[personal profile] runespoor
Title: Five books Barbara Gordon put on hold at the library
Character: Barbara
Rating: G
Notes: for a comment fic prompt over on dreamwidth.

1. Cheaper By The Dozen, after Bruce mentioned that he never finished it as a child, putting it away in favour of his quest of training. Now it's waiting for the time he's grown-up enough that he may start revisiting his childhood, as an old and faraway country.

2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; it was published a few months after Stephanie's death, and she'd always been a fan of the series. It was sentimental of Barbara to put it on hold for her. When Stephanie came back, Barbara gave her a copy of Deathly Hallows.

3. Cinderella. When Dick told Cass the story, doing all the voices, making the characters come alive with his body, Cass loved it. If she's able to read it by herself one day, to find the welcoming familiarity of the story in a book, wouldn't it be a wonderful gift?

4. A self-help book – they rotate. Sometimes Barbara is angry enough at Bruce or Dick that confronting them is not an option. Then she puts whatever pop psychology book would explain their issues to them on the list, and pictures herself sending it to them. She never does; it would hurt Dick, but he still wouldn't get it, and Bruce wouldn't change his ways.

5. The Stranger. It was on Tim's reading list before he decided school education was for people who weren't adopted by Bruce Wayne, and it's going to stay on that list until he gets back to whatever form of higher education fits him best, or he comes up with an alternative that doesn't rely on Bruce Wayne's money.

Date: 2011-10-30 05:27 pm (UTC)
ext_27003: (Kon is Batman pfffft)
From: [identity profile] sans-pertinence.livejournal.com
re self help: send them, Babs. anon if you have to (actually that would probably be best) but do it. (and I'd love to see the list she's accumulated for herself, heh. because you know she would.)

oh Tim-may, I hate what the writers have done to you, god, I do. the Tim I used to know wouldn't have opted out of learning, period. (I used to love Tim. once upon a time and far, far away, I did truly.)

loved this.

Date: 2011-10-30 05:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] runespoor7.livejournal.com
I had a much longer list why she wouldn't. The scenarios she envisions go something like:

Dick: "yay Babsbook!" *reads* *wobbly eyes* ;_; "B-babs? You don't like me anymore?..."
or
"B-b-b-but what do you mean? It's not... it's not like that at all!"
And basically she'd just want to facepalm and headdesk all over again.

Bruce: *eyebrow* *reads* *throws an epic, tragic bitchfest of not-talking-to-YOU anymore, et tu Barbara* (and that never helps, given they still have crime to fight)
or
*has grimly made up his mind about acceptable sacrifices and will carry the burden of his guiltTM to the last and will plod on* (and then she would be obligated to contemplate bashing him to death with the same book she sent him)

I hear you on the Tim. I truly do. Well, except for the fact that I never loved him (got into DC at the wrong time/through the wrong characters for that, I think).

Date: 2011-11-02 03:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] trista-zevkia.livejournal.com
Tim was the kid who figured out Batman's secret identity and convinced him he needed another Robin. So I don't see him giving up on any educational opportunity either. He even paid a guy to pretend to be his uncle so Bruce couldn't adopt him, so I ask DC WTF!?

But this ficlet was great, and those were great reasons to not give Dick and Bruce the books!

Date: 2011-11-02 10:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] runespoor7.livejournal.com
I can see Tim dropping out of school in the midst of the angstfest his life became. I can see him not in a hurry to finish high school, too. But I can't reconcile that with "living off the Wayne name", even if he's the one into business. Like you said: he was so intent to keep himself separate from that, and now it's all there is? At the very least he'd be looking into alternate means of education. Or studying from home, like Babs did to get whatever she needed to be a lawyer.

Thanks for telling me you liked it!

Date: 2011-10-31 06:00 pm (UTC)
matt_doyle: (Default)
From: [personal profile] matt_doyle
This is excellent and really well thought out.

Date: 2011-11-02 10:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] runespoor7.livejournal.com
Thank you! It's making me think that maybe Babs - a librarian - and Helena - an English teacher - have more in common than I realized. I wonder what Helena would have to say about these choices...

Date: 2011-11-02 03:50 pm (UTC)
matt_doyle: (Default)
From: [personal profile] matt_doyle
Sounds like another fic worth writing, ;-P.

Date: 2011-11-02 04:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] runespoor7.livejournal.com
The problem is, they all are.

Date: 2011-11-02 04:43 pm (UTC)
matt_doyle: (Default)
From: [personal profile] matt_doyle
I hear that.

Date: 2011-11-03 09:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ficticons.livejournal.com
Oh, very nice.

I especially like Babs' reasonings behind HP and Cinderella (and I love the image of Dick telling/acting out the story to/for Cass :D)

Date: 2011-11-04 12:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] runespoor7.livejournal.com
Dick telling Cass Cinderella actually happened in canon (http://fyeahdickgrayson.tumblr.com/post/796698202/fuckyeahbatgirls-in-which-we-get-a-unique-point). Dick is such an adorable big brother.

Babs pays attention to books and people, I guess. I'm glad you liked it!

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