Jason Todd Analysis - Tumblr Posts

"Jason keeps making comments about his death and it's whiny" this "Jason is always talking about his death" that... Jason is always thinking about his death. Because that's what trauma is, being trapped in the moment, reliving it again and again and again. Children with PTSD/CPTSD sometimes do this thing where they play games when they recreate their trauma, and the explanatory hypothesis is that they're trying to fix it in a way. Adults with PTSD/CPTSD tend to find themselves at risk in similar situations. Being trapped in a time loop of the worst moments of your life and trying to stop something that's already happened, begging to be saved even if it's too late, lashing out to defend yourself after the fight is over. And I know the confrontation in UTRH is complex and about a lot of things, especially about Jason and Batman and Bruce, but also I can't help thinking, this reads a lot like trauma reenactment. And Bruce's response... Let's just assume it didn't really help.

So, yeah. Jason talks about his death a lot. Jason is still in that warehouse, in that coffin, still being tortured and dying and buried alive. Jason is still calling for help.

Let's build Jason a bookshelf !

Pride and Prejudice - homeboy is an Austen fan canonically, we need at least this one.

Hamlet -do I need to say more? Do I?

Water for the elephants: He won't admit it, but the book reminds him of Dick, and he reads it any time he misses him. It's angsty enough to maintain a front while actually being a romance with a satisfying ending.

The Outsiders: It's not just that the story is relatable and really well written; it's the themes of loyalty, grief and heroism, and the imagery and hopefulness shining through, and it's the way Johnny reminds him of Roy and sometimes, after Roy's death, he will close his eyes and picture the two of them together in an abandoned church, in that quiet space safe from the war raging outside, reading Gone With the Wind while Roy provides uncharitable commentary about the characters' decisions.

Under The Whispering Door (TJ Klune): This one was gifted to him by Tim because "the main character is an asshole ghost, I thought you might relate." Of course, these idiots could talk to eachother about emotions and go to therapy, but why do that when you can bait your brother into reading a story that will help him process a bit of his relationship with his own death and the family? The worst part is, it worked great, and Jason is so upset that it became one of his favourite books. (The part about the stages of grief is scientifically inaccurate, though. He would know.)

A compilation of TS Eliot's works: Maybe it's because I'm a big fan of TS Eliot and Jason, but every time I reread one of his poems, I think about Jason and I'm sad. The Hollow Men, in particular about the fallen soldiers from WWI, hits so hard as a Jason poem, especially when you consider he lived through the explosion but died of smoke inhalation.

Flowers for Algernon: After losing Bizarro, Jason rereads it often, sitting on rooftops, every time the sky is bright enough to see the stars. He reads it out loud, and the words burn his tongue and taste bitter every time every time, but he likes to pretend his friend is listening, and feels a little less alone.

The Oresteia: This one belongs to the list Jason has read many times and should probably read less, because he projects the tragedy onto his real life and it's a bad influence that comforts him in the idea that he was doomed from the start and might as well burn the remains of the bridges with his family. Good luck trying to pry it out of his hands though! He also loves the idea of being seen at his worst, in the midst of all his hopelessness, and being loved anyway, cradled with unwavering devotion.

Frankenstein : He's a huge Mary Shelley fan, both as a person and a writer. As for Hamlet and the Oresteia, he definitely projects maybe a little too much of some of the characters, but hey, not everybody can brag that they relate to the Creature on such a visceral level.

What else would you guys add?

Jason Todd character profile!

Poem: First Memory (Louise Glück)/ And My Father's Love Was Nothing Next To God's Will (Amatullah Bourdon)

Novel: The Outsiders

Quote from a Novel: "they are going to stop hitting, I am going to catch my breath, this can't end here, not now and yet he couldn't breathe anymore nor feel his body nor hear anything, nor see anything either and still he hoped, something in him repeating, life will hold, still, it always holds, it's going be alright still, they will stop because they will understand that my life is too small in my body and it's wearing too thin now to last more than a bubble of knowing that rises and explodes... " (What I call Oblivion, Laurent Mauviginier)

Play: Hamlet (Shakespeare)

Quote from a play: "Here he lies like something melting away. His mother’s blood comes quaking howling brassing bawling blacking down his mad little veins." (An Oresteia, Anne Carson)

Song: The Horror and The Wild (the Amazing Devil)

Song lyrics: "And I am both the fire and the forest, and I am the witness watching it "(Mitski, Burning Hill)

Ancient Greek Deity: Nemesis

Flower: Rain lily

Feel free to add more!!!