#BATGIRL 33 YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS

[casscainmainly]

Do you remember Cass having any moments where she was like, the way I was treated as a child was not okay and I’m not happy about it? The only thing that comes to my mind is her desire for physical and emotional connections with others. It’s such an interesting juxtaposition between Steph who resents her father and what he did and Cass who still loves her father even after everything he did to her. Like, being isolated for so long seemed to greatly lessen any hard feelings Cass had for her upbringing, and I guess what I’m asking is did she eventually expand her worldview in a way that changed her feelings about her childhood?

This question is sooo interesting. I don't think she ever comes to a full understanding of how abusive her childhood was, but she definitely is aware of some of it:

Batgirl (2000) #50 / #33

Particularly in #33 (the above second panel), when she's asking Cain "who do you think you are?", she's realising the way she was treated was inhumane. She's asking him what gave him the right to do that to her. It's the second most confrontational she ever gets with him.

Steph is absolutely a great contrast to this, but her friendship also allows Cass to process some of her abuse. It's the same for her relationship with Tim:

Batgirl (2000) #28 / #59

In Steph and Cass' convo, Cass is relating to another abuse victim - she's recognising, on some level, that what her dad did to her was abuse. Steph also emphasises that what Cass experienced was worse. Tim, similarly, says that Cass' childhood was 'horrible'; in the next panel, Cass thinks she doesn't know what it's like to have a 'real' father like Tim's. I think having Steph and Tim as counterpoints helps her see David Cain as abusive.

Then there's Batgirl (2008) #6:

The most confrontational Cass has ever gotten with her dad. Cain's characterisation is iffy, but everything Cass says here builds on her development in Batgirl (2000). It's the ultimate moment where she realises everything he took away from her: reading, speaking, play, family, and above all, choices.

She tries to save him immediately after, so I don't think she ever stops loving him (particularly not in New 52, where he tries to save her life and dies). But she does acknowledge what he did to her, and why it was wrong. I just don't think she allows herself to understand the extent of the wrongdoing, because that absolves her of the responsibility of her murder, and she can't grant herself that mercy.

[dunces-hat]

oh my god. barbara literally named cass. she named cass after cassandra from greek mythology. and she named herself after the oracle of delphi. barbara basically named cass after herself!!

because the difference between cass and babs is that no one listens to cass. at first she didn’t even know how to tell anyone, and when she finally did know her mouth wouldn’t work anyway. and when she does learn to speak no one listens. she tries to tell bruce that she is happy being batgirl but bruce fires her anyway because barbara told bruce that cass isn’t.

barbara thinks she knows what cass needs, and she does, but she doesn’t know how to go through with it so the way it ends up happening only hurts cass more. both bruce and babs project onto cass so hard, trying to give cass what they needed when they were young and cassandra doesn’t have the insight or information or words to tell them what would help her. cass thought it herself- “batman just wants another weapon in his war against crime and oracle’s looking for someone to live out her own shattered dreams” (batgirl 2000 #46)

cassandra hadn’t met her own mother yet and didn’t even know what a mother-daughter relationship would look like, had never seen a mother interacting with a child expect for maybe briefly on the street or on tv. but still, she recognized barbara as a motherly figure. barbara is the one she comes to when she cries, the one who protects her and advocates for her, brings her on vacations, who takes care of her, barbara is the one who named her. barbara is the one who cass left a note to before planning to die.

[pilindiel]

Writing Tag

I was tagged by the lovely and talented @calmgeyama whom i love...and cherish....an angel I TAG: @rhetoricfemme, @commodorecliche, @nakiriknife, @sonictheonlyhedgehog, @arahir, and @ichibri (welcome back, hun <3)

Responses under the cut!

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean? Loook.....we all know I’m a piece of Lord of the Rings shit.  That’s not a secret to anyone who has had even the tiniest bit of a conversation with me.  Pilindiel is the elvish name for “archer” or “arrow” and since my last name is “Fletcher” ie, someone who makes fletching for arrows, I thought it would fit!

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? my prized possession....my lovely The Promise of the World.

3. What is your AO3 profile icon and why did you choose it? It’s an icon of Batgirl from the most recent run of Batgirl comics!  Barbara Gordon is one of my all time favorite fictional characters and the reaction icons that have been made of her are to die for they’re so funny.

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters? I have a couple on tpotw who have been so kind and commented on every chapter, but not much more than that. :’)

5. Is there a fanfic you keep going back to read again and again? Oh god...I go back to a lot of jm favorites when I’m in a bit of a slump and I’m always asking Lindsey for recommendations of her fics because her JM is always so incredibly superb. 6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked? God I haven’t bookmarked fics in a LONG time (mainly because I feel like leaving a comment leaves a better impression) and I’m subscribed to most of the authors I like to follow anyway. 7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most? Man.....I live and breathe AUs for the ships I feel can fit them?  I have so MANY for JeanMarco, which are a combination of horror and supernatural stuff so I suppose I’ll go with that? 8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? I’m gonna be honest I have no idea how you can check how many people are subscribed to you on AO3 but if we’re going by fics?  Uh...239 bookmarks in total. 9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!) There isn’t anything I’m terribly worried about?  I’m always nervous whenever I try to write stuff for vo//ltron though because...well....we know how those fans can be. 10. Is there anything you’d like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc. I’m not very good at writing smut or fight scenes so that’s something I would love to be able to work on! 11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often? If we’re going with anything outside of haikyuu?  I usually go with popular ships.  ALAS HQ HAS SO MANY GOOD PAIRINGS.  YOU WILL INEVITABLY HAVE ONE OR TWO RAREPAIRS THROWN IN. 12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day? 29! 13. How many stories do you have saved in/ with your writing program? God uh....maybe 9? in the works?  I have a combination of one-shots, two-shots, and full fics I want to work on. 14. Do you write down story ideas or just keep them in your head? I keep most of them in my head, but if there’s a line or something that pops in for a specific story I will write it down before I forget. 15. Have you ever co- authored a story? Nope!  I’d be too scared about embarrassing the other person :’) 16. How did you discover AO3? God....it was either REALLY early Jea//nMarco stuff or he//talia back when i was into it.  Everyone in Het//alia started moving over to AO3 and I wanted to make an account so I could comment on their stuff properly. 17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3? LMAO hell no 18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers? HAH I’m lucky I get readers 19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write? Not particularly?  I always get inspired to write when i read things by suggestivescribe or poppy, but I rely a lot more on my lovely friends who are willing to read my shit before I post it more than anything :’) 20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author? If you ever feel bad about your writing, send it to another friend who is a writer or who has a critical eye.  They will always be willing to give you constructive criticism without compromising your voice to do so. 21. Do you plot out your stories or do you just figure it out as you go? I’ll usually do a bit of both: I’ll plot out major events I want in the story and how I want it to begin and end and then work my way through the story in chunks.  Then I go back through and edit to make sure everything flows accordingly.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do? Nope!  Then again, I rarely get feedback. 23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (Action, smut, etc) I've been working on how to write actions scenes and also improve my smut.  I also want to sort of get more into the playfulness of Kyoya and Kaoru’s dynamic.  I feel like there’s some meat I’m missing when I write them. 24. What story(s) are you working on now? Currently I have the final/extra chapter of tpotw in the works and my fic for the JMGE!!! 25. Do you plan your new projects before you finish your current ongoing story(s)? God you should see my phone.  Pages upon pages of story ideas and new set ups for future things.  It’s a mess. 26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself? If I set myself a deadline I will absolutely write 400 words a day at minimum.  The first hurdle for a new story/new chapter is always the hardest I’ve found, so giving myself something small to start off gets the grime on the page to be edited later. 27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started? Yeah!!  You should have seen the notebooks I ritualistically burned when I got to high school.  God.....What was middle school me thinking. 28. What is your favourite story that you have written? Honestly??  I love Punishment by Association, The Tale of Smokin’ Gun  Kirschstein, and The Promise of the World are my favorites I’ve written so far. 29. What is your least favourite story that you have written? I’m not terribly proud of the KyoKao stuff I’ve written - I feel like I need more practice with them. 30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years? Have some of my other long chapter fics done... 31. What’s the easiest part about writing? Dialogue always comes pretty easily to me?

32. What is the hardest part about writing? A STARTING POINT.  I feel like I need to always build up to my writing before I put something on paper and that is such a terrible feeling.  I’ll spend hours saying I’m going to write and then not get it done because I don’t want to start it off wrong. 33. Why do you write? I write because I like the ideas I have and I like exploring characters and relationships and I’m not funny or clever or popular enough to just make a quick text post about it lol