#so with fish i think she saw that oswald now actually looked to her as a mother figure an she wanted to manipulate that

[vexahlla]

i am. not normal rn.

[wandawillkill312]

Batman #125 *Spoilers*

Hey, I know everyone is mostly reacting to what happened to Tim; but let's not forget another important aspect:

...we just lost another major Batman villain- and one of the main ones, at that!

First Deadshot and Manbat- though I'll resurrect them to full health, in my RP'S-, then Anarky, Hugo Strange, Ra's Al Ghul and now Penguin?!!!

He**! In her new series; even Poison Ivy states that she's either dying or is planning to commit suicide by mass genocide- probably the latter.

Man; Batman's rogues are dropping like flies, out here!

I'm not gonna bring up any deaths from "Task Force Z"; because as far as I'm concerned, it's an unofficial "Black Label" series.

But back to the topic: DC you need to stop killing Batman's Rogues, okay?

They are one of the handful of aspects, that makes Batman an interesting Superhero.

And while you're at it; bring back some of Batman's old Gold-Silver Age Rogues, as well- with new looks, of course.

But back to the main topic; a moment of silence for Oswald Cobblepot.

You were a great Batman villain and you gave us great stories.

You will be missed- assuming that you're actually dead!

You probably are, though.

Mercury poisoning is no joke.

Maybe next time, have your chef cook your fish, before you eat it!

I mean; just because you're named after a water bird that eats raw fish, doesn't mean you have to do it too, Ozzie! You Knob!

I mean look at Catwoman! She dresses as an animal that eats raw fish; but she still has the common sense, to eat her seafood cooked- most of the time.

Sushi is a thing; and you can bet that she occasionally indulges, in it.

But you have no excuse, Penguin!

Sorry...had to say all that.

It's tragic that he died, but still!

And for him; it wasn't even sushi, either!

Dude would straight up take a whole raw fish and actually chomp down on it- scales and all!

And in large amounts, as well!

Honestly; I'm actually surprised that he didn't die from Mercury poisoning, sooner.

Come to think of it; I'm also surprised that he wasn't dying from long-term Hypothermia- assuming that the temperature of his Iceberg Lounge was always freezing, which it probably wasn't.

I'm also surprised; that it wasn't diabetes, sirois, lung cancer or a clogged artery, that was doing him in.

Or even a combination of all four- with both Mercury Poisoning and that Cyanide capsule, added at the end.

Talk about a "Sinister Six" XD - oh right, DC Comics.

Not to mention; he also had a short fuse, brought on by his many complexes- including his Napoleon Complex! XD

So it is mindboggling; how anger-fueled strokes and aneurisms, weren't even a death factor for him, when #125 was being made.

But seriously. Penguin should have been dying from those four, that I listed , considering how Ozzie indulged in so much rich and fatty foods, copious amounts of alcohol and excess tobacco, over the years...

Not to mention; I don't think we ever saw him do any form of excercise, in the comics- not to lose weight, but to make sure his ticker and joints, were still working, perfectly.

And now that I'm thinking about it; he probably never brushed his teeth, after stuffing his face, either...🤢

No wonder his lips and saliva were always black, in the movie Batman Returns and in later comics...

Oh God! And he probably forced all his female workers and escorts to kiss him! 🤮

I'm pretty sure they all contracted something, afterwards! 😂

And he was supposed to be "The Gentleman of Crime?" 🤣

Ozzie; you were a gross Human being, with a short fuse, a vindictive attitude and a penchant for physically, mentally, emotionally and socially disfiguring anyone, who had the misfortune of crossing your "Socio-Path"- shout out to Rick Sanchez, for that term-, and doing anything, you saw as an attack, on your fragile ego!

You made a number of bad choices- especially in terms of personal health-, and all of Gotham City won't miss you, one bit- the citizens may remember you a lot and some may even finally get to safely mock you and produce a lot of stuff, in the media, to make you a fixture, in Gotham and cement your legacy...but they most certainly will not miss you!

Ohhh, I like how minutes ago; I was "soft-mourning" Ozzie's death, and now I'm just taking a massive dump, on his grave...

But considering what just happened to Tim- and right after Pride Month, too-; I'm probably the first of many, who will be doing that.

I guess you could say that we'll all be roasting him!

His goose has already been cooked, so why not. XD

Nevertheless; R.I.P. Oswald Cobblepot. AKA, "The Penguin"- "Detective Comics #58, 1941" - "Batman #125, 2022".

Thank you for being a great Batman villain and for making an umbrella of all personal items, one of the many symbols of fear, in Gotham- Oh! And for helping keep the top hat, monocle and tuxedo outfit, in fashion.

Diamond Jim Brady, would be proud:

Also P.S.; in the backup story, with Catwoman...

...yeah.

Silver lining, though; we may get to see Ethan Cobblepot, again- assuming DC remembers, that he exists.

(( To the following accounts:

@multi-muse-transect

@darkknightofgotham

@yellowskinnedwackyman

@trenhead

Please reblog this makeshift eulogy/roast, so it can be shared around the Batman/Comic Book community, on here.

Thanks. ��👍))

[frederickthegreat]

my thoughts on TUA season 2

(spoilers, obviously)

- opened with Klaus and Ben, my kings. Klaus’s hair looks so weird straightened while short 

- AWESOME opening soundtrack 

- seeing all their powers so controlled makes me wonder how they leveled up to that skill in the alternate timeline. like the only time we saw Klaus use the powers of other ghosts in the correct timeline was when two of them caught him falling out of the sky. however Diego did end up controlling bullets and Allison used her voice to technically kill one of the Swedes

- the homeless man screaming Allison’s name alongside Luther... funny shit

- big teddy bear Hazel

- Elliot was fucking awesome i think he was a great addition as a side character. rip tho :(

- honestly i don’t understand why Diego would WANT to save JFK. like it’s not that big of a deal. does he not understand what messing with the timeline can do??

- Lila... impeccable

- Sissy and Vanya... impeccable <3

- yeah and fuck u Carl

- ugh, Klaus’s beard. disgusting <3

- Ben and Klaus definitely act like they should be, given that they’ve been stuck with each other for over a decade. i’ve seen some people calling Klaus an asshole for not telling his siblings about Ben, which is completely understandable (cause he was an asshole), but I’m guessing it was because he was afraid? that sharing Ben with his siblings would mean that he would lose him to them, or his siblings would find him selfish, or they would ask something of him that he couldn’t give. if that makes sense

- that ghost bitch comment was funny tho 

- to the guy who called Klaus pretty boy at the bar: sir you don’t know what you’re getting into

- Raymond!! he’s such a sweetheart, i really liked him in the show. i’m really happy that Allison has found a bit of normalcy (as normal as the 1960s Civil Rights movement could be). it shows how passionate she is about what she believes in: even though she knows the movement is far from over, even back in 2019, she’s not gonna abandon it

- Allison staring at the moon every night: either thinking about Luther or how the moon blows them all up. maybe both

- of course Luther would be working for Jack Ruby

- awesome cinematography during the mental asylum escape 

- yeah it makes sense that the Handler would still be alive. she was a cool villain. although it would’ve been awesome to see how evil a fish could be

- Diego’s plan was pretty stupid. that’s my boy

- honestly they revealed how Klaus started a cult really well by having one of his followers find him at jail. Klaus, ever the musical aficionado, of course writes his scripture based off of pop songs

- Raymond and Klaus meeting!! that was cool to see how their paths connected

- Lila painting Elliot’s toenails green. ugh i love that crazy bitch

- i LOVE how they incorporated the umbrella man!! tbh i’ve always believed he was the one behind the assassination. Lee Harvey Oswald was framed 

- honestly a bit understandable that Luther was planning on killing Vanya? cause he had no idea who she is now, but them reuniting was actually really sweet. he’s grown up so much

- the Swedes and their cats.

- the Umbrella company building with the nuclear family mannequins... creepy, awesome shit

- baby pogo baby pogo baby pogo baby pogo

- shanked diego shanked diego shanked diego shanked diego

- did anyone else get vibes from Klaus’s episode opening that he was an escort to the old woman? like how he was being shown off at her arm or something and getting out of jail from a call from the governor. idk maybe the lady was just very taken with him, as anyone would be

- Elliot, our helpful king

- Allison and Klaus’s reunion was so sweet!! i’m so glad they got to interact so much more in this season 

- Ben getting Raymond out through a haunting... hilarious

- sweet intimate moment between Lila and Diego

- Ray meeting Luther was hilarious, but i do feel for the poor guy. i mean i’m not in love with my adoptive sister but still

- the sit-in was really well done and beautiful while terrible. the ‘riot’ that ensued was very appropriate for today’s setting 

- D-Dave

- honestly i was scared that Klaus was gonna be overly attracted to him or whatever, which would be weird cause he’s years younger than Klaus, but honestly, at the core he just wanted to save Dave’s life. even if it means never meeting him in a different timeline. he truly loved Dave. and that ptsd flashback was done so well

- i knew Lila wasn’t trustworthy but i didn’t REALLY expect that! 

- Vanya and Luther talking with each other, Luther admitting the apocalypse wasn’t all her fault. beautiful

- the Majestic 12 reminds me of the conspiracy theory that only a few families control basically everything in the world. the Majestic 12 may be based off of that, idk

- idk about everyone else but Klaus’s scorpion and the frog story made total sense to me! frogs ARE bitches

- the diner scene.... ugh. it really shows that the two of them did fall in love and they did stupid in love things, like talking about their family, about why Dave wanted to join, favorite colors, favorite foods, etc. however that’s seen later on when Dave visits the compound

- yes it’s very disheartening when Klaus is attacked, but honestly i think it had to happen, just like the riot had to happen. the 60s weren’t a fun time for lgbt people and poc. it was only going to be a matter of time before the show HAD to acknowledge the consequences of Klaus’s ‘flamboyancy’ in 1963 Texas. it doesn’t make it right or easy to see, but it’s realistic. 

- it also makes sense that Klaus fell off the wagon after experiencing something like that. yes we all would’ve liked him to stay sober, but sobriety and recovery aren’t linear. 

- Allison is so happy with Ray can we please drop this pseudo-incest plotline let’s MOVE ON 

- Texas Grace ! who is not actually Grace rip (i think? i was a bit confused lol)

- the scene with Harlan running off was really upsetting but we got to see those weird light particles that we saw in the first season

- Pogo Pogo Pogo Pogo

- Klaus being a dick to Ben again, as brothers do. i do feel bad for Ben though it must be sooo frustrating. that scene with him and Allison was really sweet and funny tho

- i just have to say that Luther and Diego are so fucking funny this season it’s awesome. like there are a LOT of good lines overall by everyone but they’re hilarious. “At least he didn’t shank my ass” “no bro, he shanked your heart”“Dads part of a sinister CABAL that’s plotting on killing the president.” “a caBAL?”“You two still a thing? *leans in* do we need to talk?” “No, she’s married.” “Woah dude... that’s rough.” and countless others

- the sibling reunion!! 

- Klaus really does get left out of everything tbh

- Ben :(

- sisters and Klaus!! that was so awesome to see. and Klaus’s hairpins, Vanya saying she’s gonna tell Sissy she loves her, their dance sequence, Klaus calling Allison out on that incest. beautiful

- the fucking Swedish cover of Hello was PERFECT i mean i was sad for the Swedes but it was hilarious. there were a couple beautiful shots of the boat on fire though

- god it must’ve been so traumatizing for Allison to be thrust into such a hostile place with no voice and no way to contact her family

-  idk about you guys but long live Team Zero

- calling Ben that he was becoming their father was a bit uncalled for 

- the fact that Klaus didn’t help Dave’s chances, and in fact escalated Dave’s own timeline.. his trembling hands... robert sheehan is an amazing actor

- the Black president bit lmaoo loved it

- the way Reginald spoke to Diego.. i’m gonna throw hands with an old man

- Klaus LITERALLY looked like he was having a seizure and they all just... played it off?? 

- poor, poor Carl. nah fuck him lol

- that bloody opening scene was awesome! and thank god Five got to say fuck. the fact that it was about a candy bar makes too much sense

- Robert Sheehan acting as Ben: amazing showstopping spectacular he’s so talented

- the whole multiple Fives and Luther bit was honestly really funny, and i immensely respect smaller Five over bigger Five. 

- yes Klaus, you survived a family of seven. you got this

- not sad about Carl dying one bit!

- Ben... that was such a beautiful scene. not just the content of the scene, but the cinematography. Ben fading away... Vanya hugging him... ugh. the main takeaway i had from that scene is that at the core of it all, Ben and Klaus love each other immensely. they have a weird, dysfunctional, fucked up relationship, where Klaus is an asshole and Ben definitely shouldn’t of possessed him without his consent, but they’re still brothers, and Ben forgives him. 

- oof Ben’s funeral was hard. also was it just me or did Klaus’s kid actor sound weird? like it sounded like Robert was dubbing his lines 

- all the siblings back together again!!!! Klaus going with Vanya to save Harlan!! Vanya telling him Ben forgives him and that it wasn’t Klaus’s fault Ben got stuck with him!! everyone in the car!!! be still my beating heart

- yeah didn’t see Lila having powers coming tbh. i really feel bad for her she’s had such a rough and traumatic life, especially with the Handler as her only parental figure

- the Swede brother and Five putting down their weapons: “enough.” the Swede wanted revenge for his brothers - an eye for an eye, but there was a mutual understanding between the two of them: they would do anything for their family. if the Swede hurts one of the Hargreeves, Five would never stop coming after him. i thought it was very beautiful 

- mmm Reggie’s foreshadowing coming into play. proud of u Five

- the ending was so beautiful. everyone got closure in some type of way. except now Klaus is alone with nothing but his dog tags :(

- EMO BEN HAHAHA WTFFF?? is Lila in the sparrow academy? why was Ben’s portrait over the mantle piece? did Five disappear?? is the sparrow academy just older versions of the siblings who stuck around?? so many questions

FINAL THOUGHTS

- Ellen Page’s acting consistently blows me away. she is amazing 

- beautiful cinematography, funny writing, pretty good acting. i didn’t like the soundtrack as much as i did the first season’s, but some of it wasn’t bad.

- i’m glad ben got peace, but i’m also glad justin min isn’t gone for good. his social media presence is too vital for us

- i swear to god if they keep treating klaus as a joke and don’t let him get any actual development like everyone else had (he barely got closure with Dave, he reconciled with Ben through a second party) next season, i’m gonna riot. PLEASE i want to learn more about his powers now that Ben is gone. what happened to seeing tons of ghosts when he’s sober??

- Luther and Diego were probably my favorite duo of the season, I’m so happy that they’ve reconciled and are bonding more. 

- just seeing Vanya grow and be happy was amazing 

all in all, really wonderful season. i probably liked it better than the first one. now it’s time to consume fanfiction and maybe finish my own (check out “god doesn’t want him and neither does the devil” on ao3!)

[psycheswritings]

Rumor Has It

Title: Rumor Has It Fandom: Peaky Blinders (Modern!AU) Pairing: Thomas Shelby x Reader Warnings: Smut, smoking, drinking. Word Count: 3172 Author's Note: Please, be gentle with me, it's been a while since I wrote a sex scene, so it might not be the best. But I was feeling like it, so here it is. This is a Modern!AU, the reader is a cop working undercover and Tommy is working with them as a informant of some kind. As always, this haven’t been proofread, so feel free to report any mistakes back to me. Also, your feedback is also highly appreciated I really want to hear what you think of it. Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

Summary: (Y/N) goes undercover in a attempt to get information to take down Sabibi and ends up in a rather delicate situation, only to be saved by the one and only, Thomas Shelby. However, the outcome of his actions may lead to something she wasn't expecting - the admission that she had developed feelings for the Brummie gangster.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sabini, but she is already taken for the night.” From all the things (Y/N) expected when she had gone undercover, the last of them was that Thomas Shelby would come to her rescue. But that was what he had just done.

She had been serving drinks all night, dressed in a tight and revealing outfit in one of Alfie’s clubs. Rumor had it that Sabini and Solomons would be meeting there tonight to work out some business deal – information provided by the Jew, himself. Alfie had been working with the police for quite some time now, he had made himself a good deal to not root in jail and in the time that she had to work with him, (Y/N) had actually grown fond of the man.

Thomas Shelby – and all the Shelby clan, for that matter – was an entirely different thing. The head of the Peaky Blinders was arrogant, overconfident and a helpless womanizer. However, the Shelby’s had connections - connections that the intelligence could use to get to bigger fish - so (Y/N) had to get used with them around.

What she never got used to was the way Tommy’s eyes always seemed to find her in a room, always lingering a moment too long before moving away, how he always seemed to be able to irritate her to no end even when he wasn’t doing anything at all. Oswald had said that it could only be one thing: attraction, but (Y/N) refused to believe she could fall for the enemy – even when said enemy was, in fact, working with them.

She wasn’t informed that he would be there tonight. Again, it could be a last minute thing, it usually happened in this kind of operation and she most certainly hated it. (Y/N) liked to know about things beforehand so she could prepare herself in how to react to it. That’s why she was so pissed off when she saw Thomas sitting at the same table as Alfie and Sabini. She was supposed to stay nearby and distract the Italian enough for him to slip information so intelligence could make a move.

Things were going well, despite the unexpected presence. She had stayed nearby, serving their table and the other ones close, Sabini had followed her movements more than once - everything was going smoothly. That is until he decided to make a move and try to have her for the night.

She looked at Alfie that was already looking at her. They both knew that he couldn’t do anything or it would arouse suspicion. If she refused his invitation she could blow her cover, if she accepted it she would certainly do it because there was no way in hell that she would sleep with him. For a moment time seemed to freeze while she tried to think about what to do, but Tommy worked faster.

After he had made his claim, Tommy beckoned her to come closer. (Y/N) had no alternative but to play along, so she walked to him. It was known that some of the girls working in the club used to go home with clients – if for money or just fun it was another matter – so it wasn’t unusual for them to sit with both men and women in the tables around the room. Alfie said that it made them spend more money than they regularly would, so he allowed it. Regardless, it drew a lot of attention around the room when Thomas Shelby all but pulled her into his lap.

She made a special effort to do it graciously, wrapping her arms around his neck while he rested his hands on her, one sprawled over her lower back and one on her exposed thigh, displayed in front of him. The Italian all but laughed before talking directly to Tommy.

“You certainly don’t play with your meal, do you Mr. Shelby?” Tommy’s answer was a sideway smirk. Then he pulled a pack of cigarettes from the table along with the lighter. As if on cue, (Y/N) took the cigarette from the man’s hands bringing it to her lips and lightening it, taking a drag before giving it back to him, all the while looking into his eyes, that seemed to become a shade darker. The display was enough to erase any doubts that Sabini could have had. “You sure you’ll be focused enough to do business with that beauty in your lap, Shelby?”

“I’m very sure that I’ll be even more focused to finish this faster so we can get out of here.” There was a playful tone in his voice but she could sense his discomfort. The other man at the table laughed and continued the conversation as if she wasn’t there. At least now she could hear better what they were talking about.

They played along this game for quite some time. It wasn’t the easiest of things – this part of the job never was – the sideway looks directed to them, the lingering touches, the smell of him that seemed to invade her nostrils every time he made a move to take his glass from the table. (Y/N) had to reprehend herself more than once for letting herself get distracted during the job, but it was difficult to focus on anything but Tommy when he was so close or when he made his personal job to touch her skin whenever he could.

When they were done, Alfie quickly excused himself and disappeared into the crowd, leaving them alone with Sabini, who seemed quite amused by the sight in front of him. He had already moved his attention into another one of the female waitresses. Before the Italian could say anything, Thomas made his move.

“Now, if you excuse us, Mr. Sabini. I wish to take this beautiful lady out of this place as quick as possible.” She got up and, in a moment, he was right behind her, his left hand securely placed on her waist, the other he extended to the Italian. The older man simply shook it, smiling.

“Be my guest, Mr. Shelby. If I had a woman as beautiful as her I would have already left.” Thomas guided her to the exit, nodding to a few people in his way out. One of the security guards handed (Y/N) her purse before they reached the main doors - Alfie’s courtesy, she was sure. When they were already outside, Tommy took her to his car, opening the door for her to enter. Her phone started ringing and she didn’t needed to look at the screen to know that it was her boss.

“Good job at the club, (Y/N). We recorded everything, this will help to set an operation to take Sabini down.” She knew by the tone of his voice that there was more and that she wasn’t going to like it. “Tommy saved your cover over there and for you to maintain it you’ll have to go to his hotel with him. I know the situation isn’t ideal, but it’s a means to an end.” (Y/N) let out a loud breath massaging her forehead with her free hand. Thomas had just entered the car, closing his door and by the smirk in his face he already knew about the plan.

“I understand, Sir.”

“See you tomorrow, then.” She turned off the phone and closed her eyes for a moment. This had to be a nightmare.

“I guess we are going to mine, then?” The look (Y/N) gave him could have made any man run for his life but all he did was laugh before starting the car.

“Just shut up and drive, Shelby.” The ride to his hotel was mostly quiet after that. She just ignored that she was sitting beside the Brummie gangster in his expensive car, riding to his hotel were she would have to share a room with him. Anything to keep her mind of thinking what she would do when the two of them were truly alone.

When they arrived in front of the hotel, one of the valets opened the door for (Y/N) to step out of the car just to be quickly replaced by Thomas himself. He only murmured a short “to keep the appearances” to her before he placed his hand into her lower back one more time, guiding her inside. She noticed the glances towards then when they walked to the front desk. (Y/N) found it odd, after all she couldn’t be the first woman that he had brought back here. She certainly wasn’t the most beautiful, since she had been with that horse trainer not long ago. The concierge gave him the key without a second thought and the both of them headed to the elevator.

He didn’t take his hands off of her when the doors of the lift closed in front of them or when they walked through the hall to his room. The heat of his palm on her skin was giving her goosebumps and for the first time (Y/N) thought that Oswald could be right, after all.

Thomas opened the door for her and she entered without taking a second glance at him. She took a sit on the recamiér at the end of the bed, promptly taking off her shoes. When she lifted her gaze, she found Tommy standing still in the middle of the room, hands in his pockets, looking at her. They just held each other gazes for a moment before he asked.

“Why do you hate me so much?”

“I don’t hate you.” Her prompt answer surprised them both.

“Well, you certainly despise me them. Have I done something for you to feel that badly about me?” (Y/N) blinked once, twice before she could answer him.

“I don’t know why I feel that way about you. I just do.” He laughed without humor and turned away to pour himself a drink. After that, he walked to the massive frameless window that displayed the view of the city, sipping his whisky while staring out. (Y/N) just stared into nothing for a couple of minutes, before getting up to go to the bathroom. It was going to be a long night.

She didn’t made it to the door before his hands were on her again. He twirled her around, her chest colliding with his, looking into her eyes before he crashed his lips on hers. Her arms went around his neck once more and before she could process what was happening, (Y/N) was already responding to the kiss.

Thomas’s lips were demanding, moving against hers with a fervor that she haven’t experienced in a while. He held her as close as humanly possible and even that didn’t seemed enough for them. His hands reached the back of her top, opening it with mastery and (Y/N) never thought that her body could react so quickly to someone else’s touch. When they parted for air, he looked straight into her eyes.

“Then say to me, say to me that you don’t feel this thing between us. Say to me that you don’t want me to touch you, that you don’t want me to have you, because there is no other way of stopping me, (Y/N/N).” She just stared back at him, at loss for words. “Because every time I see you all I want is to kiss you and show everyone around that you are mine. Because back at the club when Sabini said that he wanted to have you for the night all I wanted was to get up from that chair and beat him until he stopped breathing. Because everything I wanted since the moment that I laid my eyes on you in this tight little outfit was to rip it out off of you and have you in all the ways that I know.”

There in his hotel room, in the middle of the night, looking at his blue irises swirling with desire, (Y/N) left herself acknowledge the truth that she had been hiding since she met him: she was falling for Thomas Shelby.

“Then have me.” Her voice was hoarse with her own need, barely a whisper, but he heard her loud and clear. His lips found hers in the blink of an eye and his fingers made quick work of removing her top. She mimicked his actions, making quick work in taking off his vest and unbuttoning his shirt, more than grateful that he had already discarded his jacket and the gun holster. In the meantime, his hands explored her upper body with a tenderness that she wasn’t prepared for.

He found her breasts in an instant, massaging them before playing with her peaked nipples. The calloused skin of his fingers made (Y/N) moan against his lips. She could feel him smiling at the sound but she couldn’t care less at the moment - he could brag all he wanted if he continued to make her feel this way.

She slipped the shirt from his torso and threw it on the floor, tugging his undershirt off of his trousers just as quickly. They stopped kissing just enough for him to tug the garment off to have the same destiny as the others. He led her to the bed, unzipping her skirt in the way there and sliding it off her before she settled in the middle of the mattress. Then he took off his own trousers before climbing in after her.

He kissed her as if she was the only woman for him in the whole world and, for a moment, (Y/N) wondered if that was the way every other woman that he had had in his bed felt, because damn, Thomas certainly knew what he was doing. He didn’t gave her much time for second guessing though, his lips traveled from hers to her neck - biting, sucking and licking the skin there until she was moaning mess. Then he moved to her chest, kissing the valley of her breasts before taking one of her nipples in his mouth all the while one of his hands massaged the other, alternating between them. (Y/N) closed her eyes, biting her lips to prevent a moan to leave them, her hands founding their way to his short hair and them it was his time to left out a soft moan.

When his ministrations were done, he trailed down, leaving wet kisses all over the skin of her belly, he stopped when he found the lace of her panties. Looking up, right into her eyes, he hooked his fingers on each side of the garment and started to bring it down her legs. The hunger in his eyes made (Y/N) remember of a predator looking at his prey and the devil be damned, she wanted to be devoured by him.

He didn’t lose time in diving in, bringing her knees up and pushing her closer, his mouth quickly finding its way to her core. Tommy took his time tasting her, kissing, nibbling and lapping before he went to her clit. (Y/N) grabbed the sheets into her fists when she felt him suck the nub of nerves into his mouth, right before inserting a finger inside of her.

She clenched her muscles in pure reflex and couldn’t hold back the loud moan that left her lips. He smiled, she felt him smile, and all she wanted was to wipe that grin out of his lips but, again, he didn’t gave her time to think when he inserted another finger into her and she could do nothing to prevent his name from coming out of her lips. When her orgasm came, it hit her like a wave. (Y/N) felt like she was drowning, drowning in pleasure brought to her by the man she swore to despise.

Tommy didn’t stopped until her breath came back to normal after she had rode out her pleasure. Even then, after wiping his mouth on his arm and crawling to kiss her, his fingers were still inside of her. (Y/N) clawed at him, her nails digging into the skin on his back while she tasted herself on his tongue.

He lifted himself off her, getting up from the bed to take off his boxers and take a condom, opening the package and rolling it in before climbing back to her. She took him in for a kiss while he adjusted himself above her, rubbing his cock into her wetness making her bite his bottom lip in want. Thomas rubbed his tip into her clit and (Y/N) cried out in pleasure. She was soaking wet, the need to feel him was unbearable, so she grabbed his face and made him look at her.

“I need you inside me.” His pupils seemed to expand even more, hiding some of the blue. “Now.” He obeyed her wishes and entered her wetness slowly, deliberately, inch by inch, looking into her eyes as he did so and although all she wanted was to close her eyes, she fought the urge to maintain eye contact. It was worth it, to see the pleasure painted on his handsome face, to see him fighting the same urge to close his eyes. Then he pulled out just as slowly as he had entered her, picking up a rhythm of going in and out of her. Grabbing one of her thighs and bringing it up, holding it beside his ribs, (Y/N) could swear she saw stars.

However, her patience was running thin and she was having none of that slow pace so she distracted him with a kiss and rolled them over, landing on top of him. The surprised look on his face was priceless and (Y/N) would cherish that moment for a long time. She reached between the both of them to take him in her hand, seizing the opportunity to pump him a few times, making him shut his eyes in pure bliss, a loud moan reverberating in the room, before sinking down onto his length.

She was not sure if the cry of pleasure came from her or him, but at this point, it did not matter anymore. His hands found her hips while she found her own tempo, her hands resting into his chest for support, holding each other gazes until the pleasure was too much to handle and they closed their eyes, bracing themselves for what was to come. (Y/N) fell into his chest, nestling her head in the crock of his neck, her core clenching around him eliciting a moan of her name from him before they were both spent.

A few moments passed before she took herself off of him. Then he made his leave to the bathroom to discharge the condom and clean himself. (Y/N) searched for her panties, putting them on and adjusting herself underneath the covers. Tommy soon joined her, bringing her closer, his arms around her, the baby blue of his eyes staring back at her. None of them said nothing, but there was no need – they just knew.

[thedreammweaver]

Merry for the First Time (Burton-Schumacherverse au, teenage!riddlebird, angst, hurt/comfort)

Warnings: drug abuse mentions, child abuse/neglect, mention of forced dieting, withholding of food as punishment, planned but not executed filicide

Oswald huffed as he followed after his mother, greatly disliking the fact she’d drug him along to help her with Christmas shopping. She was in the middle of trying to remember something, frazzled as usual from whatever she took to take the edge off when dealing with Oswald. It felt like he was waddling after her forever all across the shopping center but she finally decided to call it a day.

Once they were in the car Esther was anxiously drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. “Can we go home now?” Oswald whined, leaning against the window. Esther cleared her throat “No...you have a doctor’s appointment today.”

Oswald could’ve sworn he felt the world stop turning “No, I don’t.”

Esther was already exasperated “Oswald, please-“

“No!!” Oswald screamed, folding his arms and turning away from his mother. His doctor visits were always tortuous, he got poked and prodded and ridiculed just for the doctor to say he didn’t know what was wrong. Esther gritted her teeth and squeezed the steering wheel before putting on a fake nice voice “If I get you ice cream will you not make my life a living hell for just a few hours?” Oswald pondered what his dignity was worth for a moment before nodding, stubbornly.

Oswald absently fiddled with the hem of his pajamas as he sat in the hallway listening to his parents fight.

“You spoil him too much! That’s why he’s like this!”

“He won’t do anything I say unless I spoil him! You do the same thing!”

“You’re high, Esther.”

“Oh, I’d like to see you try dealing with that thing sober..can barely stand to look at him.”

Unfortunately the all boys school Oswald was forced to attend didn’t let out for winter break. That meant he still had to deal with teasing from his peers over holidays the holiday season. He was sitting by himself in the grass during a break between classes while all of the other boys were together doing whatever ‘normal’ boys did. He was cranky as his father had once again forced him on a diet. Tucker was a little obsessed with trying to ‘correct’ the one thing about Oswald’s appearance that was changeable. He and Esther had looked into surgery for the nose and flippers, much to their dismay there were was seemingly no sum of money that could convince any surgeons in the area to operate on a thirteen year old. Oswald’s mood didn’t improve when he felt a small rock hit his back followed by snickering. It was soon followed by another rock and thenanother. “Hey, lardass!” Oswald recognized the voice as Harvey Dent’s. The boy was an angel in front of teachers but could be quite the bully once out of their eyesight. “Harvey, cut it out.” This voice made Oswald seethe, it was Bruce Wayne. “Shut up, Bruce. You make jokes about him too.”

“I don’t throw rocks at him..”

Oswald knew if he was going to be angry at anyone in the moment it should be Harvey, but there was something about Bruce that infuriated him. The perfect hair, perfect smile, everything about him was too perfect. Everyone had been doting on him since his parents died, if Oswald ever had to hear the words ‘Poor Bruce’ again he thought he might just lose it. He didn’t see the big deal, having parents wasn’t all it was cracked up to be either and Oswald didn’t get any sympathy for that or for anything...everyone was so worried about Bruce. He acted so innocent and good but he treated Oswald just like everyone else did. Without realizing it Oswald had gotten up, something about Bruce made everything in him cry out to rip the other boy to pieces. All Oswald saw was red as he felt himself charging Bruce.

“You put another boy in the hospital, Oswald, do you even care??” Esther asked, exasperated as she tried to focus on driving Oswald home from the lengthy meeting they’d just had with his principal. “It’s just a few broken bones..” Oswald mumbled.

“I really wonder what’s wrong with you sometimes.”

“He was being mean!”

“Oh, trust me, pal. A lot of people are going to be mean to you. You can’t attack everyone for it.”

“Yes, I can...”. Oswald folded his arms.

“Good then you’ll go to jail and I’ll never have to see you again, that’ll be nice.” Esther said spitefully. “Why can’t you just be normal for once???” She sighed “Poor Bruce...” That was it. Oswald didn’t know what came over him but he just started shrieking and kicking the back of Esther’s seat.

Oswald huffed as he laid face down in bed, having been sent there without dinner for his behaviour that day. He was going to try and go to sleep when he heard his window opening and something thumping against the floor. “Ow.” Ed mumbled though he recovered quickly. He giddily came over to Oswald’s bed “Ozzie..” he sing songed softly, pushing on Oswald’s shoulder. Oswald just groaned and moved away. “Oh..you’re in a bad mood, huh?”

Oswald weakly swatted at Ed.

“That’s okay, Ozzie. I still love you.” Ed said, crawling onto the bed to hug the other boy. The kind touch made Oswald’s heart melt. “Oh! I brought you something.” Ed took off the green backpack he had on and rummaged through it for a few seconds before pulling out a tub with a raw fish in it. He slid it over to Oswald who wasted no time in opening the tub and starting to eat it.

Ed looked at him a bit sadly “Your parents didn’t feed you did they?”

“How did you know that?” Oswald asked with his mouth full.

“I heard about you putting Bruce Wayne in the hospital, preppy bastard probably deserved it.”

Oswald shrugged, continuing to eat.

“Did you think about what I said? About running away together?” Ed asked. Oswald paused. “Eddie, I don’t know...”

Ed huffed, and lifted up his sleeve. Oswald’s eyes were immediately drawn to the bruises on Ed’s forearm. “I have them everywhere.” Ed said stoically “I’m leaving no matter what but I’d rather be doing it with you.”

“I-I... okay, I just need some time to think.”

“Please, Ozzie. I don’t wanna spend Christmas by myself...or with my father.” Ed pleaded, laying down in Oswald’s lap.

The next day Oswald was once again listening to his parents bicker, being suspended from school he had little else to do, the sound of them yelling coupled with the feeling of the hard floor under him had become so familiar. The light from the sunset hitting the floor was quite pretty though, so at least he had that to look at. He’d stopped paying attention to what his parents were saying until his father said something that made his blood run cold. “I wish we’d gone through with getting rid of him when he was a baby..”

“Tucker..”

“We were right there on the bridge about to throw him in when you suddenly decided you felt bad for him!”

“You don’t have to yell at me! I wish we’d done it too..”

There was a beat of silence as Oswald listened intently.

“Well...it’s not too late.” Tucker hummed.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Think about it, Essie! We could have the house to ourselves again.. Christmas to ourselves.” Tucker was already daydreaming as he grabbed his wife by the shoulders.

“I- even if we were to do it..I don’t even know how to go about something like that.” Esther mumbled.

“The kid’s a pig, he’ll eat anything, I doubt he’d notice if we slipped something into his supper tonight.”

“We could pay someone to dispose of him and be rid of the body by morning...” Esther was daydreaming as well now.

“I have a better idea. I’ve met with a few ‘collectors’ that would pay a pretty penny to have those flippers in a display case.”

“You’ve been thinking about this a lot, haven’t you, dear?”

“You have no idea.” Oswald’s heart was beating so loud as he snuck back to his room he was almost afraid his parents would hear.

Oswald startled a bit at Ed entering his window. “Hiya, Ozzi-“

“We’re leaving.” Oswald cut the other boy off, he was busily packing a few things into a backpack.

“Why the sudden change of mind?” Ed asked, genuinely curious.

“I heard my parents planning to poison me, they said they would do it tonigh-“

Oswald was cut off by his mother calling him down for dinner, he hurriedly finished his packing. “Do we have to go by your house or are you ready?” He asked, grabbing a coat from his closet and putting it on.

“I’ve been ready for weeks.” Ed answered, gesturing to the backpack he had on his own back everytime he came to visit Oswald. Ed suddenly looked nervous “I haven’t actually thought of where we should go....”

“I have an idea.” Oswald assured, taking Ed’s hand.

Ed shivered as he and Oswald entered the abandoned penguin exhibit in the old zoo. Oswald wrapped his arm around the other boy to share body heat, the cold of the place didn’t phase him too much. “Y-You’ve been here before right?” Ed asked. “Yeah, I was running from those jerks at school when I found it.” Oswald lead Ed deeper into the place. Ed startled when he heard squawking behind them and turned to see a penguin. “Oh, I should’ve mentioned there’s still penguins here.” Oswald chuckled. As Oswald and Ed kept walking the penguin followed curiously for a bit before losing interest. Soon the boys turned a corner and Ed was surprised to see a sort of dwelling in a corner of a long abandoned room. There was a mattress with pillows and blankets on it as well as a lantern and a few books. “I...come here sometimes to get away from everything.” Oswald admitted.

Ed stirred slightly from where he’d been snuggled under Oswald’s arm while the other boy read to him. He could hear bells from a clock in town signaling it was now midnight, Christmas Day. “Merry Christmas, Ozzie.” Ed mumbled, sleepily but happily, sinking back into Oswald. “Merry Christmas, Ed.” Oswald cooed, kissing Ed on the forehead.

[chubbyreaderwriter]

Queen of Gotham

Oswald Cobblepot x Plus Size/Chubby Reader

Imagine: Oswald has had feelings for you for a while now and now that he is the king of Gotham, it’s time he got his queen.

Word count: 1.3k 

Warnings: none

Masterlist

You’d worked for Fish Mooney as a bartender since before Oswald became her umbrella boy. You’d known that there was something different about him the second you saw him, but you’d been unable to figure out what. Being busy most of the time, you didn’t really speak to Oswald. The only time the two of you ever interacted was when Fish or Butch talked to you and he was close by. You were close with Fish, she’d picked you off the streets and gave you your job and an apartment. Butch was the closest thing you had to a best friend since you never had any time for a social life. The two of you would often joke about with each other, with you being oblivious to Oswald’s envious stares as you laughed at one of Butch’s stories. He adored the sound of your laughter, thought it was one of the most adorable sounds he’s ever heard, but it infuriated him to know that another man was the cause of it. 

The first time Oswald had talked to you, it was because you’d almost spilled the drinks you were holding onto him. You’d apologised straight away and gave him an awkward smile before moving away to get the drinks to their table. You hadn’t seen the way Oswald just stood and watched you walk away. Since then, he had made it his mission to say something to you every single day he saw you, even if it was just a ‘hello’ before you were whisked away by your job, or asking you a semi-personal question to try to get to know you better without being suspicious. As you weren’t as oblivious as everyone believed you to be, you knew exactly what he was doing and while you thought he was cute, you didn’t think you could be with him.

You weren’t insecure that he might not actually like you, because you were able to tell when someone was up to something and you always sensed the sincerity in Oswald’s voice. Just because you were a bigger girl than most, it didn’t mean that you felt self conscious all the time. You were actually quite confident and you were happy with your appearance. You had always put your job first and working for Fish meant that you just didn’t have to time to get into a relationship. So, naturally, you tried to distance yourself but it didn’t work as Oswald kept following you around with every spare second he had. You were very close to giving in to his charms and allowing him to take you on a date, when it came out that he was a snitch and was being ordered to be shot by Jim Gordon.

It had been almost a year since you’d left your job at Fish Mooney’s. She’d ‘fired’ you because she was worried about you and didn’t want you to get caught up in the foreseeable crossfire. You met up with Butch a couple of times but heard nothing from the others. Understandable of course, Fish was busy trying to take over Falcone and Oswald was presumably dead at the bottom of a river. You’d gotten a job in a small bar where the pay was enough to keep you comfy in your apartment but the people were very dull. You often missed your old job, and Fish, and Butch, and Oswald of course.

You had been home barely thirty minutes when you heard the sound of someone knocking on your door. You got up to open the door but when you looked, there was nobody around except a black piece of folded card on the ground. Curious, you picked it up and read the note, it said, “You are hereby invited to the opening of Oswald Cobblepot’s”. To say you were surprised was an understatement. After believing that Oswald was dead for the past year, you were having trouble believing that he was actually back here in Gotham, taking over Fish’s business. It would feel far too strange to go back to that place now that you don’t work there and Oswald was running the joint. Even thinking about going was a bad idea in itself.

After much consideration, you realised that you were now insane as you walked towards the familiar building, invitation in hand. You’d pulled out one of your more daring dresses from the back of your closet to wear tonight. It was an off the shoulder with a sweetheart neckline that showed off your cleavage. It was very formfitting and hugged your curves just right, ending just above your knees. It was a dress that you’ve always felt confident in and tonight was no exception. You’d even styled your hair and put on a bit of makeup with a pair of white pumps to match. You still weren’t sure why you were making such an effort in the first place but who cares, you felt beautiful.

As soon as you walked into the familiar building, you couldn’t help but look over at all of the changes that had been made to the place. You wouldn't tell him but you preferred the way things looked before, Fish had always had a great sense of style and while it didn't look bad, it wasn't as good as before. Oswald seemed to pull in a very different crowd than Fish, you saw a group of punk rock wannabe teenagers crowding around the stage. While you weren't one to discriminate, they weren't your typical choice of preference for company. You headed to the bar, thankful that it was still in the same place as before and ordered a drink. 

Not bothering to look around at your surroundings, you didn't notice Oswald and Butch walk into the room from a separate corridor. The second his eyes landed on you, he froze for a moment before limping his way over to your seat at the bar, ordering Butch to leave him be for now. Shocked wasn't quite the right word to describe how you felt when Oswald tapped you on the shoulder and gave you a large smile, though you could see some insecurity behind it. “(Y/N), my dear, we finally meet again. I had hoped you would come.” You gave him a small smile in return, “Yes well, I was very shocked, to say the least, when your invitation was pushed through my door. I thought you were dead.”

Oswald straightened his back and cleared his throat, “I’m afraid it would take more than Jim Gordon to kill me, my dear.” You shook your head, “I have to admit, I missed you, you know.” Startled, Oswald nervously asked you to repeat yourself and you let out a soft laugh before saying, “I always liked you but I never put business before pleasure. I suppose that's not an issue now though.” Oswald thought for a moment that he might be dreaming, but dream or not, he wasn't going to waste this opportunity. 

He smirked and you grinned back at him, liking how much confidence he had compared to the subservient umbrella boy he used to be. “Forgive me if I’m being too eager, dear, but I do hope you would join me in my private office for your...company?” You bit your lip and looked him up and down slowly, “Of course, how can I refuse the King of Gotham?” You’d heard a few of the people in here refer to Oswald as this when you entered. Oswald took your hand and pulled you off your chair, leading you down a hallway to his office, “Now I’m a King with my Queen.”

[pajama-nerd]

Reading my way through Fazbears Frights, thinking about how none of these protagonists have ever interacted with any kind of horror media.

Reader Beware: Spoilers Ahead

Into the Pit didn’t read like time travel to me. It read more like a particular kind of haunting where the negative energy of all of the bad shit that happened at that location was locked into the one remaining 'feature' of the location: the ball pit. And Pit-Bonnie isn't the ghost of Afton, but rather the entity that was created from the memories of all that bad energy.

And the interesting thing to me about Pit-Bonnie is that - aside from the inherent creepiness of the situation and the fact that he had literally one facial expression (he can’t even blink for cryin’ out loud) - he didn't attempt to harm Oswald until Oswald went back to rescue his dad. Once Pit-Bonnie was away from the negative energy that had spawned him, he did Dad Things™. He did them in the creepiest way possible, granted, but we don't actually know how he feels because of his inability to express.

Maybe he wanted to stay. Maybe he just wanted a break from that place. Maybe that place has a hold on him, and being away from it allowed him a measure of free will.

And the fandom that I’ve seen about the Dashboard has locked onto Pit-Dad-Bonnie because the general attitude of the fandom - as far as I've witnessed - has been 'Oh. A scary thing! Well, now it's friend-shaped.' (or, in this case, Dad shaped) so of course my immediate question is, 'how would the story have changed if Oswald had made a more serious attempt to communicate with Pit-Bonnie?'

The immediate, cynical response is 'well it would have slaughtered him' but that's infinitely less interesting than the possible alternatives.

Perhaps he takes in the fact that Pit-Bonnie can't talk, and proposes an alternate method of communication. I'm talkin construction paper and crayons. And he gets Pit-Bonnie to tell his story a la Nephrite from Steven Universe. About how one day he just was. And how sometime after that, that version of Fazbear's formed around him. And how there were happy, smiling kids laughing in the pizzeria and he was happy, but how every time he tried to be friends with the kids something would happen.

The world would flicker and they would just be in that back room, like that. How he was desperate for some kind of a connection and could never have one because those kids – those memories – were doomed to die by the memory of his hands. How he noticed Oswald because Oswald didn’t fit – he was real – and how he’d wanted Oswald to help him figure out how to change what had happened (or to make it stop), but Oswald had run away. About how he’d tried to fish Oswald out of the ballpit and gotten his dad instead. About deciding to take his dad’s place so that he could get away from that place and how being here with Oswald was nice. Driving him to school was nice. Making him dinner was nice. Cleaning the house with him was nice.

(Imagine Oswald getting less and less afraid as he interprets the story, checking in with PB occasionally to make sure he's getting it right. Getting slightly annoyed tho, because he's not getting rid of this rabbit, is he? But he still needs to rescue his dad, so now what?)

Oswald eventually tells PB that he can stay, which surprises but elates the rabbit. Then Oswald tells him they have to get his dad back.

There's a negotiation. Obviously, they have to get his dad back. Has Pit-Bonnie been going to his dad's job? What about taxes? Things his dad knows how to do? What about Oswald's mom? Is Pit-Bonnie just going to pretend to be his dad around her forever? What if she wants to do...like...parent stuff? With her husband? If you catch my drift (PB does not, in fact).

Eventually PB agrees, and even drives Oswald back to the same block as the pizza place. He doesn't get close to it - definitely doesn't park in the lot - but Oswald just tells him to wait in the car and goes and wakes his dad up from the ball pit. His dad is confused. Disoriented. Way out of it. Let's Oswald lead him back to the car and sits in the back, too out of it to comment on the yellow bunny mascot in the front seat. They return to the house without incident, and his dad passes out on the couch.

Oswald eventually figures out that PB is the one making his dad so loopy - that the connection PB formed so that he could know how to drive the car, how to work the vacuum cleaner, how to make Oswald's meals, is also keeping Oswald's dad borderline comatose. It takes some convincing to get PB to give that up. PB is afraid to give that up - afraid that if he doesn't have an anchor, he'll go back to being an aimless product of rage and murder.

Oswald's solution is to spread the bond out. He'll take part of it. If PB splits his focus, it'll be less of a strain on his dad, and PB will have more than one anchor. This has the added property of giving his dad the ability to see the seven-foot-tall grinning plush rabbit (he doesn't react well. Neither does mom. Oswald has never had to talk so much in his life)

So now Pit-Bonnie is a part of Oswald’s life, and it’s hella weird at first, but everyone gets over it, because eventually you just get numb to weirdness. Except Oswald becomes obsessed with Freddy Fazbears, in an Unsolved Mysteries kind of way. Starts researching the place wherever and however he can.

Pit-Bonnie helps, in his way, after they figure out a way to communicate efficiently (modified Sign Language, because being bonded to Oswald means that Pit-Bonnie knows how to do all the things that Oswald knows how to do. So Oswald learns sign language. Which means that Pit-Bonnie knows how to sign now. He still only has the one facial expression, which makes asking questions a little complicated, but they work it out).

I imagine that Pit-Bonnie is very tuned in to the weirdness/darkness vibe that Freddy’s and its remnants (ha) give off. He starts reading local and then state, and then national newspapers, and whenever he gets the Fazbear vibe, he sets the article aside for Oswald to look at. Also he doesn’t sleep, so in the first week of Oswald’s obsession, he generates a lot of leads for Oswald by going through back issues of...everything.

This is a rambly thing, but my point is that most horror has a solution and most of the time this solution is subverted by having it happen to people who have no experience with horror movies, books, comics, or other mediums, which is…I dunno. Kinda cheap.

‘What if they ever saw Frankenstein and sympathized with the monster enough to have empathy for this thing?’

‘They’re not horror fans. And the ones that are have never seen or read the stories where empathy solves the problem.’

To Be Beautiful (a terrible, one dimensional story with a terrible message about self-image told the way that high school stories in the 80's-90's were told, which wasn't even accurate to how highs schools were in the 80's-90's) could have been solved by literally anyone being more than passively curious about the drastic changes that Sarah was undergoing. (Puberty doesn't work that fast. Her whole freaking face changed). Or by her mom going into her room at some point and asking about the 5 foot robot doll.

Count the Ways has many solutions, although, really? She shoulda chosen starvation. More time to escape or be rescued is always, always, always going to be better than a 'maybe I won't be bifurcated’ any way you slice it (I’m not sorry), but I'm fond of the idea of Oswald coming across an article about ‘theft of proprietary animatronics from a Fazbear Entertainment property’ and it leading him to Milly’s grandfather’s house in time to save her. Along with his seven-foot-tall grinning plush friend who can alter people's perception.

Fetch could have been solved by treating Fetch like a dog. Seriously. He is dog shaped. He is therefore a dog, first and foremost. Dog first, killer animatronic second. Which Greg didn't fundamentally understand (he strikes me as a cat person anyway). But Fetch spent that entire story trying to do what he thought his master wanted, and never got so much as a 'good boy' out of it. He didn't even try to defend himself when Greg went to town on him with a baseball bat because he just wanted to be a good dog for his boy. And even after that, when Greg expressed a desire to see Kimberly, Fetch still wanted to do something to get his master to call him a good boy. Honestly, if - after being warned about Fetch - Kimberly had planted her feet and said 'Sit!' I would bet actual Faz-dollars that Fetch's haunches would have dropped to the pavement out of surprise alone, because it would have been the first time in the story someone treated him like a dog.

Alec was doomed to be a teddy-bear from the moment his parents picked up a ‘how to raise my kids’ book, but he’s still alive. There’s no reason he couldn’t be rescued (by Oswald, who’s on the trail of all the weirdness related to Freddy Fazbear. I’d read that story. I’d write that story. I will probably write that story)

The Plushtrap story...had no flaws. That was the only solution, and good on those boys for making all the right choices except for the initial choices that put them in that situation to begin with. A+. Those teeth, Jesus.

1:35 am could have been solved with an apology. Come on. For a character that was supposedly in the Foster Care system being bounced from home to home, you’d think she could empathize with an entity that didn’t appreciate being thrown away. A sincere apology, a promise to never do it again, and Ella would probably have forgiven her.

I don’t remember where I was going with this. I started writing it before I clocked on for work, but that was eleven hours ago. Who can remember where a train of thought that far back?

[inappropriatefangirlneeds]

Gotham s5ep11  “They Did What?” Personal Review & Rambling 

I DID IT .... I WATCHED THE GOTHAM FINALE 

“We need to make it a bomb again.” Absolutely no warning cause that’s all no spoiler anymore for a long time 

So I´m not sure if it´s good thing I´m watching this ages late, partly I guess I could be more emotional, partly not. It´s sweet to see how everyone and their aunt is teaming up for the city. “Well, this is gonna make one hell of a bedtime story some day.”   With Nyssa al Ghul holding the baby I briefly totally forgot the plot and wondered where did that child come from again? And my brain went back to the (godawful) “Ra´s present for Barbara is a child” theory, and then I remembered oh no it was Jim ..and I was like .. eh, magic baby would have been the better plot. So that´s how we started this but at least Jim and Barbara were quite sweet, even with the child (I usually just cringe and crumble in sheer terror of what kind of responsibility a child is whenever one of those appears but they made it sweet)  BARBARA KEAN & JIM GORDON were such a great team!  Also Barbara just looks so damn fine, they really did good with that. And just bless the FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHERS of the Show , handcuffed Barbara taking out the guy with her legs > Jim later handcuffing Nyssa to keep her close to not get shot at < Good Stuff!  * ~ 24:05 even up to the Steps of SELINA KYLE , Just the way she walked before fighting Bane was such a neat detail   ”My father made his name destroying empires.” NYSSA AL GHUL I guess with more time she´s got potential but rushed like that her character is just boring. 

“Can we really be so cavalier about the destruction of Gotham?” Oh OSWALD COBBLEPOT that´s part of why I fell in love with you. So he and EDWARD NYGMA go over the whole “listening to your heart never did you any good Oswald” spiel, and “I´ll miss you”, or “not so much”, Ed kind of is saying “don´t go” , but just not quite, the usual, you know, I can´t bring myself to care much but damn do I like watching their pretty selves talk through it.  * Edward later follows Oswald, claiming it´s about the city, says the submarine can only operated by two people, and actual people, dog didn´t work.  The usual. * Holy Shit, JIM GORDON ´s so gorgeous. It´s not like I had forgotten how pretty he is but damn that episode hit me hard again with Jim feels. Him over that map, going through their strategy. Daaaamn daaaaaaaaamn. * JIM GORDON & OSWALD COBBLEPOT in something that might as well be just fanfiction: “Oswald, come in.” / “Still have those eyes in the back of your head, Jim.” / “No. You just have a remarkably recognizable odor. Part dandy, part snake. After all these years, it hasn't changed. Drink?” / “No, thank you. Dulls the senses.” /  “That's what I was going for. Surprised you're still here. Figured you'd be long gone by now. That storm you've warned me about for so long, it's finally here.” /  “Sure, I could escape... with money, I might add... but then what? Stand on the shores of the mainland and watch the army burn it to the ground? Then watch tasteless industrialists and vapid politicians rebuild it? No. My life is etched on the walls of every alley and dirty warehouse here. My blood lives in its broken concrete. I'm staying to fight. For my legacy.” * LESLIE THOMPKINS caring about the people of the Narrows was great, I don´t know, if I like that she “abandoned” them in order to stand next to Jim but I can let it pass because of the way she did: She respected and trusted BARBARA KEAN to get them out. I can accept a plot that doesn´t pit those two women against each other (anymore). It was equally great that Lee just told Jim to “yes, go to your child”, and not to forget the scene where Barbara is thanking Lee for what she did, and “Barbara Lee Gordon”  * Lucius is full on providing gadgets for Bruce, including that Bat Beacon that slowed down Bane. Nice but eh.  Also they rehash Jeremiah´s plan to turn the city in a labyrinth to slow down the army. “We need to make it a bomb again.” Battery goes Bomb again, but eh, kind of fell flat for me

* HARVEY BULLOCK pointing out they are fighting SOLDIERS that are just following orders was a good touch. And it makes sense that JIM could brush that aside, he knows what they signed up for. That´s what you do, that´s what you accept. * Also I can stan a good  story that rejects and is a slap in the face of  the "NUREMBERG DEFENSE" so props to that! Just the execution fell so remarkably flat for me. I felt nothing then the people came back with Barbara, nothing when the soldiers pointed their guns at Bane.  BRUCE WAYNE & SELINA KYLE   Just Selina checking in with a “Bruce?” to make sure he actually wants to do that bomb thing was so precious. Also her recognizing that he is and accepting his choice. [Rant Below]  Them later sitting on the stairs and talking was sweet too, except for what they talked about.  SELINA KYLE MRs. & MR WAYNE So apparently they paralleled those in this episode 1.  Selina´s shadow is just right under the painting of Mrs & Mr Wayne and Bruce just plants the bomb right in the middle of her shadow ~19:40) 2.  Selina telling Bruce on the stairs she will be there whenever he needs her and Bruce replying that this is what his parents used to tell him.     Which is a good setup for the kind of conclusion Bruce draws out of all of this but also I´m gonna rant about it below but first:  3. Bruce says his parents would have and did sacrifice everything for the city. He´s making the same choice but apparently can´t see that Selina has as much a choice to do so as he and Mrs & Mr Wayne have .  So in the end I´m getting overly emotional, angry, hurt, let down to be precise:  How dare BRUCE WAYNE leave SELINA KYLE  behind like this?! Given the backstory that´s bound to be so much more painful than whatever Jeremiah or Bane ever could do. Selina has been through this after Jeremiah and she made a choice. She stayed, she thought and she was (not that that matters but let´s not forget it) damn good at it. I know Bruce thinks he´s making a “sacrifice” but how dare he take away this choice from her. How dare he hurt her like that.

* Most importantly though ALFRED PENNYWORTH in that COAT at the end looked so damn dashing. I´m in love. But I don´t like that they made a point of benching his character like that. He added plenty to the fight, he´s been in hospital before, he can add still contribute like he always did. Don´t let it end like this. Yeah I do need at least three seasons to magically happen before the 5th. OSWALY COBBLEPOT & EDWARD NYGMA Round #2  * Edward apologizes for freezing because of the grenade, Oswald understands. Edward gags when seeing Oswald´s hurt eye but claims it is just a scratch. * Back in a remarkable awesome looking place they lick their wounds: > Oswald feels not appreciated he wants “credit for our loyalty, our selfless bravery?” aka Love.  > Edward however feels better than everyone else. He used to be “Shy awkward, pathetic Ed”. Not anymore. He´s better! “I don't want their thanks. Or their respect. You know what I felt, standing shoulder to shoulder with those people out there? Nothing. I... feel... absolutely nothing for those drab... boring people.” Never again. I've shown this city who I truly am once before, and I will do it again. They will bow to the Riddler, and they won't get up until I permit them to.” >> The notion of the “Thankless Job” is there too with Ed but Ed get his kicks out of separating himself from the people, he´s different and above them he doesn´t care about their opinion and has no real stakes in their well being. Oswald however obviously still want´s the recognition of said people, and he wants the good and nice kind, so it´s important that they aren´t miserable.  However “Yes. You're right. Our accomplishments have been erased, our brilliant minds underrated. If they had let me run this city the way I wanted to, it would not be in ruins now. I had the men, the money, - the guns... “ 1. Oswald falls in line with Ed´s reasoning, appeals to his brilliance spleen but tweaks it for his need.  Edward says he has to rule and they have to bow to him.  Os says Ed is right, follows in line with Ed in reassuming a strife for leadership but adds his twist that this is necessary not so much because he (just as Ed thinks he is) is superior but because his leadership is “good” for the people. He´ll do good for them so they´ll like him.  >>> Oswald wants to rule to not have the city in ruins and get praised for that >>> Edward wants to rule because he´s better and deserves so regardless of other imbeciles thoughts or needs.  2. Divide et Imperare Edward is quick to make sure to point a finger to an enemy and separate Oswald from Jim “Gordon took them.”  Oswald just might as well try to go back to old methods and try build alliances with Jim and the law again, Edward recently saw Oswald and Jim kind of teaming up again and he just can´t have that. Just like Mr. Penn was in the way. Jim is a threat.  One to be undermined at all costs: “Gordon took them. Why? Because he still sees you as Fish Mooney's umbrella boy, and he always will.” 

3. One Ring to bind them. Edward starts with a selfish reason but is quick to put Oswald back into the plan. First there´s “I” suddenly he talks about a “We”:  “I only came back to help him save this city so that I could take it for myself. We would be stronger together. No one could stop us.”  4. Do they believe each other?! Apparently they don´t because the both go in the hug with a drawn knife but are relieved when they don´t feel one in their own back. Which was really nice and fitting imagery. I can live with that “conclusion” but I have so much open questions.  I really got to look for post that worked through all of this. > Oswald obviously must be weary of Edward because (I just have to believe) that he sees through the manipulating words of Edward. (as listed above) [[[ Especially the scene with Jim: They had a rather respectful, familiar interaction. I can´t quite believe that he follows Edward´s claim that JIM only thinks of him as that umbrella boy. I do think Oswald gets that Jim takes him serious, just well considers all his crime stuff to be wrong, and that´s quite a different thing than what Ed claims.]]]  > What is Edward´s angle there? Yeah he might not have been able to operate the submarine alone but granted his speech it sounded like he would think that he is capable of taking the city for and by himself. Why is he appealing to Oswald to form a “we”?  Just to get him in the hug situation and test him, asses a possible future threat to his claims?  The only other proper motivation for that would be …. he likes Oswald.  5. “Brothers” Hahahah * Okay, but Oswald´s face when Edward and his mirror self do their thing …Damn …. * 8:26 Are the “Captain Jim Gordon” letters on his door window colour ??! * Jankey Piss Whiskey, what is Jim drinking?  * Oh no, not the General

[gothamslimpestwrist]

s1e3 the balloonman

killcount: 

davis lamond: ronald danzer, bill cranston, dog walking lady (on accident), cardinal quinn

oswald cobblepot: mob mook who tried to sell him back to fish, dish washer @ bamonte’s

butch gilzean (offscreen, on orders from fish mooney): “natalia” (falcone’s girl), “lazlo” (fish’s lover)

episode total: 8 total count: 20

the dark knight rises: lots. this is the first vigilante villain in the show, and the response to him going after corruption foreshadows a city willing to accept the protection of a batman. the cops are bad; we see cranston, who beats suspects w/ his “partner o’brien” (a trophy). harvey goes out of his way to emphasize that cranston’s not that bad, which is probably true for cop standards. he beats a suspect in custody and a drug dealer he’s got a deal with. and that’s not nearly the worst of the shit this city has seen. oswald returns and sees a kid picking pockets, a cop taking “protection” money, a mugger running off with a purse, and some hookers soliciting, pretty much in the same 30 seconds. 

the city is sick. it needs someone. 

on bruce’s end, though, he’s like...legit not doing so well. he’s starving himself now, and he’s obsessed w/ the pictures he got of his parents’ dead bodies. he says he’s looking for clues (to which alfred snarks, “oh, so you’re a detective now?” ...yeah, the World’s Greatest Detective), but if you think about the sword fighting scene, alfred is trying to turn the “training” into something productive and channel bruce’s feelings, but bruce repeatedly states that he doesn’t want to do this, while alfred continues to hit him anyway. alfred is trying, you know? but he’s not yet a substitute for a real parent, much less a psychiatrist. he’s the one who pushes bruce toward actually training and fighting and repressing his emotions, rather than going to a therapist and being treated and learning to move on. i would argue that one of the things the first season does rather well is illustrate alfred in that role--bruce has, perhaps, the potential to become batman from the start, but alfred is the one who pushes him down that path by closing down the other ones.

gotham, in its infinite subtleties, does two more things with the balloonman: set up bruce’s “no kill” rule (although the gentle art of making enemies does this again and better) by having him comment that, because the balloonman killed people, he was no better than the criminals. (to be fair, this is more acceptable coming from a sheltered, traumatized 14 year old who just saw his parents murdered than it is from jim, a literal murderer, who espouses the same logic), and establish the need for batman with the question by reporter: “now that the balloonman is gone, who will defend the people of gotham?” 

who, indeed.

(sidenote: this has been a set piece since episode 1, but i did want to discuss the oath of the horatii in the wayne manor living room. i took art history once in high school and it made me insufferable for the rest of my life.

so, like, the painting depicts 3 brothers pledging to defend this city state with their lives--very subtle. but also, as backstory, of the 3 brothers, only 1 survives to actually do that. i would argue that this is sort of a showcase to the origins of batman. three potential defenders: thomas wayne, jim gordon, and bruce. thomas wayne, obviously, is dead. jim isn’t, but we all know that eventually there will be a moral failure that ends with his ideology also failing to protect the city. meanwhile, bruce will “survive” to become the dark knight....

oh, and the lady in the corner crying over there is the sister of these brothers, who was to be engaged to one of the men who they’re going out to kill. no matter who wins, she’s going to lose someone she loves, and i think that’s also about bruce’s path for the show... he can save the city or he can’t, but no one is coming out of this happily.)

continuity: oswald makes it back to gotham. now shit gets serious <3

he weasels his way into the dishwasher position at bamonte’s, maroni’s favorite restaurant. we meet maroni, falcone’s strongest competitor, who we heard of last time. oswald’s just a dishwasher for now... but he’s got plans. moving on up. meanwhile, both maroni and falcone make vague references to arkham, without yet revealing why it’s important. it’s just this Thing, and it’s gonna change the city. jim is confronted by montoya, worries about the way that she and allen are investigating the death of oswald. harvey says, “end of the day, nobody cares about cobblepot.” oh, if only he knew what the one piece of the puzzle could do... if only he saw things like oswald, in fact, who affirms, “gotham needs me! i am its future!” he’s... partially right. but not just you, sugarpot. really, mostly, bruce.

fish’s lover lazlo returns for the dead; fish has him killed for “bringing down the mood” after the beating he got in 1x2. so there’s confirmation; those tears weren’t for him, they were for what the action from falcone against her signified. fish turns montoya and allen onto jim gordon for cobblepot’s murder (in an act that comes full circle--penguin having started this cycle of revenge by turning montoya and allen onto fish and the gcpd at large for the murder of mario pepper), while mostly trying to push them against falcone, just a little. 

on a less plot-y note, lamond was a juvenile services worker whose last straw was the mayor using the childsnatchers from last episode to lock up gotham’s youth. so, 1x2 directly caused 1x3, and dollmaker caused 1x2. the wheels turn...

oh! and jim places selina at the scene of the wayne murder. so that plot moves.

sliding scale of barbara kean’s sanity: the stress of living with jim gordon is starting to get to her. she tries to lift him up, but once he’s gone, she gets high. montoya visits, and they rehash some old history before montoya tells her that jim killed oswald cobblepot. so that’s out... she also kisses barbara, and cracks are forming in her stable facade. how much longer can she last?

jim gordon trauma count: he falls like 20 feet onto a car. he should be a lot more fucked up than he is; lamond makes almost the same fall and breaks his neck. i think he at least got some cracked ribs, or something. 

characterization: interesting one for jim. we explore a bit of the way he thinks; he’s troubled by the fact that people only cared about what the balloonman was doing (in such a way that they were moved to stop him) when he killed a cop & not when he killed a corrupt politician, bc he thinks Murder Is Wrong. at the same time, the first guy really wouldn’t have seen the inside of a jail cell. so what does that mean for jim’s ideology? he clings to The Law bc that’s what he thinks separates good and bad--but that’s a copout (cop out, haha). that’s the moral complexities of a child, james. if he clings to the law, then he has someone else deciding what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s moral and just. but what if the laws are bad, or can’t protect people, even when upheld exactly to the letter? what then? jim got so used to following orders that he forgot how to make his own moral code--or he’s too scared to. But, we see hints of him doing it anyway. he’s troubled when barbara tries to praise him for his heroism, but maybe just bc he broke the law & got away with it. “everyone matters, or no one does” is a good start, jim. just examine who the laws are really made to help. 

for oswald: he gives his name as paolo to maroni when he’s trying to gain his confidence. i made a meta post about this on my other blog (which i plan to link in my next post), but the short version is that, for me, the name recalled paolo malatesta (a historical figure, but most notable for being one of the sinners in dante’s inferno), who was once said to be “a romantic sort, a man not really interested in the world around him.” ...this being oswald’s cover name when he wants maroni to think that he’s not paying any attention to what goes on around him at all. there’s also the more tenuous link of him giving his name as “dmitri,” which is derived from the greek goddess demeter, to the fish mook who recognizes him; demeter being the goddess of fertility, health, law, gotham’s future...

gobblepot: “hello, james. old friend.” oswald comes back to gotham and the immediate first thing he does after ensuring his sneaky little scheme is visiting jim--before gertrud, no less. and at jim’s girlfriend’s apartment. hm!!!

[tomeandflickcorner]

Umbrella Academy Recap 2x02

1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10

2x01

Last week, we saw the Hargreeves Siblings tried to go back in time to stop the apocalypse from happening on Apri 1st, 2019.  But in the process, they somehow got separated, with all of them landing on different dates.  As a result, Number 5 discovers that, because of their staggered arrival in the 1960s, they inadvertently triggered a chain of events that led to a completely different apocalypse, this one occurring on November 25, 1963.  So now, Number 5 only has 10 days to reunite his siblings and repair the damage to the timeline.

But before the episode can begin, we learn that The Handler has more lives than a cat.  Not only did she survive an explosion from a grenade, not even Hazel shooting her in the head killed her.  Because right when two guys working at a morgue supposedly tied to The Commission were about to cremate her body, her eyes open.  This woman just won’t die!  Of course, when she returns to The Commission, she learns that a lot of changes have occurred during her recovery, and that she’s now being demoted, with her old job being taken over by AJ, who is a talking fish in a jar with a robot body.  (Think Minion from Megamind)   The Handler is furious over this, but she’s nevertheless assigned to working a desk job.  (And her rage increases when she realizes she’s been assigned to the same desk Number 5 had once occupied.)

With that out of the way, we jump back to where the last episode left off, with Luther displaying a cavalier indifference to the knowledge that they only have 10 days before the world comes to an end.  Number 5 tries to talk sense into him, but Luther is not interested in anything he says.  He insists that he’s got a good job now, and that the Umbrella Academy team don’t need him.  He also goes on to say that if the world will end, then Vanya is clearly the one who caused it and it’s Number 5′s fault because he insisted on bringing her along.  Luther also makes it clear that he’s still angry at Number 5 for essentially stranding him in time for an entire year.  He then leaves Number 5 sitting there to go escort a drunken man out of the establishment, with no one noticing the drunken man dropping his wallet in the process.  Number 5 then discovers the object Hazel dropped into his pocket before he was shot to death.  The object is revealed to be a small box labeled ‘The Frankel Footage.’

Back at the farmhouse, Vanya is sitting and looking at the number of missing person adverts the family she’s been staying with have been putting out in the hopes that someone is out there looking for her.  Her musings are interrupted when Sissy comes in, looking for her keys.  It seems that Carl has been out at the bar and has gotten drunk, so he needs someone to come give him a ride home.  The situation becomes complicated when Harlan enters the room, wanting his mother read him a story.  Sissy tries to get him to let Vanya read to him instead, but Harlan is insistent on the matter.  For him, it absolutely has to be his mother.  Vanya, wanting to help, offers to go and pick up Carl for Sissy, so she can stay and read to Harlan.  A grateful Sissy accepts this arrangement.

When Vanya arrives at the bar, she finds Carl nearly passed out on the side of the road.  She informs him that, while Sissy still loves him, she is not happy that he’d lied to her, telling her that he was working at the office when he was really going to the bar to drink.  In his drunken stupor, Carl tells Vanya how lucky she is to be given a completely blank slate, which means she can start over and be whoever she wants to be.  Everyone else is stuck being who they are.

At that moment, by pure coincidence, Luther steps out of the nearby nightclub, having discovered the wallet that the drunk man dropped while being escorted out.  (Wait, so the drunk guy was Carl?  I completely missed that!)  Immediately, he sees Vanya getting into the car to bring Carl back home and is visibly stunned.  Of course, while Vanya spots Luther as well, she doesn’t recognize him due to the amnesia.

Meanwhile, Diego and Lila have just escaped the mental hospital and proceed to steal some clothes hanging out on a clothesline.  Diego, at first, suggests that they go their separate ways now. After all, it might be safer for them that way, considering the authorities most likely will be looking for them together.  But Lila disagrees, saying they make a good team, and that he never would have escaped from the mental hospital without her help.  To prove her point, she then manages to hotwire a nearby car.  This seemingly impresses Diego, who gets into the car with Lila and they drive off.

As for Allison, she and Raymond are sitting peacefully in their home watching television when the Dallas police storm their way inside.  They promptly arrest Raymond for assault and battery.  It seems that Mr. Mason didn’t let things go after all, which isn’t surprising in the slightest.  Allison and Raymond try explaining that they were acting in self-defense, but of course it’s no use, and the police begin leading Raymond away in handcuffs.  In an attempt to save her husband, Allison begins to use her powers on the cops, but Raymond stops her, telling her that everything will be alright.  (Does Raymond know about Allison's power?)  So Allison tearfully relents and breaks down crying as Raymond is dragged off.  Of course, as horrible as this is for Raymond, this unjust arrest may have saved his life, as we see those white-haired temporal assassins from The Commission are parked across the street and had been clearly plotting to attack them before the police showed up.

The following morning, Number 5 returns to Elliot’s place, tasking him with the job of developing the Frankel Footage film that Hazel had given him.  After some rambling, Elliot states that he should have the film developed in 5 to 6 hours.  Of course, Number 5 then catches a snippet coming from a police radio scanner that Elliot has in his possession, announcing that inmates from the mental hospital have escaped.  Immediately, he realizes that Diego has broken out, so he has to go track him down again.

Number 5 catches up to Diego while he’s in the middle of an argument with Lila over Diego’s latest attempt at stopping Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating President Kennedy.  And to Lila’s credit, despite her initial shock at seeing Number 5 teleport into the backseat, is quite accepting of his presence.  Number 5 instructs Diego to forget his mission to save President Kennedy, but Diego refuses to go with his brother.  Until Number 5 threatens to turn them in to a policeman who just happened to be passing by.  At this, Diego relents, knowing that Number 5 was not bluffing.

Number 5 brings Diego and Lila back to Elliot’s place.  The moment they arrive, Elliot comes out, aiming a rifle at them.  It seems he’s managed to develop the Frankel Footage and, upon viewing it, got spooked.  So he demands to know where Number 5 got the footage, also asking them if they’re enemies of the people.  (He’s met with a vague response.)  Anyway, Number 5 and Diego effortlessly manage to disarm Elliot and proceed to tie him up before they watch the footage for themselves.  The footage turns out to be taken by an old couple, Mr. and Mrs. Frankel, who had come out to see President Kennedy during his visit to Dallas.  Immediately, Diego’s interest is caught, realizing that they’re about to see live footage of President Kennedy’s assassination.  When the gunshots go off, the camera naturally begins moving around randomly as Mrs. Frankel reacts to the sound of the gunshot and the panicking crowd.  But as the camera footage stills, Diego and Number 5 spot something that shocks the both of them.  They freeze the footage in place to get a better look and confirm what they think they’ve just seen, with Number 5 pulling the projector backwards in order to zoom in on the figure standing in the background.  Sure enough, despite the blurriness, there is no mistaking the image of Reginald Hargreeves.  

Right away, Diego is in full conspiracy theory mode, speculating that Reginald must have been responsible for President Kennedy’s assassination.  Because why else would he be out in Dallas on that day, with an open umbrella despite the fact that it was sunny?  Number 5, on the other hand, tells him not to jump to conclusions.  He points out that, since Reginald had been there in Dallas at the time, they might as well go and ask him directly.  (Hang on, wasn’t Number 5 working as a temporal assassin assigned to this particular moment in time?  Granted he didn’t have access to the actual case file, but you’d think he’d have some idea of what was going on.)  In any event, they manage to locate Reginald’s old umbrella making company in the phonebook.  But before they head off (while leaving poor Elliot tied up), Diego notices Lila is unaccounted for.  He finds her in Elliot’s darkroom, having a mental breakdown.  It seems that watching the footage of events that are to occur 6 days from now led to her doubting her sanity, as she wound up in the mental hospital in the first place because she was seeing things.  Diego is able to reassure her, telling her that sometimes, even things they can’t explain can be real.  To emphasize this, he uses this whole metaphor about yogurt.

Diego and Number 5 then head off to Reginald’s umbrella factory.  Number 5 had a brief moment of hesitation, since this will be the first time he’ll see Reginald in the flesh since the day he left the Umbrella Academy mansion to attempt time travel, despite Reginald insisting he wasn’t ready to time jump.  Diego jokingly points out that 1963 Reginald won’t have met Number 5 yet, so he won’t be able to say ‘I told you so.’  With this said, the brothers break into the building and begin to look around.  But they end up splitting up, which isn’t always the best idea.  During their search of the premises, Number 5 finds a bunch of rooms filled with mannequins, which are styled to look like various models of idealistic suburban families.  Which leads to him wondering what Reginald had been planning during the 1960s.  At that moment, Number 5 hears strange sounds coming from the shadows.  When he goes to investigate the sounds, he comes across a young chimpanzee.  Yep, it’s Baby Pogo.  Number 5 approaches Baby Pogo saying it’s good to see him.  But Baby Pogo, it seems, isn’t able to speak yet.  Instead, he scratches Number 5 and jumps out of the window, running off.

Diego, on the other hand, spots a figure that appears to be Reginald leaving the building and walking off into the foggy night.  Of course, he desides to follow after him.  Although, Reginald appears to have realized he was being followed and he gets the jump on Diego.  After a brief fist fight, Diego briefly gets the upper hand.  But he hesitates when he gets a look at Reginald’s face.  Because in spite of everything, Reginald is still Diego’s father.  Reginald, of course, doesn’t know who Diego is and takes advantage of his hesitation to stab Diego in the chest.  He then walks off (with Baby Pogo joining him), leaving Diego lying bleeding on the ground.

Of course, the other Hargreeves Siblings have no idea any of this is going on.  Especially since they have their own problems to worry about.  At the police station, Allison is trying to get the desk clerk to allow her the chance to speak with Raymond, but is turned away, being told that only Raymond’s lawyer is allowed to speak with him at the moment.  As Allison sits down to wait, a man named Keechie is brought into the station, having been arrested for handing out flyers without a permit.  (I wasn’t aware you needed permission to do that.)  Keechie is placed into a cell which, by sheer chance, happens to be the one Klaus was put into after his theft of the pickup truck last episode.  Keechie is stunned and awed to see Klaus, who he clearly holds in high regard.  It seems that, in the past three years that Klaus was stuck in the 1960s, he gained a bit of a reputation as some sort of prophet spreading around messages of love and peace, and frequently spouted off words of wisdom before large crowds.  Although, it seems most of Klaus’ wise statements was just him reciting lines from songs that weren’t around in the 60s.  Trying to get a little space between him and Keechie, Klaus moves to the other side of the cell, which leads to him getting into a conversation with Raymond, who just happens to be in the neighboring cell.  (This is starting to remind me a bit of An American Tail, considering how close the Hargreeves Siblings wind up almost meeting but always just missing each other.)  Of course, their conversation doesn’t get very far as Klaus is then allowed to go free, having been freed by the governor.  As Klaus is escorted off, Raymond asks him if he could try speaking to the governor on their behalf, since he (and a few other people there) are being held without charges.

Sometime later, Allison finally manages to talk with Raymond.  Allison apologizes to him for everything, realizing that the confrontation with Mr. Mason must have been a setup and she walked right into it.  However, Raymond reassures her that she was not to blame, as the police were going to arrest him anyway as they didn’t want them causing any sort of disturbance right before President Kennedy's visit.  Allison isn’t quite convinced, believing she still made things worse.  But Raymond tells her that’s not true, saying she makes everything better; that she makes him better.  Allison then promises that she’ll do what she can to help Raymond get out of jail.  After a brief pause, though, Raymond asks Allison why she said ‘I heard a rumor’ the night before.  (Ah, I guess he doesn’t know about Allison’s powers after all.  That’s good.  I would have been surprised if he had known.)  As you might expect, Allison struggles to think of a way to explain things to him, but before she could formulate a response, a guard comes around to inform them that their time is up and Allison has to go.  So Allison can only say they’ll talk about it later.  As Allison leaves, she catches a glimpse of Keechie waving at her and she stops in her tracks, having spotted the words ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye’ tattooed onto the palms of his hands.  Which are identical to the tattoos Klaus has on his hands.  So of course Allison has to stop and ask him where he got those tattoos.  In response, Keechie states that all children of the prophet have them.  Allison has a whole ‘oh, of course’ reaction to this, realizing her brother has been up to shenanigans.

Speaking of Klaus, he breaks into some fancy looking mansion that has been seemingly vacant for some time, as white clothes are covering all the furniture.  After breaking in, Klaus heads over to a couch and lies down to sleep, ignoring Ben, who is casually sitting nearby.  It’s then revealed that this mansion belongs to Klaus himself, as there’s a painting of him hanging up on the wall.  Though it seems Klaus is embarrassed by that paining as he doesn’t want to look at it.

While this is going on, Luther has tracked Vanya down to the farmhouse, where she’s currently playing a game of Hide-and-Seek with Harlan.  Through a brief flashback, we’re given the impression that hes’s still blaming her for the death of Pogo and bringing out the April 1st apocalypse.  (Okay, yeah, it was Vanya’s out-of-control powers that caused the moon to explode and all, but care to remind me why Vanya snapped and went on the warpath in the first place?  Oh yeah!  It was because Luther went and threw her into the soundproof room, a place that she clearly had traumatic memories of, and refused to listen to the others when they were against that plan.)  Luther follows Vanya into the barn, seemingly planning on killing her with a revolver he has on hand.  However, he’s thrown for a loop when he realizes that Vanya has amnesia.  In a moment that pleasantly surprised me, he actually apologies to Vanya. saying he let her down when he really should have tried to help her instead.  (Wait, so Luther is actually acknowledging that he was in the wrong?  WOW!  I’m impressed.  I still don’t particularly like him, but hey!  Let’s hear it for actually acknowledging your wrongdoings!)  Luther goes on to tell Vanya that he doesn't know if she’s only pretending to not remember or not, but if she is faking her amnesia, then he doesn’t care, and that he understands why she’d want to start over.  At that moment, however, Sissy appears on the scene, aiming a rifle at Luther and demanding to know why he’s there.  Luther, in an effort to explain himself, holds out the wallet that Carl had dropped the night before.  This is enough to satisfy Sissy and she lowers the rifle, telling him to just use the front door next time.  With that, Luther leaves.

After Luther’s departure, Vanya is still a bit shaken up.  The fact that Luther knew her name made it clear that they’d known each other once, but she just can’t remember him.  Sissy offers her some comfort, saying that whoever Luther was, he was clearly not someone Vanya would normally associate with.  And, since men never apologize to women, the fact that Luther would do so with Vanya was an indication that he did something really bad, and that gives her all the more reason to avoid him.  Still, Vanya wishes she could remember something.  To try and help Vanya out, I guess, Sissy studies Vanya’s hands, determining that she couldn’t have been a farmhand as her hands don’t show any sign of her being involved in physical labor.  However, she notes that there are callouses on her fingertips.  (And here, we hear the sound of a violin playing in the background, which was a really nice touch.)

As Vanya and Sissy sit there, the mood seems to shift, with them simply looking at one another briefly.  But the moment ends abruptly when Sissy clears her throat, saying that it’s late and they should both get some sleep.  Still, the fact remains that they may have just had an intimate moment there. (I guess this means Vanya is bisexual or something?)  Vanya tries to get some sleep, but she can’t settle her mind.  She suddenly starts getting flashes of a violin playing, which suggests that she’s starting to remember something.  We’re not sure if she remembers everything, of course, but those memory flashes are enough to lead her to drive off in Sissy’s car, not realizing that Sissy saw her leaving.

Although, this might not be too good for Vanya to be out on her own.  Those three white-haired temporal assassins are still out there.  After they take over some old cat lady’s home by killing her, they receive a message from The Commission, which contains a candid picture of Vanya.  Though it’s not yet clear if they’re supposed to protect her or take her out.

Closing thoughts/questions:

What’s the deal with those white-haired temporal assassins?  The fact that they can bleed suggests they’re human, but so far, I don’t think they’ve uttered a single word.  And they seem to be completely immune to pain, since two of them were taking turns hurling knives at each other.  Are we dealing with mind controlled clones here or what?

I’m wondering if Vanya would have been better off if Luther hadn’t tracked her down.  While I’m glad he actually apologized to her (because he did have plenty to apologize for), his arrival might have forced her to start remembering the things her brain was trying to block out. And if Vanya getting her memories back ruins things for her, then that’s once again on Luther.  Vanya’s got a good thing going on for her.  I’d feel horrible if she lost it.

I’m also really liking Raymond.  Allison is so lucky to have met him! So it’s going to really stink when Allison has to go back to her own time.  I’m hoping there will be a way fro them to bring Raymond with them when they go back to 2019, but at the same time, maybe that would do more harm than good.  I mean, I don’t think Raymond Chestnut was any major player in the Civil Rights movement.  Especially since he seems to be a fictional character made up for the show, considering I can’t find any information on him outside of the Umbrella Academy wiki.  But I’m sure there are a number of pivotable people who don’t make it into the history books.

Is this the last we’ll see of The Handler?  I suspect we’ll have to see her again, but who even knows?

Is Keechie going to play a major role in this season?

Apparently, Klaus is on good terms with John Connally? (I believe he was the Governor of Texas during this point in time.)  How exactly did they meet?  And will that friendship be important later on?

So Pogo started off as an ordinary chimpanzee. Did Reginald perform some sort of weird experiment on him?  Is that how he learned to speak?  After all, the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act wasn’t passed until 1966, so in 1963, Reginald probably could have done anything he liked with Baby Pogo.

[atcnm]

https://sunlitroom.tumblr.com/post/611330336858800128/captainchilly-ask-him-he-understands-what-it-is

I thought about Strange - and i don’t think what he was doing was a creation. We could argue that Fish is talking about resurrection, but Strange wouldn’t look at his experiments as creation of something new if he didn’t change them. But the thing is - he was enhancing traits and abilities people in his hands already had. Brigit and fire, Victor and ice - he made them the one whole with their weapons. Same with Fish and her hypnotic touch, she was persuasive before and played people masterfully. Nicewald would not be possible if that vulnerability didn’t exist in him already to turn him inside out and bare it, and Galavan was Duma’s legacy pawn all his life, Strange just capitalized it. He modified Tetch virus so it would look cool and infect more people at once, but the premise stayed the same. Even with patsy Riddler in s5 and Eduardo-Bane he used only what existed there already - the second personality to enslave, the amoral soldier to supercharge. (Now i wonder what was the deal with bat-wings dude or that man who could speed aging up or elecrtic lady were. Or Clayface and Jane Doe could be the example of creation at least the new ability not growing from their traits?). Clone!Bruce was the only one i could call ‘creation’, but even he shared  with Bruce at least something (mostly feelings for Selina), 

With Fish and Oswald it was a litle different and more like the creation, mostly because we saw how Fish can change people’s image with Liza - what Liza became for meeting with Falcone for a few short weeks was the opposite of street girl she started as. And we don’t actually know who Oswald was before he became Fish’s umbrella boy. I would never believe he was sweet and innocent, but i actually think that his methods would be a little more heavy-handed without influence of subtle manipulations she preferred. And writing in different episodes never does the character observation any favors for it’s uneven as hell, but Oswald in 3x06 advised an outsider kid in school event he attended as a mayor: How would you ever know [that other children don’t like you] if you don't give it a try? And if they don't like you, wait for them to turn their backs and push them down the stairs. Sounds to me like something he would do in earlier life, he tends to choose fast and messy ways sometimes (his killing spree in s1 i will never forget, this man killed at least once per episode in s1a). To Martin he offerend different tactic, maybe because he faced different situation, or maybe because writers changed their mind. 

Tl;dr - Fish has more to say about creation something than Strange, but maybe i think so just because i like Fish better (despite her methods in making Oswald Cobblepot into The Penguin were rough at best).

[sunlitroom]

Thoughts on ‘The Beginning’

So - as with The Trial of Jim Gordon, I'm going to regard this episode as an extra, and do some meta as opposed to a full recap.   My rationale is pretty much the same: this is an optional easter egg, and one that can easily be regarded as outside canon if desired.  

Also - I found the deeper message, like that in The Trial of Jim Gordon, was so unpalatable it strained the show’s broader ideas and themes.  So I’ve decided it’s not part of canon, for me.

Thoughts after the cut.  Same disclaimer as with The Trial of Jim Gordon.  I love the show.  I tweeted like a maniac as episodes were airing, and got booted from Twitter.  I want another network to pick it up.

However, my idea of meta is the old fandom one, which is critical analysis.  If that’s not your thing, fine - but that’s what I’ll be doing here.

So, first things first.

I understand the rationale behind the time-jump, to an extent.  The two extra episodes were just that - extra.  One was spent on The Trial of Jim Gordon, which I have already been salty about in another post.  This one was a sort of nod to the fans - offering Batman as a sort of reward.  I’ve always been more interested in the story Gotham actually set out to tell, though, the story before Batman.  The story of the city and its inhabitants.  As such, I was always going to be less taken with an episode which was fundamentally mostly interested in giving us Batman. 

But there were a couple of other issues that confused me.  Gotham has always presented its own vision of the city, the characters.  It’s shown it can be creative with canon, as well as adding its own ideas.  Not only, for example, is their take on Oswald unique, but Fish Mooney – so pivotal in his development – only exists within Gotham’s universe.  We got the Executioner and Cyrus Gold – yes, but we also got Nathaniel Barnes and Butch Gilzean, who had character and stories and lives all of their own.

I like that it thumbed its nose at Jim’s moustache.  But go all the way with it.  Yes, we know Batman’s coming.  But if you want to continue to focus on Jim, and his wrestling with the notion of heroism – then just do that.  Have the courage of your convictions.  You can draw inspiration from the 60s series if you want, but you’re not shackled to it: Oswald doesn’t have to don a top hat and become 60s Penguin if you don’t want him to.  The city doesn’t have to morph aesthetically into something we saw in the movies.  You’ve told your own story. See it through.

That aside - the details.

The flash-forward was also a difficult ask because the story has been unnaturally cut short.  Characters who were still wrestling with huge issues didn’t really get to address them in a truncated season and - as such - it’s sort of hard to accept where we find them now.  

For example

We’ve seen Jim deal with several demons over the years.  He has major issues with authority.  His relationship with his father looms large.  He wants to be a hero, but gets on better with the villains.  He compartmentalises like crazy.  He’s emotionally dishonest with others and himself.  He enjoys playing dangerous games.  He can’t resist a pissing match. 

Am I to honestly believe that Jim has been entirely clean and pure in the interim?  Why?  Because the city was saved after near destruction?  That’s happened before – he didn’t change.  If anything, he’s more likely to have reverted to old habits once the crisis was over.  Is he reformed because he’s a father now?  Didn’t stop him killing Theo Galavan while Lee was pregnant.  

Jim’s development was still very much in progress.  As such, he feels unsatisfying here and - given what we know about him - you can’t help but feel he’s probably been up to his old tricks, but we’re just getting to see the sanitised surface of his life.

Lee likewise generally suffered quite a bit from the truncated season, and is  good example of how the flash-forward doesn’t serve characters well.

In season 4, we saw her explore a darker side to her personality that the show has strongly and consistently hinted at since way back in season one, explicitly – when she says that Jerome’s confession of matricide thrilled her, and implicitly, when we wondered why the hell she was working in Arkham.  We also saw her enjoy power in season 4.  We saw her deeply committed to improving the lot of the residents in the Narrows, even if her way of going about it was short-sighted. We saw her shoot Sofia Falcone point-blank in the head in cold blood.  We saw her, although many hated it, form an intense romantic relationship with Ed, where she seemed to find a fulfilment and recognition that she never found with Jim or Mario.

However, in season 5, the show clearly needed her to quickly step into the role of Mrs Jim and stepmother to Barbara.  This meant becoming the angel at the hearth again, so it essentially erased those experiences, all that new characterisation.  

As such, like Jim, she feels flat here – like we’re only getting to see a facade.  She’s back in her old post of intermittently saying supportive things to Jim, and apparently quietly looking forward to him quitting his job.  When she's bizarrely given the task of defusing the bomb, as Lucius the tech specialist stands by the side - it really only underlined that stripping her of all that history and characterisation meant that she doesn't really have a real role of her own in the wider workings of the city.

Now to the heart of my problem with this episode.

We’re told, without any explanation, that Oswald was sent to Blackgate shortly after reunification, and Ed to Arkham.  

Now, to be honest, I find this fairly implausible.  In all the rebuilding efforts, I doubt the authorities would have the will or energy to go back and rake over who committed what crime when the city had been abandoned by the government. And even if they did, both their actions – willingly manning the barricades (Oswald sustaining an injury when doing so), would have likely gone some way to mitigating everything else.  

You could argue that it's for some nameless crime they committed later - but the show could easily have indicated that by throwing in a line about some heist or scheme they tried to pull off that ended up with them being put away.

Mayor James - ‘Oswald Cobblepot is getting released tomorrow’

Harvey - ‘Should have got 20 years for that stunt he pulled after reunification - not 10.  So should Nygma.’

It didn't take the trouble to do that - so I'm left assuming they were sent away on the basis of crimes committed during the split.

However, this poses us with some problems both in terms of the plot, and more deeply in terms of narrative repercussions.  Because if we are going to start to get persnickety about charging people with crimes they’ve committed, and then having them face actual consequences – well, we saw Barbara shoot loads of randoms in season 5.  Going back not too far, Lee shot Sofia Falcone in the head.  Going back further still, Jim murdered Ogden Barker and Theo Galavan, and was indirectly responsible for several deaths by inviting Sofia Falcone to town.

So – then – if we’ve decided that actually charging people and sending them to prison is now the done thing, why are we so selective with who’s punished? Gotham is a show with a million shades of grey.  It gives its villains humanising back stories and motivations – but it ultimately still wants to punish a select few like it’s a black and white universe.  You can’t do that when your good guys are equally tainted. Not unless you want to give off an unfortunate stench of hypocrisy, anyway.  

Oswald flat-out asks Jim on the pier.  I could have escaped this city.  I chose to stand shoulder to shoulder with you and defend it.  Why was I punished?

It’s telling that Jim never actually furnishes Oswald with any good answer to his question on the pier.  Because - over the years - the show itself has never quite figured out how to answer this one.   He can’t answer.  What could he possibly say?

Why then, do some get away scot-free, while others are punished?  Why, as Ed observes, do some get to make choices - while others never get the chance?

Jim and Lee are ‘heroes’ (arguably wandering into designated hero territory, at points).  They're never going to face consequences for anything.  Jim going on a self-pitying drinking binge doesn’t count - not compared to a ten-year stint in Blackgate or Arkham.  Lee never expressed any remorse for Sofia.

As for Barbara, well Barbara is brought back into the heroic fold, too.  

First and foremost, she’s offered moral redemption by bearing Jim’s child.  Becoming a mother meant all previous sins were forgiven.  

When we meet her here, we see now that she’s wealthy and powerful – playing a serious role in the city.  It’s empowering in a way – but it’s also a means of re-affirming the established order and putting her back in her box.  Remember that Barbara is from one of Gotham's elite families - and she's finally behaving like someone from an elite and wealthy family would do.  To make her position clear - she’s explicitly placed in the same category as Bruce here in terms of her wealth and control of the city.  I’m assuming that pregnancy also made magically clean whatever money she used to buy up the city when it was on its knees.  She didn’t seem to have access to her parents’ cash before now - so she must have used her ill-gotten gains.  

(I would argue that strategically buying up parts of the city post-reunification is screamingly Oswald, but like other chunks of his characterisation and storyline, it got sent Barbara’s way in season 5 in a bid to flesh out her character)

Last up, she’s not demanding a romantic relationship with Jim anymore, but they’re now forever safely tied in that context due to their daughter - there’s no mention of Tabitha, or casual mention of a new partner.   Troublesome, restless Barbara, poor little rich girl – demanding of Jim’s time and attention, namelessly unhappy, and with a murky ‘past’ is now ‘fixed’ and neutralised.

Thinking about those brought into the fold necessarily asks you to think about those who were excluded.

Oswald might have roots in an elite family, like Barbara, but - crucially - he’s also one part poor immigrant (as well as all his many other markers of 'otherness').   He can’t escape this - we got his jangling east European music as soon as we saw him in this episode, and we were reminded of Gertrud when he said he would lay flowers on her grave as his first act after his release.  

Ed’s background is unknown, but we can safely hazard a guess that there’s no moneyed upper-class upbringing there.  He was also willing to step up when it counted, and was even used by those in power for their own ends during the break – but none of that counts for anything, apparently, and he finds himself in Arkham.  You could argue that Ed is unwell, and needs to be in a hospital – but Arkham is not shown as a hospital in any meaningful sense in the show.  It’s an oubliette, where you send those you just can’t be bothered dealing with.  It doesn’t look any better here than we’ve seen it before.  Why hasn’t anyone tried to improve it? Again, they don’t have to succeed - if you’re determined to stick to canon, but why not suggest that Jim or Lee or Lucius has at least tried to have conditions improved or an official review launched into treatment of inmates?  It would go a long way to nodding to the long and complex histories these characters have.  However things ended – Lee and Ed had a pretty intense relationship.  They cared about each other.  She can sleep at nights knowing he’s in Arkham?  

Jeremiah might have been clever enough to win himself a scholarship and a way out of the circus – but it’s not enough to enable him to escape his past – either explicitly, when he was hunted down by his resentful brother, or implicitly – when he winds up in a similar situation to the other outsiders.  Yes, Jeremiah might have been manipulating the situation – but he was still sent to Arkham and left vulnerable to casual abuse.  Whether it’s intended or not, Jeremiah’s accusation of abandonment can be read more deeply.  Bruce left town - but, just like Oswald and Ed, the city in general abandoned him.

Selina’s an example who, I would argue, reinforces that this moral order of the universe.  She's always been depicted more ambiguously - capable of villainous acts, but tied to the heroes through her bond with Bruce.  This is reflected in what we learn about her here.  Like Jeremiah, she's been punished by Bruce's abandonment, but her grey heroic status means that she doesn't lose her freedom, despite living a life of crime.

So what picture are we painted of the city?

Aubrey James is back in charge - corrupt as Oswald ever was as mayor, but less competent.  The city’s remains were picked clean by Barbara - it’s now seemingly largely owned and controlled by two scions of the city’s elite. The commissioner’s got more than one murder to his name.  His wife has one attempted murder to hers - giving her the benefit of the doubt and assuming that Sofia’s still in her coma.  Arkham’s still a hellhole.

What does all that say?  Like I said before, you can argue that this was the inevitable endpoint – but you’ve changed the story already, so that doesn’t wash.

What you’re left with is the outsiders comprehensively punished.  You can sacrifice your chance at escape and an easy life in favour of standing shoulder to shoulder to defend the city, you can be unwell, you can be a victim – doesn’t count.  No matter what you do – you’ll always be an outsider anyway.  You can’t win for losing.  Some are chosen, some aren’t. And if you’re not, tough luck.  

So in this universe, why the hell not don a showy suit and your best hat and commit yourself to villainy?  Go for it, I say.

(Yes - I’m aware this is more analysis than it warranted, and it really just wanted to say ‘look Oswald has a monocle and Batman’s here now!’ - but I felt the need for venting meta)

[scaryscarecrows]

Old Ghosts

Takes place during that period where Penguin is presumed dead (and Jim, you should know better by now, c'mon).

Jim thinks back to the first time he ever laid eyes on Oswald Cobblepot, crammed into the trunk of a car with a busted leg and a bloody nose and the whinging, pathetic voice begging for mercy.

He had no idea what he was getting into, at the time. He’d done the right thing. Hadn’t he?

Sometimes he wonders about that, then feels slimy and guilty for it, but Oswald brought fire and death to Gotham when he came back, and maybe that could have been avoided.

And now they’re saying he’s dead. Which, yeah, probably, because Nygma’s actually broken up about it, but…Jim has to wonder. A little. The man is a stubborn little shit, after all, and Jim has trouble believing that he’d let something so common as a gunshot wound take him down.

That’s not wishful thinking. It’s not. It’s the byproduct of seeing Oswald pop up time and time again, even after he should have been fish food or roadkill or whatever. Jim sometimes wonders if he’s an actual zombie. Maybe he only says he has a ruined knee, to hide the shambling zombie-gait.

Okay, that might be the booze throwing out conspiracy theories, but still. The past couple of years have made Jim a lot more open-minded than he used to be.

He’s sitting in his apartment, listening to an ambulance speed by and watching the rain pound against the windows, when he’s struck by the ridiculous urge to go to the club. He’s not sure it’s even there, anymore, but he wants to go…see. Just see.

No. No, it’s pouring rain, it’s late, he doesn’t want to go.

…

God dammit.

He drags himself up and hunts up shoes. This is ridiculous, he doesn’t want to go, he doesn’t need to go, Oswald is dead and the club’s probably closed up or in new hands or whatever, why is he going?

Who knows. But he’s dressed now, and halfway out the door.

God. Dammit.

* * *

The club is still there. Jim’s surprised, a little. What with the mayor business and all…who knows. It’s busy, even, and he’s tempted to just turn around and go home. He doesn’t know why he came here. He needs nothing. Oswald’s not here. If Nygma’s to be believed (and Jim’s never known him to lie), he’s at the bottom of the river.

Never mind that a drag didn’t turn him up.

Never mind that he didn’t wash up, either.

He’s not here.

But Jim goes in anyway, feeling decidedly out of place and hoping nobody notices him.

He’s not so lucky.

That woman Oswald hired, the blonde one that Jim saw once or twice on a streetcorner before she started appearing at her boss’s shoulder, spots him almost immediately. She waves, slips out from behind the bar, and saunters over to him.

“Gordon!” She grins and Jim’s half-expecting her to say, boss’s upstairs, lemme go tell him you’re here. But she doesn’t. “Haven’t see you around in a while.”

“Miss Marquis.” He forces a smile, knows it’s a failure. “How’s things?”

“Busy.” She gestures to the room at large. “You look…well.”

That’s a lie, but a nice one all the same.

“Thanks. You too.”

She does look well, though how much of that is ‘I’m at work, gotta look perfect’ is up for debate.

“Come on in, I’ll getcha a drink. Y’know, for old times?”

“No, I really don’t-”

“Just one? On the house?”

For a second he hears another voice, tinged with hope, saying, Oh, go on, Jim, you’re not on duty. Just a drink with an old friend?

Dammit. Even dead, the little bastard’s still got persuasion down to a science.

“Just one.” he says firmly, ignores the easy smile he gets in return.

“C’mon, you get the good seat.”

‘The good seat’ turns out to be one a little ways out of the main crowd, with a decent view of the room. It hasn’t changed since the last time he’d been in here, in the middle of the day-flattering lighting, fabric that looks, at least, like it costs more than his apartment, the grand piano seated up on stage. No one’s playing now, but he’s seen Dove play before. Oswald, too, but him only the once.

He’s a little surprised Nygma’s not here, either just because or to blow the place sky-high. Not that he’s complaining-they haven’t seen him for weeks. Oh, they’ve seen his handiwork, and poor Lucius is beginning to tire, but of the man himself, there’s nothing. Not even security footage.

Jim almost longs for the garden-variety serial killer, the kind that grabs people off the street because they look like an ex-girlfriend or whatever. Even a cannibal wouldn’t be that bad.

He’s sipping at his whiskey. S’good stuff-Oswald would have had a heart attack if his employees had ordered anything less. Or killed the one responsible. He might even rise from his grave (wherever that is) to do it.

Really, the image of a ghostly Penguin prowling around his club, bitching at his staff, is hilarious. And not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

“Enjoying yourself?”

Jim is not so proud to deny choking on his drink.

“You’re dead!” he hisses, attempting to dislodge bitter drops of alcohol from his throat as he twists around to look at the man sitting next to him.

Oswald looks incredibly unamused. He also looks fairly unharmed-a little thinner than Jim had seen him last, but that’s all.

“Really, Jim, I expected better from you. I have been sitting here for five minutes already.”

Jim counts to ten-it’s his only defense. Strangling the stubborn little bastard will result in his either being stabbed or beaten to a bloody pulp by security. But it’s tempting, it’s really, really tempting.

“How.” he finally spits out. “You are supposed to be at the bottom of Gotham bay.”

“Sorry to disappoint.” comes the snide response, and Jim counts to ten again. “That option was disagreeable to me.”

And there it is. The magical explanation for everything Oswald-related.

“Really.”

“I had unfinished business.” Oswald’s smile is as sharp and brittle as broken glass, and Jim wonders what exactly happened between him and Nygma. Maybe he doesn’t want to know. “But never mind me. You look terrible.”

At least Dove was nice enough to lie. That was appreciated.

“Been busy.”

“The Riddler giving you trouble?”

“A bit.” If he punches him in the face, can he say he thought he’d had too much to drink and was hallucinating? Will that fly? “What are you doing here?”

“Business.” comes the flippant reply, and Jim really doesn’t want to know. “I figured, I’m dead, I may as well get some work done.”

“You are the mayor, you need to-”

“Boss?” Dove sidles up and dammit, she’s the one who ratted him out, isn’t she? “We got a blip.”

Oswald’s smile turns decidedly feral and he slides off the bar stool, cane in hand.

“Excellent. Well, it was nice to see you, old friend. Don’t be a stranger!”

“Wait. Wait a minute-”

But he’s vanished in the crowd and Jim’s left with a half-empty glass and no idea whether he was here at all.

THE END

[justgotham]

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read until if you have not yet watched the season four finale of “Gotham” on Fox.

The final moments of the season four finale of Fox’s “Gotham” essentially rebooted the series, with some characters leaving town, multiple villains rising from the underground and one series regular signing off for good.

In the episode, Solomon Grundy (Drew Powell) was shot but then healed and seemingly returned to his normal Butch state, only to be murdered by Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor).

Powell tells Variety after first learning he was going to be shot again, he wasn’t that worried. “This is the fourth time I’ve been shot on the show,” he notes. “Clearly I can survive a bullet wound.” But what made this one different was the fact that he got shot in the heart.

“[That] would probably take another dip in the Slaughter Swamp to recover from,” he admits.

Here, Powell shares with Variety the emotional moments while filming his final scene, what he will miss about playing the character, and if he would ever join the DC Universe again.

How did you learn that Butch aka Grundy wouldn’t make it to the end of the season finale?

I kind of found out by accident, if I’m being honest. I was at work. The process of Grundy is always a couple hours of make-up coming on and a good 45 minutes to take it off. So, I’m usually there before people and there after people. I was in the makeup room, and I read an outline, which sometimes you do. I don’t know if we’re supposed to do that, but any actor that says they don’t is lying. I glanced at it and I kind of got to the end and it said, “Blah, blah, blah and then Penguin shoots Butch in the heart.” I’m like, “Ooh, that doesn’t sound good.” …I called up [executive producer] John Stephens and he said, “Ah, well. I was just about to get on a plane to come tell you tomorrow,” which he did — I saw him the next day.

How did it feel to know you wouldn’t survive the season?

It was a mix of a lot of emotions. Obviously I’m so close to this group. This show has really been an important show in my career. I moved my family from one coast to the other. I’m now kind of forever linked in this really cool world of DC and Batman lore. It’s really special for me. But the cool part was that the overwhelming feeling I had was not anger or resentment or sadness — although there was some of sadness — but it was gratitude. I just felt so grateful that I’ve had four great years of this. Look, who knows what’s to come, but I can feel like I’ve done good work and had a great experience.

How do you think you’ll feel after the episode airs?

It will be very interesting to feel the catharsis of this coming to life and how people will react. It’s been very interesting the last couple of weeks. “Gotham” did a poll of which character they liked better: Butch or Grundy. I didn’t see the final results but with a day left it was 50/50. It was absolutely down the middle. That warms my heart. It was risky on the same level to take this. I believe what people love about Butch was that he was kind of the every man in the scenario. You have crazy Penguin, nutty Riddler, and all this craziness going on. Then, you’ve got the cops that are stern and hard. Then you’ve got Butch who has managed to survive in this crazy town. He ducks and weaves and survives and does it with a little bit of humor and a wink and smile. I think that was really important to have in this show. I think when Bruno [Heller] wrote this character, he told me at the beginning, “People are going to underestimate Butch until it’s too late for them.” It was really true. Even the fans were like, “Oh, he’s just some henchmen for Fish.” Then by the end of season one, they were like, “Oh my gosh. No, he’s way more than that!” It’s going to be really interesting to see the fan reaction. It’s very shocking. I would love to have a camera on fans watching that scene. I do think the reaction will be physical for a lot of people.

How far in advance did you know before you shot the episode?

That was the other tricky part. I was in the middle of shooting 4.20 (episode “A Dark Knight: That Old Corpse”) so we still had two more episodes to go which equals about a month. So I had three, four weeks of dealing with [it]. I think a lot of actors will tell you when you end a long-term job that you really like –particularly, because people feel like we’re a tight group, especially as actors but also crew — you have to go through the five stages of grief. By the time we actually got to that scene, I had been living with it for almost a month. I have to be honest when I say it’s been really tricky. It’s been a long haul to have a month before we shot it. Then we shot it — that was the beginning or middle of March. So I’ve been sitting on it to most of the people outside of my close circle for the last few months, so it’s been a long haul. There’s a part of me that will be very relieved as this comes out.

When did the rest of the cast find out? Did you tell them?

That was kind of a weird thing. Some of them, yeah. There were a couple people I saw the next day that were working the next day so we talked and grieved together a little bit. I don’t mean for it to sound so dramatic. It was definitely a bond that formed so you have to deal with that. But I think people found out through word of mouth. I told some folks, but it was kind of awkward. There’s no real easy way to do that. It’s been true for the other characters that have passed on from our show. It’s all a little bit awkward. But that was the good thing about having time. By the time we got to the end, we had all talked about it. There was a sense of closure on that last day.

How was it filming the final scene and having Penguin be the one who offs your character?

I’ll never forget it. I don’t think any of us will. It’s a beautiful scene. The one thing I said to John Stephens when we talked was what was most important to me was that we need to give Butch a proper death. I think [the] words actually were a “noble death,” and he agreed. Not some cliffhanger. I think the fans, who’ve really grown to love Butch as I have — and Grundy — [would want] a proper send off for him. I think they did that. I was kind of dreading it. We finally got there. The director was Nathan Hope, who’s just a great guy and one of our favorites on “Gotham.” …I don’t think we ever did it without crying, even Jessica [Lucas], who is way tougher than Robin and me. It was just so emotional and so hard. Robin and I are very good friends and have been since the very beginning. So, it was hard for him. It was hard for me. Jessica, as well — those are the guys I’ve spent the most time with over the course of the show with the exception of Jada [Pinkett Smith]. It was really powerful. It was a moment where we had a culmination of this incredible life experience. As an actor, it’s hard to separate [from] that because it changed my life. That’s true. I think it’s true for any actor that has a job that like that moves you from one place to another and you have over a period of years. But also the relationships and the emotion of the scene. I think Robin and I have always had this chemistry that was really special and it really made the Butch and Oswald scenes work. I was really glad to have a few more of those toward the end of season four. By the time we got to that [scene], he was crying and snotting, as he will admit. Jessica had some tears. Then, I’m dead on the ground with tears streaming down my eyes. We got through it. I haven’t seen it, but I’m hoping it cut together OK. We felt like we got it in the end.

Penguin apologizes before he shoots Grundy. Do you think he was being sincere?

I think the wonderful paradox about Oswald, particularly as Robin has brought him to life in this iteration, is that he is at once an emotional character, a passionate character, but also calculating and smart. He’s always three steps ahead of the game. I think after losing so many people that have been close to him and then I think his experience with [Edward] Nygma, the one thing he won’t let happen anymore is to let his emotions get in the way of what’s important to him which is revenge and power. It’s funny. We’ve talked about this. The fact that Tabitha [killed] Ms. Cobblepot was never going to sit well with him. He wanted to get back at Tabby for killing his mother, the most important thing to him. I always assumed that she would be the one to get it and not me, but I guess I had to be the proxy in this one.

What was the hardest part about saying goodbye to Butch?

It’s funny because I’ve said goodbye to him once. That took me by surprise. There was a moment after we did the Grundy scene — in episode five of the season, they dump Butch in the swamp and Grundy rises out of the Slaughter Slump. The way we shot that out in a pool in the middle of nowhere in Staten Island, we did the rising out of the swamp scene and then hobo scene, and then the last scene we shot was Butch getting into the swamp and then they kind of pulled me out of the water. So that was like the very end of Butch, at least at that point. I was surprised. [For] three years I’ve really grown to appreciate this character. Not often do you get that opportunity as an actor. One of the things I love about TV is that you can live with the character for a while and kind of inhabit him or her. I really did that with Butch. We’ve had a lot of different paths on this particular show. I surprisingly felt a sadness of losing Butch. Then, Grundy presented his own challenges. The makeup alone was something that really took some getting used to. There’s part of me that thinks another season of Grundy with all of that makeup and that wig and the whole thing would’ve been pretty tough. But I loved him too! The death of both characters at once [in the season four finale] was really emotional. It was emotional for all of us.

What is one thing you’ve learned since the start of “Gotham” that has helped you grow as an actor?

I think the experience has taught me to prepare. Not that I didn’t before, but the importance of thinking about what you’re doing [and] understanding that there’s an arc here. That there will be an evolution throughout time. It took me a while to kind of get the knack of who Butch was. To spend time in thought and contemplation and study of who this character is so that you can really bring him to life. I learned how cool it is to be a part of the world of comic book characters — the DC world, the whole general genre. I hadn’t had that experience before and getting to do some of these comic-cons and meeting fans that are so passionate and being a part of something that’s 75 years old — this American mythology — is really cool. That’s one of the things I loved about being Grundy, too, was to be a part of the canon, which was a creation by the brilliant Bruno Heller. It was great to be able to create that role. I secretly hope someday, somewhere there’ll be a Butch Gilzean in a comic somewhere. Being able to be this iconic villain, or anti-hero as I like to think of him, who started in 1944, boy that’s a legacy that it’s so neat to be a part of. That was really special. Also, you get to practice with incredible people. You get to do it over and over with really talented crew members and directors and writers and cast. I think that last part is the thing I’ll miss the most — the camaraderie we had. We’re like a family. I think about our trips to comic-con in the last couple of years in this plane together flying out and the laughter and the stories that we’ll have forever. That doesn’t happen on every show. I’ve been on a lot of different shows and you have sometimes different personalities that just don’t click. But for whatever reason, this group of people really did, and I’ll forever be grateful for that.

Would you take on the role of Butch again or another character for a DC film?

In the blink of an eye. Absolutely. Having said that, the last three months, I did the pilot for “L.A. Confidential” which was amazing. I did a couple of movies — the movie I’m doing now is about Ted Kaczynski. So it’s been fun to kind of explore other things. That’s something I feel very lucky to have got to do right away to kind of help clear my head a little bit and know there is life after “Gotham.” But of course, I’d be a fool to say no to getting back into the DC Universe. Every time I see Geoff Johns I’m like, “I’m in, for my career! Whatever you need, I’m in!” Not the least of which is I’m the father of a 7-year-old boy, so I get to be the coolest dad in the world since I get to work with Batman.

The finale ends in a way that could reboot the series. What were your thoughts when you first heard about the decision to potentially switch-up the show?

It was never really made clear to us that that’s what was happening. Not having seen the episode yet, I’m still unclear, other than what I’ve read, about what that really means. A good friend of mine, John Rogers, a writer and producer who I’m very fond of, tweeted that we’re getting to a point where we’re going to have to accept the fact that series are basically going to be five years and that’s what you’re going to get. I think he’s right about that with a few exceptions. You get to a point in storytelling in our society today which expands looking for the next shiny object or light button. Even something serialized like a comic book show which you feel like could go on forever. It’s also hard to shoot that show. There’s a lot that goes into it. This isn’t your procedural point and shoot and talk about whatever cop lingo is it — there’s a lot going on there. So, I understand the need to kind of give it a little jolt and see what happens.

[optimisticcritique]

Gotham 4x17 - Review

The season is getting close to the end, things are about to get crazy(er). Let’s see what crazy stuff happens this week. Tagging characters that I mainly focus on in the review. Sorry if it is kind of long.

Getting right into the action! Go get him Bruce!

How did Jerome have time to get dressed, meet back up with Scarecrow, release Tetch, and send Tetch to hypnotize the guy before Bruce got there? He wasn’t that far behind Jerome. No GPS? Was he stuck in traffic? Maybe Tetch hypnotized his way through the traffic to get there first. I mean, that’s what I would do if I could hypnotize people.

Xander…yeah, seeing spoilers, I predict this is Jerome’s twin brother, right? This is the one time I wish I hadn’t seen spoilers, no big reveal.  

Oh boy, he has a bomb. Duck and cover!

See, now Jim and Harvey aren’t that far behind Bruce. Did they take the short cut?

Bruce trying to help the guy. I love it but I don’t know if it’ll work.

Question: Why did Tetch hypnotize the guy to trigger the bomb by a clock? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have him press it on like a key phrase (like “if someone asks you about Jerome/Xander, press it”) so that Bruce couldn’t have time to jump away? Or was killing Bruce (or anyone else) not the intention?

Shooting the clock! Quick thinking. Learning tricks from being a Tetch survivor.

Aaand he has a watch. Of course he does. Well, at least you tried.

Wait, it’s the dinner already? That happened fast. How did Jerome get them all together? How did he contact Oswald and Oswald just agreed? Did it take some time or was he reluctant at first? Were they all agreeable at first? Did he threaten them? Bribe them with free food?

This is the villain dinner I always wished for…if you had told me we would have all these villains together in one place seasons ago, I would have been floored. I probably would have freaked out, running down the street while yelling “Yessss! Bring me all the villains! A few years can’t come fast enough!!!!” as all the neighborhoods stare at me.

I love villains interacting. I also love seeing characters that have been previously introduced, having scenes with one another that they have never shared scenes with before. It’s the individual character build up and mixture of personalities.  

The only thing missing from this wonderful dinner is Ed :( I guess The Riddler isn’t considered “freak” enough for them…

“Put all questions on ice until the end” Awe the ice puns. Well great, now I want to know what Victor’s question was going to be. I do love how he just raises his hand, like he’s in school and trying not to interrupt the teacher.

“Mr. Oswald” lol well, that’s an interesting choice. I would have thought he would call Oswald by his Penguin name. Really gives me Ed flashbacks to “Mr. Penguin”, which is fun.

Oh Oswald looks just…I have no words. What a fashion icon. I love his fur coat and hair. Real perfection. Fish would be so proud!  One of these days, I really want to see him doing his hair in an actual scene, instead of being off screen. I’m curious how long he spends on it.  

This is Sofia’s old place that Oswald took over XD Wait, Oswald hosted? Option A: Jerome barged into the house and just told Oswald that they are having it there or Option B: Oswald wants to seem supportive, just so he can be involved and know what is coming for his city. Me: Probably both.  

“Anything for a friend” pfft uh huh. I bet. He is probably planning a back stab or just waiting for Jerome to fail.

Got to say, I wasn’t sure about the new scarecrow actor but he’s pretty good. His facial expressions are dead on.

Yeah, Oz doesn’t seem very keen on these plans. His facial reactions say it all.

He’s probably thinking either “What I have I gotten myself into” or “I should have made more food”  

Alfred!!! Where have you been? Been partying? Taking a spa day for a couple of episodes?

Jim, no! Let Bruce do his thing! Sure, he could potentially die horribly but be reasonable here…

Yeah, Bruce will not take no for an answer. Will Jim change his mind or will Bruce take on a mask again?  

“Maybe he wants him to build him something” You can’t fool us! We all know what he is really after!

Yeah, that woman is probably regretting not calling in sick to work today.

Jerome trying to whistle… it wouldn’t surprise me if that is the only thing he hates about his new stitched up face. Who cares that his face is different…he can’t whistle anymore!!!

“Don’t bother going to security! They are all…headless” Wait, you have a gun. You could shoot them in the heads but not cut off their heads. How are they headless?  

“Drop the gun!” “Oh you are such a stick in mud” Would you have preferred a western style shoot out or for him to just be like “Oh hey Jerome. Go on ahead and do what you do with the gun. Have fun” as he casually walks past you?

Xander knowing Bruce’s father…hmm…

“What time is it?!” Tool-no-Mail-no-Extra time!!! “Riddle time!!!” …that was my next guess.

Wow, everyone is so loving this. I guess this has been going on for quite awhile.

Speaking of which, what did happen between that pier scene and now? Did Oswald and Ed become friends again? Make a deal? Just go their own ways? I feel like there is something missing here.  

Oh, you know Ed is just loving this. This reminds me of that episode back in season one (1x09?), where he is listening to a game show on the radio and answering the questions as he is working. You know that was one of his inspirations for this!

Bet you that brief case has no money even in it. The Riddler is just that cocky.

“The street demons!” Lol the way that he says that! I just love it when he does voices or accents. Pulling out all the stops to make things extra.  

The Riddler totally doesn’t even seem like he cares about what is going on in this guy’s life.

How happy he gets when he hears “Riddler”. Not many people have called him that in the show yet, have they?

“I’ve fallen on hard times but happy to be here with you Riddler” I relate to this on a spiritual level. Ed making my week better <3

Ooh this Lila has the best get up. Please tell me Ed made it himself.

Lars, you are over thinking! Don’t ever over think it!

I would half expect the crowd to give out answers but you just know they want to see people getting tortured.

“Rabid sack of rats” Awe man, I was hoping for the barracuda stapled to the forehead….you know, for curiosity purposes…

“Enough!” Nooooo! Never! Don’t ruin this Lee!

I actually saw an interview right before this episode, with Cory saying the episode will end “hot” and “romantic”. It won’t surprise me if Lee/Ed kiss by the end of this.

Wow Lee, you look stunning. Love the new hair.  Also love Ed’s too.

What’s up with the new hair styles lately though? First we mourn see Jervis and Harvey getting their longer hair cut. Now we see Ed and Lee both have hair cuts, with Oswald serving up a new hairstyle. Did we miss a national “change your hair day” in Gotham or something? Or did one person do it and the rest got jealous so they changed their hair too? Or did the actors all decide to get new hair styles at the same time?

“We put Oswald on ice” you make it sound like you both attempted to kill him or something. The vagueness.

So I guess Ed knows about Sofia. Is he impressed with her doing that or not so because she didn’t finish the job?

“Whatever the hell this is, it’s over” “I don’t think so” I’m just waiting for this to be turned into a reaction gif. Like, people upset about something to Gotham writers and Gotham writers going “I don’t think so” or vice versa.

“And my name…is The Riddler” Awe so we are on this again. So, he still isn’t whole. Funny how he is still saying this to people a season later. Also, Oswald called him Ed…but maybe it is because he called him The Riddler first? Or “because we have history” thing? …Even though he and Lee technically have history too, with working together at the GCPD.

*challenges Ed* First: Lee that is bold and I am impressed with you. Second: Noooo! I knew this was going to happen but I didn’t want it to happen so quickly. We only got to see him have one contestant, who we didn’t even see get tortured. Let Ed/Cory have more fun! Let us have our showman Riddler!

Who is this woman? Just a random character that’ll die this episode or the next?

Umm are you implying Jerome is a dog? ;) Also, isn’t that cage a little bit small to fit Jerome in? I just picture her trying to push and squeeze him into that cage, just barely closing it.

Oswald and Butch reunited again! I kind of missed their…complicated relationship to be honest. They also have a long history, probably knowing each other as long as Oswald knew Fish so I can only imagine what Oswald will think of this new Butch.

Oswald’s eyes when he sees Butch. Yeah, totally unprepared for that.

“I will be honest, I like it…” It’s like when a friend pretends to like your bad hair cut, even when they know it looks bad.

“Just came from brunch with Jerome Valeska…” Oh yeah, that’s a great way to start this. He says it so casually, like it was just an everyday civil affair with food and great conversation. Bet he thought he would never utter those words though XD  

“Seemed to involve a great deal of paint” lol that was totally not the point of that, you forgot to mention the mass crazy Ozzie.

Oswald wearing green gloves with that outfit.

“You must be all out of allies” “Don’t be modest” Yeah, he still has Ed as an ally so he isn’t COMPLETELY out of allies. He has…one….

Again, what happened with Ed and why Butch? Option A: He asked Ed, Ed refused, saying he wanted to do his own thing. Option B: He started to ask Ed, Ed talked about a Riddle factory and he immediately went “yeah, nope. Never mind” Option C: He knows Jerome will want someone who is a “freak” to add to the group. Oswald also wants someone strong (let’s face it, Ed is not) and not easily killed. Butch fits that mark, not Ed. He doesn’t want Ed to get involved with this mess either. Which I think is the most likely. Option Q: Forgetting own writing.

Oh, you just totally made him angry. You won’t like him when he’s angry! …Wait, totally wrong universe and different comics.

Okay, I know you look bad now Butch. But look at the bright side, you’re strong, you’re practically immortal, and-with a good hair dye and spray tan-you could look fairly the same. Think positively!

*pushes Oswald on the floor* Nooo! Don’t ruin the majestic hair and coat! They must be protected at all costs!

I don’t know why but, even though I already love Oswald, this episode has made me love him a million times more… *stares at his hair and coat* Not sure why…

“like a flower” well, that choice of words is threatening but also not.

Oh sure, you only want them involved when you want something. It’s a two way street, Jim. Now you have to let him risk his life and you can’t say a thing.

“I love you” In your own twisted way, I bet.

*does a heart with his hands* Jerome fans: Awe that’s what we do when we see you on screen… :’D

He’s freely letting Harvey and Jim in? No booby traps? It kind of looks like a place that would have traps like that.

Ecco! In the same episode as the riddle factory…Some say this woman would be Harley Quinn because she is devoted to this guy…I kind of doubt it. There is also an Echo who worked with the Riddler (although I think Query was the blonde, not like it matters) The name is spelled wrong so she is most likely a throw away character but…why Ecco? Why use a similar name to tease fans?! Why?!    

“Oh my god, there’s two of them!” Oh Harvey…seriously, this is a Cameron/Jerome fan’s dream right there. Not one but two? Alittle over a season ago one didn’t exist and the other was “dead”.

“Please don’t touch that! That is very sensitive equipment” Yeah, sure looks sensitive to me. Especially the couple of buttons that turns it on.

Jerome doing yoga because why not?

Him waving right when Jim sees… o_o It’s like he knew…  

How much you want to bet that someone followed Jerome? If Firefly followed to the office, you can bet he didn’t go see Ecco on his own. It’s the only way I can see him getting out of there.

“She thinks stapling a live barracuda to someone’s head isn’t damn good entertainment” The nerve! Wait…did he just say “damn good”? Has he ever said that word before? :O But your fake swearing was so pure, what has the world done to you?!

I think it is interesting that he only puts his hat on when he speaks a riddle.

I’m not going to even attempt these riddles. I suck at logic.

Scenes like this make me wonder if we will ever get a “whole” Ed or just get this Riddler from now on.

Wow. Who knew the Riddler was so upset about all this?

Lee’s face…yup, she got what she wanted. Smart cookie right there.

The Riddler totally played himself.

Haha! Called it! Knew he would be followed. Don’t underestimate him.

“If I knew this thing was a 100 acres, I would have stopped and had a sandwich before we came” Harvey, you are so relatable. I don’t blame you. My ship of Harvey + food continues to sail. The ship I can always count on <3

“The End” Wait, is the episode over? Is this where the story ends?

Wow, the acting right here is so good. I keep forgetting both Jerome and Jeremiah are both Cameron.

“His bearded sidekick” Hey! He has a name and thy name is Harvey!

“Born bad” that’s lousy reasoning.

Ooh so he lied? Well, this intrigues me. I am so skeptical of this guy. I just know there is more to him than meets the eye. I don’t believe this facade!

“You killed our mother” “She did deserve it though” Lol no care whatsoever. Again with the lousy reasoning.

“Listen to what I have to say” “Oh hell no! You are not hypnotizing me again!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!” *Jervis and Jonathan run for their dear lives as Harvey charges towards them* ….LOL Oh my god. Harvey, you are a blessing to this world. Most iconic moment. He is so done with Jervis. The way he just let out a war cry, causing the duo to flee is just…it’s beautiful. I’m dying. I will never be over this. Favorite part of the episode. Batman should take notes.

Jim being like “Welp, okay then” as he follows Harvey.

Just imagine Harvey chasing them all around the maze, with the video sped up and silly music playing. Or slowed down with suspenseful music playing. 

“Must go! Must go! They’re after me and the Scarecrow!” Oh my god I love this so much. I am going to put this on a loop forever.

I love how Jonathan doesn’t even try spraying or anything. He just follows Jervis wherever he goes. I am loving this duo.  

Jerome watching them run off like “whatever”.

*can still hear Harvey screaming* Me: *is dead*

*kisses Jeremiah’s head as he flees* Awe brother love…nothing like wanting your sibling dead and in misery one minute and kissing him in the next.

Whoa. That disappearance happened fast. Did he find a prototype invisible jet or something? Or did Jervis just have the car right outside the door, Jerome leapt in, and they drove away as fast as possible? Scratch that, they are totally hiding on the side of that building, shushing and tip toeing away.

The Riddler being all cocky and smug. Yeah, you probably won’t be feeling this way in a few minutes…

Hey, even I know this riddle! Oh, I see what you are doing there Lee.

It’s simple Ed. Just look at the audience as you say “I love you”. There you go!

Wow, he is pushing Ed back so much that he risks losing in front of an entire crowd.

Lee outsmarting him, good on Lee but sucks for the riddle factory :( I feel robbed.

A little bit late but I’d like to imagine Ed making all of these props himself. Cutting out a giant wheel, painting it, sticking two giant beakers together…

Wait, Oswald knows how to reverse it? Will it actually work though? I kind of feel like it would be a bummer to get rid of Grundy after all this…

Hugo Strange! Of course it’s Hugo. If it is monster related, it’s always Hugo lol

Yay! Oswald and Butch team up once more!

Poor Ed losing his riddle factory. A loss for us all :’(

“they didn’t come here because they love you, Ed” Wow, that’s harsh.  

“Because I know what you really want…” Validation? Wait, no… Lee:  *pulls out the glitter suit from thin air* The Riddler: :’D You found it! I thought I lost it!

Knife to the neck! Always going for the neck.

Oh, they are totally going to go on a robbing spree. Does Lee really need the money? Or is this also a way to appeal to The Riddler to get him back on her side?

….

I am reserving any specific opinion/judgement on this situation until I see more of it. But I definitely see some manipulation at play here. The question is, is it just one or both manipulating? I am actually a bit surprised Lee would play this card.

Oh, I can just imagine reactions from others. Jim, Harvey, Oswald, Butch, Barbara…they all have a decent history with both of them.

The music is the same music that played when Ed killed Kristen. Hmm…This does not bode well. It never does for Ed and anyone he is involved with.

“I don’t know. I thought it already was” Oh, you have no idea how mad this city can get Harvey…you don’t even technically have the Joker yet.

No! Not Carl! We hardly knew thee. Justice for Carl!!! 

*Jerome punches Grundy’s shoulder, shakes hand* Parallel to when Ed high fived him and did the same thing. Probably like hitting a brick wall.

Joker toxin!!!

The Jervis reaction XD Like, he knew the plan right? He looks so shocked.

Everyone’s reactions emoticon style: Jervis: 😮Jonathan: 😬  Jerome: 😆  Bridgit: 🙂 Victor: 😏 Butch: 😕Oswald: 🐧  

Oh god that looks painful. Looks like the “fun” is about to begin.

Man, if Jerome does end up dying, I won’t know how to feel. Jeremiah intrigues me and I think he will eventually grow on me but...he doesn’t have the same history that Jerome has with the characters. Why even have the twin twist? ...I guess I’ll just have to wait to see how it all plays out before deciding what I think. I will say, at least Cameron will still be playing him so it isn’t gypping him from the role.

Over all: Good episode. I felt like some of it was a bit fast paced. I was a bit surprised by how quickly the dinner began, Jerome got his info, the riddle factory ended…that being said, some good villain interaction and Harvey being amazing. The legion of horribles succeed in finding Jerome’s twin brother Jeremiah, the GCPD to put Jeremiah in protective custody, the Joker toxin has been created, Ed/Lee kiss while deciding to go rob banks, and Oswald recruits Butch in promising he could reverse his condition by finding Hugo Strange.

Previous Review: 4x16  Next: 4x18

[thedreammweaver]

Too Good to Be True part 2 (Burton-schumacherverse Riddlebird)

Part 1 part 3

Warnings: break up (not permanent), weight related prejudice, fatphobic comments

Ed paced anxiously around Ivy’s lair, he was supposed to be having drinks with her and Selina but it’d turned into him venting about Oswald. “Eddie, I don’t know why you’re so bothered,” Selina said “I mean, I get he’s a little overweight but-“

Ed scoffed “A little overweight?? Yeah, Selina, he’s a little overweight..and the pope is a little catholic.”

Selina rolled her eyes “That’s mean, Ed.” She of course knew what it was like firsthand to be disgusted by the penguin. However, after a specific occasion where one of her cats fell ill, the vets were closed, and Oswald was the only other person she knew of who had any knowledge on animals she had begun considering the man a friend. Now when she thought of him she only thought of the man who had compassion for critters enough to help her at four in the morning. “Have you tried voicing these concerns to him, darling?” Ivy asked, swirling a cherry in her drink before putting it in her mouth. “That may not be the best idea, he doesn’t handle rejection well.” Selina chuckled nervously, absently rubbing her neck. Ed sat down, bouncing his leg anxiously “How would I even phrase it? I mean what’s a nice way to say ‘Your body kinda makes me want to puke when I think about it too long and you could do with a facelift’?”

“Ed..” Selina scolded.

“Maybe you should break up if you’re so disgusted.” Ivy muttered, actually feeling a little bad for Penguin. Ed ran a hand through his hair “I don’t want to do that....I mean he’s great, really-“

“He’s just too ugly for you?” Selina said pointedly, standing up and folding her arms, obviously meaning to insult Ed rather than Oswald. “I didn’t say that!” Ed insisted.

“Maybe not with those words..” Selina growled.

Feeling a little threatened Ed got up to leave “This was nice..but I’m sensing I’ve become rather unpopular over the last few minutes.” Ivy raised a brow at him as if to say ‘You think?’.

The song was almost over Ed reminded himself. Oswald just had to want to dance with him, Ed tried to focus on the decor of the Iceberg Lounge instead of the soft rolls of pudge he could feel under Oswald’s clothes. He hated being so close with the man in public, all he could think about was what other people must think seeing someone as beautiful as him next to this waddling combination of strained buttons, messy grey curls, and the faint smell of fish. Ed tried not to be too tense as they swayed together however he couldn’t not wince when Oswald accidentally stepped on his foot once again. Oswald was too enthralled with Ed to notice, his head pressed against the taller man’s chest. “You’re so light on your feet.” Ed muttered sarcastically.

“What was that, dear?”

“You’re such a delight to me.” Ed spoke up. He cringed as Oswald sighed wistfully and cuddled into him further. Luckily for Ed, Ozzie didn’t want to dance for too much longer as he was getting lightheaded.

  Oswald had of course offered to drop Ed off at his apartment, he was a gentleman after all and it was on the way from the lounge to cobblepot manor anyways. As they sat in the back of the car something strange began to happen. Oswald had dozed off and usually Ed found the other man’s tendency to do so annoying and his snoring grating but tonight he found it..sort of cute. Oswald looked so docile and soft when asleep, without realizing it Ed had unbuckled himself and scooted closer. Maybe it was the moonlight coming in from the window but the way it was lighting Oswald’s grey locks and pale skin up was...beautiful. Beautiful? Just an hour before Ed could barely force himself to look at the shorter man now he couldn’t look away. Something prompted him to caress one of Oswald’s cheeks, had his skin always been so soft? Ed moved to feel Ozzie’s hair as it had brushed against his hand, it was supremely soft as well. Ed didn’t know what had changed but he found himself taking in Oswald’s appearance in a different way, a kinder way. He sighed with relief, glad the problem had resolved itself, and Oswald would never have to know about the prejudices Ed had harbored.

       Ed was taking his time in his bathroom getting ready as he was actually excited for this date for once. He was making Oswald wait in his apartment. Ed was quite proud of himself, for the last few days when they would talk on the phone he had actually been imagining Ozzie as himself instead of the princely substitute visage he’d conjured for the man. He was humming softly as he finally came out of the bathroom “Before you complain, I promise I’m always worth the wai-“ Ed cut himself off as he saw that in one of Oswald’s flippers was the muted green diary. His eyes were frantically scanning the pages with growing horror, his eyes were shining with tears. “Oh...” Ed had forgotten about the diary, once he had nothing to complain about he didn’t feel the need to vent to it.

“Ozzie-“

“How could you?!” Oswald hissed, looking up at Ed, he looked utterly betrayed. Ed was more concerned about defending himself than comforting Oswald “I don’t think that stuff anymore, baby! Besides those were mostly just jokes-“

Oswald interrupted by reading one of the entries aloud “‘When he started getting sappy I was so afraid he was going to ask me to marry him. The only pro to that, besides intelligent conversation of course, is with his diet he’s bound to be whisked off by a heart attack before his mid-forties, let’s hope I’d be in the will.’” Oswald was trying so hard not to cry “That’s funny to you?? Maybe I should go step out in front of a bus if my early death is such a laughing matter, give you a pick me up, hmm?”

Ed walked over to the shorter man “Oswald, I’m so sor-“ he was interrupted by Oswald throwing the diary at him, there were tears spilling from his eyes now “If you weren’t so selfish as to have let me love you..I would gut you like the pig you are.” There was such a tangle of heartbreak and rage in Oswald’s eyes “Don’t ever fucking talk to me again.” he spat before storming out.