damianbugs

[damianbugs]

I’ve always wanted to know, what’s your analysis/perspective on why Bruce emptied out Jason’s room after his death?

i think it was a (selfish) self-inflicted punishment. i also think it was only one side of the punishment. the other side comes in the form of how batman didn't empty out robin's room, metaphorically speaking.

the first thing to note is that in the wake of jason's death, bruce notoriously loses his mind. he was violently suicidal, lashed out more and fixated on cases with no reprieve. in a way, he shuts down as bruce wayne and primarily functions as batman. as a result, he is forced to grieve in the only way that is possible — as batman.

he hangs up robin's uniform as a memorial, as a reminder and as a punishment (or he allows alfred to do so, whichever canon you prefer). he carries the last photo of robin in his utility belt. if anyone asks about robin, batman must tell them that there is no longer a robin, and there never will be another.

bruce wayne does the opposite. he erases any and all traces of jason todd from his life. he removes all his photos, clears out his room and refuses to talk to anyone about the boy. jason had died as robin, and he was only robin because of batman. bruce wayne does not deserve to grieve what he did not prevent. it's far too late.

batman's punishment is that he can never forget. bruce wayne's punishment is that he does not have the right to remember.

this isn't to say that bruce&batman or jason&robin are different in any way that is significant to their relationship, but rather to show how bruce had compartmentalised his life following jason's death. this event fundamentally changes him. as batman, he can never allow this to happen again and he will be constantly reminded of his failure. as bruce wayne, he regresses his personhood, he loses what made him whole and he can not fill the gap. as a whole, this ensures no part of his skin isn't burning with guilt.

it is two sides of the same blade and neither is merciful.

[damianbugs]

How do you sleep at night defending Bruce Wayne.

[damianbugs]

"I love you but you're doing wrong in a way I cannot condone" and "I hate you but you're being wronged in a way I cannot stomach" are top tier and I need more of them.

[damianbugs]

nobody gaf about cousin jay... but i do. I gaf so bad. I gaf so much i make up shit about him and duke that keeps me up at night

i bring an including dukes family whenever I can sort of energy to the ao3 function that the batfam stans dont really like.. And I'll do it again!

SIGNAL'S DAY OFF.

[damianbugs]

let mama clean the blood off you

[damianbugs]

You just have to tell the truth.

[damianbugs]

hey man we really can't be asked to flesh out red hood jason todd as a villain — sorry anti-hero — or uh, morally grey anti-not-hero? — so how about from now on we write robin jason todd as a super violent evil rude brat. why? well for one, he's poor, so like who's surprised... classism? what are you talking about, new intern at dc comics, shut the fuck up! secondly, if we write robin jason as a kind and emotional and progressive kid who often criticised batmans narrative while still wanting to do better, we'd have to actually write him as an interesting and complex red hood to explain the drastic change in his behaviour!

anyway, this way robin jason was inevitably going to become the evil villain that batman could never save. hey, speaking of batman, make sure bruce basically HATES robin jason. since he regrets taking him in because he's like, evil and stuff. this way their relationship is far less complicated, because bruce knew he could never reform jason! you know what, make sure alfred hates him too! and he recommends sending jason back to whatever shithole he came from... yeah! hope you're writing this shit down, intern.

[damianbugs]

‘tim drake is a genius that is always one day from turning into a villain’ ‘he’s basically a bat-lex luthor’ ‘he blew up the league’s bases’ enough. put red robin down. read something else. i beg you. please i beg you please. not even when his life went to shit he became a villain. ‘but he cloned kon 99 times in tt ‘03’ you mean he tried to clone the clone? how insane! he must be deranged!

[damianbugs]

Dick and Bruce's arguments are even louder as batbeasts.

[damianbugs]

everytime i have thoughts about willis todd i feel like sam winchester getting his memories from hell back

[damianbugs]

sorry if u have ever sent me an ask. i did not ignore u i was instead spending far too much writing a detailed response. unfortunately i seem to have scorned the tumblr gods and now every ask every draft anything ever has vanished. goodbye my scarabs...

[damianbugs]

DICK GRAYSON & ROY HARPER: OUTSIDERS (2003)

a not admitting of the wound (1188), emily dickinson // #11, #6 // a choir of honest killers, buddy wakefield // #16 // madwoman, shara mccallum // #11 // it lasts forever and then it's over, anne de marcken // #16 // you with the crack running through you, kim addonizio

[damianbugs]

personally i’m a fan of when a story is like. the love was there. unfortunately. this all could have actually gone a lot easier for everyone if the love hadn’t been there but here we are

[damianbugs]

Do you ship it?

extra image under the cut

[damianbugs]

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[damianbugs]

you don’t know me but… *twiddles thumbs* how do you feel about the rising popularity of brujack (now called #jackbat) as the person who got me thinking about it last year (this post)?

omg i had absolutely no idea the brujack (jackbat!!! fantastic!!!) renaissance was upon us... this is truly wonderful news. i need to peruse the tumblr tag now to see what you're up to and hopefully that will inspire me to contribute with my ten billion jackbat fic wips hidden away in the google docs. they're so tragic and so funny and it's so terrible! it's perfect!

also shoutout to my bestfriend @plutoslvr who i may or may not have plagiarised most of my brujack thoughts from (including the post you linked). we inject one another about them annually.

[damianbugs]

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