all sorts of echoes in these caverns
Takeout and Reality TV Concept stemmed from the idea of April texting Draxum that her folks are out and she's ordering Chinese food and does he want any, which results in them eating takeout together while watching bad reality TV. What better way to surrogate father/daughter bond?
A lot of people don't seem to understand what Barbara actually did as Oracle, so let me clear up some misconceptions. Oracle is first and foremost an information broker. She's a data nexus, a living hub of information that crimefighters around the world could reach out to for assistance and mission coordination:
"So how'd you become the data nexus for every costumed crimebuster in the world?" "That's gonna have to remain off the table too."
Yes, that role centers her gift with technology, computers and hacking, and that is the area where Babs most often shines. And yes, those tech skills are incredibly formidable and absolutely vital to her work! But the TECHNOLOGY isn't what makes Babs special.
Babs' tech skills positioned her as one of the most prominent fictional women in STEM in the 90s/early 2000s and gave her the ability to do things like build a VR fighting simulation room (eg, a Star Trek-esque holodeck) from scratch:
"Maybe we should move back to Greenie play level." "But you designed this game, Babs. And this incredible virtual reality projection room." -Birds of Prey (1999) #19
However, those skills are all ultimately secondary to her real gifts, which are her eidetic memory and her ability to gather, analyze, synthesize and distribute information to people:
"What I believe happened to Batman is too important to rely on my photographic memory..." /// "Having been blessed with photographic recall, I studied a dozen newspapers, four dozen magazines, and my main haunt: the computer bulletin boards." -Showcase '94 #12 /// "I was nine when I realized I could ace any test without really studying. The photographic memory thing." -BOP (1999) /// "My memory is eidetic (i.e. perfect). It's my greatest asset." -Batgirl (2011) #35
Oracle wasn't just a glorified hacker. She was the crimefighting community's living computer and central information hub:
"There is little she doesn't already know. There is nothing she can't find out. If knowledge is truly power, Oracle is one of the most powerful people on the planet. Despite having her spine shattered by the Joker's bullet, Barbara Gordon refused to give up. Recognizing she could no longer be the kind of superhero she had been, she instead devoted all her time to developing one of the world's most complex and powerful computer systems and set to work accumulating information, renaming herself 'Oracle.' Blessed with a photographic memory, Barbara reads dozens of the world's top newspapers and magazines daily. She's also constantly gathering information from other, less public sources, such as the CIA's mainframe, not to mention the data networks of the FBI, NSA, and Interpol (all without their knowledge or consent)." -Secret Files and Origins (2000)
"Now as Oracle, she uses information as her weapon. With her vast computer network, Oracle is linked up to every hero on the planet and is always ready to help." /// "With a photographic memory, Oracle is considered information central in the superhero community. She's a computer specialist and expert hacker--and she has files on every villain and hero."
"But Barbara invented a new life for herself as Oracle-computer master and undisputed sovereign of data collection and dissemination. There is hardly a crimefighter on the planet that has not come to rely on her skills and dedication."
"I'm keeping the secret identities and home addresses of every superhero in the world from being stolen. Think maybe that's a little bit important?" -Countdown #39 /// "Oracle: The Living Mind of the Justice League. Oracle monitors and records the worldwide flow of information. She Analyzes. She Interprets. She Calculates."
It's part of why "Cop!Babs" is so insidious as a profession DC keeps pushing onto her, because Barbara Gordon is, at her core, a librarian. As Oracle, she gathered information and valuable resources and then coordinated with crimefighters around the world to help them access and utilize it. Her day job became her night job:
"From my days as Gotham's head librarian, I knew how to find out whatever I needed. If I could do that for citizens, I could do it for colleges, non-profit corporations, private investigators...and superheroes." -Showcase '94 #12
She's not "just" a tech geek; librarians are trained to have specific sets of research, information analysis, and communication skills that others don't have. And those are skills she has that the other Batfamily members do not, and they are skills she has regardless of whether or not she can walk:
"I was tired of being a victim. I had skills and abilities long before I was Batgirl. It was time to make them work for me again. It was time to stop being afraid." -Oracle: Year One
This skillset also served her well as the co-founder and leader of the Birds of Prey; contrary to semi-popular perception, she's not just the Birds' 'Guy in the Chair.' She's the Birds' Leader and Mission Control. She tells them where they need to go, what they need to do, and how to achieve their goals. To put it into James Bond terms, she's their "Q", but she's also their "M."
So if you look at Oracle and you only see "hacker and tech specialist," you are seeing a very limited picture of who Barbara is, what her skillset is and how she uses it, and what her role in the crimefighting community was.
Hating on m/f ships does not make you “progressive”.
Hating on people who ship boys and girls just because it’s not gay does not make you “better”.
If, let’s say, a boy character who showed interest in both boys and girls, ends up with a girl, it’s not called “hetero bullshit”.
If, let’s say, a trans woman character ends up with a guy, nobody has the right to say “this character does not belong in the community because she’s straight”.
Bi, pan, ace and trans people exist in the lgbt community.
The lgbt community is not a club for gay people only.
It’s possible to be gay and still be biphobic, panphobic, acephobic and transphobic.
This is appearently considered controversial by some people so please reblog if you agree!
Teen Titans/Outsiders: Secret Files and Origins (2003)
Cackling over this one panel of Cassie and the griffin that ate her homework. We need more Cassie and Greek myth/monster shenanigans.
"Listen," one guard said, "I know we have only just met-"
"No," the other guard said, "we've worked together for years!"
"-but you can trust me when I say-"
"I can't, you have the curse that's opposite from mine!"
"I don't care for you at all."
"Well, I… oh… I love you too."
Sorry the quality sucks I’m on mobile
Leo likes to talk, it’s part of being the face man & his role as a strategist that can manipulate situations to be in his favour but because he likes to talk there are certain words that can act as tells for his behaviour
“Spill the beans Leo! Every time you say ‘indubitably’ I know you’re up to something”
In Bug Busters we learn that Leo says ‘indubitably’ when he’s trying to hide something but Leo also has another word that’s indicative to his true mood.
Ninjocity.
There are two prominent times where Leo uses the word Ninjocity.
Donnie: I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up, he’s crushing us!
Leo: Really? ‘Cause I thought my overall ninjocity was totally working
Raph: So what if I say he- that word a lot. It’s a good word. We need to be that word.
Leo: Relax Raph. We’ve got this hero thing wired. I mean, our ninjocity is off the charts
The two times Leo uses the word Ninjocity is in Many Unhappy Returns when he’s fighting the Shredder & at the start of the Movie.
Leo likes to make jokes when he’s stressed he admits to it in the very first episode saying it’s ‘how he copes’ & people have discussed that the reason Leo is making so many jokes at the start of the movie might be because he’s stressed about the idea of having just been made leader & is trying to make Raph take the role back.
Leo using the word ‘ninjocity’ at the start of the movie is just proof of how stressed he was at the idea of being leader because the only other time he ever really uses that word is when his family is fighting a beast-like Shredder for the first time.
When people think of Leo in the episode Many Unhappy Returns they mostly think about how he was able to outmanoeuvre Big Mamma & how he knew his families strengths so well he was able to state exactly how they were able to hold off the Shredder while he & Splinter were at the Battle Nexus, but Leo’s attitude at the start of Many Unhappy Returns is perhaps the closest he’s ever acted in the show to how he acts at the start of the movie.
Meaning that at the start of Many Unhappy Returns his humour is cranked up to 11 & it appears like he isn’t taking anything seriously.
Leo: Thanks for doing the dirty work for us big up Shreddy!
Splinter: Not now Blue!
Leo: What? I thought a nickname might give us a nice repport.
Leo: One & Oh baby!
Leo: Going to need to make a two & Oh T-Shirt after this!
Leo: Oh Cheater! Don’t think we’re letting you keep those!
Raph: This is serious stuff Leo! Would you shore up our right flank already!
Leo: What? Mid-battle banter’s my thing like how your’s is saying words like flank
Leo likes to make quips in battle but the only times, he makes joke after joke, are the start of the movie & the start of the episode Many Unhappy Return or to put in other words the time he was trying to get out of being leader & the time his family was fighting Shredder for the first time.
People seem to think Leo had every thing under control the entirety Many Unhappy Returns because of how expertly he outmanoeuvred Big Mamma but he was only able to think of a plan involving Big Mamma /after/ Splinter suggested going to her. Before that he spends the start of the episode making joke after joke but whenever his families attention is off him
He’s terrified.
The fact that Leo’s actions at the start of the movie & the start of the episode Many Unhappy Returns are comparable means that the idea of being leader was as terrifying to Leo as fighting a beast-like Shredder.
And this is further evidenced by them being the only two real times Leo uses the word ‘ninjocity’, if Leo is stressed & scared he’s making joke after joke, appearing to not take anything seriously & the word ‘ninjocity’ makes an appearance in his vocabulary.
Leo likes to talk to try & distract others from his true feelings & intentions but he has tells.
If he says ‘indubitably’, he’s trying to hide something. If he says ‘ninjocity’ he’s stressed out & scared & is one bad event away from a panic attack.
Hi! I'm Cassiopeia, she/her • I have no idea what I'm doing so please leave any and all expectations at the door • If anyone is wondering yes, it is a Momo or The Men in Gray reference
458 posts