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Hey, we need to talk about the way Batfamily fans write Cass using ASL, because a lot of it is really fucking ableist

But Cass can't speak, of course she needs to sign!

Not true! There is nothing physically wrong with Cass's vocal chords or mouth, there's nothing in her brain stopping her from making sounds, and she is not an elective mute. She actually learns to speak individual words really quickly after she puts herself into an environment where that's a useful skill. Basil teaches her to quote huge chunks of Shakespeare in Nu52, and that's easier for her than forming simple sentences. That would definitely not be the case if she had any physical limitations on her speech.

Cass's disability is that she was not taught any language, and so she is having to grok the entire concept of language from the ground up. Grammar and syntax; tonality; how to combine words to convey more complex ideas; how putting two words next to one another can change their meaning; how to break down a whole idea into the individual parts needed to turn it into words; the fact that people's words might not line up with their tone and body language so you have to pay attention to both; how to tell if someone wants a response or is stating a fact; how to work out meaning from context if a word is new or someone has an unfamiliar accent; how to know if someone is using a new word or if they actually just have an unfamilar accent and all the ways words can be bent and changed before they become something new; the fact that two words can use the same sounds but have the same meaning; the fact that there can be two different words that mean the same thing. This is all stuff she didn't learn as a baby, and not knowing it would be just as much an impediment to learning ASL as learning English (for accent, swap out things like having limited movement in their hands, or having learned slightly different forms of the same sign, using a lot of home-signs etc, it's the same concept in a different medium).

There is no language on earth Cass wouldn't have these problems with. ASL is not any kind of shortcut.

But she reads body language, and ASL is kind of like body language right?

Not true, also pretty abelist! Just as the sounds which make up spoken language are essentially arbitrary (there's no objective reason why the sound "gud" should mean good, English speakers just all agree it does) so most of the signs in ASL are arbitrary! There's no reason for

to mean good. ASL users just all agree that it does. Cass knowing body language would not help her any more with ASL than it would with English, and if anything, it might make it harder, because sign uses the whole body and therefore changes the way people use body language so unless she saw a lot of ASL users as a child (and there's no particular reason to think she did), she would have to adjust what she knows about body language to account for those differences!

But she signs in the comics!

Nope! She uses hand gestures to communicate sometimes, but that's not signing. Pointing at food and miming eating to convey hunger is not sign. Pretending to punch someone and pulling it at the last second to convey you could hurt them but won't (Cass's actual first communication with Bruce in the comics) isn't signing. I've done the point and mime thing in countries where I didn't speak the language, that does not mean I knew that country's native sign language!

But she learns ballet, that's like a physical language, so sign is the same thing!

Nope! Also low key kinda abelist. Dance is a method of communication, but it isn't a full language. There's almost no grammar or sentence structure, the vocabulary is extremely limited, and also you can just make up new dance moves or use moves from different styles of dance together and still convey your meaning (you cannot just make random gestures or use BSL and expect ASL users to understand you, because they're full complex languages). Cass vibes with dance pretty hard, but that's precisely because it isn't a language, it doesn't require any of the skills she struggles with in order to communicate emotion.

But ASL isn't like a real language, it's not as complex or nuanced as spoken English so it would be easier for her to learn

That is so fucking gross I don't even want to have this conversation with you. Go and sit in the timeout box and think about what you've just said, and then commit to doing better.

But I just think that once she learned it, she'd like using ASL because [it's very expressive/she's used to her world being very quiet/she can use it on stealth missions more easily/etc]

Valid, understandable, have a lovely day

But I'm writing an AU were she uses ASL because her backstory is too comic-book-y to fit in no-capes AUs but I didn't want to erase her communication difficulties so I've written her as having a different disability

Cool. Send me a link when you're done.

But what if I write her using makatong?

(For context, makatong is a form of sign developed for people who have intellectual or phsyical disabilities that affect language use, which uses more descriptive signs which require less precise hand possitioning than other sign languages, and which has very simple grammar, making it easier to learn than ASL). Yes this would be easier for her, because it's intended for people with similar difficulties to hers, but since her difficulties stem purely from a lack of experience which can be (and are, in canon) overcome with practise, it would be kind of needlessly limiting compared to her just starting out with very simple spoken language, and wouldn't give her as many chances to develop those language learning skills. Makatong is also not mutually intelligable with any other sign language, so she couldn't easily transition from that to ASL once she got used to signing, she'd have to start learning it from scratch.

But I HC her as deaf

There is 0 comics evidence to support that, but it's a headcanon, so who cares. You do you. Have fun.

But learning sign language would be better than learning to speak anyway because it's a universal language!

That is not even slightly how it work. Go read the wikipedia article on sign languages around the world or something. Do some research.

TL:DR; Cass does not use ASL in the comics, and nothing about her disability or sign languages in general would make learning ASL easier or more convinent for her than spoken English. That does't mean writing her signing is inherently bad, but you should examine your reasons for doing it to ensure you're not just perpetuating ableist stereotypes about the language.

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helbabs is so interesting because through their reputations, helena is considered to be the more morally dubious one, but within their relationship, barbara is shown to be the more manipulative one while helena is more honest. it's a relationship that brings to light these less obvious characteristics they have.

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Unpopular Opinion™ But I think Jason and Stephanie should not get along at all. In fact, I think they should hate each other with the power of a thousand suns. "But they are so similar!" And that's exactly why they won't be able to stand each other. When Steph looks at Jason, she is furious. She feels extremely uncomfortable. She is terrified. She knows that in another life, with only slightly different choices, she'd be not much different from this bitter crime lord, and it horrifies her. It's not only that, but also that… Bruce loved him. Bruce loved him! His family mourned him deeply, they mourn him to this day, and he just threw it all away for some stupid revenge?! He had a family! He was loved and appreciated! Stephanie didn't even accept a glass cabinet in the cave. Is Jason upset that he wasn't saved? Is Jason upset that he was replaced? Bruce let her be Robin just so he could get Tim back! Bruce treats everyone like shit, Jason! Everyone in this family has died at least once. grow up! When Jason looks at Stephanie, he is furious. He is frustrated. He is terrified. He knows this is what he could have been. He looks at this innocent girl, who lets Bruce continue to take advantage of her over and over and over even though he treats her like garbage, and he knows that in another life, he's in the same place as her. How is she able to keep smiling after what happened to her? How can she look at Bruce after what he did to her? Why does she obey this idiot's moral code when she has experienced for herself what this rule results in? Doesn't she understand that she's only hurting herself? Is she so naive and stupid?! When they look at each other, they see a stupid person who is blind to something that for them is more important than anything. They can see every single one of their flaws, and it horrifies them. For them, the other is a nightmarish, dark version of themselves. Neither of them is wrong or right, they are simply too caught up in the way they see the world to see each other's truth and understand it.

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Typical role dustribution

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Happy Birthday Stephanie Brown! (August 11th) 💜

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Catching up on the current GA run, and hey, Josh? What the fuck does this mean?

Connor has been Green Arrow for longer than I have been alive

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Gotta fill my yearly Duke quota Bc he deserves it 🙌

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hot take : I never got into superbat because Lois lane is just objectively cooler than Bruce Wayne. Also Clois is the original superhero love story and Lois the original superhero comicbook woman so I don’t like seeing her sidelined for Batman.

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words cannot describe how obsessed i am with linda park. the first time you see her she’s ranting to her boss about how rude and reckless and obnoxious wally is and her boss just says ‘girl. you are The Exact Same Way’ and she goes ‘haha yeah<3’

SOULMATES.

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Cassandra Cain bearing the name of not just the Oracle but also of the first killer in the biblical mythology... what if... cass antagonist named Abel in a storyline that explores the theme of my guilt will not purify me... hi does anyone hear me...

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╰┈➤ daughter of the bat

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A Rough Summary of "Absolute Green Arrow" Issue 1- a fan pitch

Roy Harper, or rather "Green Arrow", is tasked to find and bring back a missing Spokane girl, Lili. He hires Mia Dearden, a teenaged prostitute, to aid in his search and also to get her away from her abusive pimp. Their search leads them to Lili, barely clinging to life in a field. While the girl dies on the way back, "Green Arrow" and Mia find writing on her arm- QUEEN JAN 2. After returning Lili's body to her family at the reservation, Mia demands that "Green Arrow" find her attackers as well as following up on the writing. Reluctantly, "Green Arrow" allows Mia to come with him, tracking down the girl's attackers who turn out to be employees of Queen Industries based in Star City. After some interrogation, "Green Arrow" and Mia piece together that Lili had witnessed some wrongdoing by Queen Industries and something was going down on January 2nd. Mia is forced to come back by her pimp, but emboldened by her experience with "Green Arrow", she beats him down but still alive, steals his money, and runs off, planning to find "Green Arrow".

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people will just make adult dick live in the manor like that wouldnt be some kind of horror story

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I'm just in a girl kissin' mood Idk

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Sins of the Father

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People will claim to be a fan of some thing and then hate all of the themes and motifs and story lines and plot lines and protagonists and antagonists like man I don’t think that you actually like it here

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Dinah Lance by Lucas Meyer in the upcoming Green Lantern / Green Arrow: World's Finest Special