mocego - Tumblr blog

mocego · 3 years

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Red Paint

Whumptober Day 16: Recovery / Scars / Aftermath

(Loving this trend where I say I'm giving up on Whumptober and then post yet another fic a few days later)

Summary:

Roy is talking to somebody on the phone now, his voice muffled through the door. Lian can hear enough to pick up pieces of the one-sided conversation. She hears the word ambulance, followed by their address. She hears what sounds like a sob at first, but it can’t be that. Lian’s dad would never cry like that.

She hears, My husband tried to kill himself, and then, brokenly, Hurry.

Trigger Warnings: Suicide Attempt

Lian wakes up to the sound of cursing. Usually Lian would dismiss the noise and go back to sleep. She’s used to being awoken in the middle of the night from her dad and Jason coming home after doing their hero jobs. But Lian almost never hears Roy curse—not this loudly, at least. Jason does, frequently, but Roy always makes a point of censoring his mouth when Lian is within earshot. This time he doesn’t seem to care. “Fuck, shit—Jason,” she hears. “No, no, no. Jaybird, talk to me, baby. Goddamn it. Fuck.” Lian sits up in bed, rubbing her sleepy eyes. There’s the sound of frantic stomping down the hall, accompanied by more muttered curses. Lian’s stomach twists as she realizes that this isn’t the frustrated kind of cursing or the mad kind or the kind her dad makes when Jason is patching him up after a rough night. He’s scared. And it takes something really bad to make Lian’s dad scared. Being as quiet as she can, Lian climbs out of bed. She steps tentatively out of her bedroom, trailing her blanket behind her. She stops to grab her Wonder Woman plushie to help her be brave. She ventures into the hallway and hears clattering coming from the kitchen. A second later, Roy comes rushing out holding the cordless phone. “Daddy?” Lian says, her eyes wide at his flustered state. “What’s wrong?”

Roy doesn’t seem to notice Lian at first—not until he nearly runs into her on his path to the bathroom. There’s red paint on his hands, but Lian doesn’t remember him painting anything. “Go back to bed, sweetheart,” he says, distracted and shaky. He barely looks at her. He’s already dashed back into the bathroom before Lian can ask anything else. He swings the door shut behind him, effectively blocking Lian’s view of whatever he’s painting in there. Lian obediently goes back to her bedroom, but she doesn’t get farther than the threshold before her curiosity betrays her. She sits behind her door, opened a crack, and listens. Roy is talking to somebody on the phone now, his voice muffled through the door. Lian can hear enough to pick up pieces of the one-sided conversation. She hears the word ambulance, followed by their address. She hears what sounds like a sob at first, but it can’t be that. Lian’s dad would never cry like that. She hears, My husband tried to kill himself, and then, brokenly, Hurry. There’s silence for a minute. Lian’s palms sweat where they grip Wonder Woman’s arm. Quieter than before, Lian hears Roy pleading with someone. Don’t do this to me, Jaybird. You idiot. You fucking idiot. Lian sits there for several more minutes, listening to her daddy cry and picturing the red paint on his hands. When she hears sirens down the street, she gets up and climbs back into her bed. She pulls her blanket over her head and covers her ears so she doesn’t have to hear anymore.

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The hospital smells funny. It’s stuffy and too clean, like chemicals and cotton. Lian wishes she had brought some toys to the waiting room with her. Daddy pulled Lian out of bed as soon as the ambulance left, not giving her time to change out of her pajamas or grab her toys. She saw a pool of blood on the bathroom tile through the open doorway. Uncle Dick returns from his vending machine mission and tosses Lian a bag of animal crackers. “Here you go, kiddo.” He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. None of his smiles tonight have. He takes the plastic chair next to Lian’s and pulls her onto his lap, sitting her on his knee before opening his own snack. “Any updates while I was gone?” he asks Uncle Duke. Duke shakes his head. Lian’s other aunts and uncles are here too, all still in their pajamas. It’s like a sleepover, if sleepovers were sad. Grandpa Bruce keeps pacing back and forth across the waiting room, muttering to himself and making all sorts of calls. Damian is playing a game on his phone. Aunt Cass is sleeping with her head in Tim’s lap, curled up tight across two chairs. “Where’s Jay-Jay?” Lian asks. Everyone has been talking about him tonight, but always out of Lian’s hearing range. She’s heard them using big words like lacerations, depressed, and suicide. She wants to ask what they mean, but she’s too afraid of what the answer will be. Dick’s fingers tighten on the pretzel halfway to his mouth. He returns it to the bag warily. “He’s with the doctors, sweetie.” “Is he okay?” Jason’s always talking about how much he hates doctors. He must be really hurt if he let them take him to a hospital. “He’ll be fine,” Dick reassures her, but his smile is too sad to do any actual reassuring. “He’s just...a little hurt right now.” Lian chews her animal crackers thoughtfully. “Can I see him?” She has a Barbie doctor kit at home in her room. Daddy should have let her bring it; maybe she could use it to make Jason better. “In a little bit,” Dick says. He smooths her hair down like he’s trying to comfort her, but Lian doesn’t know what she’s supposed to be comforted from. “Your dad’s with him now. Just eat your snack, okay?”

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Lian is sitting at the end of Jason’s hospital bed with a coloring book that Grandpa Bruce found for her at the gift shop. The book only came with five crayons, which doesn’t give her much to work with. How can Lian be expected to color in a giraffe if her only options are red, yellow, green, blue, and pink? She misses her crayons at home. That pack had the decency to come with eighty-four colors and a sharpener. But Daddy says it’s rude to complain about gifts, so Lian colors in her green giraffe and listens while the grownups talk. Not that there is much talking going on. It’s been quiet ever since Lian was finally let in to see Jason. Bruce and Roy keep asking how Jason’s feeling, but his answers have been disinterested and mumbled. Lian knows they’re being quiet because they don’t want her to hear whatever they really want to talk about, but she doesn’t want them to make her leave, so she doesn’t mention it. Bruce is the one to break the heavy silence. “Jason,” he says, sounding tired. No answer. Lian colors in a pink bunny. Bruce sighs. “We’re going to have to talk about it eventually.” “Just go away.” Jason doesn’t sound like himself. He sounds slow, like a gusher that’s been completely drained of juice. He’s paler than he was when he tucked Lian into bed earlier tonight. His arms are all wrapped up in bandages from wrist to elbow. Lian wishes they could all just go home, but Daddy said Jason has to stay here in the hospital for a little while longer. Roy is holding Jason’s hand now. He hasn’t left his spot on Jason’s bed since Lian got here. He hasn’t let go of Jason’s hand either. He looks the most tired out of everyone, his eyes red and his hair in a messy ponytail at the nape of his neck. There’s still some paint on his shirt. “Please, Jaybird,” he says quietly, rubbing his thumb across Jason’s wedding band over and over—a matching counterpart to the one on his own finger. “You have to give us something. We just want to help you.” Jason doesn’t look like himself, all washed out in the white hospital room. He doesn’t look at Roy or Bruce or Lian. “You really wanna help me?” he asks. He sounds grumpy, but the kind that’s just sadness pretending to be grumpiness. Lian doesn’t like hearing it. “Get out and leave me alone. I’m tired.”

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Daddy called Aunt Mia to come pick Lian up and take her home. The sun has been up for hours, but the hospital doesn’t feel any less cold. Most of the others have gone by now. Uncle Duke and Damian had school, and Dick took Cass and Tim to get breakfast. This is the first time since they arrived that Roy has left his husband’s side. Lian focuses on buttoning her rain jacket all by herself while they wait for Mia to arrive. Roy and Bruce are talking quietly over her head. “Three days?” Roy echoes with disbelief. “That has to be a joke.” “It’s hospital protocol,” Bruce explains calmly. “He’s going to be under suicide watch for twenty-four hours, and then he has to do either three days in the psych ward or be admitted to another mental health facility.” “This is a load of—” Roy stops himself. He covers Lian’s ears. “This is a load of horse shit,” he says, muffled but not enough. He takes his hands away. “You break the law every night. You can’t ignore this one damn rule?” “It’s not a matter of rules. He’s not well, Roy.” “I can take care of him,” Roy insists. “He’s just going through a rough patch right now, but he’ll get better. I’ll watch him.” “Roy,” Bruce says patiently. He says it the same way that Roy tells Lian she can’t have twelve pancakes during breakfast. Consoling the tantrum before it starts. “I’ll watch him, Bruce. I can take a few days off work. I won’t let him out of my sight until this thing passes.” “He needs professional help.” “Do you honestly think he’ll agree to that?” Roy asks, his voice having risen to an almost-yell. He takes a deep breath and says, more quietly, “Even if you somehow talked him into it, there’s nowhere for him to go. The guy’s legally dead as Jason Todd, and the Red Hood has a record longer than my leg. Put him in a facility under a fake identity and he can’t do treatment without lying about his entire life, which defeats the purpose. The only place shady enough to take him is Arkham, and that’s not fucking happening.” Lian can’t remember the last time her dad cursed this much. She can’t remember the last time he’s been this openly scared about something either. “Leslie Thompkins is a licensed therapist and a close friend,” Bruce responds calmly. “Jason knows her. He’s comfortable with her.” “Fine,” Roy says. “He’ll come back home and I’ll drive him to his appointments.” “He’s coming back to the manor. Just until he’s better.” “No. No way.” “It won’t be forever, Roy. But you already have your daughter to take care of. You can’t watch him every second.” “Who the fuck do you think has been watching him every time he’s gotten low like this, huh?” Roy is trying to keep his voice down, but it still comes out as an angry hiss. Lian snaps another button. “When he can’t get out of bed, who do you think is the one making him shower and eat? Who’s the one that takes away his guns when he starts spiraling? I’ve gotten him through this before and I can do it again.” Sometimes Jason gets sad, Lian knows. She’s seen it. She’s watched her dad and Jay-Jay have hushed conversations on days when Jason can’t get off the couch. Sometimes he cries. Sometimes Roy does. But by the next day, things are always good again. Jason learns how to smile again. Bruce doesn’t budge. Lian doesn’t know why Roy thought he would; no one can win an argument against Batman. Not unless they’re Alfred or Lian. “This is what’s best for him.” Bruce plants a hand on Roy’s shoulder. “Go home, Roy. Take a shower. He’ll be here when you get back. We can break the news to him together.” Roy’s hands tighten into fists. His shoulders sag, defeated. Lian wonders if he knows there’s still blood crusted under his fingernails, or if he just doesn’t care. “He’s going to hate this plan,” Roy says finally. “I know. But it’s the right thing.”

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Lian spends the next few days with Aunt Mia. She comes up with all sorts of fun games to play, but Lian can’t stop thinking about Jason. When she left the hospital after the Bad Night, Jason kissed her on the forehead and told her he’d be fine, but he didn’t sound like himself. He hasn’t sounded like himself in a long time. Lian has hardly seen her dad these past few days; he’s always at the hospital with Jason. Today Jason was finally released from the hospital, but Mia said that he can’t come home yet. Roy drove with Jason to Grandpa Bruce’s house to help him settle in. What exactly he’s settling in for, Lian doesn’t know, and no one will tell her. Lian bounds up from the kitchen table when Roy closes the front door behind him. “Daddy, Daddy! Mia and I made sculptures!” She points at her tribe of colorful Play-Doh creations on the table. Roy picks her up and kisses her cheek. “Sounds great, sweetheart.” He’s been distracted ever since Jason got hurt. His eyes keep going far away, but Lian can never figure out what it is he’s looking at. Roy collapses into a kitchen chair, keeping Lian on his lap and hugging her close. “Thanks for watching her, Mia.” “No problem,” Mia says, squishing her own Play-Doh sculptures back into the little plastic tubs. “How’d it go with…?” She trails off, her eyes darting between Roy and Lian. Instead of answering, Roy smiles down at Lian. “Did you two have fun today?” Lian holds up her Play-Doh snowman. “I named him Oliver.” She points to the yellow on its mouth. “This is his goatee, see?” “Oh, man, Grandpa Ollie’s gonna love that.” Roy and Mia make smalltalk for a while, talking about everything but Jason. Roy pays Mia for babysitting and sees her out. Then he sets about making chicken nuggets for Lian. “Daddy, where’s Jay-Jay?” Lian ventures to ask. She smooshes a glob of pink and green together, squishing the dough between her fingers. “He’s at Grandpa Bruce’s house, baby. I told you this earlier.” “But why?” Jason has been living with them for over three years now. Doesn’t he like their apartment? He’s the one who picked out the bookshelves in the living room, after all. Roy sighs and leans back against the counter. “Bruce thought it would be a good idea for Jason to be with family for a bit.” “But we’re his family.” “We are,” Roy agrees. He ruffles her hair. “But you know how when you got chickenpox, you stayed home from school that way you wouldn’t give it to your classmates?” Lian nods. “It’s a little like that. Jason’s just a little sick right now, and he didn’t want to expose you to that.” Lian can’t see the connection between the bandages on Jason’s wrists and a case of chickenpox, but she doesn’t voice it. Daddy always gets sad whenever she talks about the Bad Night. “When can he come home?” “Soon,” he promises. “He’ll be back with us in no time.” Soon can mean anything from two hours to two months, but Lian knows better than to ask again. They eat their nuggets in silence. After making Lian clean up her Play-Doh, Roy puts on some Disney movies. They watch them together on the couch long past bedtime, but it feels empty without Jason.

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“How’d today’s session go?” Roy asks. Lian is sitting on his lap while he does his daily phone call to Jason. Lian kicks her feet and waits impatiently for her turn. Roy nods along to whatever Jason is saying. “That’s great, Jaybird. That’s really great. Are the meds helping?” Lian tugs on Roy’s sleeve. “Daddy, what are meds?” Roy gently shushes her. He twists one of her pigtails gently around his finger while he listens to Jason. “Yeah, she’s right here.” He moves the phone away from his mouth. “Jay-Jay says hi.” “Can I talk to him?” Lian reaches up to snatch the phone away, but Roy keeps it pressed to his ear, out of her reach. “Yeah, she wants the phone. Is that okay?” Jason must say yes, because next Roy is putting the phone on speaker and holding it up for Lian to talk. “Hi, Jay-Jay!” she yells into the receiver. “I miss you.” “I miss you too, princess.” He still sounds tired, but it’s an improvement to how he was at the hospital. At least now he doesn’t sound like a dead person pretending to be an alive person. “How was your day?” Lian catches Jason up on everything she can think of since he hasn’t been here to witness the important stuff, like the clown pancakes Daddy made this morning and the corgi she saw at the park. Jason hums along, ooh-ing and aah-ing at all the right places while Lian chatters on. “When are you coming home?” she asks when she’s finished. “You missed three whole Taco Tuesdays.” “Soon, sweetheart. I promise.” Lian is getting real tired of that word—soon. Soon means nothing. Soon is just a word that grownups use when they don’t want kids to know the truth. “Uncle Tim said you want to die and that’s why you had to go away.” Roy sucks in a sharp breath, but he doesn’t take the phone away. Jason is quiet for a while. Lian starts to wonder if he hung up, when finally he says, “Uncle Tim is a dummy, alright, princess? I’m just helping your grandpa with some things. I’ll be back home by next week.” “Next week?” Roy rips the phone back and turns the speaker off so Lian is once again cut off from the conversation. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” She can faintly hear Jason’s voice over the receiver. “I’m not staying here any longer than that.” Roy’s eyes flicker to Lian, who stays listening intently. He lowers his voice. “Babe, I think you should listen to what Leslie says. You know I want you back here more than anyone, but your mental health has to come first. Some time away will do you good. Get your head back on straight before you come back. There’s no rush.” “I’m coming home next week,” Jason says, more forceful this time and leaving little room for argument. “I’m fine.”

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Things have been tense since Jason’s return. Not that Lian has been included in any of the many hushed conversations that have taken place out of her earshot since then. Jason’s kept his arms covered up, not letting Lian get in even a curious glimpse at where the bandages used to be. Daddy said that everything would go back to normal as soon as Jason was back, but Lian is pretty certain he miscounted somewhere. Jason has been off since...since the hospital, really. Or maybe before then. It’s like he left half of himself behind when he went away, and that half hasn’t come back yet. His smiles, rare as they are, are empty. He doesn’t talk—not if someone doesn’t talk to him first, and when he does say something, he doesn’t meet anyone’s eyes. He hardly looked twice at the macaroni bracelet Lian made for him. And Roy is so busy taking care of Jason that he starts to disappear too. Lian can’t remember the last time the apartment was this quiet. Tonight she goes into her dads’ room to remind them that she still hasn’t gotten her bedtime story for the night. She stops in the doorway, peeking into the dark space. Jason is lying in bed, curled up on his side with his face buried in the pillow. Roy is sitting next to him, one hand resting on Jason’s hip over the blanket. “I’m not asking for a lot here, Jaybird,” Roy says to him. Neither of them have noticed Lian. Jason grumbles something that Lian can’t hear. “You’d have energy if you ate more than a handful of grapes today.” Roy holds out something in front of Jason’s face. “One protein bar. That’s all I’m asking.” Jason doesn’t take it. He doesn’t even look at it. After a moment of waiting with no response, Roy slams the protein bar down on the mattress so suddenly it makes Lian jump. “Damn it, Jason! What do you want me to do, huh? You won’t eat anything, you won’t drink anything—it’s like I’m living with a damn zombie.” He runs a frazzled hand through his hair. “I want to help you, Jaybird, but I can’t do that if you won’t help yourself.” “I’m sorry, okay?” Jason whispers. His eyes are glossy, like when he’s chopping up jalapeños. “I’m trying. I wanna get better, but it’s…” He trails off, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry.” Roy sighs. “Maybe I should call Bruce.” “You promised.” Even now the words lack any real feeling. “I know, but I’m way out of my depth here, babe. I don’t know how to help you, and I can’t risk losing you again.” He cups Jason’s cheek and turns his face to meet his own, his eyes desperate. “Please, Jaybird. Give me an inch. If you can’t do it for yourself, then do it for me. Do it for her.” It takes a long time, but eventually Jason’s hand snakes out from under the blanket. He takes the protein bar. Roy smiles like it’s the best present he’s ever gotten.

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Jason is helping Lian get ready for school this morning. It’s the first time since Jason got home that Roy’s left him alone unsupervised, but they were running out of groceries and Lian is sick of boiled hot dogs. Jason doesn’t seem any less sad than he was a few days ago, but he’s out of bed today, which must be a good sign considering how happily Roy kissed him when he came into the kitchen. He even ate a bowl of cereal without Roy having to coax him the whole way. Now Jason’s head is bent to the task of scrubbing a chocolate syrup stain out of Lian’s sweater with a stain remover pen. Lian watches, twirling side to side and watching her skirt billow around. “Jay-Jay?” she asks. He doesn’t look up. “Yeah, sweetheart?” “Did you try to die because you don’t want me around anymore?” Jason goes completely still. He looks up at her like she said something crazy. “What?” “You’ve been sad. My friend Suzie said that when her mommy gets sad, she sends Suzie away to stay with her daddy in Metropolis. She said it’s a ‘break.’ Is that why you want to die? To take a break from me?” Jason looks heartbroken. He sets aside the sweater and pulls Lian into a hug. “God no, sweetheart. No.” He kisses the side of her head. “I love being with you. And your dad. You guys are the best part of my day.” “Then why are you sad?” People aren’t supposed to be sad when they’re surrounded by love. It’s why everyone gets so happy on Valentine’s Day and Christmas. When you’re loved, the sadness goes away. Doesn’t it? Jason mulls over his answer for a moment. “It’s...Sometimes grownups just…” He sighs. He ends the hug and moves Lian back a bit so she can see his face. “Fine, I was sad,” he admits. “But it’s...it has nothing to do with you, I promise. I’d never want a break from this face.” He pinches her cheek, which usually makes her giggle, but not this time. “Then why? I thought you were happy.” Ever since Jason and Daddy got married it’s like they’ve all been living in a fairytale. It’s been pancakes in the morning and cartoons after school and playing with the babysitter while Roy and Jason go out at night to shoot bad guys. Lian thought the three of them would be happy like that forever. “My life...hasn’t been the easiest,” Jason says. “There’s been a lot of badness in my life, and sometimes that badness catches up with me.” “Like the bad guys you and Daddy fight?” The corner of Jason’s mouth lifts. “Exactly like them. But these kinds of bad guys aren’t so easy to beat.” He hugs her again, tighter this time. “I’m sorry I scared you. I promised your dad it wouldn’t happen again, and I meant it. I won’t put you guys through that ever again.” Lian nods, considering his words. She almost doesn’t know if she should believe him, but Jason has never lied to her before. She trusts that he’s not lying now. “Are you still sad?” “Sometimes,” he admits. “But it’s been getting better.” “You should get some happy stickers.” At his questioning look, Lian says, “That’s what my teacher does when we get sad at school. You get a shiny happy sticker to make the sadness go away.” Jason smiles a little, his eyes going soft. “That’s a really good idea, princess.” He picks back up her sweater and caps the stain remover pen. “Alright, I think this is as good as it’s gonna get. Let’s get you dressed, and hopefully your teacher won’t yell at me for dropping you off late again.”

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“—and the book talked about how lemurs are nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day and stay awake at night,” Lian says. “And they live in Madagascar, which is actually a real place! It’s not just a movie!” She’s got her crayons scattered around the kitchen table while her dads make breakfast. She’s on her fifth lemur drawing; the previous four hang proudly on the fridge for the world to see. “That’s fascinating, pumpkin,” Roy says, half-listening while he makes coffee. “You’re doing it wrong,” Jason mutters from the other side of the counter. He eyes the coffee maker with contempt. Roy pours another scoop of coffee grounds into the filter. “It’s coffee. It’s impossible to do it wrong.” “You can do anything wrong if you try hard enough. Your grounds-to-water ratio is all off. You might as well be making dirt.” Roy flicks water at him. “I don’t criticize your coffee-making skills.” “Yeah,” Jason says. “Because I do it right.” He bangs the Pillsbury dough tube on the edge of the counter to pop it open. His sleeves are rolled up to reveal a vertical red line on each forearm, but he doesn’t draw attention to them, so neither does Lian. He starts lining up cinnamon rolls on the greased tray. Roy bumps him with his hip. “Jerk.” He dumps out half of the coffee grounds from the filter. “Did you take your meds yet?” “I’ve got time,” Jason says, which means no. Without commenting, Roy takes down the orange bottle of pills from the shelf above the counter. It’s hard to see the orange through all the stickers Lian stuck around it, with permission from Jason of course. Next to the bottle’s spot is Roy’s seven-year sobriety chip in its frame. On its other side is a drawing Lian made of a tiger because she wanted to be represented on the Accomplishment Shelf as well. Jason rolls his eyes, but he takes the bottle. He takes a pill and washes it down with Roy’s glass of orange juice, which earns him a scornful look. Then Jason turns his attention to Lian. “If you want, princess, we can go to the zoo later and look at some real lemurs.” Lian bounds up from her chair, her eyes wide. “Really?” “Why not? It’s the weekend.” “You sure, Jaybird?” Roy eyes him warily, trying to be subtle about his concern. “We don’t have to if you’re not feeling up to it.” Jason smiles. It’s not all that big or bright, but it’s a smile all the same. “I could use some sunshine.”

#dc #jason todd #roy harper #lian harper #jayroy #fanfiction

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mocego · 3 years

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Do you have a ship that you think is canon but officially is not? And why do you think they haven't made it official? for my EruRi from Attack on Titan they are canon. But I would not blame Yams for not making it official, the antis are many and very annoying. like when they harassed an official merchandising company. Until they deleted and apologized for their posting of "Erwin x Levi Coupling Pattern is also available".

Woo-hoo... this will be a long post. XD

The closest thing I have to a ship like that is Roy/Jay. While I didn’t see any striking erotic chemistry in the RHatO runs (though some people believe there’s evidence there too), I do believe there were a few pretty strong hints that those two were more than just friends in Lobdell’s Red Hood/Arsenal run. Like… they even had a joint bank account. XD Come on.

As for why they haven’t made it canon, I think it’s because the people currently in head of DC comics want at least one of the Robins to be this kind of super ‘manly’ Alpha male archetype. Which is dumb and stupid since no Batboy has ever been that. It’s out of character (so, bad writing). And unfortunately, they picked Jason for that… I guess based on the fact that he… works with guns? XD ‘Cause if you know how to shoot a gun, you gotta be Rambo, right? :P

Then about the antis’ problem… yeah, sure there are antis everywhere, but I don’t think that’s what worries DC. I think they’re just afraid they’d alienate their fanbase, like Marvel did. The thing is, Marvel did it in a very sloppy and cheap way. They were suddenly killing off characters or distorting them to give their hero identities to new ones or they were changing races, sexualities, family/life backgrounds etc. left and right in characters that have been established for decades. I was against this practice as well, because a) I’ve seen how characters were treated and it was atrocious, b) it’s not the proper way to support and include marginalized communities, and c) it’s bad and inconsistent writing.

HOWEVER. This would not be the case with Jason. Why? Because nobody has ever made it specifically clear that Jason isn’t bisexual. If anything, there’s evidence that he actually might be.

We do know for a fact that Jason is not gay, because he’s been canonically attracted to women (Talia, Kori, Essence, Isabel, Artemis, Rose, Barbara etc.). However, it has never been established that he’s not attracted to men too. Truth be told, he never seemed to be truly in love with any of these women. On the other hand, he himself has admitted that Roy is the person he trusts the most in this world. His trust is such that he’s been willing to do things for (and with) Roy that many, many people in relationships would think about twice or thrice or more. And while yes, friendships very usually tend to be stronger than relationships, some could interpret this as something more:

(note that we never actually saw any bedroom(s) in that warehouse, so... I guess where/how they slept is open to interpretation. XD)

Add to that a fact that people usually tend to forget: Jason is still very, very young (between 21 and 24 if I’m not mistaken, depending on the canon), and, for the biggest part of his life, he hasn’t been dating. He was far too young back when he was Robin. Then he spent the rest of his teenage and young adult years training, dealing with trauma, struggling for a place in the world and in Bruce’s life etc. For all we know, the first woman he slept with was Talia, and despite the trust and mutual attraction, you certainly can’t say they were in love or anything like that.

He was around 18 when that happened, and even after that, for the most part, he didn’t get to have any time to just relax, to find himself, and get some time to explore his sexuality among other things. So, taking into consideration his youth and inexperience, it wouldn’t be surprising if he found out he’s bi.

Roy, on the other hand, is older than him, certainly more experienced, and indeed known to be playful and flirtatious and a ladies’ man, but it also wouldn’t be surprising to me if he felt attracted to Jason (maybe it was something new he discovered about himself, like many people do at some point in their lives). And Roy’s also proved he's willing to go into extreme lengths to protect Jason. Like say, risk making an enemy of Bruce:

Not to imply that a true friend wouldn’t do that, but, again, it could definitely also read as something your significant other (current or even a caring ex) would.

So, if DC wanted, they could definitely pass Roy/Jay as a very valid thing. Sure, extreme antis would cry and bust our balls for a bit, but even they can’t deny that there is already pretty solid ground for Jason being bisexual. It’s not out of the blue, it makes sense, and I’d be behind it if they went for it.

All that said, personally, I’m okay with either. I think those two have excellent chemistry, either as friends or as lovers, so I don’t mind if they keep them as friends. I find it very fitting and very pure as well. The only thing I do mind is Jason being presented as an overly manly stereotype. Frankly, if you look back at Jason’s history, there’s zero evidence suggesting that he would ever grow up to become this stereotype.

They're such cupcakes and I love them, what can I say. XD

I have to admit that I have no knowledge of Attack on Titan, but you can see now that I completely get what you're describing. As for the antis, frankly, I usually ignore them, unless I'm directly attacked. I don't have time for their shit. Thankfully, they're easy to detect.

#dc #jason todd #roy harper #jayroy

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