#jason asks if bao's parents are dead and he says yes. bao asks if jason's are dead and he says yes. they don't talk further on it.

[martyrbat]

og tags: #bao making friends and protecting the narrows as he moves on from his tragedy can be very interesting and fun! #but my expectations in dc writers is. low. like I'll still read it because thats my shithead nephew but its that frustration of knowing #and seeing a premise for art that could be wonderful and then getting a too glossy too boring product instead #and jason's is just because i think red hood is stupid and that his character is boring and spinning his wheels in the same 3 plots #that he just keeps going through again and again. like let him actually be interesting again and put him in new situations PLEASE.

@pendulum-north yes yes!! fully agree!! this is gonna get slightly sidetracked because i was just writing as i think but i PROMISE i'll loop around to it being sorta relevant:

i think a big problem with jason is the rinse and repeat cycle they have with his character. he's either arguing with bruce on the killing rule and pushing for him to kill the joker or he's the black sheep of the “family” and is bruce's greatest failure in not being able to be saved or he's a tool for the joker to use. his character constantly revolves around bruce (and the associates) or the joker—he's an extension of them or any other bat character instead of being allowed to grow and be established as his own character.

batman is gotham's protector but he's also allowed to be in and out of big leagues. the justice league(s), the outsiders, batman inc, he has more than a handful of powerful allies and he's established and well-known as gotham's primarily hero. you know im a filthy bruce stannie but as comics evolved, more and more of the featured stories are about those big threats—the end of the world ones, the city is going to be destroyed ones, the arkham escape ones instead of how the 1970–90s had a lot more random ones of him helping people he just came across in gotham.

the stakes are constantly being raised and pushed—its the saving the world/millions vs saving a few—theyre obviously and technically higher in the former. but... it loses something that makes it more personal, in my opinion, and makes any tension a bit lackluster despite the increased risks and action. of course its great that the world is saved, a failure would mean this horrible tragedy where millions of unknown faces would be dead!

but when a story focuses and is centered around people in a more personal situation where yeah, the world will keep turning if you don't help but their world will be destroyed? or they'll just be dead and you'll directly feel and see the impact of their death on the community if you fail? to me, that grounds it and makes it more personal and enjoyable. it's why in movies where the stakes are that high, the main character is usually given a love interest to fight for or to personally be motivated by and it makes the audience more invested in seeing their happy ending despite the bigger risk being the entire world gets destroyed if they fail.

but jason todd is bitchless and possesses zero rizz. my aroace king. so instead of a love interest to save, it's a neighborhood <33

instead of having him join a big league of these unbelievable heros with powers or tackling world ending events on a casual tuesday afternoon, i STRONGLY think his character needs to be grounded (or as grounded as a comic will allow, you get my premise) and that's what will allow his character to actually grow the most. he needs to be involved in the narrows and protecting the streets directly. i can still see him having a mask or little emblem on a jacket or something that could get tagged on walls/street poles by the people he saves but... i think he shouldnt really have an alias. it just wouldn't make sense to. hes not hiding and he doesn't have a personal job or responsibilities outside of this. he doesn't have a secret life to protect. his life was already destroyed all those years ago but through his work and heroism, he finally builds a new one (ideally, for me, the most personal life he gets is he helps leslie in the clinic and gains a bigger medical knowledge. this allows him to pay for an apartment to operate from and be more involved with the narrows and protecting/helping the people who live there and get direct information from injured people who come in)

but he doesn't have super[man/boy/girl/dog/etc] on speed dial but he does have a guy who wants to defend his home and is pretty handy with a wrench if you need some work done on your bike. he has a single mother who's in college and will grant access to a lab because todd saved her kid. he (may) have leslie's clinic. he has a big fucking bag where he can just build his own base resources with stolen shit because he's crafty and resourceful. he's not a cowl, he's just a man doing his best for a community that needs it most. let batman and the ninth regrouping of the teen titans or young justice handle the larger than life threats as he's primarily focusing on the people who would normally get overlooked.

i think it'll benefit his character in the premise of going back to where he originally came from to help in any way he can. as a boy he lost his first life to ‘the bat’ and by trying to track down his mother—trying to find out who he is and to find the woman who was supposed to love him. but as a young man he's able to recognize the community that he once was part of and the people who did help raise him, even if it was more indirect. and now he's dedicating his second, unasked for life to protect said community (and allowing the healing of reconnecting with said community and being able to finally find and make the answers for all those questions he had about himself even before his death.)

but i also think it'll allow his character that growth, like i mentioned!! instead of focusing on bruce and joker and being in that boring cycle, he'll be making decisions and his actions will directly impact these people in a way he can see and how that will effect him and his methods will vary. it gives this character a great, open sandbox to play around in and present different challenges for him to handle. the main concern it may bring for me is i dont trust the writers (or fandom...) to behave when it comes to poor people or addicts in a sympathetic and respectful manner but like... we already get that so im used to it lol

re last post tags actually ill allow a jason and bao team up but only if theyre both allowed to change their main aliases 👍