pr0serpinas

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Slow Grind, Take it Easy

Jason peers over Roy’s shoulder, where he’s amending the latest version of The List. “No fucking way,” he snorts. “Why is Superman on there?”

Roy gives him a terribly disappointed look. “The fact that you don’t think you could bag him is exactly why he should be on the list.”

Or: Jason doesn’t think he’s worthy of Clark. Roy conspires with Clark to show Jason that he is. It works a little too well.

Read on ao3.

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Reblog and put in the tags the most unlikable fictional character you've ever come across and what they're from

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"I'm not going to prison. I've been in a prison all my life." Cinematography Appreciation - Last Night in Soho (2021) dir. Edgar Wright

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Last Night in Soho dir. Edgar Wright | 2021

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are u familiar with kyle rayner…i think u drawing him would actually drive me insane

yes vaguely... i will see about getting a sketch done for you!

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They love being worshipped. 🖤

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”…So good you’ve got to abuse it So fast that sometimes you lose it It chews you up when you feed it But everyone needs to eat Am I too much for you? ‘Cause you’re too much for me. Still wanna be, corrupted…”

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I decided to make a quiz earlier today so enjoy <3

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So, I was inspired by two things:

First, I saw a guy on IG who calls his style Hoochie Daddy, so obviously I had to put Roy in a fit like that, lol.

Second, I was inspired by @whywouldisayprinter's HC of Jason having a Narsil leg tattoo - love it.

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The red hair conundrum! Love it or hate it?

When more than 100,000 comic readers opened their copy of Batman and Robin #5 last year, they saw Jason pull off his Red Hood helmet. 

And many fans were pretty baffled – why did Jason suddenly have red hair? What is he talking about he dyed his hair? And that Batman made him do so to look more like Dick Grayson? 

And boy, was writer Grant Morrison’s change, or add, or restoration – whatever you want to call it – a talking point! On the CBR forums, there was a 38-page thread dedicated solely to Jason's hair. An IGN reviewer, who obviously wasn’t a fan, said: “the only thing Morrison brings to the table in regards to Jason Todd’s characterization is a an explanation for why his hair color changed from red to black after the Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot.”

Remember how we talked about the two different Jason Todds? That’s right, there was the first one, who first appeared in Batman #357 and was a red head. This is called Jason’s “pre-Crisis” origin, or is lovingly referred to as “pre-Crisis ginger." 

And here he is in his first Robin costume. Does it look terrific or does it look terrific? I think you know the answer to that. 

Now, this version of Jason actually dyed his hair! Maybe even using that can of Grayson!Black Batman had lying around. 

Why did they change Jason’s hair to black in the first place? Well, there’s a lot of Robin merchandise out there. And it’s much easier to dye his hair in the comics continuity than change all of the Robin lunchboxes, pins, T-shirts, posters, etc. Merchandising! It just makes sense. And I’m sure you, too, might even be able to find a bottle of Robin!black hair dye at your local drug store eventually. 

Now back to our hair-splitting story: then Crisis on Infinite Earths happened and this Jason Todd origin was re-booted to what is now called his "post-Crisis” origin, or the street kid/tire thief origin. And that origin had him always have black hair. 

Confused yet? We were too So why, you might ask, did Morrison give Jason red hair when he had black hair all along and wasn’t dying it during Under the Hood arc, or when he crawled out of his grave, or when he went into Titans Tower to confront Tim Drake, or universe-hopped with Donna Troy and Kyle Rayner? Good question. Morrison is a fan of the “everything is continuity” idea. Basically, everything, every adventure and story that Batman and Robin (all the Robins!) were featured in: it all happened. There’s no such thing as a “re-booted” continuity or origins that were disposed. 

Morrison can be a very polarizing writer: some love his work and will follow him to whatever title he writes; while others can’t stand it. Same thing goes for Jason with red hair: some fans love it, many more hate it. It does make things more confusing for new readers, but some are up for that challenge. And still, others find it extremely frustrating.

But wait – how can Jason have two separate origins – two different sets of parents, and two completely different lives – one as an acrobat and the other as a street urchin? Here’s where it gets even more confusing: it would seem that Morrison only added the red hair element to Jason, but not the rest of the pre-Crisis Jason origin, as we see from Batman #683, written by Morrison as well, where a flashback shows Batman catching Jason stealing the tires off the Batmobile.

Still with us? So why was the red hair element used? Well, to use the red-haired stepchild trope, for one: “The red-haired stepchildren would be seen as evil. Also, red hair would underscore that the child is not related to the stepparent, as seen by the physical difference.” Secondly, the hair colour sets him apart from his adoptive brothers. Thirdly, it’s weird, wacky and very Grant Morrison-like. 

As Judd Winick, re-creator of Jason, said: "I’ve always had a pretty laissez-faire attitude towards how other writers or creators take on characters that I’ve worked on for a while. To make a pretty lame music analogy, I kind of see them as songs. These are songs that we write, and different musicians have different takes on them.I see it as exciting as hell to have Grant Morrison take something that I came up with and run with it in his own direction, in a big, over the top, psychedelic Grant Morrison kind of a way. …  I like to see Grant take him in the crazy costume, red-haired direction. It’s fun. It’s interesting. It’s awesome.“

Anyone get the feeling he’s comparing Jason to David Bowie? Just us? 

And look! He kind of looks like another well-known anti-hero, Walter Kovacs, aka Rorsharch: 

So for a quick and dirty note, Jason had red hair for a moment in time. Will it be back? Stay tuned! Same Red Hood time, same Red Hood channel! 

Oh Jason, we love you no matter what. 

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I really do feel for Gretchen Felker-Martin.

She's new to the industry and has just inherited a character who, due to extremely recent editorial decisions beyond her control, is going to put her on such an extreme backfoot.

She didn't write Hush 2, Loeb did. She isn't writing that fffuuucking Jason Todd solo, Jeff Lemire is.

She isn't responsible for the fucked history that Helena Bertinelli carries, in most ways imo Denny O'Neil and Chuck Dixon are.

And tbh, I'm catching some Vibes on reddit that remind me of when Sophie Campbell landed the gig on Supergirl, which imo is made worse by DC refusing to promote Campbell's massive history with the Ninja Turtles, presenting her as some random nobody when... sis she was the lead writer for one of the biggest comics franchises around for a few years lol.

My point here being, there's a whiff of "anti-DEI" nerd boy bullshit around the reddit discourse that has me hackles up.

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are you ever going to finish your hogwarts legacy fics? i promiseeee this isn’t a pressure ask :3 i’m just curious bc i love them but either way thank u for writing them and i hope you’re having a great day not just a good day!

I promise the answer to this question isn’t “no”!

I don’t love to deal in absolutes, so I’m not going to say no, I’m never going to finish them. I’m also not going to say yes, expect an update next Tuesday. I want to finish them. If I sit down and open the doc, I can probably force myself to do so and get within hitting distance of the vision I had for them. I don’t love to write that way, so I try to avoid it. And that’s part of why they are currently unfinished. I lost my love for two things that were genuine passion projects. (I worked on Oceans Brawl for close to two months before I published any of it.) They were and are important enough to me that I want to work on them when I feel that passion again.

I also took a huge step back from fandom spaces. I know I will not get that social aspect of writing back, and that does make it harder, though not impossible. But I hope my love for those fics returns. Probably lining up with Lana Del Rey’s next album.

I hope you have the best day, too!

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Okay but do you know what really gets me?

There's no one left in-universe who can or will talk about Jaybin as he really was.

Bruce is the founder of the Jaybin Slander Department;

Alfred is no better.

Dick wasn't around much, didn't know him that well.

If Barbara ever interacted with him in his original run, I haven't found it yet.

I mean, he had some interactions with the Teen Titans, but was he really close with any of them?

I suppose Gordon could, assuming he isn't in on the Jason-bashing. I haven't seen it but I could be missing something.

And, well, Jason... somehow, I don't think anyone's asking Jason what he was like as a kid, nor is he really a reliable source. Autobiographical memory is weird.

No one in-universe will ever really talk about this bright, friendly, eager kid, and it's a tragedy.

He was smart and clever and had so much compassion.

He wanted so badly to help people, and he found joy in his work as Robin.

He had a dramatic flair and he was kind of a nerd and he was really funny on occasion.

He was so deeply, fundamentally good, and the fact that somehow his legacy has been twisted into one of anger and recklessness is honestly a crime.

It makes me so desperately sad that there's not a single character who can even start to undo the lasting damage of a four-decade smear campaign against a kid who did nothing to deserve it.

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Coming with Bullets & Arrows, it's Writer Proserpina!

Who falls first, Jason or Roy? Roy, actually, but only because Jason’s feelings live in a box labeled “do not open til Christmas.” — @pr0serpinas | Bsky —

🦇🏹🦇🏹🦇🏹🦇🏹🦇🏹🦇🏹

[Excerpt:]

“What happened?” Roy wants to look away from Jason’s kaleidoscopic eyes. He wants to drown in them. “Couldn’t say.” He’s lying, and he knows Jason can tell. Jason’s arms come to rest on the counter on either side of Roy, as if to pin him there. It’s ludicrous. As if Jason needed to do more than just look at him. Does Jason realize he’s stepped between Roy’s thighs? The light from the fixture that Jason had picked out and replaced himself feels like a miniature sun beating down on Roy’s head. Jason’s lips part slightly, and Roy chews the inside of his cheek at the feeling of Jason’s warm, rapid breath on his cheek. He’s never wanted to kiss someone so badly in his life. Somewhere down the street, a siren roars. Jason backs up so quickly it’s as if Roy had scorched him. “You need to be more fucking careful,” Jason spits, face red. Roy gives him a slow blink and a crooked grin. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.” He watches with vindictive satisfaction as Jason swallows hard.

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I just kinda pity him.

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I Cucked My Boyfriend’s Brother (Not Clickbait)

He combs his fingers through Jason’s hair, feeling Jason’s breath even out against his chest. Jason’s not asleep, but he’s loose and relaxed and agreeable. “Do you want him, baby?” Roy asks.

“I—I’m married to you,” Jason stammers, fingers tightening convulsively on Roy’s chest.

Roy chuckles and drops a kiss against Jason’s hair. “You sweet thing. Not what I was asking. I’d let you have him if you wanted him.”

Or: Roy notices the way Jason and Dick look at each other. He’s here to make sure Jason gets everything he wants, and he’ll protect him so that he gets only what he deserves.

Part one in an ongoing, co-written series called Slut Me Out.

Read on ao3.

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Nathan Pask photoshoot for FAULT +