#*god* I hate new-52 huntress.

[necrotic-nephilim]

there is not enough femslash in batcest circles. the girls deserve to be just as weird about each other as the boys are. if BruDick gets to be weird father/son/brothers/lovers/friends/rivals/soulmates then it is only fair that Babs/Cass get to be mother/daughter/sisters/lovers too. Something about that deep intrinsic but undefinable love that is born out of trauma, especially if you consider Cass not knowing what healthy love looks like in the first place. i think it's fun and deserves just as much fandom content.

besides that, you can get even more niche with rarepairs like Helena/Steph. Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma is already a fantastic comic and even though it's their only real canon interaction it has so much potential. very comparable to TimJay in how Helena tries to get Steph to understand her morals and the corruption you could play with it.

batman: huntress/spoiler: blunt trauma (1998)

that comic also highlights on how both Steph and Helena are outcasts of the Batfamily and don't have the approval of Bruce to be doing what they do in "his city". I think there's so much Potential in Helena taking Steph under her wing because Bruce won't let her in and it becomes a weird codependent toxic sapphic mess. I think the protectiveness Helena feels over Steph from the get-go is so clear and the way she wants to look out for Steph, wants to make sure Steph understands the real world? I love them. Helena should be allowed to steal Steph, actually. I think it'd be fun.

there are a lot of other possibilities too like Babs/Steph or even getting weird with Helena Bertinelli/Helena Wayne and the existential question of "is it selfcest or not." But these two specifically live in my head rent-free, especially Helena/Steph and one day I'll convince everyone else to ship it too.

[necrotic-nephilim]

as a Helena fan who's witnessed this whole bit go from silly jokes/memes to genuine vitriol, it's been utterly bizarre. from what i noticed, the root of the comparison came from people fanonizing Jason to the degree of saying "he has Catholic guilt (bc of the Flashpoint priest!Jason) and he'd be an English school teacher (bc i'm assuming, his taste for classic lit) and he's female rage-coded and he would adopt/protect children" which, are canonical traits of Helena. so at first, it was sort of a joke lamenting the fact ppl would rather force unrealistic headcanons onto Jason than consume content with a woman in the Batfam. because it's sort of a tad ironic/painful to see fanonized Jason Todd who's being called all these things he isn't, when there's a canon character who *is* all of those things right there. like if that's the character you want, why wouldn't you want to read about Helena. the issue started with frustration against fanon Jason, from my experience anyway.

but then, it spiraled out of control to become a comparison of their lethal moral code and their disagreements with Bruce suddenly making Jason this stupid boy clone of Helena. which isn't true and is an insult to both of them to claim they're at all the same. they kill for different reasons, they're at odds with Bruce for different reasons. a well-written Helena and a well-written Jason really have little in common. though their interactions could be interesting, i don't even think they'd get along tbh.

i think in recent months/years, the Batfamily fandom suddenly became self aware that they grossly ignore the women of the Batfam. and now they're trying *too hard* to course correct for that. to an extent, i get why Helena isn't in the majority of fanon content- she hasn't really *been* a Batfamily member since pre-Flashpoint. the New-52 and Rebirth versions of her character are arguably not even the same character and certainly not a character as important to the Batfamily as she used to be. so why *would* a fandom mostly pulling from modern comics know who she is aside from the couple WFA episodes she's been in. (which did her *no* favors for people understanding her and also whitewashed her before the art was fixed.)

but, i think everyone's now trying to prove how woke their fandom content is (i hate using that word, it sounds very republican but i can't think of a better one.) by including women and characters of color to prove they don't just care about the boys. and sure, it's cool and all if you want to pick up Huntress comics bc you're sick of reading about stories only featuring Bruce and his "sons", but now it's like. almost a competition to prove how much more you know about the Batfam than other people when you make these jokes. i've seen the same thing happening comparing Steph and Jason recently. yes, it's important to care about the more diverse characters of the Batfam as much as you care about the boys. but now they're put on this ridiculous pedestal of being the "more cool alternatives". an organic push for content about the underrated characters is one thing, but it's another thing entirely when it's born out of a performative nature, which is certainly what this whole... thing feels like.

and the irony is, you can *really* tell the people doing this the most haven't actually read much of Helena's content outside of Gail Simone's Birds of Prey. and my hot take is, i don't think Gail Simone does a *great* job with Helena and she's often pretty sexist toward Helena (making other characters slut shame her, making Helena very promiscuous which isn't something she has a history of, etc) so, while it's important content for Helena, it can be a shallow reading of her. where all you really get about her is "pro-murder Batfam vigilante with a crossbow and a sassy personality" which sure, feels a *bit* like a shallow Jason. but that's the whole point, you have to make them both *incredibly* shallow to compare them. bc it's not about actually liking the women, it's about getting the shallow brownie points of saying "look i know who she is and i think she's *totally* cooler than Jason he's a dumb copy".

tbh even with the Jason Todd headcanons that are more egregious in feeling like "oh that's just Helena Bertinelli but a dude", it's not like it's being done on purpose. none of these fanon-only fans know enough about Helena to be purposefully stealing her traits and it really isn't that deep aside from sometimes, people just have bad headcanons that kinda make you wish they would read about characters aside from their main blorbos. but hey, they're not *required* to, and no one is an evil misogynist for having some OOC headcanons. you suck the fun out of fandom when you require people to interact with characters they aren't interested in. and depending on why someone likes Jason, they honestly might not like Helena. they're wildly different and have very different dynamics with everyone around them.

and i get it, Jason has had *wildly* inconsistent writing and there's debate upon debate of what's in character for him, what comics you should consider when trying to make fan content about him, and so on. i'm in the "anything past pre-Flashpoint isn't in the version i prefer" camp, but the whole mess of it scatters the fandom on how to write him. which i think is the actual root of him getting fanonizing beyond recognition, *not* people stealing from Helena. is it particularly headache-inducing to see Jason fans say "he's girl coded" or "he's female-rage coded"? yeah. but even those fans aren't ever going to be convinced out of their bubble by vitriolic comments made about how Jason's a total loser and Helena's so much cooler than him. and then the more canon-based fans who might *actually* like Helena and probably would read her comics if just given an honest recommendation of her character are *really* not going to want to be interacting her content/fandom. painting a broad stroke of the Jason fandom all seeing Jason as this cartoonish fanon version of himself does you no favors with anyone.

like i used to find the silly jokes/memes that were solely calling out bad fanon enjoyable as pure lighthearted "oh i wish more people liked this character the way they liked that character bc the fandom for this character is so small" vibes, but you're right about it getting out of hand. it's become the only thing people seem to talk about in the Huntress fandom space. i'd much rather discuss Helena for who she is then talk about Jason. because isn't it just a *little* ironic that in attempting to make this fandom more inclusive of the women, we still just *have* to make it about the men? you don't make Helena, or Steph or Cass or Onyx or any other underrated woman sound cool by comparing them to Jason. you just make it sound like you don't know how she stands as a character on her own. she's a cool character with a cool history (both in-universe and the meta history of the Huntress mantle) but this whole weird hate boner for Jason permeating the fandom space for her just makes people hate her instead of not know of her. and really, i can't blame anyone for that.

Like. Where and when did Helena vs Jason thing start? It's so fucking annoying and makes me think that I'll never want to interact with the Huntress fandom if/when I read more stuff about her. Which is a bit how I avoid interacting with the Nightwing fandom at large despite liking his stuff.

[wetalkedaboutthisshinji]

I’ve reading the Gail Simone run on Birds of Prey from 2000 (iirc). And it´s real good! I love the dynamic between Oracle and Black Canary and I actually like a lot the villains that have appeared so far, Savant, Lady Shiva, Chesire...

It does have a biiig case of early 2000s superheroine cheese. Lots of butt shots and those impractical swimsuits. I’m not here for it. It’s not a make it or break it thing for me personally, I’m on the opinion that for some characters the idea of showing some skin or be drawn more attractive than practical makes sense (Emma Frost is always the go-to example because, I mean, yeah, of course she is). But it’s annoying. Black Canary and Huntress are both actually really believable as badasses and even if they lampshade it (lmao at that famous line of Huntress saying her costume is to show off her abs) it does distract a bit too much for me and not in a way I would come to read the comic book for. I know that for some people this kind of thing was integral to comics books at the time but it’s just not my taste and not for these characters.

Also how the hell does that ab window even work.

And that’s a shame because I actually LOVE some designs for these characters. I will now gush about them because why not.

First there’s Black Canary.

This the version of Black Canary from Brendan Fletcher’s run back in 2015. It´s part of the New 52 iirc so it´s an “alternate take” on the Canary. 

And I love it

SO MUCH.

So, she’s a superpowered martial-arts trained ex-soldier that ends up fronting up a punk rock band and goes all goth diva. And THEN proceeds to fight crime with her rockstar get-up.

Hell

Yes

I love this version so much and I love that it 100% justifies those “kevlar fishnets” (?). 

Of course we will never see punk rock diva Black Canary ever again. I don’t think that version of the character has appeared ever since and I don´t think this mini-series was that popular. Apparently folk didn´t like how it retconned her relationship with Green Arrow, which apparently is the main draw for the character for a lot of people. Oh, well. Also, is it me or doesn´t she look like Katie White from The Ting Tings? What a random inspiration, but, again, I’m game. I LOVE this series and I highly recommend to anyone that would say “fuck yes” at the idea of a punk rocker superheroine. The plot is a bit meh tbh so I can’t blame it’s lack of popularity on not admiring the greatness of the concept.

But good god, look at those drawings. 

Annie Wu, the artist, is amazing on this. Definitive visual candy.

The OTHER other design I love is the one for Huntress in the Birds of Prey movie with the ridiculously long title:

There was a lot of dumb hate on the costumbes for this film and I do think it has its issues but overall I liked it quite a bit and I actually loved most of the costumbe design. I love the super tacky clothes Harley uses and I LOVE this design for the Huntress. It’s functional but it keeps a very 90s anti-hero sensibility and I actually it has a lot of personality. I haven’t read the Huntress that much but so far what I’ve seen in the series tells me more of a very practical, no-nonsense character. I think it makes more sense to portray a character like that with baggy clothes and muted colors, rather than showing off the midriff in an impossible middriff window or using huge-ass headresses. Thing is, how do you include personality when you go practical? I think that’s a legitimate issue in a visual media, but I think this design does it for me. And it even shows her mid-riff in a way that is cool and not impossible by the standards of physics!

Seriously, i don´t wanna go into discussions well past I have no idea why some people were angry in that the movie made the superheroines “ugly”. Wth.

My main issue with the Birds of Prey movie now that I’ve read the comic book is that Simone made this A+ dynamic with the characters and the movie just doesn’t do that as much. It has to juggle with like 3 other storylines so I´m surprised, just disappointed.

In my dreams, there’s an adaptation of Birds of Prey in some media with Oracle, Huntress and Black Canary. And Black Canary is a goth/punk/indie/whatever goddess and Huntress has that amazing vigilante design. I CAN DREAM.

(Also Oracle is my favorite version of Barbara but that’s another topic.)

Anyway these were just my personal opinions and takes because I think too much about this kind of dumb stuff and I can either explode here or attack my friends with specific canons on 20 year old comic books.

[gothammite]

zinda, helena, and charlie

ZINDAAAAA

favorite thing about them

i love my southern babey!!!!!! what a babe. i have so much love in my heart for her idk where to start. she’s super underrated. my favorite thing about her, in all honesty, is how fiercely loyal she is!!!!!!!!!! like bitch!!!!!! thats my fuckn… babey!!!!!!!!!!! when she comes back to the team after spy smasher’s bullshit……. god. and her strength, in her heart, is just so unparalleled. thats a legend right there

least favorite thing about them

her whole thing about not being told what to do is sometimes kinda annoying but at the same time too…. mood! men dont get within ten feet of me and immediately tell me what to do or ill kill you.

favorite line

i mean everything she says is basically. fuckin gold. but i mean the classic one is the ‘well butter my butt and call me a biscuit’ yknow

brOTP

her friendship with babs and dinah…. 👌👌👌

OTP

HELENAZINDA PLEASE THANK YOU. also bardazinda is big valid

nOTP

people ship her with guy. i hate that. and dont even fucking look at her @ killer shark

random headcanon

i would like to imagine that she has a crash course of piloting with all of the birds of prey (including barbara) and it just goes horribly wrong and she just gives up and they go out drinking instead 

unpopular opinion

i dont know if there is an unpopular opinion for her really since so many people just IGNORE HER but if there was an unpopular opinion to have ig it would be that shes an important part of the team since APPARENTLY everyone else is sleeping on her

song i associate with them

i feel like she deserves some gothic southern vibes so im feelin some brandi carlile, specifically raise hell (i love this song so im adding a link)  

favorite picture of them

i cant help it……… i love the otto schmidt design………….. shes so cute

dsljkfn i make these too long so helena goes under here now 

favorite thing about them

a bitch gotta love a hard-headed, strong willed woman. ive grown to really like her rebirth iteration/her grayson(new 52) reboot……… i really liked seeing her sorta in charge in spyral because she’s usually portrayed as this hot-headed, spontaneous spitfire and that was super fun to see her being in charge!!!!!! but also i felt like the characterization was inconsistent between grayson into rebirth. and birds of prey rebirth…….. bleh.  but her spunk is just. undeniable !!!!!!!!!! legend!!!!!! shes so cool

least favorite thing about them

her temper is like. sometimes not the greatest thing in the world. just because of the fact that i feel like sometimes in bop everyone’s just staring at each other like >:-( all the time

favorite line

it’s stereotypical but i do love ‘the hunted becomes the huntress’ thing. i cant help it

brOTP

her relationship with dick in grayson when theyre NOT being pushed romantically is nice! and i like her friendship with babs a lot. i feel like the respect there is really great

OTP

dinahhelena legend. also helenazinda is p great too. 

nOTP

hmmmmmmm i dont love her with dick romantically. it feels really forced. also remember that time she was with penguin? sorry to remind you. 

random headcanon

anyone else feel like they could catch her yelling at an hgtv rerun of house hunters like: ‘are you fucking kidding me? a beach house with that budget? yeah sure uh huh’ and ‘ARE YOU JOKING??????? HOUSE 2??????? GET FUCKED TERRY AND AMY.’ 

unpopular opinion

stop shoving her with men and putting this weird emphasis on her sexuality……….. it’s annoying

song i associate with them

im feelin bury me face down by grandson………… i fuckin love that song. im linking that one too flkjsdnfjk

favorite picture of them

i love her super curly hair……. and ig dick is there too

i fuckin….. love charlie

favorite thing about them

the time when charlie came around was like. fuckin dark. so for me personally my favorite thing about charlie is what a lot of people didnt like…… the fact that shes so fuckin peppy!!!!! barbara showed her stephanie’s fucking…… autopsy…… and she’s still out here doing her best. she’s unstoppable. i love her. she deserves to be brought back and i feel like she wouldve had a legit place in the new birds of prey lineup if dc wasnt like. yknow. cowards

least favorite thing about them

i will honestly say that sometimes her energy felt a little bit misplaced when standing next to the bop. however……………………… idc i love her (also her inexperience is a little like OOF sometimes)

favorite line

i dont really have any in my head that stick out but i know shes got some really good one liners 

brOTP

i would really like to have her hang out with steph and cass :-( ALSO i could see her and duke getting along really well. especially as metas surrounded by nonmetas

OTP

i dont really have any ships for her! in my head she’s like. a whole child 

nOTP

people shipping her with any of the bop…………… theyre like her moms……. maybe dont do that

random headcanon

she for sure plays dnd. i know it in my soul. i dont know who but i know she does. ALSO i really like the idea that shes huntress in the future. i know thats not a headcanon (since it was in teen titans) but it’s like. too good i love it 

unpopular opinion

people dont really have many opinions i think on charlie but like……. she should be in current continuity and be adopted by bruce. he sucks but like. she deserves a fambly and also see my notes above about duke

song i associate with them

RANDOM BUT fear by x ambassadors. maybe it’s because of its BOUNCE………… do you get the joke

favorite picture of them

I KNOW but she looks so cute

[sebeth]

Babs-a-thon, part 4

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

 Part 3 of the Babs-a-thon ended with Barbara thrown brutally, pointlessly in the fridge.  

Batman Chronicles #5 - “Oracle: Year One – Born of Hope” by John Ostrander, Kim Yale, and Brian Stelfreeze.

Chuck Dixon and Gail Simone often receive the credit for the development of Barbara Gordon in the 1990s and 2000s – and rightfully so.  However, Barbara’s true rescuers were John Ostrander and and Kim Yale.  The duo engineered Barbara’s escape from the fridge and transformed her into the Oracle in the pages of the Suicide Squad.  

Oracle debuted in the Suicide Squad but I will re-cap the Batman Chronicles first as it takes place in the immediate aftermath of the Killing Joke.

Barbara’s in the hospital suffering a range of emotions, mostly regret: “I can’t believe I was such an idiot.  I’m Barbara Gordon.  My father – my adoptive father – is Commissioner Gordon of Gotham City.  I’ve lived in Gotham City most of my life. I’m no novice.  I ran one of the largest libraries on the east coast.  I was Batgirl, for crying out loud!  So one night I hear a buzz at our front door and I just go out and open it!  I don’t use the peephole to see who it is, I don’t have the chain on, I just go and open the door!  What was I thinking of?  It was the Joker and he had a gun and there was a flash and there’s blinding pain inside me and I’m falling and I hear myself screaming and my Dad shouting and…and…! I don’t remember much else, fortunately. I’m not sure what else happened except I woke up in the hospital with part of my spine shot away.”

The above quote demonstrates how utterly stupid – and out of character – it was for Barbara to simply answer the door in the Killing Joke.  Babs lives in Gotham City and is the daughter of the police commissioner – she knows better.  The Batgirl Special shows Barbara using the peephole before opening the door for Marcy so it’s a standard precaution.  Another note – Babs was living on her own in the Batgirl Special – why was she living with her father?

Barbara doesn’t mention her term as a Congresswoman so I’m assuming it’s been retconned at this point.

Batman stands vigil at Barbara’s hospital bed.  Babs regains consciousness and she is furious: “Had he been using a regular bullet, I would have been dead before I hit the floor.  And he didn’t want that, no.  He wanted me alive.  Not because I have any intrinsic worth or meaning to him, of course.  No.  Shooting me…kidnapping my dad…it was all just a way to get at you.  Do you understand how humiliating, how demeaning, that is? My life has no importance save in relation to you!  Even as Batgirl…I was perceived just as some weaker version of you!”

“I heard how you two stood there, laughing over some private joke.  Tell me – was it me?”

Batman can’t respond and leaves the hospital.

“God, I hope I’ve hurt him. It’s nothing compared to the pain I’ve felt – or will feel.”

I hate the “Batman and Joker” share a laugh – utterly loathe it.  Completely out of character.  I don’t buy and defense of it.  I’m glad Babs let him have it.  I’m not sure how Barbara heard about it – were they still laughing when the police officers arrived? If so, how can Commissioner Gordon stand to be in the same room as Batman?  The next time Jason complains Batman won’t kill the Joker Babs should respond with “At least they didn’t share a laugh over the situation”.

Babs is released from the hospital “ten weeks and three days after the Joker shot out my spine”.

The above quote gives us a nice timeline of events between the Killing Joke and A Lonely Place of Dying. Babs attended Jason’s funeral so his death was approximately three months after the Killing Joke.

Bab’s resents the media’s attention: “The press wouldn’t even have bothered if I hadn’t been your daughter, dad.  I’m a symbol. We’re big on symbols in Gotham. You refused to have police guarding our home.  Every other big city police commissioner has them.  But you wanted to symbolize how open your administration is…”

“And you got hurt because of it.  I’m sorry, Babs.”

“I am, too, Dad.  I am too…”

Barbara spends the next six months in physical and emotional therapy: “I had to accept I was never going to walk again…worst of all was the fear I felt – of being physically helpless, unable to defend myself, of having no sense of self, of feeling that I meant nothing, that my life was over.  I sat in the back bedroom of my father’s apartment for weeks, afraid to go out, afraid of the next day.  And what would happen to me if – God forbid!  Dad should die or be killed?  How would I live?  On charity?”

Barbara’s encounters with Cormorant seem to have been retconned away which is unfortunate.  The Batgirl Special has Babs finally resolving the emotional trauma from her encounters with Cormorant.  Can you imagine what it would be like to finally have closure from the Cormorant incidents only to suffer a severely more traumatizing encounter with the Joker?

Babs decides she can no longer hide away: “I was tired of being a victim.  I had skills and abilities long before I was Batgirl.  It was time to make them work for me again. It was time to stop being afraid.”

Bab’s receives a grant from the Wayne Foundation and puts together a powerful computer set-up.

“One thing I knew how to do was research…I discovered an affinity for hacking, and I started to make some money.  I got into the internet before the general public really knew what it was.  And I discovered a world there…you didn’t even have to use your real name.  You were simply who you were online.  I found enormous freedom – and complete acceptance – there.  In a strange way, I became more real to me as well.  More content, more happy.”

“Then, one night at dinner, a chain of events began that led me to where I am now.”

Jim confides to Babs: “There’s this financier, a woman by the name of Ashley Mavis Powell.  We know she’s laundering money but we don’t know how. She does stuff with computers.  I know it’s your field, honey, but I hate ‘em!”

Babs researches Ashley Mavis Powell and discovers she’s a criminal called Interface and she is a “nasty piece of work”.  Interface has a “low-level metahuman talent that lets her interact directly with computers” and “she’s also a child abuser”.

Barbara decides to go after Interface via the computer: “She was elusive but I was determined and I had nothing else to do.”

Jim insists Babs get out more: “He was right, of course, but I didn’t like it.  I was a gymnast at one time, I was a dancer.  I loved how my body moved.  Now I just felt conspicuous and clumsy.  I used to walk everywhere and the traffic never bothered me.  Now, I’d come to a busy corner and I’d feel myself start to panic.”

Barbara is at an intersection when Ashley Mavis Powell approaches her from behind and throws her into traffic.  Fortunately, the oncoming traffic stops in time.

“She made me feel like a helpless victim again – and had laughed doing it.  Ms. Powell had just made the biggest mistake of her life.”

Yeah, Babs has definite issues with laughing over someone’s misfortune.

“I need a resource and not one from my Batman or my father.  One I would find on my own.”

Babs takes to the Internet, looking for someone who can teach self-defense to a wheelchair-confined individual.

Unknown to Babs, Batman responds (under his Matches alias) and arranges a meeting in Robinson Park.

Barbara meets an apparently homeless man at the park: “I take it you’re Babs.  A friend of yours told an acquaintance of mine about you. Don’t let the appearance fool you. My name’s Richard Dragon and I’m here to help you.  Maybe. First – tell me what you want.”

If I had to guess, the “friend” is Batman and the acquaintance is either Bronze Tiger or the Question.  Richard Dragon was the Yoda of the DC Universe from the late 1980s to the early 2000s.  He mentored the Bronze Tiger, Lady Shiva, the Question, Oracle, and the Huntress.

“I don’t want to be afraid anymore.”

“Fear’s useful in moderation.  What do you really want?”

“To walk again.  Can you fix that?”

“Nope.  That’s not what you’re really seeking.”

“I want my life back!”

“That’s who you were, not who you are.  Who are you?”

“I…I don’t know.  I don’t know if I ever knew…”

“Now you’re ready to begin. That’s what you’re hear to discover. And these may help.”

Richard presents Oracle with a pair of escrima sticks.

“And so began the weeks, the months, in the park, learning from a street bum named Richard Dragon the Philipine art of stick fighting called escrima.”

I wonder if Barbara and Helena ever bonded over their mutual mentor?  Did they ever realize they had a mutual mentor?

“The physical and mental discipline honed questions of my identity.  Strangely – or perhaps not so strangely – the answer came in the form of a dream.”

Babs – dressed as Batgirl – approaches an Oracle.

Babs informs the Oracle “I’ve lost so much.  I’ve lost everything I thought I was.  Who am I now? How do I go on?

The Oracle responds: “You have lost nothing that matters.  You have everything you need.  Everything before leads up to now and now leads to what shall be.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Take away your mask and I will take away mine.  Then you will understand.

The ladies remove their masks and Babs realizes she is both Batgirl and the Oracle.

Babs awakens and realizes what she is going to do with Ashley Mavis Powell: “I realized that the Internet could be a mask as surely as any cowl.  I could assume an identity – and this time not a second-hand version of someone else.  This would be mine – my mask, my shield, my persona.”

The above quote is why I could never get behind Babs going back to the Batgirl mantle.  Even if her ability to walk had been restored in the pre-New 52, I think she either would have remained as Oracle or designed an entirely new alter ego.  Returning to Batgirl is as pointless as an adult Richard Grayson resuming the Robin mantle – you could do it but why would you?  Both Barbara and Richard are adults who have earned their adult identities – why put their training pants back on?

Oracle lures Interface into a cyber-trap that “catches her into a logic trap – endlessly repeating the same circuit over and over again at the speed of thought, unable to break free until I cut her loose.”

Oracle orders Interface to turn herself in or she’ll continue to locked in the cyber-trap.

Interface promptly turns herself in.

Babs meets with Richard Dragon in Robinson Park.  She informs Richard “I think I’ve found – well, not the answer but a start of the answer to my question.”

“Then you no longer need me. You know the forms.  Keep practicing.  Grow great, little spirit.”

“Thank you, Sensei. For everything.”

“A little over a year has passed since my old life ended, since I died and was reborn.  The shadows remain, but only to give contrast to the light. I am no longer a distaff impersonation of someone else.  I’m me – more me than I’ve ever been.  My life is my own.  I embrace it, and the light, with a deep, continuing joy.”

A great story that portrays the rage, fear, and humiliation in the immediate aftermath of Bab’s shooting and ends with her trademark determination to overcome and carve a life for herself.

Up next, it’s a Suicide Squad.

[bring-me-bellarke]

92 Statements

I was tagged by @mellocellos (on @jessyromero ) Thank you so much, this was super fun!

RULES: You must answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people.

THE LAST: 1. Drink: coffee, my drug of choice.

2. Phone call: my mother

3. Text message: “Yeah.“ (I know, fascinating stuff)

4. Song you listened to: All Night- Chance the Rapper.

5. Time you cried: probably today? I don’t even know.

6. Dated someone twice: No thank God.

7. Kissed someone and regretted it: Yup.

8. Been cheated on: I don’t think so.

9. Lost someone special: yes.

10. Been depressed: yes.

11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: only a few times.

LIST 3 FAVOURITE COLOURS: 12.-14. Raspberry, Mint, and black.

IN THE LAST YEAR, HAVE YOU: 15. Made new friends: yes!

16. Fallen out of love: yeah.

17. Laughed until you cried: yes

18. Found out someone was talking about you: no

19. Met someone who changed you: no

20. Found out who your friends are: ??

21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: oh god I think I did? But I deactivated fb so who knows.

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: most of them? Again deactivated.

23. Do you have any pets: No sadly. I can barely keep myself alive.

24. Do you want to change your name: nah

25. What did you do for your last birthday: packed to go to Europe.

26. What time did you wake up: noon thirty which was horribly surprising.

27. What were you doing at midnight last night: sitting in an office building helping my dad wax a floor (weird I know)

28. Name something you can’t wait for: nothing exciting tomorrow.

29. When was the last time you saw your mom: like an hour ago.

31. What are you listening to right now: silence.

32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: yes

33. Something that is getting on your nerves: people taking advantage of me doing favors for them.

34. Most visited website: tumblr

35.-37. 38. Hair colour: red

39. Long or short hair: long

40. Do you have a crush on someone: I wish. My life is so boring rn.

41. What do you like about yourself: lemme tell you not much. Ummmmm my hair…sometimes?

42. Piercings: 3 in each ear.

43. Blood type: Don’t know

44. Nickname: Jess.

45. Relationship status: single

46. Zodiac: Scorpio

47. Pronouns: she/her

48. Favourite TV show: The 100

49. Tattoos: none

50. Right or left handed: right-handed

51. Surgery: my tonsils when I was like 6.

52. Piercing: see question 42

53. Sport: nope.

55. Vacation: Headed to Lollapalooza in a few weeks.

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating: rn? Nothing.

58. drinking: rn? Nothing.

59. I’m about to: start some writing hopefully.

61. Waiting for: Lolla and my LSAT.

62. Want: to travel the rest of the summer.

63. Get married: Probs not.

64. Career: Law school (but not a lawyer?) ideally I’d be a writer.

WHICH IS BETTER: 65. Hugs or kisses: Smooch.

66. Lips or eyes: eyes

67. Shorter or taller: taller

68. Older or younger: are we talking dating purposes? Older.

70. Nice arms or nice stomach: I’m a slut for arms (see: Bellamy Blake)

What happened to 71??

72. Hook up or relationship: don’t judge me too hard but hook up.

73. Troublemaker or hesitant: I’m a sucker for them bad boys.

HAVE YOU EVER: 74. Kissed a stranger: yes

75. Drank hard liquor: yes

76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: only a few times at the worst possible moments. 77. Turned someone down: yeah

78. Sex on the first date: no

79. Broken someone’s heart: maybe?

80. Had your heart broken: nah not really. maybe just a smidge.

81. Been arrested: nope

82. Cried when someone died: till I couldn’t cry no more.

83. Fallen for a friend: ughhhhh yes I hate it.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN: 84. Yourself: almost never

85. Miracles: sometimes

86. Love at first sight: nope

87. Santa Claus: nope

88. Kiss on the first date: yeah why not.

89. Angels: yeah.

OTHER: 90. Current best friend’s name: Kacy.

91. Eye colour: brown

92. Favourite movie: ahhh I don’t really watch movies anymore. Literally drawing a blank.

Here’s my 20 peeps. I’m so sorry if you’ve already been tagged. Obvs, don’t do it if you prefer! :)

@galaxybellamy @griffinnblake @southsideserpentine @littlebellarkemix @oh-haseena @towalkinyourlight @clexasbellarke @marlarke @the-redhead-princess @bellamybb @alfalfabellamy @flowerclarkes @starkdelinquents @adancergirl @taco-bellamy @bellamynochillblake @joceyaleyla @the-icelandic-huntress @bellarkeygriffin @artistpeeta