𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐊𝐀 𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐋𝐄 coded by penny, she/her, 31. private, mid - low activity. here for good vibes only. originally established 2019. heavily headcanon based with influences taken from different dc properties, including, but not limited to, birds of prey (1998), nightwing (1996), batgirl (2000 & 2009), batgirl: year one, oracle: year one, and batman: the black mirror. sometimes found at saintspoetic. carrd. pinterest. playlist. send a prompt! click for palestine.
a study in: teenage superhero-dom, hacking the government, rising from the ashes, leader of the pack, dysfunctional vigilante family, all seeing all knowing, being the curator of knowledge, forging your own path, 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐.
1. i’m a very busy person, with a full time job, so my activity will massively fluctuate and i will be slow to reply. i’m just here for fun and will not pressure myself to reply. if you start to pressure me then you will be blocked. anonymous asks, as well as receiving ims from blogs i do not follow, are off and will stay off.
for my own comfort i will not follow anyone under 21. while mature themes will likely not be present here, i ask that you do not follow me if you are under 21. you will be softblocked.
2. don’t be a weirdo. don’t write or engage with problematic or toxic themes / behaviours. there are certain fcs i will not interact with. don’t dox, stalk, or try to bully / intimate my friends. i am not interested in your petty drama. i will only interact with mutuals. i will softblock if i intend to break mutuals and i ask you do the same. i'm not interested in being part of a follow count so i will break mutuals if there is a significant amount of time where there are no interactions. please see my carrd for a list of banned fcs.
do not follow me if you hold zionist views. free palestine.
i will not interact with blogs who use ai generated content, whether this be using ai for replies, metas, or graphics. if we are mutuals and i find that you are using ai you will be blocked. i shouldn't have to explain why ai is bad.
i do not write with portrayals of the joker. exceptions may be made for friends with heavy plotting.
while my portrayal is heavily focused on barbara's time as oracle, i am not against writing her time as batgirl. that being said, i will not write her as returning to the batgirl mantle. barbara does not undergo 'experimental surgery' to 'fix' her paralysis. she remains using her wheelchair for the rest of her life.
3. i use double spacing in my writing, if this is an issue please let me know and i'll gladly change my formatting. i am dyslexic and though i do proofread my writing there still might be mistakes.
icon border was created using a template by kingofwesteros.
4. while i don't expect many triggers to appear on this blog, any that do will be tagged as 'tw [trigger]'. i personally do not have any triggers.
5. i won't often post starter calls, the best way to start an interaction will be to send an ask meme or dm. responses to prompts/memes will always be written with the intention of starting an interaction, please feel free to continue them! i am a bit of a hoarder when it comes to prompts. i might not reply straight away but that means i'm saving it for a rainy day! when sending prompts i will usually send a handful to give options. i don't expect you to reply to all of them ( unless you want to )!
my discord is available on request for plotting. i also practice mains, exclusives, and affiliates, who will take priority for interactions.
while barbara is my specialist subject and i've consumed all related media i can find, my knowledge on the wider dc universe is shaky at best. there are so many characters i adore and appreciate, my brain just isn't wired to absorb a lot of information at once. but i'm working on it! in the meantime please come and ramble at me about your muse, i want to know everything about them!! this goes for marvel as well, where the gaps in my knowledge are even worse (i'm sorry!!)
6. i am open to shipping. if you want to explore a romantic connection, or really any kind of connection, between our muses please drop me a message, i'll almost certainly be open to it! shippy/romantic prompts are accepted even without prior plotting to test the waters. the only remember of the bat.family that i will ship with barbara is dick. her relationships with the rest are strictly platonic. i will not, under any circumstances, ship barbara with bruce.
7. i dont want to interact with the st and hp fandoms and will not be following any blogs that feature hp or st muses
@ioracle to sherlock holmes : i read about you in the paper, how come?
" why is my name in the newspaper, or why did you choose to read it? " in part a temporary distraction, evasive measure to step around just why he'd been printed out onto the morning headline. he failed to deliver occasional sarcasm, his tone pushing for something more innocent. like she would ever buy it, he watched her expression through the rising steam of the teacups between them. just as wondering, preparing for his answer. back remained straight as he rose percaline to thinned lips.
" if it's different than my usual advertisements to which you refer; i'll admit it seems the public has caught on to what's eluded me. " he hadn't taken a sip, tempted to let tilted liquid continue to warm the middle of his palm. asking miss gordon to bask in the afternoon, he should have been better prepared for inquiry. they both were two souls of never wavering curiosity. he wished to keep on as though the past week had not slipped through his fingers. " at the very least, it isn't nearly as dramatic of a headline as it could be. it'll change, given some time. "
the headline glares at them from every angle. faces at the nearby tables hidden behind their papers, eyes greedily taking in every morsel of information. most of it false, she would presume, these tabloids never quite seem to get it all correct. and yet, if you know how to read between the lines, they can be quite useful sources of information. ❝ oh, i always read the morning paper. ❞ lips turn up in a smirk as she brings her cup to take a sip. the liquid not quite cool enough to not leave a slight burn on the skin of her tongue. how annoying. still, her features don't betray a hint of the feeling. ❝ it's the best way to keep up with what's happening in the world. ❞
she catches a few eyes looking their way. ah, so they're starting to catch on. ❝ you should be careful. the general public are not only a fickle lot, but they like to get in the way. ❞ she hears a murmur behind them. whispers being shared across a table of tea and cake. gazes darting their way and back. there will be more of this to come, no doubt. but for all their flaws, the general public might also be their greatest resource. they can never quite seem to keep their mouth shout. ❝ they'll want answers. ❞ gaze snaps to sherlock's, daring him to meet her eye. she's never known the man to fail. to let his prey evade him. ❝ and i'll admit, so do i. ❞
"i get it, barbara. i really do." in a way, they are two sides of a similar coin. both women perform undercover work, and both benefit a more public figure or organization without the direct, named recognition of their faces tied to their actions. while someone else goes out and performs the physical actions, they remain in safe places behind a desk, at computers filled with knowledge and camera feeds projected on screen. it's nice to look at the news and see the positive results of their assistance — as emily watches the news story, eyes skimming the lower third and the ticker traveling across the bottom of the screen, she imagines how much @ioracle contributed to this victory. batman saved a dozen citizens — a few children, too, young lives who can now credit their safety to the batman... and his brilliant friend in the clocktower. what does that feel like for her? does it motivate her to work harder? spend more time at the computer? does it make all the long nights worth it?
"this is what you're meant to do," emily goes on, pausing the pancake-eating to touch barbara's hand again. "help people. from the moment we met, even before i knew what you really did... i could tell you had the personality of a helper. a brilliant, beautiful, diligent helper who made me want to be a helper, too." she points to the tv, to the current video of a child mid-interview. the batman saved us! "he's alive because of your work," emily whispers. "you are incredible, barbara gordon, and i almost love you as much as i love these pancakes!" now she beams.
emily looks upwards, towards the screen above their heads, but barbara's gaze turns to those around them. despite the early hours, the diner is packed with people enjoying coffee, pancakes, waffles, and all sorts of breakfasts. those from all walks of life - youths ending a night of dancing, those finishing their night shifts soon to return home to bed, the early risers enjoying some time before work. eyes all turned to the report. all with some flavour of awe in their eye at the symbol of the bat. some might even have been saved by him before. or have a friend, parent, lover who has been. everyone in gotham has had their lives touched by batman in some way. and, she supposes, probably by oracle, too.
❝ yeah - ❞ gaze turns to emily. the awe in her eye directed only towards barbara. not to a mask or a symbol, but the woman in the shadowed by it all. it feels almost . . intimate. a blush creeps up her neck and settles on the skin of her cheeks. she doesn't do it for recognition, never has, but it's still nice. ❝ yeah. i think you might be right. i was meant to do this. ❞ her hands reach out to take emily's. their heads leaning so close that their foreheads are almost touching. to those around them they merely seem like two young lovers sharing a moment, they could never know the secret kept so closely between them. ❝ you know, you're pretty incredible, too. for the work you do . . for being so cool with the work i do. i love you, emily. a hell of a lot, actually. ❞
it can be true that jim was a loving father but also an absent one. that he made sure his daughter was cared for, and loved, and healthy, but that he also devoted too much time to work. that he enrolled her in dance and self defence but always missed recitals and milestones. that his 12 hour shifts and late nights meant that barbara often had to care for herself. that she did most of the cooking and the cleaning and general household admin. she was mature for her age not because she was smart, but because her father needed her to be.
FYI if you don't know there is a boycott against DC right now. DC hasn't had a mainline ongoing comic run for a black character in 1201 days. As a big DC fan this is unacceptable. Please pirate their comics, movies, shows etc
still perched in his usual stance, spider-man tilts his head up to watch her continue her analysis on the building. unfortunately, his lenses weren't nearly as advanced. he then wondered how financially supported this bat family were ... then he snaps back to reality. ❛ corrupt crime boss, huh? i've got a few of those. ironically, the only ones not named after animals. ❜ he smirks at her implication that peter would meet the penguin, an idea he was more than eager to see through.
❛ oh, my old pal vulchy? ❜ peter stands up then, postured beside her as he folds his arms. ❛ one of the first costumed creeps i ever fought. he's this genius engineer turned supervillain after a lot of bad luck & even worse decisions. ❜ even though he smirks again, there was genuine concern laced beneath. vulture was dangerous, more so than most of the growing range of villains he's already encountered. spider-man dreaded the day vulture would return. ❛ he flies around in this ugly shade of green. naturally, the bird jokes come easily to - ❜ stopped in his sentence instantly, peter tilts his head with cautious alarm. ❛ do you hear that? ❜
she wishes she had her computer. fingers itch to search for any and all information she can find on this vulture person. to see if logic can find the missing link between him, penguin, and the building in front of them. but there's no space for a computer on the front line. no little device that can be sown into the lining of her suit. batman would radio to penny-one, who would be ready and waiting at the batcomputer. not an option. batman would certainly realise she's disobeyed direct orders if she was to do that. ears perk, a high pitched wailing breaking through her thoughts.
❝ it's an alarm. ❞ lenses flick, covering green eyes once again, as they hone in on the building across from them. it's still dark, seemingly uninhabited, and from what she can tell not the source of the noise. ❝ it's not - ❞ head whirls around suddenly. the beacon behind them, directly beside a door that leads to the rooftop, flashes red. the alarm's coming from the very building they're perched upon. they must have trigged it somehow. which means - ❝ oh fu - ❞ the slamming of the door cuts off her words. what can only be described as a gaggle of henchmen spill out onto the rooftop, each as gnarly looking as the other. lips turn up, underneath her cowl she offers spider-man a wink, before jumping into the fray. adrenaline pumping as fists fly and feet connect with targets. this is what batgirl is trained for. ducking attacks and sending her opponents sprawling. but there's only so many she can fight off on her own. ❝ tag - ❞ she calls over to spider-man, sending a batarang in the direction of the goons giving him trouble. ❝ you're it! ❞
"duly noted. let me just..." squinting, emily finds the expiration date on the pasta sauce, thinks for a minute, and nods with relief. "still good. few more days until this goes bad. we're safe." her smile explodes across her face, painted lips digging into her cheeks as she wanders to barbara's pantry to find pasta. how hard can it be? though some shelves are sparse, others are packed to the brim with ramen and other fast meals. quick things barbara can throw in the microwave and be done with. it makes sense, but it only makes emily want to cook for her more. she deserves a home cooked meal.
she's in the middle of her hunt, head poking into the closet, when she posits that moving to gotham question... and it takes emily a second to realize her girlfriend is in a state of shock. joyful shock, of course, but shock. @ioracle appears completely taken aback by the suggestion — move to gotham, work remotely for the CIA (they'd let her do that, right? given her history, given her years of service?)... live with barbara? "you'd... you'd let me?" now holding the pasta sauce in one hand and a box of spaghetti in the other, emily exits the pantry and gazes at her girlfriend. the scent of tomato sauce lingers in the space between them — that, and the thrilling, passionate pressure of two people in love making a huge decision. could this be the next step they've both been wanting to take? is this where they're off to next — domestic life, both women living in the clocktower apartment together on a permanent basis? "don't feel like you have to invite me to live with you," she says gently. "i can find my own place if it's too fast. i'd be more than happy to find somewhere nearby. i just don't want you to think you have to ask me to move in if you're not ready." it's emily saying i'm ready, but i'm okay if you're not. "i just want to be closer to you, regardless. i'm ninety percent sure work will let me work remotely and commute in if i need to... but i could live here with you. or nearby. it's..." she sets the pasta down and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, the gesture almost shy. "it's up to you, barbara gordon. how close do you want me? and how... serious about us are you really?"
wheels cross what little space was between emily and barbara, allowing for hands to take the ingredients and leave them on the counter top. babara's smile only grows as she takes in the slightly shocked expression on her girlfriend's face. alright, so it had been somewhat spur of the moment. perhaps she hadn't been actually planning on asking, but that's only because it seemed unfair to expect emily to pack up her life and move to gotham. but that already being on her mind, a plan potentially in motion, well it made sense. not just that, but barbara wants it. the soft domestic lifestyle. cooking together, squabbling over what to watch on television, troubleshooting each other's pc problems. she wants it desperately.
❝ i'm super serious. ❞ she confirms, linking the fingers of both hands together. ❝ super duper serious, in fact. ❞ hands rise so she can place a gentle kiss on the back of emily's. it's a big deal, she knows that. a huge step in their relationship. still, she can't shake the feeling that it's right. ❝ we've spent too much time apart already. if you're really, truly, serious about moving to gotham then i want you right here with me. ❞ and, sure, maybe the clocktower apartment isn't so much a home as a place to lay a weary head. but they can change that together. make it a space that's the perfect blend of them both. ❝ so . . is that a yes? you'll live with me? ❞
y'know, a lot of the time it's like you batguys want me to hold on to the past because you can't get over it. understand - i have. i have a new life now. one i like. one that fulfils me. it's not the same one i had before but it's good. maybe even better.
" fancy that, got all these gadgets and you still need ol' john to offer his expertise, eh, love? " he snorts, far too satisfied with himself. " runnin' around with your lot, i don't know if i'm ever too fond of that but a bloke likes to be needed. "
it takes every inch of her willpower to contain a groan. oracle knows everything - an expert hacker, information broker, and fighter - and yet even she must admit that some things lay outside her area of expertise. the world of the occult and supernatural is one of them. ❝ please, don't me regret this. ❞ words muttered through gritted teeth. ❝ trust me, i wouldn't ask if i wasn't desperate. so, if you don't mind - ❞ hand gestures to her screens, which detail reports of a new 'haunting'.
“ What do you need me for? ” Her snow-white hair was aglow against the light of the monitor, from where she sat politely next to Oracle, her gloved hands wrapped tightly around a steaming mug of hot chocolate. The sweet aroma of cocoa and marshmallow wafted from the mug; Tora found the scent soothing. It was @ioracle and the birds who had rescued her from her... circumstances upon her return from the grave, and ever since Tora had promised herself she would repay the debt in anyway she could. “ Whatever you need, I'm happy to help. It's the least I can do. ”
❝ oh, i'm not ready to cash in on that particular favour just yet. ❞ her teasing smirk softens into a smile behind the rim of her mug. the sweetness of the hot chocolate, with a slight hint of cinnamon, coats her tongue. it spreads a warmth throughout her body, deeply needed amongst the drafty clocktower. it's walls hiding them from the storm that rages outside, raining slamming against the clockface. ❝ i just thought you might need a friend. ❞ right now she's barbara, not oracle. simply someone who cares deeply about the wellbeing of a friend. who had remembered the circumstance of another's return, told to her in detail by batman, and desperately hoping it had been different for tora. ❝ it must be strange being back. how are you getting on? ❞
❝ hey . . hey - ❞ hands cup the girl's cheek, thumbs running circles around soft skin. the smile on barbara's lips curls ever so slightly at the corners, her eyes wet with tears she refuses to shed. ❝ don't you dare worry about me, i'll be fine. i knew this day would eventually come, and i'm ready for it. ❞ not the end of oracle, but a brief hiatus. it's easy to hide when no one really knows who you are. ❝ i'll be back when the dust has settled. i promise. ❞
