samthechaotic

[samthechaotic]

I leave the batfandom for A WEEK then come back and find out that not only jason todd is dead AGAIN but *checks notes* he died an EMBARRASSING death??? and *checks notes* HE'S ALIVE???

[samthechaotic]

At this point, DC is a social experiment. I refuse to believe those people are real.

[samthechaotic]

I have this genuine question for myself? do I bring bad luck to certain atmospheres???

like, I was just starting to follow this fanfiction and one day the author suddenly posted that she'll stop due to many reasons, and like, I was also just starting to follow this artist on her blog and she ALSO posted that she'll stop for many reasons. And like, I was following this music band and when i was just getting excited about their new album they ALSO disbanded?? again, I was just starting on following this couple and suddenly THEY ALSO broke up???

like, am I really a bad person? do i bring underwhelming vibes to other people? do i make them feel bad?? i didn't mean to? does really boil down to the fact that i might not be as good as i think????

[samthechaotic]

this is so true

[samthechaotic]

Shout-out to multilingual writers who are writing in their second (or third and so on) language.

The frustration of speaking it fluently, but still having to google basic words when you're writing.

The absolute joy of finding a word that sounds just perfect and conveys exactly what you mean.

Doubting all your grammar and being afraid to post it or even send it to a beta reader.

The euphoria of someone calling your use of this language, that is not your mother tongue, beautiful.

[samthechaotic]

You think that batfamily has angst? Wait till you meet the demonfamily 😈

[samthechaotic]

wow, just wow

the thing about Damian, especially pre-Robin, is that you have to straddle a line between child and cult assassin. He’s a nuanced character, you can’t dumb him down or simplify him. (On that note: PLEASE stop calling him feral! It’s racist as fuck!)

You cannot make other characters be nice and understanding to him from the start like Dick or Tim or Jason. You cannot make them treat him like a toddler below his actual age.

You also cannot make him a irredeemable psychopath who exists only to hurt Tim and sow conflict. Because that’s just straight up not true. Fanon.

Writing Damian needs to be a balance between these, and he needs this nuance to be interesting.

If everyone treats him softly, then there’s no point for Damian’s personality as it is. He is rude and arrogant and abrasive for a reason. You could argue that he’s spoiled, but he’s also a child who was ripped from a culture he knew and thrust into the arms of a white family who don’t understand him and don’t make the effort to actually teach him their views. He’s rude and angry because there is no place for him there, not until Robin, and even then he is still subject to their judgements. If everyone treats him with kid gloves, then his attitude comes without justification and doesn’t make sense.

Please remember that when Damian first appeared in comics, everyone except Talia disliked him. Bruce wasn’t sure what to do with him, but he also was quick to scream obedience. From Dick’s inner monologue in Resurrection of Ras al Ghul and his very early interactions in Batman and Robin, he didn’t like the kid and thought him a burden to bear in the place of Bruce. Tim never once gave him mercy after the first meeting. His inner monologue and actions all speak of hate and teenage angst - some justified, some way out of line.

Damian’s anger is then reasonably apparent. He doesn’t fit in. He can’t. But he doesn’t seek violence. He doesn’t try to murder everyone in their sleep like some people think. It’s shocking that fanon’s interpretation of him is a boy who goes for the throat in every interaction. He’s snippy, but in every single comic I’ve read he’s never tried to fight someone without a justification. If he was an X-Men level telepath, then I’d argue that his actions would become worse if he really knew what people thought of him at first glance.

If you’re a child that knows he is hated, then you lash out. You test boundaries. You see what will make them exile you, hurt you. You are a brown boy surrounded by a white city in a culture that you don’t understand. You cannot see your mother again. They hate her. You cannot express yourself in a world that expects the worst. You are shackled by expectation and judgement. They won’t let you be, but they won’t let you go.

You are stuck.

And in this, you will always be.

[samthechaotic]

Tim: Whenever I face a horrible situation, I ask myself "what would Jason do?" and do the exact opposite.

Damian: For the first, and probably last, time in your life Drake, you're right.

[samthechaotic]

Actually Me: Jason Todd goes undercover on Tumblr

Whenever I see Jason beat up Damian I think that he goes to far with that and should just pick Damian up and put away instead of fighting him. Whenever I see Jason beat up Tim and ppl criticising Jason for that I go full on "Someone cares for Tim? REALLY? How embarssing of you!" and wish Jason beat up him harder

no exactly because if Damian is provoking Jason, he’s literally just a kid. Jason should cool it. don’t take the crowbar personally. but jason disappointed me when he didn’t actually kill tim :/

[samthechaotic]

thanks, I'll cry myself to sleep now

thinking about how isolated jason was throughout his entire life is not for the weak!!!

as a child, he was homeless, both parents gone, and had no friends. he couldn't have been more isolated during a time where he should've been making friends in school.

as robin, he had no hero friends his age like dick, tim, and damian have. all he had was bruce and alfred. it didn't seem like any of the school kids particularly liked him. he was so alone during his robin years, those young teenage years where he should've been surrounded by friends and peers.

then he comes back to life, gets sent to a care home where he's unaware of everything, survives alone on the streets for a year, lives with talia for a year where he's just basically used like a science experiment while catatonic, and then he finally returns to gotham and literally just works alone. artemis and bizzaro come later on but even they eventually leave.

he was so alone and it's sad to think that he never got the chance to be a typical hero or child like dick, tim, and damian got to be

[samthechaotic]

with hacking and the false-votes back then, that's a canon real life event

DC Comics on October 18, 1988

[samthechaotic]

I think jason should actually hate that dick changed the discowing suit. "where's the drama?! the flair!? you look like you shop at the same discount bdsm store as Bruce now you actual loser!! who even are you now"

YOU GET ME LIKE NO ONE ELSE. Jason todd lives for making a statement. The sleek and minimalist design does nothing for him

[samthechaotic]

every time i remember jason is the first kid bruce legally adopted, and the last kid he made a direct choice to have, it makes me want to scream from the roof tops.

every kid after jason is either supposed to be a protégé or a family friend. then there's the ones that forcibly stick around and the bio kid he has no choice in.

bruce eventually chooses to make it all legit, be a father (debatable) when he is wanted, but he never makes the first move before or after jason. it's the only real way you know some kind of lesson was learned and it was STILL the wrong fuckin lesson.

[samthechaotic]

The only thing Jason Todd did wrong is not being real. other than that he does NOTHING wrong.

kinda funny to think that some characters whole schtick is that they believe they’re unlovable, but they don’t realize that in a greater universe they’re more loved than they can ever imagine and have thousands of ao3 fics dedicated to them getting the hug they deserve

[samthechaotic]

I'll keep reading this morning, noon, and night. Every year, every month, everyday, every hour, every minute. This is the ultimate roman empire. I'll dream about and my mind shall ever memorize every letter, space, every sentence. every word. There have never been a better character analysis and will never be.

suddenly struck with thoughts about the devastating concept of Jason Todd

because he was good. because he had a bleeding heart despite every reason not to. he loved school and was good at it. he was the first to be adopted, with little pretense of guardianship. he did everything he could to be a perfect Robin and live up to an impossible ideal. he only ever wanted Bruce and Dick to like him.

because he met Bruce in the same place and on the same day that Bruce's parents died--the single defining moment of Batman's existence. and he made Batman laugh. he hit the Dark Knight, Terror of Gotham, with a tire iron. he wasn't afraid of the man who turned fear into a weapon.

because he couldn't save his mother from herself, but he tried. because he was too good not to try and save the woman who gave him up. too good to play the Joker's game. the crowbar didn't kill him, the bomb did. he died knowing he wouldn't make it and tried anyway. he died a hero.

because other Robins have died, but none of them put an irrevocable tear in the mythos of Batman. because Jason Todd always dies, in every universe. he dies for the sins of his father. he was put to death by popular vote, sacrificed by the crowd. doomed by the narrative and doomed by the audience. the boy who only ever tried to prove he was good enough--wasn't good enough.

because he has every reason to be angry. because he didn't ask to be murdered, didn't ask to be brought back, and when he did everyone acted like he was better off dead. Bruce tried to kill him and nearly succeeded. he's blamed for his own death and blamed for his resurrection. he can never come home because the house is haunted by his own ghost.

because he's been the hero, the victim, and the villain. because his family and his writers and his universe don't know what to make of him. they don't know how to look his tragedy in the eye. and how can you?

it hurts to look at the hero who cannot be good enough, the victim who will only ever be angry, the villain who can sometimes be right. the audience hates to feel complicit and, in this exceptional case, they are.

[samthechaotic]

they missed a chance by not casting him as Tim Drake.

i mean...Look at him!

[samthechaotic]

Jason Todd could cry if he reads this

The robins’ arrested development is fascinating to me on a meta level.

The first child sidekick of the golden age of comics, never meant to be a man, a child for forty years who fought and demanded the right to grow up.

The second robin is slain in his career’s infancy. An unaging symbol of lost innocence because innocence itself was no longer required. Who burst back out of his grave unwillingly, in a man’s body, dragged into adulthood all at once. A child killed twice over.

The third robin, who was comfortable in his place as a child as a sidekick, evicted because someone else needed that spot, only to be wedged back into the box. Not quite a man, but he can’t go back to being a boy either, stuck in the in between.

And the fifth robin, still a child. Destined to grow into an adult role that will never be vacated, and so cannot grow up.