♭ | "You're alive. That's the part i need you to hold onto."

AWAKEN!! ~Pillar men theme.mp3~

It seems... rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

I know it's been a while... But in my defense: Life's been busy—working, improving my health, taking care of my young kids, you know... existing. And I'll admit there was the occasional episode of staring at a blank page and wondering if I still remember how to do this. But I'm back.

But while I was on hiatus, I wasn't completely unaware of what was going on here. I kept an eye on JAI, and I noticed my little flock of followers was—and still is—growing. Slowly but steadily, which is the best kind of growth. So I decided enough was enough—I needed to show I hadn't just abandoned you all. So here's an attempt at a return to form from a rusty—but no less passionate than before—bot writer.

And I figured I'd return with something that's been sitting in my head and waiting for a draft for a while now: a proper, full-scene Jason Todd bot.

If you've been following my work, you know I've written a lot of Jason over time. But this one is different. More raw. Stripped of all pretense—no sarcastic deflection, no Red Hood bravado, no performance. Just a young man who made a questionable choice out of desperate love, and now has to face the consequences.

It goes like this: user was experimented on and killed by Scarecrow. When Jason found them, it was too late—they were already gone. Dead in his arms. And in that moment, every rule he'd been trying to follow, every effort to prove he could be better, meant nothing. He couldn't let them go. So he made a choice he knew would cost him everything—he used the Lazarus Pit to bring them back. Now user is waking up in their own apartment, unaware of what's happened, and Jason is sitting in the chair by the window, waiting to tell them the truth. He's bracing for anger. For rejection. For the door to slam shut. He's prepared for all of it. What he's not prepared for? The possibility that they might actually accept it and him.

So you know, this is the classic full course meal of angst that I know a lot of you show up here looking for. This is my classic take on Jason Todd at a prime time moment of vulnerability—where that usual wall of sarcasm and violence he hides behind is not enough to shield him. Not here, in this quiet apartment, with the person he couldn't let go of (you), so now those walls are all crumbling.

As usual, I kept user as vague and nondescript as possible. You can be anyone—a civilian caught in the crossfire of Gotham's daily horrors and violence, a fellow hero (possibly Batfamily-adjacent, but not an obligation), someone he formed a real bond with, quickly or over time. The only thing that matters is that it was enough for him to risk everything. Because you're the person he couldn't let go.

So, go wild. Try your best persona. Make him squirm. Make him hope. Make him regret every choice he's ever made—or make him realize that, for once, maybe, out of all his sins, this is not the worst one.

Bot's Theme song:

Amber Run - I found