#red hood is the best

[theodorecanaryhood]

The artist and the Tattooist

🏳️‍🌈Jason Todd x Male!Reader

Reader is a painter and owns a gallery across the street from Jason’s Tattoo Studio

Day one of living in Gotham and you really didn’t get why it had a bad rep. It was a nice area, at least the part you lived in. The area you opened your gallery was in a nice area too.

You did get that some parts of Gotham were not as welcoming once the sun went down, but that’s like most places.

You placed all your canvases on the stands as you looked around, breathing in deeply with a smile on your face. You could be your own boss, work your own hours. Relax.

You heard rock music playing from across the street, not too loud, but loud enough it caught your attention.

There was a guy outside the studio across the street, he was tall, muscular and had ink almost everywhere. At least from where you could see, though he was wearing a tank top and shorts, which didn’t cover much. He was carrying boxes inside from the back of his truck.

‘Todd’s place, sounds cute’ you said to yourself as you walked out of your studio, making sure to lock the doors behind yourself.

You walked across the street and went inside the studio, you looked round to see books on the shelves. Opening some and flipping through pages, it was all artwork.

The smell of fresh ink filled your nostrils as you took in the sight of the studio, it was clean. The sound of a tattoo gun could be heard in the distance.

‘Hey, can I help you?’ The tall, muscular guy from earlier said as he walked into view. Smiling at you.

Tattoos down both his arms, up his neck, you could see a bit of his chest and there were tattoos there too. His hands had some nice flower work.

‘Hi, sorry to just walk in, I just opened the art studio across the street. I heard music and thought I’d come over’ you said, trying not to blush too much, as the handsome man looked in your eyes.

‘Sorry, is the music too loud? I was cleaning and moving stuff around to make room for the delivery. I must’ve not realised’ he said, fumbling for the control to the stereo.

‘Oh no, I like Nirvana. I just wanted to come and introduce myself’ you reached your hand out, stopping him from turning the music off.

‘Great, well it’s nice to meet you, I’m Jason. Jason Todd’ he held his hand out.

‘Y/n y/l/n’ you shook his hand, smiling.

‘Todd? As in…?’ You began, Jason chuckling.

‘Yeah, Todd’s place, thought it would be a cool name’ Jason blushed a little.

‘It is’ you reassured, Jason nodding over to your studio.

‘What’s your place called?’ He asked, you narrowed your eyes.

‘Y/l/n’

Jason laughed, finding it funny that you both had the same idea of naming your studio simply after your last names.

‘I like the artwork, who’s the artist? In the books’ you asked, Jason smiled slightly.

‘Me and my best friend, Roy’ he admitted, you raising an eyebrow. Clearly impressed.

‘Wow, I’m impressed’

‘Thanks, I’m assuming the canvases you sell are your own artwork?’ Jason urged, he was seemingly liking this conversation.

‘Yeah, some anonymous artists send stuff in for me to sell, but haven’t had that privilege since last year’ you laugh, Jason stepping a little closer to you.

‘Well, if you ever get bored and want to play around with designs, we could use some help with our art books’ Jason suggested as you nodded, eagerly.

‘Same if you want to sell your artwork as more than tattoos’ you wink.

You both left the conversation on a light note as you both realised you should get back to work, but there was a spring in your step. Jason seemed like a genuine person, a genuinely nice guy. You were quite shocked, he looked rough around the edges from afar, but then after talking. He was just like everyone else.

You’d settled really quickly into the swing of everything, selling your art to various types of people.

Some were rich snobs who wanted a painting for their second bathroom, some were newly weds looking for a piece for their first home together. Some just really liked the design and wanted to find a space to hang it up.

You were so caught up in your own mind that you’d neglected that the canvases were running low. Along with work to sell.

You’d set yourself a day aside in the weekend to finish everything, which you would’ve done easily had it not been for the fact that you also ran low on supplies.

‘Hey’ you smiled as you walked into Jason’s tattoo studio, he smiled at you while cleaning up a client.

‘What’s up y/n?’ Jason greeted you kindly, as you walked to the counter.

‘Was wondering if you had any brushes I could borrow?’ You asked, Jason nodded as he pointed to a shelf.

You thanked him as you left the studio, while Jason looked at your form walking away. Which surprised even him, he didn’t register his actions till you had left. His still present client cleared her throat.

‘Sorry, let me just wrap this up’ Jason got back to his work, with you in his mind.

You’d been going at painting for a good few hours now, to the point your hand began to hurt a little. Fingers becoming stiff around the brush.

Wasn’t the best way for you to spend a Saturday afternoon, working out of hours while everyone else was out having fun.

A sudden knock at your door caught your attention, you putting your brush down and walking over to the apartment door.

‘Jason?’ You questioned, he just smiled as he lifted up a bucket.

‘Hey, thought you might want these’ he suggested, you looked inside the bucket to find more brushes.

‘Thank you’ you accepted as you let him inside your apartment, shutting the door behind him.

‘Nice place, wow, that’s beautiful’ Jason said as your painting caught his eye. He admired the design and the colours.

‘Thanks, it’s not finished yet. Still needs to dry a bit before I add somethings to it’ you said, placing the bucket on the counter. Jason turned and looked at you.

You were dressed in an old pair of blue dungarees, with paint all over your hands, arms and a bit on your face.

‘We don’t use brushes anymore, so thought you could have them’ Jason explained as he stepped closer to you.

‘Thanks again, how’d you know where I live by the way?’ You asked, curious as Jason looked to the floor.

‘You listed your address on your studio website, maybe don’t do that in case creeps show up’ Jason laughed, looking back at you.

‘Got it’

You walked over and put away the stuff you were using, putting it out of the way. Closing the pots of paint too.

‘You want a beer?’ You asked Jason, he nodded a little.

You grabbed two cold beers from the fridge and handed one to Jason, while you stopped off at the sink to wash yourself free of the paint on your body.

‘So, how long you been an artist?’ Jason asked as he sat down, sipping his beer.

‘Since I was a kid, my older siblings were more into lovers and fame. I wanted something meaningful’

Jason nodded as he felt he could relate in a way, the self-proclaimed black sheep of his family. Feeling like he had to compete to be taken serious at times.

‘You should sell this stuff to a museum, you’d make a mint’ Jason stared into your eyes, you huffed a little.

‘I’m not that good’ you replied as you walked over to the table where Jason was sitting and began drinking your beer.

‘You are, really’ he insisted, you going a little red in the face as Jason didn’t break eye contact with you.

‘Thank you. So how long you been tattooing?’ You asked Jason, he smiled a little.

‘Since I was about 20, but couldn’t do it professional yet, only opened up the studio about 2 years ago’

Jason took it upon himself to work for the money to open up his studio, he felt it too easy to ask for Daddy to give him money. Bruce would’ve done it, but that’s not the point. Jason wanted to work hard for it, not have it handed to him.

Much like yourself, you could have just asked one of your older siblings to give you a loan or your parents. It just seemed more meaningful to do it by yourself.

‘It’s great work, wish I was brave enough to get one’ you chuckled, Jason smiled brightly.

‘I could do one for you, they really don’t hurt that much’ Jason informed, ‘plus I won’t charge much’ he joked.

‘I’ll keep that in mind’

Jason still caught himself staring at you as you spoke, your handsome face just seemed so inviting to him. He’d been with men before, but he’d never been so captured by someone like you.

‘What are you doing tonight?’ Jason asked you suddenly, you shot an eyebrow up.

‘Nothing, probably working on the next piece’ you answered, Jason sighed at the answer.

‘It’s a weekend, come on get out with friends’

‘I don’t have any, not in Gotham anyway’ you replied, Jason looked a little saddened by your response.

‘I’ll be your friend’ Jason said genuine, making you laugh a little.

‘Sorry, it’s just so cute that you care’

Jason placed his hand on yours as he spoke softly again.

‘I’m serious y/n, why don’t me and you do something?’

You studied Jason’s face as he looked deep in your eyes, his gesture not changing.

‘Ok, you know Gotham better than me, show me the good spots’

And show you he did, Jason took you to all the good places he could. Bars, nightclubs, he took you to eat too. Insisting to pay for the majority of the night as it was his idea. Though you did pay your way of course, you didn’t like the thought of Jason being ‘expected’ to pay for everything.

It was a great afternoon to night out with Jason, you both got to know each other better. You even found out that his adoptive father was Bruce Wayne, which isn’t something Jason brags about.

You invited Jason back to your apartment as he seemed to not want to go home yet, so he came home with you.

‘I have something to show you’ you informed as you walked Jason to the guest bedroom.

Jason looked at the room a little confused as you pointed to the floor, sitting down.

‘Lay on your back’ you urged, Jason doing so a little unsure.

‘Wow’ he gasped a little as he lay on his back, looking up at the ceiling.

It was an art piece of the solar system painted into the ceiling, the sky of the room lit up from the product of glow in the dark paint. Purples, greens, white…it was a design no one had seen.

‘I finished it last week’ you said, Jason looking at you, seemingly in shock.

‘You painted this?’ He asked, shock present in his voice.

You simply nodded as Jason looked back at the rooms sky, mesmerised by it. You could hear the sound of Jason’s calm breathing, watching in the corner of your eye as Jason’s chest lifted up and down.

‘Can I ask you a question?’ Jason came out with, not looking at you as he still looked at the ceiling, you hummed in response.

‘You wanna go out again sometime? Like tonight’ he continued, you smiled brightly.

‘Yeah, I’d like that’ you replied, looking as Jason smiled.

He turned his head to face you as he found you were looking at him, he placed his hand on your face. Pulling you in a little as he greeted your lips with his, after a few seconds of the two of your lips meeting officially, Jason found his tongue inside your mouth. You welcomed it as you did the same.

Jason rolled onto his front with you laying on your back underneath him, still holding each other. Your lips and tongues dancing together in a sweet tango.

‘God, you’re so beautiful’ Jason breathed out as he looked at you. You pulling him in again, wanting his lips on yours.

It was a heated make out session as Jason found his jacket tossed across the room, you then found your hands in his T-shirt as you felt up his torso.

‘Fuck’ you breathed out into the kiss as Jason buried his face into your neck.

You could feel the heat coming from between your legs, as did Jason from between his. It was a perfect moment of passion, a sweet moment to end the night.

The sight of two men in a heated kiss as they slowly discarded their clothes, making a sweet night end with a hot moment. You didn’t even go to your bed, you both remained under the sky of the room, the very room that caught Jason’s attention.

You felt a slight chill up your spine as you woke up, a blanket covering your legs and groin, you found yourself with no clothes on. Laying next to a fast asleep Jason, who was also not wearing any clothes.

You didn’t know if it was morning or not, or how early or late it was. You just knew that it was a great night. Jason felt so good inside you, he was gentle and sweet.

You found your underwear in the corner of the room, where Jason threw it so he could let his mouth work you up. You smiled as you remembered the acts from last night, how good Jason made you feel.

‘Morning beautiful’ Jason smiled as he rolled over, seeing you standing up. Putting on your underwear.

‘Morning, you want some coffee?’ You sat on the floor next to Jason as you kissed his head.

Jason pulled you in for a sweet little kiss, as he held your face. While his free hand held your thigh.

‘I’ll have some please, just wanted to kiss you again’ Jason smiled, you blushed.

Jason drank his coffee while laying in only his underwear in your bed. You cleaning up on some more work.

Jason just looked at you as he admired your form and how you handled your piece, how much passion you had behind everything.

‘I’m hard, you’re making me hard’ Jason said, rubbing his hand through his hair.

‘How am I making you hard?’ You chuckled, Jason placing his empty coffee cup on your bedside table.

‘Come here, you sexy fucker’ Jason gestured with his hand, you smiled as you crawled over to the bed.

Climbing on top of Jason’s lap as you two made out again, you felt Jason’s length against you which caused you to get hard yourself.

‘Fuck’ you gasped, Jason grabbed at the waist of your underwear, pulling it down to expose part of your ass.

It was just as good as last night as you sat on Jason’s hard, friend. Jason’s moans made you so hot. You couldn’t believe the luck you had.

The hot tattoo artist across the street was now naked in your bed. With you.

It wasn’t all about the sex though as Jason felt the urge to take you for a long breakfast date. Well, by now it was more lunchtime.

As weeks went by Jason and you were getting closer and closer, even being the talk of the customers when you’d both run over the street to each other to have a quick kiss and chat.

It was special times with Jason and he made you feel, like you were the only man on earth. You did the same for him.

Though neither of you had said it yet to one another, there was love present in every way.

[glitter-stained]

Random goon: Hey boss, were you the one to pick that name as an alias? And why this one?

Red Hood : I used to have another name, before... A long time ago. But that person is dead now. I get to choose for myself now, they can't take that from me. I won't let them.

Goon: Huh.

***

Random Goon: Say boss, why do you never take off your shirt in front of us?

Red Hood: Well uh, I actually have that really fucked scar on my chest and I'm not comfortable with...

Random Goon: Don't worry boss, we get it, you don't have to explain yourself to us.

***

Red Hood, high on some toxin: God, I wish my family...

Random Goon (on boss-sitting duty): why not try reaching out to them?

Red Hood: They would never accept me as I am now... They wouldn't agree with my so-called "life choices". Besides, they don't miss me, they miss the person they think I used to be... I wasn't even a man when I last saw them.

Random Goon: Damn boss, that sucks.

***

And then the goons throw the Red Hood a party on trans visibility day and Jason is so confused he straight up cries.

[fanaticalthings]

Jason Todd with his goons:

[starspilli]

i lost the ask my bad! but here is jason for an anon

[ahfrickenfrick]

nightwing being hurt in the field, and over comms he can’t get out what was wrong, nearly in shock, and jason puts on his best batman™️ voice and says “robin, report.”

and it snaps dick out of it enough to say concussion, possible broken ribs, and a gash in his side.

no one talks about it, and then a year later, damian does the same thing to tim

[reginalusus]

Not these two again (I will do it again).

Ummmm, soon-to-be father-son angst or something.

Jason's line after this was originally: "I don't need a lecture from the guy who swapped his scales and sword for cigarettes and guns," but I have other stuff I wanna move on to and the frames kinda got fucked, sooo.

Ko-Fi.

[onestormynight]

Jason Todd's pain tolerance and responses

[rusomnia]

tim: why would i choose peace when i can ruin lives instead?

jason, trying to remember how people think this is the moral one:

[littlefankingdom]

Talia introduced Damian to Bruce as "their second child", and now Bruce is mentally panicking because there's another one, somewhere, when this unspoken first child is Jason.

[that1emowitch]

Batdad with his first 6 kids! (legal or otherwise)

Sorry for the bad quality it's a random sketch I made in German class loll

Might make one for the other kids/bats (duke, babs, carrie, terry, etc.) once i figure out what their dynamic should be

[appleswan]

Jason knows that when he approaches kids in his entire get up that they're scared of him, and in crises that's... not great. So he's taken to carrying sticker books with him. He has enough pockets for it. He offers the kids stickers, and he lets them put the stickers on his helmet. He has dozens of Red Hood helmets now, all of them have an amalgamation of new and faded stickers.

The rest of the family tries to make fun of him for it, but Jason just holds out his sticker books like "You seem stressed, have a sticker."

[redsray]

I love those fics where the JL learns about Jason (or the entire batfam, wtv) and realise that the Red Hood, who ran Batman in circles for a good while and keeps him on his toes, took over the entire crime-ridden drug empire of Gotham in just a few months, ran (or is still running) the Iceberg lounge and is just objectively terrifying: is also a nineteen-year-old with this baby face. THIS is who multiple drug lords answered to and who protects Crime Alley.

[glitter-stained]

More of trans allegory Jason and the goons VS the batfam:

Transmasc older goon, trying to connect: Hey out of curiosity boss, when did your egg crack?

Jason, thinking this is a bird pun about how he became Robin: Uh, 12 I guess...

****

Penguin henchman: Wow, you really are okay calling yourselves goons? Isn't that like a little demeaning?

Red Hood Goon: Inclusivity my guy -Henchperson is a mouthful, and that way, we don't have to assume.

Penguin Henchman: Oh my god that's so thoughtful!

*they resume shooting at eachother.*

*****

Batman You're not okay Hood, you need a professional. Please, we can help you!

Jason: There's nothing wrong with me, I won't let you throw me into Arkham!

Goon of the week: Yeah Batfreak, the boss doesn't need help, there's nothing wrong with him! How would you like it if we tried to convert you out of being a furry, huh?!!

Batman: reconsiders life choices.

****

Angry goon: *beats the shit out of Nightwing with a trans pride flag*

Dick, a bisexual cis metrosexual: I'm not sure what is happening but this feels offensive.

****

Batman: Please, I know there's a lot of bad blood, but you're still my child...

Jason: Really? Because I clearly remember you saying you weren't my father and didn't have to deal with my "teenage angst"!

The Goons: You said what?!

Oracle : You said what?!

Dick, standing up and picking up the pride flag: You said what.

[kizzer55555]

The Vampire Aesthetic

Ok so Danny knows two billionaires personally and they really couldn’t be more different. Yet they had one thing in common. A vampire aesthetic. Sam is fully into goth. Spiderwebs, bats, the color black. She enjoys fangs and fake blood and the darkness of her soul. Meanwhile, Vlad is Vlad. If his name wasn’t enough, the dark clothing, pale skin, and flying around with a cape and fangs with coffins in his mansion really sells it.

Danny doesn’t know many rich people so he thinks this might be some kind of trend. (If Paulina is rich, her family likes the chupacabra) So he just thinks that all rich people have some kind of vampire thing going on.

Cue Danny somehow ending in the Wayne household. Maybe he was brought over as a friend of one of the bats, maybe rescued from a field trip/vacation gone wrong, maybe some other situation. But he is there in civilian form with civilian Waynes and Danny just takes a good long look around the inside of the mansion.

“So where’s the vampire aesthetic?

Everyone freezes.

Danny just starts looking around, checking behind paintings and feeling the walls for secret levers. Used to secret passages with Vlad and possibly Sam. The Fentons definitely had them when they were temporarily rich.

“Come on, I know you guys are hiding it.”

Cue the entire batfamily thinking that this is another Tim and that he is fully aware that these people are the batfamily. Danny hangs around the mansion more and the bats just start dropping their disguises and not even bothering to hide stuff around Danny because they assume he already knows. (Possibly even trying to recruit him to be a new bat) Meanwhile, Danny, who does not know these people are batman and his birds, just does not pick up on any of it.

He grew up in a health violation with a giant ballon observatory lab above his head and a portal to the afterlife in his basement. He is a half dead teenager who has tea with the god of time and his godfather is the other parent to his clone child. He’s used to death lazers being scattered across his home and mysterious stains on clothing.

People are weird! He doesn’t judge!

[heavysighing-dreamyeyes]

Stick Around

~1.2k words

Jason Todd is your best friend. But sometimes you're not sure if you're his.

"Back off. I can stitch it myself." He nearly barks at you when you press the towel to his bleeding wound.

"Come on, Jason. Why can't I help?" You ask, trying to keep the worry and pleading from your voice.

"I don't want you to." He says, firm and flat as he pulls away, dragging the towel and the first aid kit with him. He doesn't go very far, but you have a sinking feeling that's more owed to the bathroom being small than him wanting to stay near you.

You shift on your feet, torn between listening– respecting his boundaries or stepping closer to help. You take a step, unable to stay away from him when his lips curl into a frown as he starts stitching his own wound.

"Let me. I know how. You taught me." You try again, careful and soft like you're the one that terrifies the worst of Gotham.

"I said no. Just give me some space." He tells you, hands working steadily to piece his skin back together. You vaugley wonder how many times he's done this alone.

Then his words register. You can't stop your face from crumbling. "You want me to leave?"

He doesn't look up, doesn't respond, too engrossed in his injury.

You nod a little, more to yourself than him as you scoot around him, avoiding brushing any part of him as you slip out the bathroom door. Hesitating, you quietly close the door behind you and linger in the hallway, unsure. How much space did he want? Was he upset with you? Did he want you to leave the apartment?

You let out a sigh and slowly head for the apartment door. You can stay at friends tonight. Stuffing down the emotions welling in your chest, you grab your jacket and start to shove your shoes on.

"Where are you going?" A sharp tone cuts you out of your self pity.

"You told me to leave?" You question, gaze snapping to him.

He stands there, hand over the gauze wrapped on his side and studies you. "No."

"No?" You echo, slowly lowering your coat.

"I only– I didn't want you to get any blood on you. Or see me like that. I don't want you to leave. Why would I ever not want to see you?” He says with a scoff, stepping closer to pull you away from the door, glaring at it like it personally offended him. “You’re the only person I want to be around, it’s maddening, I don’t know why anyone else even tries to speak to me when I can’t get my mind off of you-“

He shudders, like a huge weight has left his shoulders, words cutting off. He presses a kiss against your skin, without thinking, his mouth finding the juncture between your shoulder and your neck, pulling you tight against him. "I want you to stay here. With me." He murmurs against your skin before pulling back just enough to see your face.

"Oh." You fall quiet for a moment, looking anywhere but him as you start to speak again, fighting the heat that threatens to take over your face, "I don't mind. Blood, I mean. Not if I'm helping you."

He can't stop the smile that comes to his face, always so easy and present around you.

Jason reaches out, his fingers touching your chin, gently tapping it, to make you look at him. “Do you still think I don’t want you here? That I don’t want you around?” he asks, voice low.

You waver, eyes trailing back to his. "Well, no, I mean, I know you want me around."

"Good." He says softly, fingers lingering on your skin, on your face, on your waist. It makes you feel wanted, needed, safe.

The moment is so soft, so warm and inviting you want to lose yourself in it. But it feels like a lie to let yourself stay in it. Not when he's all you ever seem to want. When you dream of the color of his eyes and the feeling of his skin against yours. "Are you feeling dizzy? Need to sit down?" You ask, cutting the moment, the feeling that it could be something more, short.

He hums softly, like he expected your avoidance. "You don't have to run from me."

That makes you blink, surprise painting your features. "I'm not running. I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh please, there's so many things I know you've been holding out on me." He laughs a little before kissing your neck and whispering into your ear. "You wanted me way before I knew it was okay to admit wanting you. And now I'm going to make up for all that lost time." He looks at you with an intention you can feel behind his eyes. "There's nothing I won't do for you, nothing that I won't give you because you deserve the world and more." He kisses your forehead and smiles down at you softly as he sighs your name. "So don't run."

That makes your brain short circuit. And then the flood of scrambled thoughts overtake your mind. He knows you want him? Of course he does– He's one of the greatest detectives in the world, maybe even the universe. Why did you think you could hide it? How long has he known? But one thought persists above the rest. He wants you to?

Jason gently taps your hip, dragging your attention from the frantic jumble of questions in your head. "Focus on me. Not whatever's going on in your head. I don't need an answer right now. I just want you to be here." He says your name like it's precious, a treasure to keep close. "Please."

You nod slowly, trying to calm your pounding heart, to get your body to listen to you and answer him or touch him or anything.

"I could just kiss you right here. I could do that. You know, just take advantage of the situation? How you can't seem to believe that I want you. But..." he tilts his head, running his thumb along your jaw, "I want to kiss you when I know you're ready. For you to want it as badly as I do, pretty."

"What if I do?" You ask quietly, scared to break the tension building around the two of them. "What if I want to kiss you, Jason?"

"Yeah?" he whispers, his fingers finally gripping your hair, his thumb lightly caressing your neck. His eyes are locked on yours, and all the emotions that seem to be swirling around inside him right now are all concentrated on one, simple thing: keeping you.

"Yeah." You echo, just as quiet and soft as his voice.

He doesn't ask again, doesn't hesitate, just kisses you with the desperation of years of built of tension and longing glances. He kisses you like you're worth something, and you are. You're everything to him, and he now that he has you like this, he won't let a day pass without reminding you.

Your fingers curl in his shirt, his hand tightens in your hair and everything else seems to fade away when you deepen the kiss. Jason Todd is your best friend. And you're starting to believe that you're more than just that to him.

[spidertams]

Can I interest you in a couple of Jasons…