#willis todd thoughts....

[mikakuna]

and what happens when willis todd finds out his little boy died. he knows billionaire bruce wayne adopted jay-- the whole damn country knew.

so why. why did his baby boy get a better chance at life than willis could provide, just for him to still die before him, before he became an adult?

how could willis give up his parental rights to bruce wayne, the most privileged man on earth, expecting this man to keep his baby safe and happy and healthy-- when his little jay still died alone and scared.

bruce wayne had everything he could ever ask for. he had all the means to keep his son safe from any harm. and yet jason still died before he even reached his sweet sixteen.

willis thinks that maybe it's a family curse-- a curse he has to live with, knowing that he's failed everyone he's ever loved.

#RAHHHHH #willis todd thoughts.... #i know that man loved jason with his entire heart #the agony of their relationship!!! #like realistically if i -as a person who's had to fight so hard just to get money on the table for one night- found out that a billionaire #adopted my 12 year old son after i went to jail #and my child ended up dead under said billionaire's care... #not to put the blame on bruce but to put the blame on bruce actually! #me when jason and his fathers #hhajjnakdjdk!!!! #jason todd #red hood #batman #bruce wayne #willis todd #jason peter todd #dc #dc comics

[damianbugs]

What you mean by" willis todds love for jason is the reason bruce failed him" ?

Sorry ive seen your post and I agree with everything but this just kinda suprise me, not hating, just curiuos

HELLO! so this is a take that is based on pre-new 52 todds, before they were simplified to the one dimensional (and classist) personalities they're known for now. neither of them were shown to be abusive or willfully negligent, but rather found themselves in bad situations out of their control and died, leaving jason to fend for himself.

in the most simplest way what i mean is willis todds self sacrificing actions of turning to crime in order to provide for jason and catherine is the key defining part of jasons life and why he views bruce's love for him as 'not enough'.

(of course, the actual proof of this is like. one single panel and its not even said by jason. however i think it is something that can be found in jasons character through other, less obvious situations.)

in jasons initial (public) return to gotham and that long and convoluted plan to mess around with batman psychology to get the two of them and the joker in the same place, it all seems like a well planned out revenge story until the final conversation:

Batman: Under the Red Hood

it always stood out to me, not just because of how absolutely heart wrenching the entire moment is (definitely read utrh if you haven't, at least once), but because it really gives you an insight into what love and loving someone means to jason.

to him it's an all encompassing responsibility. this idea that love is something that you need to be able to prove by the quantitive value of what you'll sacrifice for it. in this case, jason is saying i love you" in the way he truly believes gets across how much he means it; i would kill the person who hurt you.

whenever i read this part of utrh, another situation immediately pops into my mind. and that's when jason found out two-face had killed willis todd.

Batman #411

upon finding out two-face had killed willis, jason goes on a brief grief filled rampage, swearing he'll kill him for what he did. it's important to note that up until now, jason had assumed willis was still in prison, only to find out he was actually murdered.

again, it's this idea that love is the extremes you'll go to for family. jason was well aware of willis' less than legal means to make money, and even bruce makes a mention of it in.

Batman: A death in the family

i imagine, like a lot of what fuels jason to fight crime now, guilt is a major deciding factor in a lot of his choices. it's this guilt that he feels upon hearing about willis' death that makes him take it out on two-face. it's even guilt that plays a huge factor even in new 52 stories (such as Cheer).

so when he returns to gotham, or even before that, just hearing about what bruce had done following his death (locking the joker up instead of killing him, taking in tim as his robin) were, to him, clear evidence that he did not love jason in any way that mattered. that bruce did not love jason as much as jason loved him.

because loving him means giving up your morals. loving him means sacrificing your health and your time and your safety.

but bruce didn't do any of that in a way jason could see.

i imagine to someone like jason, who lost every parental figure in some capacity, whether it be to illness or crime or something else entirely, the evident disregard for him was as painful as any rejection could have been.

a lot of how jason feels and acts can be seen in much more interesting ways if we all look at him for he is; an unreliable narrator. he is missing huge chunks of story, especially when it comes to bruce, and has no choice but to act irrationally on the little truth he does know.

of course we the readers, and some other characters, know just how hard jasons death was for bruce. how destructively he mourned for his son.

but again, the surface level proof of it is not enough for jason, who's entire life has been love through sacrifice. but now, it's a sacrifice bruce can not ever give him.

Batman: Under the Red Hood

#<- he who is not normal about pre new 52 willis todd #its the first time im getting this thought written out properly so i hope it makes sense #jason is just such an emotionally complicated character #but he was also a child #which is the one thing everyone seems to forget #bruce wayne #jason todd #willis todd #dc meta #character study #saki anons

[existennialmemes]

The AI Willy Wonka scam honestly sounds like a Todd & Princess Carolyn scheme.

#ai scam #willy wonka #willy wonka experience #bojack horseman #bojack horseman todd #princess carolyn #i can't be the only who immediately thought this

[kittykatninja321]

ok so the thing is Jason doesn’t speak the most highly of Willis and you sorta get the impression that Jason is used to him being absent

But when he finds out Willis was killed by Two Face he’s sullen all day

And then he loses it on Two Face the first chance he gets

#‘Doing time again most likely’ is crazy that means at some point Willis disappeared and Catherine was too sick and Jason too baby to know #to file a missing persons report. Ugh I have so many Jason and Willis thoughts actually #Part of why I hate the out and out abusive Willis retcon is because I think the ‘It’s Complicated’ dynamic is much more interesting #Jason Todd #dc #Willis Todd

[undertheredhood]

jason accidentally trauma-dumps to this masked vigilante who he’s somehow immediately comfortable trusting while willis todd who is not dead and is very much still alive (but still hasn’t told his only living child yet) is internally screaming “WHAT DID THEY DO TO MY PRECIOUS BABY BOY?!?!?!?”

#dc comics #dc universe #dcu #batman #red hood #jason todd #jason peter todd #jason was never the angry robin #wingman #willis todd #nah because why does dc make poor people be completely awful people? #look if willis todd was awful why does jason love him so much? #good parent willis todd #jason is different from the rest of the bats because unlike them he grieved his parents (especially his mom) long before they died #jason probably found out that willis was presumed dead long after it happened (because he was living on the streets for quite some time) #anyways willis is listening to jason nonchalantly speak about his trauma and is resisting the urge to beat bruce up #willis while carrying a 220 lb crime lord and sobbing: my precious baby what have they done to you? #danny todd (jason’s canonical older brother) is watching beyond the grave wondering why willis won’t tell jason who he is #jason starts talking about willis and willis is trying his hardest not to cry because he thought jason would hate him but it’s the opposite #like jason has so much love in his heart and honestly i wish someone would actually appreciate that

[punkeropercyjackson]

A J*ytim shipper liked my post comparing myself and my brother to Jason and Tim

#like are you new to other human beings???paralleling your irl sibling relathionship to a fictional one is saying you're anti shipping them #i thought that went without saying?unless they think i meant me and my brother would be okay doing in///cest with eachother #in which case *loads rifle with malicious intent*(/meme ref) #antijaytim #anti batcest #jason and tim #me and willy #jason todd #tim drake #black jason todd #latino jason todd #afrolatino jason supremacy #adhd tim drake #< since my little brother has undiagnosed adhd + i also hc tim as autistic and trans and half cherokee #just reusing the tags from that post since it's a sequel to it.also i just remembered it was about how fanon tim is gross as shit💀 #my nigga in christ it was about you.they were a sl*de stan too so that tracks #batfam #rhato #dead sidekicks force #the anomalies #young justice #team dual #summerposting

[laufire]

okay so. I just (properly) met little timmy todd in his origin episode, "sins of the father". his character obvioulsy gets a lot from jason (nearly everything), and while it's early yet, all I see of tim at the moment is his name.

you know who I do see a lot of (clearly unintentional, especially at the time) parallels with, in the things that don't quite match jason (or at least who jason actually was versus how the image of him distorted over time)?

stephanie brown.

#this comes from a mix between reading her secret origins entry (steph looking up to batman as a kid) #or her robin run/even early spoiler days (going out on her own initiative against bruce's wishes; bruce's hard ass training etc.) #also the attitude re: crook father *after* finding out he's dead is closer to steph than jason #(completely unintentionally so because that *was* jason's attitude when he thought willis just bailed) #i wonder if i'll find more of these as i go on #talking to the void #my thoughts #dc thoughts #dcau #the new batman adventures #timmy todd #yeah i'll just tag him that #jason todd #stephanie brown #tim drake #dc

[kartsie]

It’s loving Catherine Todd (and little Jason) hours here y’all

#jason todd #Catherine Todd #Batman #red hood #lil Jason y’all #me projecting chronic illness/health issues/personal family stuff onto the Todd’s?? #perish the thought #my art #bruce wayne #willis todd #a cameo anyways

[danny-chase]

not that i gnaw about cardboard about it, but i think a lot of people boil Jason down to "he only kills the really irredeemable people like the Joker" and that's just not how he operates at all... if you look at his fight with Black Mask, Jason takes out as many pawns, bishops, knights, and rooks as he can but he never kills the kingpin. And I think the disconnect here comes in that word 'irredeemable' and what a child watching his henchman father beat up his mother cemented into his worldview...

#anyways JUST a thought #maybe not a very good one #but i was rereading UTRH and i noticed just how many henchman took out #he's killing Willis Todd over and over and over again #i don't know if it's intentional but it's there

[hauntingblue]

I need jason to get re traumatized like if they're not gonna deal with his death and resurrection in a good way just let it go and get him a new thing to be miserable about

#idk man. fridge somebody. catherine todd zombie. sheila is alive actually #i was gonna say willis is alive and then i thought oh he is but wait he just died #see how this writes itself #talking tag #jason todd

[azol-otl]

List of random headcanons I made because I genuinely love how Doug and Elaine Thomas were tied to Bruce’s early years as Batman and think that more supporting cast should be tangentially connected to one another:

Thomas Wayne, despite being a surgeon and therefore NOT in charge of delivering babies, has delivered exactly one child. A miss Crystal Brown who decided she didn’t give a damn if he was a surgeon, she was coming out now.

The reason Willis had Shiva in his contacts is because they’re actually half-siblings. There is no real angst behind it, their dad was just a ho. They were pretty sure they had dozens of siblings out there but never got around to searching for them before their lives fell apart.

Just like her son Tim imprinted on Dick Grayson, Janet Drake had a massive crush on Jim Gordon.

Talia met William Cobb once. His decision to steal his son and send him to the Haly’s to create a lineage of talons specifically to spite the Crownes helped Talia decide to pretend to have a miscarriage to avoid a similar situation happening with Damian and the al Ghuls. The irony of what happens later is not lost on her.

Catherine used to live in the border between Burnley and Park Row and had babysat for the Montoyas a few times.

#if dc can push Thomas Wayne and Pa Kent having met each other completely by happentsance in some books then I can do this #listen I love that Shiva is just 'Sandra from Detroit who is really good at what she does' which is violence #no mystical bloodlines or chosen one shenanigans #just a woman who was too good at what she did and got exploited by a man because of it #and then went on a suicidal mission to make her sister's death worth it #yes I am pushing my "Willis Todd was Ma Gunn's student and *not* her son' agenda #by not having them be related you can make him such a foil to Jason by exploring generational trauma due to abuse and poverty #as well as turning their back's on their adoptive parent's wolrdview #instead we just have 'Jason is a criminal because he's blood related to criminals and blood is all that matters' which is bull #this is also me pushing my 'Asian Jason' agenda #I dare you to say that Bruce's generation and older haven't thought at least a few times thatGordon was a snack #I love the idea that Stephanie is combatative against Bruce and loves to rile him up #But having this dynamic before either of them are even born is even more hilarious to me #batfam #Crystal Brown #Thomas Wayne #Willis Todd #Catherine Todd #Sandra Wu-San #Janet Drake #Talia al Ghul #William Cobb

[covertblizzard]

okay, so the original story was just a disease? when did it change to become drugs then?

also this is like one of the most important panels ever because i finally get her maiden name

#catherine todd #catherine johnson #willis todd #jason todd #sheila haywood #robin #batman #mypost #dc thoughts

[cologona]

Mr Harlowe sometimes has candy for the neighborhood kids. Jason always saves the snickers for his dad. He likes them but he’s seen the Hangry commercial and knows it’s more important for his dad to be on top of his game at work.

#Jason doesn’t know his father doesn’t miss him or particularly like him #but he does love him #jason todd thoughts #willis todd

[navree]

This is his dad in there, the first man he ever called Dad, at any rate, and even after everything, booze and jail and Bruce and death and then death again, there's never going to be a part of Jason that isn't gutted that he's dead. One night, a wraith in a red helmet slips onto the grounds of Blackgate Penitentiary to steal one specific thing.

Fandom: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics) Pairing(s): Jason Todd & Willis Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne Words: 2,822 Chapters: 1/1

#batman #jason todd #dc comics #my stuff #not my best work but i churned out a wee smth for the birthday boy #honestly i've got a LOT of thoughts to excise about jason's relationship with his parents #and the concept of parenthood and the concept of being someone's kid #but that would take me ten million years to write down in full #so have some ramblings #cuz i've never cared for the idea that willis was the worst thing to ever happen to this kid ever #but i think it's fair to point out that you can love a parent and appreciate what they've done for you #while still admitting that they did wrong and that a lot of what they did wasn't ok #it's not an either or: jason can love and miss his dad and his dad can have tried to create a better life for him #and his dad can have also struggled with alcoholism and lashed out with violence and made mistakes that had repercussions ON jason #the two can coexist and it's infinitely more interesting and thought provoking and rich for jason's arc than trying to water it down #into something one dimensional one way or the other

[brbremaking]

I have no recollection of saying this but I’m right but also shut up shut uppppppp

#minus tim bc that doesn’t work as far as I’m aware #but for dick Jason cass Steph damian it works. again duke bestie I need to read your stuff #also I need this to be known so bad. I said this straight after defending Willis Todd and wanting his og characterisation #I’m right Willis illustrates perfectly why Batman doesn’t fucking work #this isn’t a ‘their primary socialisation is bad’ thing it’s a ‘he’s very adept at manipulating people’ thing #me every day: I will write an essay on this random thing I thought about for too long #me: stares at my wall about it for an hour and goes to sleep forgetting it completely #i need a self obsessed tag

[sanguineterrain]

Jason is definitely the type to go feral over his best friend he hasn't seen in years. Hear me out: he's alive again, and not only that, but he's huge. Strong. People are afraid of him. So the reader is in town, walking the streets, and they meet again, maybe when he protects them as Hood. And reader is ecstatic to see Jason again of course and he's the same but also, all he can think is minemineminemine and I WANT YOU. mans is down horrendous for his sweet best friend that he missed and he's been in love with them for so long and now that he has them, he's not giving them up

idk if this was a prompt but i got inspired <3 thanks for stopping by anon

jason todd x gn!reader. feral jason i guess, but really soft jason. jason who yearns to be yours. jason who'd do anything for it, even if it meant one sided devotion... and also, jason who is loved by you. 1.2k words

****

"I don't understand why you can't come to my apartment."

"I told you why." Jason's posture is rigid but his tone is gentle. Because he has told you why he won't enter your home. Multiple times. Doesn't mean you don't challenge it every time you meet him on a random rooftop.

"It would be fine, Jay," you say. "I trust you."

"I know. But I don't trust everybody else," he says, words crackling through his modulator. That had frightened you at first; in fact, everything about a newly-resurrected Jason Todd had frightened you. From his height to the guns, you'd been sure that night in Gotham would be your last.

But then it had become clear that cheated death aside, nothing could kill his heart.

"You haven't visited in a while," you say.

You don't mean for it to sound accusatory.

"I know," Jason says. "Been busy. The Bats..."

And you knew. You knew the second you found out that Jason was alive that it would be like this, that he wouldn't be completely yours. He wasn't yours when he was Robin either, perhaps even less so.

And what's wrong with that? You have no right to ask him to be yours. To give you more.

But the recent distance has frightened you. Maybe it's for safety's sake, but your selfish heart wishes that he'd drop that for once.

Then again, there's always that dread in your stomach that perhaps Jason Todd doesn't love you the way you love him. And perhaps he never will.

"Well, I wish you'd call," you say.

This is wrong. You shouldn't be picking fights. Jason doesn't go dark out of cruelty, only necessity.

Jason sighs. "I can't. 'M sorry."

You cross your arms. It's chilly tonight.

"Do you even want to see me?"

He tilts his head. Dangerous.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want to intrude," you say. "You're busy and all the stuff with B, I don't—I mean, I wouldn't hold it against you if you—"

Jason takes two long strides and closes the distance. You swallow the rest of your sentence as he backs you up against the brick exterior of an abandoned apartment. Your heart picks up. You're not afraid; the fear went long ago. You're just... something. You're something about Jason.

The last time you two hugged was after Willis' death. You'd wanted to wrap him in his cape, thought maybe that would make everything feel as small as he'd been.

Now, a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier, Jason clearly does not need a cape. Right?

He takes off his helmet, lets it hang on his hand. His other hand is by your head. You lean back, let your neck go on display. Jason doesn't miss the movement.

"What're you doing, Jay?" you ask levelly.

Maybe he thinks you don't notice this distance but you do. You don't want to push him to talk about it, because as upsetting as it is, you're still strangers to each other.

You are and you're not. He died and he didn't. You grieved and you didn't. You burn and... you burn.

But you're tired of being and not being. You won't let him keep you in emotional purgatory. If he's done with you, he should just say so.

"If you don't want to meet anymore," you start, and let the words hang in the air.

"I—" he starts, then swallows. He tosses his helmet to the side. He doesn't touch you, just hovers inches away. Jason smells like lilac and gun smoke.

"I don't think you understand... my devotion," he says, voice low. "How much power you have over me."

Your eyes widen. "Wh—"

His green eyes reflect the streetlight like a cat's. The sight stops you short. Jason Todd is hot metal on a knife's edge, and it would do you well to remember that.

His hands curl into fists. He shakes his head.

"Sorry," he whispers like a prayer. "Not tryna scare you." His chest rises and falls rapidly. "'M I scarin' ya, sweetheart? Tell me and I'll go home, shake it off. Wait forever. I can be good. Won't want what I don't deserve."

"I'm not scared," you say, and it's the most sure you've ever been. "Not scared of you, Jay."

He breathes a laugh, like he can't quite believe you. His breath is warm on your neck.

"You'd be the first," he says. "The only one."

This, you believe. This, you have wondered some nights, knowing that even Batman isn't sure what to do with a son who lives with death on his shoulder.

"You don't have to devote yourself to me," you say, because that makes you pause. Who are you to be his god?

Jason laughs again, strong and sure. He sinks to his knees in front of you. His white streak glows in the light.

"You think it's a vice?" he asks. He rests a hand on your left thigh, testing. You lay your hand over his, so he holds your other thigh too.

He hums. "You do. You think you're holdin' me hostage."

Jason takes a shuddering breath and flattens his palms over your legs. Then he leans in and rests his cheek on your leg, nose near the apex of your thighs. Your belly flips.

"Let's make one thing clear. My devotion is my only redemption. 'S the only thing that makes me believe I'm not all rotted inside. Makes me behave. In this world and the next, I'm yours."

"I... Jason, you belong to yourself, not me. I don't—"

"You don't have to do anything. If it's too much, then I'll disappear. You can carry on."

You stroke the exposed side of his face. He looks up at you.

He is still. You have made him still.

"I'm yours too," you say.

He shakes his head. "You don't hafta—"

"Do you think being yours is a curse?" you ask, gaze sharp.

"Don't promise something for balance's sake," he rasps. "I'll be yours without you being mine."

Your heart is still. He has made it still.

"I'll keep coming back," Jason whispers, eyes wide. "If you're mine, I can't leave. Y'don't know what you're doing. Don't give yourself to me."

"I do. I'm yours."

His grip tightens around your legs. Jason shakes his head.

"Don't do it," he says into your thigh. "I shouldn't have anyone. I'm-I'm only meant to be yours. Nobody's mine."

But you know. You can slide your finger along his teeth and he'll wait with his mouth open. You can touch his edges and he'll turn his cheek so you won't nick your finger. He would sooner chew his own tongue.

"It's alright," you say, and kneel. You dirty your knees right alongside him. "It's okay, Jason. I know what I'm doing."

His breath hitches. Jason presses you into the brick, tucks his face into your neck. His arms wrap tightly around your waist.

"Sorry," he whispers frantically. "'M sorry. You can push me away. Sorry."

"I won't do that." You hold him and let him take you. "I know you're good. I thought—I thought you were pulling away, and I..."

"I was," he admits, muffled in your skin. "'M sorry. Was the only way I could think of to let you go. You deserve better. Couldn't think 'round you, honeylove. Knew it was a death sentence when I found out that you still lived in Gotham."

"It wasn't," you say. "Best thing that's ever happened to me."

Jason huffs. "You say that now, but..."

"No. I say it now and I'll say it again. Keep me, Jason. I'll keep you too."

#jason todd x reader #jason todd x you #jason todd fanfiction #jason todd imagine #red hood x you #red hood x reader #red hood fanfiction #batman fanfiction #dc fanfiction #jason todd x yn #jason todd x gender neutral reader #inbox #blurb