barbara, but quite frankly he has it together a lot more than the narrative would like us to believe. The way the other characters treat him like he's some kind of monster just waiting to snap and start maiming people indiscriminately makes me really uncomfortable.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Antihero. Quite frankly I'm tempted to say Hero out of spite.

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016) #1 - #43

There are three transcendental character moments in this run that I think make it worth reading even if not all of it's your cup of tea. On the other hand though there are some big issues that could very easily be deal breakers. Oh and anything after #43 is a wasteland and #43 is included purely for the implication that being transgender made a woman immortal.

The narrative structure is really heavily dependent on rule of emotional impact/cool/allegorical usefulness. Many events will not make any fucking sense based on petty things like basic logic or the laws of physics, but they do work just fine in the area of what makes the story more fun or the emotional beats hit harder. Stronger than average suspension of disbelief is necessary for the reward of getting a lot of stuff that's, like, just really fuckin cool.

The romantic side plot with Artemis is... odd. Either the author, Scott Lobdell, intended to write Jason as a desperate loser trying to date his uninterested lesbian friend who he co-parents with, or he accidentally wrote a romance so awkward and comp-het that I cannot wrap my head around reading it as reciprocated. This works for me because I have a lot of fun reading Jason as a desperate loser who's not even actually in love with her, he just is desperate to cling to the closest thing he's ever gotten to a nuclear family and in denial about being either aro/ace or gay.

Now, lets explore a lil bit of the whole Jason is a loser angle, cause it's not the whole story, there are many points in which Jason gets to be a badass motherfucker, but he is much, much less of the hypercompetant, highly determined, murderous threat he used to be. Almost none of the newer renditions of Jason are. This Jason in particular though is very soft and cuddly, and fits the archetype of man trying to be the edgy bad boy but who secretly just wants a hug and a warm glass of milk.

If I were to describe my personal Jason in a few sentences I would say that he is someone who loves himself viciously. He feels he has been wronged and is willing to burn down the world to rectify that. He will hold your ass at gunpoint and demand the hugs and warm glasses of milk that he fucking well deserves!

This Jason is about as far away from that as you can possibly get. I still like him though, and I do not count him as being a different character, because when you start with emotional logic that goes like this:

It wasn't my fault + I deserve better = I get to burn the world down in order to get better

It becomes extremely difficult to ever stop burning the world without also deciding "It was my fault" or "I don't deserve better". Jason is meant to have changed a lot, and this is a plausible evolution of the Jason I prefer.

Finally, the handling of Bizarro, a mentally disabled character, is a sensitive enough topic that your mileage will vary, even if I can't think of a bad thing to say about it. Jason and Artemis are really pretty good about treating him with respect, giving him help where he needs it and autonomy where he's capable of taking it. They raise him, but don't control him, and he is literally three days old when they find him so this isn't infantilization. It takes the framing of Lenny from of Mice and Men and Flowers for Algernon and rejects them in a way that I am satisfied with. You'll just have to read it for yourself to see if you're satisfied as well.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed. I kinda wish he was more unhinged.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Hero. He even saves a puppy and gives them pats.

Knight Terrors: Robin

Have you ever been in the mood for a syrupy sweet hurt/comfort fanfiction in which Jason and Tim were magically forced to talk about how much they like each other in order to overcome their own insecurities? Do you wish that existed as a lavishly illustrated two issue comic?

If you answered yes to those two questions then congratulations! It does exist, this is it, go have fun!

If you think that sounds like ham fisted garbage turning what should be several long arcs of serious reconciliation and deeply meaningful character moments into two issue fan service schlock then condolences! I wish you all the best in denial, as all comic fans sail that river sooner or later and I shall join you upon it someday.

What category do I fall into? Well I think this is definitely ham fisted, but I won't kick a boar out of bed as long as they ain't a bore, and this little ditty is certainly entertaining.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed.

Jason't moral compass bearing: Hero.

Batman and Robin Eternal

This is a decent portrayal of Jason in his modern, much friendlier, and much more bat family integrated rendition. He has some fun moments in it, and I like his staby bracers.

I don't like this comic. It commits the most dire of writing sins: Being boring. I think about Jason every second of every minute of every day; if your comic that majorly features a good portrayal of him cannot hold my attention, then something has gone very wrong. Hopefully one of you will like it more than I do.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Hero.

Suicide Squad: Get Joker! (Content warning for suicide, skip to the hot take if this'll get to ya - also spoiler warning cuz I can't discuss this properly without discussing the ending)

A three issue miniseries in which Jason is inducted into the Suicide Squad on a mission to kill the Joker. He's highly competent as a team leader, grounded, intelligent, and uses measured violence in a way that is satisfyingly tactical. The squad they threw together honestly has some pretty neat chemistry as a whole, and the characters were appropriately messy and quite likable.

This isn't higher on the list because it thinks it earned it's ambiguous ending, and frankly, it's wrong about that. Ambiguous endings live and die by the question they make the audience sit with - It has to be worth losing out on the emotional payoff of a solid ending.

The question of "If you left Jason in a room with the Joker and a gun with one bullet, would he shoot the Joker or himself?" is a really shitty question. Like, did the authors not realize that just on a logistical level, Jason could leave the room and find a second bullet after shooting the Joker? Like, seriously, even if we accept the premise that Joker's speech got to Jason, there are no reasons for him not to choose the "both" option. The only way I can imagine this working is if the Joker is actually the fucking Purple Man from Jessica Jones using mind control.

So we exchanged the validation of literally all our protagonists' struggles/sacrifices paying off for... the vague implication that Jason unforgivably betrayed his teammates, himself, and the entire world because he was so eager to die that he couldn't wait ten fucking minutes. If I loved the Joker I might feel differently about it, but as is, I felt insulted.

This would have been Solid Storylines or maybe even Creme de la Creme if not for that implication. It's not boring though! The rest of it up to the end is honestly pretty damn good, if a bit convoluted, and much of the ending's sour taste can be assuaged by getting out a sheet of paper and doodling Jason opening Joker's head with a handgun and then going out for icecream with the team.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed. He's a sad, sad lad tho.

Jason's Moral Compass Bearing: Anti-Hero, forced to be much more violent than he wants to be.

A Hot Take

I bet you thought the tentacles were the hot take! HAH! MuahahaahhHAHAHAH - Prepare now, puny mortals, to witness me defend Pill Helmet Jason AND his fashion choices!

No, I am not talking about Winick's redo late in the game, we've already been over that one. I mean I will defend Grant Morrison's flop era, three foot head gear wearin, goofy ass, unwashed ass, "how to build ur brand" reading maniac

It's time to talk about Batman and Robin (2009) #1 - #6

The interpretation of one scene makes or breaks this Jason:

If you believe he is being insincere and manipulating her into putting all her emotional eggs in the basket of his crusade, ignoring her wellbeing in favor of his 'brand', then this is probably the worst mischaracterization of Jason ever written.

If you believe he is being sincere, genuinely comforting her in the only way that he's got to deal with his own trauma, giving her real affection and not pushing her to take either option with the mask because he trusts her to make that decision for herself, then this gets Jason very right.

No matter what Morrison might have intended, I choose to believe it's the latter. This is terrible advice to give a trauma victim, but it makes perfect sense for Jason to believe that about his own trauma, and thus to pass that maladaptive view along. He doesn't try to assure her that the mask can come off safely or that he'll get her a doctor because he really can't promise her either of those things. It would be cruel to her to pretend that he's got a solution. Jason can't undo the damage that was done to her any more than he can force a dead Bruce to kill the Joker.

Instead he offers her purpose, and reassurance that she's gonna look badass if she never does take it off, and protects her when she's in trouble.

You can claim this is just him acting out his chosen Hero role, but like, WHY would he have chosen to method act that role 24/7 if he wasn't trying to BE a Hero who protects people like Scarlet? There's nothing in it for Jason to fake this.

I also think if he was being written out of character as a manipulator we would have seen him use a romantic or sexual angle which he absolutely doesn't do.

Dickie, you are such a funny Batman, they never shoulda brought Bruce back tbh.

Instead, he seems to be taking a more parental role, in a near perfect reflection of how Bruce took him in when he was a kid. Just he's doing it his way, meaning that whenever Scarlet goes further with the violence than Jason seems to want to, he backs her up instead of chastising her.

Speaking of violence and morals, Let the Punishment Fit the Crime is a coherent moral position to take, even if you (understandably) disagree with it, or disagree with what punishments fit which crimes. It's basically the same moral position as every other version of Jason there's ever been! Like, is he even killing more people than he used to in stories like Under the Red Hood? No, I don't think he is.

The branding thing is weird, lil annoying too after a while, but ultimately it still makes sense. And brings me around to my promised defense of his fashion choices.

First of all the symbolic importance of the fact that he wears white cannot be overstated in my mind. Will I elaborate? No, this post is way too long already lmao! Second off, it's supposed to be silly. I believe the silliness was a conscious, calculated choice, and the right one to make.

Jason doesn't believe that fear works, he's not trying for pure intimidation, and he knows that he's going to have to appeal to people in his bid to be seen as a Hero. Making himself seem big but non-threatening, a bright patch in the night, makes real sense.

Take a look at this view of Jason from Scarlet's POV when he comes to rescue her from the cops after she kills her dad:

He's got a smoking gun in his hand and he just shot two people dead, yet we're hard fuckin pressed to find him intimidating aren't we?? Cornball dialogue, and the silliest fuckin hat in the universe, because he's not meant to be from this era, he's emulating the Golden and Silver age comics and all their goofiness. He's trying to be the older, happier, sillier batman that used to exist (at least in his head), while doing what he believes is right and necessary.

The costume makes sense dammit!

Also it just doesn't look bad, I can't provide an argument for this, it's just true!!

Also also every one of these fuckers should be wearing a helmet too, this is basic brain safety, if you're gonna go around antagonizing fuckers with guns you need to make your head at least nominally bulletproof, it's that simple!!!

Now... do I recommend you read this? (This section was rewritten on January 28th, 2024)

Yes, with significant caveats. There's a reason I chunked this in with YMMV.

First is the Batman typical ableism of just really fucked depictions of mental illness. I normally wouldn't warn for this because everyone knows most of the rogues and will be aware of what they bring to the table, but Professor Pyg is obscure enough I wouldn't expect people to know, and the way he's written just... hurts. Like there's just something about him that is painful to read as someone that's got several schizophrenic friends who are near and dear to my heart. I would hesitate to recommend it to any of them the same way I'd hesitate to recommend Silence of the Lambs to most other trans people.

Secondly this comic is Extremely Gay (a definite positive!) however it is Extremely Gay in a way that kinda requires some onboarding and analysis to properly parse and that is actually why this post was edited:

The first time I read this comic, my impression was that it was vitriolically homophobic. Considering that at the time I had heard many things about Grant Morrison, and none of them good, I went with my gut. I put here that while I would defend Jason's characterization, I couldn't in good faith recommend something so bigoted, detailed what felt bigoted, and went on with my day.

Then a while later I saw a post that I suspect was talking about this one saying something along the lines of "How the hell could you call Grant Morrison, who gave us so many of our most iconic gay characters, homophobic? The racism and such I can understand but homophobic? No."

To which my initial response was a resounding: Wha??? Like, genuinely how was I supposed to read this and not get homophobia out of it?? But I went and looked Morrison up and yeah sure enough the guy's queer so I dug deeper and mulled it over until I figured out what the fuck I was missing. So, this section is a correction and an apology about that earlier homophobia claim. Sorry about that.

The styling of this queerness are highly akin to that of the John Waters movie Pink Flamingos which I'll let Matt Baume explain better than I ever could. This guy right here is pretty much the perfect example, Hell, he's even literally named The Flamingo.

Essentially it's queerness is all aggressive, unapologetic, and designed to be provocatively shocking, which can be jarring if you're not ready to flow with it. Also he likely had to arrange a lot of things to get around censorship, same as Judd Winick did. For instance the fact that Dick spoke the same circus lingo as the police precinct destroying troupe of Very Queer Freakshow Workers was meant to imply that Dick is Very Queer too. Pretty sure he would've said that in a far less convoluted way if he could've.

So, with the bulk of my initial reservations about this comic disproven... I have no choice but to straight up recommend it to anyone who thinks they can jive with this vibe of storytelling!

Jason's sanity level: One out of Ten hinges affixed. Obsessive, not taking care of himself, possessed of some really maladaptive trauma coping frameworks, completely unhinged. My condolences to his mental health, but I do love to see it.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Antihero. It's weird because this is undeniably a much darker comic, and Jason certainly feels darker, but in terms of what he actually does, and what the other characters do, his violence is honestly very tame.

So, cards on the table, here is the core of who Jason is to me:

He's got clear moral motives and a drive to help as well as harm, though violence and harm are the main ways in which he tries to improve the world.

When confronted he does not back down; he does not let himself be overshadowed or silenced. He is confident in his decisions and every bit of push back is already accounted for in his head.

Everything he does is premeditated. He is not impulsive. His plans may sometimes be unhinged but they are methodically planned.

He is painfully sincere, the way fire is painfully hot.

He desperately desires love and connection, but it will take many years of constant rejection and fighting before he is willing to accept any kind of compromise to his ethics for the sake of civility.

Under all the hurt and combativeness, he's a pretty goofy guy! He's got a sense of fun and likes to be flamboyant and silly when he can!

He's a villain, a hero, a protagonist, an antagonist, and everything between the extremes. He exists as a powerful counter-thesis to Batman, and as such DC can't ever fully answer the question of what to do with him. He exists in this waffling limbo state as his morals are debated, stretched, refuted, turned on their head. I think that makes him a wonderfully fascinating character to love.

I hope you enjoyed this and, like, go have fun reading comics!

[aipens]

Every Robin has a Batgirl.

It first started with Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon. However briefly, Tim Drake and Stephanie Brown followed, as did Damien Wayne and Cassandra Cain.

But where does that leave the second Robin? He, too, deserves someone that gets him. Because, though he tries so hard to do well in school, none of his peers are anyone he can call his friends. He’s simply too different from them.

As exciting as this new life is, both as Jason and as Robin, it is also lonely.

So why not give him some reprieve?

Allow Batman to cross ways with a spunky, fiery brat. Someone that doesn’t cower before him, even as he looks down at her, menacing as ever. Maybe she was engaging in some petty crime, bumping into all sorts of Gothamites and clearing their pockets of anything of value without them noticing. It’s probably an entirely too common sight— for all the good Bruce Wayne tries to do for his city, not everyone gets enough.

But playing thief puts food on the table. The motions are smooth and practiced, like she’s been doing this for months, at least. Maybe she has.

Any other time, perhaps he might’ve been more strict. But the unfazed look in her eyes, even as the city’s Dark Knight himself corners her is telling enough of her character, and a man like him can see beyond the raggedy clothes and the grime on her cheek— if nothing else, there’s potential for growth and, in their field, that is everything.

Let the news be dumped on Jason. Let initial skepticism at the prospect of a partner evolve into cautious interest, then competitive enthusiasm. He’s always been an independent, headstrong guy. Why is there a need for another sidekick? Is this some half-assed attempt to replace him?

Or maybe, it is more of a challenge. A means to prove himself to Bruce, outperforming her and establishing himself as the better choice.

And, above all, let her match that energy. Allow that feeling of being undermined to make way for camaraderie. He, too, can recognize that if Grayson had a batgirl, it’s only right he gets one, too. Allow his forced partner to become his ally, even if reluctantly. And from there, let him earn a dear friend.

Let them grow together, as vigilantes and as people. Let them share their backgrounds, and bond over common experiences.

As he grows from an ever-happy boy to one far more critical of Batman and his methods, keep Batgirl as this constant source of lightheartedness to balance his own brooding nature. Let their banter and jokes help them both cope with the darkness of their work.

Let him have someone to reach out to about fears and vulnerabilities. Because, for as grateful as he is to Bruce, he is often the object of his grievances. In cases like those, her presence is always welcome. In turn, let him feel relied on when she returns the favor and seeks him out for comfort. He’s hardly anyone’s first choice, and he knows that much.

But also, let him realize some special sort of feelings may be starting to flourish. Let him grapple with whether or not it’s best to remain silent as the idea of a crush settles in. As he sorts himself out, let him question if saying anything will be worth it at all.

It’s innocent and has that juvenile quality to it. Let him become hyper-aware of her presence. Let the familiar closeness make him bashful, but not enough to deter him from looking for any and every opportunity to spend time with her. He’s not unlike a peacock, sometimes, showing off his feather to impress her. Grand movements during a fight during patrol together, followed by undertones of self-consciousness if she calls him out on being a show-off. Toning it up with the wit and the charm, and always checking to see if he’s at least earned a small laugh. Perhaps he’ll even try to play the act of the chivalrous gentleman… to an extent. Not pulling out a chair for her, or anything. That seems too obvious. More like prioritizing her safety, and readily offering support.

He tries hard to put himself in a favorable light. To someone like Batman or Alfred, the flashy behavior might be entirely too conspicuous. But indeed, he does well in showcasing himself and catching her eye. For as long as they’ve worked together, she’s known him to be rather fearless. (Although, when it comes to him, that’s pretty synonymous with reckless). He’s a reliable, quick thinker, and can be charismatic when he’s not being broody. Let her return those feelings.

And, lastly, let him resolve to be true to himself and tell her soon, but not soon enough.

Let him fall into the Joker’s grasp before he can try to do anything. Have him endure great suffering at the hands of his captor, and isolate him from the world. Let him grow frustrated at his situation, and have him long for home. Even as he lies beaten and broken, allow him some solace in his memories of before. He deserves that small comfort.

On her end, allow her to remain hopeful of finding him, no matter how long’s passed. And, even if her mentor has accepted Robin’s death, let her hold on to the possibility that that might not be the case. In consequence, however, let her grow resentful of Bruce and his apparent lack of compassion for his own son. Let Bruce shield her from the recordings of his Robin getting beaten down. He knows how much those two care for each other. Let him try to protect at least one of them.

Let her assume that the appearance of the small Tim Drake is Bruce’s quick acceptance of the absurd idea that Jason isn’t coming back to them— to her. Let her grow angry. Let her snap at Bruce for failing them both, and let their relationship forever remain severed.

Even as months pass, she will do her best to find him. But then again, if the world’s best detective failed, what can you expect this Batgirl to do?

Let the first real interaction in months between Batgirl and Batman to occur upon receiving news of Robin’s whereabouts. Let them both rush off to that damned warehouse, and let Jason’s final thought be that he hears a familiar call of his name as everything explodes around him.

Let Bruce return home, having lost two members of his family. One to death’s hands, and one to grief and anger. Let her run and vow to never return, blaming Batman for having failed them both, and let Batman be powerless before his own losses.

[eggplantwaffles]

i think a big problem with modern batfam comics is that they have so many characters that kinda just overlap- here’s my ideas for how to give each of them their own “niche” to make them unique. Some of this is canon or alluded to is some way- but a lot is just what i think makes sense for each character.

Bruce Wayne

Bruce retires, it’s the only way to give all his kids / kid adjacents their own chance to shine. i’m sure he grumbles about it and watches from the bat cave obsessively, but i’m the end he’s learned to trust the batfam and lets them take care of things.

Dick Grayson

I actually really like where Dick is at in comics right now, i mean it’s not perfect- but I like the idea of Nightwing being a “better” version of Batman for Blüdhaven. He leads the Titans, which are now on par pedigree wise with the Justice League, and as Dick Grayson he is an active member of the community in Blüdhaven, trying to use all his resources to help people. So basically not much changes here.

Barbara Gordon

This one’s easy, just make her Oracle all the time- in the most bad dads way possible. Give me paralyzed Barbara Gordon who has eyes and ears all over the world and is the center of ALL super hero activity. She leads the Birds of Prey, she’s in the ears of all the bats, she’s IT for the Justice League- she does all of it.

Jason Todd

I liked Jason’s character best when he serves as an antagonist. Jason goes back to being a crime lord, and we bring back his ideals of trying to control the crime as opposed to trying to stop it. Jason has good intentions, but he lacks the idealism of the other bats who are constantly trying to save the city without compromising any morals. I think that Jason often butts heads with Tim and Cass (mostly Cass due to her very strict no killing rule) but is mostly left alone by Steph and Damian, who are more willing to accept his methods even if they don’t love them.

Tim Drake

Tim should travel the world “conspiracy hunting,” kind of like how he took down the League of Assassins, except he probably chills out on the blowing up bases all around the world that might (definitely) have people inside. Tim is supposed to be the best detective of the Robins, so lean into that- I want globe trotting - mentally unwell - detective stories where Tim fights big secret organizations or takes down corrupt governments. He is also still apart of Young Justice, though they are all a bit older and are a less official group, the core four are still close and work together- they help keep Tim grounded and remember that he doesn’t have to do everything alone.

Stephanie Brown

I think Stephanie kind of separates herself from the batfamily after her time as Batgirl. I don’t mean that she give up fighting crime, or even gives up wearing the bat symbol, I just mean that she becomes a mostly solo act. Steph becomes Gothams main hero, she does normal vigilante stuff, patrolling the streets, saving the city, detective work, the typical bat stuff. But she’s far more connected to the people of Gotham than Batman ever was, stopping and talking to kids, handing out blankets to the homeless, doing cool flips and batarang trick shots for civilians passing by. Eventually she is the hero most Gothamites associate with their city, and she represents the good parts of Gotham- giving the people hope that they aren’t doomed to be consumed by the city, but that they will be stronger because of it. I also think that things are kinda awkward between her and the bats (except for Dick, Damian, and Barbara) and she tries to keep her distance a bit, considering she was kinda treated like shit as Spoiler and i think Steph deserves to be bitter about that, for a little bit at least.

Cass

Cass becomes Batman, but she operates globally. She’s not like early-Bruce batman who stayed in Gotham, she’s more similar to later batman. She’s in the league, she goes on funky missions to space or other dimensions sometimes, she fights the world ending threats that someone with no powers really should have no business fighting. She also works frequently with Tim and they do some fun little espionage stuff. And while she does return to Gotham, she’s mostly content to leave the city to Steph now- except for all the times she gets into fights with Jason, it bothers her that Steph rarely messes with his operation.

Damian

I really love the idea of Damian getting more into the magical part of DC, I think he should absolutely end up with a Justice League Dark team and learn to do cool magic shit. He goes on a training montage quest like Bruce did, except he’s learning all about magic and demons and cool stuff like that. He has cool magic swords and is sort of the connection between the more grounded part of the universe and the magic parts. He also does a fair bit of globe trotting, looking for ancient mystical artifacts or magical worlds and stuff like that.

Duke Thomas

Duke also mostly stays in Gotham, he’s kinda doing his own thing as The Signal- he still operates during the daytime meaning he doesn’t cross paths with Steph or Jason too often on patrol. There’s not much to change here because Duke is already unique in that he 1- operates during the day and 2- is the only meta-bat, so I don’t need to make a niche for him, DC just needs to use him more.

Random Stuff

- Duke is starting college and takes night classes at Gotham U, Steph is also still in college and is graduating soon

- Tim is either Red Robin, or operating under a new name (I think the Vulture or Condor would be kinda cool but idk)

- The Batfam does not get along like a real family, they are dramatic bitches who fight all the time and have cannot all be in the same room

- Damian and Steph are super close, she was the first person to insist on treating him like a child, which he hated but now that he’s older is grateful for (but he’ll never admit it)

- Damian also sees Dick as his father figure, Bruce is just kinda also there

- Bruce, Alfred, Damian, and Cass all live at the manor- but Damian and Cass are rarely there as they travel a lot and got shit to do

- Barbara lives in the clock tower, she technically lives alone but usually one of Cass, Dick, Dinah, or Helena will be crashing there

- Steph lives alone in the same house she grew up in, her Mom has moved to California or something for a fresh start as she is finally sober, but at this point Steph doesn’t need her. It’s very sad as Steph never truly had a mother, but she’s happy that Crystal is getting another chance away from Gotham.

- Duke swears he’s seen Jason at night classes at Gotham U, but Jason won’t admit it

- The only ones Jason talks to semi-frequently are Dick and Tim, the relationships are super rocky though. Dick sees Jason as his brother first, and since he’s in Blüdhaven he tries not to concern himself with Jason’s business. Tim and Jason do fight a bit but Tim is more lenient than Cass so he can tolerate Jason’s shit if he feels like it’s for the best.

[leoleolovesdc]

If I got the final say on Batman movies we’d have a whole film about Stephanie Brown and Bruce Wayne as the Dynamic Duo

Imagine this: Batman is already a stabilished hero, he has been doing his thing for some years now, probably never had a Robin (at best a recently-turned-Nightwing Dick Grayson who won’t appear during the story) and during a patrol night spying on the Cluemaster’s crew he finds this one kid in between 12-15 years old with a cheap domino mask and a purple cape with a hood in the same task as himself (though way more sloppily). He tries to scold her home but she claims to be a hero too and says that she’s here to spoil Cluemaster’s plans. Bruce insists that it’s not safe and she should go home, but she is persistent and doesn’t back down until he threatens to take her to the cops. She reluctantly agrees to show him the way to her house. They both walk together, the kid anxiously gripping on his arm as they approach this one dirty-looking house in a poor neighborhood, the girl points to the house and says “This one’s mine” and gingerly goes inside without saying another word.

When Batman is leaving he notices the kid stole his grappling gun. He looks upset, but doesn’t try to get it back.

Because of the little distraction Bruce can’t catch the Cluemaster (or Arthur Brown) that night, but he keeps his eyes open during patrol, always checking in on the last location of the gang’s reunion and looking for hints of where he may be hiding, but in this job he keeps running into the kid again and again, he tries a harsher approach, convinced that he’ll be able to keep her away from danger, but she only seems to get more and more persistent. Despite being worried, at some point Bruce accepts that he won’t be able to stop her from running away from home at night to “patrol” and lets it be with one condition; they meet up at a spot near her house, keep tabs on Cluemaster together and at the end of the night Bruce makes sure she is safe and sound at home and she has to accept without complaints.

Bruce starts quite enjoying the kid’s company and they get increasingly closer. They talk about their mission, but also about random things. She brings a light and mundanity to his night shift that he never thought he’d have. She eventually agrees to tell him her name, Stephanie. She gives no last names, though. Says she’ll only reveal her secret identity when he reveals his. He laughs.

Their talks on Steph’s way home become the bast part of Bruce’s day, they discuss everything and nothing, sometimes even stopping to get food and just hang out at rooftops after patrol. Occasionally she’ll manage to steal some of his batarangs and other gadgets, he notices but never complains, letting her have this small sense of victory.

But with all the small hints Bruce starts to wonder why is this girl so obsessed with getting the Cluemaster. He questions her about it. She gets very angry, says that scum like him “deserves to die”, Batman tries to lecture her about it, saying that no one deserves to die and this type of thought is what leads people to acting like Arthur Brown, she shouts at him; “Don’t ever compare me to that man!”. The walk back to the house that night is silent.

Bruce does his homework back on the batcave, having had enough with Stephanie keeping secrets, he finds out that Arthur is her father. He tries to talk to her about it but she shuts him down, they keep having silent patrols for the next week or so, when all this laying-low type of work finally leads to a proper opportunity for an “attack”, knowing this, Batman meets up with Stephanie and tells her that she won’t be coming tonight, says this is a dangerous situation and that she should just stay home and wait for him on the next night. Steph tries to discuss, but he says it’s for her own safety and doesn’t let her have a word on the matter.

Without Bruce’s blessing, Steph goes to Cluemaster’s place by herself. There she finds Bruce in a hard fight, he is outmanned by atleast five people, she is convinced he can’t take it and jumps in through a window to help. Stephanie knocks man out in her land, saving Bruce's ass from getting stabbed on the back. They both finish the fight together, when everyone is knocked out or can't get on their feet anymore, Stephanie jumps on Arthur's throat with a chain, she starts choking him with it, and too tired to fight it, he is about to die. Bruce convinces her not to do it, and she reluctantly agrees.

Batman and Steph take the men to the police, earning some strange looks from Gordon and other cops, who end deciding on not question it. Bruce invites Steph to go on a walk with him. They go around the city, discussing everything that happened, he says that murdering is not worth it. She disagrees. He says that it won't bring her any satisfaction. She stays silent. He asks if she really wants this life for herself. Not because of her father, revenge or as a game, if she actually wants to help. She says that this is all she's ever wanted. He shakes her hand.

"What's your name?"

She hesitates for a moment: "Spoiler"

"Mine is Bruce", he answers with a smile before taking his cowl off. Steph stares at him, slightly taken a back. "Batman and Spoiler, huh? I like the sound of that", he says, giving Stephanie a pat on the shoulder.

This is pretty rough and i didnt rlly re read the whole thing to check do if its incoherent, im sorry, its late, is js spent like a solid hour making this on a ipad and my brain has melted

[streaminn]

omg sorry your batman post got me thinking cos comics used to be a big hyperfixation i had when i was younger but let me just say it would 100% be Cass Cain (Batgirl also called Black Bat) Wednesday and Stephanie Brown (Also takes the mantle of Batgirl but is also called Spoiler) Enid Let me explain if no comics knowledge but like Black Bat -> Daughter of assassins and raised to be the worlds greatest assassin, expert martial artist & reader of body language but extremly limited social skills, has an extreme sense of justice and canonically a better fighter and more skilled than batman She, similarly to Wednesday also has died and come back to life once, and is the apple of her adopted dad's (Bruce Wayne aka Batman) Eye Main costume is a almost entirely black suit baring the signature yellow bat symbol , and a cowl that covers the entire face with a stich pattern on the mouth Very much in contrast to her best friend & Cass's first ever friend ( and sometimes more in certain comics) Spoiler, who's signature outfit is a glaringly colourful bright purple outfit! Has a lot of parental issues with her dad being abusive and a villian, constantly struggling with issues of self worth and wondering if she's good enough while outwardly portraying a very happy go lucky demenor Their inital history started off rocky with Black Bat being stand offish to Spoiler but slowly they become friends and Spoiler gets Black Bat to open up, eventually becoming vigillante partners and working together seamlessly despite the fact that some ppl think they shouldn't "Because we work. We shouldn't, but we do" God you've got this au spinning in my mind now, the Cassandra Cain stitched mouth outfit would be almost perfect for a Wednesday vigilante -🐅

I can't believe my one off mention of a potential batman au bc I played arkham night turned into this

No worries abt the rambling tiger, always appreciate the asks

Ngl, that fits so well. Idk much abt Stephanie and dead ass thought spoiler was barbara from my barely there knowledge. I do know that Cass is a bad ass who barely speak so it definitely fits Wednesday

Idk how I'd even build on this au but you bet Wenclair would cosplay as them one day

[ao3feed-irondadspiderson]

Leap of Faith (Catch Me If You Can)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/54620467 by alighterwood, ErinWantsToWrite He clicks on Gotham Wikipedia with bated breath. And it doesn’t take long for Peter to figure out just how bad the situation is. Gotham isn’t just a city, it’s apparently a hellhole. What kind of villain playground is this world running? How could anyone let it get this bad? Where is the government? Where are the heroes? Peter’s heart swells at the thought. He needs heroes! They’ll be able to help him! For villains, there is always a hero around. He searches for just regular “list of heroes.” The first thing that pops up is a website- JusticeLeague.Org. - Peter, like any 14 year old superhero, really wants to catch a break. He's just a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, nothing special. Well, only if you don't look at his biology ever since the radioactive spider bite. And his extensive track record of running away and deaths in his life. And that his foster-dad is Tony Stark. And that his mentors are the Avengers. And the fact that he was randomly kidnapped one morning on his way to school and now he's in an alternate universe with a bunch of different superheroes that keep stalking him. He thinks they mean well, but they're really weird. Besides that Red Hood guy. He's pretty cool. Words: 23611, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown, Duke Thomas, Uncle Ben Parker (Marvel), Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Richard Parker (Marvel), Mary Parker (Marvel), Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Spider Sense - Character, Friday (Marvel), Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, villain OC, background oc - Character, mentioned Skip Westcott - Character Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Ned Leeds/Peter Parker, Dick Grayson & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Peter Parker, Batfamily Members & Peter Parker Additional Tags: Not Canon Compliant, like sort of but in the "canon is mine now", DC stands for Disregard Canon, Homeless Peter Parker, Dimensional Travel, Angst and Humor, Found Family, they found him and decided to steal him, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Peter has ALL the parental figures, he collects them the way batman collects orphans, Hurt Peter Parker, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter Parker Has His Shit Together, Protective Peter Parker, BAMF Peter Parker, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Teen Peter Parker, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Dick Grayson is Peter Parker's Biological Parent, Peter Parker Calls Tony Stark "Dad", Peter Parker is Trying His Best, Peter Parker Acts Like a Spider, Peter Parker Needs a Break, Peter Parker Has Panic Attacks, Peter Parker has PTSD, Good Parent Bruce Wayne, Protective Dick Grayson, Romani Dick Grayson, Good Parent Dick Grayson, Protective Batfamily (DCU), Batfamily Dynamics (DCU), Batfamily Shenanigans (DCU), Caring Batfamily (DCU), Mutual Stalking Shenanigans, Peter Parker is a Foster Kid, BAMF Tony Stark, Tony Stark is a Bad Medical Patient, Past Rape/Non-con, does NOT go into detail but it IS there and please look after yourself, Mentioned Skip Westcott, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/54620467

[cephalog0d]

Batfic - "Finders Keepers"

(For @dangerousdan-dan! I hope you enjoy! <3)

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Category: Gen

Characters/Relationships: Stephanie Brown & Selina Kyle, mentioned Bruce Wayne, mentioned Tim Drake, mentioned Arthur Brown

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Stephanie Brown is Spoiler, (specifically 90's Spoiler), Selina Kyle is Catwoman, (specifically 90's Catwoman which is actually relevant), very lightly implied TimSteph (in an "early mutual crushes" sort of way), Stephanie Brown-centric, POV Stephanie Brown

Summary:

Stephanie Brown just wanted to stop her dumb dad from successfully carrying off his dumb heist. If Batman won't so much as listen to her, she's willing to consider other offers. Or: If Batman doesn't want this perfectly good sidekick, Catwoman will take her instead.

Steph watched the chunk of concrete sail out into the darkness and hit the harbor with a tiny, silver splash. It was not nearly as cathartic as actually hitting something solid would be, but she absolutely did not need to add “getting arrested in costume” to her Humiliation Bingo card tonight, so it beat breaking windows or going home and punching a hole in her wall.

She ought to be making a new plan. Just because her first one hadn’t quite worked out the way she wanted didn’t mean she could just give up. Besides, it had halfway worked, at least. She’d gotten Batman’s attention with all the clues and things. She just hadn’t managed to convince him she had anything to say worth listening to.

And she’d lost whatever secret identity she might have had.

So one step forward two steps back, really.

What else was there to do, though? That had been her best idea, and all it had gotten her was a dismissive and condescending lecture (plus some serious suspicion that she was part of her dad’s crew) that made her deeply glad her mask covered her whole face so no one could see how humiliated she was. Maybe Batman would figure things out in time to actually stop her asshole father’s asshole plan, but she wasn’t willing to just assume that was true and do nothing.

Of course, the only other plan she had was stopping her father’s plan herself, and if she thought that was a good idea she wouldn’t have bothered with stupid Batman and his stupid sidekick in the first place.

Steph hurled another concrete chunk out over the water and let out an inarticulate shout of frustration before collapsing back on her ass with her knees pulled up and her arms wrapped around her head. All she had wanted was to stop her dad from being a fucking criminal and getting people killed. Why did that have to be so hard?

“What did the harbor ever do to you?” asked an amused voice behind her. Steph startled wildly and flailed her way upright, raising her arms in some approximation of a defensive position before she realized that someone who had managed to sneak up on her could have already attacked her if that was their intention.

It still took a couple of seconds for her brain to fully process what she was seeing. Not so much because she didn’t know who she was looking at (the purple bodysuit, thigh high boots and large cat ears were pretty distinctive, even in Gotham), but because there was no universe in which she had anticipated Catwoman showing up to say hi while Steph had a mini-meltdown over what a shitshow her evening had been.

“That was a joke,” Catwoman said when Steph just gaped at her for several long seconds (once again grateful for the full face cover of her mask; who knew what her expression was doing).

Catwoman straightened from where she had been lounging against the wall and prowled closer. (Steph was maybe a little bit deeply jealous of how she could move like that, all pure grace and confidence. No amount of gymnastics lessons or clandestine costume practice ever seemed to get Steph to anything better than “mostly not tripping over her own feet”.)

“It’s the boots,” Catwoman said with a grin and a wink, which is how Steph learned she had said some part of that out loud. A full face mask was truly the best decision she had ever made, good grief. “Well, that and some practice.”

“I know! Uh. That that was a joke, I mean. I know. I just. What are you doing out here?” Steph finally pulled her brain together enough to form sentences on purpose, although she also immediately regretted it. How many costumed badasses could she thoroughly embarrass herself in front of in one evening?

(Cont. on AO3)

[damianbugs]

oh also i desperately need ur stephanie related fic recs please hand them over i trust ur judgement

this sudden stephanie appreciation makes me so happy. she is indeed the guy of all time, the best and the greatest forever. no one does it like her ever. i am also so flattered you trust me with this, and so i hope these do not disappoint u anon!

STEPHANIE BROWN CENTRIC FIC RECS ON AO3

Oops by Tiptapricot

Steph wakes up in a dingy Gotham alley, her ears ringing and head pounding like a drum. When she opens her eyes to see a kid in scaly green shorts and a cape, she realizes her mistake on tonight's mission was much bigger than she realized.

MY NOTES: starting off strong with time travel!!! a wonderful fic that focuses on stephs role as a hero and the dynamic between her a dick was so sweet to read. truly a love letter to what spoiler is.

Let Your Clarity Define You by Hinn_River

Five times Stephanie Brown met someone for the first time, and one reunion.

MY NOTES: my life motto is shoot every character you love with the transgender beam. this work is so special to me, especially the entire idea of what being a hero, in any capacity, can mean to someone, and was just a lovely and heartwarming read. (also!!! trans duke!!!!)

What's So Amazing That Keeps Us Stargazing by Cerusee

Jason, the plaque read. Just that. Just…. Jason. There were other cases in the Cave, other costumes on display, but somehow, this one felt different. Stephanie wasn’t stupid; she knew Robin’s colors well as any Gotham kid did. It was Dick’s old costume. (Stephanie knew she wasn’t even supposed to know that name; Batman had had a concussion when he’d called Nightwing by it, and they’d both been cagey with her for months afterwards.) It was the costume he’d worn before he’d grown up and become Nightwing. So why this case, with this costume, but a different name?

MY NOTES: oh this fic!!! the fic of all time!! the conversations had in this fic really dig right into your heart and hit where it hurts, but i just loved every bit of it. stephanie is the balance to a lot of the grief that clouds around bruce, dick and babs and it was just handled marvelously in this. must read!

always for the greener side by chiriklo

Stephanie jumps to action. She hits the ground running, pounding a beat in spry, renewed vigor. There’s nothing holding her back. She’s chasing a string from her heart, burning with desire to make the world a better place. She will climb every wall, jump every fence, leap every hurdle it takes, because nothing can stop Stephanie Brown from fighting for a brighter future. Robin or not, she’ll leave her mark. — Stephanie Brown in first-time meetings, finding purpose, and hard-earned evolution.

MY NOTES: there is just something so special about fics where we follow stephanie throughout her life and watch her grow into the hero she has always been. again, with the loveliest dynamic with dick. a must read!

I'm Your Clone, Your Strange Creation by Sohotthateveryonedied

Fuckin’ crazy, her mother often said. About everything and anyone. The oil prices? Fuckin’ crazy. The corner store employee who refused to let Stephanie purchase a pack of cigarettes for her mother? Fuckin’ crazy. Your father? Fuckin’ crazy. “Why do you do it?” Steph asked him once. Arthur was sat at the coffee table, writing and rewriting a first draft of the note he planned to leave behind after tomorrow’s robbery. “You’re gonna get caught again.” For once, Arthur didn’t tell her off for bugging him. He flipped his pencil around to erase a word, his eraser squeaking on the paper. “Keeps me sane.” Steph considered that, frowning. “Can’t you be sane and not get caught?” “Not how it works, babygirl. Not for people like me.” He rubbed her head. “Go get me another beer, will ya?”

MY NOTES: i think everyone should read this introspection fic simply because the final line is 'Fathers. They never stop cutting.' and it fits just so perfectly into the premise of this work.

to avoid repeating fic recs too many times, you can find more stephanie focused fics here !

[soleminisanction]

An earlier ask reminded me that there’s still one sequence of Batgirl (2009) that I’ve always wanted to break down because my frustration with it is palpable so…why not. This is as good a time as ever. Let’s talk about Issue 24 and extended fantasy sequence that makes up the very end of this series.

See, apparently—and I have not been able to find a first-hand record of the interview that confirms this, so take it with a grain of salt—Brian Q. Miller decided that, since the universe was getting reset in the wake of Flashpoint, his Batgirl was getting canceled and Stephanie was getting retconned out of existence for the New52, he would use a fantasy sequence in the final issue show off all the wonderful ideas he never got to do because of editorial meddling or whatever. Which is… fine. Y’know? I get it, it’s utterly self-indulgent but not an invalid way to deal with your book getting canceled before you can finish all you set out to do.

The thing is though, sequences like this don’t just exist in the vacuum of their Doylist explanation. The entire narrative point of fantasy sequences like this, whether they’re fear gas, or lotus eater machines, or especially the Black Mercy, isn’t just to have a cool spectacle for the audience to look at, it’s to take a part of the character’s inner life and put it on display for everyone to see.

So the question I’m asking here is: what does a Watsonian reading of finale sequence say about Our Heroine, Stephanie Brown?

Quick primer for those of you who may be unfamiliar: the Black Mercy is an Alan Moore creation, originally introduced in the story he wrote with Dave Gibbons for 1985’s Superman Annual #11 – “For the Man Who has Everything.”

If you’re my age, you may be more familiar with this story as a fantastic episode of Justice League Unlimited, which has the notable distinction of being the only Alan Moore adaptation that the old warlock actually likes. The basic story of both is the same: Batman and Wonder Woman (and, in the comic, the Jason Todd Robin) arrive at the Fortress of Solitude for Superman’s birthday, only to find that Mongul has trapped Supes under the influence of the Black Mercy, a magical alien parasite that digs its vines into its victim’s chest while trapping their minds in an illusion of their ideal perfect life.

“For the Man Who has Everything” is regarded as one of the best Superman stories ever written so it’s honestly kind of a surprise that the Black Mercy has only shown up a handful of times since then. But I’m not complaining, because it means the concept hasn’t been diluted much… with this appearance in Batgirl being a notable exception, in weird ways that make me really wonder what was intentional and what wasn’t.

See, this whole thing starts when Steph confronts her father, Arthur Brown, alias the Cluemaster, in his prison cell. And Arthur—a second-rate Riddler knock-off whose only experience outside of Gotham was an extremely brief Suicide Squad adventure to Iceland where everybody died—just, has a Black Mercy, an incredibly rare and dangerous magical alien super plant, sitting in his prison cell. As you do.

Arthur then puts Steph under the Mercy’s influence to cover his escape from the cell, but he doesn’t subject her to the Black Mercy for real, he crushes one of the blossoms and blows it in her face, which his dialogue implies is something he regularly does to himself as a recreational experience.

Which means that, despite the following pages making a big freaking deal about “spores in her system” and Barbara gushing about how special Stephanie is for being able to, quote, “fight the Mercy and win,” it’s all a load of shit. Arthur didn’t need to be rushed to the hospital every time he took this drug, so it would follow the Stephanie doesn’t either.  

That would actually make a lot of sense for Arthur as a character—for all his faults, he’s usually written as caring for his family and not wanting Stephanie permanently hurt (a sentiment she generally doesn't return). Hell, his last appearance before this one was trying to get revenge for her death. If that was intentional, it would mean that in the above panel, Stephanie knows that Barbara’s conclusion about her “fighting the Mercy” is full of shit and just, isn’t telling her.

I have no confidence that it was intentional—given the rest of the series I think it’s far more likely that Miller & Co. just didn’t want the icky flower vines to mess up Steph’s boobies and thus came up with a convoluted alternative that they immediately forgot the rules for—but I wish it was because it would actually be an interesting character turn. Black Mercy stories usually hinge on the emotional climax of the enraptured hero choosing to give up the beautiful illusion of a life they can never have in order to return to the hard world where they have real friends and heroic responsibilities waiting for them. Just ask anyone who still cries over this scene:

Stephanie not getting that moment and only escaping because it’s a temporary drug would imply that she’s still very susceptible to her own desires. It’s a way that she’s fallen short compared to others who’ve been subjected to the full Black Mercy experience. And who knows, maybe she could’ve pulled herself out of it if the illusion had lasted longer… but maybe she wouldn’t have. She can’t know. And that doubt could sit with her.

It doesn't. But it could, in a better story.

And then there’s the illusion itself. Keep in mind as we go through this, this montage, in-universe, represents Stephanie’s idea of her ideally perfect life. Just for comparison, in “For the Man Who has Everything,” Superman’s ideal life has him living on Krypton as a normal man, married with children, happy and content in his normal life. Batman saw his parents’ murder foiled and the life that could have unfolded without that tragedy to define it. Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), in another story, saw a world where his parents never died, his family is happy together, and his mentor Sinestro never turned evil.

Stephanie? Stephanie sees herself as Batgirl, posing dramatically and beating up random street thugs in a metaphorical continuation of her current status quo. Then there’s a sequence where she’s fighting the Queen of Fables alongside the four female heroes, all of whom except for Supergirl literally appeared out of nowhere in the last issue with no explanation because we need to pretend that Stephanie is very popular and well-liked and not a stuck-up loner who rarely leaves Gotham City and almost never talks to anybody but her boyfriend when she does.

But y’know, this scene makes sense right? Steph dreams of being a successful superhero and fantasizes about going on grand superhero adventures with other superheroes, fine. That’s all well and good.

Then comes the Blackest Night page which is just... ugh.

I am so glad DC vetoed this idea because it’s genuinely embarrassing. I get (finally! it several painful re-reads) that what Miller has been trying to do with Stephanie this entire book is pretend that she can be Captain America or Superman: a character who doesn’t so much develop or change as they do lead by example and inspire others to have hope for the future just by being themselves. So of course when he hears that Blue Lanterns are powered by hope he neeeeeeds that for his precious Batgirl—an idea that he apparently carried over to the Smallville Season 11 comics, but we’ll come back to that in a moment.

The problem of course being that Stephanie had never been that kind of character before Brian Miller decided she should be, and he did absolutely nothing to work his way up to earning her that status. So shit like this comes across as, frankly, blatant attempts to turn her into a Mary Sue, especially with how badly he refused to deal with her actual history and established character.

But again, remember: in-universe, this illusion isn’t being imposed on Stephanie, it’s being created by her, by her mind. This is part of her greatest desire. So where other heroes long to be safe and happy, surrounded by their families, Stephanie, apparently, wants nothing less than to be a literal Messiah figure. And I’m not exaggerating there—Blue Lanterns are supposed to be the holiest beings in the universe.

Just… the ego that implies. Yeesh.

After that comes a black-and-white photograph implying a time travel adventure where the three Batgirls (presumably from different eras in their own timelines) go back to 1944 to fly with the (male) Blackhawks. I’m not going to post it because there’s not really anything to say about it and this is already a long post but Stephanie’s stupid utility garter belt is drawn so HUGE it takes up her ENTIRE THIGH almost up to the crotch and it’s super distracting.

Then comes this scene.

Which mostly just drives home how much Steph hates her boring average school life given that she’s fantasizing about being attacked by supervillains at her graduation so her secret identity can be exposed to her entire graduating class. Thing is though, you’d think this should be a nightmare. Her identity has been exposed! She’s being attacked out in the open by supervillains and she doesn’t have her gear or weapons! Her classmates and—explicitly up in the audience—her mother are in danger, because Stephanie is Batgirl!

But because this is a Black Mercy illusion, we know it’s not a nightmare. This is, explicitly, something that Stephanie wants to happen. It’s part of her fantasy life, her greatest desire. And yeah, if we’re being generous, she probably isn’t thinking that people are going to get hurt. In her fantasy, she probably just gets to show off and save the day and be venerated as Gotham University’s Great Hero, like Buffy getting crowned the Sunnyville Class Protector. But even that, the most generous of readings, implies that she has never internalized the lesson that she should have learned back in War Games re: the great power of being a superhero coming with great responsibility. It absolutely flies in the face of anybody’s attempts to insist that no really, she’s only doing this whole superhero thing because she cares about other people SO MUCH.

Following that is page of what’s clearly Neo-Gotham, flashing forward many years into the future, where Steph is wrangling some kid into bed (while wearing her wedding ring on the second knuckle because otherwise you wouldn’t be able to see it and that might imply she’s a single mom) with the Batsignal shining out the window.

Which leads us, at last, to the page I have the most to say about, and the one that is my biggest inspiration for make this post:

I. Hate. This page.

I hate it because it gets regularly reposted without context on Tumblr and Reddit so the Steph simps can gush over how much they wish it was real and how Stephanie should get to be every single member of the Batfamily because she’s just so awesome and not one of them ever stops to think about what any of it would or should actually mean in-universe or out.

This page exists because Brian Q. Miller was originally a writer on Smallville. He joined the team around Season 5, served as showrunner for Season 10, and used the connections he made there to get some comic book jobs, including Batgirl and the spin-off comic Smallville Season 11. In “Season 11,” they finally showed the Smallville version of Gotham City and Batman, who is accompanied by only a single sidekick: not Robin, but Barbara Gordon as an (adult) female Nightwing who eventually becomes a Blue Lantern (hence the Blackest Night page earlier).

Now again, I cannot find the original source for this so I’m going off fandom rumor and wiki trivia, but supposedly, Brian’s original pitch was that the Smallville character would also be Stephanie, making her the only Batfamily member to ever exist in that universe. DC’s editors supposedly made him switch to Barbara instead, which was smart of them, because it’s way more likely that the people picking up the Smallville comic would be excited to see her, one of the most famous pop-culture characters ever invented, and not a satellite character like Stephanie who’s only familiar to a niche market. (This for the record is the same reason Babs is the Batgirl in Gotham Knights.)

So that’s the out-of-universe explanation for why Brian would stick this idea here, but stop and think about this for half a second: why the fuck would Stephanie want to be Nightwing?

Nightwing is not like Batman, Batgirl, or even Robin, it’s not a larger symbol with a legacy behind it. If you say the word Nightwing in the DC Universe, you’re referring to only one of two things: either you’re Kryptonian and you’re referencing a legendary figure from your lost planet’s mythology (either a god or a culture hero depending on the continuity), or you’re talking about Dick Grayson. Every other character who has ever taken on the name in a non-Kryptonian context has done so because of their relationship to Dick: either to piss him off (Jason), because they were inspired by him (Cheyenne Freemont, the Nightwings, Nite-Wing in a negative capacity), or in memoriam/penance after his death (Damian in the first Injustice game).

But Stephanie doesn’t have that kind of relationship with Dick. At this point in her career, they’d barely spoken, and all of their meaningful interactions had been with him as Batman. Nightwing means nothing to her. She has no emotional connection to identity, not even the desire to be “part of the legend” that drove her to chase Robin and Batgirl. So then, why? Why is this part of her fantasy?

Well… because if Batgirl isn’t the second-most popular superhero in the franchise after the Big Bat himself, then Nightwing is. And all Stephanie has apparently ever wanted is to be everybody’s favorite superhero, loved and adored and told how she’s so very special and wonderful, forever.

---

In Conclusion – As you might’ve noticed back in the panels where Steph was getting dosed, Brian Miller actually calls out his own bookending, having started the story with a climax where Steph got exposed to a fear-gas-based-anger drug and ended it with one where she encounters the Black Mercy. Like I’ve said before, the narrative purpose of hallucination sequences like this are to lay the characters’ psyches bare and show us who they really are on the inside. 

In issue 3, Stephanie’s anger/fear gas exposure (and the resulting philosophically frustrating speech) presents Stephanie as someone whose primary motivation is her own self-interest, the sense of control and personal triumph she gets from being a superhero. All through the series, the way she handles her rare rescues (and, even more tellingly, the few people who don’t immediately recognize her greatness) only backs that up.

And now, the Black Mercy sequence, the very last thing to happen in the entire series, just solidifies it: after 24 issues, she hasn’t changed. Her only desire, the only thing she cares about, is that she gets to be a badass superhero who goes on adventure after adventure without worry or care for anyone around her, even after multiple people have literally died over the course of just this book. Who cares? They’re not Stephanie, so they don’t matter. It’s all about her. 

I will never understand what anyone saw in this series.

[nokomiss]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗

Thanks for passing this to me, @secretlystephaniebrown! This was SO HARD. I went with current faves, since all-time favorites was too difficult. I've written way too many fics, just picking out five was a real challenge, and I didn't even touch on some major fandoms or some fics that were really important to me. But here's my list!

The Startling Secret Identity of The Batman - (10k, T, Gen) In-universe Buzzfeed Unsolved accidentally stumbles on Batman’s secret identity. The Batfam reacts.

I wrote this fic so fast, like it just suddenly appeared on the screen, and I'm still delighted with how it turned out.

The Haunting of Wayne Manor - (31k, T, Steph/Cass, Gothic horror AU) Stephanie Brown arrives at Wayne Manor to be governess to Bruce Wayne’s young son, Damian. Once there, she begins to suspect the manor is a place shrouded in darkness and secrets, where the shadows seem to follow her, where doors lock mysteriously and questions go unanswered. And most dreadfully of all, her own secrets are just as likely to catch up to her and bring her to ruin.

All my love for gothic horror was thrown into this fic, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

in this town of halloween - (3.8k, G, Gen) The Riddler takes ten-year-old Steph trick-or-treating, and Steph honestly has the best time ever.

Okay so I had to limit myself to ONE fic centered around Stephanie Brown's Unconventional Childhood, because that is absolutely a theme I keep going back to. There's just so much untapped potential! But this is the one I ultimately chose, because it's light and fun and I just loved the mental images that inspired it.

those wild charms for you - (5k, T, Steph/Jason) “So you’re saying we should go on a fake date and catch a serial killer so that we can have the moral high ground over Bruce,” Jason said. “Just to be clear. That’s what you’re suggesting.”

listen i love this pairing so much. I have so much fun writing them. And this one has the bonus of being one of my favorite tropes!

our lips are sealed - (B99/MCU crossover, 5k, T, Gina Linetti/Steve Rogers) When Gina started talking about how Captain America moved in next door to her, complete with a rap breakdown including the lines, "with his glorious American-made booty, it's a star-spangled thing of beauty," and how she was initiating a five-step plan to tap dat, the precinct just assumed that Captain America was a nickname for whatever unfortunate hottie made a real estate blunder and ended up her neighbor.

This fic has the honor of being one I can reread without cringing, and it even makes me laugh. I feel like I got the voices right, even though this is my only foray into B99 fic.

[zahri-melitor]

Anyway (after summarising all the best bits of all the books) my feelings on Chuck Dixon are just so conflicted. Fortunately for me I am an adult who has gone through “the writer I really enjoy is a Terrible Person and in hindsight some of their views are really weird” enough times by now that I can allow myself to bring nuance to the situation.

Because, it’s Chuck Dixon! If you read 90s and early 2000s Bat comics you’re reading a LOT of Dixon. He wrote some of my favourite characters through my favourite eras for them, and he’s a continuity and crossover king. So, of course I like his material.

He wrote stories I am completely unreasonably in love with. Batgirl: Year One. Brotherhood of the Fist. Nightwing #6, #16, #25, #55-58. Birds of Prey #8. Hunt for Oracle. The three issues immediately after Joker Last Laugh in Robin #96, Nightwing #63 and BoP #32 where Tim and Ted Kord run around in the Bug tidying a lot of loose ends (escaped villains) up. Robin #34, where Tim spends the entire issue ducking Helena at a school Shakespeare in the Park trip. The bit of Legacy in ‘Tec #701 and Robin #33 where Dick, Babs, Helena and Tim team up to take out Talia Al Ghul and the boat of Internet (even as Bruce and Bane have a boring punchup elsewhere).

He’s also a conservative who’s gotten more and more reactionary in his old age and even back in peak mid 90s was writing heavy personal opinions into his work. Don’t do drugs, kids! Don’t have underage sex! You should definitely keep that pregnancy and give the kid up for adoption! Almost all my gang kids are Black! (Also. So many funerals. I cannot spell out how many funerals of kids Tim went to in his run of Robin. Kids got punished by the narrative a lot. We TALK a lot about the Identity Crisis-War Games conflict that had Tim go to Jack Drake, Stephanie Brown and Darla Aquista’s funerals on three consecutive days, but go back to Dixon’s Robin and he’s dealing with another dead classmate ever 10 issues or so for a while there)

But given I’ve just done a strict in order read through from 1989 onwards and I’m up to 2009, it’s notable how much more I started sighing every time I saw Dixon listed as a writer on an issue after 2003 and the end of the Dixon domination era. Some of his stuff after this is still fun but it starts to stand out more as weird when not every second issue I’m reading is written by Dixon. (Have to say though, parts of his 2007 Batman and the Outsiders run were hugely entertaining, even as I side-eyed quite a bit of the characterisation. Well. The parts that involved Francine Langstrom, Salah Miandad, Rex, and the bit with Cass and Tatsu together, generally, were entertaining).

So yeah. Not to stan a guy who in the present day is tied up with Vox fucking Day et al, but wow did a lot of conservatives lose their minds and become a LOT worse as general society trends moved further out of their viewpoint. And Dixon is definitely in that category.

I’d need a very solid reason to pick up anything Dixon has written in the past 10 years (and ‘Robin 80th Anniversary issue’ does count for ‘solid reason’), but he’s 100% worth reading back in his prime Bat days, as long as you’re aware of his little hobbyhorses and ready to roll your eyes when the writer on board opinion gets too obvious. There’s a reason he was writing so much material back then, and it’s not just because he was a reliable writer who could turn around a script on the correct date.

(But also it’s perfectly ok if you never ever let him write another comic, DC, we are all JUST FINE with that)

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Leap of Faith (Catch Me If You Can)

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/ScxuNsB by alighterwood, ErinWantsToWrite He clicks on Gotham Wikipedia with bated breath. And it doesn’t take long for Peter to figure out just how bad the situation is. Gotham isn’t just a city, it’s apparently a hellhole. What kind of villain playground is this world running? How could anyone let it get this bad? Where is the government? Where are the heroes? Peter’s heart swells at the thought. He needs heroes! They’ll be able to help him! For villains, there is always a hero around. He searches for just regular “list of heroes.” The first thing that pops up is a website- JusticeLeague.Org. - Peter, like any 14 year old superhero, really wants to catch a break. He's just a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, nothing special. Well, only if you don't look at his biology ever since the radioactive spider bite. And his extensive track record of running away and deaths in his life. And that his foster-dad is Tony Stark. And that his mentors are the Avengers. And the fact that he was randomly kidnapped one morning on his way to school and now he's in an alternate universe with a bunch of different superheroes that keep stalking him. He thinks they mean well, but they're really weird. Besides that Red Hood guy. He's pretty cool. Words: 23611, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown, Duke Thomas, Uncle Ben Parker (Marvel), Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Richard Parker (Marvel), Mary Parker (Marvel), Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Spider Sense - Character, Friday (Marvel), Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, villain OC, background oc - Character, mentioned Skip Westcott - Character Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Ned Leeds/Peter Parker, Dick Grayson & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Peter Parker, Batfamily Members & Peter Parker Additional Tags: Not Canon Compliant, like sort of but in the "canon is mine now", DC stands for Disregard Canon, Homeless Peter Parker, Dimensional Travel, Angst and Humor, Found Family, they found him and decided to steal him, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Peter has ALL the parental figures, he collects them the way batman collects orphans, Hurt Peter Parker, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter Parker Has His Shit Together, Protective Peter Parker, BAMF Peter Parker, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Teen Peter Parker, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Dick Grayson is Peter Parker's Biological Parent, Peter Parker Calls Tony Stark "Dad", Peter Parker is Trying His Best, Peter Parker Acts Like a Spider, Peter Parker Needs a Break, Peter Parker Has Panic Attacks, Peter Parker has PTSD, Good Parent Bruce Wayne, Protective Dick Grayson, Romani Dick Grayson, Good Parent Dick Grayson, Protective Batfamily (DCU), Batfamily Dynamics (DCU), Batfamily Shenanigans (DCU), Caring Batfamily (DCU), Mutual Stalking Shenanigans, Peter Parker is a Foster Kid, BAMF Tony Stark, Tony Stark is a Bad Medical Patient, Past Rape/Non-con, does NOT go into detail but it IS there and please look after yourself, Mentioned Skip Westcott, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/ScxuNsB