Jason Todd (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
robintohood) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
metalogs2023-05-04 09:10 pm
robintohood) wrote in metalogs2023-05-04 09:10 pm
[OPEN/CLOSED] A Bird, came down the Walk
Who: Jason Todd robintohood and you!
What: Catch-all for May
When: April 28th to May 31st
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: Potential mention of death, PG-13 level violence, child neglect, and abandonment. Will add more warnings if needed.
Jason:
[It's a new month but unfortunately for Jason, he's wrung out already. The fight he had with his doppelganger on April 27th has left him feeling raw. He and the other Jason confessed and screamed at each other several very ugly things to each other, some of it was heard by both Tim Drakes.
Now there are questions swimming in his head. They're questions he doesn't know if he should be asking or even wants answers to. He doesn't know what to do with the emotional shrapnel the fight left behind. He's feeling incredibly uncomfortable in his own skin.
He knows he's too distracted to do all of his usual work so he decides to take a weeklong break from Descendant. People can still call and text him for any Descendant-related issues but otherwise, he won't be in the building. It's also because he doesn't know if he wants to deal with his brothers yet.
However, a lightened workload also means more time to think about the things he doesn't know if he wants to think about. This leaves him restless. Kind of literally too as his sleep schedule has worsened.
But he has to keep trucking along somehow. So during the day, you might catch Jason browsing at a library or a thrift bookstore. He keeps hovering at the classic literature sections and near the self-help books, unsure about what to pick]
Red Hood:
[The Society gave Jason a hit job and a deadline. He intends to build good favor with them so he and his gang can’t dawdle for long.
It's twisted but compared to other recent events, Jason finds the work almost a breath of fresh air. As far as he's concerned, the lines are clear and he knows exactly what to do. And after confirming the accuracy of the Society's intel, he now just needs to get a clear shot of the targeted serial killer.
It's evening and Jason's dressed in his Red Hood gear and perched up on a rooftop with a sniper rifle. He's staking out a seedy pool hall across the street from him. Meanwhile, a handful of his lackeys have taken their positions in nearby dark alleyways or are on standby with their motorcycles. They're all waiting for the serial killer and his crew to walk out of the pool hall.
Jason can't risk taking a shot yet as he and his gang are trying to avoid civilian casualties. Plus, the Society wants proof of his kill so he can't just shoot and run. He'll just have to be patient and wait. Hopefully nothing tries to thwart his plan]
Wildcard:
((OOC: Got something else in mind? Hit me up! I always welcome new CRs as well. My contact information is on this journal's profile and I'm in the game's Discord server. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns as well. I also have a feedback post.))
robintohood and you! What: Catch-all for May
When: April 28th to May 31st
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: Potential mention of death, PG-13 level violence, child neglect, and abandonment. Will add more warnings if needed.
Jason:
[It's a new month but unfortunately for Jason, he's wrung out already. The fight he had with his doppelganger on April 27th has left him feeling raw. He and the other Jason confessed and screamed at each other several very ugly things to each other, some of it was heard by both Tim Drakes.
Now there are questions swimming in his head. They're questions he doesn't know if he should be asking or even wants answers to. He doesn't know what to do with the emotional shrapnel the fight left behind. He's feeling incredibly uncomfortable in his own skin.
He knows he's too distracted to do all of his usual work so he decides to take a weeklong break from Descendant. People can still call and text him for any Descendant-related issues but otherwise, he won't be in the building. It's also because he doesn't know if he wants to deal with his brothers yet.
However, a lightened workload also means more time to think about the things he doesn't know if he wants to think about. This leaves him restless. Kind of literally too as his sleep schedule has worsened.
But he has to keep trucking along somehow. So during the day, you might catch Jason browsing at a library or a thrift bookstore. He keeps hovering at the classic literature sections and near the self-help books, unsure about what to pick]
Red Hood:
[The Society gave Jason a hit job and a deadline. He intends to build good favor with them so he and his gang can’t dawdle for long.
It's twisted but compared to other recent events, Jason finds the work almost a breath of fresh air. As far as he's concerned, the lines are clear and he knows exactly what to do. And after confirming the accuracy of the Society's intel, he now just needs to get a clear shot of the targeted serial killer.
It's evening and Jason's dressed in his Red Hood gear and perched up on a rooftop with a sniper rifle. He's staking out a seedy pool hall across the street from him. Meanwhile, a handful of his lackeys have taken their positions in nearby dark alleyways or are on standby with their motorcycles. They're all waiting for the serial killer and his crew to walk out of the pool hall.
Jason can't risk taking a shot yet as he and his gang are trying to avoid civilian casualties. Plus, the Society wants proof of his kill so he can't just shoot and run. He'll just have to be patient and wait. Hopefully nothing tries to thwart his plan]
Wildcard:
((OOC: Got something else in mind? Hit me up! I always welcome new CRs as well. My contact information is on this journal's profile and I'm in the game's Discord server. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns as well. I also have a feedback post.))
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[The hardness and coldness that slowly comes into Guy's eyes speaks volumes about whether or not he can do this. About what he's seen.]
[So does the disgust. It isn't the kind of disgust that makes someone lose their lunch, though. It's the kind of disgust that lives side by side with contempt.]
[It did not used to be there. From the beginning he was willing to deal with some of the monsters in the arena like the predators they were, but hatred, contempt, reviling people like this hadn't been second nature- because he knew no people like this. His entire world had been people that were a little rough around the edges but who had become loving and nurturing and kind.]
[But then he met people that deserved to be hated.]
[Loathing hasn't made a home in his heart, but nowadays it at least knows how to temporarily rent out a space.]
[Guy quietly reaches into his pocket for a bandana he's been using off and on to tie his hair out of his face. He ties it over the lower part of his face instead. He cinches up the hood of his sleeveless hoodie to hide his hair. Even thinks to reach down and smear his hands over some of the grime of the roof to smear over the stained stripes on his bicep. He doesn't want to have to change the design so it helps cover it up. He smears his hand against his jeans to clean it off somewhat.]
[He knows about the existence of cameras and is smart enough to be paranoid about them. Is smart enough to hide identifying features. And also knows he has to trash these clothes later. A shame, really, he does like them.]
[He kneels and crawls closer to the edge of the roof, sinking down low.]
I've stopped people like this before. It would've been permanent if they hadn't been revived. What's your plan?
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I need to get a clear shot of him without getting innocent people hurt. He's got his own crew too. They have to be taken out as well. They're just as guilty as he is. I got my own people down there too to back me up. This might get ugly quick.
[Jason points out which goons are part of the target's gang and where his own lackeys are]
What're your abilities? What should I call you?
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[And it definitely takes some concentration to do. The story can't just be him dictating what he wants them to do. It has an be an actual story, something meaningful. Or something true but from the past. There has to be a flourish. While he also focuses on making them move the way he wants.]
[But he's at least been practicing in his room. And he can split his attention well at this point.]
I can create these...living paintings? Of things. Is the best way to describe them. People I've known. Or animals from home. They're solid. Strong. I can control them and make them guard, fight, or bite like an animal. And they can at least lift a small boulder. The Alliance also had someone shoot at them with a gun and the bullets don't go through unless there are a lot of them.
[Like a Green Lantern's constructs. They can eventually break but it takes some doing.]
I can only do one at a time, though. But it can be at least as big as a girelephant.
[It's at least a solid energy projection power.]
And you can call me... [There's a glint of mischief in his eyes as he remembers something one of the Alliance members said, that he spoke into his phone to look up later. It'd pulled up some kind of TV show, that looked like moving paintings, that he found amusing.]
Bamm-Bamm. [He absolutely isn't using it as a permanent name, but it'll pass for this little situation.] Shorten that however you like.
[He'd suggest "BB" but he can't spell.]
[(Never let it be said that he doesn't have a sense of humor about himself.)]
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How long can you hold up these pictures?
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So each one lasts as long as I can keep the story going. But if I finish a story I can always start a new one and it makes a new painting almost instantly.
[He adds, so Jason knows he won't be strapped for creativity.]
I'm good at telling stories. Back home, I told them all the time to my family.
[No TV where he comes from. No books. They have to entertain themselves.]
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Hope you got a decent story tonight, Bamm-Bamm.
[Jason gives his sniper rifle one last lookover before turning his attention back to the pool hall. His target is still threatening to burn someone alive]
We're gonna lure out the targets. Can you make sure no one innocent gets caught up? I'm not looking to make my body count for tonight higher than it needs to be.
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[That he wants to protect innocents is good. He wonders how a man like this would've done in the arenas, if he's willing to take these kinds of actions to kill the kind of person he's trying to kill, and also to save who should be saved.]
[The Capitolites would have probably loved him for those priorities, if he could've managed to keep them up in the arenas. With a shallow, ugly love for the brutal practicality, and an even sicker, more twisted love for a protectiveness they weren't willing to extend to innocents themselves.]
[But more importantly, he thinks some of the other Tributes would've loved him more for it. In a much purer way. A realer way. And that was what kept you alive. That was what kept you sane. That was what kept you whole in that place. At least inside, where it counted most.]
[Guy knows that from experience.]
[He would've protected them anyway but it helps give Guy some of the measure of the man, and it earns his respect.]
I was already planning to. But I'll focus on it most. Do what you need to do. I'll keep everyone else clear.
[He adds.]
And call me in if you need more from me.
[If things go wrong, he won't hesitate to jump in and do whatever needs to be done.]
[Whatever needs to be done.]
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Keep your eyes and ears open. Name's Red Hood by the way.
[He turns on his comms to address his crew again]
We're luring them to the east.
[He also gestures which way is east for Guy's sake]
Act on my signal.
[He then looks back at Guy]
If everything goes right tonight, I want us to talk again.
[Maybe he'll come useful for future endeavors]
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So do I.
[He knows he can't toe the cliff's edge too much when it comes to making the Alliance angry.]
[And he's known people that others might see as deserving of death, who he didn't. He saw the good in them, saw how present desperation and past suffering had made them what they were. And how they didn't always have to be that. That there was room to grow. Some of them he'd seen grow before his eyes, with enough support and care. Or had started to open up to those who were kind to them.]
[But there are others, like this man who revels in burning the world, who he agrees need to be gone. If he's supposed to do good as part of this Alliance but they don't agree with actions like this...]
[That sure feels an awful lot like the traction the Capitol kept society in.]
[He needs to decide if he wants to try to do good in ways that wouldn't meet with their approval. At least sometimes. In secret. Because he has to make his time stuck in this world mean something.]
[At least there's maybe room to here. It's different than Panem. There's enough freedom in day to day choice for your actions to matter, and enough freedom from observation to do some things in genuinely clandestine ways. He's starting to think, if there are people worth protecting that can actually be protected, and people that need to be gone that can be stopped for good, that maybe actual good can be done. Maybe some things can change instead of being endlessly cyclical stories of suffering flashing on every screen. ]
[Because this world seems to have stories of suffering. They're just different ones. But they don't have to repeat.]
[It's worth it to talk to someone that apparently is making a habit of this. That's organized. That seems to know what he's doing. That can gain the kind of proof of genuine monstrosity Guy would have no chance of finding on his own.]
Good luck.
[He'd never taken to saying it the other way. "May the odds be ever in your favor" had such a pretentious Capitol lilt to it that he was delighted to learn the word "pretentious" just to be able to describe it.]
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Do it.
[Two of Jason's masked lackeys emerge from the dark. One man with very large hands starts smashing a motorcycle parked in front of the pool hall. Another slashes a parked car's tires with a knife before smashing the windows with a metal baseball bat.
As soon as the targeted and now enraged crew start to come out to see who's wrecking their vehicles, Jason's men run east. They're loudly taunting and goading them to follow.
Meanwhile, Jason runs and jumps several rooftops over. With Guy now around and apparently cooperating, Jason needs to put some distance between them before anyone thinks he's working with an Alliance member.
The targets angrily follow the two vandals on foot. Then four more of Jason's men emerge from their hiding spots. Some of the targets are firing guns while others, including the serial killer, are using their abilities for projectiles. Jason's gang fire in return while ducking for cover.
They're in a seedy area of Central and much of it is closed for the night. Jason's ordered his gang to try to avoid civilian areas if they can help it but there are still some around, including in the pool hall . Some with too much curiosity than sense might stick their heads out to see the action from a distance.]
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Once upon a time there was a girl who was born with a star inside her...
[Guy is right about his ability to tell stories. His intelligence benefits him here. He's able to tell the stories under his breath and track where his constructs are needed at the same time, ordering them to move the right way in his mind.]
[He has a good vantage point.]
[As the fight goes on, different figures form out of nothing, one after the other, as if painted by crude outlines before they take a more concrete shape. A black woman with a baseball bat knocks a straggling goon unconscious when he gets too close to a bystander on the street. A man in a blue uniform that looks futuristic, like an officer on a spaceship would wear, helps said bystander up from the ground and blocks him from any bullets as he runs away. A large creature that looks like a mix of bear and owl shields the pool hall from a stray spray of bullets.]
[The innocent are protected, as promised.]
[Jason is free to finish the job.]
no subject
His own crew have been told to take out the goons however they can. The Society wants them all gone. That's fine by Jason's people. They've come to agree with Jason's morals.
Finally, the serial killer has no one around him. Before he could approach another one of Jason's men, Jason fires two shots at his head. The serial killer drops. With all the fighting still going around, the killer's gang haven't realized their leader's down yet.
Jason then addresses his crew through the comms]
Time for clean up.
[The henchmen acknowledge and try to finish the fights now. Some of the targets are sniped by Jason. Others are quickly finished by fatal blows. Neck snaps, gunshot wounds for quick bleed outs. Jason's gang isn't looking to torture tonight, only efficiency.
Several minutes later, silence finally starts to fall over the block.
Jason stands back up and looks back at Guy from a distance, waiting to see how he reacts next]
no subject
[Finally, they're safe, escaping the area altogether and Guy quickly casts his gaze over the left over carnage. He'd been dividing his attention back and forth. He'd seen parts of the violence.]
[...And also the fact the goons of the killer didn't care at all about potentially killing bystanders. He'd seen Jason and his men use brutal efficiency. No gloating, no dragging it out. Just ending it.]
[His brows furrow slightly at the waste of life, but the set of his jaw makes it clear that whatever feelings he has, he's perhaps still sure about it.]
[The bloodshed hasn't thrown or horrified him. Unlike some Tributes, he'd gone into the arenas used to a little blood and gore. He lived in a time where he had to butcher and field dress animals as an natural part of life. He'd had to prepare hides for use. He'd even figured out how to brain tan skins. The farm also had animals to sometimes butcher.]
[And after the arenas, he'd grown used to the deaths of people too. He'd even seen his own deaths, on the endlessly repeating arena footage that showed on so many screens around the Capitol in recaps. He'd seen himself die several times over.]
[But being used to it doesn't mean he's taking gratification from it either. There is no gloating expression, no sadistic pleasure. Just a thoughtfulness and solemnity.]
[He spots Jason looking up at him and gives him a little nod of acknowledgement to show he sees him.]
[Then he points to himself and points downward at the roof, raising his eyebrows. Miming a question of "do you want me to stay here for a bit." Jason had said he wanted to talk.]
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With the same amount of surprising grace and ability he used before, Jason then jumps and parkours his way back to Guy]
Glad to see you decided to stick around.
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I'm glad you didn't make me regret it. If you'd enjoyed that too much, I might have rethought things.
[Even with thinking this needed to be done, he doesn't like drawn out suffering. Even for those who are truly evil.]
[Stopping them is to protect others. Not to enjoy killing.]
no subject
[Jason's speaking from years of dealing with Gotham's rogues gallery. How many villains chose to monologue instead of just finishing the job already? He himself has been guilty of this a few times but generally he likes to keep things pragmatic. Plus, tonight was about doing a guild job with a deadline. He and his crew can always celebrate later]
Thanks for the assist. This would've been a lot tougher to handle if we had to worry about crossfire.
no subject
[His gaze goes distant.]
I've already seen too many innocent people get hurt. Even when I protected them, it was never enough. This is the first time I've actually been able to keep it from happening.
[So of course he was going to protect them.]
[He meets Jason's eyes again.]
Is this what you do? [He's curious.] I know there are people in this world that do different things. The ones that wear masks like you. Some protect people. Others hurt people.
Do you hunt the people that hurt people?
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Yeah. It's part of my job. It's not pretty but someone's gotta do it. Someone's gotta be the predator that picks off the other predators.
I've seen too many times what happens when nobody steps up.
[Bruce certainly doesn't]
So we got that much in common.
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That's what I tried to do in the other world. But you can't completely stop predators in a world where other predators who can control life and death want them alive again.
They usually brought them back. And when I died, they brought me back to kill them all over again.
[Doesn't that paint a lovely picture.]
Why do you wear a mask? Is killing predators like this against the laws here?
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Laws don't always line up with doing what's right. It's why I'm not part of the Alliance. I gotta be careful to not get caught.
Sounds like you've gone through a lot of battles.
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[His voice brims with disgust.]
Including killing children.
[It's very hard for children to make it to adulthood where he comes from. Enough every adult he's ever known has been preoccupied with keeping their children safe because of it. His parents had kept him from falling in the tar and convinced him to leave. Grug and Ugga had fought hard to protect their brood, with Grug especially overprotective. Hope and Phil had put walls around the farm to keep Dawn safe, paranoid after Guy's family had died.]
[They invented agriculture to keep her from danger.]
[Children are honestly the most precious thing in his world.]
As for battles...they were real. But also fake. We fought for their entertainment. [His voice drops, husky with bitterness.] We were so lucky to be famous.
The law said that - and worse things - were allowed. They dressed up their cruelty in rules and systems. But laws mean nothing unless they actually say something true.
[They only mean anything if they align with good morals.]
This world doesn't do anything about these people? What happens when the Alliance tries to stop them?
no subject
Sometimes laws are just excuses to do shitty things to people weaker than the lawmakers.
From what I get, if the Alliance ever discover those kinds of battles, they would break up the rings and think they're done. But they don't have the stomachs to permanently stop that kind of cruelty. Not in the way I would do it.
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[All the people he'd wanted to stop. That he couldn't fight. That he just had to cower in fear from.]
[Some of whom made it so he couldn't do what his parents had wanted him to do.]
[("Don't hide. Live. Follow the sun. You'll make it to Tomorrow.")]
[Every arena he'd hidden. Every arena he'd died. Every day had been spent trapped in a darkness that stuck to his heart like tar. And every day they'd held him back from Tomorrow.]
[Because he'd come to realize that Tomorrow wasn't a place. Eep was his Tomorrow. Is. But they'd promised themselves to each other. It wasn't supposed to just be a short time, it was supposed to be every tomorrow after too. Every one.]
[So even now, even if the Alliance lets him visit home, he won't be able to just stay. Until there's a way home for good, his life will still be rent in two, partly in an alien place full of things that feel unnatural, and only partly at home. Some of his days with her will still be stolen from him. Some of her days with him will be stolen from her.]
[The only way to make this hurt less is for his time in this world to mean something more than it had meant in Panem.]
Has it been hard to keep it a secret from people? From the Alliance.
[He shrugs one shoulder, mock casually, raises an eyebrow, and adds sardonically.]
Because I could use a hobby.
no subject
I've adapted and have my ways. But I've been hiding for a long time now.
[For all his problems with his family, the Bat-Training he got as a kid remains very useful]
Why the quick change? Alliance failing to meet your expectations already? Besides the trips to home, they gotta be giving you other stuff too.
no subject
They have things that are useful to me. Visits home, if they can make it work. I haven't seen my family, my mate [he briefly closes his eyes tightly and then opens them again, clearly pained] since I was taken.
[He looks down at the stone bracelet, fiddling with it.]
She and I had just moved into our own hut separate from our family the month before. We don't have marriage where I come from but if we did, we would have been...what do you call them here? Honeymoons? We were honeymoons.
[So yes, he'll say what he needs to for visits to see her.]
And they have the special money cards. It's not easy to get by in a world like this when you can't read and nothing is familiar.
[He knows he'd struggle even harder than most. He doesn't have a lifetime of familiarity with the culture, laws, and technology. He can easily be taken advantage of when he doesn't know what's fair to ask for work and can't learn things as easily since he can't just read them.]
But I don't think the way a lot of future people do and I don't think that's any different here. They overcomplicate things. And they're either too hard to be decent to others or too soft to do hard things that need to be done.
[He taps his chest.] You need a soft heart. [He taps his temple.] Hard mind.
[He holds out both hands, briefly causing them to waver and then steady, like scales balancing out. (He has never seen scales but at least knows how levers work.)]
Or there's no balance.
That's why I wanted to know how hard it is to keep it a secret so I don't lose the perks. If they really do believe in doing good, we have that in common, but there are right ways and wrong ways.
I don't trust systems so if they're relying on that [he lets out an expressive, extremely derisive snort that is pretty much caveperson for "Fat chance."]
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