#like jason confronts a younger teen hero

[oifaaa]

Red Hood kidnaps Mia >>>Titans Tower fight

[mzminola]

Love Preboot Jason Todd being a narrative vehicle for the discussions of:

1. what vigilantism entails, the lines around different levels and kinds of violence, what’s the overlap between the Bats and the organized crime they’re up against, etc.

2. the ethics of having child sidekicks.

Like...with #1, the no-kill rule is vital and shouldn’t go away, but when writing normal humans fighting other normal humans, instead of metahumans punching robots or monsters, on a sliding scale of realism (yay different titles in same universe) asking “Should we deliberately kill?” leads to the question of “Should we be using violence that could kill?”

Robin 1993, aimed at a younger audience, asks “Should we be doing this at all?” when Tim causes the death of Young El; the other teen wouldn’t have died if Robin hadn’t chased him. It wasn’t a “fight that went wrong”, it was Tim giving chase and Young El fleeing into a structurally unsound building. The death causes Tim to re-examine if he’s doing the right thing as Robin.

Bruce Wayne/Batman is presented as hypercompetent most of the time, so his titles don’t lend as well to that kind of arc. Enter Jason Todd in Under the Red Hood, where Jason shoves questions about Batman’s ethical stances into Bruce and the readers’ face again and again and again.

A comic aimed at little kids with cartoon violence does not have to worry about the hero punching too hard and killing someone. Comics aimed at older teens and adult do. It can be an editorial decision that no, nobody is gonna die like that, but the characters need to be aware of the possibility (thank you Nightwing beating the Joker to death, for putting that on the table) and if the comics never have them wrestle with the possibility, never have them decide if it’s a risk worth taking, the character ethics feel disappointingly flat.

Jason works really well in this role of saying “Hey, your methods haven’t fixed shit, so why not change them. What’s the big difference between potentially fatal moves and deliberately fatal moves?” because Jason isn’t a random new character, he’s not a pre-existing villain just claiming to be working for good now, he’s Robin.

Jason is someone who was a hero, who did play by all of Batman’s rules, who did and still does desperately want to help people, and he saw how this plays out for the victims by being one.

Jason’s points can’t be dismissed out of hand. No one can say he doesn’t understand how difficult and complex the Bats’ work is, no one can say he doesn’t understand the stakes.

Which swings us around to #2, child sidekicks, because Jason’s death had two big factors which was one, he’s Batman’s sidekick so the Joker had it out for him specifically, and two, he was a child, which put him in a more vulnerable position than an adult sidekick would be in.

Jason was a fifteen year old kid failed by several parents and directly betrayed by another. A Gotham Rogue who Batman personally locked up multiple times and keeps escaping murdered him.

Jason’s death is on Bruce’s hands as much as it is on Gotham’s corruption.

If we take the interpretation* that Jason died again at the end of Under the Red Hood and went through further resurrections, that drives home the point that Bruce’s methods are lethally flawed.

Because Bruce fucking kills his son directly this time.

Jason sets up the confrontation, Jason arranges a no-win scenario where he insists that the only way to save Joker’s life is to end Jason’s (though he’d prefer his dad to kill his murderer for him) and Bruce tries what he thinks will get around it. Bruce throws a batarang at Jason’s gun hand, but the angle is wrong and it slices open Jason’s neck. He’s last seen curled up in a pool of his own blood right before being caught in the middle of an explosion.

This is the big ethical Bat dilemma written out in a very close, personal moment. If no one stops him, Jason is going to kill the Joker. There’s no back-up coming. Shit is way too personal for de-escalation to work. Bruce has spent years making violence into his primary tool. The only way he can stop a murder from happening in front of him is to physically hurt Jason.

So Bruce does. And because he’s a normal human with no powers, because years of training isn’t magic, it goes wrong and his son dies. He kills his son.

Jason has spent this arc insisting that Bruce’s methods don’t fucking WORK.

If Bruce had hit his hand, if like so many other Batman stories he Finds The Third Option, it would be a simple boring rebuttal of “Yes they do!”

Instead we get a batarang to the neck, and the question shifts from crossing specific lines of violence to “Is this worth it? Is the risk worth it?”

Because it was never a choice between “do nothing & someone dies” or “do something & everyone lives” it was always, always, a choice between “do nothing & someone dies” or “do something & risk killing someone yourself.”

Gotham’s justice system and city government is corrupt, there’s a fuckton of mafias, a growing number of costumed villains, and if everyone just keeps their heads down not only will things never get better, they’ll get worse.

The Bats do a lot of non-violent work; they do forensics, witness interviews, break into places for evidence, wiretapping, etc. They’re detectives. But they also, because this is a combination of noir and the caped superhero genre, do a lot of violence. They get into physical fights all the dang time.

Which means they’re taking the risk that Bruce did here all of the time.

They all have to ask themselves if that risk of someone dying by their hand is worth it to potentially stop other harm.

Jason driving the narrative to this question makes it as personally painful and impossible to ignore as it can get.

*Joker survived despite also being right on top of the bomb, but he also wasn’t bleeding out, so...

[themandylion]

97 & 41 jaytim

Oh wow, this ended up long. /o\

97 (Time Travel) + 41 (First Kiss) + JayTim

He's boosting tires in the Bowery when the thugs find him. Crowd him up against a wall and threaten him with bodily harm for horning in on their territory, even though this part of the city is a free-for-all, with no one reigning supreme. There's three of them to his one, all of them full-grown men with bulging muscles and nasty tempers and Jason knows he's in his final moments, that there's no way he's escaping this. Still, that doesn't mean he's going to go down without a fight. He squares his shoulders, plants his feet, raises the tire iron in his hand, and—

Between one blink and the next, the back-most thug is on the ground, groaning and clutching his crotch. There's a blur of red, and then the next one's down on his knees, the crowbar he was gripping half a block away and the hand that was holding it pinned to the wall by a slim, sharp-edged disk.

Silver flashes through the night, and the final guy collapses in a heap, just sprawled out on the pavement like he's not even human anymore, just a pile of discard clothes over something lumpy and unmoving. Someone lands on his back, light and nimble and impossibly tall. "You okay there, kid?" the new person asks, crouching down so he's at Jason's level and smiling.

"…Batman?" He's only ever seen the Bat from a distance before, but he's heard about the cape and cowl, and this guy has both.

The guy shakes his head. "Nope, not him. I'm his partner, though."

"Robin wears green," Jason feels compelled to point out, because he's definitely seen Robin before, though always on the TV, when the Teen Titans are fighting really scary bad guys elsewhere in the world.

This time, a shadow seems to pass over the man's face, sad and unhappy. "I'm a different kind of Robin. Red Robin. I'm pretty new, it's not surprising you haven't heard of me." He leans back on his heels and glances around at the thugs, frowning. "I've got to tie these guys up and leave them somewhere the GCPD will find them. Do you think you can get home on your own?"

Jason gulps, staring up at him, at the way all that tight leather and spandex hugs his body. Gee whiz. "Yeah, I. I can take care of myself. Thanks!" He surges forward, practically smacking his mouth against Red Robin's cheek, before running off into the night. Maybe not headed home, but to as close as anything gets, these days.

---

Two weeks later, Batman catches him boosting tires on Crime Alley. A week later, he's going home with the man. Jason asks about Red Robin and gets a confused, clueless look, which is strange. With everything else happening, he forgets about the man in the black cowl with the silver staff, but he still finds himself drawn to that one particular shade of red.

---

He forgets until the memory is jarred out of the deepest depths years later on the other side of the multiverse, when he's bound to a chair and staring down the barrel of gun. A gun held by another Batman, a different Bruce. One who did all the things he thought he wanted his Bruce to do, only to end up a broken man as a result. Jason tries to explain himself and his presence, but it's hard to when he keeps seeing that suit in the case over this Batman's shoulder.

They reach an understanding, a kind of peace. Both of them, finally, for the first time in ages. This other Bruce offers him the suit, and Jason doesn't think twice before putting it on. He's traveled across the multiverse, seen places where dead people live again, where evil people are good and vice versa. It's not too far a stretch to believe that somehow, he's going become his own childhood hero.

When he finishes pulling on the last piece, Bruce looks on him with pride and announces, "Red Robin lives!"

"Red…?" Jason murmurs, more than a little startled. It's been so long, he'd nearly forgotten the name, but it fits, it makes sense. Finally, he's back on the right path, back to being someone the boy he once was could be proud of. Will be proud of, when their paths cross again, which he's sure they will.

---

The other Batman dies.

---

They get back, finally done traveling across the multiverse, fleeing across Apokolips, running from plagues and maybes and might-have-beens. Donna and Rayner return to wherever they call home, and Jason... He thought he finally found himself when he put on the cowl and became Red Robin, but with everything that happened after that moment, all the contrition he gained has been too long stewing in a half-broken heart. He isn't sure who rescued him when he was a kid, but it wasn't him, and it wasn't the long-dead Jason of another world. Maybe it was no one at all, and he made it all up and convinced himself it was real.

He runs back to Gotham, strips off the cape and cowl, the bandoliers and leather. Throws it all in the trash and goes to knock some heads and blow off some steam, anything to escape from what the rest of the Justice League brought with them—a sob story and a broken, days-old body.

---

The suit disappears from the can where he threw it, and he thinks good riddance to bad rubbish, but the person who's wearing it now doesn't understand the significance, the legacy. Doesn't know what it symbolizes, a last chance at redemption, a final loss of innocence.

The new kid distracts him, muddies the water and still Jason doesn't see it, doesn't realize what's happening. Even when the kid takes the cowl, adds it to his green-free suit, he doesn't see it.

Jason's too busy fighting, too busy screaming, raging, being angry at himself and the world to realize how things are swirling tighter and tighter, closing in, twining together, weaving themselves in an intricate, impossible mesh that's new and old and always existing all at the same time. The three of them—him and Dick and the new kid—push and shove and fight and scream and grieve in their own ways, trying to figure out who they're going to be now, what the world is without Bruce.

He ignores overtures of friendship, leaves the kid broken and bleeding out and thinks nothing of it, still too busy hurting and too busy denying he hurts.

Thinks nothing of Robin back on the streets in red and green and black and yellow, a different boy, an actual child.

---

Bruce comes back, but he's just as stubborn as always, and Jason burned the last of his bridges while the old man was playing possum. There's nothing left for him to do but lurk in the shadows and grit his teeth and watch Drake bounce around the city in a costume that isn't his, telling himself he doesn't care, that it doesn't rub him the wrong way.

Doesn't actually realize what's happening until one day he's watching as Drake races across the city, ready to step in and stop him if he dares to cross into Red Hood's territory when suddenly—

There's no one. The roof's empty, not a soul in sight.

He swings over, investigates. There's a strange acrid smell in the air along with the faintest traces of sweat and exhaustion, but there's no clue to where he's gone, no hint. Minutes pass and the sky is getting darker as evening turns into night. Just when he's given up, Drake reappears, but still, unmoving. One hand grasping his staff while the other touches his cheek and he stares into nothing, dazed and unfocused.

His attention snaps up, and Jason is too startled to move, still standing there in the middle of the roof, the two of them locked in place.

"Holy fuck." He can't. This isn't—

He's tried to kill Drake multiple times over the years. They've barely had a conversation that hasn't ended with Jason drawing a knife or a gun, and more often than not he comes out on top. Leaves the guy knowing that he's alive at Jason's mercy.

But now he's standing there, finally grown into the Red Robin suit and name, filling it in all the right places, all the right ways, grasping a staff that Jason somehow failed to recognize until this exact moment.

"I never—" He never thought to make the connection, always assumed it had to be someone else, some one huge. Big enough to match the larger-than-life figure that dominated a half-forgotten memory.

"Huh." Red Robin collapses his staff, clips it his belt. "Random time blip? I didn't even realize."

Which would explain it. Of course he didn't realize—no way would he have helped that other, younger Jason if he'd known who it was. Why save a boy who's going to grow up to become a monster bent on destroying him over and over again. "Sorry," Jason says, startled, confused, unable to wrap his head around it all as he stumbles backwards, tries to do what he always does when he's confronted with too much, too fast—run.

Red Robin—Drake—tilts his head to the side and then does something completely unexpected. He shoves back the cowl and studies Jason with cool, clear eyes. "I have a feeling this has been a weird night for both of us. You could stick around. We could figure this out together."

So help him, Jason hesitates. "Time travel is pretty weird."

"I was thinking more being kissed by my childhood crush. But yeah, that too."

"Your… what?"

"Come on," he says, holding out a hand. "I think it's time we finally talked. Maybe without the death threats this time?"

Gulping, Jason takes that hand in his.

It's not much, but. It's a start.

(The Fanfic Trope MASH-UP is still open for asks!)

[bitimdrake]

Just read your debunking of myths about Tim's childhood, and it made me wonder if it is fanon that he used to follow Batman and Robin to take pictures (because how did that happen if he was away at school/parent(s) were home)?

It is fanon! I mentioned it briefly in the post, but I will happily expand on it here.

Okay, so it’s hard to prove a negative. No one ever sits around in comics being like “wow, isn’t it great that tim didn’t have a childhood habit of sneaking out at night to take pictures of Batman” because that would be weird. So part one of this post is just me telling you that I’ve read a shitton of Tim’s post-Crisis comics and you gotta trust me, dude. This concept is never mentioned in canon.

Part two: As you say, it wouldn’t make a lot of logistical sense. Tim spent most of the year at boarding school. Sometimes his parents were home. There were times when they were away during school breaks, but (a) imo it’s very unlikely Tim would be without supervision in his younger years, as I discussed in that last post, and (b) the Drakes’ main residence was outside Gotham proper. I can’t prove it’s 100% impossible, but it would be pretty tricky for Tim to regularly get into and out of downtown Gotham at night, especially as a rich kid with presumably not that much in the way of street smarts.

Part three is that Tim does describe his fannish obsession over Batman and Robin...which is keeping up via the news, instead of any kind of first-hand observation: “Since I was able to read, I clipped every article I could about Batman and Robin,” (Batman #441) and “I kept a scrapbook of every mention of Batman in the Gotham Gazette,” (Secret Origins 80-Page Giant).

I will note that those issues are from the 80s and 90s--and Tim’s origin was created in 1989--so newspapers and broadcasts would be reasonable ways to keep up. I feel like the modern equivalent would be kid Tim constantly trawling news and social media for any mention of Batman and Robin. But still, not out on the streets.

Finally, part four is my best guess at where this idea came from. Tim is introduced in A Lonely Place of Dying, which occurs during a school break while his parents are away. He’s first seen taking pictures of Batman in Batman #440, where Bruce is being very sloppy in a fight with little regard for his own safety--proof of Tim’s theory that Batman has been deteriorating since Jason’s death. Tim shows these to Dick in the next issue, New Titans #60, to convince him of that.

I can see why people would be inclined to generalize and expand on Tim taking pictures, but per points 1-3, there’s just no indication that’s the case, and Tim outright explains how he actually did keep up with his heroes’ exploits. We’re given every reason to think this was a one time thing to ensure Dick would believe him, not a long-term pattern. And, for bonus points, even in this story Tim isn’t sneaking out at night to hop rooftops in Gotham; he just bikes to the dam in the middle of the day.

(There’s also maybe confusion caused by Tim and Jason’s confrontation in Teen Titan #29? Jason claims Tim “spent weeks tracking the Dark Knight,” but that’s weird for a number of reasons. Jason has no reason to know Tim’s origin story. Tim has never been mentioned as tracking Bruce for weeks anywhere else. Tim definitely didn’t discover Batman’s identity through weeks of tracking, as Jason claims, because we know he figured that out through a news broadcast of Dick doing his quad somersault. So irl the writers probably didn’t do their research very well, and in-universe Jason is presumably wildly theorizing.)

[teentitanimals]

AU Where All the Batkids are in School but are Still Superheroes

I see a lot of No Powers Highschool AUs out there, but superheroing is half the fun to me. And yeah, technically, I’m pretty sure most of the Batfam have been to school, but I mean, at the same time? You’d have to squish their ages down, but I think it’d be wild! And also, it’s all the Batkids (and some Superkids because why not, they go to the same school in this AU, okay?), including Helena, Terry, Matt, etc. And yes, they all keep their backstories (as in, Terry and Matt are still McGinnis’s too, and all that.) Also, I suck at knowing the education level system and ages, so, just a warning there.

Not in School (duh): Bruce, Alfred, Selina, Jim, Lucius, Clark, Lois, other adults

In (Fourth Year) College: Kate (23-24)

In (Second Year) College: Dick, Barbara (19-20)

In (First Year) College: Tam (18-19)

In Senior Year: Jason, Luke, Kara (17-18)

In Junior Year: Cass, Harper, Terry (16-17)

In Sophomore Year: Tim, Steph, Carrie, Duke, Conner (15-16)

In Freshman Year: Damian, Helena, Colin (14-15)

In 8th Grade: Matt, Jon, Cullen (13-14)

In 4th Grade: Timothy Fox (9-10)

In Kindergarten: Tiffany (5-6)

Who Stays Where?

For reference, I’d say they all go to a school somewhere between Gotham and Metropolis, rather than Gotham Academy or Metropolis High. Let’s call it... Mediocre High. A mediocre school for completely normal, mediocre kids.

Stays in Metropolis w/ Clark and Lois, but are at Wayne Manor 90% of the time anyway: Kara, Conner, Jon

Has their own apartments/safehouses but are at Wayne Manor 90% of the time time anyway: Kate, Dick, Jason, Tim, Steph, Harper

Stays at Wayne Manor: Terry, Cass, Carrie, Duke, Damian, Helena, Colin, Matt, Cullen (unless Cullen stays with his sister... or if any of them run away, because they do that often too)

Stays with their parents, or at their own apartments, and are at Wayne Manor a little less than 90% of the time anyway: Barbara, Tam, Luke, Timothy, Tiffany

What’s the Sitch with Relationships?

Biologically Bruce’s, and known to the public as biologically Bruce’s: Damian, Helena

Biologically Bruce’s, but not known to the public as biologically Bruce’s: Terry, Matt (these two often visit their mother!)

Legally adopted by Bruce: Dick, Jason, Tim, Cass, Duke

Not legally adopted by Bruce but, come on, they’re his kids anyway: Harper, Cullen, Carrie, Colin

Family Friends that are like siblings/cousins (or siblings-in-law ;3): Kara, Conner, Jon, Barbara, Steph, Tam, Luke, Timothy, Tiffany

Wine Aunt/Older Sister: Kate

Shenanigans

It was a hilarious bit started by Steph and encouraged by Dick, Jason, and Carrie that they should all stuff themselves into the smallest limo or helicopter possible and crawl out like clowns. It was funny, to be fair, but the bloodshed spilled because of it banned them from doing it again. The kids got split into two separate cars after that, but eventually went back to one big limo, except for those who’d prefer to keep their sanity and drive there on their own (assuming they have a licence).

This batch of kids, excluding Kara, Conner and Jon, are often referred to as the “Wayne kids”, or the “Gotham kids”. Sometimes Kara, Conner and Jon get called Gotham Kids as well, despite being from Metropolis and proud. They’re vocality from protesting against being called Gotham Kids earned them the nickname “Not-Gotham Kids”.

Damian, Helena, Colin, Matt, Jon and Cullen are one of Those groups. Often together, closely knit, all characters on their own, but together, they lose all braincells. Teachers love all of them individually (with the exception of Damian), but are absolutely terrified of them as a group.

The second group most like that would be the girls- Tam, Kara, Steph, Cass, Harper, Carrie and sometimes Barbara, Kate and Helena. Alone, they’re pretty good kids, but together their chaotic-ness knows no bounds.

Who are we kidding? All of these kids are like that. Put any two together, and you’re either going to see someone get stabbed, a glitter bomb explode, an impromptu dance session, or debate the pronunciation of “bologna” for an hour.

Due to Damian often claiming he’s the rightful heir as the blood son, Helena, Matt and Terry will often pipe up to remind him that he isn’t the only blood son (or daughter, in Helena’s case). This often causes problems, not because Damian attacks them (verbally or physically), but because Terry and Matt aren’t, in the public’s eye, biologically Bruce’s, so the kids often have to scramble to make up some excuse to outsiders, often settling with it being an inside joke.

In this AU, Terry and Matt go by “Futurebat and Futurebird” because Why Not? As for Conner and Jon both being Superboy... how about, we just keep it that way? Because, really, Why Not? The public dubs them both the “Superboys”, and there’s no need to change it for now. Sometimes Conner gets called the Superclone, but mostly they just differentiate by some variation of “Superboy One/Uno and Superboy Two/Dos”. Sometimes “Superteen and SuperPre-Teen” when Jon was a bit younger. Also, think of all the shenanigans that can arise from that. Amazing.

Damian, at first, had as much hate towards Helena (and eventually Terry and Matt when they learned of them as well) as he did towards Tim. But, Helena always found his anger a bit funny (so long as it wasn’t life-threatening, which it often was). She never wanted to “be the heir” to Batman or Catwoman. She just happened to be their kid, and she wanted her own hero persona anyway, aka The Huntress.

To explain the situation with Helena, Terry and Matt, I’d say Helena (who’s a few months younger than Damian) was raised by Bruce and Selina, but the two’s relationship was on-and-off, and there were long periods where Selina would solo-parent Helena and Bruce (or Alfred and/or Dick, really) would solo-parent Helena. Eventually, the two got their shit together and are currently in a loving relationship, but not married yet. Terry and Matt were, of course, kept hidden from Bruce, being raised by Warren and Mary in a loving family. Eventually, after the death of Warren, and Terry trying to strike out as a solo hero, and the discovery that his DNA matched Bruce’s rather than Warren’s, their story was revealed that Terry was planned to be “future Batman” by Amanda Waller (needless to say Damian did Not Like That). Terry confronted Bruce and told him about it, and eventually Matt would learn the truth as well.

The only people Damian actively calls by their first names are Jon, Colin and Helena. Helena is only because Damian didn’t want to admit she was a Wayne at first (even though her legal last name in this AU is Kyle-Wayne).

They have a lot of animals, some are permanent, some come and go, some are just strays they feed, but nothing will compare to the amount of cats they have. The majority are strays that stay outside of the manor, yes, but they have too many. Sometimes they’ll be walking down a street opposite side of Gotham, and see one of their cats. This isn’t even because Selina now lives with them, and she brought her cats with her. No, it’s because Dick, Barbara, Jason and Steph, among others, loved the idea of Catwoman being a crazy cat lady, so they kept getting her more cats, which, in turn, gave everyone a new cat. And Damian was not helping in the least bit. Selina at least tried to stop them from bringing more cats home, but Damian would smuggle them back in anyway. Bruce honestly wishes someone had a cat allergy so they would have an excuse not to have that many cats.

Helena is a dog person. She likes cats, but... Dogs.

The Batkids all fight over the right of getting to babysit Tiffany.

Cass is often called the Good Kid by teachers and staff. That is not true, the true Good Kid is Duke. This is because he’s the only one that can maintain his braincells even in a group... 90% of the time, anyway.

Half of these kids will vanish during school hours to go stop some crime even though Bruce has repeatedly told them not to do that. The other kids who are not superhero vigilantes or manage to respect said rule (which is not often) scramble to make excuses for them. No excuse has ever been something normal, but it works because “When have Wayne kids ever been normal?”

School events like dances and football games are awful. Some of the kids are aware going will be awful, and desperately try to get out of it, but someway, somehow, they always wind up there. It would have been chaotic enough just having the Gotham Kids go, but when they bring their friends too (Teen Titans, Young Justice, Outlaws, whomever), there’s no hope. Their classmates at school both fear and look forward to these events, depending on how they go down. On one hand, it’s the Waynes! You’re basically watching “Keeping up with the Waynes” in real life! On the other hand, oh god, don’t get caught in the crossfire, whatever you do, run for dear life if you must.

Amazingly, Dick is the only one who got permanently banned from these events. And he didn’t even do anything. Well... anything as bad as his siblings, anyway.

They have all gotten suspended at least once, whether they are a Good Kid or not. Jason is actually one of the Good Kids so long as his siblings aren’t around to annoy him, but he got caught with a gun once, and barely escaped getting expelled... well, actually, he didn’t barely escape it, he was a Good Kid after all. But it was still on the table. That was, miraculously, the only time he got suspended.

Damian, surprisingly, does not have the highest suspension rate, but he does have the highest “called into the office” rate. You can guess all the reasons- sneaking pets into school, sneaking wild animals into school, having knifes and/or other weapons on him, belittling other students (he’s not intentionally trying to bully them, but, he can’t help but point out what they’re doing wrong), arguing and insulting teachers, ditching class (for vigilantism of course), etc.

The highest suspension rate goes to Dick, before he went to college. Mostly it was just due to how often he would skip classes and not turn in homework, but occasionally he would get into fights (to defend another kid, usually). The schools hadn’t yet gotten tolerable to the chaos that is the Waynes yet.

I suppose I should list the Good Kids. They are as follows: Cass, Duke, Jason, Luke, Helena, Cullen, Jon and Tiffany (she is Small and Innocent).

The Bad Kids: DAMIAN, Conner, Steph (she likes causing trouble for fun), Carrie (same as Steph, but more class clown-y) and Terry (mostly when he was younger).

The Bad Kids Sometimes: Harper, Timothy Fox, Kara

The Neutral Kids: Tam, Tim (depends on whether he’s crashed from lack of sleep or caffeine overdose), Dick, Matt, Barbara

The “Troubled” Kids (don’t label them that schools, rude): Colin, Cullen too technically but he’s more “Good”, Kate, literally all of them depending on the time of day (or night, specifically)

[animalpetcel]

Ideal RHATO

Okay, so I’ve done some thinking. While Red Hood and the Outlaws was an interesting concept; give Jason friends and a team of his own, get him out of the Batfam Shadow, it’s been bogged down by L*bdell spotty writing and questionable Editorial decisions. So I’ve taken the time to think of what I would personally want the Outlaws to be.

First of all, I don’t believe that Jason would be better of if he remained solo. While he does deserve a good solo run other than UtH, the idea of permanently sequestering from creating meaningful, recurring relationships with other heroes is just repulsive to me. He should be allowed to have friends and people to talk to outside of the Batfamily guys, there’s only so many adventures he can have by himself before they all start sounding the same. You could even have him gaining friends as part of his character development.

Okay! So let’s begin

In my version, the Outlaws would be a more obvious antihero team. They take cases by those who feel that regular heroes can’t help them, that they won’t go far enough to achieve justice. The Outlaws won’t kill often, but it would usually be awful criminals like drug dealers, traffickers or those in charge, but if they don’t kill, they won’t be above dissing out harsh, lasting punishments to those who cross them. There could be the possibility of them being a team looking for redemption, but I’ve never really thought about them going in that direction.

Btw: This will be a hard reboot, everything from New52 to Rebirth regarding RHATO will be completely retconned, because Lobdell wrote almost all of them and despite what people want to believe most of it is bad save for some barely passable moments

Outlaw Members

Jason Todd

Can’t have the Outlaws without their infamous leader. Like I said above, I believe that having his own team can be a good thing for Jason, he can establish a history disconnected from his history with Bruce and actually start to move on. I’d imagine him being a reluctant leader, preferring to work alone but admitting that having people to rely on has made his mission a lot easier. He’s a very driven and calculated person, and after reading Arkham Knight Genesis, I have no doubt in his leadership skills and his ability to turn a ragtag group of antiheroes into a team to be reckoned with.

Idk if I’d keep his All-Caste stuff. I know that it was probably created to give his backstory something that stands out, since he’s the third Batfam member to have the League of Assassins in his backstory and isn’t the only one that’s died before, but he barely uses the All-blades or brings up the All-Caste to the point were you can omit it and don’t really have to do that much to replace it. At this point, I’d accept Talia making him train with Brother Blood over the All-Caste.

I’d probably say that the Lazurus pit Talia used to bring him back was kinda special, giving him a minor healing factor and increasing his strength, idk, something small.

Eddie Bloomberg

(I hate Tom King and this dialogue too but I wanted a recent image of him)

Did you know that unlike Roy Harper, Eddie was actually Jason’s best friend pre-reboot? Most people don’t because DC doesn’t care about using pre-established canon or developing its less popular heroes! 🙃

Okay, I used to be a huge fan of Jason and Roy’s friendship in New52 RHATO, but then I learned that Roy was originally Dick’s friends, that his personality was dumbed down for New52, Roy actually hates mercenaries and would never become one, they only used Roy because he was more popular and that most Titan/Roy friends actually hate his New52 counterpart and friendship with Jason. While I believe that Roy and be both friendship with Dick AND Jason (but in different ways. Dick is more of a close friend while he and Jason should have a more big brother kind of relationship), I have to admit that DC dropped the ball here, and it would be easier to just scrap everything instead of trying to make it work.

Eddie’s personality is actually quite similar to New52 Roy’s, and he and Jason already have unexplored history, so switching Roy with him won’t mess anything too much.

And now, I hear you ask “Ani, what about the Outlaw’s being an antihero group? Wouldn’t that make Eddie stand out?”, and I will reply “Don’t worry, I have a plan!”

Back when Eddie first got his powers, Neron, the king of hell at the time (?) wanted Eddie to be his protege, but Eddie refuses. But what if Neron was more forceful? Eddie could be offered, now powerless again because of the events of TT (but his death is retconned to just getting badly injured), to become Neron’s protege once again. With nothing left to lose (his relationship with Blue Devil is still in the fritz, Teen Titans no longer seem to give a damn and Rose & Jaime is still off doing their own things), he takes it. I guess he’s probably look different with more of Neron’s power coursing through his veins, but the point is that Outlaws become a “Fall from grace” for him. He’s trying to still be a hero, but as Neron’s influence continues to grow, his ability to tell right from wrong gets more and more clouded.

He’s the one to approach Jason with the idea of being a team, wanting to relive the “Good Ol’ Days” when they were younger and less bogged down with personal trauma. While Jason is reluctant, he admits that since being self-exiled from the Batfamily that it’s been kinda lonely, so he agrees, but only short-term. Eddie then segways into the next member of their burgeoning group–

Rose Wilson

While pre-reboot, Rose and Jason did not have the friendliest interactions, with her holding a blade to her throat while his brothers threatened him with a crime he never committed. Post-reboot, he and Rose seem to have a more “friendlier” relationship, but the Wilson family have been rebooted at least theee times in both New52 and Rebirth, so who knows if they even still know each other now,

Rose and Eddie were very close friends in Teen Titans, and I think that getting Rose away from the madness of her family and father could be good for her character.

Eddie manages to convince her to join the “Outlaws”, but like Jason, she goes into it thinking that it’ll be a one-time thing. She cares a lot about Eddie, and sticks with the team to make sure that he’s doing alright. She probably could have an arc were Nightwing confronts her on her work in the Outlaws (since the other heroes see them as white-hat mercenaries) since he mentored her in being a hero, so it could be about dealing with what other people expect of her.

Essence

While L*bdell might be basically a shit writer, he does create interesting concepts. With a better writer, Essence could be a very interesting character, watching from the shadows and judging whether or not the Outlaws are actually “good” people, before she eventually starts taking a more active role in helping them punish criminals.

While she would at first interact solely with Jason, asking him questions about his deeds and ordering him in what direction she feels is best, she would eventually introduce herself to the rest of the group. I think she’d get along best with Komand’r, while the others might test her absolutism, Black-And-White morality a bit.

Rankorr (Jack Moore)

I know that there’s some people who want Guy Gardner to be Jason’s lantern, but what about a lantern who is close to Jason in age and actually fits the Outlaw theme?

Jack Moore is a Red Lantern, not only a Red Lantern, but the first human lantern who is also the first Red Lantern to be capable of creating constructs. He struggles with his rage, and deep down, he wants to enjoy a normal life on earth.

Maybe after Red Lantern (retconning Lobo or if not, he’s brought back using Red Lantern Blood Magic), he decides that the RL’s are a bit too cult-like for him and tries to lay low on Earth, finishing his literature degree and opening up a small bookstore somewhere in London. He’s close with Guy, but still can’t/refuses to let go of his rage, so Jack is still a RL

Of course, keeping his rage at bay is hard work, and after witnessing police brutality one more time, he loses control.

The Outlaws were hired by the family of the victim to make the officers see justice, but after seeing Jack work, they realize that this might be their easiest case yet.

Afterwards, Jack tries to downplay the entire thing (before resorting to threats when the Outlaws won’t listen), but Jason eventually convinced him that his talents would be wasted just being a civilian (and that his rage will only get worse if he continues to just let it boil without an “outlet”) so he joins the team

Blackfire

I’ve read Komand’r’s backstory, I know how bad it looks. However, in a medium where retcons and reimaginings are features instead of bugs (and can benefit a character’s story if done right), I really think it could be possible to make her work.

After reading New52 RHATO, I began thinking that it could be so much better if not only Eddie took Roy’s spot, but also if Komand’r took Starfire’s, since I feel like she had more potential beyond “Kori’s evil disabled sister”, “War Criminal” and “Struggling queen of Tamaran”

First, I’d change her pre-reboot backstory so instead of taking over the Gordanians, she is instead captured by them after Starfire frees her from the Psions (Komand’r still hates her sister and refuses to follow her). Through her clever mind and manipulations, she manages to earn favor with Lord Damyn, feigning romantic interest. Of course, given Komand’r’s nature, she ends up killing and replacing him, but her rule doesn’t go over well and she is again recaptured, but this time she’s brought to Earth.

Realizing that she’s now trapped on the planet whete her sister has become a successful and popular hero, Komand’r is at first angry, and then conspires to free herself and take revenge on her sister (who she still blames for everything despite that not being the case).

The Outlaws bust the alien trafficking ring, and Komand’r, seeing her chance, decides to show off and make nice with them to eventually use them for her revenge.

She finds Eddie and Rankorr easy to manipulate, but she bumps Heads with Jason whenever she tries to take his role as leader away from him and finds Rose’s mind to be “weak”. Overtime however, she bonds with Jason over feeling inferior to their siblings, realizes that her anger shares Rankorr’s intensity, and grows a genuine friendship with Rose and Eddie

Oh yeah, and maybe she tries to make things right with Kori

Artemis Grace

What would the Outlaws be without the greatest Amazon to have ever lived? Nothing, that’s for sure.

While I don’t agree with Jaytemis (at least not yet), I have to admit that Jason would be a fool not to like her. She’s a cool, confident character with a lot of interesting lore behind her.

Her joining will probably be pretty close to canon. The Outlaws are tasked with going after Black Mask, and Jason decides to go undercover, as the Red Hood still has his fingers in various criminal pies. While investigating, he runs into Artemis, who is looking for the Bow of Ra, and rest is history.

I feel like she’ll get along really well with Rose and Komand’r and maybe she’ll date one. She’ll definitely view Eddie a bit dismissively, and she isn’t a huge fan of demons. Rankorr would probably come off as stuck up to her.

Bizarro

Anyone who knows me will know that I’m am not a huge fan of Bizarro clones. I consider them to be an overused concept (that sometimes feels as if it relies on gene superiority, but idk if I’ll ever fully process my dislike for them), and the fact that as the time I’m writing this, there are at least four currently in continuity does not enamor me with the concept more.

However, after re-reading RHATO a few times, I’ll admit that the Outlaws’ Bizarro has grown on me. Since he already kinda has a unique name (Bizz), all I think he needs is a more visually distinct costume (doesn’t even have to directly reference Superman, but I can go 50/50 on the backwards “S”)

The Outlaws getting Bizz is exactly the same as canon. I’d imagine that he and Eddie would be as close as brothers. While Rankorr might find Bizz’s way of thinking and speaking to be annoying, I’d think that Rankorr will eventually warm up to him and probably teach him how to read and help Artemis teach him. Komand’r and Rose will probably be less receptive to him, but who knows

August Heart

I’m a Godspeed fan first and human second, we’ve been knew.

In all seriousness, Godspeed is the perfect Rebirth era character for RHATO and the fact that he and Jason still haven’t met is why DC doesn’t have any rights.

Okay okay, but he’s honestly a perfect fit. Like Jason, he also kills when dealing with crimes, but he isn’t so good and knowing who’s guilty and who isn’t just yet.

This will probably be after Death of the Speedforce, with August finally making things right with Barry, but still not forgiving himself for everything that happened. Deciding to self-exile himself rather than go back to Iron Heights, August travels, trying to figure out what do to do next, trying to follow Barry’s rules (which he finds to be very wishy-washy) to the best of his ability.

Eventually, he learns that Black Hole is still running, and against his better instincts, he goes after them.

His trail of lightning destruction catches the eye of the Outlaws.

Barry, realizing that his best-friend might need someone who can actually be there all the time to help reign him in, Barry goes to the Outlaws and asks them if they can help him once they catch up to him

They do in the form of offering a spot on the team.

August is very self-assured (even if it is hiding a softer, more emotional center), but has proven to be able to work with others, so I can see the other Outlaws coming to like him. They might find him a little cocky/early to jump the gun, but still a trusted and valued member of the team.

Since every Robin has their own flash, it only makes sense to finally give Jason (and have them date) a speedster of his own, and it should be someone who fits his morals, and who else could Then the speedster fans literally call “The Red Hood of the Flashfam���?

Final Thoughts

Other possible members I would consider/accept are

Eradicator Superman

Koryak

Vanessa Kapatelis/Silver Swan lll

Simon Amal (Crux)

Danny Chase

Clone!Roy Harper

Connor Hawke

Orm Marvius

Man O’ War

Lagoon Boy

Scarlet

Zachary Zatara

Thomas Merlyn

Ragman

Bleez

Walter West

Even with a cast as sizable as the one I just listed, with a good enough writer, there could still a few minor side characters. I would personally want the them to be

Scarlet: Jason’s former sidekick. She could be either a civilian who he talks to get experience some normalcy or the leader of her own version of the Outlaws made of up the Generation Outlaws we meet in RHATO #37-40. Either way, it could contrast with Bruce and the way he (mis)treats his own sidekicks and family

Zachary Zatara: Eddie’s old friend who helped him get his devil powers. Zachary would definitely be worried over Eddie once again accepting Neron’s power and will want to try to help. Whether he suceeds or not will depend if the writers want to go in that direction

Isabel Ardila: She’s a nothing character, but there’s a small chance that with a better writer, she might gain an interesting personality or an actual purpose in RHATO

Talia Al Ghul: before the reboot, Talia was Jason’s mentor figure and even gave him a cool dagger. It would be so cool if we can bring that back and erase Morrison’s problematic charactization of her. Maybe the dagger she gives Jason could be an All-Blade or smth. They’d definitely take a few cases from her however

Batfam, Titans and respective groups: it would have to happen eventually. It could lead to some interesting, angst filled conversations. And who knows, maybe they’ll actually make progress with their issues

But this post has gone on long enough. I just really wanted to talk a bit about my ideal Outlaws team that I will never see anywhere except for my dreams because mass media hates me and DC still thinks that Lobdell deserves to write Jason 😔😭

[thecomicsnexus]

Aftershock

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #11 FEBRUARY 1986 BY MARV WOLFMAN, GEORGE PEREZ, JERRY ORDWAY, CARL GAFFORD, LEN WEIN, ROBERT GREENBERGER AND TOM MCCRAW (RE-COLORED VERSION)

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

Creation occurs. One universe is born. In Metropolis, Kal-L, Superman of Earth-Two, wakes in an apartment at 344 Clinton Street. He has dreamed of the end of all Earths. Now he finds the decor of his apartment changed and Lois gone, and so he leaves for work. He enters the editor's office of the Daily Planet, where Perry White asks him to leave. Clark Kent enters, and rights the situation. Realizing that he must be on Earth-One, the Earth-Two Superman accompanies his counterpart to the "warp zone" between Earths in New York, so Kal-L can return home, but once there, they find the zone is gone. When they ask a cop what happened to it, he says that nothing was ever there.

They decide to visit the home of Barry Allen in Central City, to use his Cosmic Treadmill. There, they find that Central City and Keystone City (formerly of Earth-Two) now exist side-by-side. When they reach the home of Jay and Joan Garrick, she recognizes the Superman of Earth-One, but not the Superman of Earth-Two, who had been a fellow Justice Society member of her husband. Jay Garrick recognizes both, and takes them into his lab, where Wally West waits. Jay tells them that the world still knows about the other Flash, Barry Allen, and remembers his trial, but that everyone also maintains that he, the original Flash, has lived on this Earth all his life, Wally changes to his Kid Flash costume, and Jay assumes his Flash identity.

Then, with the two Supermen, they board the Cosmic Treadmill, and reach the correct speed and vibration rate to enter Earth-Two's universe. However, they behold an endless sea of blackness where a cosmos had once existed. Feeling lost, without a past or a homeworld, Superman of Earth-Two tries to leap into the void, but his counterpart holds him back, as the Flash and Kid Flash bring them back to the lab.

In the timestream, Rip Hunter's time sphere, carrying Rip, Dolphin, Captain Comet, Animal Man, Atomic Knight, and Adam Strange, emerges in space near Brainiac's craft. They board it, and find the robotic villain slumped in his command chair. Of these heroes, only Rip remembers the multiple Earths.

At Titans Tower in New York, the Teen Titans host an assembly of heroes who formerly occupied six different Earths. Captain Marvel and Uncle Sam report that they have tried to return to their home worlds, but found them nonexistent. Slowly, they come to grips with the fact that only one Earth now exists, not many.

Suddenly, Harbinger appears. She has regained her powers with the rebirth of the universe, and states that many realities have been changed. When Kal-L asks why he still exists in the new universe, while his Krypton "never even existed," she tells him that he was spared because he "stood before the rebirth." The Huntress, shaken by her experience, tells of how she found herself without a law practice, an office, an apartment, or even a recorded identity on the new Earth. Robin of Earth-Two says that the only Dick Grayson of whom he could find records was 19 years old, and lived in Manhattan, not in Gotham City. Even the grave of the Earth-Two Batman was missing from the cemetery. Harbinger explains that a new universe, not a Multiverse, was born from the battle against the Anti-Monitor. There is, and was, only one Earth, one history, even only one World War II, in which Uncle Sam led the Freedom Fighters to victory over the Axis. Krypton exploded and Kal-El came to Earth. Only one Batman came to exist from the murder of his parents. All the heroes are stunned by this revelation, and none more so than the Earth-Two Superman. Not only did his Krypton never exist, but now his wife is also gone forever. He soars off in frustration and anguish, and Kal-El follows him.

Somewhere in a spirit dimension, Deadman and the Phantom Stranger watch over the Spectre, who was rendered immobile after the battle with the Anti-Monitor.

In Las Vegas, a detective convention is interrupted when Angle Man's body is found, along with his Angler weapon.

In Salem, Dr. Fate and the Demon magically observe Amethyst being attacked as a witch by a mob. Dr. Occult stops them, but then shadows appear and attack. Dr. Fate and the Demon join in the battle. However, Amethyst has been blinded, and when Fate looks into her eyes, he finds something incredible, and takes her back to Gemworld. Above New York City, Kal-El has succeeded in calming the older Superman, reminding him of his own loss with Kara's death. Kal-L weeps, not knowing where he belongs.

Back at Titans Tower, Wonder Girl tells of how Queen Hippolyta reacted when the Earth-Two Wonder Woman and her daughter Fury appeared on Paradise Island. None of the Amazons remembered the Multiverse, even though the "new" Paradise Island had elements from both Earths.

Power Girl questions why she is remembered, but her cousin forgotten. Harbinger replies that she does not know yet. Batman appears with the younger Robin and Alex, and tells the assembly of their recent interview with Lex Luthor in prison. Luthor had no knowledge of participating in the crisis, and angrily denied that he would ever help super-heroes. Therefore, says Alex, none of the villains remember fighting alongside them. However, danger still besets the Earth, as shadows continue their assault, and the uncanny weather persists.

Far below the surface of Peru, Cave Carson's crew reports an awesome flux of energy, and transmits the news to Titans Tower. There, the heroes observe the electrical storms becoming worse, and Pariah feels his pre-teleportation symptoms again — but, with no place to teleport to, he remains in painful stasis.

Alex glows with the anti-matter effect, and the Earth is drawn into a titanic space-warp. On a rooftop in New York, the Supermen realize that the Earth has been drawn into the anti-matter universe. Then, they are confronted by a huge image of the Anti-Monitor, welcoming them to his home, and to their deaths.

NOTORIOUS FIRST APPEARANCES IN THIS ISSUE

New Earth

NOTORIOUS DEATHS IN THIS ISSUE

Angle Man

REVIEW

While this is the beginning of New-Earth, most of it doesn’t count as canon yet. The prime example would be Kara’s death being remembered even though only one rocket survived Krypton. The same applies to many other characters like Huntress, and even Jason Todd, who will be reworked as an annoying brat, eventually.

This issue is low on deaths because our heroes have been hit by defeat. The death of the Multiverse is a huge deal for these characters, imagine knowing you have been retconed (well, Wally did after Rebirth).

More visual cues that this Earth is not final, the Galaxy/Daily Planet building, anything involving Wonder Woman (as new earth’s version hasn’t appeared yet), and of course, Lex Luthor being in prison.

There is a point in the issue when Wolfman gets too repetitive. We already understand that the Earths are gone, but we keep getting tales about our heroes discovering these changes. The reason I don’t think this is so important, is because most of these tales will not remain canon a few months after.

If you thought Thanos’ snap was a depressing defeat for the Avengers, imagine the whole history of a universe being replaced and your past no longer existing. And not being able to come back to that ever again. As far as defeats go, this one was unprecedented (at least for 1986).

To be continued

[m00nslippers]

All of our questions were answered in RHATO #31! OR WERE THEY? (They weren’t, like at all.)

When we left off in #30, Jason was confronting the guy who claims to be Willis Todd in the basement of an abandoned creepy prison made over into some kind of drug distribution center/android factory/still a prison. That’s pretty much right where they pick up. Oh and also the cover says:

They really don’t, though. One guy dies. One. This cover was an outright lie. There are ZERO zombies in this issue! WHY WOULD YOU LIE TO ME LIKE THIS DC?

There’s a flashback of ‘Willis’ looking back on how Rebirth has gone so far and saying some pretty poignant stuff about how Gotham hasn’t treated Jason the way he deserves. I’m not going to lie, I’m really into the Jason as the promised son/savior allegories. The Damned Prince of Gotham is an iconic epithet.

THIS is where we left off, and we learn Willis is calling himself Solitary and starts calling Jason ‘son’ but Jay isn’t having it.

Jason, you’re like two or three years older than this kid. And you’ve been way worse than kidnapped when you were way younger. Seriously, it’s like he doesn’t even realize he’s traumatized.

ALSO, JayMig, you guys. He’s LEGAL. Ship ship ship ship ship....(it’s okay if you don’t get on my ship I’m just going to be weird over here in this corner...)

Solitary: You missed me! *crowbar wooshes past him* Jason: I ain’t missed nuthin’! *crowbar hits Bunker’s prison-vat* Solitary: Ulp! (no he literally said ulp! in one panel.) Jason: You’ve been bamboozled, SON!

Classic Jason Todd.

I guess Solitary can control perception? I thought he was literally just omnipresent like he was literally everywhere and nowhere. That’s what he said to Ma Gunn, his ‘mother’. But whatever. This is Lobdell, he forgets what he’s doing halfway through doing it and just starts doing something else entirely.

Bunker is Mexican, if you guys didn’t know. It actually makes some sense that he’s here. in Mexico. Also, canonically gay.

( Ship ship ship ship ship )

Technically I’m not sure they actually met in that comic. It was a crossover event in New 52, Roy and Starfire and the Teen Titans (including Bunker) fought zombies, or something while Tim and Jason were captured by the Joker and Jason actually got to show off a little by psyching out the Joker and shooting him while blindfolded and breaking him and Tim out of trouble after getting kidnapped (those two sure do get kidnapped a lot when they are together...)

Also, SUPER REFRESHING for a hero to run into the Red Hood and be all, “Hey man, let’s be friends!” instead of immediately belike “What!? The Red Hood? Yuck, you’re a bad guy! Imma fight you!”

Dog has been around for 2 issues and she’s already the most useful teammate Jason has ever had. Jason and Dog, besties forever!

You really didn’t though, Jay. We have no idea who this guy is, how he got your old costume, what he wants or why he’s here. All we know is he wants you to go back to Gotham.

WHY CAN’T YOU BE HONEST WITH US!? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?

They were fighting right before this panel, and the fight was pretty good too, they seem to be evenly matched in terms of fighting ability. Maybe Wingman was slightly better, but Jason had a Doggo on his side so it evened out.

Unrelated, but I actually like this artist and what they are doing, everything looks really clean, the action is very readable and the anatomy is excellent, I’m not a fan of Jason’s haircut but luckily we already know he gets his longer hair back in an issue or two, thank god.

Solitary comes out as Jason’s dad. Apparently when he was in prison he volunteered for some experiments on people’s minds to try to get out early. We saw a little of this foreshadowed like ten issues ago. The experiments were done with tech stolen from Lex Luthor, so he hired Artemis to go fuck them up for stealing it and using it on people. In the fight it messed Wilis up and combined his mind with a few other inmates into his body or something. So that’s what happened to him.

I think it’s trying to be implied that this prison Jason is at where Solitary is operating out of was literally the prison where it all happened, but there are a few problems with that, namely 1) they don’t send American prisoners to Mexican prisons, and 2) that prison had water around it in the panels where it showed it happening and this prison is in the middle of a dessert so who knows what’s going on here.

Okay, so a Gotham thug getting a batman tattoo after coming out of a fight with him without going to prison is the kind of thing a Gotham thug would totally brag about. “See this scar? I got it from Batman, yo! And then I got a bat tattoo to commemorate it!”

Guess what though, Willis/Solitary doesn’t have the tattoo. SOLITARY ISN’T HIS DAD. Maybe this guy thinks he’s Willis but he’s actually not, he just has his memories or perceptions or whatever. He was one of the minds combined into this dude. This explains why Jason walked right past him more than once, he wasn’t really his dad (although with ‘perception’ powers it wouldn't actually have mattered even if he was). Jason has so many shitty wannabe dads it’s crazy. Batman, Solitary, Joker, Ra’s, get in line, folks.

Jason straight up kills this guy, no flinching. I love how Jason is so matter of fact about everything in this issue, Solitary says he’s his dad, and Jason is just like, “Okay, no, and I can prove it.” No melodramatic gasps or anything.

It amazes me that people seem to think Jason is so overemotional and angry all the time, and can’t get anything done because he’s too busy being mad, when he does shit like this without making any kind of deal about it or shouting or anything. Jason gets angry and emotional about ONE THING, and that’s his ACTUAL FAMILY BEING SHITTY TO HIM. A.K.A batfam stuff. Pretty much whenever he’s actually mad, and acting crazy it’s justified, he’s in serious emotional distress. He’s not some super angry murder boy all the time! I mean, he does murder people...but not because he’s just angry, it’s always a calculated move.

A slight time skip (a week).

*cries* WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?

I think Lobdell is as pissed off as we are that Roy was killed off in a stupid way for stupid drama. Because he’s been really selling us Jason being super sad and messed up about it and even tried to give him a good send off in the Annual. Like, I complain a lot about Lobdell, but at least I think he actually likes Jason and tries to do right by him in his stories, he’s just really scatterbrained about storylines sometimes. Like he needs someone to say, “Yeah, maybe not this, but this stuff is good.” That’s kind of the comics industry in general though, they don’t have anyone making sure characters act in character. They need someone vetoing some of the more stupid ideas, but they don’t seem to have any of that.

The New Outlaws! Red Hood, Bunker, Dog and Wingman.

Wingman is...some old guy. We see his face but it’s no one obvious. Clearly he has some connection to Jason. But he’s definitely not Roy, unless something REALLY weird is going on.

I still think there’s a good chance that he’s a future Jason from another dimension. But there’s also a chance that he’s Jason’s REAL FATHER since we know Solitary wasn’t. Hell, maybe he’s got the same powers Solitary had and it was him who went to see Ma Gunn before because she seemed pretty sure that guy was really Willis Todd, and he’s changing how he looks so Jay won’t know. We’ll see I guess.

And Bunker is just like, oh, you’re gonna go back to Gotham, fuck up Penguin and take all his stuff and start running a mob? I’m down. I don’t know his character (except that Lobdell created him and purposefully made him not angsty), I’m going to have to read some old Teen Titans, but I’m into it so far. He’s just super puppy-like, helpful, “I don’t know what’s happening but let’s be friends!” I can imagine Jason just blinking at him and being like, “Just...what even are you? Why are you so nice?! Why do you even like me!? Why are you even here!?” Miguel, all like, *shrug* “You saved my life and you’re hot?” Jason, “...well that’s a reason, I guess.”

YEEEEES. Tell me the old costume is making a come back! Also, Jason in a Trench Coat is the shit. He looks so sexy, you guys. I’m so ready for Mob Boss Jason. And Miguel is his gay right hand lover I mean man. YES.

( Ship ship ship ship ship )

Yeah, I’m getting so many “Wingman is from the future” vibes right now. He’s either Jason himself or someone he knows, but from the future/another dimension. Or maybe he can see the future.

Well, that was it. It was pretty good even if I was raising my eyebrows a few times at all the NOT explaining we were getting. I’m actually kind of excited for next issue though, you guys! Jason is going to mess up Penguin and take the Ice Burg Lounge, I’m so up for this!

[aquaburst3]

Since I’m kinda bored, I want to try this as a thought exercise. If in a one in a billion chance I was ever put in charge of a Teen Titans style animated show, this would be the line up and how I would characterize everyone. Like Young Justice, there will be a lot of alterations to characters to make them fit this new universe. 

Robin/Damian Wayne: To start things off, as for why I picked him, let’s face it, Dick and Tim are always the choices for team leaders for the Teen Titans. Hell, I can’t even think of an example of a TV series without either them as the team leader. Don’t get me wrong. Dick will always be my favourite Robin and one of my favourite characters in general, but seeing someone else be the team leader aside from those two would be a nice change of pace. I would still have Dick, Jason and Tim be a part of the show, but as side characters who are apart of Damian’s life rather then being main characters.

On top of that, having the team leader be the son of a great hero and villain would open up more opportunities for stories. Damian would have to struggle a lot more about which side of himself to choose and confront his grandfather. It would also give him the opportunity to grow into a leadership position as the story goes on rather then starting off as a natural at it.  Damian also adds to the theme of having the children of great heroes and especially villains that I’m going for here. 

As for his backstory, it’s pretty similar to what it is in the comics. Damian is the son of Bruce and Thalia, being raised by his grandfather to be the heir to the League of Assassins. His mother shipped him out to be with his father when he’s 14, planning to use him to rip apart Bruce’s plans from the inside. Instead taking his father down, he decides that he wants to change to be worthy of being Batman one day. But Damian has a long way to go, being a smart fighter, but lacking in...well...pretty much everything else. 

When Damian’s 16, Dick pushes him to join his old team as an attempt for him to make friends. This doesn’t go over well, getting into arguments with the other members like Beast Boy, Tempest and especially Zachary Zatana. Due to circumstances, including teaming up with Kaldur and Wally on an unplanned mission, who weren’t members of the other team, he makes up a team on his own that he’s the leader of. No more of Dick’s hand-me-downs. He has his own crew with a similar mindset as him. 

As for how I would characterize him, I would make him like a mixture of s0 and DM Yami from YGO in order to make him more likeable. Far less of a brat and Gary Stu at the start then his comic book counterpart.  Someone who has a conscience and has a good heart, being a caring and loving boy, but his methods of carrying out his actions are messed up due to his upbringing.  He can also be arrogant with a regalness about himself. But as time goes on and he spends more time with the team, he leans more towards the DM Yami side where his true self shines through more often. He calms down on the killing, but he can still be rather prideful, hot-headed and hides his emotions. His messed up side can creep up once in awhile as well. Oh, and he loves to draw and animals.  

 He also has a far healthier bond with his adopted brothers compared to his comic book counterpart, being the closet to Dick and Jason. However, he feels like he’s in his Robin predecessor’s shadows. He’s not as charming and sociable as Dick. He’s not as street savy as Jason. He’s not as intelligent or good of a detective as Tim. So where does that leave him? 

Also, Zackary Zatara, or Zatana’s younger cousin, is his rival on the other team. They often clash due to their similar and yet different personalities. 

Looks wise, he would have dark olive skin, black hair and brown eyes. He’s still very short for his age, which others tease him about. 

I would age up Damian to be 16. Just so he is a bit older, so that the series can tackle darker stories and has a bit more of a logical explanation for why he’s a badass.  (To be honest, I suck at writing child characters.) 

Aqua Lad/Kaldur/Jackson Hyde:  His origin would be more like his comic book counterpart then his YJ one. Instead of growing up in Atlantis, he’s an half Altantian boy, who grew up in New Mexico. He figures out about his powers during his teen years after he defends his adopted mother from a villain, being discovered by Aquaman before joining the team.    

Characterization wise, like his YJ version, he’s the calm and levelheaded one on the team, who is able to keep the peace between everyone. He took up the unofficial “second in command” roll on the team. Unlike his YJ version, he is less confident, since he’s first starting out. He speaks far less formally compared to his YJ counterpart as well.  

Like his reboot comic counterpart, he’s also LGBT. He takes his looks after his pre reboot counterpart. (So he has black hair and dreadlocks instead of a white fade, but still has dark brown skin and eyes.)  

Red Arrow/ Emiko Queen:  Her backstory is that she’s the daughter of Shado and Oliver Queen, being born back when they were dating and before he found out about Shado’s affiliations. She was raised by her mother to be an assassin just like her. Wanting to find out about the truth about her father, she seeks out Oliver and confirms that she’s his kid, saving him from assassination. Enraged about this, her mother holds her hostage, taking her with her in a helicopter, which was about to explode. She escapes and goes back to live with her father.  Not wanting to get her half-brother’s way, she decides to join the team to carve out her own path. 

Personality wise, she’s headstrong, determined and outspoken, which puts her at odds with her teammates. She is also more methodical and down to earth compared to Damian. 

Kid Flash/Wallace R. West:  To get this out of the way, he’s not the same character as Wally from Young Justice. He’s the son of Iris’ older brother, Daniel West/The Reverse Flash, making him Wally’s cousin. (Comics are confusing) 

Anyways, his backstory is that he was, at first, rebellious and got into trouble with the law a fair bit, resenting Barry for imprisoning his father. It wasn’t until he has a chat with his father, who’s in prison, that he tries to set his life straight again. He teams up with Damian on a mission, deciding to make a new team with him. 

Characterization wise, he’s pretty similar to how he is in the comics or like Jonouchi/Joey from YGO. He’s fun loving and cares deeply about his friends, being serious when he needs to be, but can say thoughtless or careless things and can be quite reckless. 

Looks wise, he has short, black hair; brown eyes and dark brown skin.

Djinn/Layla: A newer character in the DC universe, but I’m changing her backstory. Layla, who has flight, mind reading and spell casting powers, is a Moroccan girl. Her brother forced her to use her powers to further his agenda.  She ran away, using her powers in some small way to make amends for the horrors her magic has wrought. The last thing she wants is for her brother to find her. 

Characterization wise, she’s like a mixture of Raven and Star Fire. She’s optimistic, outgoing and socially clueless like Star Fire, but holds back parts of herself and has done horrible acts in the past that she regrets like Raven. 

[rnarvelboi]

rnarvelboi’s mobile fic rec mp

updated: 07/24/18 this masterpost WILL NOT work on laptops/pcs. i’ve tried but nothing will solve the problem and i refuse to go through and relink every one of these fics because i spent hours putting together this original post and im exhuasted lmao. if you’re NOT on mobile click HERE :))

luke alvez x reader (criminal minds)

by @butsomeofusarelookingatthestars

biting the bullet

take me out

one moment

couples therapy 2

“…falling in love with my best friend”

unshaken

…the proposal

addicted to love

by @nelsonsmurdock

god only knows

claw marks

sugar daddy

good morning

making you jealous headcanon

missed by @writefasttalkevenfaster on my mind by @madamredwrites a kiss that shouldn’t have happened by @merlxn-emrys

spencer reid x reader (criminal minds)

by @wrecklessimagine

dermatillomania

anything

trip

breaking (part one) / and entering (part two)

soft hands

by @mentallydatingspencerreid

because i love you

conflict resolution

dare?

jealous

fearful

by @dontshootmespence

did you hear me?

hands off

a sudden change

by @nelsonsmurdock

not afraid anymore

real life

lolita / real life

by @bookofreid

love in numbers / part two

perfect timing

the doctor & the artist

fortune teller

avoidance

long way down

handle yourself

by @spencerdamnreid

undercover discovery

let me help

by @brywrites

love looks not with the eyes 

model behavior 

the reid effect part one / part two

close to you

model behavior

by @criminaldaddies

closer 

forever

drunken make out? by @make-me-imagine just let me explain by @the-criminal-soldier touchy-feely by @thelovelylittlestorythatcould nerves by @thorne93 for the sake of a kiss by @totalfanfreak four years by @ughthatimagineblog torturous by @irwinsos snowbound by @criminal-minds-fanfiction

matthew gray gubler x reader

by @wrecklessimagine

“i tried my best…”

modeling

sex scene

twelve years younger

by @mentallydatingspencerreid

turnaround

standing out in a crowd

poe dameron x reader (star wars)

by @leiaorga-na

frustration

general ‘matchmaker’ organa

by @kboogie09

galactic soulmates

deal?

crazy in love

something else

by @justauthoring

when youre back

not today

help us out

thoughts betray you

five versus one

help us out

tired of your games

by @warqueenfuriosa

on flying and falling

kissing sweetly

my heart is yours

contact

by @certifiedskywalker

not enough time

snoozing

by @theincredibleultron

putty in your hands

you’re a skywalker?

five times you kissed poe dameron

10 things i hate about you

by @shenanigans-and-imagines

i could kiss you right now

i mean it

by @poedameronstories

motivation

stay

left unsaid / what remains / confrontations by @rqgnarok kissing by @buckyskywalks interrupted day off by @secretlyheatherchandler sarcasm by @x-dudes worth the wait by @fanfic-shiz two pieces of a whole by @we-are-all-obsessed-here black leader, shutting up by @parker-peter-parker trust me by @hairringtonsteve “why are you crying” by @whirlybirbs nothing more than a pretty face by @theonewiththefanfics

kylo ren x reader (star wars)

by @azurakenway

ask me a question (ben solo)

that’s no way to speak to your senator (ben solo)

watch my heart burn

protector of the apprentice

healing hands

‘did you enjoy the sight of me kneeling before you’

fallen in love

long live the supreme leader

red or black

across the stars (ben solo)

by @kyloholic

royal pains (ben solo)

clumsy (ben solo)

the supreme and his queen

divide and unite

professor ren series

by @justauthoring

come back (ben solo)

just tired (ben solo)

by @bad--bad--man  (masterlist)

pretty baby

ben sorenn, you liar

always

its my destiny

by @theindifferentdroid  

mad sounds pt 2

kiss on a dare

by @itsaconquestofimagination  

sugar, we're going down

killing me softly

keep in the dark

an unlikely hero

classroom ship (ben solo)

jealous kiss (solo triplets! kylo)

bliss by @darth-dre truly special by @chaostheoryy   somnum exterreri by @loverbug1123   slow burn by @tricksters-captain   pickup lines by @kylo-renegade   till the light burns out by @softestsolo nsfw alphabet by @whirlybirbs   red by @the-new-fanfic-order   discovered by @absolutekylotrash in my head (ben solo) by @leiaorga-na bonded / ii / iii / iv by @wandering-at-midnight

han solo x reader (star wars)

a ridiculous idea by @imaginethestarwars   we’ve got problems by @astxrwar   confession by @sincerelysaraahh

armitage hux x reader (star wars)

by @callmewinchester  

fortitude

iunctus

by @whirlybirbs  

nsfw alphabet

hux sex headcanons

by @azurakenway  

little bird

caretaker

open up to me by @the-new-fanfic-order   never again by @chaostheoryy   golden slumbers by @idontgiveahux   adulterer by @rosalynbair   cat and mouse by @silentwanderlustfanfiction never a good time by @silentwanderlustfanfiction  courage by @accio-zara iron by @zerohuxgiven resolution by @belikesnowbeautifulbutcold21 summoned by @natxpat

dylan o’brien x reader

by @cxddlyash  

the gun range

doggie play date

theo raeken x reader (teen wolf)

hey babygirl by @rememberstilinski  

derek hale x reader (teen wolf)

by @helplesslyinlovewithcharacters 

atrocious 

good enough

sorry to my unknown lover

compared to you

patience

by @perterhale

you are good

make this last

skin

by @fvckingbuchanan

my alpha 

always an us

by @thegreatficmaster

dreams come true

love when you smell like me

play with me alpha by @thelittlehalewolf trained to fight by @stilinskiimagines tidal waves by @spxderbarnes how perfect by @urwarriorangel age restriction by @huntersanonymous taking care by @honestly-lahey watch it by @snipsnsnailsnwerewolftales

issac lahey x reader (teen wolf)

by @maximoff-pan

dating issac lahey (and being a witch)would include

dating issac lahey (and being a mccall) would include

bucky barnes x reader (marvel)

by @ballyhoobarnes

man’s best friend

study break

by @bbbarneswrites

russian muses

mended hearts

by @leiaorga-na

sparks fly

avoiding

‘best friends’

easy a by @imagine-assembling-the-avengers rooftop confessions by @sebbies   attacked by @theincredibleultron   reward (ft. matt murdock) by @persephone-is-here-omg @irndad ‘s bucky fic masterlist within the smoke by @revengingbarnes fight for you by @revengingbarnes touch by @starrywriting broken by @gaybybirth   two haunted souls by @buckybarnesstar three’s company (ft. steve) by @sugardaddytonystark self defense by @marvelfic   marks by @marvelfic like real people do by @bucketbarneslove

sebastian stan x reader

by @marvel-midtown

private people

bad at love

next door 

no script by @revengingbarnes

matthew murdock x reader (marvel)

warm as the devil by @james-wesleys-sassy-eyebrow  

tony stark x reader (marvel)

press coverage / less coverage by @astxrwar  

steve rogers x reader (marvel)

hands to myself by @leiaorga-na “are you sorry now” by @prettyyoungtragedy coup de foudre by @mattymattymerduck

peter parker x reader (marvel)

by @softboy-holland

badass princess

just a kid

raspberry popsicles

broom closets by @leiaorga-na personal by @peterparker-imagines the mind reader by @strangershield euphemisms by @vinyloider thigh riding by @donttellpeterparker until you fell by @anakin-skywalkers four times by @dej-okay breathe by @something-fanfiction-ie online nemesis by @peterpcrkcr  new light by @marvelellie

tom holland x reader 

by @loserparker 

distance 

messy 

kissing me by @marvel-midtown   wanna taste by @valar--m0rghulis  honest by @theironholland

frank castle x reader (marvel)

by @avengersandlovers

the breakfast table

leather and lace

bad together by @anakin-skywalkers troublemaker by @astxrwar couldn’t take it anymore by @propertyofpoeandbucky tired by @castawaybarnes

jason todd x reader (dc)

by @maruthor  

precious asshole

disbelief

i’m just a monster by @dc-hoe always by @yj-tt-batfam-forlife you’d do that for me? by @maybe-its-5sos jason making is s/o cry by @angstytodd jason fucking todd by @alphaabucky

dick grayson x reader (dc)

by @dc-hoe

i don’t have anyone

i missed you

pleasure and ice

by @maruthor  

they never told you / they never told him

one more chance

play pretend by @sheismental   a quiet night by @dccomicsimagines   love by @angstytodd   electric currents by @dccomicsimagines

bruce wayne x reader (dc)

five am light / ten pm glow by @astxrwar for worse / for better / until death do us part by @soriseerakyra sneaky bastard by @ellana-ravenwood mind the gap by @maybe-its-5sos

clyde logan x reader (logan lucky)

to love a writer by @bad--bad--man room 1604 by @adumbdryer curse the cauliflower by @emmytypes

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Unconditionally Cared For By Those Who Share Our Broken Hearts

by RaeOfGayshine

When Jason decides to confront the little shadow that's been following him all night, the last thing he expects to find is a kid that reminds him just a little bit too much of his younger self.

He thought it would be simple. Greet the kid, figure out where they lived, and then send them home with a firm warning about wandering around Gotham alone especially following in the footsteps of a hero.

But then the kid starts talking. And the more Jason gets to know them, the harder he finds it not to do something stupid and very illegal like follow in Bruce’s footsteps with the express adoption.

Words: 9110, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Hang In There, Baby

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Robin (Comics)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown

Relationships: Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake

Additional Tags: Tim Drake Joins the Batfamily Early, Jason is ready to adopt him if Bruce isn't, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Protective Jason Todd, Trans Tim Drake, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Bad Parents Jack and Janet Drake, Accidental Brother Acquisition, Tim has no idea his life is about to change because he decided to stalk Robin, Jason Todd is Robin, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, This fic is just full of Tim and Jason having revelations they didn't want, and also anxiety these poor children have a lot they need to process, Batfamily (DCU), Kid Tim Drake, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, no beta we die like robins

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/41588952

[ageeksnerdyworld]

Reasons To Have 30+ Jason In The DCEU:

First off in most comic canon, comic adaptations, and even fan fiction Jason is usually depicted as being eighteen years old. At the most he’s twenty. Now that’s all fine and dandy, but, it just simply does not work for the films.

The only way it would is if they made Jason the first Robin, and thus screw up the timeline, but since they’re making a Nightwing movie this doesn’t seem like a possibility. That being said, if you really think about it, having Jason be in his early twenties doesn’t work for quite a number of reasons. (All under the cut because this gets pretty long.)

DC Rebirth

Older Batman

Overdone

Jensen Ackles

Time to tackle these points…

DC Rebirth:

Jason’s already been aged in Rebirth. We don’t know exactly how old he is now but we can make a pretty good guess given what information we have available. For starters in many panels of Rebirth RHATO when it shows Jason’s past it clearly states YEARS AGO. Even when it shows his death it says YEARS AGO. So we know that a chunk of time has passed between the day he died and right now. We don’t know how much but it’s implied to be quite some time.

In the very first issue Jason tells us, via internal monologue, that he was sixteen when he first met Batman: I’d like to think that I’ve changed since he came across that punk kid in the alley. … But I’ve got something I never had when I was sixteen years old.

Sixteen when he met Bats. Remember that.

But that doesn’t tell us how long Jason was around before Joker killed him. And we’ve never gotten a clear-cut answer on that. We all know that Bruce trained each and every Robin for quite awhile before he deemed them combat ready. U.S. Army Basic Combat Training (BCT) is nine weeks, Air Force is six weeks with one week of processing, while U.S. Marine Corp training is 12 weeks and four days of processing. I feel like Bruce developed his own time frame based on U.S. military branch times it had to be at least a couple years.

One year to settle into everything that the life of a being the son of Gotham’s most prominent billionaire entailed. Maybe a year of actual training because let’s face it two and a half months isn’t going to be enough. (12 weeks = 2 ½ months.) And then a probationary year of actual Robin work.

Three years. Remember that.

There’s a lot of speculation around Jason’s tenure as Robin. We all know that his tenure didn’t last as long as it was supposed to since he died but we need to know how long that time frame was. Some people say two years; citing age difference in relation to other characters. In N52 RHATO Jason said he was Robin for at least a year. We have nothing on this from Rebirth so far. It makes more sense for his tenure as Robin to be two years rather than one.

Why two? Well, that’s easier than you might think. The Dynamic Duo needs the time to adjust to working with one another. They need the time to learn from each other as well as with each other. To grow better as a pair, as a team, and all that because Bruce isn’t working with Dick anymore. A year is a long time but not as long as you might think in the grand scheme of things.

Two years. Remember that.

Back in 1988 when DC killed Jason for the first time (which started the chain reaction of killing him over and over again with each new revamping) we actually see Jason’s death certificate. And how old was he when he died on April 27th, 1988?

Fifteen.

Rebirth Jason has already surpassed the age of his previous incarnation’s death. So why would he be the same age after coming back? Why would be that same eighteen/nineteen/twenty-year-old? Yes, I know that one year isn’t that much of a difference. But I’m not done with Rebirth Jason yet.

We know, from Lobdell’s previous RHATO run, that the dip in the Lazarus Pit aged Jason. He was fifteen when he went in and around eighteen when he came out. Or he could be nineteen. Possibly twenty. So that’s a three-five year age difference.

Three to five years. Remember that.

Ok. Back to Rebirth Jason. We have seen Jason in a bar a couple of times. Once with the helmet on and once with the helmet off. The scene where he’s in a bar with his helmet off is from issue #8 and is far more important. He’s not just in a bar. He’s drinking in a bar.

Legal drinking age in the U.S. is 21. Remember that.

Most bars, if not all, card the patrons when they order. Even if they appear to be of legal drinking age. Why? Because that’s the law. And I know some of you would say If someone walks into your bar with guns and a mask on wouldn’t you serve them a drink no matter how old they were? And he’s in Gotham after all so they’re used to that kinda thing. Well, first of all, we don’t know if Jason wore his mask as he walked into the bar. All we see that Jason is sitting at the counter and his mask is laying on it.

But there is no clear distinction on whether or not he wore it as he entered the bar and ordered. He most likely would’ve been carded.

And remember this little quote from Issue #4: Have to remember every trick I learned in every therapy session I had in Arkham. What did Dr. Quinzel say? “If you can’t talk to me, talk to the wall, a pillow, anything…”

Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Jason not only went there but spent time with Harley when she was a doctor instead of an inmate. (This could be a reference to The Arkham Knight but I highly doubt that.) I think that the above quote is saying exactly what its saying. Jason spent time in Arkham with Dr. Harleen Quinzel. Which he did before in N52. But since Rebirth is a whole new timeline it can’t be just a N52 reference either. Jason spent time in Arkham in this current timeline as well.

That also adds something to what his age is at the start of Rebirth doesn’t it?

The question that remains is: How much time? I’m going to say at least a year. Maybe more. The way the first line reads makes me think it was more than just a few weeks. More than a couple months. He’s spent enough time with Harleen to learn what methods she was using on him. To not only learn those methods but well enough to be able to properly apply them to other people. That being said I think Jason was in Arkham for two or three years. Let’s say three just to be safe because things take time.

Three years. Remember that.

(Side note: Jason’s time at Arkham would fall right before the start of Rebirth. As Rebirth starts Jason’s already been Red Hood for some time. He lost Bruce’s trust through his violent methods and then I’m thinking that Bruce confronted Jason early on and sent him to Arkham to get the help he needed. That patched things up between the two enough for Bruce to work with Jason again.)

Do you remember everything I asked you to?

Sixteen when he met Batman. Three years of training. Two years as Robin. Aged three to five years from The Lazarus Pit. Three years in Arkham. And he has to be at least twenty-one.

Add all that up and Jason’s at least twenty-seven in Rebirth. Possibly twenty-nine.

That’s a pretty big jump from eighteen. So what’s wrong with aging him a little bit more? Especially when we have an…

Older Batman:

We all know that the Bruce Wayne/Batman of the DCEU is 50.

Most of the time, in the comics, Bruce looks to be about in his early thirties. This would make the older Batkids somewhere in their early twenties but we’ve already said that Jason is usually depicted as being eighteen in the comics. Sometimes he makes it up to twenty, but, never really any older than that.

Now with a thirty-year-old Bruce Wayne this makes sense. Does it make sense for a fifty-year-old Bruce? No. It does not.

Thirty to fifty is a twenty year difference that you would have to then also apply to the rest of the Batfam if you’re applying it to Bruce. Which would make Jason how old exactly if he was just eighteen?

Thirty-eight years old.

But if we go off his 27/29 Rebirth age then making him almost 40 is way too old. Thirty-five, though, would be perfect. Making Jason 35 in his first DCEU appearance makes quite a lot of sense. It makes sense with an older Bruce. Thirty-five is old enough to give him plenty of enough time to actually do the things he does to become the Red Hood. Gives him the time he needs to establish the fact that he’s a vigilante. The time he needs to make his way back to Gotham. Time he needs to decide to carry out his revenge.

He doesn’t get enough time if he’s only eighteen or twenty. And having an older Jason Todd is great especially when young superheroes are...

Overdone:

I don’t about all y’all but I’m extremely tired of superheroes always being in the early-mid twenties age range. For comics that age range makes more sense because these characters are meant to appeal to people of that age. And teen superheroes are made to appeal to younger audiences.

All these twenty-something-year-olds feels overdone. (And not just in the superhero genre but that’s not what we’re here to talk about.)

Everyone acts like these characters can stay the same age forever and that it’s okay. It is. For the comics. Its fine for these characters to stay around the same age for revamps in comic canon since comics, and their characters, are supposed to be timeless and appeal to all ages. But since superhero movie are trying to have a more realistic feel to them the twenty-year-old superhero takes away from that added realism.

A thirty-five year old Jason Todd would add more.

Everyone also acts like young superheroes don’t get enough time in the limelight. But just because we don’t see a lot of live-action youngins doesn’t mean they don’t get their fair share of exposure.

X-Men is all about teen superheroes. May I also direct your attention to Young Justice (which currently getting a third season) which is all about teen superheroes doing their own thing? Or what about DC Super Hero Girls which takes every single adult female character and de-ages them into high school teens? Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go? Power Puff Girls? Every single cartoon or movie centered on Spider-Man because for some unknown reason Marvel can never age Peter past teen years. And Ultimate Spider-Man de-aged many adult superheroes into teens as well.

Kick-Ass’s main character, Dave Lizewski, is a teenager who sets out to become a real-life superhero. Chris D’Amico, one of the villains is also a teenager. Hit-Girl, the other main hero, is only eleven. And in the sequel Kick-Ass 2 the MCs from the first movie form a team with other teen heroes and the main villain is the still Chris D’Amico from the first Kick-Ass. (FYI Kick-Ass is based off the comic series of the same name.)

That’s quite enough exposure of teen/kid heroes, right? But that’s not all. Even non-comic book super powered people are more often kids or teens.

Chronicle is a movie all about ordinary kids who develop superpowers and set out to become heroes. Sky High, also a movie, surrounded a flying school for super-powered kids. Three out of five of the MCs in The Incredibles were children. (And, yes, I counted Jack-Jack.) Eleven from Stranger Things. Almost every character in The Darkest Minds book series, which is being turned into a movie, is a teenager with some sort of superpower. The movie reboot of Power Rangers still centers on teenagers in high school. (I don’t remember if the Power Rangers comics existed first or the TV show but I’m pretty sure the movie is based off the TV show so I put it here.)

The sidekick is always a kid. On many occasions the superheroes are kids. The grown-up sidekick turned hero is always a young adult. And all the above mentioned shows and movies don’t challenge this trend in any way shape or form.

Making Jason Todd somewhere in his thirties would turn that trend on its head by making the sidekick-turned-hero character an actual adult. (And since we will be getting a Nightwing movie Dick will have to also be an adult. It wouldn’t really make much sense if Dick’s an adult and Jason’s not. Jason’s only been Red Hood when Dick is Nightwing, after all.) And who would be the best choice to play an older Jason?

Jensen Ackles:

Jensen has already played Jason in UTRH so he has experience playing him. Given the fact that he has this experience he would bring all that to a live-action portrayal. And bringing that experience would just make the portrayal all that much better. (It’s just like how movie franchise/TV actors just keep getting better as their character, you know?)

I know y’all are going to be like But they should give someone else a chance but do you really want to risk it? Do you really want to risk having such a beloved character getting a horrible portrayal? Do you really want a repeat of Leto’s Joker?

Let’s just say we take away his UTRH portrayal for a quick second here.

That still leaves us with an actor who has experience in portraying the kind of person Jason is. Experience which can only help his portrayal after all. Time and time again Jensen has played characters with deep-seated emotional and psychological issues. Most of which were never treated, or even addressed, and if they were treatment didn’t help. Characters like: Tom Hanniger, CJ, and Ben from My Bloody Valentine, Dawson’s Creek and Dark Angel respectively.

Jensen has loads of experience playing characters with an overwhelming need for parental, most of the time fatherly, approval as well. Characters like: Dean Winchester and Jason Teague from Supernatural and Smallville respectively. And almost all of these mentioned characters use more a violent approach to doing what needs to be done. (Including Alex McDowell, also from Dark Angel, whom I forgot to mention.)

Also he’s the right age. But, even if they don’t make Jason exactly thirty-five, Jensen could still be believable as someone in their late-twenties or early-thirties.

I’m not saying they need to cast Jensen I’m just saying it only makes sense to have Jason be in his 30s.

[ricardosousalemos]

Weezer: Weezer (Blue Album)

Weezer mastermind Rivers Cuomo was such a somber kid that his second-grade teacher trained the other students to tell him, in unison, “Let me see the smile.” Childhood in Yogaville, the ashram and Integral Yoga HQ led by “Woodstock guru” Swami Satchidananda in eastern Connecticut, was isolating, devoid of much pop culture and adventure—until Cuomo heard Kiss. When a family friend brought their fifth album, 1976’s Rock and Roll Over, to the Cuomo house, it sent Rivers and younger brother Leaves launching off furniture in a way only formative music can. “I’ve pretty much based my life around that record,” he has said. With their comic-book personas and distorted riffs, Kiss cracked Cuomo’s young brain wide open and rewired it for good. He had little idea what debauchery they were singing of, but from that point on, Cuomo began having intense dreams about becoming a rock star, and he began obsessively studying the work of his songwriting heroes.

For Rivers, music offered both a coat of armor and an identity. As a pre-teen enrolled in public school for the first time, Cuomo went by a different first name and his stepfather’s last name (Kitts); his chosen moniker—Peter Kitts—was awfully close to that of Kiss drummer Peter Criss. And while Cuomo was still picked on as he made his way through puberty, he eventually found his people: the metalheads. In 1989, Cuomo moved from Connecticut with his high school band to Los Angeles, ground zero for the AquaNetted and Spandexed. There, he found himself in the midst of shifting tastes, both culturally and personally. He started working at the Sunset Boulevard Tower Records, where he was schooled on quintessentially “cool” music like the Velvet Underground, Pixies, and Sonic Youth.

Also in the mix at this time was a new band called Nirvana. When Cuomo first heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on the radio in late 1991 while washing dishes in an Italian restaurant, he was sorta pissed he didn’t write it himself. “Rivers says, ‘I should have written that,’” remembered early Weezer guitarist Jason Cropper in John D. Luerssen’s band biography, River’s Edge. “And I’m like, ‘Yeah. That’s totally true.’ Because the music he was writing was improving in quality every day.” Cuomo’s interest in Nirvana became an obsession. He’d taken notes from Brian Wilson, the Beatles, Scorpions, Yngwie Malmsteen, and, of course, Kiss. But for all his knowledge of rock history, he still cared deeply about writing anthems that spoke to his generation, even if he had trouble looking his peers in the eyes.

Weezer anthems were destined to be different. In 1994, the acts dominating the modern rock charts were pushing against something, from the British aesthetes (Depeche Mode, New Order, Morrissey) to the singular weirdos (Beck, Tori Amos, Red Hot Chili Peppers) to the disenfranchised youth (Nirvana, Green Day, Pearl Jam). With rebellion came a facade of cool, and that was something Weezer could never manage, at least not in the traditional way. Cuomo always tried a little too hard. He would become the fidgety anti-frontman with a thousand “revenge of the nerds” taglines and a Harvard degree to prove it. That dichotomy—the big-time rockstar in khakis and Buddy Holly glasses, who never seems totally comfortable in his own skin—is what launched his cult and anchored his unlikely sex appeal. And his band—drummer Patrick Wilson, bassist Matt Sharp, and guitarist Brian Bell—played along, accentuating their innate geekiness to make Weezer feel like a unified front. 

By the summer of 1993, Cuomo had written a number of songs strong enough to convince the alt-rock major DGC to sign Weezer (this despite a lack of buzz around the L.A. scene) and have the Cars’ frontman Ric Ocasek produce their first album. When the group’s self-titled debut—typically known as The Blue Album—arrived in May 1994, Cobain had been dead for a month. A feeling of dread hung over the alternative rock world whose prominence was ushered in by the Seattle sound. With their wired energy, effortless power-pop-punk hooks, and Beach Boys harmonies, Weezer took the alt-rock explosion in a new direction. You couldn’t quite tell if Cuomo was mocking his song’s regressive narrators or sympathizing with them. But once you got past his defense mechanisms and sorting through the humor and cultural references, you found a portrait of a young man’s psyche, riddled with angst and insecurity. And it arrived on the wings of massive riffs and gnarled guitar solos that sounded like they were emanating from a Flying V—on every single song. 

The Blue Album’s exploration of the fragile male ego is in full swing by the record’s second track, “No One Else.” Taken at face value, this is likely the most misogynistic song Weezer has ever released. “I want a girl who will laugh for no one else,” Cuomo sings while the band rushes through the fuzzy pop-punk changes, evoking the hyperbole of masculinity. But there’s more beneath the surface. “‘No One Else’ is about the jealous-obsessive asshole in me freaking out on my girlfriend," Cuomo has said. The song acquires even more resonance in the context of its sequencing on the record. Cuomo described the following song, “The World Has Turned and Left Me Here,” as “the same asshole wondering why she's gone.” In actuality, he spends most of “The World Has Turned and Left Me Here” muttering to his ex’s wallet photograph and masturbating to her memory, getting in a joke along the way, saying she enjoyed the sex “more than ever.” It’s an absurd scene, but imagine the sentiment coming from the wrong person and it’s suddenly not so funny. Weezer were masterful at walking this line between knowing jokiness and legitimately creepy dysfunction.

This base kind of arrested development shifts back and forth between the narrator’s relationship with girls and his views on himself. If “No One Else” and “The World Has Turned and Left Me Here” are mirror twins, so are “Surf Wax America” and “In the Garage.” Given that Weezer were named after a common term for asthma sufferers, no one expected them to be out on a board riding the waves. That tension animates “Surf Wax America,” a well-crafted jumble of harmonic puzzles and barreling punk guitars where the hedonistic surfer lifestyle is both celebrated and chided for its simplistic worldview. Even while the song sneers, the ferocity of Cuomo screaming “Let’s go!” juxtaposed with the solemnness of the band’s Wilsonian harmonies make you believe, once again, in Weezer’s sincerity. Meanwhile, “In the Garage” is an homage to that happy place where no one judges you for your comic books, D&D figurines, and Kiss posters. It seems like over-the-top self-parody, but the garage was indeed a real place where early Weezer practiced and recorded when Cuomo, Sharp, and original guitarist Justin Fisher lived together in the “Amherst House” near Santa Monica. The hopeless ambition of “In the Garage” would make it the defining song of nerd-rock.

In between “Surf Wax America,” a fantasy about someone completely different, and “In the Garage,” a hyper-detailed song about himself, lies a song about his father. There are two more nakedly emotional songs on Blue, which are set off further by Cuomo’s rare embrace of laid-back guitars. Atop a bluesy jangle, “Say It Ain’t So” details the moment when Cuomo’s deepest worries are realized: He sees a beer in the fridge and, remembering how his father drank before he walked out, he senses his stepfather is doing the same. He fears now that he, too, is destined for this fate. Pinkerton, Weezer’s sophomore album, is often described as the tortured confessional to end all tortured confessionals, essentially a diary of Cuomo’s notorious Asian fetish. But “Say It Ain’t So” is just as raw, and arguably has more that its listeners can use, throwing its arms wide open to anyone who’s known the trauma of dad issues. The music is constructed perfectly, building and building until what's left of Cuomo's vulnerability comes out as a bitterly frayed "yeah-yeah," all capped by a guitar solo worthy of the Scorpions.

The desire to write a perfect song can drive some songwriters mad, as their belief in music as a vehicle for emotional expression reconciles itself with the belief that pop is a puzzle that can be solved. On Blue, Cuomo found the ideal balance, as he rarely has since. He understood the rules so well that he also knew when to break them, from Sharp’s super silly new-wave keyboard in “Buddy Holly” to the mumbled dialogue that runs through “Undone” (the band and their friends chatting were a backup plan after DGC refused to clear dialog from an old sci-fi film, “Peanuts,” and more).

The fact that “Only In Dreams” is eight glorious minutes long is Blue’s greatest example of self-indulgence gone right. It confronts the two most perilous teen-boy anxieties—talking to a girl you really like and dancing in public. It’s fiery, gorgeous, well-played, and devastatingly sad. Sharp’s trudging bassline guides the way forward for the narrator, whose fear of stepping on his crush’s toenails is temporarily silenced by the band’s total calamity. Rock’n’roll teaches us that extreme volume can quiet the voices of doubt inside our heads and numb the pain of living inside our awkward bodies. In this sense, the climaxes on “Only in Dreams,” starting around the song’s midpoint, are rock’n’roll lessons of a lifetime. But it’s the big build at the 6:45 mark that plays like a beta male transfiguration. Having re-recorded Cropper’s guitar parts in one take after essentially firing him following Blue’s 1993 recording at Electric Lady, Cuomo ends up axe-battling himself until he’s soloing like the metal gods he grew up worshipping. Wilson’s drumming—an underrated and idiosyncratic force throughout Weezer’s discography—drives home the catharsis. His cymbals crash from every angle and his tricky rolls play like percussive triple axels. By the end of the song, you’re back to reality, exhausted but ready for a fight—even if it’s just against your own doubting voices.

For all the talk about Rivers Cuomo’s anemic masculinity, The Blue Album has a unifying thread of identity that supersedes gender. An essay on the Smiths pointed out that, “Asking people about their interest in the Smiths is another way of asking this question: ‘How did you survive your teenage years?’” The same could be said of Weezer’s debut. Blue quivers with isolation if you look past the pastiche, the deflective humor, and the guitar lines that make you sit up tall. The emotion Weezer tapped into is echoed in music sometimes considered distinctly millennial due to its high levels of anxiety, from Death Cab for Cutie and Carseat Headrest to Mitski’s Puberty 2 and even Drake at his most neurotic.

For as classic as the album is considered now, Blue didn’t make the 1994 Pazz & Jop year-end critics’ poll. Back then, Weezer were considered alt opportunists or even Pavement ripoffs—a comparison that seems silly now, looking at the distinct rock strains since indebted to Cuomo. But MTV and radio airplay for “Buddy Holly” and “Undone — The Sweater Song” made Weezer huge, and The Blue Album went double-platinum within 15 months of its release. Over the next three years, as Weezer 1.0 slowly imploded (bye-bye Matt Sharp, hello rotating door of bassists), the record would sell a million more and be well on its way to canonization. By 2003, Pitchfork named it one of the best records of the 1990s; two years later, Rolling Stone heralded it as the 299th greatest album ever. And so Blue now sits in a sweet spot of commercial accessibility and critical adoration, a combination that guarantees the album will make its way into the hands of a certain kind of bespectacled teenager for decades to come—the ones who really need it. Cuomo never wrote a song as indelible as “Seems Like Teen Spirit,” but he did reach generations of rock kids, proving that coolness is optional if you study hard enough.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Unconditionally Cared For By Those Who Share Our Broken Hearts

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/vn3frVg

by RaeOfGayshine

When Jason decides to confront the little shadow that's been following him all night, the last thing he expects to find is a kid that reminds him just a little bit too much of his younger self.

He thought it would be simple. Greet the kid, figure out where they lived, and then send them home with a firm warning about wandering around Gotham alone especially following in the footsteps of a hero.

But then the kid starts talking. And the more Jason gets to know them, the harder he finds it not to do something stupid and very illegal like follow in Bruce’s footsteps with the express adoption.

Words: 9110, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Hang In There, Baby

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Robin (Comics)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown

Relationships: Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake

Additional Tags: Tim Drake Joins the Batfamily Early, Jason is ready to adopt him if Bruce isn't, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Protective Jason Todd, Trans Tim Drake, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Bad Parents Jack and Janet Drake, Accidental Brother Acquisition, Tim has no idea his life is about to change because he decided to stalk Robin, Jason Todd is Robin, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, This fic is just full of Tim and Jason having revelations they didn't want, and also anxiety these poor children have a lot they need to process, Batfamily (DCU), Kid Tim Drake, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, no beta we die like robins

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/vn3frVg