guys PLEASE. he is literally shlissik (the most violent seal ever.. please look at how he behaves during interviews its so funny 😭😭). and jason and bruce remind me so much of how shlissik and kroshik reunited on kroshik's boat..
(more under cut)
(via fat_nerpa on insta) ^^
like. TELL me this doesnt sound like them.
anyway, ignoring how much he reminds me of shlissik, i think thematically, selkies suit him. they typically represent dual nature between two things—the known and unknown, sea and land, freedom and captivity, etc. i personally think that how selkies react to the ocean vs human society is fitting for jason especially. the ocean is a selkie's home. theyre free there, able to act naturally. human society, however, is full of rules and structure that conflicts with a selkies wild nature.
now, think of jason and apply that same logic to crime alley & when he is with the batfam (or just the rest of gotham i guess). crime alley is HIS territory. he can act as he pleases there, because HE sets the rules. crime alley is his ocean. whenever he's with the batfam, he has to follow their rules and find a place in the hierarchy. he has to listen to what bruce says, because jason's not in charge there. he is so different from the rest of them, but he must act like they do when he's with them.
yin selkie stories, they often find love on the land. this conflicts against their connection to the sea. no matter who they meet, or how much they love them, selkies will always return to the ocean. its their nature. this is a key element to selkie folklore.
no mattter how much jason loves his family, he'll always go back to crime alley. he'll always return to his home. sure, he may visit his family, but crime alley is where he belongs. jason knows this. it's inevitable.
now, lets move on to the stolen seal skin. this is probably the most recurring motif in selkie stories. a man meet a selkie in human form, fall in love, steal her seal skin, and force her to marry him. she may live with the man for years after, but she will never be truly happy. she will long to return to her true home, no matter how many years pass.
some stories continue past this point with the selkie finding her skin and departing, to never see her family again. in others, she will return to visit, but only from a distance, watching her children in seal form. she can never truly rejoin her family.
now, please note that this is NOT EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED WITH JASON!! that would be WEIRD AF!!!! however.
after jason was adopted by bruce, he was fine at first. as time went on, he got more angry. he missed his parents (see: death in the family). this is his longing for the sea. he misses his freedom, his parents, crime alley.
him dying is the same as a selkie getting her seal skin back.
when he returns to the family, he doesnt truly return. he's distant. even if he does miss them, he doesnt come back. he has his freedom, his ocean, and he'll never give it back.
