Glitter-stained - Ink Stained Hands

This is going straight into the "Jason's goons, correctly or incorrectly, assume he's trans because of references to his Robin era" - it's now a multi artist universe where nobody has no idea what the fuck is going on with anybody

DC can pretend that Jason knows who Tim is but I know the truth

In a kinder world...

This is actually adorable I do not take criticism

What if Talia saved Jason before Joker could kill him?

(Should I do a part 2?)

That's really interesting and great analysis and I will never be normal about christic Jason symbolism! May I add, about the scene where Jason almost kills the Joker, here's something I find really interesting in the artwork: we alternate between flashbacks of the explosion, in which the sky is literally orange with fire, and the present, in which the sky is a murky green. As you can see, the flame, which is the same colour as the flashback sky, reflects on one side of his goggles; and as it gets more and more into focus, the flame takes up more and more space in comparison to the present sky, until Jason clicks the lighter shut. It's clear to me with the goggles that Jason is seeing, literally, two different realities at the same time, but I think it's interesting that it's the flame he's lighting up that looks like it's triggering the flashback. I think it's great symbolism of how Jason triggers and retraumatizes himself in an effort to fix his death, recreating himself his trauma to give it another ending, and how in the end he can't get closure himself because his attempts at closure are the very thing hurting him. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but I think it's the perfect set-up for the confrontation in UTRH, where Jason recreates the scene of his dead in a setting where he is in control and adds Bruce, who wasn't there the first time around, to the equation and basically begs him to fix the problem in his stead. Jason is feeding the fuel of his own destruction in an effort to get closure, and he feels like he can't go on with his life unless he gets closure, and this story is as tragic as symbolism is fun.

I like analysing shit.

I like Red Hood: Lost Days

So I am going to analyse some of it.

To start with, lets look at the titles of the issues.

#1: The First Step

#2: Baptism

#3: School

#4: Higher Learning

#5: After School Activities

#6: Benediction and Commencement

What immediately strikes me is how all of these are relevant to the issue AND as a whole. They are describing a life fresh from birth to how that life progresses until graduation. Extremely important when considering that this is basically Jason's second life. He died and now he is "reborn" after being put into the Lazarus pit.

The First Step: The fact that the title name was on the page in which Jason was pushed into the Pit lets me believe that this IS the first step, as Red Hood: Lost Days explains the time between him being found by Talia to him becoming Red Hood. This is the first step in him becoming the Red Hood.

Baptism: Not exactly clear as to what "Baptism" is referring to here. I have multiple ideas. First, there is the possibility that it is a continuation of the last issue, as that issue ended with Jason being pushed into the pit and in religious baptisms, water is usually connected to it as the person being baptized is getting water poured onto their head. But it could also mean a non-religious baptism as in he is starting a new role. He finally gets to train with a clear mind and can properly start his journey.

Issue #3-#5 are relatively similar, all him explaining his training and stopping the evil schemes his teachers are involved with.

Benediction and Commencement: Commencement, he has completed his training or "graduated" if you take the school aspect into account from issue 3 to 5. Benediction, he gets his blessings from Talia to finally confront Bruce after stalling him so long. Commencement, "the beginning of something new". The issue ends with him picking up the Red Hood helmet, before that, he met up with Hush. The beginning of the Red Hood.

Next I want to focus a bit on religious imagery. I am not a big fan of it in general, but considering that words like "Baptism" and "Benediction" are in the titles, it is note-worthy. If it is something you're uncomfortable with, feel free to skip this section

I have seen people make the point that this cover:

Has similarities to pictures of Mary holding a dead Jesus.

And now that I think about it more, I can see why and they are pretty good stand-ins.

Jason came back from the dead, like Jesus.

Talia found Jason after he came back. She considers it a miracle. Like fate WANTS Jason to live. He wandered into her life. She isn't so much as interfering with fate, as stepping out of its way.

And then you have this page:

Jason as he has his arms spread wide, legs forming almost a straight line. Similar to Jesus on the cross.

The Lazarus pit isn't green. It's orange and yellow. It shines so bright. Ra's says it burns in his heart. He tells Talia it could turn Jason mad in a few months, years or decades. That she has unleashed a curse. A pestilence. Pestilence being one of the for Horsemen of the Apocalypse. And so, the Lazarus Pit becomes a symbol for Hell.

The fact that Jason and Talia are more distorted versions of the religious figures they could represent becomes more prominent as the story goes on. In the bible, Jesus goes back to Heaven to rejoin with his Father. In this story, Talia is told and knows that she should return Jason to Bruce. But she doesn't. Because Jason will see it as betrayal and he wouldn't forgive her for that.

My last and favourite point is how RH: LD is the perfect set up to Under the Red Hood.

Jason explains how it isn't about the Joker. Or Bruce. Or him. It's about the three of them.

Bruce was supposed to protect him.

Joker killed him.

Bruce didn't avenge him.

He tried to kill both of them only to NOT do it and walk away.

Jason died away from Gotham in Ethiopia, but not before being beaten with a crowbar, the building he was in having exploded and then asphyxiating due to the smoke.

Jason almost killed the Joker by setting him on fire. (Explosion)

He initially wanted to do it in another location. (Ethiopia)

He wanted to do it slowly. (Crowbar)

Jason says when the pain would hit the Joker, he would scream. Until it hit his throat. His lungs. (Asphyxiating)

He is reliving his own death. He wants his murderer to go through the agony he did. An eye for an eye one could say.

"Reliving his own death" is an objective statement here, as Jason sees the Joker swinging a crowbar that is dripping with his own blood while at the same time also standing right above the Joker, who is drenched in gasoline.

Now I want you to compare these two scenes. This is when he was about to kill the Joker:

The panels switch between Jason and the firelighter, present Joker and past Joker. The firelighter, the device that would end the Joker's life, comes more and more into the focus. Until he disengages it on the last panel.

Now to the second scene, when Jason planted a bomb under the Batmobile and was about to detonate it.

The panels switch between Batman and Jason. Jason is hovering over the detonater. Until he pulls away.

When Jason explained to Talia why he walked away from the Joker, he said that it wasn't enough. It was only ever about the three of them, not just Joker. His plan doesn't include murdering Batman anymore.

But the reason Jason gave Talia why he didn't kill Bruce? "I couldn't let him get off so easy. He'd never know what happened. He'd never know knwo why. He'd never know it was me." One could wonder if we are supposed to see this as a parallel as well. If we should apply this reasoning of why he didn't kill Bruce to why he didn't kill Joker.

The Joker would never know why Jason killed him. He doesn't even know that it IS Jason who is about to murder him.

And while is plan doesn't include killing Bruce anymore. Nobody said anything about the Joker.

As I said, perfect setup to Under the Red Hood.

More Batman Magical Girl AU lore: list of transformations

Everybody:

-Semi-transformation: this one is easy, takes little energy out of the Star and doesn't require a transformation sequence. It only triggers the emergence of some star traits, like bat ears and little bat wings for the constellation of the bat, wolf ears and a wagging tail for the constellation of the dog, translucent boxing gloves for the constellation of the clenched fist, etc. They enhance physical prowess and regeneration, though not to the level of Wonder Woman or Superman, as well as semi-flight through the ability to jump from building to building.

-Classic: the classic transformation which is accessible without too much struggle (aside from the concept of awakening) by everyone and probably the only one used for the first three seasons of the show, it's cool and has a transformation sequence but has to still be easy enough to draw. It grants flight, enhanced speed, strength and regeneration as well as access to Basic Moves and Special Moves.

-Meteor: after a Star gives themselves away to the Night of Gotham, if their heart is open enough, the crystal core can channel the pool of star dust inside their heart to grant them access to that transformation, which is objectively cooler and prettier than the classic (for example after someone loses a hand, someone takes a bullet for a civilian etc.). This grants them the ability to make Meteor Special moves, as well as an additional increase in physical abilities.

-Ultimate Starlight: when the Villain Conglomerate kidnaps Batman to try and syphon the power of the Bat, the other Stars come to rescue him. During the fight, the Stars' different attacks overcharge the machine meant to absorb the bat's star magic and use it to permanently mind-control the Gotham population, the Ultimate Transformer of Starlight (UTS), and it basically explodes in a bomb that hits everybody with the very powerful Ultimate Starlight transformation. They can afterwards channel this transformation at will, which is so pretty, and powerful in specific scenarios that require the use of the Starlight Avalanche power it grants: if someone good is brainwashed, possessed or committing evil through some fort of coercion, like some of the key characters used by the villain conglomerate in that arc, this magic frees them of that control and can even make them into allies; one Star's Starlight Avalanche is enough to free an entire mob of people.

-Aurora/Galaxy: The Galaxy is the final arc of the series, in which all the constellations join hands and all the fragments fuse together to summon the Night Sky, which is to say they summon the spirits of the Night Sky Constellations through a phenomenon called Aurora Borealis that opens the gateways and leads to the Stars and the constellations sharing a body moving together in complete symbiosis, in an all powerful costume that shows both ethereality, specificity to the constellation and full power glitter and detail. There are actually two costume changes in that epic final scene, the Aurora where as they hold hands and summon the Nightsky they are in uniformish galaxy/northern lights colours emitting and pastel neon light, and then the Galaxy when they merge completely with their constellation.

Twisted:

-Jason (Constellation of the Wolf): Unleashed: During this Under the Red Hood inspired arc, Jason is grappling with severe trauma and pain and rage, which all bubble to the surface as he tries to figure out what's happening. In an access of pain and grief, Jason decides to flood his crystal core with energy with the goal to implode, but instead the core is damaged and defaced (it will be healed at the end of the arc), leading him to take in an alternate transformed form that showcases his grief, rage and pain to the world and half-controls him, leading to an extreme increase in violence.

-Bruce (Constellation of the Bat): Dark Heart: Bruce's plummeting mental health leads him to attempt to shield his heart and accidentally leads to the corruption of his core by the Dark Spirit Zurr' En' Arr, who turns on his family and, among others, kidnaps Jason and tries to deactivate his crystal core to avoid a reiteration of the Unleashed Arc, which leads to consequences similar to the Gotham War storyline (though Jason is later healed through the waters of the fountain of the Astral Lost).

Star Fusion:

When two stars enter complete partnership their fragments might fuse temporarily, leading to both having costumes and powers that share traits of both. Examples of this phenomenon are the Stephcass fusion fight or that time the We Are Robin movement triggered by Duke induces a fusion between all of the Robins.

Chapters: 1/11 Fandom: Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), Batman: Hush (2019)

When Jason comes out of the Pit, trauma and a years-old misunderstanding make for an unfortunate combination as he learns other children have fallen under Batman's influence. Now a trained and highly skilled assassin, he will do anything to protect his newest siblings from the demons of his past... Honestly, this would all be a lot easier if everybody just make sure they were talking about the same thing.

Or: a years-old secret leads to Jason kidnapping the Robins to save them from a not-so-evil Batman who just wants his children to be safe.

The first chapter is finally out!! I'm so excited