#thanks for asking babs

[erinwantstowrite]

Halloween AU!!!

hey so. i put SOOOOO much effort into this au and for what? at least it ended up looking cool? anyways Halloween is my favorite holiday and i just HAD to make something for them!

i had a LOT of ideas for what everyone would be, but i really wanted to stick to a certain theme cause it's based around Halloween. i knew i had to have a vampire, werewolf, and a witch. cause like... obviously. iconic Halloween stuff!! but i took some liberties with everyone else and i think they turned out pretty cool!!

Jason was originally a fox shifter (which i still love and might draw art for some day) but i went with a bear in the end. is that because i thought about tiny bear cub Jaybin and wanted to cry? yeah. yeah it is. i KNEW Steph was going to be my werewolf though i started doubting myself when i went to draw her. turned out to be my favorite drawing on here which makes sense cause she is my light my love my daughter my will to live and all that jazz

Tim was actually gonna be a harpy but thank god i didn't go for that in the end. Duke was the one that was a bitch and a half trying to figure out BUT!! comments on the post asking what y'all thought led me towards Psychic so THANK YOUUUU everybody that commented!! (specifically those who thought of ghost!! Duke and Tim ended up being a perfect duo in this au)

Babs was pretty easy to figure out what I wanted for her. I read somewhere that they are seen as protectors of forests/ are considered spiritual authority figures and also.... she looks cool as fuck. Did not expect how easy it was to find a ref for a deer in a wheelchair though? I can never find the right hand or face angle reference but that was super easy???

For Bruce there was literally no question he HAD to be human. it's literally so funny that everyone who knows Batman thinks he's a spooky vampire but he's human. his first son, however?????? THAT'S the vampire. I knew Dick had to be a vampire too. A little nod towards that one comic run but in my au nothing bad happens ever 🥰 Damian also being a bat shifter is very on purpose because how funny is it that he's a bat man. Literally not a single person in the League thinks that Bruce is telling the truth about being human. Bruce you are NOT beating the secretly a vampire allegations.

adding in Jay's hilarious joke it's so fucking funny:

Alfred is actually a demon. I CAN NOT remember who made this post so if someone can help me find it, it would be appreciated!! because this was inspired by them!!! but somewhere i saw someone talk about Alfred being a demon that Thomas and Martha made a deal with (i think it was for an au idea?) and I just HAD to put it here. Alfred looks so human and everyone expects it, but he's definitely not. I put the ??? because it's so fucking funny. see if you can spot the 1 hint i put on his drawing that something is amiss!!

Peter is from an alternate dimension still, but it is not a world of creatures like him, it's just the same as LoF canon except Peter grew some extra limbs and eyes. He finds that it's actually pretty easy to fit in with the Waynes. Hard to feel like a freak when a guy can turn into a fucking bear, or your dad is a vampire, and the teenagers in the family are trying to summon ghosts or make potions.

additional doodles for this au:

i am still debating whether i am going to draw something for this au or write a oneshot, but i DO want to do something with these for Halloween

[densewentz]

more dreamling dad au bc thats just what i do now apparently i like lazy afternoon naps and so do our boys

[casscainmainly]

Your feelings alignment charts are brilliant, why do they so efficiently summarise the batfamily relationships. Will there be one for Babs?

The Feelings About Barbara Gordon Alignment Chart

Bruce, Damian, Stephanie, Duke, Jason, Tim, Cass, and Dick versions. Realistically Dick + Cass should be like a bajillion miles higher and to the right if space allowed it. I'm very biased towards 2000s Babs so these may not be true nowadays, but these are the relationships I wish she had. And for the very last time, open to change!!

I've now done everyone in this chart, so this series is officially over! I'm including a blank alignment chart under the cut in case anyone wants to make their own:

[vinelark]

“Why does Tim have Botha hate club and a fan club all of a sudden” and yet somehow, Jason is the president of both (Tim is mad he lost both elections).

gotham_weekly Bruce Wayne’s newest ward, Timothy Drake, is dressed to impress in head-to-toe Tom Ford at the #GothamGivesBack tennis tournament.

JTtaketwo Literally who cares? The guy’s not even playing??

carmichaelcreedy06 lmaooooo right

JTtaketwo @carmichaelcreedy06 Shut up nepo baby

[steelycunt]

so so excited for the pride au (also, did you ever settle on a title?  👀 👀), and it's been so much fun getting a glimpse into the process here on tumblr and hope it's been fun for you to write.

is there any way we could maybe get a tiny little snippet of it? <3333

ahh thank you so much bab!! and thank you for bearing with lol i was hoping to start getting it up in december and then the week i wouldve spent finishing it off i was knocked out with flu...but it will for sure 100% be up by the end of this month!! and hopefully sooner than that lol it has been so much fun to write but im gasping to be able to start posting it and doing all the fun stuff like the playlist and the chapter summaries...as 4 title umm the one i think ive settled on is four thousand holes? it was between that and blackstuff and im not 100% decided but im leaning that way : ^ ) i dont think ive shared anything past like the first third of ch4 iirc...so ive tucked some snippets under the cut from ch4 and ch5 solidarity forever : ^ )

chapter four : there there my dear

i.

ii.

chapter five : solidarity forever

[quins-makeshift-menagerie]

Can you draw your mews after a year of mewing? Thanks in advance.

Could you imagine���

[cowsandcomics]

What's your favorite comic of all time?

Oooooo this is such a difficult question, like asking someone for their favourite Bible verse or favourite type of food or song. I have plenty of favourites, but the ultimate is probably guessable from my profile picture in the 2000s Batgirl run.

This was the comic that blew my mind, and really exposed me to what the medium can do in terms of storytelling and representation (at the time I discovered it, I’d only been reading the most modern runs which. Well, it’s like hunting for a diamond in the rough sometimes.) Cassandra Cain is incredibly important to me as a character due to her immense emphasis on forgiveness. That despite the horrors you’ve endured, you still aim to bring out the best in others and offer another opportunity. A great resonance of relatability for me is in how she struggles to forgive herself, and also how she values her worth on fighting abilities (certain determiners which don’t say belay your true soul!). The disability angle, struggling to discover yourself outside of set environments and tussling with the expectations of those around you also come to mind.

The storytelling in the run was rich, and the character arcs were brilliantly executed. I adore the synergy with Bruce - while he isn’t giving a healthy outlook on life - and Cass learning that she can rely on someone in Babs, who wants to give her the opportunity of a normal life. And Steph! Learning that friendship isn’t a competition, that you can have joy in the others around you, and in that you can heal. The strong female relationships enabling Cass to open up to forgiving herself too really got me!

Anywho I’m absolutely babbling at this stage, but given the fact that the 2000s run is a yearly reread, I’ll give it the crown. But also shout out to the Catwoman of East End run, Gail Simone’s Birds of Prey Run, Aja and Fraction’s Hawkeye run, and Black Widow: The Name Of the Rose. There’s definitely more, but those are the ones that cemented comics are a medium that I adore to read and the characterisation in them really resonated with me (I love a good character driven story!)

[https-hunter]

What gift would your favorite character most like to receive and what would they give to their loved ones?

Tina-

Receiving: one of those journals from the 2000s where your voice unlocks it. The My Password Journal (lmao yeah I just looked it up). Or just a journal with a lock. Or 5

Giving: idk anything specific but that girl takes *extensive notes* on what to get people. Like for the kid-only gif exchange they did in “have yourself a maily linda christmas”

[goldendoodlerlockerlove]

"Back to you, Andy!"

"No, back to you, Ollie!"

Here's an adorable Commission I had the absolute pleasure of doing for @babsvibes for @seemoreseymoursbay week. Yes, I know I'm posting it super early, but I just had to!! Look!! It's the Pesto Twins and they're so flipping adorable 😭❣️

I feel so honored that I got to do a Comm for Babs for a fandom event. I feel as if when you're an artist and you get to do a Comm for Babs for a fandom event, you've made it.

[ID]: Digital fanart of Andy and Ollie Pesto from Bob's Burgers. They are shown from the waist up, and Andy is seen from a regular view, whilst Ollie is seen from a complete side view. Andy has one eye open and is winking with the other, whilst Ollie's other eye is covered because of the side view. Andy is wearing a bright green shirt, and his hand is on top of Ollie's. Ollie is wearing bright orange overalls, and the two twins have identical-looking smiles. Their hair is also bright orange and quite fluffy. To further distinguish the two, Ollie also has some freckles dotting his face.

[saturnskyline]

fic authors self rec! when you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. spread the self-love~<333333

🥰🥰🥰 thank you babs!! i really appreciate it <333

this is actually very easy for me, since i only have five fics on ao3 lol. that being said, i can now advertise them all hehe

you're everything, my perception of love

kinnporsche the series, vegas/pete, oneshot, rated t, 3.8k

simple summary: pete doesn't safeword when he should have and drops, but vegas is able to help him and they work through things together <3 featuring shibari as a calming mechanism, mild angst, and post-canon hurt/comfort

this was my first fic on ao3 and the first time i'd written for a long time, and it's still one that i'm really proud of 🥹 i was pretty nervous to post it but i actually think it's pretty good. also fairly self-indulgent if we're being real lol

i'll water you carefree, i'll rise you up high as the sun

kinnporsche the series, vegas/pete, oneshot, rated t, 2.8k

simple summary: post-canon vegas grows a garden and has feelings about it. featuring food as a metaphor for love and vegas mom lore (sorely needed)

pure brainrot that i tried my best to work into a character study lol. can't take credit for the concept whatsoever but i wanted to write my own take on the gardener vegas agenda and this was it!

just a ghost in your eye

dexter, dexter & brian, oneshot, rated m, 1.8k

simple summary: just dexter being introspective about his brother and his future. we love a vibes-based fic in this household!

shocked myself by not only writing more than two fics, but writing one for a separate fandom haha. just goes to show that murderous brothers with a complicated bond will always have my heart

in your dreams (i'm all you see)

kinnporsche the series, vegas/pete, multichapter, rated e, 8.5k

simple summary: vegas suggests somno stuff one day, pete agrees, and then it escalates from there, aka sleep deprivation leading to more somno stuff

i wrote this for nevertheless/nev_longbottom, my beloved bestie, as part of the hedgehog server winter exchange of 2023 :) definitely my biggest fic accomplishment yet, since i had neither attempted smut nor a multichaptered work before, but i am very proud of how it turned out! also just very fun to let these two be as unhinged as possible lol

found my place in a twisted rib cage

kinnporsche the series, vegas/pete/macau, oneshot, rated e, 9.9k

simple summary: macau gets home one night and walks in on vegas and pete having a Moment, with pete in subspace...... and then it all goes down (figuratively and literally)

shared most of this via bursts of 2am inspiration with my dear discord besties and was beyond taken aback that it became fully realized 😭 but yet another work that i am proud of! hopped aboard the smut express and promptly crashed into the incest ravine. if you will. might even become a series?? who knowssss

[erinwantstowrite]

what do you think of barbara being like an older sister to dick ? PERSONALLY I LOVE THAT IT IS SAD HOW THEY MADE THEM A COUPLE IN THE COMICS

YEAH YOU GET IT

like as kids i could see Dick having a crush on her because she's cool and she's a little older than him. but i wish it would have ended there and they stay just as friends. that's how it is in LoF- they've never dated

[necrotic-nephilim]

do you ship helena bertinelli with anyone? if yes, then which characters and why? what's your favorite helena ship? do you have any helena rarepairs? (i know you've talked about helena/steph and you're so right about it, it's a very interesting ship)

!!!! i have so many ships for my best girl ever yes oh my god thank you for asking.

my top pairing is probably Vic Sage/the Question. Vic is the basic answer, but man. i love them so much. no couple has matched each other's freak like that have. Justice League Unlimited is a great adaptation of Helena in general, but it also did a great adaptation of Helena and Vic's relationship. how he just dedicates himself to helping her with no expected return, but also wants to make sure she doesn't go too far in a hunt for vengeance that never ends for her. i think a lot of characters often want to change Helena or expect things out of her for their own needs, like the Batfam and the BoP. but Vic is one of the few people who just wants her to be better for her own good. when he tries to stop her from killing it's not because of his morals, it's because he doesn't want this crusade to consume her. and i just. man i think about them a lot. Helena rlly likes weird little men who give themselves wholly to her.

Zinda Blake/Lady Blackhawk is also a top ship for me. tbh i just like Zinda. but i do love how Helena and Zinda interact, being the more rough and tumble members of the BoP. they're both outsiders, in different ways. Helena is an outsider of the Batfam and Zinda is literally from a different time and an outsider to the current world. their friendship is so genuine and i think if Babs and Dinah can have. whatever homoerotic nonsense going on during BoP, then Zinda and Helena deserve some homoerotic nonsense too. as a treat.

if we're willing to count New-52 Helena, then i enjoy Helena/Dick/Tiger. i think Helena and Dick being a past relationship is really important in pre-Flashpoint for Helena's development, though i don't ship them as a serious couple beyond a fling. but in the New-52, i think this throuple be fun. Helena and Tiger respect each other as two very driven, no-nonsense agents and then well. they both clearly have some kind of thing for Dick. so it's fun finding the balance of how they could all work together romantically.

and ofc. it's a crime to mention Helena ships and not mention Renee Montoya/the Question. every time they interact it's really fucking gay. it's so gay that Kate Kane, Renee's own ex, assumed Helena and Renee were gay. i cannot be convinced against this ship. i genuinely think this ship should be canon. i mean. DC did tease us with this moment from an alternate universe and it's lived rent for me since. fucking criminal for us to only get one panel of what we could have if DC let Helena be a fruit in the main universe. being in love with Helena Bertinelli should be a right of passage for the Question mantle, i personally believe. if you asked me like. genuinely who i want to see Helena date in the current comics, Renee is my top pick. (i would say Vic but he's fucking dead and the New-52 butchered him so rip my mans-)

lois lane (2019) #10

besides those ships, just about every ship for Helena probably falls into the category of rarepair. like you said i've talked about my love for Helena/Steph before bc god. i think it should be a thing more people ship. once i finish the fic i'm writing about them i will convince others to like it.

i also think Helena/Cass could be fun. in a *lot* of ways Helena and Cass are narrative parallels to each other. Helena was a victim of her family being murdered at about the same age Cass was forced to be a murderer. Helena grows up to believe in lethal justice because of this, and Cass grows up to be staunchly against it. Cass' Batgirl suit was made *by* Helena. they both want to be protectors of the most vulnerable people. they balance each other out in a lot of ways and i think they should kiss about it.

also probably a rarepair, i think Helena/Lady Shiva is fun. their fight during Birds of Prey (2010) had... questionable moments for Helena's characterization, but i do love so much that Helena knocks Shiva off her feet and gains a deep respect from Shiva. like. Shiva gives her a nickname and shows her admiration. i would like to see fanfic where Shiva continues to be weirdly admirable of Helena and bothering her non-stop. they could be a fun fucked up toxic yuri moment. this is just. so gay to me.

birds of prey (2010) #6

my most rare Helena pair would probably be Helena Wayne, actually. but specifically Helena Wayne of JSA (2022). ever since, for some reason, it was made canon that the current Helena Wayne was named after Helena Bertinelli and took the name Huntress to honor her i *cannot* stop thinking about them meeting. because in-universe it makes *no* fucking sense for Bruce to name his kid after *Helena Bertinelli*, someone he's regularly at odds with and doesn't like. it's clearly an awkward explanation to try to make the whole two Huntress situation make sense. (it's almost as bad as Helena Wayne in the New-52 using Helena Bertinelli as an alias.) but because it's such an odd choice, i do think it could be fun for Helena Wayne, when she's back in time to see Bruce, to find Helena Bertinelli to get to know the woman she was named after and Helena Bertinelli just being. baffled by the idea of *Batman* naming his kid after her. it could be a fun fucked up moment.

my other super rarepair is Kara Zor-L/Power Girl. they had like. one meaningful interaction of JSA Classified and it's been PLAGUING me. something about when Power Girl doesn't remember her past and she's seeking a friend, she instinctively goes to find Huntress? but it's wrong bc this isn't *her* Huntress and neither of them understand why Power Girl would seek Helena out? god it's so good. i'm always a big fan of ships where one person in the ship is *so* obviously using the other person as a replacement for someone they lost and they both know it. it's such a doomed angsty thing where you could play with Helena actually really liking Kara, but knowing that she's just a replacement for Kara's Helena Wayne. good fucked up shit man.

and lastly: i really ship her with Dawn Granger/Dove. there's no canon basis for this, they didn't have a ton of interactions even when they were both on the BoP. but there's a very kind innocence to Dawn that contrasts Helena's violence really well. and i do love a ship with a corruption kink vibe to it. let Helena corrupt Dawn. i could write such fucked up porn about these two.

[casscainmainly]

If it helps at all, I've never gotten the impression that you hate (or even dislike) Bruce. In fact, I usually get the impression that you have a pretty deep appreciation for every character I've seen you discuss. I really appreciate that your approach to meta analysis seems pretty balanced and fair to all of them, even when you're criticizing them.

Do you have any thoughts on the fandom flanderization of Bruce into the sweet, openly demonstrative flawless father of many? Because it makes me absolutely rabid (and, frankly, probably colors my feelings about him, because it makes me want to hyperfocus on instances when he's a terrible dad)?

I would ask your feelings on the flanderization of Cass, but I think fandom Cass is actually just a black hole of absolute nothingness moreso than an exaggerated parody of her actual self. There's almost nothing of her left to analyze. Flanderized Steph at least has happiness and waffles, as meager as that is. Cass is just sort of... there. Sometimes.

This is really nice, thank you <3. I just find conflicts more interesting when it's not 'one side is completely wrong'. Idk with a medium like comics (where you can read most characters' internal thoughts), it's especially fun to seek out every characters' motives and try to understand them.

As to your question, I don't hate Good Dad Bruce on principle - for many people fandom is escapism, I totally get people wanting cute fluffy father stuff. It's when people claim Good Dad Bruce is the only correct interpretation, and that everything else is OOC or 'bad writing', that it becomes a problem. I think a lot of people (myself included) like the Batkids, so it pigeonholes Bruce into the 'father figure'. Good Dad Bruce is not interested in Bruce Wayne, but only Bruce-as-father-to-my-fav. It's unfortunate because at some point it's not Bruce anymore. He's a character so deeply informed by trauma, glossing over his trouble with expressing affection and parenting reduces him into a really empty character.

Good Dad Bruce and Bad Dad Bruce are two sides of the same coin, an unwillingness to engage with Bruce's complexities as a person. It's not as insidious as 'angel Cass' / 'normal Duke', but perfect Bruce is an example of fandom being unwilling to let certain characters mess up before just demonising them. He's either perfect or irredeemably evil. A lot of fandom skews young too, so I think there's an element of struggling to humanise a parental figure. It's a shame because Bruce's good dad moments work better when you do recognise his flaws. Those moments in comics are all the more sweet because they're not constant, because it's Bruce struggling with himself to give his kids the love they deserve. Acknowledging the struggle makes him a better parent to me, honestly (just because it shows it's not natural to him, he has to try really hard).

So yeah I agree with you, and honestly Good Dad Bruce ruins the characterisation of almost all the other Batkids (Cass and Jay in particular). Hope that answers your question! As bad as Good Dad Bruce is nothing is touching therapist/angel Cass for how much it raises my blood pressure!

[kaaaaaaarf]

As a Canadian, how do you feel about pineapple on pizza?

I fucking love it. It's one of my favourite toppings. These colours don't run!!! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

Inbox me (1) thing you want to know about me.

[hylwicks]

MY TURN WITH THE CAT PAWS GET BOOPED IDIOT

i cant keep up with these boopings, I'm died

[steelycunt]

what do pride s and r look like in your mind? what do they look like and wear in the 80s?

hii! fun fun fun question thank you for asking ive had so much fun with the eighties setting and fashion etc <3 i will break this into each boy starting with s..

in terms of look umm certain constants to my s always and my r as in hes still got his shoulder length black curls hes always got a gay ass silver earring in sometimes a little hoop sometimes a tiny hoop with a dangly pearl or a bead or something...he's not so crazy different from seventies s i think ive drawn more on eighties fashion for some of the other characters especially james but like he's still got the staple black leather jacket although this one has lots of badges fastened to it like something out of the young ones. the jeans are tighter..lots of tight white t-shirts...button ups except he hasnt done the buttons up..

r is a little different because of his setting like. sometimes shaven sometimes unshaven...fluffy frizzy brown hair (NEVER. blond. NEVER. auburn.) which gets longer and shorter depending on the chapter and whether his mam's cut his hair or not so sometimes its curling about his ears and then sometimes he's got a shorter back and sides...fashion wise his clothes are a bit more plot relevant so in my head his clothes (with one exception) come exclusively hand me downs from his father or things his mam has bought him or stuff he's had since he was a teen which kinda doent fit him now. so a lot of his outfits are drawn from the way the miner characters in the film dressed/general working-mans fashion in 1984 and its a lot of dark colours your browns your navy your khaki/dark greens your blacks...lots of jumpers and pullovers over buttoned shirts some checked patterns if he's feeling fancy...lots of heavy jackets donkey jackets bombers etc... screencap from film below for visuals ->

anyway yah!! thats the main components of the general look for those two...for side characters ive been able to explore a bit more and i love getting to dress characters up when i write so theres a lot of that and a lot of loud eighties makeup and bad fashion choices...lots of fun!!