#cass though is totally bruce's ideal successor | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lustwithoutlore · 2 months

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Bruce: I'm retiring. Someone will need to fill my place.

Dick:

Tim:

Jason:

Barbara:

Duke:

Damian:

Stephanie, launching into a dramatic monologue: There comes a time when one has to step up and do what is right. Gotham needs a Batman, I will heed the call-

Bruce: Uh, Dick, how about you? You've been Batman before.

Stephanie: HEY!

Dick: Um.... I'll pass, thanks, Bruce.

Stephanie: No matter. I will become the beacon of hope this city needs. I will-

Bruce: Tim! You'll one day be an even better detective than me. You'd be a perfect Batman.

Jason, muttering: Over my dead body. Hey, wait...

Stephanie: DON'T IGNORE ME!

Tim: I'm already a better detective than you. And, if I had to take on anyone's mantle, I would pick Nightwing.

Dick, tearing up: Awww, Tim!

Stephanie: Again, it leaves me as the only option. The underbelly of Gotham City needs a figure to invoke fear, and I vow to be that figure-

Bruce: What about you, Damian? You've fought over the title of Batman many times!

Stephanie: YOU JERK!

Damian: Yeah, when I was twelve. I'm not a child anymore. I would rather be Nightwing.

Dick, sobbing: The both of you want my mantle? How will I choose a successor? This is getting to be too much. Babs, catch me!

Stephanie: I will fight for vengeance. No, I am vengeance. I will bring upon a dark reign that will be unleashed whenever a force threatens my city. For I am-

Cass, appearing out of the shadows: I will do it.

Bruce, happy because Cass was actually his first pick: Oh thank God.

Cass: But only if Steph is, too. We are Batgirl together. We will be The Bat together.

Stephanie: HA! YES! CASS YOU'RE THE BEST! I'M BATMAN!

Bruce: ... Actually, Stephanie, your words from before moved me. I've decided to be Batman for a while longer.

Stephanie: NOOOO! I was so close!

Cass, patting her back: There, there.

Dick: That's it! Tim, Damian! You can both be Nightwing! If Cass and Steph can be The Bat at the same time you guys can both take up my mantle one day, too!

Tim:

Damian:

Tim & Damian: ... I'll pass.

Dick: NOOOO! I was so close!

Barbara, patting his back: There, there.

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carrotkicks · 2 years

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Still have ghost jason brainworms in the cartoon au. I feel. I feel like. Not gonna be humble here cuz my mind feels powerful with this one lol.

Like... in canon there was a lot of post-mortem recharacterizations of Jason, most of them with a distinct victim-blamey sort of air to them -- there's a really important real world explantion for that too: Batman and Robin are one of DC's flagship teams, and dc really backed themselves into a corner by killing off half of that dynamic for shock value. They needed a way to justify bringing Robin back and ALSO justify why the concept of child heroes is okay, hence Jason takes the hit. Despite however might have really been as a person, after his death he was effectively repurposed in to a symbol.

In that period of time before he was resurrected, Jason hadn't been treated like he really used to be a real person. Sad truth but honestly? FACINATING concept.

Bruce saw him as a representation of his own failures, or maybe even a cosmic manifestation the truth he really believes in, that no, he really will never be happy. Alfred saw Jason through Bruce: it was bruces tragedy, and by extention his. (Side note: Alfred doesnt really that much agency outside of Bruce does he? Sure he goes off does his own thing sometimes, but Alfred is almost always just a plot device to Bruce's arcs. I mean. He IS the butler and i guess we keep forgetting that despite all the snark and personality, he really adhere's to his archetype.) Maybe a lot of the victim blaming on their part is attributed to the fact that they want to absolve themselves to any guilt thry feel, though it's not really their fault. Uhh. Moving on to the kids. Dick i feel has the most,, productive response to Jason's death? But even then he hinged a lot of his actions on what-should-have beens with Jason.

Now. Maybe i was subconsciously using this as an excuse to infodump abt Tim but what's super interesting about him AS A CONCEPT was how he was the successor to the one that died. A lot of people like to paint this rose tinted narrative that Tim admired Jason's robin, but that's uh. Not true. Tim didnt really care for Jason as a person, he didnt know him. He and Cass were both in that really awkward area of feeling bad for the people who knew him but not really caring themselves. (Exemplifed by the fact that he strongly disliked Jason one he finally met him lmao) What's interesting though is that the same time, Jason Todd is this inescapable presence throughout his career as Robin, and i think Tim is both humbled but resentful of this character. His run is defined by a dichotomy of "dont be like jason" and "you will never be like jason" . He can't slip up, but he was never be good enough. To Tim, Jason Todd is like an unnatainable standerd but also an important bar to cross. Its. So heavy. But very cool.

I feel like. After his death, Jason isn't his own person but rather a character who defines, and is defined by, the other characters. I think a lot of that juxtoposition is what makes him so interesting. Sure i guess the antihero with a tragic backstory has a wider mass appeal but, i really think it'd be cool if jason comics actually incorporated the batfam's idealized version of him as a thematic element to his character arcs. He could be a foil to the batfam but also a subversion of their perception of him. BUT ALAS NONE OF HIS WRITERS HAVE A GRASP ON THAT LEVEL OF NUANCE.

Longwinded way of saying. We should totally have more content that focuses of the post-death, pre-resurrection era batfam, and their very complicated relationship with the narritive device named Jason Todd. And maybe include a maybe-real Ghost Jay to be a visualized representation of these themes.

If no one does it. I'LL DO IT MYSELF!!!

#just some thoughts #meta i guess?#SORRY I WENT WILD WITH THIS ONE #THE BRAINWORMS ARE JUST. TOO STRONG #dc comics #jason todd

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