#im joking. im joking. somewhat

[sadlazzle]

when ur fave beats the allegations #mohgWIN

[answermywearyquery]

great 😳 + dr. tyme's large equipment 😏

[casscainmainly]

A Deep Dive Into Why Cass Threw Dick Out A Window

If you've been here long enough you've probably seen or heard of this moment, which is super hilarious and iconic. It's mostly discussed in reference to Dick and Cass' relationship. However, in my opinion Cass throwing Dick out a window had very little to do with her opinion of him, or even of Barbara; it has more to do with her understanding of romance and love. I briefly touched on this in my gender/sexuality post, but I'm going to explain more in depth my interpretation of how Dick functions in Batgirl (2000) as a whole. (This moment is very open to interpretation though, this is just my opinion!). So let's try to answer Dick's question: what was that all about?

Love, Language, and DickBabs

While Puckett's run is notable for not having Cass date anyone, romantic love does play a role in Cass' early understanding of the world. It's the impetus that spurs her to write: in issue 2, she sees a wife read a letter from her deceased husband, and her reaction affects Cass so strongly she immediately starts trying to write. (She also kisses the husband on the cheek earlier, which may or may not be a crush). Romance, and the ability to communicate your love, is a fundamental part of Cass' desire to learn language.

So we have Cass, who has experienced neither love nor language, living with Babs, who's in a relationship with Dick. This telephone conversation in #4 (the issue where a metahuman changes Cass' brain into understanding language) again links romance to communication. Dick and Babs are talking on the phone, unable to see each other but understanding each other perfectly; Cass and Babs, on the other hand, live together and can't understand each other at all.

"She can't talk, so it's not all that different [to living alone]." Babs is telling an eavesdropping Cass that her inability to speak prevents her from love and connection - a love and connection symbolised by one of the first romantic relationships Cass is consistently around, Dick and Barbara.

Dick as an Ideal

There's a debate whether Cass likes Dick or not because half the time they're friendly, and half the time she's punching him or throwing him out windows. This disparity makes sense if you consider that Cass strongly associates DickBabs with communication, understanding, love - very idealised notions - but she does not associate Dick as a person with them. Her interactions with Dick (sans Babs) are cute and normal - Batgirl #29 and Nightwing #81 feature some very adorable Dick-Cass moments, with no real tension whatsoever.

It's only when Cass sees Dick in a romantic light (as in associated with Babs) that she makes him into a symbol.

Cass often tries to copy Babs, thinking it's the 'correct' thing to do - in DC First: Batgirl/Joker, she goes after Joker because that's what Barbara did; later in Horrocks' run she'll wear Barbara's outfit. In a way, Cass' affairs with Tai'Darshan and Kon - as much as I do think Tai'Darshan was genuine attraction - is another way to 'copy' Barbara. In #42, Cass stares at a picture of Dick and Babs while asking if Babs likes boys. Obviously Cass knows the answer is yes, but see what she asks next, and how Barbara responds:

She shifts from 'like' to 'love', and Babs responds that she 'care[s]' about him. For Cass, whose arc in Horrocks' run is about parsing out the nuances of attraction, understanding the difference between like, love, and care is incredibly difficult. She struggles to separate familial from romantic (Bruce in #50) or romantic from platonic (Kon, and in somewhat the reverse way Steph). In this conversation, Cass comes to associate Dick with like, love, and care - DickBabs becomes not just a symbol of romantic love, but of any connection whatsoever.

The Old Costume

I've discussed elsewhere that Cass wearing Babs' old costume in #45 is a representation of her desire to be 'girly', and how she associates girlhood with someone other than herself, discarding her own costume for Babs'. But putting on a costume is not the only prerequisite for being a 'girl'. In Babs' speech to Cass, she emphasises being sexually attractive to men, with her final comment being about this "particular look Dick used to give [her]". For Cass, visual language is incredibly important; putting on Babs' costume is not about being or feeling like a girl, but about being perceived as one. Dick is symbolic of the perceiver: the one who can essentially 'grant' women their femininity.

But Cass is disgusted when Tim calls her hot, which adds to her confusion - why should Dick being attracted to Babs make Babs happy, but Tim (who's not a sibling at this time) perceiving her like that grosses her out? Cass' inability to feel good - to feel 'feminine' - through the male gaze is another sign, to her, of her failure to be a woman.

Which finally brings us to issue 46...

That Ableist Kon Comment

Cass finds out Dick breaks Babs' heart and then starts hallucinating on a drug. One of the things she hallucinates is Kon saying "who wants to date a cripple? Ain't that right, Nightwing?" and Nightwing responding "not me--at least, not anymore."

For the first time, we get to the heart of why DickBabs mattered to Cass: it was an example of a disabled person in a loving, romantic relationship. It goes back to that phone call in #4, where Babs implies that Cass is hard to care about because she can't speak. The Kon comment suggests Cass has carried that with her all this time, trying to find proof that she can be loved, no matter her disability. DickBabs showed her it could be done - the break-up shows her now that it can't be done.

Dick's hallucination mocks her disability: "look at her--she can't even read!" Attributing this mockery to Dick (whose real-life counterpart, unlike the other hallucinations, has never said anything remotely like this) shows that this 'Dick-as-ideal' is intrinsically tied to Cass' self-worth.

Honestly this whole post stemmed from me thinking about this one panel. There is no real reason, from Cass' view of Dick as a person, for her to think he's brave and noble and kind (more so than anyone else). But it's in the DickBabs context - that Dick seemed to love, wholeheartedly, a disabled woman - that makes Cass think this way. And now that DickBabs is broken up, it shows that she, too, is rotten to the core; that someone like her cannot be loved.

And so when Dick shows up, she throws him out the window.

Conclusion

In this moment, Cass isn't just reacting to Dick breaking up with Barbara, she's reacting to what it means to her. If Dick can't stay with Barbara, then that means Cass, as another disabled woman, is also unable to be loved. This all leads up to #50, which features another Cass punch to Dick's face, but more importantly is when Bruce and Cass reconcile through Cass' first language. It's a confirmation that though her verbal skills may not be fully developed, she still can communicate, and she can love and be loved.

I don't think a lot of the ideas I touched on here are fully developed, or conclude cleanly. For example, how does Cass' 'failure' to be a woman relate to her inability to be loved? Is she able to have a stable romantic relationship? There are lots more questions, but the role Dick specifically plays in Cass' understanding of romance is probably not going to develop further. I just think it's interesting how Horrocks uses the Dick-Babs relationship to explore Cass' identity.

[yuzuuu4]

when you want to clean but he wants to game so you find a balance

[drakkonyan]

The future never forgets the events that shaped it The past awaits for better times to come

[aguatala]

according to the oratrice mecanique d’analyse cardinal, 𝒾 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓈 𝓊 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒽𝒶𝒽𝒶𝒽𝒶 ♡♡♡

[mintaikk]

You think the shows ever going to address how one of Morph's fears was everyone finding out about their crush on Logan or is that something that will never ever be brought up again

[subterra-rose]

So-called horror fans when the genre that’s meant to shock and disturb you shocks and disturbs them

[moeblob]

My children are so stupid and I love them. The fact Right uses nicknames that are indeed Just Like That makes it even harder to differentiate which one needs to be eliminated. (Brent is pretty sure it's his head on the chopping block.)

[yourlocalolive]

LISTEN i tried my best mkay. I TRIED!!!!!!...kinda. first time trying out this style :3 i might redo it later since i did it during lessons LMFAO

do not steal or i will cry (i dunno if this is worth stealing either bro)

if u're wondering what happens next he probably just gives u a big smooch (I AM KIDDING .!!!!!!!!) okay bye

[wtftaylr]

Ofc had to make some busts for my Fallout OCs as well! Sadie, my Courier, with her beloved YCS/186 that she does not let Anybody touch bc it's so near and dear to her. And we have The Ventriloquist and Billy Miracle; nothing off about them, no need to worry :)

Prev: Cass | Benny || I'm making these for Sadie's Toyhou.se profile!

[narwhalandchill]

oh my fucking god i feel. SO stupid rn at How i didnt make the (super sane very normal just absolutely. Yes. Surely) connection earlier but uhh

so anyway im now like 89% certain that whatever the "traces" of the narwhal that remain on ajax and facilitate their (ever-growing) innate connection are like. an actually fundamental aspect of it (them?) more or less.

why? because if you consider its pov just for a moment. the narwhal was literally about to depart teyvat for good. it had nearly finished consuming the primordial sea and preparing to breach surface to finish the job by eating the french for the leftovers their human bodies were made from. its an interstellar voyager it does not linger on planets it devours. it goes glug glug and it leaves.

and like if it wasnt for traveler intervening its confirmed through narzissenkreuz and renes world formula that teyvat wouldve just been destroyed. no one could have stopped the narwhal not neuvillette not focalors not anyone.

so what was the one other thing it did right before going for that french brunch? calling for ajax. getting them reunited in the primordial sea. like all the possible implications aside bc theres many different ways to speculate on the exact reasons why and the nature of that link. the point remains.

it wasnt leaving teyvat without finding him.

like the narwhal is about to fucking Dip from this cringe planet and whatever part of it that ajax carries within himself his narwhal Absolutely wanted to be reunited with. what the fuck am i supposed to read from that. hoyo???????!??! answers?!?!?!

and its not only the calling from the narwhal side itself either bc this is ALL coinciding with the growth of a 'restless power' within ajax and his vision malfunctioning (the things celestia is literally confirmed to harvest energy thru to repair its damaged authority) and his connection with the narwhal reaching an actual conscious level (arguably subconscious n emotional too bc i find it Curious his mood is poor right as the narwhal is repeatedly described as positively malding to the point its boss fight mechanic is literally a rage meter). ajax' power is growing. his destiny is starting to shift and something is drawing him to fontaine... right as the narwhal is getting close to finished with the primordial sea. funny how it overlaps eh. how it aligns 🤨🤨 why are they orbiting each other like this (they should kiss)

(& not to even Mention how ajax just Happened to get that absolutely exponential and borderline unbelievable feat of power spike in extending his foul legacy endurance as massively as he did. while. within the primordial sea. with his narwhal. who had at that point all but incorporated the power of that sea into itself. i s2g if childe was getting passive home turf co-op bonus exp with a 4x multiplier automatically the whole 40+ days 💀💀)

[lyricsandpapers]

I’ve developed a new challenge cough drinking game cough. Called, Jack don’t stare at Jokes mouth. Bad news, is Jack sucks at this challenge ! Good news, great drinking game. I’ll collect screenshots/gifs for this post later

[macchiatosdumptruck]

Full on believe that the writers made chozen go back to Okinawa before the whole Johnny and Daniel argument because they knew that Johnny wouldn’t even have been able to finsh that sentence about mr miyagi being a liar and theif if chozen was there because chozen would have kicked his ass right there wouldn’t even let Johnny get the sentence out

And I also believe that he definitely would have went after Tory and helped her calm down or calm everyone down and let them take a break and definitely he would have agreed with Daniel and Amanda about stopping the fight

Dude, I hadn't thought about it but you're not wrong.

Like. They (thought they) needed that conflict to happen. (For some reason) And it wasn't going to if they had given a shit about character growth. Chozen very much was a steadying presence between Daniel and Johnny. He was Daniel's ride or die. He wouldn't have let that stand. Not only because it was stupid to fight, but also due to the blatant disrespect tbh. He has shown clearly he stands up for Daniel and miyagi do above all else.

I feel like he got the same treatment a girlfriend gets? Oh, the plot would be simpler with them involved, get them out of there. And like, where in the world is Carmen Diaz because she has so been reduced to a lamp. (And would probably give him a piece of her mind, which she never used to be afraid to do in the first two seasons. But i guess if you're in a relationship with someone you're not allowed to disagree) Like, for a while he was "confused but got the spirit" about other cultures, but as with everything else to do with Johnny's character they seemed to walk that back for some reason?

Literally, Mr zabka. I am so sorry they did this to you. They nerfed you hard.

Re, the thief comment, I still can't believe that made it in the show. That's an entire new level of disrespect. I know I'm using that word a lot but it fits. It's not just shoddy writing or bad character development, but feels legitimately mean spirited as a sort of "take that" to the original trilogy and its themes.

Which they obviously had to take some offense to given they were still caught up on it 30 years later, enough to write their own fanfic about it from their own POV. But it seemed more fair and even in the first two seasons before a lot of, what seems like petty dislike, came out through the show. Which also happened to coincide with COVID and a new wave of fans who Didn't Get It. And I do think them taking away all of Johnny's development was a way of appeasing those "he's so cool because he's un PC" fans

I still can't get over how the show seemingly turned into the antithesis of the movies. How there was so much promise and character growth only to throw it away for a bigger budget, more fight scenes, and memes.

R.i.p Chozen. You got written off because you made too much sense. I'm sure there's a specific name for that type of trope, like fridging.

[wolfietheangel]

- so darken your clothes, or strike a violent pose! ☆