#like the public percieved her as batman and she only called herself the bat until others called her batgirl

[necrotic-nephilim]

reblogging to give HelSteph propaganda bc that is where my heart belongs and i think more ppl should give it a chance and they deserve to win this poll even if they likely have no chance but-

the entirety of Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma should count as propaganda. their entire dynamic is such a fascinating one given how short their interaction is. there's a kinship in the similarity to their relationship to Tim, but also a clear disconnect in how they feel morally. Helena and Steph both understand how it feels to come from a dark family and they've processed it *wildly* differently. Steph is clinging to the idea her father can change and Helena will never get the chance to know if her parents could've changed and will only get to know them as criminals. it connects them but separates them- Helena's family ties are trapped in the past and Steph's family ties are idealized by an imaginary future. they understand each other but never in a way that will make them see eye to eye, it's so much complex trauma

both of them are outsiders who will never be accepted by Bruce. they operate in Gotham without his approval and against his orders and to have two women so publically and openly defy the Batman in such a similar way should give them *far* more solidarity than the comics ever explore. Helena is the only person who's going to understand how it feels for Steph to need to do what she's doing because of her family history, but not be approved by Batman for asinine reasons. and for Helena, there's something sort of familiar in the amount of spunk and bravery this random girl has for doing what's right.

Helena is very known to be a protector of women and children and i think she'd form an immediate protective bond to someone like Steph, outcasted by Batman but still young and vulnerable and a little too fresh to the vigilante space. Helena has a history of taking in teens who she thinks Bruce can't or won't do right by, and it'd be so good to see her do so with Steph and watch a genuinely protective innocent vibe turn into something that turns dead dove and toxic with codepdence. i really think HelSteph could be the yuri version of JayTim if ppl put enough into it.

the Batgirl mantle!! Helena and Steph have both carried the Batgirl torch and still not been seen as a "real" Batgirl (both to Bruce and to the actual fandom) and i think it could be fun for Steph to reflect on every Batgirl before her to consider what she's going to do with this cowl and no one expects her to bring up Helena bc Helena "doesn't really count" but she does anyway bc i firmly believe Steph would look up to Helena. like an older woman who doesn't take shit from Batman and doesn't let him tell her what to do? that should be Steph's idol.

there's this violent anger in Steph that Bruce tries to snuff out but i think could've flourished under Helena's tutelage if Helena ever got to mentor her. i could see Steph desperate for training, going to Helena even when they disagree on morals just to get *someone* to take her seriously. it's a moral compromise where Helena agrees not to kill anyone with Steph if Steph agrees to not get herself killed. (i think Helena deserved to be absolutely furious at Bruce for getting Steph killed- the way Helena reacted to Tim's "death" should be how she reacted to Steph's. even if she didn't know the girl well, that was still a young girl that Bruce failed and Helena deserves to go feral about it.)

also i would just like to point out the potential here: teacher/student yuri. Helena canonically is a high school teacher at the same time Steph is in high school. there is potential for Steph to flourish under a teacher who suddenly shows her all sorts of attention bc Helena can tell when a student is hiding bruises and a rough home life (as she has canonically) and she wants to get to the bottom of what's going on with Steph and it leads to all sorts of complicated feelings with identity porn on both sides as neither of them realize what the other is hiding. thank you for coming to my tedtalk.

Batman Favorite Toxic Ship Tournament - Round One

Post Description: image one contains three photos. One of Harley Quinn, one of Poison Ivy, and one of Catwoman. Image two contains two photos. One of Helena Bertinelli as Huntress and one of Stephanie Brown as Spoiler. End Description.