NO ONE DOES IT BETTER!

independent & selective zinda blake from dc comics written by gabi.

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gonna move blogs to keep everything nice and clean!

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I HAVE MOVED. 

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gonna move blogs to keep everything nice and clean!

[blckhawks-arch]

I HAVE MOVED. 

[blckhawks-arch]

gonna move blogs to keep everything nice and clean!

[blckhawks-arch]

I HAVE MOVED. 

[blckhawks-arch]

gonna move blogs to keep everything nice and clean!

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bulletpoint headcanon drop: blackhawk/all star squadron edition

zinda pretty much refuses to work for the government after an incident during the war where she was let to believe she was making propaganda for women to join the airforce and it ended up being smutty garbage about women enjoying a man in uniform.

the fact that the blackhawks are now a profiting company really upsets her on top of the fact that they take government contracts and work for the DEO which is why she joined the JSA after the information became known to her.

there were only two other blackhawks (out of the eight) still alive when zinda reappeared in 1994.

zinda was incredibly close to libby lawrence (liberty belle) and dannette reilly (firebrand) and visits libby at least once a month.

the fact that zinda did not get to say goodbye to most of her friends who died between the time of her disappearance and reappearance haunts her and she holds a lot of guilt for that and is one of the pressure points that causes her drinking.

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zinda doesn’t really value her life that much now that she believes she has nothing to live for and most of her contemporaries (besides alan, ted and jay and a few others that are now retired due to old age) have died.  she can and will rush head first into danger without care for herself if she thinks it means she’ll save one of the younger folks from dying or being in danger.

[crimenightarchive-deactivated20]

❛ why don’t you have a seat ? everything’s gonna be fine. ❜

the mind of a child is the most malleable of any intangible thing,  it bends relentlessly to protect the body----   the soul.  the tragedy is pushed through something of an industrial meat grinder,  forced into a shape it was never meant to assume.  it’s an anomaly that the adult mind ignores;  if it didn’t occur to them,  how could it happen to another ?  batman is not one of these obtuse bodies,  he could not stand to hear the flippant remarks of GCPD personnel:  there’s no way the boy forgot what happened just half an hour ago.  he’s gotta be lyin’.  his temper laps at the edges of what little patience remains in him  &  it takes bruce a second to muster the will to keep his civility.

❛❛     they’re calling it petty crime.     ❜❜     he focuses on the gray gloom of dawn through the window,  slowly illuminated by the rising sun,  his stare vague  &  morbid.     ❛❛     what . .  is petty about a child losing his mother ?      ❜❜     his voice is low,  but it carries far.  both batman  &  lady blackhawk stand a good distance from the rest of the officials in the police department’s conference room,  but no one tries to pretend they weren’t there.  the chorus of murmured apologies  &  guilty glances satisfies bruce:   it’s good that they were scared.  it wasn’t much of a comfort once he succumbs to acknowledging the heavy burden of exhaustion on his shoulders.  it manifests in many ways:  the throbbing at his temples,  the numbness at his back,  the soreness of his knees.  most times, he is grateful for the cowl  [  it hides more than just his eyes  ],  but it feels like a suffocating reminder of his failure that night.  what is the point of a batman if he couldn’t save even a kid ?

it’s then that bruce hears from his companion  &  her words amplify a desperate desire for rest.  it’s been 37 hours since he had last slept,  he wonders if that’s the reason for a woman’s death tonight.  he pauses,  his fists  (  shrouded by his cape falling across his shoulders  )  ball until his knuckles ache,      ❛❛      he used to work for penguin.     ❜❜     it’s no surprise that zinda’s words go unacknowledged-----    there’s no time,  he tells himself,  there’s never any damn time.    ❛❛     let’s go.    ❜❜

                                     𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓.      𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆.

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like if you agree.

[diotimamantinike]

“I’m Zinda Blake - last of the Blackhawks.”

Zinda Blake in Birds of Prey #75

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      ❝ wén, darling where are ya ? sorry for not lettin’ ya know i was comin’ but i can only drop by for a bit before i’m off again. ❞      TO FIND OUT THAT WÉN HAD BEEN hit with the same youthful juice as she’d been had been quite a shock.  sure, he still looked like he was an elder gentleman, but he certainly didn’t look over one hundred years old.  though, to be fair, neither did she.

  in her hands she has a bottle of their favourite as well as two bags of takeaway they’d had the last time she’d been able to visit.  door is slammed shut with her foot as she moves into the lounge room, placing everything on the table.  it’s only when she gets into the kitchen that she realizes they’re not alone.  boy was she glad that she’d already put the bottle of booze down, otherwise it would have been all over the tile.

      ❝ i thought i’d recognized how she fought, but i didn’t expect t’find her in y’kitchen with ya holdin’ her kid. ❞   she’s pretty glad with how she’s holding it together, the fact that she hasn’t screamed or pulled her pistol out was outstanding.  but it didn’t mean that she wasn’t incredibly on edge.        // @dochai​

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HUNTLENA​:

here lies the daughter of the moon,          a restlessness long settled as something living in the marrow of her bones.          unable to find rest anywhere too long,          she had grown used to nothing possessing the ability to settle her hummingbird heart into silence.          but then she found her          :        𝐙𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐀 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐊𝐄,          &          a taste of something akin to love began to bloom against her tongue.          a bitter bite turned soft,          the hunter had become the prey once more–– – -          &    this time,          she liked it.           ❛❛        mmm,           i know you’re comfortable and all but if you fall asleep on me i will not be held responsible for the amount of doodles you wake up to on your face.         ❜❜      

for so long blood had coated her mouth,          it’s taste of copper and salt.          it lacquered her teeth in impenetrable grime          /          no amount of holy water enough to rid her mouth of it.          or so she thought,          until she sat now,          eyes never seeming to leave the woman before her,          head bent to look down as she rested against her lap.          (          *          perhaps there was hope after all,          perhaps it started with the letter    “    Z.    ”           ❛❛        i only have a few more papers to grade and then we can order takeout.           maybe watch a movie?         you just have to stay awake long enough          !          ❜❜ 

@blckhawks​⠀ ⠀⠀➶⠀ ⠀⠀⠀––-–⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ (  𝖈𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖗 ‚  ) ⠀⠀⠀:

JUST BEING IN HER COMPANY WAS ENOUGH.  she was willing to forgive the fact that instead of having dinner and an early night that she was curled up against helena as she finished marking essays.  their jobs didn’t leave much downtime, but there was nothing that either of them could do about that.  neither of them were willing to give up their positions in birds of prey and zinda would never ask the other woman to give up her vocation as a teacher.  so they made do with the time that they had.  one hand is still loosely holding onto an empty bottle of beer, the other resting on helena’s thigh under her head, just a reassuring presence that she was still there, that she was going absolutely nowhere.

  their jobs were high risk after all, they never knew if they would survive each mission they undertook and it had been strange for zinda to transition from having nothing to lose to having everything.  she was so used to everything she loved being in the past, but know she had something to live for.  a reason to be less brash about running headfirst into danger, to threatening people like deathstroke and the cheetah.  her head bumps helena’s leg, practically headbutting her as she turns to look up at her.      ❝ i didn’t know we were in a frat house. and yes, before you ask i was part of one.  not for too long, the war stopped that. ❞

  her smile is sleepy, but she hopes that helena can tell she’s trying her absolute hardest to keep herself awake.       ❝ as long as we can canoodle during the movie, i think i can stay awake. ❞      another headbutt ( this time to helena’s stomach ) before finally moving up off her lap, trying her best to not get in the way of the papers already marked.       ❝ you just don’t want me to fall asleep on you before then i have you trapped forever. ❞

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        ❝ it seems like you’ve recovered just fine from that little jam i got y’out with a while back. ❞         SHE HASN’T BEEN SENT BY BARBARA.  she has her own eyes, her own morals and she couldn’t help but worry.  she’d seen her fair share of sidekicks die during the war, not to mention be permanently scarred or in poor sandy’s case --- turned into a sand monster and then kept as a prisoner until he could be returned to his human form.  maybe she was barking up the wrong tree in trying to gain answers, but she would have had to be incredibly obtuse to not notice the change in gotham’s underground and everything that she had access to as oracle’s second in charge.

  there’s still a smile on her face, but there was just a NOTE of worry.  he’d certainly rattled a few cages in more ways than one.  it was natural for her to worry.  she spent a lot of time worrying.      ❝ what’s it like being alive again. ❞      the world was so different now and while the hawks had dealt with crime gangs every now and again ( you had to cut off the supply chain somehow ) what had it become was far more than zinda was used to.      ❝ barbara and helena are not the reason i’m here, before you start squawking. ❞       // @redvived​

[mylovelydeadfriends]

Veronica Lake, photographed by Whitey Schafer, 1943

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  there are very, very few people that zinda hates more than katarina armstrong. she is everything zinda hates about the government and their operatives, especially the fact that they see people as expendable reminds her far too much of how the blackhawks were treated during the war.  ( her especially )  

  the fact that she was willing to destroy the birds of prey ( a group that zinda considers her family) just so katarina could get revenge and get things she wanted done without putting much if any effort in.  zinda views her as a facist monster who hides behind her space as a high clearance government operative.  zinda will never forgive or forget what she has done.

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HUNTLENA:

❝            i   can’t   believe   it!           –– – -          i  can’t  !           i’ve been reduced to    〔      ᴛʀɪᴄᴋ   ᴀʀʀᴏᴡs.      〕        please,           promise me that you will slap me if i ever decide i need a sidekick?       or  a  damn  crossbow  mobile?        ❞ 

@blckhawks​ ⠀ ⠀⠀➶⠀ ⠀⠀⠀––-–⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ (  𝖈𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖗 ‚  ) ⠀⠀⠀:

A RAISED BROW AS SHE watches the other in slight confusion.  she did have to admit that using non lethal rounds felt like she was going against everything the war had taught her.  but as they wanted to interrogate the person they were targeting, so killing them would CERTAINLY not be helpful.  she was still thankful that helena had been willing to help her with this case.

  she knew something was wrong, she could feel it in her bones.  she just didn’t know what.  her head cocks to the side, fingers gesturing for helena to follow her towards an obviously locked door.  her words are said as a hushed whisper, only loud enough for her fellow hero to hear.     ❝ why would you ever need’a crossbow mobile when ya got me ? i thought that was what i was for, and i’m damn good at it.   plus don’t knock t’sidekick i was considered one when i first joined t’blackhawks.  took a year and a half t’grant me full membership. ❞

[ladyblackhawklove]

Zinda suggesting the name “Birds of Prey” and getting matching jackets for the Birds.

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GLCRINA:

* ⊹ 。·     :     @blckhawks​       

❝   OH !    ❞     delighted  shriek  passing  parted  lips ,  eyes  widening  in  awe  as  she  peers  through  parted  fingers .    (  the  breeze  picks  up   &   she  too  floats  idly  ;   𝑠𝘩𝑒  𝑎𝑠  𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑓 ,  𝑠𝘩𝑒  𝑎𝑠   𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛  𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑑                  weightless   &   drifting ,   one  with  the  air .  )  

❝    your  hat !    ❞      a  hand  raises ,  arm  outstretched  as  though  she  means  to  pluck  it  from  the  others  head .     ❝    i  𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆  it ,   could  i  -  ?    ❞

A FLOATING WOMAN WAS SOMETHING ZINDA WASN’T expecting to find as she walked down the street.  free time wasn’t something she had often and when she did get it, she took it with both hands and ran with it.  but it took everything that zinda had to not let out an airy giggle and swoon slightly at just how delighted the other seemed !  it was just a hat, how could zinda say no to the other having it.  this was a reproduction after all, the original in a museum sponsored by the justice society. 

     ❝ take it !  it’s yours.  i got plenty of ‘em anyway.   I’M ZINDA. ❞