Even without his Vision, Kaeya is not wholly helpless.
If there was one thing he could appreciate about his father, it’s that the man raised him with full knowledge of self-defense as a child. He needed to be able to handle himself should they ever be separated, after all. Especially when it came to any Abyssal creatures they might face, or otherwise any hostile people they may encounter.
He knew all the best places to drive in a knife, what tendons to cut, how to best blind an opponent, and creatively so at that. He knew how to set traps and buy himself a precious few seconds more, how to use those said seconds in a fraction of that time. He knew how to use an opponent’s physical strength against them, how to counter someone with a Vision/elemental energy usage as best he could. To not let himself get caught so off guard no matter what, bc the moment that control was wrenched away from him, his disadvantages would be nigh insurmountable.
The man taught him to harness Abyssal energy, using a small fraction of it—no more than that, his father made him promise; never more than the necessary—to make swift little jumps through space, even to facilitate escape or victory, whichever he’d choose. In time, he would have taught him to use the elements through it too, as many Abyssal beings had done, as a particular last resort, but having been left to the Ragnvindrs’ care, he never got the chance.
Though it didn’t stop Kaeya from trying. Not wanting to be left behind after Diluc had gotten his Vision and wanting to be useful to him as his right hand, he tried his best at figuring it all out. Felt it tug at something deep inside him like a tether each time he tried, failing just as many, only managing the all too familiar wisps of Abyssal energy he was more familiar with. It was through encountering an Abyss Mage and coming in contact with the ice it conjured that he finally got a better grasp at what to do.
Only for him to realize each conjure of Abyssal energy-infused ice was nothing short of painful each time, the energy within him thrumming so much amid the curse he already bore as a Khaenri’ahn, so much so, it would frighten and dissuade him from using those abilities anyway. For a short time, at least, until he realized how well it helped in a pinch. Still, he became far more wary. Even with his desperation to try and catch up to Diluc, his father’s warning against abusing the Abyssal energy coursing within him burning brighter in mind with every use. Especially when a Pyro Abyss mage lingering about a domain tried to call his attention after he’d been pushed to use that power.
Nothing good would come out of using such an ability, he’d decided then—keeping to the bare minimum, like his father wanted would be best. He wouldn’t want to be so marked by the Abyss otherwise. Wouldn’t want to increase the risk of his attempts and powers being found out, certainly not by the family that had taken him in.
Is it any wonder he was so horrified to find it was a Cryo Vision that had come to him that fateful night?
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Jason Todd is a guillotine and the Joker is Mary Antoinette
also I will die on the hill that Batman’s morals kinda suck. He wants himself up on this pedestal of doing no wrong per say, when if he did one wrong he would prevent hundreds of others. Instead he sits by in his proverbial throne above everyone else like an old man playing chess
…ah okay so. let's talk about why his morals are where they are. as we all know his parents were killed at gunpoint, he couldn’t do anything. this cements a deep, personal distaste towards guns/lethal force/killing. when he becomes batman, when he puts on the cowl and goes out to protect people from that helplessness, to save as many as he can from that pain, he does it without needless, irreparable violence. killing is not an option for him, not after that.
but that doesn’t mean he’s ignorant. that doesn’t mean he wants to be praised or idolized or placed on a pedestal, that doesn’t mean he does no wrong.
bruce has made a ton of mistakes! he’s messed up a lot! big time! he’s flawed and complicated and messy and KNOWS THAT! he knows it when he falls out with dick, he knows it when jason is murdered, he knows it when the Red Hood shows up. he knows with tim and damian too. he’s highly aware of his failures. ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’ are this mans mortal enemy.
bruce cares so deeply and he shows it as best he can. he’s a protector, his work humbles him, he’s his own worst critic. he doesn’t want to be placed on a pedestal and honestly i’m willing to bet he thinks the city would be better off without him! gotham’s villains see the batman as a challenge and that’s why they keep coming. sure yeah, killing the joker or any other criminal would prevent hundreds of crimes, it would save tons of innocent people from hurting, it’s an easy, full proof fix. but that’s not what the story is about.
to bruce, at the end of the day you’d have to live with the knowledge that you can never take it back a lethal strike, and that scares him. no killing is a limit he set for himself, a restraint to keep him from going too far, because if he starts he won’t be able to stop and he knows that.
he tries to instill that belief into his kids, because he knows that they can be better than he is, that they are better than he is, despite all the shit each of them have gone through. he doesn’t want them to loose that light y’know? that hope that they carried with them and brought into his life. because that’s what batman is, right? hope. hope for gotham, hope for people. hope for the future.
but of course, pushing his mortals onto them does a bit more harm than good. it’s what eventually drove dick and jason away. it’s what eventually led to a massive falling out and a heartbreaking murder a very dark time for gotham. because when jason died, that breaks bruce. he is furious and violent and hurt and he takes all of that pain and throws it mercilessly into batman. this is probably the closest he’s ever been to the brink and there’s no one to pull him back, which is when tim drake shows up with his camera and his photos and his wit and his stubborn attitude and his hope.
when jason did come back to life, he wanted vengeance, he wanted to kill the joker, he wanted to get rid of criminals permanently, to make sure no one would be hurt like him ever again. he wanted to kill the joker and bruce wouldn’t let him. he doesn’t agree with jason’s methods, but that doesn’t mean he cares any less. that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t burn down the world for his kids. all members of the batfam want to protect their city and they’re doing it as best they can. each of them have their own method, each of them are their own hero, and yes it clashes with bruce but it doesn’t change the fact that in the end, it boils down to the genuine need to help people, to make life better.
now, about the last bit, just. when has bruce ever been able to sit by and watch? all these kids running around with makeshift capes and iron wills, when has he sat back and just watched it happen? if all bruce did was observe from above, then we wouldn’t have batman. no, bruce sees the violence and stands and does something about it, tries to break the cycle.
he sees dick, angry and hurt and grieving, with a burning need for justice and the drive to go out and find it himself, and sees himself in this ten year old kid. so he does something about it, because it’s too late for him but maybe he can make it better for the kid. he takes dick in and teaches him, watches him make a name for himself. Robin and then Nightwing.
he sees jason, who is literally is trying to steal the batmobils tires. who’s standoffish and weary and seen the worst that gotham has to offer but is still kind. and batman picks him up by the scruff and takes him home and absorbs him into the family, teaching him to be robin and mourning when he’s gone.
he sees tim—or better, tim is the one sees him—with his unshakable faith and terrible self esteem and hopeful, calculating eyes.
he sees stephanie and cass and duke and damian, he sees them all and he teaches each them everything he knows, trains them to the absolute best of his ability and tells them over and over that bats don’t kill, but in the end that’s all he can do. it’s a choice that they have to make when it comes down to it. a bar they have to set for themselves.
bruce is not a cold, unfeeling asshole with a superiority complex. despite the act, he isn’t. he’s just some guy dressed like a bat trying to make this house a home. if he was an unfeeling asshole with a superiority complex, then he wouldn’t go around adopting kids left and right. he could’ve just let them run off on the streets, trying to fight crime and solve mysteries all on their own. but he didn’t. he wouldn’t. and that says something.
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I think fans want Jason to be a good person or be becoming one. To have a character that is well meaning and compassionate but decided murder is ok and to stand against main heroes who’s beliefs and actions go against the people he cares about and wants in his life. It’s confusing for people. People want their fav characters to be happy. But Jason can’t have his family’s support and follow his moral code. He’s cares about people and Gotham, and he’s an asshole who kills. It’s messy. It’s not black and white. I don’t even think Jason cares about being a good person or in the right anymore. I think he cares about what will save the most people instead.
Oh my goodness gracious I’ve been bamboozled
Batman’s definition of Good is not synonymous with absolute good/right no matter how much dc insists it is. Torture, battery/assault, surveillance, those are all condemnable actions too. I won’t get into the exhausting and frankly dumb debate of comic book morality wrt killing because I’ve already reblogged plenty of posts from other people who explained my thoughts on the matter far better than I ever have the patience to sit down and articulate. I also just think the notion that there’s something to be done about fictional characters who kill nazis and senseless murderers is stupid. Jason’s point is that the “main” heroes’ sanitized definition of right has its unaddressed holes and flaws which ultimately result in more preventable fatalities, and that he’ll work to correct those missing spots.
He doesn’t not care about doing what’s right. What he doesn’t care about (at least during his Winick characterization) is whether Batman thinks he’s right or wrong, because he sees the flaws in Batman’s methodology (and since he has a mind of his own). Batman’s methods alone cannot address Arkham’s revolving door and the rogues that come and go through those doors who have no intention (or capability from the doylist pov) of ever changing or undergoing redemption. Jason knows that he’s minimizing the number of preventable deaths by killing his targets, typically Characters Who Simply Do Fucked Up Shit Just Because, Why The Fuck Not?
Secondly, Jason is compassionate … to a fault. That was his fatal flaw. If he wasn’t so hell-bent on saving his potential birth mother he just met from that bomb despite everything she did to him prior, he could have protected himself instead, however slim his odds of survival were. What about his relationship with his other parents? He was a caregiver during his early childhood years for Catherine, until her death. Even mature adults who are financially stable find being a caregiver to a dying parent to be extremely burdensome on their bodies and minds, but he never complained about it or resented Catherine for being unable to care for him. Despite how none of his parents have really been what he needed them to be, he doesn’t blame them for their failings, and even continues to think highly of them (Bruce included).
And post-death? Enter Lost Days. Despite being dead set on plotting his revenge on Bruce, he constantly sidelines this in order to save other victims who are helpless like he once was. His own anger, trauma, and mission don’t remain his priority. (Sound familiar? Something something my own trauma above my son’s, mission above all else, etc.). Why would he waste precious time and risk his own life to do this if he wasn’t empathetic towards these victims or didn’t care about doing the right thing. He is simultaneously horribly traumatized and full of rage, and also incapable of ignoring what’s happening to victims around him (even as he claims that it’s indeed not his priority). And in that same vein, the entire premise of his rebirth outlaws run was that he doesn’t care if the public views him as a villain, an outlaw, so long as he can protect Gotham. And anyway where is this portrayal of him not caring about being in the right anymore. Almost every modern Jason story is about him grappling with where he stands with Bruce/Batman. During the early 2000s was probably the last time he did not care (hello, tentatodd??).
Jason has very evidently been portrayed as a kind and compassionate character. He is also simultaneously a calculated killer who doesn’t hesitate to kill when he deems necessary, and does so without remorse. It’s called being a Complex Character With An Edge™ that as you said, people so often claim to love. However when he fulfills that latter part, that seems to upset people because “killing bad”, and they then try to shave off and round out all his edges and claim he shouldn’t be that angry. In that case I guess you should just stick to liking traditional one-dimensional characters instead of claiming to like Jason but then encouraging his character assassination attempt by dc. Lol.
Lastly, who said anything about the batfam making Jason happy? Just because he’s written nowadays to want acceptance from Bruce (a shoddy attempt at forcing a non-existent nuclear batfamily), doesn’t mean that it’s a sound decision or that it does his character justice. I certainly don’t empathize with the idea that Jason needs the family’s approval or acceptance to be happy. (And anyway he has enough outlets for angst and pain aside from the batfam hello explore his other sources of trauma and do more deep dives into how he thinks when he’s alone). I don’t want them to magically make up and become one big happy family. This is not disney Lol. Besides, there are plenty of stories from dc that have that type of “wholesome” (hate that word utilization) characterization for Jason (Li’l Gotham, Tiny Titans, wfa, and even new stuff like the brave and the bold mini) and that is sufficient imo. Jason fans who are invested in the character deserve accurate, nuanced characterization and well-written stories, whether they be from his robin days (e.g., Batman: The Cult) or as red hood.
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