DickBabs vs DickKory
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| Ship War | |
|---|---|
| ShipWar: | DickBabs vs DickKory, DickBabs vs DickKori, DickBabs vs Robstar |
| Date(s): | late 2000s - 2020s (possibly as early as the late 1990s) |
| Location: | Forums, Tumblr, Twitter |
| Fandom: | Batman |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
DickBabs vs DickKory is a ship war in Batman fandom, between fans of two Dick Grayson pairings: Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson (DickBabs) and Dick Grayson/Koriand'r (DickKory).
About
It is clear that from the 1990s onward many fans had clear preferences about which ship they liked best. Dick had a roughly decade long canonical relationship with Koriand'r in the Teen Titans comics in the 1980s. Dick's canonical relationship with Barbara began in the comics in 1999, and although on-again, off-again it was also extremely long running. This all very much depended on the comic series and which writers were involved. To further complicate things, there have been several Batman adaptations, some of which feature the DickBabs relationship (for example Batman: The Animated Series) and others with DickKory (for example Justice League vs. Teen Titans).
When exactly the ship war began is hard to determine, but one can find references to it in the late 2000s[1]. It appears that early on there were discussions in forum posts, often debating the which relationship was better for Dick, and asking others to explain the "appeal" of the other ship. As time moved on, and fandom moved to spaces like tumblr and twitter, there were posts and the creation of meta, belittling or uplifting either ship[2]. Plus, the spreading of hate in, and the misuse of, ship tags, and the sending hate via anon asks[3].
Sometimes it’s hard not to get sucked into the DickBabs vs DickKory ship war, when I’m just minding my own business in the Dick/Babs tag and come across an entire frothing essay about how terrible the ship is and, oh, by the way, Dick/Kory is so much better written and more mature and healthier or whatever. (This happens pretty constantly.) And it’s hard not to get sucked into how that pits the two characters against each other, despite that they shouldn’t be![4]
Canon Fuelling the Fire
Many felt with Dick cycling between both Koriand'r and Barbara, depending on the series and the writer, that it just added fuel to the ship war fire.
and they kept talking about how dc was keeping shipping wars going and they should move on - implication ship war is because of dickbabs rather than horrible writing[5]
When it comes to the DickBabs vs DickKori argument I really don't care, I'm good with either. I'm not a major shipper of either, like I don't read fanfics for those ships, but I like them both.
The only thing I'm not good with is whatever the fuck weird ass jealousy-fueled love triangle with the three of them that DC likes to push. Just no.[6]
Character Bashing
Since this is a war over who should be with Dick, there is a great deal of character bashing of either Barbara or Koriand'r, and pitting the two characters against each other. It can also bleed into fanworks where the disliked woman is negatively characterized in fanfiction.
I have almost the same problem. I put it down entirely to fandom. I've pretty much never seen a Kory/Dick fic or argument that didn't take at least a few sentences to put down Babs or cast her in a negative light, even if it's just a repeated meme by Kory that Dick's other girlfriend sucks or super!petty bitch!Babs taking issue with Kory. Thanks to my general choice of fandoms, it's pretty much the only virulent ship war I've been a real party to, and it's the only one that's actually crept into the canon (find a panel where Babs talks about Kory. Any panel).
As a Babs lover from before I ever knew who Kory was, it's made me loathe the ship, even having come to like Kory and regardless of how well it's presented, because it's inextricably linked with Babs-bashing in my head now[1]
I hate how people seem to attach value to these women depending on whether or not they end up with the man. Kory and Babs can just as easily be happy without Dick at all. But yeah, in the long run, it all comes down to personal preference, and in a perfect world, people wouldn’t try to lord their OTPs over other people as if they’re the superior ship.[7]
i hate the dickbabs vs dickkory shipping war why we gotta put one girl down to bring another up[8]
that last ask is getting to me because I'm a DickBabs stan on main, but @ the DickBabs writers who deal with DickKory vs. DickBabs by perpetuating the Madonna-Whore Complex: I hate you and you can all go die[9]
Fandom Distress
I like this blog a lot but I really wish you hadn't posted the anti-Kory/anti Dick/Kory post making fun of them in favor of Dickbabs. I understand a lot of people ship Dickbabs but it's not his only ship. As a Dick/Kory fan it felt really alienating, like you were making of the ship and fans.[10]
Everytime I see the DickKori vs DickBabs debate I'm filled with rage because it always devolves into you guys pitting Kori and Babs against each other as if they don't both deserve better than Dick's emotionally-unavailable-scared-of-commitment-can't-keep-a-relationship-to-save-his-life ass. I love Dick, but he's also a traumatized wreck that has proved time and again that he isn't ready for a relationship so you continuing to compare these two amazing characters for the sake of a relationship that really wouldn't be beneficial to a single person in the love triangle is just misogyny at this point. The only ship with these characters that makes sense is Fanon!DickKoriBabs or just KoriBabs and Dick x Therapy. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.[11]
Call for an OT3
wtf is up with the whole dickbabs vs dickkory argument on here i like them both for different reasons, dickkorybabs ftw barbara deserves two hot as shit partners[12]
At this point, let them be a throuple and be done with it.[13]
References
- ^ a b "Comment on scan_daily, June 24, 2009". Archived from the original on 2024-10-25.
- ^ "Some Toxic Dickbabs moments that happened in canon. (LONG POST)". Archived from the original on 2024-10-15.
- ^ "why are dickkory/robstar shippers so hateful?, June 13, 2018 Tumblr post by spideysz". Archived from the original on 2024-12-16.
- ^ "Hey there, chiming for the 'choosing violence ask' game! What are your thoughts are for 7 and 9?". Archived from the original on 2024-10-25.
- ^ "Dec 16, 2021 Tumblr post by fancyfade". Archived from the original on 2024-10-25.
- ^ "May 20, 2021 Tumblr post by scarletbirbs". Archived from the original on 2024-10-25.
- ^ "July 26, Tumblr post by theflyingwonder". Archived from the original on 2024-10-25.
- ^ "October 15, 2024 Tumblr post by freddyloyd". Archived from the original on 2024-10-25.
- ^ "July 31, 2022 Tumblr post by fantastic-nonsense". Archived from the original on 2024-10-25.
- ^ "April 10, 2015 Tumblr post by incorrectbatmanquotes". Archived from the original on 2024-10-25.
- ^ "Feb 4, 2022 Tumblr post by autisticrosewilson". Archived from the original on 2024-10-25.
- ^ "April 20, 2022 Tumblr post by ebisuslizard". Archived from the original on 2024-10-25.
- ^ Comment on (Article) DC Comics Nightwing, Starfire and Batgirl love triangle?, posted to r/DCcomics, April 25, 2021