#if he didn't focus on that he´ld go mad

[myfanfictiongarden]

Alright, I´m gonna add my two cents to Jonathan’s current behaviour and state of mind (as of Oct 25th).

There seems to be this idea floating around that he is still determent to become a vampire himself if everything goes wrong with catching the Count- and with that it would mean he would stop the others from staking Mina if it came to it…. and I don’t see that being his plan…

To say his mind is troubled would be an understatement of the worst sort, but by now he has surely understood that there is no way of saving or joining Mina if the Count lives, he must have understood by now that under no circumstances is it even possible for him to “join” or “spare” her against her wishes. Someone pointed out that the vampires here have barely any resemblance to how they were before they turned, no feelings of a softer kind. Jonathan turning wouldn’t matter to Mina if it came to it, nor would it bring him anything either. Van Helsing cautioned against such thinking, and Mina expressed her greatest wish to be that Jonathan would be safe (which means she wants him under all circumstances to stay human&alive).

Jonathan isn’t sharpening his knife to attack the others if it comes to the worst, he is sharpening it to make sure no outsider intervenes so it cannot come to the worst. He’s hands are cold because he is afraid. He doesn’t write his journal for his thoughts are too troubled, not because of “his vow” but because of the realisation that it has to end with Dracula destroyed or else…

[goodoldfashionedengineer]

I like analysing shit.

I like Red Hood: Lost Days

So I am going to analyse some of it.

To start with, lets look at the titles of the issues.

#1: The First Step

#2: Baptism

#3: School

#4: Higher Learning

#5: After School Activities

#6: Benediction and Commencement

What immediately strikes me is how all of these are relevant to the issue AND as a whole. They are describing a life fresh from birth to how that life progresses until graduation. Extremely important when considering that this is basically Jason's second life. He died and now he is "reborn" after being put into the Lazarus pit.

The First Step: The fact that the title name was on the page in which Jason was pushed into the Pit lets me believe that this IS the first step, as Red Hood: Lost Days explains the time between him being found by Talia to him becoming Red Hood. This is the first step in him becoming the Red Hood.

Baptism: Not exactly clear as to what "Baptism" is referring to here. I have multiple ideas. First, there is the possibility that it is a continuation of the last issue, as that issue ended with Jason being pushed into the pit and in religious baptisms, water is usually connected to it as the person being baptized is getting water poured onto their head. But it could also mean a non-religious baptism as in he is starting a new role. He finally gets to train with a clear mind and can properly start his journey.

Issue #3-#5 are relatively similar, all him explaining his training and stopping the evil schemes his teachers are involved with.

Benediction and Commencement: Commencement, he has completed his training or "graduated" if you take the school aspect into account from issue 3 to 5. Benediction, he gets his blessings from Talia to finally confront Bruce after stalling him so long. Commencement, "the beginning of something new". The issue ends with him picking up the Red Hood helmet, before that, he met up with Hush. The beginning of the Red Hood.

Next I want to focus a bit on religious imagery. I am not a big fan of it in general, but considering that words like "Baptism" and "Benediction" are in the titles, it is note-worthy. If it is something you're uncomfortable with, feel free to skip this section

I have seen people make the point that this cover:

Has similarities to pictures of Mary holding a dead Jesus.

And now that I think about it more, I can see why and they are pretty good stand-ins.

Jason came back from the dead, like Jesus.

Talia found Jason after he came back. She considers it a miracle. Like fate WANTS Jason to live. He wandered into her life. She isn't so much as interfering with fate, as stepping out of its way.

And then you have this page:

Jason as he has his arms spread wide, legs forming almost a straight line. Similar to Jesus on the cross.

The Lazarus pit isn't green. It's orange and yellow. It shines so bright. Ra's says it burns in his heart. He tells Talia it could turn Jason mad in a few months, years or decades. That she has unleashed a curse. A pestilence. Pestilence being one of the for Horsemen of the Apocalypse. And so, the Lazarus Pit becomes a symbol for Hell.

The fact that Jason and Talia are more distorted versions of the religious figures they could represent becomes more prominent as the story goes on. In the bible, Jesus goes back to Heaven to rejoin with his Father. In this story, Talia is told and knows that she should return Jason to Bruce. But she doesn't. Because Jason will see it as betrayal and he wouldn't forgive her for that.

My last and favourite point is how RH: LD is the perfect set up to Under the Red Hood.

Jason explains how it isn't about the Joker. Or Bruce. Or him. It's about the three of them.

Bruce was supposed to protect him.

Joker killed him.

Bruce didn't avenge him.

He tried to kill both of them only to NOT do it and walk away.

Jason died away from Gotham in Ethiopia, but not before being beaten with a crowbar, the building he was in having exploded and then asphyxiating due to the smoke.

Jason almost killed the Joker by setting him on fire. (Explosion)

He initially wanted to do it in another location. (Ethiopia)

He wanted to do it slowly. (Crowbar)

Jason says when the pain would hit the Joker, he would scream. Until it hit his throat. His lungs. (Asphyxiating)

He is reliving his own death. He wants his murderer to go through the agony he did. An eye for an eye one could say.

"Reliving his own death" is an objective statement here, as Jason sees the Joker swinging a crowbar that is dripping with his own blood while at the same time also standing right above the Joker, who is drenched in gasoline.

Now I want you to compare these two scenes. This is when he was about to kill the Joker:

The panels switch between Jason and the firelighter, present Joker and past Joker. The firelighter, the device that would end the Joker's life, comes more and more into the focus. Until he disengages it on the last panel.

Now to the second scene, when Jason planted a bomb under the Batmobile and was about to detonate it.

The panels switch between Batman and Jason. Jason is hovering over the detonater. Until he pulls away.

When Jason explained to Talia why he walked away from the Joker, he said that it wasn't enough. It was only ever about the three of them, not just Joker. His plan doesn't include murdering Batman anymore.

But the reason Jason gave Talia why he didn't kill Bruce? "I couldn't let him get off so easy. He'd never know what happened. He'd never know knwo why. He'd never know it was me." One could wonder if we are supposed to see this as a parallel as well. If we should apply this reasoning of why he didn't kill Bruce to why he didn't kill Joker.

The Joker would never know why Jason killed him. He doesn't even know that it IS Jason who is about to murder him.

And while is plan doesn't include killing Bruce anymore. Nobody said anything about the Joker.

As I said, perfect setup to Under the Red Hood.

[shslpunkartist]

So how about a little random snipbit of Kurai and LD interacting with each other? :'D

Funny cuz after thinking about it, I have no idea if I want LD or Kurai's perspective. I mean, it'd be in third person, but who to focus more?

Eh, fuck it. Kurai.

"So.." A puff of black smoke flows out of Kurai's mouth, "Do you kill any of the people who come in here?"

"Hardly." LD simply answers, taking a puff of its own "cigarette". "If I were to kill every fool who wanders into my home, there would be more annoying humans investigating this place, and that just calls for more unwanted attention. All I do is scare the person enough that they shouldn't come back again, and that should serve as a warning to others who dare think of coming here."

By scare, you mean traumatize, Kurai thought, but it wouldn't make much of a difference. Although it was horrific what LD could do to someone's mentality, he honestly couldn't fault it for doing it. The person that comes inside is usually given fair warning about this place, and you refuse to listen to the warning, you get punished for it. Would you get mad at a bear trap for doing what it does when you step on it, especially when given constant warning?

Kurai's been a witness to it, as well. Once he learned what LD did, his curiosity got the best of him, and he ended up following people that went inside. Sometimes, it was a dare. Other times, it was them trying to prove that "the place wasn't haunted". Either way, people were dumb, refusing to listen to the warnings.

When they first entered, they never saw Kurai. After the torture they endured, they saw him, and begged for his help.

"It was really that bad.." Kurai sighed, "that you wanna die now? See what happens when you don't listen?"

"You're still a strange one, though." LD snapped Kurai out of his thoughts, the demon now surrounding the guy with the shadows of its body, single eyeball staring into dead eyes. "No matter how many nightmares I try to give you, you insist on coming back. I can't even see into your previous life to wonder what you've gone through. A human can't simply be numb from the start, can they?"

"....." Kurai takes a puff from what looks like a vape, and blows that black smoke from before, a strangely pleasant smell filling the space between them. "Wish I could tell you. All I remember was wishing I didn't exist, and.. boom. Woke up with only mega depressed people being able to see me." He glanced over to one of the shadow hands and poked it, the texture flesh-like, yet it hardly took any pressure to poke his finger through. "Nightmares don't bother me. They never have. It's just natural to me. 'M not denying it's scary, it just doesn't faze me.

"I mean, I've seen people kill themselves. Also seen them killed their loved ones, all because they don't wanna die alone. Nightmares are one thing, but seeing people go into that state is another."

"Does watching others end their life scare you, then?"

".... no. Not really."

"I see.." Despite having no mouth formed on its face, Kurai could've swore it was smiling. "You really are an anomaly, just as you say.."

And just like that, the space grew between them again, LD going back to its spot in the middle of the room, leaving Kurai alone by the window. Yes, that is what he called himself: an anomaly. Because it wasn't normal NOT to be fazed by other people's death. To see so many corpses of people he talked to just a day ago.. to see those people lose their mind and kill their family, before killing themselves.. to see people beg for his help to end the suffering.. to see people smile through the tears, thanking him for his help, before taking that step forward to death..

None of it bothered him. It just never bothered him..