Spoilers 4 Batgirl 2000

I am about 30-ish issues into it and I must say--I am in LOVE with Cassandra's dynamics with all of the characters. Her friendship with Barbara and Stephania mean so much to me and seeing my girl happy makes me feel awehqiwejlwekqhkj

But the character and dynamic I want to talk about the most here is the one she has with Bruce Wayne AKA Batman. 

Cassandra Cain grew up in an extremely violant and isolating environment. Being the child of Lady Shiva and David Cain did not make it any easier. Trained by her father to become the ultimate weapon to never speak, Cassandra's primary language was her opponent's moves in battle. It is only until she kills at a busenessman and comes face to face with death that she finds the strength to use her assassin training for good and become Batgirl to fight alongside other heroes.

Bruce Wayne's story is similair to Cassandra's as they both experienced a gruesome death in their childhoods that was the onset of their heroism.

In Batgirl 2000 we get to see their dynamic in a more detailed view and, in my opinion, how Bruce Wayne interacts with Cassandra is genuinly one of the best characterizations I have ever seen of him. It is so incredibly obvious that Bruce has a lot of mental issues and is super emotionally constipated. I mean...what kind of stable person would use their parent's deaths as a motivator to dress up as a bat each night to fight crime?? But his parent's murders are so ingrained into his mental issues that he basically loses all abilities to even imagine taking someone else's life. I'm sure he has wanted to many times seeing all the vile villains he has fought over the years--but his trauma acts as a mental block to actually go through with the act. 

Cassandra Cain has obviously killed people. Maybe not intentionally or even realizing it until the act was done, but she has. This already sets a conflict with a character like Bruce who wants to perserve human life. But what's so sweet about their relationship is that Bruce does not use his trauma to go ahead and blame Cassandra for being forced to be an assassin. Instead, he sees the respect she has for human life and the intense emotions she has for other people and accepts her as Batgirl despite her bloody past. Because Cassandra is truly deserving of the title. She IS Batgirl because she holds the title of the hero very similairly to how Bruce does as well--an embodiment of their hopes to redeem themselves and not have other go through the pain they experienced. 

It's also their shared perfectionism that drives them to become the best they could possibly be. One of my FAVOURITE quotes from Batgirl 2000 is: "I don't have to do this. I can still study Batman's method. I can be good for a lifetime. Or perfect. For a year." For context, this is after Cassandra lost her ability to read movements because she lost her clear mind and had thoughts to distract her now. Feeling frustrated about losing the edge she had over others, Lady Shiva offered to train her if they had a death match a year later. Because Cassandra held Bruce's teachings to close to her heart, she willingly agreed knowing that she basically confirmed her death sentence. She was ready to die in order to be perfect for Batman and all the people she could save in a year. Even though the context is sad, it's kind of bittersweet because it's literally like Batman and his values saved her into wanting to become better not only as a way to redeem herself but also because she genuinly cares about human life as a whole </3

ANYWAAAAAYS THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO ME YAP LMAO I'M JUST NOW REALIZING HOW MUCH I WROTE :-p