#but i am so bitter abt certain decisions the writers made for that show

[u3pxx]

fuck it i guess we're making our own little gay tmnt 2012 rework now

[redhhood]

I think your blog is incredible and super entertaining :) Im also a huge Jason Todd fan personally. In an argument about killing criminals, Jason would say that those he kills deserves it and that the world is better off not having them. Bruce, on the other hand would say that killing a criminal makes you no better than them. What's your take on the argument?

i mcfreaking knew someone was gonna call me out on this. OK so, the difficult thing abt this is that depending on the author, Jason’s views towards what he does really do vary, so I’m gonna basically mash together some canon and fanon. I think it’s important to understand Jason’s motivations in order to understand the question properly so  I’m gonna have to explain his view of crime and what he does, and then I’ll explain my own.

Bruce believes, in all versions, that killing is not acceptable. This is either out of personal moral code or out of a belief in humanity. Its gotham, so we’re gonna go with the former.

(Skip to the end of these paragraphs for a tldr)

For Jason, we have to remember that he has had several influences completely separate of his own decisions. *

Firstly, his upbringing surrounded him with crime and poverty, and he himself was involved in crime (stealing, etc). His mother was involved with drugs, and his father was part of organised crime. He is very much aware of the fact that, out of a lack of other opportunities, someone might turn to a life of crime to survive. Though, I think this also made him very bitter towards it, especially drugs. 

Secondly, him being Robin often showed him in a light where he was very angry and rough towards villains, and then sometimes in a light where he was simply excited at being Robin. Assuming the latter, because Certain Comic Book Writers can kiss my mcfuckign ass, he genuinely enjoys helping people. He wants justice. There was the comic panel where he allegedly threw a guy off a balcony, and I’m gonna leave that up to whoeever the fuck to decide if it happened or not, but either way, he was defensive to the point of anger, and used the point of him being a criminal to justify the alleged murder. 

Lastly, his murder and resurrection. Jason became a victim of his mentor’s biggest villain. He assumed Bruce would avenge him, sepcifically as he said ‘I would’ve done it for you’. He’s not scared of murdering for personal cause. His resurrection via the Lazarus pit probably fucked him up a fair bit if we’re honest here. Taking Ra’s Al Ghul as the prime example of a Lazarus addled mind, the pit creates an almost sociopathical mindset. He becomes careless of human life, and obsessed with his own view of justice. I think the fact that Jason was only in the pit once, and was not technically dead, means he had this either to a lesser extent or temporarily. This is roughly around the time he came back to Gotham to, I’d assume, pre-RHATO.

TLDR: Jason is personally aware of crime and not afraid to commit it for the right cause, he values justice and helping the victims, and for some amount of time his empathy was decreased and motivation for personal cause increased.Jason believes in killing for justice, but i think him better than most understands that theres sometimes a fine line between criminal and victim. After the lazarus pit, he probably didn’t think about that much, but I think as the effects faded, and he became once again socialised thus enforcing empathy (with batfam or rhato or whomever u like), he came to restrict who and why he kills. He’d still kill, but it would have to be specific circumstances.

Right so now we’ve got that out of the way. About me: I’m incapable of forming my own opinions in general but here goes: Idealistically, every human life has value. I don’t think anyone deserves to be robbed of a second chance at a better life. However, at some point, the saving of one person’s life creates more harm than good. I think there’s a line, and the line comes at the cost of other humans. Essentially, it’s a body count ratio, how many thousands of people would have been saved if the Joker had been killed before he could commit the crimes?

*I am not excusing his actions by blaming them on outside sources, I am saying they influenced him. His decision to kill was just that, a decision, and he is personally responsible for that.