Honestly, I’m Exhausted By The Discourse Surrounding Aldo Bellini :)))

Honestly, I’m exhausted by the discourse surrounding Aldo Bellini :)))

Why can’t we keep the canon intact and build on it, rather than bashing Aldo’s character to fit a different narrative? The depth of his relationship with Thomas, the weight of their history, the fact that they know each other too well—that’s what makes their story so rich. It doesn’t need to be rewritten, and Aldo doesn’t need to be cast aside to justify another interpretation...

What exactly has he done wrong? The way people project their own political views onto this fictional character—one who has the courage to say outright that he refuses to be anything other than what he is and what he believes in, in order to sway undecided voters, even at the cost of the papacy—is ridiculous. The fact that he’s a liberal figure shouldn’t make him more politically skewed than the literal fascist in the film.

Honestly, I’m Exhausted By The Discourse Surrounding Aldo Bellini :)))

Yes, he stops speaking when the nuns enter the auditorium—who wouldn’t? They’re organizing a campaign in his name, one he never asked for.

Yes, he doesn’t address the women directly in the film as Benítez or Lawrence do. That does not make him a hypocrite regarding his views. The film is from Lawrence’s POV—we don’t see everything that happens outside of that lens.

He stands up to Tedesco, even if it’s short-lived, not because he’s weak, but because he’s done it countless times before, and it has changed nothing. It’s habitual—he has defended the late pope’s legacy against Tedesco before. As he himself mentioned, the smears, the leaks to the press—he faced the Venetian Patriarch again and again, likely alone, as one of the highest-ranking officials in the Vatican, shielding a dying pope who could no longer shield himself.

And Tedesco knew that. Canonically, he knew. Because he has eyes and ears everywhere in the Vatican. That’s why the last months of the late pope’s papacy were so brutal. Why the attacks against his leadership and his vision were so savage.

But Aldo still speaks up. He does. Thomas doesn’t. No one else in that room does—except Aldo and Vincent. And yes, Vincent articulates it better. He is more forceful, more impassioned, more genuine. Because this is his first time in the Curia, and he is stunned by the hypocrisy, by the blatant power-hunger of it all.

Aldo isn’t stunned. He can’t be. He has lived in it for too long, fought too many battles that went nowhere. He knows the game better than anyone, and he knows that fighting with everything he has won’t change the fact that the system has been built to withstand men like him. So does he still push back? Yes. Does he still try? Yes. But he no longer expects it to make a difference. Because it probably never has.

The idea that he is somehow spineless, or merely a foil to Vincent Benítez, while the actual deplorable men in the film go unchallenged by the fandom, is frustrating.

It ignores the central theme of Conclave: these are flawed, human men, all of them, shaped by faith, experience, and immense pressure. None of them are “better” than the others—they are all navigating their faith, their responsibilities, their mistakes, their choices.

Yes, Aldo later chooses a moderate candidate, Tremblay, rather than pushing for himself—but that’s what they’ve been reduced to by that point. Maybe if Aldo had been in the lead from the beginning, he would have fought harder. But it's one thing to be expected to win and another to be faced with the reality that he does not have enough support. And crucially, he has no idea that Tremblay only made it into the race because he bribed their brothers. Aldo isn’t playing politics for personal gain—he is choosing the lesser evil to salvage what he fumbled, to protect 40 years of progress, the legacy of the late Holy Father—progress that he personally fought for.

And we never know if Aldo actually accepted Tremblay’s offer to continue as Secretary of State if Tremblay won. We don’t even know if the offer was made. But even if it was—even if Aldo had accepted—it would not make him a bad person. It would not make him corrupt. It would make him pragmatic. It would make him someone willing to do what he could to keep his work alive, to preserve some of the progress of the Church, even in the face of his own failures. Accepting his shortcomings and trying to fix what he would be allowed to fix is not weakness. It is not cowardice. It is a man doing his best with what he has left.

Yes, in the book, he casts an early vote for someone who stands no chance, and then for Lawrence, who in his eyes is just as unlikely.

But imagine what it must be like to be so brilliant, so well-versed in theology, and so skilled in Vatican realpolitik, only to realize that those very traits make you unworthy of the papacy—because the papacy should be the result of divine intervention, not a media campaign that crowned him as the next pontiff before the conclave even began.

He knows the late pope betrayed Thomas’s trust by confiding in Aldo about Thomas’s struggles with prayer. And so he chooses to betray their late friend in return—not out of malice, but to ease Thomas’s burden, to tell him that even the pope had doubts too. To make sure Thomas understands that maybe the Church is what’s wrong—not Thomas, not him, not his faith.

Even in their worst moments, Aldo and Thomas do not let go of each other. They still sit next to each other, even after arguments. They still walk side by side. They still seek each other’s gaze, even in disapproval.

The core of Aldo and Thomas’s relationship—and I am only speaking about what we explicitly see—is that they know each other too well. So well that it’s uncomfortable. Their bond is deep, intimate, and painful because it forces them to confront parts of themselves they might otherwise ignore.

Thomas is right to call Aldo a coward in the moment that he does, but that doesn’t make him one—it means he was trapped by circumstance, by months of mounting pressure, by the expectation that he would step into the late pope’s shoes despite feeling unworthy. And Thomas knows that, too. That’s why he doesn’t make a sweeping judgment about Aldo’s character—he doesn’t mark him as faulty, doesn’t condemn him as lesser. He simply states that Aldo lacks the courage to become pope. Because at that moment, it’s true. But it isn’t about Aldo as a person—it’s about Thomas realizing, too late, that he backed the wrong candidate. That Aldo had been telling him from the beginning. That Aldo never wanted it. That he knew Aldo never wanted it and he finally accepted the truth of it.

And Aldo is right about Thomas’s ambition before Thomas even admits it to himself—before he confesses that he already has a papal name chosen.

Aldo—despite his anger—protects Thomas. He tells him to save his precious doubts for his prayers, but only after checking the corridor to make sure no one is listening, to make sure no one can use this to destroy his friend. Even when they lash out, even when they misunderstand each other, they still protect each other. Because the reality is, they are both exhausted, both distressed, both making mistakes. And that’s okay.

But this is not one-sided. They are very much equals. Aldo downplays Thomas’s doubts, yes, but Thomas does the exact same thing to Aldo. When Aldo tells Thomas he doesn’t believe he is worthy of being pope, Thomas laughs. He treats it like a joke because to him, Aldo is worthy.

But their friendship will not fall apart because of it.

The most important thing? They recover. Their closeness is neither a flaw nor a weakness. It is terrifying to be fully known by someone, but it is also a profoundly beautiful thing. They don’t doubt each other—they give their votes to each other through it all. They doubt themselves because the other sees too much, unearths too much. Their story is about tension, about recognition, about the pain of seeing and being seen—but ultimately, it is also about growth.

Aldo Bellini actively recognizes his mistakes, apologizes, and takes tangible steps to make things right—all in a single day—to fix the hurt he caused his dearest friend.

Aldo is the one who takes the first step. He is the one who acknowledges his own failings, and in doing so, he gives Thomas the space to admit his own. They were both right about each other. Not just Thomas being right about Aldo—Thomas could have sat with that, could have enjoyed the sense of superiority in the moment. But he doesn’t. Instead, he levels them. Because Aldo was brave. Because Aldo chose to be honest. Because it was unfair to dismiss him as a coward, while Thomas himself holds the truth of his ambition back.

And Aldo? He is genuinely happy when Vincent Benítez is elected. He claps, he stands, he moves on. He doesn’t dwell on the fact that he was the heir presumptive, that his dear late friend beat him in chess one last time. That the late pope was, once again, eight moves ahead. Because he doesn’t mind. He never wanted the papacy out of ambition—only out of necessity. That’s why he positioned himself as a foil to Tedesco’s views, not as a person. So, of course, he is relieved that a man with morals and principles was chosen instead, a person, not a politician.

Read the book. Read the script. Watch the film again.

These men don’t have to sacrifice their friendship just because a “new, better, shinier” person sits in the Vatican now. Because guess what? Vincent Benítez isn’t perfect either. He has struggled with his faith. He has experienced traumas that shaped him. This is a man who has faced warlords, mafias, criminals both petty and powerful. He is no stranger to being stripped of his vestments and forced to exist as nothing but a man. Even he, in the book, the script, the film, does not always act rationally. He throws Aldo’s arrogance about returning to Rome and potentially having to stay right back at him—and honestly, he isn’t wrong, neither is Aldo. Vincent is stubborn. He is not innocent, despite the name he chose. He needs Thomas’s acknowledgment of his anatomy for a reason. He has doubts, too. And doubts are not a bad thing. Just as Aldo seeks Thomas’s approval before taking the chessboard, before opening up, before allowing himself to grieve.

Aldo and Vincent are not foils—they are the same in their love, just as Aldo and Thomas are united in their pain, just as Aldo and Tedesco are the two sides of the same coin in their intellect and ideological strength. They are men. What they do is what sets them apart—and what brings them together.

And if you’re going to tell me that a stupid BuzzFeed quiz calling Aldo Bellini “spineless” months ago is still driving this entire discourse? Then maybe it’s time to admit you never understood him nor the source material in the first place.

More Posts from Syllaw-16 and Others

syllaw-16

2 months ago

Sometimes I feel like us as the bat family fandom forget how starry eyed people get about Nightwing canonically.

Because with the exception of early era Tim most of the Batkids are like. lol that’s my loser older brother or some variation of yeah…he’s some guy I guess? He helps me with homework?

And Nightwing is the canonically a center of multiversal light.

When Heroes meet Nightwing they do the vigorous handshake and the “it’s an honor to meet you sir, I have heard so much about you oh my god”

There are so many character where they are literally shown giggling and kicking their feet whenever Nightwing talks to them.

Even the people who don’t have the celebrity level worship of him respect the hell out of him and call him as soon as they need help.

From raven to Starfire to Superman to Superboy to all or the flashes there is so much respect and awe given to this one dude.

And it is deserved

But imagine you are Damian Wayne and you’ve been working with what 90% of the people you’ve met (all bats) have been calling an embarrassment to your father’s legacy.

Your mother hates him and your Grandfather doesn’t feel that strongly about him.

The red hood calls him an embarrassment and a coward and he couldn’t even keep Red Robin from running away.

Your father tells him that he never should have been Batman

And you’ve worked with him and you know what you think everyone is full of shit about him and you and him the new Batman and Robin are the best no matter what anyone says.

And fuck it the fact he keeps going in a suit that everyone tells him he’s not good enough for is scratching something in your brain that you’re refusing to acknowledge because why would you feel that way? You are the circus freak have nothing in common (shut up)

And then you meet the justice league and all the extended teams.

And people are falling over themselves to listen to a word out of your brothers, your Batman’s mouth. They wait for a nod or headshake and dictate decades worth of planning on it.

Both Drake and Todd’s hero teams ask him for advice with or without their designated bats presence.

The man of steel asks for child rearing advice and wonder woman cracks a joke about a spar

Newer heroes whisper about him in the halls

He’s literally your favorite hero’s favorite hero

And it’s breaking Damian’s Brain

Because well… he kinda gets slapped around in Gotham. He’s the butt of half the jokes the other Batkids make and Dick just smiles and takes it.

The rogues have a bounty on nightwings ass and he gets leered at by goons, rogues, civilians and anti-hero’s alike and he doesn’t say anything.

He lets oracle crack jokes about a pretty face and having to do everything herself

Let’s Jason run the alley despite the fact that apparently he knows how to take it back

Apparently he’s had 12 people tailing Drake since Paris and despite being the man Ra’s Al Ghul calls detective has yet to notice. (Because you can’t tell me Dick was just magically at the right place to catch Tim falling to his death on coincidence)

And necessary to peace talks because he’s the best they have at deescalation

Like imagine you are a child who was raised to believe power is this obvious, all consuming thing. That the ones who control the board are visibly larger than life figures who fought their way to the top and cling to power by even the thinnest hangnail if they had to.

People who ignore simpler morals or an overall greater goal or good

And then you’re taken in by the man who whispers the correct answers into the larger than life figures ear.

Like I feel like that would have such an impact because Dick didn’t take power from anyone to reach his goals, it’s why his siblings don’t really defer to him unless in crisis.

Dick didn’t take power, no people just looked at him and decided he was the best option to give it to.

Everyone basically looked at this kid and went, yeah you’re the future of all heroism.

And if that dude can’t even get Bruce Wayne’s respect what chance does Damian Wayne have

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syllaw-16

3 months ago

zoro unlocking conquerors/supreme king haki while having a flashback about luffy, explaining him as the reason he did so, was insane narratively.

zoro’s devotion is as unquestioned as humans’ need for oxygen, his loyalty is as sure as the need for ground beneath our feet. but to place luffy at the center of even his willpower and ambition, that’s something.

supreme king haki is an unteachable, one in a million power that’s tied with having ‘kingly’ qualities. but zoro doesn’t want to be a leader, he relishes in following. he states, with a picture of luffy in his mind, luffy commenting that he needs no less than the world’s greatest swordsman, that he made a promise. his promise to kuina and luffy is at foundation of his drive.

zoro’s supreme king haki does not stem from the ambition of a king, it comes from wanting to be his king’s very best soldier. he wants to be the greatest, and he wants to be no less than that for luffy. a king, sure, but in the way that a king would answer to a god.

when asked “so you intend to be a king, then?” zoro’s initial instinct was simple, “what?” because that had never even crossed his mind. but he agrees shortly after, with the image of luffy in his mind, “that’s right.” and he became the king of hell, serving a god of the sun.

zoro doesn’t have ambition to conquer, not in the same way luffy does, but he wants to conquer whatever stands in luffy’s way. his ‘kingly’ attributes are accelerated by devotion, like a king would devote his life to his country, his everything. while becoming the world’s greatest swordsman is a convoluted example of a king, sitting atop a throne of symbolic power, i think it’s more accurate to call what zoro unlocked ‘supreme soldier’ haki. ‘conquerors’ haki in the way a marshal would lead an army for his king, and not the king himself. conquering the battlefield as a victory for not only himself, his ambition interconnected with others (those he loves).

i don’t mean to diminish zoro’s ambition, to be the world’s greatest swordsman is a king in itself and that should be recognised. but nothing can detract from the fact that as he unlocked this power, the power of ultimate will, his mind was full of luffy and his smiling face. luffy has always and will always be at the base of zoro’s goal, since the day he met him. becoming the world’s greatest swordsman was no longer solely tied to kuina but now equally his captain, who could have no less than the world’s greatest swordsman.

and what an interesting development we saw happen in front of us. comparatively, the reason for every strawhat’s dream is born from their past, but we witnessed the reason behind zoro’s dream evolve in present time. he no longer strives for kuina alone. he will be a king, because it is what luffy needs as well. he will be the world’s greatest swordsman because he’s got a promise to keep to his captain and his best friend.

a one in a million power, unlocked as a result of a promise. zoro’s devotion is indescribable, his loyalty and his love is quite literally one in a million. if not even rarer as we have never seen an instance of supreme king be activated for someone else. i cannot articulate the beauty of it

Zoro Unlocking Conquerors/supreme King Haki While Having A Flashback About Luffy, Explaining Him As The

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syllaw-16

1 month ago

I feel bad for Lin Ling, but my brain demands angst. Or the horrors. Miss J said that Nice's fans have been waiting long enough for him to reach the top. And if for the public (for it's significant part at least) heroes are nothing more than spectacular characters, what if even after Lin Ling became his own hero, some fans would demand Nice's comeback. Like "yeeeah the OG is dead((( but the copy looks just like him! also he has new cool fighting techniques! and he genuinely loves Moon like Nice is supposed to! idk the commoner is just a downgrade in comparison :( i miss Nice's grace, commoner is just... meh". They would leave negative comments, spread their opinion, attract like-minded people. And no matter how hard Lin tries to move on from Nice, Nice would be forced upon him. The fans' will is no joke after all. Damage to his mental health (he finally became "himself", but there're people who prefer false identity other the real one and see him as a perfect mannequin) would be bearable, but then their desires pile up and start to affect his appearance again - everyday, looking at the mirror, he would notice more and more white strands. And distinct flecks of blue in his brown eyes... Sure, he has loyal fans ready to support The Commoner no matter what, but the consequences of "playing Nice" would haunt him. Because it's the fans who create the hero. And some fans have different plans for you. Teehee.

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syllaw-16

1 month ago

okay, so i've yapped a lot about how umemiya and kaji relate to sakura's character development as a leader and now i want to yap about how his personal growth is mirrored in nirei (+suo).

at the beginning of the series, sakura and nirei were functionally polar opposites: sakura was physically strong, but was out of touch with his social and emotional skills, whereas nirei had strength in social and emotional intelligence, but was physically weak.

when sakura first met nirei, he formed a negative opinion based on what he could see that he would soon retract. it's hard to see inner strength at a glance, just like how it's hard to track the growth of one's inner strength, especially in a fighting series.

what isn't hard to track in a series like wind breaker is physical strength, which is where nirei's arc comes in.

nirei's journey in becoming physically stronger is running parallel to sakura's journey to build his emotional strength, meaning that nirei's growth in physical strength is a direct, visual representation of sakura's growth in emotional strength.

and the person who is largely shepherding these two in their respective journeys? suo.

suo not only helps translate emotional/social situations to sakura (and also sakura's emotions to others) thus helping him navigate those conflicts, but he is also nirei's literal fighting instructor.

he also sometimes has to guide nirei on how to interact with sakura since they're so opposite from each other, which does suggest a personal familiarity with both sakura and nirei's mindsets. (we don't know much about suo yet, but if i had to wager a guess, i would say that he started out both physically and emotionally weak, which would be why he has such a deep understanding of sakura and nirei.)

from what i can see, these three are a really well-crafted trio and i'm excited to see where the series takes them.

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syllaw-16

3 months ago

thinking about how none of the strawhats have ever known a luffy without zoro.

everyone joined the crew to witness this oddly content and peaceful, terrifying duo. their dynamic is sweet and funny, almost gentle, something you would expect from childhood friends who have been next to each other for so long they don’t always need words. and then again, they are something else when they are in battle.

they trust each other like they are extensions of themselves, they know each other inside and out like they are telepathic, they get each other so completely.

i’m sure everyone who joined the crew looked at them and must’ve thought at one point that there has never been a time where they have not known each other. until nami tells them, oh, they met a few weeks before i joined.

the shock that must come from learning their bond is nearly as young as all of theirs, and not a product of existing next to each other for years.

how baffling it must be to watch them save each other like it’s breathing, to rely on each other without question or thought in fights, and to realise they only spent such a marginal time alone before everyone else began to join them.

to never know a luffy without zoro, or a zoro without luffy, it must be hard to ever imagine a time where they weren’t by each other’s side.

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syllaw-16

3 months ago

Consider: Post-canon Zuko wakes up in the body of his childhood self, the morning of That War Meeting. Would he still speak against the plans, knowing his fate? What do you think he would do differently the second time around?

"Turned away at the doors, Zuzu?"

"Shut up, Azula," her brother sulked. But sulked weirdly, after staring at her too long and too wide-eyed, not like she'd surprised him but--

But like he hadn't expected her to be there. At all.

He turned away. ...He turned back. "Hey, Lala? Do you think you could help me practice that one set?"

He didn't meet her eyes.

She narrowed hers. "Which set?"

"The one I'm bad at."

She scoffed. Pushed away from the wall she'd been leaning against. "That's all of them, Dum-Dum."

He didn't shout or stomp or yell about the nickname. His lips twitched.

"It's okay," he said. "If you're afraid you won't be a better teacher that my instructor..."

It was the most obvious manipulation ever.

Perhaps if he proved an adequate firebending student, she'd work on his courtly survival skills next. Honestly, it was good that not even Uncle Gets-Cousins-Killed had been fool enough to take Zuko into that war meeting. She could only imagine how terribly that could have gone.

"Keep up," she said, and turned her steps towards the training grounds.

He did. There, and during the katas she ran him through.

Azula kept her eyes narrowed.

"Hey," he asked, "do you know how to bend lightning yet?"

As if he could have missed it, if she'd been able to get more than sparks. "I will soon," she said.

"You will," he agreed, and flowed through his next set. The one she'd only just mastered.

Father didn't notice how weird Zuzu was being. Uncle never noticed anything. Zuko ate dinner and asked a servant for seconds and didn't stutter or flinch or lose his appetite when father asked, coolly, what he'd done with his day. Azula's shoulders tensed, because one mention of how she'd squandered her own training time teaching him--

"Azula hogged the training grounds. For hours," Zuzu scowled, exactly like a petulant thirteen year old.

Exactly like he hadn't been acting all day.

By the time Father was looking her way, Azula had her usual smirk in place. "I'm sure there would be room for both of us," she said, "you're not afraid of a little friendly fire, are you, brother?"

Zuko sulked. And ate his seconds, like he was enjoying each bite. There was something in his eyes, like a joke no one else was getting.

---

Father died that night. A heart attack. There were the faintest of burns to either side of the treacherous organ; the royal physician hypothesized that he'd grabbed at his chest, fingers burning hot in his final moments; so hot they'd only exacerbated the problem.

The royal physician would never have been brought any victims of lighting strikes. Those that occurred in the capital did not generally require a doctor in the aftermath.

Zuzu ate a hearty breakfast.

He didn't order seconds. Azula gave him points, at least, for not being tacky.

---

The sages named Iroh as regent.

They named Zuko as Fire Lord.

"No," the tiny Fire Lord in his perfectly miniaturized Fire Lord robes said, sitting at the head of his war council. "We're not doing that. And I'll be reviewing all recent battle plans, as well. What's this I hear about a division of new recruits being deployed to the front?"

He did not mention how he'd heard of the 41st Division. No one asked.

"Prince Iroh, surely--" one of the generals tried to appeal.

The young Fire Lord's regent was looking as startled as the rest of them, for a moment. Then he sipped his tea, and smiled.

"Your Fire Lord is correct, of course. A change in our leadership--a change the other nations may mistakenly view as weakness--will necessitate a change in our strategy."

"Now," said their lord, "what, exactly, is our overall objective in this war?"

War, the new Fire Lord decreed, was not an end unto itself.

---

The new Fire Lord continued to have time, to pretend to be trained by her. Azula watched him. Adjusted her footwork. Did not tolerate, and was not offered, any commentary on who was teaching who.

"What did you do with my brother?" she asked, as they flowed from one set to the next. As her hands, poised to throw fire, just so happened to be pointed his way.

He missed a step. It didn't look like an act.

"I'm, uh. Right here?"

She didn't bother to dignify that.

He didn't bother to look worried about her hands, one movement off from a true attack.

He looked around, then grabbed her sleeve, and tugged her further from any walls that may hide ears. The royal family's private training grounds were wonderfully large, and wonderfully open.

"It's me," he said. "It's still me. Just. More of me? Longer of me?"

She narrowed her eyes. A familiar expression, by this point. "Explain."

"...I found the Avatar," he said. "And this is definitely his fault, but--but I guess it started at a war meeting, when I was thirteen."

Azula listened. It was a very Dum-Dum story.

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syllaw-16

2 months ago

Adeyemi tries to use Lawrence's words against him in saying they are seeking a pope who "sins, asks forgiveness, and carries on", but Adeyemi never gets to the second part. From the beginning, he insists that he has done nothing wrong, that he was not at fault on account of his age, that the child may not even be his! His tears aren't of guilt, he cries because he's disappointed he has lost. He's crying for the death of his ambition, his dreams.

In the same way, Tremblay denies his sins from beginning to the bitter end, even in the face of undeniable evidence. Tedesco finds nothing wrong with his fascist views.

How can there be forgiveness when the sinner will not even acknowledge the sin?

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syllaw-16

8 months ago

I Need People To Be Aware That Dick Was An Absolute Menace To Criminals When He Was Robin, Ok?

I need people to be aware that Dick was an absolute menace to criminals when he was Robin, ok?

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syllaw-16

1 month ago

i saw someone say that every time gojo lets himself be human, he ends up getting punished

... hello???? i was having a good day??

I think the Biggest Lie DC told is that the Robin mantle is meant to be a Legacy.

All I see from it, is Dick constantly compensating for the fact that it was initially stolen from him, and making nice with the next kid who inhabits it, and being weirdly obligated to taking them under his wing, out of a strange sense of moral obligation because he felt responsible for the role he made.

What’s weird is the fact that no one’s supposed to be Robin after him. He didn’t just “outgrow” it so much as he was mentally estranged from the role because of his disagreements with Bruce.

It’s Bruce who went territorial with it. It’s Dick who realized Robin could never be divorced from the idea of Batman.

Bruce went out of his way to give the costume inspired by the Grayson’s Death Shroud to a boy who never met them.

An appropriate legacy would be Clark inspiring the idea of Nightwing and essentially giving Dick his blessing to be patterned off of him and a “Super” legacy, while giving him the freedom not to be an echo of him, because Dick wanted to be his own man. That right there respects the term of Legacy.

Another Legacy, would be the Flash. Wally literally took the same mantle because he loved Barry, was inspired by him. He honored that Legacy. It’s a more literal interpretation of the word Legacy.

When the FUCK did Jason ever honor the Dick Grayson Legacy?

Was he ever even told about the origins of that mantle?

What inspired it?

No. He had no idea because Bruce just handed Robin over and thought he could replace Dick. Robin is an idea of Dick’s. It’s Dick who excels. Its Dick who fights crime and defends the innocent.

It’s nothing personal for Jason.

It’s just a cool idea to be “Batman’s Partner.”

No one’s honoring Dick’s Legacy.

It doesn’t exist.

What it became was a means to “Partner with Batman.” Wearing it, one gets to have the Dick Grayson “Experience” and hopefully “do it better.” (🙄Bitch please)

Bruce doesn’t ever realize how entitled he was in handing the mantle off to Jason. And later when he’s too mentally and emotionally sick after Jason’s death, Tim comes along.

But Tim also doesn’t honor the “Robin Legacy.” How can he if he’s being thrown at Bruce as a crutch for his mental health and well-being?

Dick as Robin was never “suicide watch” for Batman. Or a “reason for Batman to take care of himself.” And if he was, how is that a legacy?

Truth be told the Grayson Legacy never existed.

Dick never passed on a Legacy. He actually never had a say in it. It became an obligation.

Dick never had a say or a choice or an option to give Robin away to Jason. It’s only AFTER THE FACT, he gives his “blessing.”

But in honesty, he’s being noble in doing so. He’s not there to crush the dreams of an orphan kid. Bruce taught Dick how to Hope. And how everyone needs a little hope.

Robin is a dream.

Not a legacy.

And it turned into a Nightmare under Tim’s hands. Robin suddenly became a way for Bruce not to go off the deep end. And Dick didn’t have a choice because it was either allow it and buy Bruce time to get better, or stop Tim and let Bruce implode.

And implode Bruce did.

Suddenly, Bruce could wield the Robin mantle as a way to Manipulate Stephanie Brown and manipulate Tim Drake into staying because the dream of being Robin was a temptation both of them couldn’t handle, and Bruce knew that. He banked on it when he set their own insecurities against them.

The only time the Robin mantle went back to being a dream was for Damian Wayne. And even then it wasn’t a choice either. It was either do that or watch the kid self destruct or Destroy everything. For a kid who was a knife and nothing else, it was a way to become someone more noble. Dick helped him raise his standards to the inspiration of *Dick’s* version of Robin.

To become someone who doesn’t serve self interest.

Robin helps. Robin saves. Robin serves. Robin sacrifices. Robins hands aren’t bloody. Only his red breast, where his heart is.

Robin isn’t necessarily a personally driven story. Isn’t a coming of age story.

Dick’s Robin was always a Knight who served a kingdom Bruce dreamed up because between the two of them, Bruce was more hopeful and idealistic. Bruce dreamed up a Gotham that didn’t exist until Bruce and Dick tried to work to that end.

In actuality, Bruce taught Dick to dream.

And then Bruce went mad and the Robin mantle stopped being a dream Dick created and instead became a curse.

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