I was thinking of something my gf said about Under The Red Hood, about the whole "did Bruce hit Jason in the neck or shoulder" conundrum.
I hadn't really wondered about it too much previously, I just assumed Bruce is a fucking asshole because he threw a batarang at this boy who supposedly was like a son to him, after getting him back from the dead, at the very high risk of killing him. Like idgaf of the circumstances okay? Fuck off Bruce. So it's not like I really cared if that was the shoulder or the neck (even if it does look like the neck) because it's the principle that's fucked up.
But anyway, recently my gf said something and I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I went back to UTRH and looked for panels and GODDAMNIT SHE'S RIGHT-
So, the answer to the question "did Bruce aim for Jason's neck or shoulder when he threw that batarang?" can be answered with BOTH. Let me explain.
The scene is Bruce and Jason's last confrontation in UTRH, and they just started to fight. It's a brutal fight made even more desperate because chemo has just been dropped on Bludhaven and Bruce cannot physically go check on Dick because Jason is preventing him, so they're both desperate, no one is pulling the punches.
it starts out like this:
With a batarang thrown behind Jason that bounces back from a close distance, and which allows Jason to choose his wound, because it's aimed to his shoulder and head.
Sounds familiar? Basically this blow is thrown in a way that takes away someone's balance, forcing them to move from a spot if they want to avoid a potentially fatal blow.
Jason dodges of course and gets hit on the side of the shoulder, giving back with one of "his tricks", and the fight continues.
Now take a look at how the fight ends:
with the same opening blow, a batarang thrown behind Jason, aimed at his shoulder and head. Clearly aimed to destabilize Jason and make him let go of the Joker, but Jason does not move and does not let go until after he's been hit.
The implications of this are huge. It's a known fact that Jason does not think he's going to walk out of this alive, but here he actively chose to let Bruce hit him in the neck, solid on his position until the end.
There's also a bit, a few panels prior, regarding how both Jason and Bruce wouldn't fall for the same trick twice:
Never twice.
Bruce used the same move twice with that batarang throw, and again it implies that Jason should have seen it coming and he did.
Bruce won, in the sense that he managed to not do what Jason demanded - shoot him through his face or watch the Joker die - he "managed to find a way to win" and keep his conscience relatively clean because he didn't shoot a gun, and it was Jason's decision not to move and to let that batarang hit him in the neck when he could have dodged it.
And everybody still loses.
DC writers do have a tendency to depict Jason having suicidal tendencies. I'm pretty sure at this point that it comes from this, and that whatever the fuck happens in RHATO when Bruce beats the living hell out of him, and Jason does not defend himself, is supposed to be some kind of parallel to this particular dyamic of UTRH (a bad parallel but still).
I rest my case.
205 notes
·
View notes
🌊⛵👬- My own prompt ❤✨
Travelerji/Merxian AU See the first five prompts here.
Warnings: Thalassophobia, drowning, blood.
-
Stay With Me
It happened again, but this time Wei Wuxian was so much more scared. It had been a few years since he started following his traveler, but he had never once mustered the courage to show his face to him. He knew the other feared the ocean by now, so he wasn't sure why he kept coming back- could it be a love for his craft? Searching for something special?
He almost wished the traveler would have just let his fear take over, so he didn’t have to see the blood sifting through the water from the man’s head. Luckily, they were much closer to shore this time so Wei Wuxian could act quickly. Well, or unfortunately if he couldn’t find shelter for the man.
He shifted his tail into that of a shark, much quicker than his usual tail and easier to fight the currents with, and once again took the man to shore.
He let out a breath of relief as he spotted a sea cave not far from where he’d pulled the man ashore, carefully and painfully hoisting the man up with his wobbly sea legs to take him in where it was safe and dry.
Now that he was safe and laying in the sand, he checked his injury, tilting the man’s head to check for a bump, and was relieved to see it was just a tiny cut. The blood was quite deceiving!
The merman quietly arranged the human so his head lay on Wei Wuxian’s thighs, and cleared his throat so he could begin to sing. As his voice carried past the wind, the injury glowed a subtle blue until it sealed up completely as if it’d never happened, little shimmers of light glimmering away into nothing as his voice trailed off.
“There we go…” He gently washed away the blood with a smile, happy to watch the other’s chest rise and fall as he took care of him.
It pained him to think he had to go once again, so all he could do was convince himself to stay until the man was about to wake up again. After all, he didn’t want him to get hurt while he lay there alone.
Lan Wangji scrunched his nose and coughed as he felt his head lowered onto the sand, and the feeling had him suddenly shooting out his arm to grab whatever had just been holding him.
He hadn’t expected to actually do so. He blearily focused on the long, inky waves hiding a surprised face with beautiful, pale eyes.
“Don’t go,” He croaked, stumbling up into a kneeling position and almost toppling over if it weren’t for the arms that caught him. “Don’t leave…”
Wei Wuxian managed to collect himself, albeit barely. “A-ah….aiyah…what’s all this then? Clinging to a naked stranger like this?”
At the mention of being naked, Lan Wangji almost immediately pulled back, but he was afraid if he let go the other would run. “I…I’m sorry…” He squeezed the other’s hand. “I just don’t want you to go.”
Wei Wuxian melted, not able to push an excuse to leave past his lips. He pulled his hair around to his lap so he could at least be a bit more decent while in his human form. “I won’t go.” The merman smiled as the traveler’s ears tinted pink. “I’ll stay.”
Lan Wangji swallowed nervously and nodded, slowly loosening his hand as if unsure whether to believe him. “You really won’t go?”
“I promise.” Wei Wuxian shuffled closer, within grabbing distance so the other would feel more assured. “You can keep holding my hand, if you’d like.” He laughed softly as the man pulled his hand away quickly, watching that red intensify on the other’s ears.
“Thank you…”
Wei Wuxian’s eyes widened slightly, smile faltering as he processed the other’s unexpected words.
“Thank you. For everything.”
Check out other MDZS Projects on my masterpost! ❤
Merji/Travelerji WIP Wangxian Prompt 1 WIP
Merxian sketch / Merxian 1 (nudity & wips included)
Merxian 2 (sfw) Merxian 3 (B&W)
Wangxian Prompt 1 cont. sketch
-
I created these two mermay au's for mermay prompts i'm writing.
(check back to the prompt list for updates)
121 notes
·
View notes