#jason todd patron saint of victims

[panakina]

It means so much to me that Jason is both very much a victim, and he is so loud and hurt and unrepentant over it. He isn’t interested in silently enduring like some kind of romantic martyr. There is no nobility in pain. It is not beautiful.

And the harder different writers have tried to retroactively make him mean and unsympathetic the more i love him. Yes! He’s angry and mean because his life has been cruel and unjust and that is worth getting angry about.

[the-minster]

Jason Todd- DC's Pandora's box

If you only hadn't felt the need to see.

The allure of the beautiful, the desire for what you believe it will hold and the blessings you hope to receive. Open up that casket and look inside if that which you love most can still be found.

Jason Todd is blatantly without agency for a lot of his story. Ranging from the implications of his lack of self-determination as Robin and his demise resulting as actions unrelated to him; Sheila's desires, Joker and Batman's feud, Jason getting caught up in the middle without his own motive mattering much either way, - to his lack of autonomy over his narrative while dead, being turned into a cautionary tale and getting victim-blamed over and over again for his death - finally to his catatonic state for about a year after returning to life, rendering him more object than human and with the exception of Talia he is treated as a mere object. This lack of autonomy coupled with the heaping of others' worst nightmares and biggest hopes on him turns him into an instrument for others to torture themselves over.

The thing about the Pandora's Box is that it's myth was meant to drive home the point that women were inherently evil. Because they lure you in with their beauty but they hide things beneath this surface, and how dare they be more than what they appear to be, no, what you project them to be?

Once the box of Jason Todd is opened up and he is not the potential that everyone wishes to have fulfilled through him - the loyal son come back to life - it is clear that he is no good, he is a mistake.

And saying that Jason is Pandora's Box is not just random pontification. The Lost Days comics themselves allude to this. First we have Ra's saying so:

dehumanizing Jason and seeing him merely as how he affects others, namely inconveniences Ra's and is a distraction to his daughter.

Then at the end of the next issue, Jason tells Talia about his plan to kill Bruce and Talia says the same thing:

And the problem is that, while people can pontificate about whether Jason is good or bad, a net gain or a net loss, morally justified or morally apprehensive, what about Jason himself?

No one cared for Pandora or her plights, in fact ancient Greeks didn't much care for the plights of any woman. they were excused from caring about women with the Pandora's curse. Because of how others suffer due to their mere existence, it is not necessary to consider them. Never mind that the men's suffering is constructed in their own minds.

The pain that Jason puts others in by making them confront reality, that he died for Bruce's mission, is used as an excuse to not care about him either. Because he's too painful to look in the eye, because of the painful memories he brings up.

The potential of having him back was too alluring to ignore, the reality of it too crushing to accept. The only place to put all this blame for the hurt and suffering was on Jason himself. Never mins that he did not create this pain, did not ask to be brought back, that he is the one suffering most under this weight.

[jasontoddsno1simp]

Howdy, friends!! My name is Jace and I am mentally unwell about Jason Todd, patron saint of bad victims 🥺

He's my pookie and he's never done anything wrong in his life 😜

Black + Bigender + nblm (prefer using gay cause I'm masc presenting) + 31 y/o ✨

I follow from @bear-fam, so don't be surprised if you see that name 30 million times in your notes 😇

Ask box is open but I'm not accepting anons 😘

Unless specified, assume I am talking about post crisis, pre Flashpoint/n52 continuity 🥴

[iriascend]

Our Saviour Red Hood, Patron Saint of the Poor and Downtrodden, Protector of Gotham

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe now.”

(art by the wonderful @gotham-gargoyle​ )

Some ranting, theory-crafting and inspiration behind this commission under the cut :)

While both Jason and Bruce care deeply about their beloved city, between the two of them, Jason is way more concerned about the little people than Bruce is. They both took “be the person you needed when you were younger” to heart, but Bruce’s effort concentrate on big things, big goals, big projects. He’s impersonal. He’s a strategist. Jason’s more about making sure nobody else has to have a childhood as shitty as he had, and thus takes care of children, single mothers, the poor and downtrodden.

And that’s where my idea comes from.

We all know and love the concept of Batman starting off - or continuously being - a cryptid; an urban legend about Gotham having a protector that hunts criminals at night. But what about Red Hood? Many people see him as way less mystical in comparison, way more down-to-earth, and I can agree with that. Because while Batman is a legend, Red Hood is one of us. He doesn’t try to pretend he’s not just a dude that had enough.

Yet, being a vigilante with a secret identity by default comes with a high level of mystery associated with you; it goes along perfectly with Cryptid Batman, but clashes with Red Hood’s schtick. As such, the weird mix of familiar but secretive, powerful but human (as opposed to Batman’s legend of monstrosity) can result in a very peculiar relationship between Red Hood and the people of Gotham.

Please imagine with me:

Hood marks places and buildings with a little red bat to denote his territory and off-limits areas that doing crime in will be heavily punished. People pick up on the symbol and attempt to use it to fool and scare away wannabe robbers. But it quickly evolves into a red bat just becoming a good luck and protection charm, like a rabbit’s foot. A symbol of allegiance, even, a following.

If you need help, it seems like a no brainer to try to bribe a vigilante somehow before you ask them to deal with the hooligan in your neighbourhood. But few are brave enough to try and approach Batman, Nightwing refuses everything and helps anyway, and Red Robin is hard to find and talks very little. Now Red Hood? Red Hood approaches you. He is the one that talks, asks if you have issues. He knows your name. It’s easy to exchange food and info for a promise of aid. Sometimes, when you can’t seem to run into him, it’s enough to leave out a burger with a red bat scribbled on the bag, and he’ll know you need some attention. From that, it’s only one step to offerings.

While Batman is vengeance and justice, a shadow that haunts the evildoers of Gotham, someone who’s name you fear, Red Hood becomes... a protector. Fierce and dangerous and not invoked lightly, and feared by those who seek to harm his people, but one that has the absolute trust and loyalty of his proteges.

Like that, step after step, people start slipping. From a street rat that just wanted to help, Hood becomes a figure of reverence and maybe even worship. The ghost of Gotham. The soul.

Truly “a better Batman than you’ve ever been”, Bruce.

[disniq]

JASON PATRON SAINT OF VICTIMS TODD

[aresianrepose]

Jason Todd: Holy | Patron Saint of Victims

Behind the Name, Angus Dei - Francisco de Zurbarán, On Psalm 30 - John Trapp, Frankenstein - Mary Shelley, No One Would Riot for Less - Bright Eyes, Creature - Half Alive, Bittersweet - Susan Cain, The Civil War - Anne Sexton, Christ Cleansing the Temple - Luca Giordano, Heaven Help Us - My Chemical Romance, Serenade - Adélia Prado, If My Body Could Speak- Blythe Baird, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel - Alexandre-Louis Leloir, Odes to Lithium - Shira Erlichman

[binghelovebot]

Jason "no kids" "no abuse" "respect women or Else" Todd, my beloved

patron saint of victims (especially us bad and vicious ones)

[the-minster]

Also the irony of it being intended as maturity the same way that society on large calls it maturity when someone has moved on from their trauma (read: become palatable and non-confronting). And fans recognizing this as a fawn response from Jason, still trying to appeal to Bruce and earn his love and protection, still trying to find a semblance of what felt like safety once and was lost forever in something that can't be undone.

The thing is that DC’s consistent choice to have Jason Todd blame himself for his own murder comes across less as maturity (the intent) and more like his self-esteem is so far down the toilet it’s been filtered through the Gotham water treatment facility and is currently being sprayed over Wayne Manor’s lawn.

[the-minster]

Was talking to some friends about how Jason hits differently as abuse victim representation than many female characters, specifically what the difference between him and Harley is, considering that they are both victims to the same man. And disregarding the meta differences in their character development over time, the biggest difference for why it's easier to identify with Jason as a victim is that Harley is treated completely voiceless as a victim. She is not given her own personality, motives or character while she is abused and manipulated by Joker, but is the "female" media archetypical victim. She later emerges to have agency and a character, but in her abuse she is interchangeable, her context or her actions do not matter and in a way she is the perfect, innocent victim and can not be faulted for what happens to her.

This is what AFAB people are told and expected to be, if they are really victims. You are exoected to show your purity in modern witch trials to assess your innocence in your own abuse, but that is not how it works. Jason is commonly denied his status as a victim in canon, and during his assualt and murder by the hands of the Joker he was never portrayed as without agency. This agency is a blessing and a curse, because it makes him real and gives him that voice, but it's abused to paint him as responsible for what was done to him. He never got the benefit of the doubt to be considered a true victim. He brought it onto himself, he could have known to defend himself, he was reckless, he was overconfident, etc.

The truth is that victims don't fit Harley's story well enough. That deliverance and forgiveness is not given to us for the crimes committed by others onto us. Victims are made to pay the price of their abusers actions because it's easier to believe they must have done something wrong and deserved it, than to face the staggering evidence of a world that is catered to protect the image of the white cishet male savior and defender. To defend that under the status quo those deserving of safety will be granted such and perserve the illusion of a just world.

So it's not about something superficial like the character's gender why people might gravitate towards Jason and not Harley. Even for cis women, relating to Jason might be easier, because who is ever so completely exonerated from fault from their own abuse? Who gets the luxury of being such a perfect victim, so easy to care for? No one gets that in real life. Which is why Harley's victim story is more fiction than reality and certain beats can only be hit by a character so consistently controversial as Jason. Because victimhood is never granted easily.

[filthy-vigilante]

This post got me thinking

In that post these panels are included. Panels that deeply resonate with me

Jason Todd's Robin is the patron saint of abuse victims.

This is the Jason Todd I want to see more of. I want to see him become more of a grown version of the robin that he was. To see him use violence as a means of protecting the innocent against abusers that will not stop, staying firm in his morals despite Batman's. Wish this is the Jason we got. I will forever be enraged that we have been cheated of a truly controversial hero, who's morals might actually not be that wrong upon deep reflection.

[exhausted-pigeon]

Your Jason Todd patron saint of victims tag has been living in my head rent free. I love it so much that I want to get art commissioned of it or something 😭

Hi! I'm happy you had the same reaction I had when I first encounter it, because it's not my tag, I stole it from @forcesofnatureunleashed and @arkhamnyanight, their meta's are amazing!

Also for the art @iriascend had a similar concept that you may like!

It's not quite "patron saint of victims" but close.

(also I maaay do something for that, maybe, if the art muses collaborate, wish me luck)

[zeroducks-2]

reblogging this to explain why I was initially so confused, it's a language barrier thing. When I read "Italian Jason Todd" I processed it as Italian in the from Italy sense. Which is why I was not getting how anyone was able to slap the p r o b l e m a t i c stamp on it, because like, is being Italian problematic now? I mean it could even be, everything is problematic for these people.

It took me an embarrassing amount of time to understand that Finn (thelionandtheeagle) was talking about an Italian-American headcanon for Jason, in the sense that he's of Italian descent. Which ties up with the "don't hc Jason as Italian because it's classist!" bullshit nonsense I'm sure many people decided to pull out of their asses in the attempt of feeling morally superior to someone else.

(btw if anyone wants to feel outraged on behalf of Italians for that, just fucking don't. It's stupid. Sincerely, an Italian person.)

Jason might very well be of Italian descent. A lot of Americans have a mixed heritage and I'm surprised there aren't more heroes and vigilantes who have one, and that's what should be considered problematic, not the other way around. Jason Todd patron saint of victims and hero of the downtrodden being of Italian descent is flattering to people with Italian descent, you absolute walnuts.

I'm highly dedicated to Italian Jason Todd. Amazing stunning brave 11/10 could talk about it for days. But you know what? I remember ages ago seeing a post from someone saying that headcannoning Jason as Italian is inherently classist and racist and goddamn will that not leave my brain. Ugh. Anyways I'll go enjoy my pizza pasta Bowery boy now 😘

Yeah well everyone knows that being Italian is classist and racist, I would know, I'm Italian.

Seriously now what? Is Italian Jason Todd a thing? Why have I never seen it, and how can it be racist?

[scriptythelonely]

List of things I have read in the ML Salt Tag that make me a liiitle uncomfortable or makes me roll my eyes.

Alya getting arrested for her blog. (In canon, I'm pretty sure Alya hasn't even POSTED the interview yet, just inquired on a potential interview with Lila)

Marinette suddenly can charm everyone and their mother, and has so many convoluted connections that it makes Lila's lies look almost BELIEVABLE in comparison.

No seriously, i read a story where she charmed Batman's rouge gallery, INCLUDING the Joker. Yknow, the guy who murdered Jason Todd (a literal teen)??

Once read a post in which bad luck happened to the class. One of the Bulletin points literally said "Rose's kitchen burns down when she tries to make cupcakes". Wtf. That's not pettiness, that's ARSON

Speaking of attempted murder, Akumatized Marinette stories after chameleon REALLY amped up seriously harming the class. Like... I can count 7 out of 70+ akumas that have the potential to kill someone??? They're not harmless, but they're certainly not murderous.

Mari being paired up with complete assholes because 'Adrien has no Spine'. (Adrien is an abuse victim that has no idea he's an abuse victim, you cant entirely blame him -_-) These include Damian Wayne (child soldier and complete asshole who thinks hes better than everyone else) Felix (a total stereotype of every broody anti-hero ever) and even CHLOE. (Do i have to explain this one?)

Portraying Marinette as someone who's a patron saint. Didnt she... Oh, idk... SAY SHE ISN'T PERFECT???

On the flip-side, Pettynette. Turns her into Chloe 2.0. Let's see... Friends who agree with literally everything she says (and have no personality other than salt), uses connections to screw over everyone just because they didn't immediately bend over and agree, takes extreme pleasure in above statement...

The fact that her 'New Friend Group' is always the same group (Marc, Aurore, Felix, Those Quantic Kids, Kagami, Luka, Adrien and Chloe ((depends on writer))

Literally everyone's characteristics is erased. Only Chameleon and Ladybug matter in Salt Fics. Lets forget alllllll about all the good times and just be salty.

And this is only the things i can think of right now.

People can happily consume salt and make salt but like... Some of you guys just take it too far that it makes me worried. 😟

Too much salt isn't good for anyone.

[ivesblossom]

Fantasy AU

Day 5 at @official-batfam-week:   Fluff | Take Your Child to Work Day | Magic/Fantasy AU

(FYI, this is a really long post, since I make an aesthetic and wrote a paragraph for each character.)

In a world of magic, creatures of darkness lurks in the shadows. In Gotham, the dedicated vigilantes who stand between civilians and demons are members of an elite squad known as the Batman Inc. These are their stories.

Bruce Wayne is a vampire and Gotham City’s supernatural protector. He fought as a Confederate soldier in the American Civil War (much to the displeasure of his parents), but his military career was cut short when he met Silver St. Cloud, daughter of the owner of the largest cotton plantation in Virginia. Unbeknown to Bruce, Silver was a vampire, and having fall in love with him, transformed Bruce into one so the couple could be together forever. After being reborn, Bruce not only killed Silver and the rest of her family, but returned to Gotham to slaughter his own family. But since no evil deed goes unpunished, Gotham’s patron saint, St. Dumas, cursed Bruce to feel the pain of every victim of his for the eternity… Unless Bruce can find a way to redeem himself. 

Now, using the codename Batman, Bruce protects the city from evil in a attempt to remove the curse. During his quest, he has acquired many allies and friends,  and is a completely changed person from who he was before.

Alfred Pennyworth is a ghost and acts as Bruce Wayne’s butler and friend. Born in England and sent to America during the Revolutionary War, where he changed alliance and began to fight for the independence. He was shot dead in a battle and his soul began to haunt the grounds of what would one day become Gotham. Currently, he helps Bruce in his mission for redemption by providing information as well as keeping the Wayne Manor organized.

Richard “Dick” Grayson is one of the last fairies in the world. After Richard’s parents were murdered by an evil wizard, Bruce Wayne adopted him and raised him as if Dick was his own son. Trained in martial arts since a young age, Dick combines his magical abilities with his training to fight crime under the name Nightwing. He is currently dating Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Oracle.

Barbara Gordon was born with a special ability: she can predict the future. Her dad is Gotham’s Police Commissioner, and she used to help him catch killers, until an attempt on her life resulted on Barbara becoming paraplegic. After that, her dad forbid her from getting involved with police work. But her powers had already caught the eye of Bruce Wayne, who offered her a position in he Batman Inc.. Now, she works as Oracle, gathering clues and spiritual trails to help Bruce solve supernatural mysteries. She is currently in a romantic relationship with Dick Grayson/Nightwing, who also works with Bruce.

Jason Todd was orphaned at a young age after his parents were killed in a vampire attack. Bruce Wayne managed to save the boy, and taking pity of him, adopted Jason. Jason felt left out, since he didn’t have powers like Dick or Barbara. Trying to prove to Bruce that even though he was only human he could fight, Jason confronted the Joker, an ancient trickster god, by himself. Jason died in the conflict, but luckily he didn’t stay down for long, as he soon crawled out of him grave as a zombie. Now he uses the disguise of Red Hood (which was one of the Joker’s many names) to fight monsters by Batman’s side.

Timothy “Tim” Drake comes from a lineage of sorcerers. Having deduced Batman’s true nature as a vampire, he convinced Bruce to let him help, despite Bruce feeling unsure to work with a mortal kid again, given the recent death of Jason. Tim eventually proved himself to be very necessary and was accepted as Bruce’s protégé. He is the boyfriend of Stephanie Brown/Spoiler.

Stephanie Brown is a nymph born in the woods surrounding Gotham. When she discovered her father’s plan to destroy all humans in the city, she allerted Batman by leaving clues all over Gotham. She managed to foil her father’s scheme, and taking the name of Spoiler, she joined Batman in his crusade against evil. She’s currently dating her teammate Tim Drake/Robin and is best friends with Cassandra Cain/Orphan.

Cassandra Cain was born to a family of powerful kitsunes. Raised by her father to become a soldier on his war against humans, Cass rebelled and ran away from him, eventually finding her way into Gotham. There, Bruce Wayne took her in and treated her like a daughter. Under the alias of Orphan, she helps Batman fight magical related crimes in Gotham. She is best friends with Stephanie Brown/Spoiler.

Dinah Drake Lance inherited her mother’s powers as a banshee. Following her mother’s footsteps, Dinah took the moniker of Black Canary set of in the streets of Gotham to stop any supernatural threat in the city. Her adventures led her to cross paths with Batman Inc. many times. A close friend of Barbara, the two girls often work together, and sometimes are even aided by the mysterious Huntress.

Helena Bertinelli is the last living member of the Bertinelli House, an once powerful elfic house in Gotham. When she was just a little girl, her whole family was murdered by dark elves and in that moment Helena swore to avenge her family. Calling herself Huntress, she spent years traveling the world and killing those responsible for her parents death. Helena’s quest eventually brought her back to Gotham, where she took upon herself to clean the city from the influence of the Dark Houses and to protect the few remaining Light Houses. Her violent tactics often result in conflict with Batman Inc., but despite that, she is know to sometimes team up with Black Canary and Oracle. 

[the-minster]

I'm actually so angry and not-chill about people writing Jason off as too traumatized to be good. It's not just that I objectively believe he has a point and a right to his perspective. It's also that if Jason isn't allowed to be heard, then what about me? Who will listen to me? Who will hear me out and not tell me I'm damaged goods for all that has been done to me?

[the-minster]

All these people on tumblr with their ideas about how to "fix" Jason smh. He doesn't need fixing and most suggestions are just people wanting him to shut up and be normal. He needs to be heard and listened to as a victim, not paternalistically coddled and controlled. Y'all not trying to fix him, you're trying to make him more agreeable, but he doesn't owe you that.