#Solely because of dcs ableism

[aingeal98]

One little... Not even nitpick but just sad observation. This plotline they're setting up with Dinah and Cass trying to protect Babs from a future assassin looks very fun but I can't stop thinking about the conflict and drama it could create if DC let Babs be Oracle again, wheelchair most definitely included. It was a common character beat that the real Oracle Babs hated anyone seeing her as weak or powerless (Rightfully and understandably so because you know. Ableist society.) like it's a big driving motivation for her! Oracle gives her power and let's her control the narrative. People seeing her or even hinting that she could be weak and in need of protection, going above her head and treating her as a victim or a damsel in distress? Yeah she does Not react well to that. If she found out that Dinah and Cass, two of the people she loves most, were secretly trying to protect her, no matter how good their intentions are there's no way that doesn't blow up into at least one fight where no one is fully right and no one is fully wrong but it gets nasty and hurts everyone involved.

But with Babs in the Batgirl suit I just... Don't see any of that happening. My guess is they'll just let Babs in on everything right away and have very little conflict between the three of them. Of course I'd love to be proven wrong! I think there's a really good set up here for this plotline to do things with these characters and bonds that hasn't been done in a while. And fhey're slowly getting like 20% of Barbara's actual personality back instead of being The Smurfette. But at the same time, I've yet to see anything that makes me think DC would be willing to let a writer dive substantially into that angry, defensive side of Barbara. Because it's messy and ugly and also because it exists due to the trauma and ableism she suffered, and DC would rather print a million panels of her sitting in front of a computer with her legs crossed than ever let her be truly Oracle again.

[secularprolifeconspectus]

I think if we fought more against ableism in society people wouldn't abort for ableist reasons and that would help so much!

Absolutely. If we didn't value humans solely on their functionality, which enables their production and labor, then we'd never accept that preborn humans aren't people because of their inabilities. That's why capitalism has to go too. Human beings should not have their value determined by contingent circumstance, nor by extrinsic market value. We must end the commodification of human lives and bodies. Right now in DC, the price of a baby's life at 28 weeks is $12k.

[batfamcraze]

Idk if it’s just me but I feel like no one talks about how the ableist version of Babs affects Steph and Cass to a detrimental amount...

We literally had Steph and Cass ERASED in New 52 when Babs was Batgirl. Let that sink in. Fans had to beg DC to bring those two back and DC had them gone because of their misogyny, racism and classism. Barbara is their perfect Batgirl because she is a white woman that can be reduced to a love interest.

The best version of Barbara is when she was Oracle PERIOD. She was independent, badass and good representation. When Barbara is Batgirl (Post-Oracle) she is a land mine to all other batfamily members including herself. Which is why it pains me when I see readers shit on the Batgirls comic because I fear that if the comic is not successful, there is a very real chance that DC might try to erase Steph and Cass again. Yes their characterization is fair to criticize but the team can be changed in the future with a better writer/editor who understands these two better.

However, I am 100% against abled Babs but I am suspicious to others who are hating on the Batgirls comic solely for that reason alone when abled Babs is in EVERY SINGLE bat book? You can dislike the comic for their bad characterization (and yes the ableismon DC’s part) but I don’t see the same criticism for abled Babs in other bat books (not as much anyway). It kind of makes me think that you don’t actually want to see Steph or Cass anymore, and use DC’s ableism as an excuse for their comic to fail. Bad comics come out a lot, but no one says that a comic should fail because of a current writer. For example, a lot of people are criticizing Tom Tayl*r for his Nightwing run, but no one is saying that Dick shouldn’t have a solo anymore, people are asking for a new writer and for Dick’s comic to succeed. Abled Babs is also in the comic but fans aren’t saying “let’s not support the Nightwing comic!” They are trying to make DC hold accountability and for a writer change because of Tayl*r’s own ableism (See what I mean?). it’s this weird hypocrisy and it reeks of misogyny/racism/classism. There should be a double standard, we don’t want Steph and Cass’ comic to fail. Steph and Cass DESERVE a solo and they should have the chance to keep it for their sake. (I want to clarify as well that Dick’s solo shouldn’t be canceled either, it’s obviously not his fault).

It’s a very messy situation because I don’t want to support abled Babs but I don’t want to lose Steph or Cass either. These two have dealt with DC’s bullshit just like Barbara does, and maybe even more since Steph got killed off at one point and they got erased from the timeline a few years ago (and still can if this keeps up), but we have to acknowledge that Steph and Cass get affected too when abled Babs is there. That’s all.

I want Barbara as Oracle back, and I want Steph and Cass treated with respect.

[notquiteaghost]

there's so much to unpack in The Jason Problem that it is kinda unfair to expect every fanwork to bother but, yknow. is the unpacking not what's fun???

like ok. jason is murdered, he gets better, he wants the guy who murdered him dead. i honestly think that's reasonable. it being the joker makes it possibly the most cut-and-dry it could get, morally, cuz the joker's sole motivation is causing pain. there's the potential for a really good story abt privileged white men who are violent n dangerous very intentionally because they think they have the right who cry insanity after, in the joker. do not at all trust dc to tell it. anyway,

oh this got long. ok a lot more yelling that is actually abt jason under the cut

the joker should die, but bruce can't kill him, because unfortunately jason u are not the only horribly traumatised person here. it's conflicting access needs. they need to talk this out with an objective third party, they never will, having A Thing you should definitely talk out with bruce and will avoid talking out with bruce as long as you live is like a requirement for batfam membership, that isn't the problem

The Jason Problem is. murder IS wrong. people should not be killed. but, also, we do not live in a vacuum, and our society currently churns out a small but significant number of people who are actively dangerous and will only stop being actively dangerous when they are dead. that sucks! we shld do smth abt that! but nothing anyone can do now will fix everyone overnight. that's the core tension jason creates by existing in a story, because batman is not a long-term solution, batman is a stopgap. and jason is, by some metrics, a better stopgap

the problem with jason's methods isn't actually how moral they are, the problem is it's very difficult to kill someone without it affecting someone else you've never even heard of. any time jason kills someone without first researching them right down to how they organise their underwear, he cld be leaving dependents without a caregiver or households without a primary earner or anyone without medical insurance or etc etc. even people doing terrible things can be keeping other people alive. and of course if he's mostly killing goons well then he's mostly killing poor people who probably don't have many other options isn't he, and it is in fact a disservice to his character to have him not target rich people. as if a kid who grew up in poverty n then lived with the All Of Gotham's Problems Are My Problems To Fix Personally guy wouldn't have a very specific hit list. nvm organised crime jason shld kill republicans.

anyway (...two!), THEN there's the aspect ive yet to see addressed in a way that doesnt make me twitch: the lazarus pit. the ableism inherent in every canon interpretation. that to kill anyone you need to be insane, that Lazarus Pit Madness is somehow a separate unique phenomenon from the inherent trauma of dying and then being resurrected, that jason doesnt have ptsd even before he died. the perennial batman media problem of criminals not deserving adequate care. how jason went to arkham, how arkham still exists.

it is my instinct whenever media makes a character ~crazy as a lazy excuse for being a villain to say okay, yeah, they're mentally ill now, no takebacks. and like you cannot tell me jason doesnt have cptsd, but i think post-lazarus pit jason shld be on anti psychotics and mood stabilizers. i think if ur gonna tell me the pit madness '''got better''' then it is because jason is on psychiatric medication. it is very Yikes! to have the only or primary symptom of mental illness be murder, which is why the murder shld not be a thing he is doing because he's crazy. he has lost the things previously stopping him murdering (need for bruce's approval / being fifteen), and also he's horrendously traumatised.

i think red hood stuff is the one part of his life he's reliably capable of thinking rationally about, because compartmentalising your personal shit in order to work a case is absolutely in robin training 101. he'll make a ten-step plan that involves running surveillance, breaking n entering, multiple fake identities, and execute it all perfectly, then go home and have to remove all the mirrors from his apartment cuz [redacted for being potentially delusion-triggering].

by which i do not mean that mental illness is smth u can train urself out of, but that pushing yourself to an unreasonable degree is a cornerstone of being a bat. he absolutely makes his shit worse by trying to act like he can just turn it on n off. they all do this, what differs is simply the symptoms n problems.

and! speaking of bats! obviously bruce is going to continue to have a problem abt the murder literally forever, holding everyone else to the torturous standards he holds himself to is a fundamental fatal flaw of his. but that does not have to be true of anyone else, and i think it makes for much more of an interesting dynamic if everyone else is on a sliding scale of 'Murder Is Wrong but he is family' to 'moral objectivity is a scam' to 'if bruce won't let me kill anyone then someone shld get to'.

like, yes this is objectively very fucked up. batman media is objectively very fucked up things the whole way down, that's why im here, let's explore the implications of your dead brother coming back to life n becoming a serial killer. i guess u can just have him not kill people but is that not boring? why not have everyone else have to reckon with what unconditional love truly means

uhhhh i forgot if i actually had an overarching point. in summary let jason kill people in actual positions of power because hey you never know maybe if half the oil barons die that might motivate the rest!

[serialreblogger]

like okay. we’re already starting from some deeply fucked up premises

waylon jones is born with a Real Actual Disorder that human beings actually have, in real life, which - depending on your source - is either an unspecified subset of the family of diseases known as ichthyoses, or the specific (REAL) disorder called epidermolytic hyperkeratosis

this is basically when the organ we call “skin” doesn’t work properly for a person. children with it suffer from constant full-body rashes and severe blistering that dies down a bit towards adulthood, in favour of thick layers of skin that typically show up primarily around your joints and palms/soles of your feet (i’m guessing these layers are related to callus formation in “normal” skin tissue? but i’m not an expert)

it is a chronically painful condition, and one that makes you much more susceptible to infections, because your skin isn’t as good at doing its primary job (keeping germs out) when it’s constantly blistering and running damage control. the thicker skin sections can also accumulate bacteria that tends to cause a specific odor. you know what it doesn’t do? turn you into a fucking crocodile.

in sum: it’s a real, lifelong, painful condition to live with, and in the context of how we currently treat people with skin disorders (and anything about their body we think of as “unappealing”), it can also be humiliating to have EH or any type of ichthyosis when you’re faced with ableism in your community (which is, of course, at pretty much every turn), especially with little to no popular representation of disorders like yours.

it’s also the premise of “killer croc’s” villain origin story.

what the fuck, dc.

and they only PILE IT ON from there

waylon jones was abandoned by his father for being a disabled infant. his mom died in childbirth, so he was raised by his alcoholic aunt, who was abusive, and was ostracized & harassed by most of the other members of his community (���as a teenager, Waylon had no friends” what the fuck, dc)

he spent most of his childhood dropping in and out of the local juvie (or “reform school,” depending on what continuity you count from) before getting convicted as an adult literally as soon as the authorities could get away with it (18th birthday or early conviction at 16, again, depending on who you ask).

he then spent “eighteen years behind bars” before getting turned out on parole and did some time as a circus sideshow.

this kid allegedly assaulted someone who’d been canonically making his life hell, spent 18 years behind bars, and STILL doesn’t jump straight into crime, but his best option for Gainful Employment is joining the circus. dc why do you love the circus. is it because you hate me personally

anyway after doing that for a while he’s finally quoted as realizing that “I had the strength, I had the hate—why shouldn't I USE it to get what I wanted? ‘Killer Croc,’ that's what they called me. But some day, SOMEDAY, I knew they'd call me KING!”

like. what the fuck, dc.

(bruce “my parents both died” sob story could never)

and then! it ONLY GETS WORSE!

waylon spends some time building a name for himself as a crime lord, does some murder, becomes an expert at underworld politics, u know how it goes we’ve all been there. but apparently he caught batman’s attention in the process, because it wasn’t long before he came home to find the lurking lump of emo in his favourite chair.

imma be real with y’all, this is the point where i genuinely got my heart broken on this dude’s behalf. because. this is obviously supposed to be Evidence Of His Madness or Evolutionary Inferiority or what fucking ever, but like – my dude this is just a CPTSD trauma response and/or general neurodivergent Relatable Content, it’s loud and embarrassing but that’s what emotional agony is like sometimes and - like -

like he’s quoted as screaming this at batman:

“this was MY place, my SPECIAL place! Built this place—my HOME—nobody could call me a freak HERE! But you've SPOILED it—YOU RUINED IT!”

dc. dc i know you know what i’m gonna say but. what the fu

...this is literally just a guy though, trying to SURVIVE in the hell world batman is supposed to be trying to fix? like obviously he’s not a Morally Upright person but fuck, dude, that shouldn’t matter. you don’t fight systemic oppression because the people victimized by it are all constantly saints. you don’t fight systemic oppression because the people victimized by it are necessarily “good people” in your estimation at all. you fight it because it’s fucked up, my dude. you fight it so that people like waylon jones don’t get abandoned as kids and brought up in prison in the fucking first place, you fight it because this system is what made 90% of your goddamn “villains” and if this is who your hero is fighting then who’s fighting the people who eradicated his options in the goddamn first place

anyway.

so after batman beat him up waylon got sent to arkham asylum, and in the original canon this did in fact involve electroshock treatment. why? who the fuck knows. i do it’s because he had a physical deformity and insane asylums were (or are, in batman canon) where you put the “monsters unfit for human contact” so you don’t have to see them and the cruellest members of the ruling class can use them for whatever fun experiments they feel like trying out. side note but jeremiah arkham has always been a villain and personally i will never forgive “canon” batman for treating him like anything else

in the og comics the next time waylon broke out of arkham batman dosed him with a nerve gas intended to permanently paralyze him from the neck down. the only reason it didn’t do so is because comics medicine says his skin disorder protects him. i am begging dc to stop

fast forward through some more arkham details (long-term solitary confinement, more electrocution, u know the usual); waylon eventually escapes during one of the regularly scheduled mass breakouts and holes up with a little homeless family in the sewers, until he gets nearly drowned in a flash flood caused by city expansion of the water lines. he’s presumed dead for a while and comic book brain damaged from oxygen deprivation or whatever (dc i am BEGGING) until a gaggle of humans spot him in an alley and call him a “monster” which funnily enough is a trauma trigger for the man. heaven knows why. then he goes on a murder spree because comics reasons; after that he gets mystically summoned to chill in a swamp for a while with a physically abusive swamp god, gets sick of being whaled on by a swamp god and returns to gotham’s sewer system to briefly bond with man-bat before getting kidnapped & imprisoned again (by wolverine, since apparently marvel and dc collaborated to ruin waylon jones’ life. dc, what the f u c k) and then stolen & forced into aNother circus sideshow. this one tortured him into going on murder sprees. eventually gets returned to arkham, where they drug him with sedatives until the joker sneaks into their pharmacy and puts him on daily amphetamines instead. the next jailbreak set him on course to regaining his original Average Joe Mob Boss status, until the villain “Hush” infected him with a virus that caused him to “evolutionarily regress” by becoming more crocodile-like and taking a(NOTHER) toll on his brain function, because GOD forbid he catch a break

y’all this guy’s life story is so fuckin cruel it’s not even funny. starting a new petition it’s just called “justice for king croc” and the only thing in the description is this

dc i’m coming for you

JEEZ i know most of us are well versed in the “death of the author” approach to DC canon (as we should be) but i cannot fucking stop thinking about “killer croc.” how do you write that character and still walk away thinking batman is a hero. what the fuck kind of privilege are comics authors even on and can i buy some because it seems pretty mind-bending to me