Silver Storyteller

under the hood & lost days jason killing people is ultimately less about whether they "deserve it" & more... would killing this person be useful/beneficial? killing ego stops him from trafficking children, killing the drug lords' lieutenants is an extremely effective & convincing demonstration that get them to heel, killing black mask's henchmen puts pressure on him that ultimately leads to him decimating his own empire.

in under the hood you can argue it's because jason is focused on a goal; of course he's not going out of his way to kill people who "deserve it," he doesn't have time for that. but in lost days it's primarily to prevent future harm. that trainer would have killed her family if jason didn't stop her, & that dealer selling poisoned drugs can't continue doing so because he's dead.

the joker's the only person that jason really seems to argue deserves to die for what he has done in the past, & even then it's less "the joker deserves to die" and more "you (bruce) should have killed him." & even then the conversation carried the implication of "the joker kept killing people after i died. why wasn't i enough for you to care?"

"i thought killing me--that i'd be the last person you'd ever let him hurt."

everything with the joker is personal, in a way that jason killing other people isn't.

i digress. this all makes me think back to what jason says about egon: "i didn't 'murder' him. you murder people. i... put this reptile down." it's a very dehumanizing thing to say! this reminds me of the practice of euthanizing animals that attack humans, both wild & domesticated. it's not the animal's "fault" and it's not a punishment because they "deserve it," it's merely because if they've attacked a human before there's a higher chance they will again.

stealing this out the tags bc This This This.

the thing is i don't think jason turning more into antagonist or even just more testy relationship with bats would be a bad thing. bc i could see it being an avenue for him getting more independence from bruce but esp just as a character. so much of jason's stories nowadays just feel like they revolve around if the bats like him or not that day.

but if winick were to write another jason story it would just be jason vs the bats where jason's sole purpose is to a problem and make bruce mad. and like. i love it when they make bruce mad. i love it when bruce is challenged. however i don't love it enough that i wouldn't mind if it came at the expense of jason's character. esp considering there are ways to make jason challenge bruce without making him rebooting back to his utrh characterization.

He was the murder victim of a mass murdering domestic and international terrorist. The philosophical debate doesn't enter the conversation because it doesn’t matter. It shouldn't matter. Especially to his victims. People shouldn't be forced to die and suffer for the sake of Bruce's ego or mental state. Joker should be stopped from killing permanently, and Jason isn't wrong for asking for that. Who cares if Joker thinks he's right? What actually matters is that he doesn't kill any more people. Jason thought he would be the last victim because his father and mentor (who is one of the richest most powerful/influential people on the planet) has the means to end Joker. Batman even has nonlethal options to do so, but he doesn't use them. Jason isn't insensitive for not caring about the reason behind Bruce's inaction; he was the one that was murdered.

I’ve searched the “Catatonic Jason Todd,” “Disabled Jason Todd,” “Jason Todd Lives,” and “Jason Todd and Bruce Wayne” tags. I might’ve missed the fic but PLEASE tell me someone knows what I’m talking about

I can give more details on the plot if necessary but that’s the main things I remember.

guy who has read 100 comics: bruce wayne is an evil person and a terrible parent and fandom larpers who only read wayne family adventures don't actually know anything about bruce wayne and are projecting their stupid inane fantasies onto him

hes NOT JOINING THE TEEN TITANS its “joining WITH a group…to find some missing teens” jason is already investigating and about these kids investigating and decides to help READ THE INFORMATION GIVEN

he’s also not in his thirties he’s probably not even in his mid-twenties jason is literally near cass and tims age dc is manipulating you and you are letting them!

this isnt weird for jason he has notoriously had issues with child heroes being in danger he is going to look at this “hyper-capable” heroes and see graves they will fill he’s going to WORRY

Completely free of my usual argumentation about what I think he should be.

Because I love him being a character that still cares so much about the same thing he did as a kid.

Because I like the idea that he doesn't feel the need to leave that behind to grow up.

It resonates with me strongly.

I like his story being different. Being the one that always comes back.

I don't just tolerate it because I think it suits his character. I actively love it.

It feels like saying it's okay to still be passionate about things that other people have thought were childish. That it isn't childish unless you make it so.

And part of my brain is always saying I should be a bit more embarrassed about caring so much about it.

But I like caring about it.