#I LOVE STEPH OKAY

[inamindfarfaraway]

Stephanie Lauter is initially defined by her archetype as the popular girl in high school, but she must have been so lonely before Pete. Her mother is dead. Her father hates her and makes no attempt to hide it except to protect his reputation, constantly insulting, belittling and exerting authority over her when he isn’t busy with politics. She talks back to him, but doesn’t deny his descriptions of her. Miss Tessburger is the same. Her apparent friendships with the other cool kids, the kind of people who openly state the belief that looks are everything (not so different a paradigm to the one her father lives by), seem to be shallow and distant. Max rules the main popular clique with an iron fist to the point that they all stop bullying immediately and the school’s rigid social hierarchy crumbles once his influence is gone; and yet despite him having enough respect for her to try to protect her from what he believed were the undead during the prank, she was unaware of how big a problem his bullying was until she saw what he did to Pete, so she can’t have ever been that enmeshed in his circle. She dismisses her kindness to the losers as “the bare minimum” rather than lean into the potential for real friendships with them or leverage it to have power in this new group. It’s almost as if she doesn’t want to mislead them into thinking that she’s worth their time.

She’s cool because she acts like she doesn’t care about anything, and why would she? Life has never given her anything to care about. In fact, it’s punished her for caring. No matter what she does, her dad tells her that she’s worthless and stupid, so she stops trying to do well in school and starts sneaking out to parties full of alcohol and following through on flirting with the football players. She might as well make her body feel alive, as she can’t fix the fuck-up in her skull. Her phone is legitimately what she cherishes most in life. It can’t love her back or hug her or make the real world better, but at least it gives her an escape. It’s her space to control. Her pictures that she likes to look at, her music that drives her dad’s words out of her head. Her private conversations with people she chooses. At least it’s hers. (It isn’t. Her dad has been bugging it since she was twelve.)

Then Pete is nice to her, and in two weeks he becomes what she cherishes most.

Then she has to kill him. And shouldn’t she have seen this coming? Shouldn’t she have learned her lesson by now? Caring just means you have something to lose. That’s why she never wanted to love him like she does.

She pulls the trigger.

[lemonlimestar]

oh yea i looove batgirl and robin they’re so cute together! i can’t believe there’s literally no other batgirl and robin ship i can think of! wild!

(i jest, but i do love them <3)

[violetheart77]

Hot Take but I think that Lautski is the real Most Couple of All Time™ in Hatchetfield because they spend an entire musical number arguing about how they’re DEFINITELY not in love with each other Trust Me Bro and then exactly One Eldritch God Summoning Later they get another whole musical number and they’re like this:

And then the NEXT musical number they even go to Homecoming together because they both lived after all

[snarky-wallflower]

not me listening to Next Time again and being this close to sobbing. because, like…yeah. this song really gets the constant pain of separation that so many Hatchetfield characters go through. Paul and Emma will only connect right before it’s too late for everyone, before the universe ends. Lex and Ethan will have each other, but they’ll be separated by something beyond their control, whether by death or running to protect those they love. Tom and Becky will have loved each other long ago, lose each other, and find each other again, before tragedy. Duke will fall for Holloway each time, but she knows he’ll always have to forget her. Pete and Steph will find each other, but only after they’ve lost so much that they loved before. But they all have to believe that they’ll find each other in the next timeline, get to love each other again, if only briefly.

anyways, Hatchetfield, stop breaking my heart challenge (impossible).

[sapphic--kiwi]

going back to my roots and drawing my favorite stepbrother duo again 🧡💚

[ccbatman]

I was rereading War Games to refresh my memory on Steph's death, and did they ever reconcile her return with how her identity as Robin became public knowledge? Did I miss that?

[motleyfam]

Imagine Bruce starting therapy and learning about all these cool new tricks and gadgets that can help with emotional regulation and getting super invested (because I mean, c’mon, the dude’s like the king of gadget hoarding, he’s got a utility belt for goodness sake)

Then imagine the learning curve of him realizing that just because something works great for one of his kids, doesn’t mean it works for all of them, as illustrated by this memorable incident:

Jason gets really upset and starts having a minor panic attack about something

Bruce, proud owner of 14 new weighted blankets (in various styles, weights, and sizes), tries to wrap his adult son up in one to ground him

After all, Bruce himself finds them super comforting because it’s basically a socially acceptable alternative to wearing a massive Kevlar cape 24/7 like he’d do if he could

(Tim loves them too, so like, kid tested, parent approved™️)

Ends up totally backfiring when the added weight & restricted movement sends Jason into a full-blown flashback of digging out of his own grave, taking this panic attack from like a 4 to a 10

Whoops

[rocker-socks]

not to be insane but Stephanie Brown is so underrated and i really do hate to say its misogyny but. well. It is.

[f1version]

oh! okay carlos see you then… wait

[bluegarners]

pushing my bruce wayne has gray eyes agenda

[peggycatrerr]

At least our ship is canon.

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

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

[secretlystephaniebrown]

pondering names for a potential Macushla/Misericordia redux:

[bruz3r]

so dad/son coded

[ccbatman]

I once said that I thought Steph would make a great Black Canary, and I still think that's one of the realest takes I've ever had.

Like, this moment seared itself into my head and never faded:

{ Robin 80-Page Giant }

[anthyies]

You actually aren’t allowed to use the Tim Drake Has Issues or Tim Drake Needs A Hug or Tim Drake Is Not Okay or the Bad Parents Jack & Janet Drake tags until you read my 270 issue reading list. Sorry

[silverwhittlingknife]

very important announcement: new @birdchildsnest fic!!!