Note: AAC: Augmentative and Alternative Communication is a broad category of tools used to aid communication for people who either can’t, or struggle to, communicate verbally.
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Cass presses the icon on her updated AAC app again.
“Parent. Parent” it says. It’s the wrong word.
Bruce is “dad,” a sound-word with the same sound as Dick, Damian, and Duke’s sound-names.
This sound-word she has only heard when talking about two people. She doesn’t know why the app is now using it.
Tim told her to let him know if there are any issues. He is the one that makes things show up on her phone. (When she was in Hong Kong, she had a different phone. None of the apps had pictures that MEANT anything, and they didn’t say their sound-names when she touched them. Two weeks after Tim visited, it started working properly. Tim shows he loves in sneaky ways.)
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Mostly, the new app is better.
She can fix the icons herself, now, when the pictures are dumb – there’s a little designer with lots of shapes and people parts she can combine. The icons don’t move, so the pictures about doing things still don’t make sense, but the designer helps with those, too. Tim brought a lot of comic books over, one day, and they looked at all the different ways to show movement. She likes the one he calls “afterimages.” Pictures-behind-the-picture.
The app is better at adding the useless sound-words, too. “And,” “the,” “he” – all the ones she hates figuring out, because they don’t MEAN anything.
It still takes slightly longer to make sentences using the icons, but it hurts so much less than having to find the sounds in her head. It’s fun, using the icons to talk. Like she’s tricking the world – giving them the sounds they demand, but on her own terms.
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It takes her a while to find other sounds that have changed. She wants to say I-find-girl, but it says “I will find the child.” The worried mom still understands. But Cass will have to talk to Tim.
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Tim is uncomfortable. He shows her how to hold the icon and slide left or right to get more options. “Parent” can also be “mom” or “dad.” “Child” can also be “girl” or “boy.” “Sibling” can also be “sister” or “brother.” This is important to Tim. Tim isn’t sure he wants her to notice it is important. He says she can go back to the other layout, if this one is too awkward.
Sliding takes slightly longer than tapping. Cass has no sisters. (Except for how Babs is, sometimes.) It is not fair for Tim to change the thing she uses to speak, so that it is on his terms.
So I want to write some practice essays as preparation for uni next year. I want to be serious about this but I also want to have fun with it. So I thought it’d be fun to write some essays on DC comics!
I’m asking for topic suggestions. They can either be serious (e.g. an in-depth analysis of Bruce Wayne’s character) or not (e.g. an essay on which Justice League member would make the best roomate). Have fun with it!
I’ll do topics on any character, family or anything related to DC comics, really. And I’ll do persuasive, compare and contrast, and close analysis. Either give me the easiest topics or give me a challenge, it’s up to you! Additiionally, it’d be really helpful if you would also suggest what comics, show or movie to watch in order to research into the topic before writing the essay. You don’t have to! But it’d be helpful
I realized yesterday that the batfam definitely has to use makeup frequently to cover bruises from all their vigilante-ing, so it got me thinking and
Bruce is the King of Invisible Makeup. He’s been doing this the longest and he’s gotten really, really good at covering bruises and cuts in a way that looks like he isn’t wearing any makeup. Probably has the color lineup of his favorite concealer brand memorized, can usually match someone’s skin color on the first try.
If any of the Justice League members ever noticed and made a comment on it he would just turn to them and say “Not all of us can heal bruises instantly.” in That Voice™ and they’d immediately shut up.
Dick grew up in the circus, so obviously he’s been using stage makeup since he was very young. He is by far the most skilled at makeup application – his blending techniques are legendary. Probably wears a light bb cream sometimes just for the heck of it, because it makes his skin look nice and who needs gender roles?
Barbara doesn’t wear makeup every day, and when she does she keeps it pretty natural. Is the queen of drugstore makeup because why would she spend $40 on an eyeshadow palette when there’s an almost identical one at Walgreens for $11.99???
Jason doesn’t bother to cover his bruises with concealer or foundation like the others because he doesn’t really have much of a civilian identity anyway. Besides, bruises and split lips are kind of part of his aesthetic. Has definitely experimented with eyeliner at some point and probably still wears subtle smoked-out kohl sometimes because he likes how it makes his eyes look even more green.
Tim is so pale that he sometimes has trouble finding concealer and foundation that matches his face?? He uses a different brand because the brand Bruce likes has a lot of yellow tones and it doesn’t look right on Tim’s ivory skin. This brand doesn’t stay put as well as Bruce’s, so he has to reapply several times over the course of the day. Because of this, Tim has at least one concealer palette on him at all times.
Stephanie is the most into makeup out of all of them. She watches makeup tutorials for fun and to learn new techniques, and unlike Barbara she’ll sometimes shell out for an expensive product if it’s really good. Is the queen of contouring, and has been known to wear red lipstick on patrol. She and Dick exchange application tips and product recommendations.
Damian was resistant to wearing makeup when he first joined Team Batman, because he’s always been taught that injuries sustained in battle are an honor and should be worn with pride, but he realizes that to preserve his civilian identity he has to look like he doesn’t get beaten up regularly. He was absolutely appalled when he found out about animal testing in the cosmetics industry, and he made everyone switch over to certified cruelty-free products.
Cass doesn’t go out much so she doesn’t really bother with makeup. She doesn’t like how it feels on her face. If she ever has to wear makeup for whatever reason she’ll probably ask Stephanie or Barbara to do it for her.
NO ONE in the fam has the same skin color, so there’s always approximately six thousand concealer palettes laying around the Batcave. It’s a mess.
If Stephanie runs out of highlighter, she’ll use Tim’s foundation because it’s light enough to be a highlight on her lmao
Tim, Damian, and Cass are all really bad about forgetting to wash their makeup off before they go to bed and it stresses Dick and Stephanie out so much bc like??? It’s so bad for their skin??? They’re going to get premature wrinkles do they not love themselves
Jasontries to wash his makeup off before bed but usually can’t get all of his eyeliner off so imagine… Jason, still half-asleep, drinking coffee in his pjs… leftover black eyeliner smudged all around his eyes… he’s like a disgruntled racoon
idk I just really love makeup and really, really love the batfam
listen listen listen i GET the humor and the delight of bruce being awkward mumble autism dad to baby Dick Grayson but also after that first week or so? the magic thing about having kids as an autistic parent is that sometimes they sort of just. rewire your boundaries and become exceptions. like sensory overload? still happens. but the kid can crawl all over me some days even if i don’t want anyone else to touch me. my socially avoidant, quiet in public autistic husband? he is LOUD with our kids. they have their own entire culture of in-jokes and puns.
so what i’m saying is, i love mumblecore autism bruce. i do. but i also think the galaxy brain take is when Dick Grayson slips in as his exception. the person who doesn’t exactly count as “socializing,” that he has jokes with and talks to sometimes for hours (mixed with those long silences), and spends a lot of time carrying around on his back when Dick is clingy. it doesn’t need to completely change him or how he acts in public, but he can also be comfortable enough to have funwithDick Grayson, quiet or loud.
was messing with some fake tweet makers and the idea that dick just uses twitter to compliment and flirt with himself hit me and i couldn’t stop til i made it.
