Barbara Gordon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bodilesswarrior) wrote2018-08-01 12:03 pm
bodilesswarrior) wrote2018-08-01 12:03 pm
Entry tags:
Mask or Menace Application
〈 PLAYER INFO 〉
NAME: Sage
AGE: 29
JOURNAL:shobogan
IM / EMAIL: shobogan AT gmail DOT com
PLURK: shobogan
RETURNING: N/A
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Barbara Gordon
CHARACTER AGE: Early thirties? Yeah, let's go with that.
CANON ORIGIN: DC Comics (New Earth)
CHRONOLOGY: Two weeks after Infinite Crisis.
CLASS: Hero.
HOUSING: De Chima
BACKGROUND:
Comics are a mess, and not everything about Barbara's history is clear or consistent. This Barbara Gordon Timeline is a more comprehensive summary of her time as Batgirl through her early days as Oracle, but my preferred reading varies in a few places.
Barbara was born in Ohio, to Thelma and Roger Gordon. Thelma died in a car accident when Barbara was a little girl, which drove her father to alcoholism. Growing up in a world of superheroes, it became a common fantasy for her; she could escape into a world where she could save everyone. Unfortunately, that wasn't her real life; when Barbara was thirteen, her father died of alcohol poisoning. When her uncle Jim took her in, Barbara found herself in a new city with a new family. Even then, she was nothing if not resilient; she adjusted to her new home, and came to love her second parents as much as her first.
One thing she loved most was studying her father's work; she was fascinated by the crimes people committed and how they were caught. One night, when she was snooping in her office, she witnessed a meeting between him and Batman. (Batman even left her a note; Don't get caught – he'll be angry!) That's when Barbara decided he needed a partner. Her refuge as a lonely child had become a passionate goal. She convinced her parents to let her take Karate lessons, memorised the entire layout of Gotham city, pushed herself in school enough to skip two grades, and excelled on the track team like never before.
Soon enough, she was outrunning everyone both physically and academically – and figured she had to tone it down. She pretended to rip a tendon, taking care of track; she achieved average grades, knowing she was already graduating two years early; she started training with a private sensei, rather than a public class. She continued her frequent trips to the library, but disguised her reference books as fiction. She redid her wardrobe, aiming for a conservative, generic appearance.
By the time she earned her Master's, though, it wasn't quite so much of an act; she was focused on finding a career and becoming truly independent. She became head librarian at the Gotham City Public Library. It was a trivial thing, really, that nudged her back on the path she'd strayed from; a policemens' masquerade ball. All she really wanted was to see the look on her father's face. But her Batgirl costume was fully functional, because Barbara Gordon is an over-achiever in literally every aspect of her life. When she ran into Bruce Wayne being menaced by Killer Moth, because of course she did, she couldn't help but intervene. It ignited a passion that she'd almost forgotten - that's when she realised that she really could do this, and that she really wanted to.
She remained Batgirl for years; the identity even travelled the world with her in her term as a Congresswoman. Eventually, however, Barbara began to find her life as Batgirl less fulfilling for various reasons – in the end, she was wearing someone else's symbol, she wasn't even a girl when she started, there was only so much she could achieve as a vigilante – and retired on her own terms. Gotham was in good hands; Batman was still fighting, the first Robin had grown into Nightwing, and the second had become quite the young hero.
She considered going back into politics, or pursuing another degree. She may have donned another costume, or walked in her father's footsteps, despite her reservations about the police force. Both of these choices were taken from her when the Joker showed up at her door and shot her through the stomach. Not because she was Batgirl, but because she was Jim's daughter, and the Joker wanted to use him in making a point to Batman. It had nothing to do with her.
At first, she withdrew entirely from the world, bitter and ashamed. (Why did she ever open that door without looking? Why hadn't she kicked the gun out of his hand the moment she saw it?) She felt so helpless. She had lost so much in her life but she had never, ever been helpless. Not like this. She was desperately frightened of being defenceless, of being inconsequential. The brutal death of Robin by the same man's hand, the child she'd taught and defended, fought with and laughed with, only deepened her misery. (Would he have come to her for help, if she was still whole?)
But she had skills long before becoming Batgirl, and she was tired of being afraid.
Barbara turned to the burgeoning technology of computers, finding freedom and acceptance there, and learned to use it as a tool. She learned Eskrima, the Filipino art of stick-fighting. She used her skills as a researcher and a detective, combining them with her growing aptitude for hacking. She called herself Oracle: a name that was hers alone, no imitation or echo of someone else's. One of her first acts was hacking into the Suicide Squad's base to offer her services, which quickly became fundamental. Amanda Waller intended her to become the team's leader, but they disbanded before that happened, collapsing under too much loss and too many compromises.
Recruiting Black Canary, after a rather disastrous attempt at teamwork with Power Girl, was the next step. Dinah quickly became more than an agent; she showed Barbara how to open her heart again, how to truly trust in someone else. They balance each other, as friends and partners. She also joined the Justice League, and saved the world with them on more than one occasion. She bonded with the third Robin, Tim Drake, despite lingering grief and fear.
Then her life was brutally interrupted once more, this time by the Cataclysm, an earthquake that left her city in ruins. Instead of aiding the city, the government quarantined it and left it to rot. Barbara chose to stay behind, but she wasn't alone; her father led the remnants of the GCPD as the Blue Boys, Helena Bertinelli became the Bat in Bruce's absence, and Oracle recruited local agents to travel where she couldn't, to be her eyes and ears in a city without technology.
One of these agents was only a teenager, a mute girl wandering the streets. Barbara would name her twice: first as Cassandra and then as Batgirl. Together, when Bruce and the rest returned, they worked tirelessly until Gotham was once again a part of the United States, and given the help it needed. But No Man's Land didn't end without intimate casualties. Sarah Essen, Jim Gordon's second wife, was another officer who chose to stay behind to defend Gotham. In her attempt to save a stolen infant, she was shot in the head by the Joker.
Barbara refused to let her death be in vain. Her reach as Oracle expanded ever further, and Cassandra flourished as Batgirl. There were still catastrophes, still losses; the Joker broke out and caused havoc in Last Laugh, Jim was shot and chose to retire in Officer Down, Bruce Wayne was accused of murder and handled it with all the emotional maturity you'd expect, Azrael finally found a new lease on life only to be killed. There were still many moments of triumph, both professional and personal; Barbara started a relationship with Dick Grayson and officially recruited Helena Bertinelli, Cassandra defeated Lady Shiva and conquered her own death wish, Jim became a teacher at Gotham University, even Bruce was trying to be more honest and open. Their lives would never be easy or stable, but that was all right.
Identity Crisis was the first blow. Sue Dibny, a beloved part of the superhero community, was murdered. Batman realised that part of the League had been manipulating peoples' memories and even personalities, and that his own mind had been tampered with. Tim Drake's father was the second victim; Oracle tried to get Batman and Robin there in time, but could only listen as he died.
Soon after, Gotham was rocked to its core once again by War Games. Stephanie Brown had long been known as Spoiler, the young vigilante who refused to quit - Dinah's student, Cassandra's best friend, Tim's girlfriend. Briefly, Batman's Robin. Then she was a catalyst and casualty of the horrifically bloody gang war. To make matters worse, Batman shut Barbara out and used her as, essentially, a secretary. Barbara’s clock tower was destroyed, in her own gamble to save Batman from either killing or being killed. He'd already succeeded in pushing her away, she'd broken up with Dick, who was trapped in his own downward spiral, Cass and Tim were leaving for Bludhaven. Stephanie died an agonising death, and so did hundreds of other people. She'd vowed never to leave her city, but this finally made her do it.
She left Gotham in the Aerie 1, a helicopter Ted Kord had customised for her. For a time, her team was one of roving wanderers, righting wrongs wherever they landed.
Barbara’s greatest enemy, it turned out, was her own mind. (SYMBOLISM!) She’d been, essentially, possessed by Brainiac – an advanced, malevolent alien intelligence – before the gang war. Dinah was able to pull her back from the brink, and she thought it was over when she cast him out. The infection, however, strange and sentient, lingered. She tried to use it to her advantage, but it was stronger than her. Eventually, she needed surgery to remove it. And she told it she would take her own life if it wouldn’t cooperate.
Fortunately, the surgery was a success, but the victory was bittersweet. A few weeks before, Huntress had left angry, after realising Barbara was manipulating her, guiding her on a carefully planned redemption arc.
While she was sick, she'd searched for the missing Blue Beetle; Ted had become one of her best friends, someone who could make her laugh through her darkest moments. Even with an echo of Brainiac extending her reach, she couldn't find him.
During her recovery, it was revealed that Ted was murdered. Soon after, Cassandra fell off the grid.
Then came Infinite Crisis, where many more heroes lost their lives, some of whom she sent into battle herself. The villains behind it also orchestrated the destruction of Bludhaven – Dick's city, along with Cassandra and Tim's. Dick nearly killed himself trying to help people. When he recovered, he proposed to Barbara, who accepted. But as the Crisis ended, Dick was critically injured; at Barbara's canon point, he's in a medically-induced coma.
She'll remember her last brief stay, but she's pulled from the same exact moment in canon time.
PERSONALITY:
Despite always being more independent from Batman than Robin, and later moving on from her Batgirl identity, Barbara is perhaps the Bat most similar to Bruce. She's analytical, pragmatic, and independent; she can gauge and influence other people more easily than she can herself; she's compassionate, but can seem callous when she distances herself to remain practical. She doesn't trust easily, or open her heart quickly – and even when she does, it can be hard to see. She strives to be perfect at what she does, and feels guilty when she isn't.
In other ways, she differs dramatically from Batman. His morality is clean and strict; you don't kill, no matter who it is, no matter what the circumstances are. Barbara, however, has been known to attempt just that. It's not something she enjoys, but if it will save lives (or her partner's life), it's a sacrifice she's willing to make. She is, in general, more flexible.
She's also more aware of her own flaws, even if she can't always stop herself from making the same mistakes. She knows she can be impatient, and blunt, and condescending; she knows she can push too far, or withdraw too much. She's fully capable of apologising when she realises what she's done, even if she's not always good at it. Barbara knows very well that you can lose the people you love at any moment, or your own life. She doesn't want to waste that time being too proud or too stubborn. (Ideally, anyway.)
She doesn't let this behaviour affect her in the field, however. She's put people she loves in very dangerous situations for the greater good. Sometimes it eats at her, knowing they're risking their lives and she can't be with them, but she keeps doing it because, in her mind, she has no choice. Oracle isn't as much a separate persona as a refined one; a being defined by the mission. At first, she escaped into that role so utterly that she distanced herself from her own compassion. She was rigid in her decisions and callous in her commands. She paid the price with Power Girl's trust, and almost lost Black Canary the same way.
Now, more of Barbara informs what Oracle does, just as Oracle dictates so much of Barbara's life, though she can certainly backslide depending on the situation. There are still times when feels guilty when she isn't Oracle, when she's spending time doing things just to enjoy herself. She knows, rationally, that this isn't sensible – it's even something she's chastised other heroes for - but much to her annoyance, she can't always logic away her emotions. She's fallen into hypocrisy because of this on many occasions.
It's good when Barbara allows herself to be Barbara. That person can be fun, and kind, and intensely passionate about things other than her mission. Not many people know all sides of her – the commander, the geek, the vigilante, the dork, the leader, the survivor – but she treasures her time with those who do - who she can unleash her wry sarcasm and silly puns and obscure knowledge on at any moment, who she can tease and comfort and confide in. People who understand when she tries to push them away out of fear and won't let her.
It would do her a lot of good to have more relationships like that. Unfortunately, she's not always good at making them, in part because of that same fear. People are too easy to fail or frighten or fracture. People leave, whether they want to or not. She's feeling this very keenly at her current canon point.
POWER: She's becoming a bird whisperer!
- Seeing through birds' eyes.
- Communicating with them. What are birds? She can tell you!
- Asking for help, because no one pulling a heist wants to get dive bombed by a bunch of pigeons. Eventually she'll be able to brute force command them, but it's painful for both her and the birds.
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE: Test Drive Thread
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE:
It's easy to feel like she's running away again. Dick would say It's okay for birds to fly, Babs, because he's been making bird puns since they officially named the team, but Dick can't talk to her. She wishes she had a moment to kiss his forehead or squeeze his hand, before being pulled into another world. If she trusts the pamphlet they gave her, she'll return to the moment she left, but she can't quite shake the fear that he'll wake up without her.
Of course, she could fight to leave. She's been yanked out of her timeline before, and found her way back despite the odds. The plain truth is, though, that she doesn't want to.
Barbara wheels through a neighbourhood that hasn't been ravaged by supervillains or gang wars, where memories of helpless loss and brutal failure don't lurk in every corner. Heropa is more like Metropolis than Gotham, but the similarities are superficial; the sunlight streams down on different landmarks, different shops, different people. She enjoys a free malt from Ava, buys every paper from Benny's newsstand, and admires Dominic's latest gadget. It's info gathering, primarily, but it also makes the place feel more real. Something she can nurture and protect.
She glimpses heroes she doesn't recognise, which is both unsettling and thrilling; she doesn't need to keep rebuilding her database, she can start over and discover a whole new world of possibilities. Not all of them will be good, of course; there are already things she doesn't like, doesn't trust. She can't actually feel the nanites beneath her skin, but they make her brain itch with anxiety. They spell out Unsettled Hero, because she doesn't even trust the governments she's already hacked into.
She doesn't have her base, or her plane, or her team. Her only tech is the weaponry installed in her chair, a few transcievers and a single laptop. Her brand new superpowers are, frankly, kind of bizarre.
But she's always loved a challenge.
NAME: Sage
AGE: 29
JOURNAL:
shobogan IM / EMAIL: shobogan AT gmail DOT com
PLURK: shobogan
RETURNING: N/A
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Barbara Gordon
CHARACTER AGE: Early thirties? Yeah, let's go with that.
CANON ORIGIN: DC Comics (New Earth)
CHRONOLOGY: Two weeks after Infinite Crisis.
CLASS: Hero.
HOUSING: De Chima
BACKGROUND:
Comics are a mess, and not everything about Barbara's history is clear or consistent. This Barbara Gordon Timeline is a more comprehensive summary of her time as Batgirl through her early days as Oracle, but my preferred reading varies in a few places.
Barbara was born in Ohio, to Thelma and Roger Gordon. Thelma died in a car accident when Barbara was a little girl, which drove her father to alcoholism. Growing up in a world of superheroes, it became a common fantasy for her; she could escape into a world where she could save everyone. Unfortunately, that wasn't her real life; when Barbara was thirteen, her father died of alcohol poisoning. When her uncle Jim took her in, Barbara found herself in a new city with a new family. Even then, she was nothing if not resilient; she adjusted to her new home, and came to love her second parents as much as her first.
One thing she loved most was studying her father's work; she was fascinated by the crimes people committed and how they were caught. One night, when she was snooping in her office, she witnessed a meeting between him and Batman. (Batman even left her a note; Don't get caught – he'll be angry!) That's when Barbara decided he needed a partner. Her refuge as a lonely child had become a passionate goal. She convinced her parents to let her take Karate lessons, memorised the entire layout of Gotham city, pushed herself in school enough to skip two grades, and excelled on the track team like never before.
Soon enough, she was outrunning everyone both physically and academically – and figured she had to tone it down. She pretended to rip a tendon, taking care of track; she achieved average grades, knowing she was already graduating two years early; she started training with a private sensei, rather than a public class. She continued her frequent trips to the library, but disguised her reference books as fiction. She redid her wardrobe, aiming for a conservative, generic appearance.
By the time she earned her Master's, though, it wasn't quite so much of an act; she was focused on finding a career and becoming truly independent. She became head librarian at the Gotham City Public Library. It was a trivial thing, really, that nudged her back on the path she'd strayed from; a policemens' masquerade ball. All she really wanted was to see the look on her father's face. But her Batgirl costume was fully functional, because Barbara Gordon is an over-achiever in literally every aspect of her life. When she ran into Bruce Wayne being menaced by Killer Moth, because of course she did, she couldn't help but intervene. It ignited a passion that she'd almost forgotten - that's when she realised that she really could do this, and that she really wanted to.
She remained Batgirl for years; the identity even travelled the world with her in her term as a Congresswoman. Eventually, however, Barbara began to find her life as Batgirl less fulfilling for various reasons – in the end, she was wearing someone else's symbol, she wasn't even a girl when she started, there was only so much she could achieve as a vigilante – and retired on her own terms. Gotham was in good hands; Batman was still fighting, the first Robin had grown into Nightwing, and the second had become quite the young hero.
She considered going back into politics, or pursuing another degree. She may have donned another costume, or walked in her father's footsteps, despite her reservations about the police force. Both of these choices were taken from her when the Joker showed up at her door and shot her through the stomach. Not because she was Batgirl, but because she was Jim's daughter, and the Joker wanted to use him in making a point to Batman. It had nothing to do with her.
At first, she withdrew entirely from the world, bitter and ashamed. (Why did she ever open that door without looking? Why hadn't she kicked the gun out of his hand the moment she saw it?) She felt so helpless. She had lost so much in her life but she had never, ever been helpless. Not like this. She was desperately frightened of being defenceless, of being inconsequential. The brutal death of Robin by the same man's hand, the child she'd taught and defended, fought with and laughed with, only deepened her misery. (Would he have come to her for help, if she was still whole?)
But she had skills long before becoming Batgirl, and she was tired of being afraid.
Barbara turned to the burgeoning technology of computers, finding freedom and acceptance there, and learned to use it as a tool. She learned Eskrima, the Filipino art of stick-fighting. She used her skills as a researcher and a detective, combining them with her growing aptitude for hacking. She called herself Oracle: a name that was hers alone, no imitation or echo of someone else's. One of her first acts was hacking into the Suicide Squad's base to offer her services, which quickly became fundamental. Amanda Waller intended her to become the team's leader, but they disbanded before that happened, collapsing under too much loss and too many compromises.
Recruiting Black Canary, after a rather disastrous attempt at teamwork with Power Girl, was the next step. Dinah quickly became more than an agent; she showed Barbara how to open her heart again, how to truly trust in someone else. They balance each other, as friends and partners. She also joined the Justice League, and saved the world with them on more than one occasion. She bonded with the third Robin, Tim Drake, despite lingering grief and fear.
Then her life was brutally interrupted once more, this time by the Cataclysm, an earthquake that left her city in ruins. Instead of aiding the city, the government quarantined it and left it to rot. Barbara chose to stay behind, but she wasn't alone; her father led the remnants of the GCPD as the Blue Boys, Helena Bertinelli became the Bat in Bruce's absence, and Oracle recruited local agents to travel where she couldn't, to be her eyes and ears in a city without technology.
One of these agents was only a teenager, a mute girl wandering the streets. Barbara would name her twice: first as Cassandra and then as Batgirl. Together, when Bruce and the rest returned, they worked tirelessly until Gotham was once again a part of the United States, and given the help it needed. But No Man's Land didn't end without intimate casualties. Sarah Essen, Jim Gordon's second wife, was another officer who chose to stay behind to defend Gotham. In her attempt to save a stolen infant, she was shot in the head by the Joker.
Barbara refused to let her death be in vain. Her reach as Oracle expanded ever further, and Cassandra flourished as Batgirl. There were still catastrophes, still losses; the Joker broke out and caused havoc in Last Laugh, Jim was shot and chose to retire in Officer Down, Bruce Wayne was accused of murder and handled it with all the emotional maturity you'd expect, Azrael finally found a new lease on life only to be killed. There were still many moments of triumph, both professional and personal; Barbara started a relationship with Dick Grayson and officially recruited Helena Bertinelli, Cassandra defeated Lady Shiva and conquered her own death wish, Jim became a teacher at Gotham University, even Bruce was trying to be more honest and open. Their lives would never be easy or stable, but that was all right.
Identity Crisis was the first blow. Sue Dibny, a beloved part of the superhero community, was murdered. Batman realised that part of the League had been manipulating peoples' memories and even personalities, and that his own mind had been tampered with. Tim Drake's father was the second victim; Oracle tried to get Batman and Robin there in time, but could only listen as he died.
Soon after, Gotham was rocked to its core once again by War Games. Stephanie Brown had long been known as Spoiler, the young vigilante who refused to quit - Dinah's student, Cassandra's best friend, Tim's girlfriend. Briefly, Batman's Robin. Then she was a catalyst and casualty of the horrifically bloody gang war. To make matters worse, Batman shut Barbara out and used her as, essentially, a secretary. Barbara’s clock tower was destroyed, in her own gamble to save Batman from either killing or being killed. He'd already succeeded in pushing her away, she'd broken up with Dick, who was trapped in his own downward spiral, Cass and Tim were leaving for Bludhaven. Stephanie died an agonising death, and so did hundreds of other people. She'd vowed never to leave her city, but this finally made her do it.
She left Gotham in the Aerie 1, a helicopter Ted Kord had customised for her. For a time, her team was one of roving wanderers, righting wrongs wherever they landed.
Barbara’s greatest enemy, it turned out, was her own mind. (SYMBOLISM!) She’d been, essentially, possessed by Brainiac – an advanced, malevolent alien intelligence – before the gang war. Dinah was able to pull her back from the brink, and she thought it was over when she cast him out. The infection, however, strange and sentient, lingered. She tried to use it to her advantage, but it was stronger than her. Eventually, she needed surgery to remove it. And she told it she would take her own life if it wouldn’t cooperate.
Fortunately, the surgery was a success, but the victory was bittersweet. A few weeks before, Huntress had left angry, after realising Barbara was manipulating her, guiding her on a carefully planned redemption arc.
While she was sick, she'd searched for the missing Blue Beetle; Ted had become one of her best friends, someone who could make her laugh through her darkest moments. Even with an echo of Brainiac extending her reach, she couldn't find him.
During her recovery, it was revealed that Ted was murdered. Soon after, Cassandra fell off the grid.
Then came Infinite Crisis, where many more heroes lost their lives, some of whom she sent into battle herself. The villains behind it also orchestrated the destruction of Bludhaven – Dick's city, along with Cassandra and Tim's. Dick nearly killed himself trying to help people. When he recovered, he proposed to Barbara, who accepted. But as the Crisis ended, Dick was critically injured; at Barbara's canon point, he's in a medically-induced coma.
She'll remember her last brief stay, but she's pulled from the same exact moment in canon time.
PERSONALITY:
Despite always being more independent from Batman than Robin, and later moving on from her Batgirl identity, Barbara is perhaps the Bat most similar to Bruce. She's analytical, pragmatic, and independent; she can gauge and influence other people more easily than she can herself; she's compassionate, but can seem callous when she distances herself to remain practical. She doesn't trust easily, or open her heart quickly – and even when she does, it can be hard to see. She strives to be perfect at what she does, and feels guilty when she isn't.
In other ways, she differs dramatically from Batman. His morality is clean and strict; you don't kill, no matter who it is, no matter what the circumstances are. Barbara, however, has been known to attempt just that. It's not something she enjoys, but if it will save lives (or her partner's life), it's a sacrifice she's willing to make. She is, in general, more flexible.
She's also more aware of her own flaws, even if she can't always stop herself from making the same mistakes. She knows she can be impatient, and blunt, and condescending; she knows she can push too far, or withdraw too much. She's fully capable of apologising when she realises what she's done, even if she's not always good at it. Barbara knows very well that you can lose the people you love at any moment, or your own life. She doesn't want to waste that time being too proud or too stubborn. (Ideally, anyway.)
She doesn't let this behaviour affect her in the field, however. She's put people she loves in very dangerous situations for the greater good. Sometimes it eats at her, knowing they're risking their lives and she can't be with them, but she keeps doing it because, in her mind, she has no choice. Oracle isn't as much a separate persona as a refined one; a being defined by the mission. At first, she escaped into that role so utterly that she distanced herself from her own compassion. She was rigid in her decisions and callous in her commands. She paid the price with Power Girl's trust, and almost lost Black Canary the same way.
Now, more of Barbara informs what Oracle does, just as Oracle dictates so much of Barbara's life, though she can certainly backslide depending on the situation. There are still times when feels guilty when she isn't Oracle, when she's spending time doing things just to enjoy herself. She knows, rationally, that this isn't sensible – it's even something she's chastised other heroes for - but much to her annoyance, she can't always logic away her emotions. She's fallen into hypocrisy because of this on many occasions.
It's good when Barbara allows herself to be Barbara. That person can be fun, and kind, and intensely passionate about things other than her mission. Not many people know all sides of her – the commander, the geek, the vigilante, the dork, the leader, the survivor – but she treasures her time with those who do - who she can unleash her wry sarcasm and silly puns and obscure knowledge on at any moment, who she can tease and comfort and confide in. People who understand when she tries to push them away out of fear and won't let her.
It would do her a lot of good to have more relationships like that. Unfortunately, she's not always good at making them, in part because of that same fear. People are too easy to fail or frighten or fracture. People leave, whether they want to or not. She's feeling this very keenly at her current canon point.
POWER: She's becoming a bird whisperer!
- Seeing through birds' eyes.
- Communicating with them. What are birds? She can tell you!
- Asking for help, because no one pulling a heist wants to get dive bombed by a bunch of pigeons. Eventually she'll be able to brute force command them, but it's painful for both her and the birds.
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE: Test Drive Thread
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE:
It's easy to feel like she's running away again. Dick would say It's okay for birds to fly, Babs, because he's been making bird puns since they officially named the team, but Dick can't talk to her. She wishes she had a moment to kiss his forehead or squeeze his hand, before being pulled into another world. If she trusts the pamphlet they gave her, she'll return to the moment she left, but she can't quite shake the fear that he'll wake up without her.
Of course, she could fight to leave. She's been yanked out of her timeline before, and found her way back despite the odds. The plain truth is, though, that she doesn't want to.
Barbara wheels through a neighbourhood that hasn't been ravaged by supervillains or gang wars, where memories of helpless loss and brutal failure don't lurk in every corner. Heropa is more like Metropolis than Gotham, but the similarities are superficial; the sunlight streams down on different landmarks, different shops, different people. She enjoys a free malt from Ava, buys every paper from Benny's newsstand, and admires Dominic's latest gadget. It's info gathering, primarily, but it also makes the place feel more real. Something she can nurture and protect.
She glimpses heroes she doesn't recognise, which is both unsettling and thrilling; she doesn't need to keep rebuilding her database, she can start over and discover a whole new world of possibilities. Not all of them will be good, of course; there are already things she doesn't like, doesn't trust. She can't actually feel the nanites beneath her skin, but they make her brain itch with anxiety. They spell out Unsettled Hero, because she doesn't even trust the governments she's already hacked into.
She doesn't have her base, or her plane, or her team. Her only tech is the weaponry installed in her chair, a few transcievers and a single laptop. Her brand new superpowers are, frankly, kind of bizarre.
But she's always loved a challenge.