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So. The long awaited, long lamented, long CONSIDERED Credo is finally here. To tell the truth, I’ve sat at the keyboard several times over the last five months puzzling over way to put this so it will apply to everyone. Three days ago, the fact that I could never please everyone finally sank in. I may be persistent, but I never claimed to be swift of mind. Well, often. I realized that the only justice I could do to this page would be to give a very personal testimonial. In short, y’all get to find out what I think. Scary prospect, no? ;) Because they are both very separate entities, Barbara Gordon and Richard Grayson mean very different things to me. Being one of the downtrodden, oft-ignored 7% of comic consumerism known as ‘females’, Barbara Gordon represents more than a strong woman. She represents a role model, a hero in the truest sense of the word. She may not be breathing, but has that ever been an issue in the past? Amelia Earhart, while most likely dead, has been an inspiration to over two generations of female pilots. Babs is just as real as Amelia, possibly more so. I know Barbara Gordon. I was there when she was mortally injured. I was there during her painful period of physical recovery. I watched as she wrestled with suicide and the constant pain of knowing EXACTLY what she was missing. I’m watching now as she is doing her best to carve out a life for herself in the only way she knows how. Amelia Earhart is someone we learn about in history classes. Barbara Gordon... she’s someone I’ve grown up with. Someone I love and care about. Someone I admire and strive to be like. She has flaws, but lord knows we all have those. That’s what makes us, and her, so special. Dick Grasyon... he’s another story entirely. He’s a special man. I admit I don’t know him as well as I do Barbara. I don’t know how to connect to him in that way I can with her. The most obvious reason is his gender. I’m not a man, so I really can’t relate to his every word, or every pain. But that doesn’t mean I can’t relate to him at all. We all know the story, at least in part. Dick Grayson, son of Mary and John, orphaned, depending on your school of thought, at the age of eight. He lost his mother and father in the most gruesome and horrid way possible; right in front of his eyes. This trauma, although revisited over and over in continuity is what relates, and sets him apart from Bruce Wayne, his adopted father. But it is also that loss that sets him apart from the rest of the hero populace. He doesn’t let his pain control him and he still wants to help; to make the world a better place. What person can argue with that goal? Who would want to stand in the way of someone who wants to make his, and others, homes brighter? I’ll admit that I find Dick less real than I do Babs. Where Barbara has flaws, Dick affects perfection. He is the ideal of man; noble, willing, genuine... He embodies everything society puts forth as its goal. He is, athletically perfect, with dark hair, blue eyes, and a modest streak an ocean wide. Every American dream is epitomized in every move he makes or thought he has. Is it any wonder that these two are so often paired? Originally innocent and enthusiastic, Barbara has become the cynic of the two. In the beginning, Dick played that role, the emotionally older and more mature. They have always interacted and connected on some level. Barbara humanizes Dick. She gives him a reason to bring his head down from what *could* be to what is. In her he finds the ultimate challenge. She is not perfect, nor can she be. No matter how he prays or hopes, she can never *be* an ideal. But none of these things stop them from caring for each other. Now, being a fan of Babs and Dick does not have to *automatically* put you in the category of ‘relationshipper’. Truth is, there have been times where I’ve questioned even my faith in that. Barbara *is* older than Dick (seven years according to old rules, about four or five according to new.) She has to deal with some pretty heavy emotional baggage, not only because of her paralysis but also her life in general. Dick is, and has, been involved with many other women. Thing is, they are friends. And, while that is the basis for many of the best marriages, it can also be just that: Friendship. All this webpage is trying to do is to give you, the reader, an option. Babs and Dick *do* love each other. Whether they are *in* love, I shall leave up to you to decide. In this archive you will find tales of love, joy, pain, and suffering. But through it all, one thing will remain: that friendship. May we, someday, all experience something that perfect and right. 
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