#bab meta

[tarragonthedragon]

i actually think that after she's had time to catch up on some social development Cass is probably one of the better bats at passing for normal. she and Dick and maybe Steph have the best sense of performing "just some guy". Bruce, Babs, and Duke all overstep the mark and successfully pass as "not normal but not in a batman way more a this dude weird as fuck way" whereas Tim, Damian, and Jason are all under the mistaken impression that they can just be a version of themselves that is not a vigilante and come off as genuinely unhinged

[toomanyf4ndoms7]

Barbara Gordon did not claw herself back into the narrative, becoming a brief member of the Suicide Squad and the leader of the Birds of Prey with a complicated and kind of manipulative but still loving relationship to her team for her to be put into the role of Sane Mom Friend by the fandom. She has layers. She cares, by the Bat-Signal in the sky she cares, but she can also be messy and complicated.

[umbrellajam]

Saw a post where someone wasn't sure if Tim being good at computers was a fanon thing or not and friend I am happy to inform you that he's been a computer/tech guy from some of his earliest appearances in the comics.

Detective Comics (Vol. 1) #620 (Rite of Passage part 4) - immersed in the ~web~

Robin II: The Joker's Wild #3 - tabletop roleplaying games and spending hours in the basement on the computer - not beating the geek allegations on these fronts, Timmy

Detective Comics (Vol. 1) #676 - Dick was more into traditional detective work and tended to outsource the computer stuff in these days

Batman (Vol. 1) #514 (Prodigal part 10) - hackin' through all the garbage and garble

Robin (1993) #33 - Robin sneaking in and connecting Oracle with the baddies' mainframe so she can do her thing and steal all their data >:)

Nightwing (1996) #6 - "no you're really talented and well suited to be Robin." "no, you." "no, YOU!"

Tim is definitely not as good as Babs/Oracle, but he's certainly her back-up for computer work in the 90's batfam. They're tech buddies and Robin!Tim is her little assistant sometimes, it's super cute:

Birds of Prey (1999) #19 - happy to play with big sister's fancy high-powered toys

Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #125 - real cute kid

And Dick will hand off computer jobs to his little brother when he doesn't want to bother Babs 😂 (that outsourcing I mentioned):

Nightwing (1996) #68 - examine them pixel by pixel, eh? welp, sounds like a job only you can do, Timbo, you got this buddy, byyyyeeeee

And then when he'd grown up and been doing this for years, he leveled up accordingly, and did stuff like use his access to the League of Assassins computers to overload the generators in every base he could find, etc. etc.

Red Robin (2009) #8 - yeah that was pretty dumb of you Ra's :)

So yeah, it was a bit of a specialty of Tim's, in large part because he was introduced just at the turn into the 90's, when personal computers were really starting to take off and become widespread. (Robins gotta be cutting edge and all)

Of course, by no means does it follow that the other Bats suck at computers (there is no 'smart one' they are all incredibly smart and capable). This is especially true as reboots and the sliding timescale of comics have moved the DC characters into modern times, where computers run the world and everyone grows up with one in their pocket. The baseline familiarity and expertise that everyone can be expected to have is just much, much higher these days.

It gets exaggerated in fanon as all character traits do, but computer guy Tim is definitely not something just made up out of whole cloth :)b

[theriverbeyond]

we have all spent a lot of time discussing the griddlehark get along shirt but have we spent enough time discussing the ianthenaberius get along saw trap. when you hate a dude but you are dependent on his image and his success and his skill, when you use him up and eat him up and think that means it is done and you won, because you never cared about him anyway. but it isn't done, because in killing him you have done the exact opposite of ridding yourself of him and now he is bound to you forever. he is changing you he has changed you he will continue to forever change you and you cannot escape that, ever, because you choose to eat him and that cannot be undone. when you hate a bitch but she owns you, and as much as you hate her you love to excel at the things she needs you for. you practice and you practice and you practice, and you are perfect, and then as your reward for a lifetime of labor she eats you and you can do nothing but be subsumed into her soul forever because you were never a real, whole, individual person anyway -- you were always an extension and a tool and a sword. maybe being stuck in her teeth is the best revenge you could hope for

[franollie]

if every DC writer could read DC first: batgirl/joker that’d be great

even in just the last few pages it really nails their dynamic and the meaning of the batgirl mantle. Cass more than anything has a deep seated need to prove herself. shes competitive and babs knows this

THESE PANELS RIGHT HERE!! THIS WAS THE WHOLE POINT!!

“you’re going to make people forget me and thats okay” GOD I WISH

more than anything the batgirl mantle is about needing to prove yourself be it to the men in your life (babs), to the readers (cass), or to the writers (steph)

this is why babsgirl doesn’t really work anymore. babs has proved she’s capable as oracle she doesn’t need the batgirl mantle anymore. batgirl was the first name cass was given and it was someone else’s—thats not inherently a bad thing. it gives her a reason to keep fighting and it suits her natural need of competition.

anyways if you aren’t gonna read Batgirl 2000 at the very least read DC first: batgirl/joker

[mzminola]

Bruce sets up an elaborate mindfuck for Tim's birthday in an attempt to make Tim less trusting of even allies, giving him a mental breakdown. Bruce claims this will make Tim a better vigilante.

Tim, upon figuring it out, throws his Robin uniform literally in Bruce's face, cussing him out (like, actually censored swears, which Tim usually doesn't use), and quits. He talks with Steph about how messed up it was, and she empathizes out of her own messed up experiences with Bruce.

An unclear but short time later, probably a few days, Tim un-quits and states to Bruce that he doesn't expect an apology (not because it's unnecessary, but because he knows Bruce).

~

Stephanie returns from presumed death, finds Bruce, and accepts his orders to not reveal herself to everyone else & to take extreme actions to, once again in Bruce's estimate, make Tim a better vigilante.

This includes running around town in her original costume so Tim thinks his dead friend has a copycat, hiring people to attack him, working with a bomber, and even after knocking all that off, not sharing pertinent information about it with Tim, resulting in Tim being caught in an explosion.

Tim yells at Stephanie and says "Don't let me catch you wearing [the Spoiler] costume ever again." When she tracks him down a little later, he refuses to speak with her.

An unclear amount of time later, probably a few months, Tim is willing to work with Stephanie to stop a supervillain plot.

~

Some fans treat Tim's word-choice in the confrontation with Steph as him trying to control her. As him thinking he's got the authority to decide who can and cannot operate as a vigilante, at least in Gotham.

But. Like. One, aside from this one conversation, he takes no actions to stop her. He doesn't steal her gear (like Bruce sometimes steals people's uniform), he doesn't go and tell other people to stop working with her, he doesn't even go snitch to her mom.

Tim just. Tells the friend who got him very badly hurt while mindfucking him that he doesn't want to see her in the field again.

Two, it's a pretty dang similar response to when Bruce mindfucked him in the first example. Tim is the one who insists Batman needs a Robin. And here he is depriving Batman of Robin.

Yet if I tried to claim "Tim quitting Robin is his attempt to control Batman, is Tim acting like he has authority to stop Bruce from being a vigilante" you'd laugh in my face. Because that is a huge leap to make, with convoluted logic, and isn't supported by the rest of the text.

Bruce & Stephanie both screw Tim up really badly.

He confronts them and says he's breaking ties.

Then after a little distance, he goes right back to working with them.

And some people think this is...controlling? Don't get me wrong, Tim has some controlling tendencies, they all do, but it's usually teaming up with Alfred to stop Bruce patrolling while injured, and lying his ass off to everyone so he can do what he wants.

This? Is not that.

[spoiledqueenie]

The conclusions Babs and Bruce somehow learned from Stephanie’s death:

“We have to stop letting these untrained kids go out and fight by discouraging them and belittling them.”

The conclusion they were supposed to have gotten:

“These kids are going to do this anyways, so we have to train/prepare them and give them a safe place to advance their skills.”

[call-me-oracle]

barbara gordon in nightwing #85 pt. 1

bonus:

[gretahayes]

Barbara 🤝 Max

Parent figures to neurodivergent teenagers who they love and try to do their best by but don't understand, so they hurt. Often getting frustrated and lashing out due to their fundamental differences. Trying and messing up and trying and messing up and trying again. Didn't sign up to be parents but midway realizing they are and floundering because this is a responsibility they didn’t anticipate and what if they mess up? The mortifying ideal of loving a child that's so different from you that you clash in every way possible, but you keep trying because you love them.

Cass 🤝 Bart

Neurodivergent teenagers to parent-figures that don't understand them and they know don't understand them. Constantly trying and trying but knowing their best efforts aren't enough for their parent figures because it'll always seem like they aren't trying hard enough. Not always understanding why Max/Babs are upset with them, but knowing they are, and knowing they're meant to know why, and trying to fix it despite not knowing what they did wrong. Despite it all, wanting to make them proud and knowing they love you and you both will keep trying, for better or worse.

[mattiebluebird]

Case fic AU of Duke's training year centered around his identity as Signal (big hero, works for/with Batman, above everyone else) vs. Lark (friendly neighborhood hero, fights for the little guy, does things his own way) told as he & the WAR crew investigate a strange new drug that gives people meta abilities, with several B-plots of the other Robins becoming heroes in their own right. Is that anything.

[trackingthehuntress]

I don’t think I could ever really pick a favorite thing about Helena, but something I think I’ve loved since the beginning of my love for her, - starting with cry for blood and going on to reading her other stuff - something I love is that she’s not really ever a character who gets fixed. Basically all of her connections in the heroism community (except for like. Dinah and Renee) have at one point or another viewed her as a problem, as someone who needs their solution, as someone who needs to be managed or manipulated. So many other characters look at her and see something that needs to be controlled, and at times the individual comics’ narratives agree with this and uphold it. But when you look at the whole of her character history, you see someone who never has the exact answer, who is never sure if she is actually a hero or still that scared little girl whose family was murdered. She’s always throwing away her costume only to pick it up again a few days later. She isn’t static, but her problems run deeper than ones that can be given a simple fix.

where was I? Oh right - she’s not a character who gets fixed. Because every person who thinks they can fix her, or control her, or agrees with people who try, or anything like that? It fails, in any way that matters. Think about max lord, think about batman, think about nightwing, think about oracle. Even if their plans succeeded in the short term, did they have any lasting effect on her or who she is? No - they all ended badly for someone, and only someone who recognized the harm of treating someone like this and apologized was able to get anywhere close to a healthy, meaningful relationship with Helena (that would be Barbara, by the way). So the thing that i love is that even when the people around her are all trying to shove her into a box and then fix the person they’ve imagined her to be, she is allowed to exist as this multifaceted person who has failures and flaws and struggles yes, but ones outside of the two dimensional person the people around her see her as.

[spite-and-waffles]

I'm going to start taking it personally when people say the girls are less of a disasterfire than the boys. No the fuck they aren't. They're completely dysfunctional, self-destructive, arrogant little goblins who've never met (1)healthy coping mechanism. They're Bats for Christ's sake. What comics have you even been reading.

[cleromancy]

war games 🤝 battle for the cowl;: yeah that was a big pivotal event but uh. it didn't happen like that. They told it wrong

[cits-kirby-brainrot]

would y'all be intrested in my fanfic?

[glaciescustodia]

Abyssal War Involvement. (Paimon HC)

Note: this is thread related and thereby Canon to this blog even if the thread is on the pause at the moment.

General gist.

Would 100% recommend reading over the thread i have on hold on with lady-haborym to get a grasp of how official her presence in the in-game War had been rather than staying on the wayside, helpless and simply leaving all the bulk to Lumine/Aether.

Well them and anyone else who gave their all.

Vouching.

Paimon may not have spoken herself to any of the Tribe Chiefs on mutual ground but her existence and overall presence as a independent individual has become that of acknowledgement. As it stands, Wayna was the first to vouch for her, leading the pixie in having a temporary seat at the war table.

If not for her fighting prowess at current, then for her loyalty to the Traveler (whichever twin).

She may not have outstanding deeds to speak of but it never deterred her from wanting to do all she can without any sort of recognition, atleast not on official capacity.

Validated proposal.

One of the biggest suggestion Paimon brought to the table, was maybe on the risky side but it came with an advantage. Much to the arguments over such a move to pull off; blowing off bridges that surrounded the Stadium was the proposal set down.

Risky as it was, removing blind spots and leaving ennemies (those with no aerial mobility), to congregrate in one spot, (the main road), potentially removed blindspots and ambushes, regardless of the opening portals, if to defend the Archon and those sheltered at the Arena after rescue operations.

However, since it was her idea to begin with, Paimon gladly helped in regard to the reconstruction of the bridges post the Abyssal War the people faced.

Involvement itself.

If to cover more ground, if to do more than simply watching like she has once before, there was no time to sit back and leave everything to Lumine (essentially the twin i default to).

Therefore, they split up during that time, if to increase chances in saving Natlanians, all those that were at reach, this include the general wildlife and the Saurians, & not to forget the Fatui under Capitano's command.

She may have been given a temporary spot at the Table but she, nonetheless, fully intended to be on the field of battle. After all, words that time and time again, came up, became ingrained in Paimon herself.

No one fights alone.

The Scions becoming targeted because of their courier role as seen in-game, became a breaking point, leaving Paimon to set sight of this Tribe's location, if to eradicate the swarm of monsters on their homeground and rescue anyone that barricaded themselves to safety up there.

Personal drive.

As per her Canon Divergence post, the muse sudden growth spurt and unlocking of all sort of hidden abilities, happened around the Inazuma AQs and it is where her personal drive to do something, anything at all, stems from.

Watching innocents go at each others throat, real lives that could no longer get back up again, on the beach battle with Sara's force, gave that drive to Paimon, the drive to protect and fight.

Having friends like Gorou and Kokomi, among other military-esque figures, certainly helped Paimon on an analytical front and to an extent, in the art of battle.

If she can save people this time, if she can protect anyone at all, then protect she will.

This said, she had also helped in the aftermath of what Fontaine had to suffer from, wheter in the Court or rescue efforts for those that had been misplaced during the flood.

[thevalicemultiverse]

Tour guide at the Clown's Gallery Museum in the BABS universe pre-1997: The Egg Registry uses these painted eggs as records of the face paints of registered clowns under Clowns International, both as a method of copyright for a performer's design and to differentiate human clowns from regular domesticated clowns. Their facial markings are kept in a separate registry at the Institute of Coulrology.

Valicer In The Dark

Alice: ...one of these days we have to have a proper contest between our world and this one and see which one actually wins for being the most fucked up.

Smiler: Are the -- domesticated clown's markings also painted on eggs? Just curious.