#i think i could write a whole dissertation on how if steph was a guy people would love him

[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.

#stephanie brown #batman #spoiler #this WILL get me shot but. steph is everything fanon tim wishes he was #i think i could write a whole dissertation on how if steph was a guy people would love him #like. obviously Some Men In Comics will not be happy with any female characters that aren't background wives or daughters #but this is so apparent with fandom that its kinda. boggling #know i shouldnt read too deep into it bc duke and cas get done dirty as well #(duke and cas are whole other rants. i love them both dearly and i DO think Cas should be Batmans heir bc she is literally the Ideal Fit #while WFA is great but has also reduced peoples perception of Duke to a reader insert that is still learning the ropes instead of like. #the robin gang leader who has been studying since birth to defeat the riddler. who has powers. #duke and cas are kinda insane and deserve that recognition is all so i dont go into another rant) #the way that people are so happy to have the batboys be complicated people (even when they reduce them down to core traits) but not steph #she's always the fun one #her struggle with being a completely average teenager fighting to be recognized and her struggles with self worth gets put to the side #oh for what? waffle jokes? yeah okay #ppl would be dickriding her so hard if she had an actual dick i KNOW it #ppl would be making tiktok mitski edits of her

[motownfiction]

on the stage

Sam claps louder than anybody at the end of Charlie’s first piano concert in college. He even claps louder than their mother. At the end of the show, when the Doyles, Carrie, and Daniel decide to have dinner at a Denny’s nearby, Sam wraps his arm around Charlie and says nobody else gets to take him in their car.

“Made a promise to this kid that I’d drive him anywhere, any time,” Sam says loudly. “I’m gonna hold to it tonight.”

They’re on their way to the Denny’s now. Sam’s blaring “Don’t Stop Me Now,” playing the dashboard like a piano at the red light. He looks over at Charlie, who’s pretending not to enjoy it.

“Only thing that would have made that concert better would have been this,” he says to Charlie. “Then again, you sure did make a supersonic man out of ‘Strange Meadow Lark.’ You know, if I ever had a daughter, that’s what I would name her? Strange Meadow Lark Doyle.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Charlie says, “especially not if you were naming her after my performance.”

“And I would be. You were great tonight, kid. You really were.”

Charlie half smiles. They’re both pretending they don’t know what’s going on. It’s been a year already, but Sam can’t stop overcompensating. Queen ends, and the DJ plays “Tiny Dancer.” Sam immediately turns the dial to another station. He’s never told Charlie what that song means to him now, but he figures he doesn’t have to. The lyrics speak for themselves.

“Thanks,” Charlie says. “I was freaking out.”

“Couldn’t tell. You were great. I think the other jazz band guys might’ve been jealous.”

“Only because I’m tall.”

“That’s reason enough.”

They’re quiet for a little while. When Sam stops at another red light, Charlie asks him a question he’s surprised he’s never asked before.

“Do you ever wish you’d have done it?”

Sam snorts.

“Charlie, I’ve ‘done it’ a lot,” he says. “Since before you were even in high school. You remember Steph.”

“No, not … do you ever wish you’d have learned how to play something? Instead of just knowing all about the other music stuff? Like … don’t you ever wish it was you on the stage?”

Sam’s blood runs a little cold. He’s thought of that before. Himself, a rockstar with all the knowledge of an ethnomusicologist. He’d be like the Scorcese of rock ‘n’ roll, which is funny, because Scorsese is kind of the himself of rock ‘n’ roll, too. He’s thought about what it would be like to play the guitar … to write what he’s feeling instead of just feeling it. But at the end of the day, it’s just not right. At the end of the day, he’s not the guy who wants thousands of screaming fans surrounding him. He’s not the guy who needs it.

But maybe … if that was what would grab a girl like Carrie … maybe he …

No.

So, Sam shakes his head.

“Never,” he lies. “I just like listening to you.”

Charlie nods, and for the first time in probably his whole life, Sam knows that he understands more than meets the eye. For the first time in his whole life, Charlie can see the depth beyond.

Sam wishes he could be proud of that, too.

(part of @nosebleedclub november challenge -- day 7! i know i'm horrifically behind already, but you should see all the dissertation progress i made this week. here's hoping i have it in me to keep it up!)

#drabble #writeblr #ch: sam doyle #ch: charlie doyle #year: 1988