hedgehogcryptid

[hedgehogcryptid]

Me entró la curiosidad por saber por qué la marcha en Argentina se hace en noviembre y con una rápida lectura en Wikipedia descubrí que la primera organización LGBT+ en Argentina (y Latinoamérica), "Nuestro Mundo" fue creada en 1967, dos años que Stonewall. Así que ni en eso son pioneros los yanquis.

[hedgehogcryptid]

Deaging beam where Jason gets turned into his 4 year old self, and for mysterious reasons Zatanna or whoever else Bruce knows can’t undo it.

Jason is an absolutely darling little angel. Each member of the batfam comes to terms with the fact Jason Prime has basically died, and that the violent guy they knew used to be THIS kid, who always offers to share every treat he’s given and reads his picture books aloud to Titus. This is youngest Bruce has ever gotten a child and it takes some getting used to for both himself and the family dynamic, but the transition goes smoothly all-in-all. Bruce’s posture visibly lightens and years seem to melt off of him with Jason in his arms.

…and then Red Hood appears and kidnaps Jason!

As it turns out the reason Jason couldn’t be returned to his original form was because he was never de-aged to begin with. He was chronologically split, such that his 21 year old self was divided into his 4 year old self and 17 year old self.

Teenage Jason has been watching and monitoring this whole time, and he isn’t interested in granting Bruce a “do-over.”

[hedgehogcryptid]

on the topic of the Obeah Man, i often find myself thinking about how Jason Todd and Janet Drake were relocated to Africa and the Caribbean before they died. i've even noticed a disturbing tendency for non-Black fans to refer to these events euphemistically by the country in which they occurred – Jason's death becomes simply "Ethiopia", while the kidnapping of the Drakes and the subsequent death of Janet and paralysis of Jack are referred to simply as "Haiti."

in this way Black-majority countries become a place of death and transformation for white Americans; going to a Black-majority country signifies an irrevocable shift in a white character's status quo, and the country where the change occurred is forever defined by their tragedy in the eyes of their fans. and that's a facet of DC's anti-Blackness i've never really seen addressed.

[hedgehogcryptid]

Okay actually you know what I'm gonna make my own post about this.

Jason's primary goal in UTRH was not for Bruce to kill the Joker, it was about Bruce choosing Jason's wellbeing over the Joker. I don't think Jason ever expected Bruce to actually headshot the Joker. He's not stupid - he knows Bruce doesn't like guns, and he knows Bruce doesn't kill.* But Jason needed to get closure of some kind, and he wanted his dad to prove that Jason still had some kind of meaning to him, hence why the other option was for Bruce to kill him. If he wasn't going to choose Jason, if Jason was no longer his son, Jason would rather die than live with that choice.

Is it selfish to ask his dad to kill him if he doesn't want the Joker dead? Sure. I guess. It is more of a direct ask for Bruce to kill someone so like. Make of that what you will. But is it selfish to ask Bruce to stand aside and literally do nothing while Jason deals with it? I don't think so, and I don't think it was an unprecedented ask!

*Because Bruce has attempted to kill before, including in Jason's presence, and allowed others to kill with his blessing

Detective Comics #570: The Joker brainwashes Selina to be evil again. Jason stops Bruce from killing him, and Bruce notably says "he took her from me" (aka something Jason famously says in UTRH)

Batman #425: José Garzonas sets a trap for Batman and Robin due to Jason's (intentional or unintentional) involvement in the death of his son, Felipe. Bruce indirectly but intentionally kills three people in this issue, and he tells Jason outright that fathers avenge their sons.

Batman #429: Bruce intentionally goes after the Joker with the intent to kill him, and only delays that until Joker loses his diplomatic immunity. He does not attempt to save him, only asks Clark to find the body.

Detective Comics #741: After the Joker kills Sarah Essen, Bruce tells Jim Gordon to take the shot and he won't stop him.

(These are just what I remember off the top of my head; I know there are more, I just don't remember issue numbers rn)

"Joker's Last Laugh #6," the people cry, "what about Joker's Last Laugh #6?"

In Joker's Last Laugh #6, Dick beats the Joker to death and Bruce resuscitates him. But that was not about Bruce's refusal to kill or let his allies kill - it was about protecting Dick. Dick, who rather famously does not handle having blood on his hands very well even when it's not actually his fault (see Nightwing #93 and the fallout from that for proof of how poorly Dick copes with his perceived guilt).

If it were anyone but Dick, I genuinely believe that Bruce would have left it. Helena was there. Dinah was around. If one of them had taken out the Joker, I think Bruce would have let it lie. Helena and Dinah are not Bruce's kids, and they both have killed before. It's not their first choice, but they have in fact killed and are willing to do so again. Bruce bringing back the Joker wasn't about keeping him alive, it was about protecting Dick's mental health (and he uh. kinda failed at that anyway. Good try though 👍)

So how on earth is UTRH an unreasonable ask? Jason says "let me kill him, or do it yourself, or kill me," and really, there's no reason Bruce should have stopped him. This is more direct and personal than either Bruce's attempt in 'tec #570 or the opening he gives Gordon in 'tec #741. This is Jason asking for Bruce to live up to the standard Bruce himself set in Batman #425. Jason doesn’t have Dick's problem with killing, he's killed several times and he's more than willing to do this. His first option, Jason killing the Joker, asks nothing of Bruce. Bruce literally had to do nothing in UTRH, and Jason would have counted that as a win. Probably. We'll never know for sure, because for whatever reason, Judd Winick decided that in this scenario, Bruce's best move was to throw a batarang through Jason's neck.

So no, UTRH is not Jason being a hypocrite who claims to want to protect people from the Joker but really just wants validation (I mean, he does want validation, and he does want the Joker dead to protect people, but that's not the point). UTRH is Jason asking Bruce for less than the bare minimum that Bruce established when Jason was Robin, and Bruce failing to allow even that. UTRH is Jason desperately screaming for Bruce to prove that he cares even a little bit about him, and Bruce trying to duck out at every opportunity. UTRH is about a kid, 17 or 18, maybe 19 at best, asking his dad to love him and getting a knife to the neck for his trouble.

No wonder Jason goes on a full villain arc after this - I would too.

[hedgehogcryptid]

It's crazy how many people use Death of the Author to mean "separating the art from the artist" when it's actually not supposed to have anything to do with who the author is as a person and is supposed to be about the idea that the author's interpretation of their own work should not be seen as the definitive, correct opinion on that work. Like you're not supposed to invoke Death of the Author when JK Rowling devotes her entire life and fortune to transphobia, you're supposed to invoke it when Trent Reznor says Closer by Nine Inch Nails isn't a sex song.

[hedgehogcryptid]

Righteous anger and vengeance are to be expected from a father in response to the death of a son? Well golly gee Batman I guess we learned an important lesson today. Sure hope this topic never comes up again

[hedgehogcryptid]

The common assumption that the events of Under the Hood are "just" to get Bruce's attention has done irreparable damage to fandom's critical thinking skills.

No, Jason did not decapitate those lieutenants to get Bruce's attention. He DID blow up an empty building to mess with Bruce (Bruce evacuated the building first, but it WAS empty when it blew) and staged his own fake-death to traumatize him. (again)

I need you to understand that people's motives can be multifaceted and he said exactly what his motives were in very plain speech if you bother to actually read it.

"Who does Jason think he is to say who lives or dies?"

Who does BATMAN think he is to make those calls?

When he interfered with Joker's lawfully acquired sentence for execution (Joker: Devil's advocate)?

When he healed/saved Joker from dying in a Lazarus Pit and then restored the status quo by tossing him in the prison where Joker pointed out how many times Bruce had saved his life at that point, thus enabling his crimes (Legends of the Dark Knight #145)?

When he resuscitated Joker after Nightwing beat him to death (Joker: Last Laugh)?

When he prevented Jason from killing Joker? When he prevented Clownhunter/Bao Pham from killing Joker?

When he started going around interfering with the Lazarus Pits/possible locations for Lazarus Pits and causes Ra's al Ghul's death by preventing him access to them?

When he deliberately left KGBeast to die after he shot Dick?

What about all the maiming or maim-worthy bullshit that he and the other bats do to common criminals you think those medical debts aren't going to murder them just as surely if not slowly?

These aren't even the only examples of Bruce doing this and anyone is free to add more I just don't feel like going all the way through Bruce's list.

"Dick would have crashed out/killed himself if Bruce hadn't!"

So Bruce gets to decide that Dick has more of a right to live than the countless people that would be saved by letting Joker die? How is that not being an arbiter of who lives or dies?

Multiple people have tried to kill Joker and Bruce stopped them. Multiple people have argued that Bruce should have let him die or someone kill him. Bruce choosing to let someone live with the understanding that he will kill more people (because it's not a question of if, but when) is not playing god any less than Jason is when he personally does the killing, it just absolves him of direct culpability.

So, if Jason has some kind of arguable god complex about deciding who lives or dies? Well, frankly, some things you don't need to be related by blood to inherit.

[hedgehogcryptid]

[hedgehogcryptid]

I just learned that the Russian word for “ladybug” translates to “God’s Little Cow”

[hedgehogcryptid]

Why did they removed all his cuteness

[hedgehogcryptid]

Being anti-death penalty is literally the easiest stance ever. People just say "but should the state kill THIS type of person?" and you just say "no". Not killing people is so fucking easy actually

[hedgehogcryptid]

I still think it's weird to have a lax attitude towards sex work. It's an exploitative capitalist industry, whether the sex worker is self-employed or has to pay a pimp rent or works for an employer at a brothel. Sex work is not progressive and it will never be a progressive capitalist industry. The majority of sex workers are women, usually marginalized and the majority of clients are cisgender men. Can we be honest with ourselves here and point out the power imbalance? Or are we gonna keep doing choice feminism but for the sexual exploitation industry?

Just like all workers we should be demanding the best for sex workers. But frankly in a just world, sex work would be obsolete because you won't need to have sex with people you otherwise wouldn't even look at, just to pay your bills.

[hedgehogcryptid]

💔🇵🇸 My Daughter Was Born Under Bombs — I'm Just Trying to Keep Her Alive

My name is Abdulmajid.

I got married one month before the war. Those were beautiful days — full of hope, love, and simple dreams. I dreamed of a small home, a quiet family, and a baby girl I could hold without fear.

But the war came… Suddenly. Brutally.

My mother was killed. My brother was killed. Children in my family were taken by the bombs. My home was destroyed. And my work stopped completely.

Then… in the middle of this nightmare, my baby girl was born. A tiny soul, innocent, unaware of the war. She cries from hunger, from cold, from the sounds of bombs shaking what’s left of our walls.

Today, I’m a father with almost nothing… Fighting every day to find flour, milk, or even a small meal to feed my child.

Prices are sky-high — a single 25kg bag of flour can cost $800. There is no work. No income. No safety. No stability.

I write this from under siege, hoping my heart will reach yours.

Even $1 can make a difference. It can feed a child, buy milk, or bring a moment of peace. Be the heart that reaches Gaza. Be the hand that saves.

📌 Please share this post. Let our voices be heard — not buried under rubble.

[hedgehogcryptid]

y'all know that whole left-brained/right-brained thing is fake right? and the "brain fully develops at age 25" thing? and the "we only use 10% of our brains" thing? yeah they're all complete horseshit please yell at anyone who says them

[hedgehogcryptid]

writing tip: searching "[place of origin]ish names" will get you a lot of stuff and nonsense made up by baby bloggers.

searching "[place] census [year]" will get you lists of real names of real people who lived in that place.

[hedgehogcryptid]

My tepid Jason Todd take is that he should be the tactician in his team ups more often than not. One of the things that really stuck out to me in his Robin run/early post resurrection era is that he knows when he needs stack the deck in his favor and does a very good job at it. Less "Jason Todd runs into danger and needs to be saved bc he's Reckless™" and more "everyone assumes he runs in without thinking but in reality he already figured out what schemed he needs to get out of this relatively unscathed"

[hedgehogcryptid]

There's a fundamental conflict between Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd that I think gets overlooked a lot:

Bruce doesn't trust himself to be ethical without strictly defined rules and limitations. Because of this, he follows a rigid moral code based primarily on the law, with additional emphasis on never taking a life. Bruce doesn't believe he is capable of being ethical without this code.

Jason, meanwhile, has a deep-seated distrust of authority, and will always trust his own judgement over what someone else tells him. He doesn't believe that the law is ethical, so it's largely irrelevant to his personal ethics. He trusts himself and his conscience to guide him through ethical decision-making on a case-by-case basis, rather than following a rules-based system like Bruce does.

This wouldn't be a problem, except that they both want the other to change for them. Jason wants Bruce to break his biggest rule and kill the Joker. Or, if Bruce can't do that, he wants Bruce to at least accept Jason doing it.

Bruce, meanwhile, takes issue with Jason killing in a way he doesn't with many other characters, such as some members of the Justice League. I don't think this is because he trusts Jason less than his teammates - I think it's because Bruce sees Jason (and all his children) less as people in their own right, and more as extensions of himself. He can't let Jason kill, because in Bruce's mind, Jason is Bruce's reflection, not a separate person capable of making his own decisions. Therefore, Jason killing is basically the same as Bruce himself breaking his greatest rule.

This is such a fundamental difference that it cannot be reconciled, which would be fine if they weren't both dead-set on reconciling it.