#gbauanswer

[askthegirlbossau]

Kinda following up on something you mentioned in the Selina post: how bad is Bryce’s Gaydar?

Tragic. She’s surrounded by beautiful women flirting with her and she has no idea.

Emotional intelligence is not a trait that Bruce Wayne variants share.

[askthegirlbossau]

Would Bryce’s relationship with Cass differ with Bryce being a woman? Gender never really played a large role into how Bruce and Cass perceived one another in “canon” but I’d love to hear your thoughts!

So I don’t think their relationship would be that different, Bryce sees cass as her daughter, and it’s all very sweet. I think she’s a little nervous about not knowing much about raising a young girl considering she had a non traditional upbringing as well but I imagine Alfred helps her with that (nice bonding moment)

HOWEVER (walk with me here) I listened to nothing new by Taylor swift and now I can’t stop thinking about tabloids seeing like a younger version of Bryce and just absolutely eating that shit up. Anyway save cass from the reporters god bless that girl

[askthegirlbossau]

can you expand on barbara in this au?

I have a lot of disjointed thoughts so strap in

I rly like the dynamic where babs and dick are in a weird age range with Bruce where he’s a little too young for them to see him as a father figure (at first) and he’s like this weird older brother or uncle or something ? And it’s weird when he tries to tell them what to do bc like jfc ur only a couple years older than us you weirdo. So I’m transplanting that idea into this u. Weird coworker relationship Bruce and Barbara how I love u 💕

Anywho for the gbau, Bryce continues to treat female presenting vigilantes weirdly bc she’s soso scared for them, and thinks it’s a terrible idea and also weirdly jealous that they’re confident enough/brave enough/dumb enough to run around with this aspect of their identity revealed (in case I need to state it she does NOT handle this well very internalized misogyny of her.) So it’s like regular batgirl batman stuff but maybe worse, except that doesn’t stop babs bc she has literally never let a single thing that Batman thinks stop her from doing anything,

until the events of the killing joke, where I just rly like the idea that it’s where Bryce reveals her identity to babs, cause like a solidarity thing. ‘This act of violence was done to you bc you were seen as expendable, I get it, similar things have happened to me and I need you to know you’re not alone.’ Except w less words bc Bryce doesn’t talk about feelings.

Their relationship is better from there, babs understands where Bryce is coming from a bit better than Steph, but babs also thinks it’s stupid, bc she wasn’t even being a vigilante when bad stuff happened to her, she was just existing. She still becomes oracle in this au, so she can help ppl and kick ass. She also hopes to serve as a better role model for cass and Steph than Bryce, showing them they don’t need to hide or fear their gender to heroes, and that they don’t need to be soso scared and paranoid all the time.

She tries her best but babs isn’t perfect of course, cue plenty of drama

[askthegirlbossau]

I know that you said that Bryce is only infinitesimally better than Bruce at empathy but how is Jason so much more comfortable with Bryce than the original

(Sorry if you answered this before I tried looking on your TikTok and I didn’t find anything)

Have a happy Holidays :)

He’s not—

they still have an extremely rocky relationship, given Bryce is still staunchly against murder and Jason is really okay with it. And in this au, I imagine that Jason is dealing with some seriously intensified mommy issues. Given that he actually does have a somewhat positive mother figure in Bryce he tended to put her on a pedestal, and so her disapproval just hurts all the more (hence going to his ‘real’ mother which just. Ow.)

and similar to cannon, he struggles with the idea of Bryce as his mom who takes care of him, (and I imagine on some level, he sees as someone he’s supposed to protect, as her son) and Bryce as Batman who actively spends a lot of time beating him up.

Bryce is more empathetic (such a very small amount I cannot emphasize this enough) bc ✨gendered socialization✨ not necessarily any inherent qualities that she possesses, and so while she was slightly more willing to briefly entertain a conversation about Jason’s point of view, she’s not in any place to have an emotional heart to heart or start spending time regularly with him again, even though she loves her son very much.

[askthegirlbossau]

Charlie and Bryce are both women born into a society/were raised in a society that scorns them for being women in contrast to Diana! Does this effect the trinity’s relationship in anyway?

Ohohoho why yes I have thoughts about this

Diana, of course, has literally no frame of reference for sexism besides maybe being a little disconcerted when she sees men. She understands it because when she enters the world of men, she experiences it. However, even when people are awful to her, she's hardly ever in real physical danger, she's an Amazonian for the gods' sake. She certainly uses her power to protect women physically, and her blunt honesty to confront assholes, but it was not part of her formative experience so she'll always be a little removed from it. she provides new perspective for Bryce and Charlie, but on a fundamental level, cannot understand their perspective, and there are some awkward conversations along the lines of "why did you let that man talk to you that way?" And Bryce and Charlie sort of glancing at each other because why did they? But also, that's just...how you respond to sexist assholes? Why doesn't Diana understand this?

Charlie, on the other hand, was raised in a small midwestern town. Though she was raised with loving and pretty open minded parents, I find it hard to believe she didn't internalize some attitudes about women or their 'place.' Not even in an inherently hateful way, but in the sort of way that assumptions about doctors being men or a single parent being a mother can become insidious. When she moves to Metropolis, I think that she be came aware of a lot of her internalized biases, they're definitely still there but she's working on it. Because of her physical strength though, like Diana, she is rarely in physical danger. She experiences more of the mental effects of sexism, like comments about her appearance or assumptions about her work and intelligence. She reacts meekly to this as Charlie Kent, but as Superwoman is able to stand up for herself more. The problem is that she doesn't always realize when she needs to.

Bryce between the three of them has received the full brunt of like. Being A Human Woman. She's hyperaware of her gender (in a way that is unusual and possibly a trauma response) and how it affects the way people perceive and treat her. Her choice to fight crime is made with the full understanding of the gender-based violence she could face if her identity was ever to be revealed. She is frequently in physical and social danger, especially as 'Brycie Wayne,' where she can't use her full abilities to fight back, and on some level she definitely resents Charlie and Diana for not having to 'worry about' the type of violence that is so often targeted at afab people.

And in conclusion they should all get a big hug and a beach vacation.

[askthegirlbossau]

Will bryce marry me?? :3

Oh wow congratulations

[askthegirlbossau]

what is charlie's relationship with kon like? is he in this au?

can you imagine meeting what’s supposed to be improved, best version of you and it’s you but skinny and a man like I think I would crash out fr

Kon’s existence exacerbates Charlie’s preexisting insecurities, and she doesn’t want to project onto him (she’s seen how that works with B and her kids, not good) so she distances herself, tries not to engage but that backfires bc Kon is pretty sure she hates him (she doesn’t HATE him but she hates being around him) and it’s a mess

[askthegirlbossau]

I love poor communicator well meaning sorta kinda mom charlie 😔 even with the best of efforts not to damage the kid damage is still done 😭

Get him out of there ‼️‼️‼️

[askthegirlbossau]

How is Bryce's relationship with Selina?

Similar to cannon, they have an on again/off agin thing going on, Selina kinda hates Bryce on principle (Brycie is not a girls girl) before they find out each others identities. She doesn’t rly get Bryce’s whole thing but she respects her, and they like to talk shit at galas. which I personally don’t think would be long term bc Selina doesn’t strike me as the type to settle down.

But before Selina learns her identity, Bryce angsts about it a lot. Bc!!! Surely! Selina isn’t interested in women! She will not want to be with her! (Meanwhile, Selina the most bisexual woman to ever grace this earth:)

[askthegirlbossau]

What would it take for Bryce to retire as Batman? I mean, does she plan to keep batmanning until she dies on the job, is there one point at which she would be so compromised by physical health she would consider herself unfit for the job, would she willingly step down and pass the mantle, or something else?

I have this really elaborate au in my head (which also doesn’t need to be in this au, could just be regular Bruce but since we’re TALKING about the GBAU-) basically she kills the joker after Jason’s death and then retires—like she can’t be the symbol anymore after that, and she just like. Stops? Batman disappears, the JL doesn’t know where he went, Gotham doesn’t know where he went, and Bryce Wayne just kinda retreats from the public eye and no amount of begging from Tim will get her to go back to Batman-ing (and he eventually gives up, maybe he tries being a vigilante himself, maybe he forms the titans, maybe he dies.)

And then Jason comes back and he’s so thrilled to see his mom but also he sees how much killing has broken her (Jesus, when did she get so old???? She never was, that’s not his mom-) but like that’s the proof he needed that she loved him, and it’s great, Jason Todd is legally alive again! Huge! But he’s guilty and miserable and Bryce is also guilty and miserable! And no one goes to therapy bc they NEVER TALK ABOUT ANYTHING!

But if you want to continue this au in a happy way maybe they do and then Jason and Dick and Bryce get to just be . People. Like a normal family that loves each other and also are constantly haunted by the spectre of all the people they couldn’t save!

OR:

I think Bryce’s intention is to keep going until her body won’t let her anymore, and then retire it. (Shes very stubborn about injuries ofc.) But it was never supposed to be something handed down, it would take a lot of convincing from Damian and Cass for her to see it that way, personally I’m partial to Cass getting the cowl—and in this au I feel like it’s even more like. Impactful?? Idk if I’m making sense.

[askthegirlbossau]

steph’s robin run being even more of a wreck 😭

[askthegirlbossau]

what is bryce’s relationship with stephanie brown like in this? is she better to her than bruce?

So in fact she is worse.

She sees herself in Stephanie, but in the worst way: Stephanie has all of her determination and stubbornness, but none of her training or discipline. Bryce is terrified she’ll end up dead in a ditch somewhere, or worse. But because she’s Bryce, she doesn’t know how to express this care and worry in a healthy way, so shes constantly benching Steph and lecturing her, or in some cases going as far as physically stopping her from her vigilante activities (though, it’s Steph, so that doesn’t go well.)

they fight constantly, and it only gets worse when Stephanie learns Bryce’s identity, because she sees Bryce’s actions as completely hypocritical, while Bryce believes she’s just being willfully ignorant. So yeah, there’s a lot of mutual respect there, but they do Not get along.

[askthegirlbossau]

Does Bryce have a “Brycie Wayne”, a silly and playful persona like the one Bruce uses publicly? Or did she create another kind of persona, given also that the stereotypes and expectations around a powerful/rich woman are much different than the ones surrounding rich men (such as, Bruce can be a “playboy”, but if a woman were to have many flings… we all know how the tabloids would call her, sadly)?

Oh she certainly does. She leans far into the dumb-rich-irresponsible party girl, knowing people won’t respect her. The best disguise is to be as publicized as possible, better the tabloids assume that she was out at a club or the bar, than speculate about where she might be.

Given she’s wealthy and can justify a few eclectic sports (fencing, mountain climbing, horseback riding), she can kind of explain how absurdly athletic she is, but she treats her body and appearance as a sort of fucked up science project—like how can she minmax practical musculature with what would be appealing (or make sense) to paparazzi.

[askthegirlbossau]

What is Alfred and Bryce’s relationship like!

*points* that’s her DAD

But actually what are you supposed to when you’re ex military and you’re working for these rich weirdos as a butler/bodyguard and you like their daughter well enough but you don’t know her all that well but then they like DIE???? And you show up at the scene of the accident and their daughter is sitting there and you’re the only person she recognizes so she runs to you and hugs you and won’t let go and like. What do you do? That’s your kid now. That’s how it works.

Bryce was a nightmare to raise, precocious and angry at the world and paranoid as shit, refusing to play nice with the other kids. There’s a lot of “you’re not my DAD!!! But I am your guardian!!!” And Alfred is afraid Bryce will have a complex from growing up with what is essentially a single father and Bryce thinks Alfred is just there cause she pays him and it’s all very angsty, but he comforts her when she has nightmares and she bought him a fugly card for Father’s Day and when she grows out of her preteen bullshit they get weekly brunch.

[askthegirlbossau]

Bryce, opinion on vampires?

Bad. One time, early on into staying with Bryce, Dick insisted they watch Dracula. Bryce couldn’t go out for patrol until he calmed down. She didn’t patrol that night.

[askthegirlbossau]

What’s the worse scar bryce has gotten in her whole batwoman career?

The scar on her lip (courtesy of Ra’s Al Ghul) is definitely the most inconvenient, since she has to cover it up when she isn’t suited up, aside from that she has a few that she keeps as reminders of significant events