thelonehepburnette

[thelonehepburnette]

"What terrible things we do to those we love" - Frank Herbert, Dune

prints are available here

[thelonehepburnette]

this hurts so good

[thelonehepburnette]

As many issues I have with current portrayal of dickbabs I think it’s vital not to ignore how revolutionary they were originally. In media disabled women, particularly women who use wheelchairs, are so often desexualised and sidelined from a romantic perspective. So having a cool, confident, wheelchair using woman going on a date with THE heartthrob of the DC universe, and having HER reject him for the while because whilst she likes him she has her own shit to deal with is fundamentally groundbreaking. Presenting Oracle Babs as a desirable, attractive, witty, and highly competent woman is revolutionary in a media landscape where disabled characters are often excluded from being the love interest, and if included constantly being relegated to pining over the able bodied leads. That characterisation and context is a groundbreaking creative decision, whether you like the ship or not

[thelonehepburnette]

"We can't even entertain the idea of being together unless he comes back from the dark side, He has to pick: Is it going to be this vendetta, or is it going to be life? Presumably, maybe, life with me. And then when he says no, it's just doubly devastating.” — Deborah Ann Woll [x]

[thelonehepburnette]

the 90s are so fascinating for both Dick and Babs from a romantic standpoint because they're both working through MASSIVE crashouts for extremely different reasons: Babs is recovering from The Killing Joke and breaking off her engagement with Jason Bard, while Dick is reeling from his marriage to Kory failing, Joey dying, the Titans dissolving, not being Bruce's first choice to fill in as Batman for him after Knightfall, etc etc. Them getting together—and their romance in general—is a slow burn, slow-building relationship explicitly presented as "okay, they're both independent, mature, and confident characters now, this is the only way this was ever going to work and now they're ready for it."

Birds of Prey (1999) #8 was the first time in the post-Crisis universe the potential for their romance was explicitly acknowledged, but there are these….hints, here and there, in mid-90s comics (post-Dick returning to Gotham after the dissolution of the Titans) that indicate DickBabs was something that was definitely being thought about in the Bat Offices. Because Dick is CLEARLY not over Kory during this era and he dates 2-3 other women before he and Babs get together, but the hints are definitely there! It's actually really fun to read and realize that the entirety of the mid to late 90s is mostly just them reconnecting, talking to and supporting each other, and building up towards the more explicit romance in Nightwing/Birds of Prey at the speed of molasses.

Like, the "it was you. it was always you" trope DOES NOT WORK for them! It invalidates their other relationships and misses the whole point of what made them work in the first place! The whole point is that they're not the same people they were before their lives disintegrated, and through the rebuilding process they reconnected with each other as people who have grown, changed, and learned from their previous life experiences and found each other that way. They only work because of the adults they grew into being.

And then they finally get together, and it's great for a couple of years!

….then of course the mid-2000s hit the towers, and they break up, and we have several years of Dick and Babs explicitly thinking of each other as "the one who got away" and tiptoeing around the subject of whether or not they should give it another shot at some point.

idk it's just routinely astonishing to me how many people don't really recognize that Dick has to have already gone through the entire NTT era and his relationship with Kory and that Babs has to be Oracle and a grown woman who had a life before Dick for that romance to work. DickBabs only works as Nightwing/Oracle. Trying to retcon it into being Batgirl/Robin (beyond a 'childhood crush that is never acted on' aspect) or Batgirl/Nightwing is setting it up for failure every time.

also yet another reason why current DickBabs is shit, because DC is ignoring that a large part of the appeal of the relationship was the slowburn "part of rebuilding a new life after the old one has disintegrated" aspect, but that's a conversation for another post I guess

[thelonehepburnette]

🖤🤍

[thelonehepburnette]

I made a playlist for them. 💙💚

[thelonehepburnette]

Dickbabs Week Day 1: Firsts I love the idea that she was his first crush while she was totally over it (when Bruce was his age he only had a crush on justice so go easy on him)

instagram // twitter

[thelonehepburnette]

I can become something more.

[thelonehepburnette]

when you go out at night, you wont be alone.

[thelonehepburnette]

never bet against a librarian.

[thelonehepburnette]

I’m strong enough and smart enough for anything you throw at me.

[thelonehepburnette]

Anne of Green Gables 🌿🌸

Patreon postcard for March! Join here.

[thelonehepburnette]

Barbara it was you and me at the beginning. Remember that, okay? Everything else; The Evil Villains, The Batmen, The worlds on the brink. A thousand dangers and horrors streaming in. Knocking me down, strangling me, killing me. I swear it doesn’t matter, because I will always come back. To you���To you.

[thelonehepburnette]

the hand holding at the hospital IM FUCKING DYING IT KILLS ME EVERY TIME I CANT DO THIS! THE WAY HE CARESSES HER HAND WITH HIS FINGER WHILE SHE DOES THE SAME???? They were soothing each other... I CANT and the way after his initial surprise of her holding his hand HE grips it tighter???? I CANT

(yes I made this into it's own post)

[thelonehepburnette]

Art for shipling rivalries by ScarlettSwordMoon

[thelonehepburnette]

Batfamily Powerpoint Night!

(mandatory team building)

Links to the full slideshows, updated as I post them!

Part 1: Bruce’s Full Slideshow:

Part 2: Dick’s Full Slideshow:

Part 3: Tim’s Full Slideshow:

Part 4: Jason’s Full Slideshow: 

(they forced him to be there so he’s making it everyone’s problem):

Part 5: Cass’s Full Slideshow:

Part 6: Stephanie’s Full Slideshow:

Part 7: Damian’s Full Slideshow:

Part 8: Duke’s Full Slideshow:

Part 9: Barbara’s Full Slideshow:

Alfred (unexpected addition, mostly about Tim):