#Green eyed Bruce as in he misses when he used to look into Jeremiah's eyes and see himself looking back at him?????? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

notdeadyet09 · 4 years

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The gift

Read on Ao3 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/27314749

ship: Wayleka

Warnings : Jeremiah is creepy and Bruce needs therapy. Also some mild gore

Jeremiah was like a cat, Bruce had surmised before picking up the box on his porch. Always leaving dead things on his porch.

It was a pretty box, Bright stripes, and dots tattooed on the skin covering it (he was wearing gloves). A bow and card in red ink detailing a warning that might have been something to fret over 3 years ago.

They weren’t the same people they were 3 years ago either. Now he stood a little bit taller, the need to shave happening more (not as often as he would have liked) and smiles coming a bit easier.

Bruce was still a serious boy, usually dressed in all black and a frown naturally taking over his face but now his eyes lit up more often and he seemed more relaxed. Jeremiah liked to think that he was responsible for that.

He opened the box once he got inside, Alfred sighing about teenagers and clowns. Inside was a red rose, the thorns dipped in what Bruce knew wasn’t strawberry jelly. The blue latex of his glove turned slightly purple with the blood. It was a nice gift, considering the last one was a severed ring finger with the ring still on it (not a proposal, they had both made it clear that they weren't ready). But Bruce was getting tired of burning skin boxes. Alfred was too judging by the look he was giving the 19-year-old.

Bruce hardly noticed, instead choosing to put the rose in a vase. The blood washed away, the clarity of the water showing slightly pink. The petals would wilt in a week unless this was one of Ivy’s little monsters (Bruce doubted it seeing as the girl wasn't in Arkham and never really liked Jerimiah). Turning back around to his Butler watching the slightly disapproving look on his face “You're not going to stop me."

“I’m not planning on it. I’m just worried about you Master Wayne,”

Ever since Bruce had pulled Jeremiah back from the guardrail at Ace Chemicals and the clown had gone to Arkham; the gifts were a constant. They started small of course, a box of chocolates that had been thrown away as soon as they had arrived. Bruce had always wondered what was in those.

The first independent visit to Arkham had been filled with creepy, inherently wide-eyed glances through panes of glass. It had gotten easier after that though

"I know Alfred but I’m seriously ok. If anything goes wrong I can defend myself remember?” Another way these three years had paid off. He could fight, and now he could fight well .

Alfred merely sighed and stepped away from the threshold, Bruce deciding against wearing the heavy black jacket he seldom left the house without. He would have felt bare without it, like a naked babe in the woods, waiting for wolves to pounce had it not been for the plastic knife in his shoe and the iron chain in his pocket. Once placed on the magnets in his rings (gifts from Mr. Fox) they made surprisingly efficient iron knuckles.

He had also taken his phone with him, screen cracked from a run on with a mugger yesterday. She had been easy to take down but he needed to get that fixed

Leaving Wayne manor he looked up, the walls casting shadows along the grounds. The architecture hadn’t changed nor would it ever but it was home. A home plagued by tragedy upon tragedy but it hurt less now, now that Bruce had some people that he knew loved him. But it was still an imposing building, winding stairs and old wallpaper that even if Bruce died, would never change.

The back car, something expensive that would easily identify him waited in the driveway The humming of an engine and soft music were the only things Bruce could hear as he drove to Arkham. A home away from home, not that he’d ever admit it. Despite hating the treatment of inmates (he took them to court a year back and thighs have gotten better) and many people in there wanting his blood, it still held a sense of comfort .

Maybe he was crazy. Wouldn’t Jerimiah love to hear that.

Pulling up the asylum was the easy part, convincing himself to go in was harder. It had gotten easier over time, but he still felt the stab of guilt for all the people that he had let die by the inmates’ hands.

No bruce, you can’t save everyone! A voice that sounded suspiciously like Jeremiah reminded him. It was hard… he was getting used to it.

Walking through the front doors, he greeted the security guard with a head nod. They stiffened up, likely one of the people under Jerimiahs control. As much as Jeremiah hated to be similar to Jerome, there was no denying that they both were very good at getting people to follow them.

He lifted his eyes to one of the workers, seeing Echo’s stare back. She’d been working there for a while under some different name every time. Cold, calculating eyes and a fake warm smile filled her face.

“Hello Doctor Klovn, how are you today?” False pleasantries though they enjoyed each other's company were exchanged and a meeting with Jerimiah was arranged.

“Mr. Valeska will see you in meeting Room 3,” She spoke as if Bruce was then only about to be shoved in a room, chains around his wrists. She thanked him, walking down the hallways, noting the lack of silence. It was another thing Bruce (though he could convince himself that he didn’t) liked about the place. There was no silence, whether it be music that seemed oddly fitting for the old Asylum or screams (he preferred the music) of the less collected inmates.

The hallway was familiar, the same room that he had (for the first time without Ecco) seen Jerimiah in. Though it was easy to get turned around in here, walls looking the same, with the seldom decor to grace its walls. Something Bruce would try to work on. Though as many people had told him, he was not an interior decorator, the latest being Jerome. Jerome was dead, it was no question about it. After the fateful day at the graveyard; Bruce never went a week without checking on the grave, making sure that ginger-haired clown didn’t wake. Some might call it paranoia but anyone who had known Jerome knew that it was a precaution they needed to take. Bruce still had the faint white line on his neck and a few scars from when he had to dive staples out of his arm.

Jeremiah hated that, likely not for the reasons a sane person would. Maybe something about not being the first one to give him such scars or the fact that Jerome was gone, the marks he left on Bruce weren’t. Being an only child and (maybe?) not crazy Bruce never got it.

Entering the visitation room, with its white walls and silver table, Bruce took notice of the security cameras. It was a habit he had never known was one until Jeremiah pointed it out, saying something about looking for people who he didn’t know if they were there. Then he had said something about never having to worry about the camera’s being on him when he was talking with Jeremiah.

He kept true to that promise, the camera’s green light flickering off. Another constant since the beginning of these visits. No surveillance made Bruce feel free, most of his life being surrounded by flashing lights and Paparazzi hounds. He sat down in the uncomfortable chair across from the door that the gift-giver would be walking through.

Drumming his fingers on the metal, the almost silence becoming a little too much for him, he reminisced about the fateful day when they had figured out what this was

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“Y’know Bruce it is rather rude to lie… especially to me,” It was the 8th or 10th visits (numbers always varied when it came to Jeremiah) and they had finally ditched the glass between them.

“I’m not lying Jeremiah I’m just distracted,” Gordon had made an unusual comment about moving Jeremiah offshore, away from Gotham and away from Bruce. It had sent a sickly feeling to Bruce’s stomach. He wasn't sure why then.

“And what’s distracting you? He couldn’t lie, Jeremiah knowing more of his tells than he’d like.

“Something Jim said just made me think” It did make him think. Think about the sickly feeling and what caused it. Luckily the drive had helped him figure it out.

“You know I like it when tell me what’s on your mind Bruce,” Bruce had sighed, not really sure how to word it

“They were thinking of moving you offshore… I don’t agree,”

“And why is that Bruce?” A smile had made its way into Jeremiah's face, adoring and hopeful. This time Bruce knew what it was for. And he wasn’t sure if he’d like to go back to ignorance or confess to his crimes

“I would miss you,” Bruce confessed, not seeing Jeremiah's smile widen. If he had looked up he would have seen the (slightly mad but) Loving Away Jeremiah's eyes spoke. He would have seen the hands reaching for his.

He didn’t, only noticing those pale hands when they pulled his own up to Jeremiah's chest.

“You can feel that Bruce right? You know I would miss you too.” Bruce could indeed feel the frantic pounding of Jeremiah’s heart, the part of his mind he longed to destroy revealing in the notion that Bruce had some power in this dynamic.

“I know you would...Miah,” the nickname came out smoothly, a jump in Jeremiah’s heart to prove that it had worked.

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The opening of the door broke Bruce’s memory, Dark eyes meeting stark green ones.

“How lovely it is to see you, Bruce,” Jeremiah’s tone was soft but happy, almost ignoring the guard that had walked him in.

Bruce simply nodded, not sure what the guard would think. It was foolish in Jeremiah's opinion and a little bit offending that Bruce didn’t think that Jeremiah would let someone not under his control walk him.

“Thank you Mr. Summer but you can leave now,” There it was again, the feeling that Jeremiah was the one in control, not the people who put him in these chains. Bruce watched the guard walk stiffly out the door, and Jeremiah sighed.

“I’m guessing he wasn’t very fun to work with,” Bruce said with no small amount of humor in his voice. Jeremiah peered into his eyes, watching them flicker to life with emotion. The clown always liked when Bruce allowed himself to show that fire, a little voice that still sounded like his brother saying that Jerome was the one who put it there. Jeremiah promptly ignored it.

“He was too easy. All I had to do was tell him how much better life would be if he just followed me and boom! He’s like a sick puppy,” Bruce noted to the obvious line with a sigh, as he had already seen the slight terror on his face when Jeremiah had spoken to them.

“And what kind of boom are we talking about, Miah?” Jeremiah laughed, a cold sound that only Bruce could recognize as genuine. Bruce was straight, of course, I mean what’s a little manipulation with threats. An invisible bomb in his mother's room or a promise of pain if Mr. Summer ever betrayed him.

“I’m guessing you got my gift,” Jeremiah was smiling, knowingly as Bruce bristled. The small part of him that recognized Jeremiah for the mad man that he was really didn’t like the way that Jeremiah looked at him.

“Yes, the skin made it feel especially romantic,” Bruce replied with false anger, the glare all but disappearing seeing the adoring way Jeremiah looked at him. Handcuff shined brightly as he reached up, cold hands taking Bruce’s in a tight grip. Bruce rubbed Jeremiah’s thumb with his own, a feudal attempt to warn them up. It was pleasant Jeremiah thought, the way Bruce openly expressed affection. It was a stark reminder of what they were three years ago when the only way Bruce would touch him was in anger,

“Only a rose, seldom as beautiful and half as deadly as you could prove as a gift to you,” it was poetic, in the way Edgar Allen Poe was, like a clown’s greasepaint, beautiful but slightly off. Something that would haunt a small child’s dreams and nightmare.

“You’re insane Jeremiah,” Bruce said with as much of a loving smile as someone like Bruce Wayne could make.

It was debatable, the insane nature of Jeremiah Valeska. The gas laid as a trapped by Jerome, or the almost offensive love he held for Bruce. Of course, Jeremiah would never call himself crazy as it was easy (far too easy) to convince himself that he was sane. That he was doing all of this for one purpose. One man.

“If I’m insane then you are just as crazy as I am,” Both of them noted the familiar words said by the other Valeska. They ignored it, Bruce because he seldom tried to think about the dead man and Jeremiah out of pure spite.

“How is Arkham treating you?” Changing the subject was something that Bruce was good at. Though it was questioned Bruce had asked every single visit. Always said with the same amount of faked aloofness.

“I’ll be out soon,” A different answer surprised Bruce. He’d be getting out. It wasn’t surprising that we would. No, but it was surprising that he planned to.

Jeremiah, over the course of three years, had only escaped twice. But the general public only knew about the second one. The first, almost 27 months ago. A Private visit (kidnapping Bruce corrected) in an old church.

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They had just had the fateful 8th or 10th visit and Jeremiah wanted answers. He had got them anyway. And Bruce had gotten answers to his own questions

“Why would you miss me, Bruce?” A question that maybe Bruce had the right answer for.

An answer that would mean that Jeremiah was right. That they did have a connection.

“Because… you were my…” Bruce had tired of not wanting to say the words he hadn’t even admitted to himself.

“I was your what?”

“You were someone I loved,” And there it was. Shocking the person who said it and the person who heard it. Loved. Past tense of course, as Bruce wasn’t able to admit that maybe the love wasn’t all gone yet.

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“Back to causing trouble?” Bruce said only slightly exasperated.

“Only for you my dear, always for you,” Another smile that three years ago Bruce would’ve flinched at. Now he met it with a smile of his own.

“I know Jeremiah, I know,”

And Bruce did know, having finally seen it after all of this time. They were all different people, but the most being Gotham’s Dark Knight. Jeremiah’s Prince.

#wayleska #Gotham #dc #bruce wayne #jeremiah velaska #jeremiah x bruce #fanfiction

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barefoot-joker · 5 years

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Yandere!Jeremiah Valeska X Reader One Shot

I would like to apologize profusely if this is terrible. I wanted to try and write for Jeremiah and this is the direction my brain went so yeah. Feedback is appreciated on how I can make his character better and what you thought of this lil one shot. If you want this one shot to become a full fledged story drop a comment below! Otherwise enjoy!

https://barefoot-joker.tumblr.com/post/182409053588/yanderejeremiah-valeska-x-reader-oneshot-pt-2

https://barefoot-joker.tumblr.com/post/182862984808/yanderejeremiah-valeska-x-reader-one-shot-pt-3

https://barefoot-joker.tumblr.com/post/183226748438/yanderejeremiah-valeska-x-reader-one-shot-pt-4

https://barefoot-joker.tumblr.com/post/183462856853/yanderejeremiah-valeska-x-reader-one-shot-pt-5

https://barefoot-joker.tumblr.com/post/183601483818/yanderejeremiah-valeska-x-reader-oneshot-pt-6

https://barefoot-joker.tumblr.com/post/184215467078/yanderejeremiah-valeska-x-reader-oneshot-pt-7

https://barefoot-joker.tumblr.com/post/184513626468/yanderejeremiah-valeska-x-reader-oneshot-pt-7

https://barefoot-joker.tumblr.com/post/184712916978/yanderejeremiah-valeska-x-reader-oneshot-pt-7

https://barefoot-joker.tumblr.com/post/185001873563/yanderejeremiah-valeska-x-reader-one-shot-pt-7

https://barefoot-joker.tumblr.com/post/186623351048/yanderejeremiah-valeska-x-reader-one-shot

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Beep. Beep. Beep.

Sigh.

I took in a deep breath as my body shook, the deep monotone beeping from my heart monitor not putting me at ease as I sat. I tried to relax in the green armchair that I was told to sit in but upon feeling my body twitch from restlessness I knew I had to move. Standing, I moved towards the window and let my eyes wander over the city lights and busy streets of Gotham. I had always thought the city looked beautiful in the dark, the neon lights giving it life, them nothing like the apartment I was forced to be cooped up in. Running a hand along the cool glass I closed my eyes and breathed in slow, the beeps mixing with the honking and chatter of outside.

How did it end up this way?

{Flashback}

I was walking down the busy street towards my home, minding my own business when something caught my eye. A man in a dull salmon suit jacket and business like attire walked across the street, something seeming to trouble him. As I watched I saw him trip, his papers scattering everywhere. He bent down to pick them up, not even noticing the truck barreling towards him. With wide eyes I sprinted towards him, yelling at him to move but my warnings were heard upon deaf ears. Shoving people out of the way I quickly tackled the man to the side, the truck whizzing behind us causing my hair to blow around. The man beneath me stared up at my face, his black framed glasses tilted slightly from the fall and his eyes wide in shock. "Are you alright, sir?" I asked after a few seconds. "Y-yes. G-glad to be a-alive." I gave him a small smile and got off, allowing him room to stand and readjust himself. As he did so I turned towards the street and grabbed all of his papers, returning to his side once more when I had all of them. "There ya go. I believe that's all of them." "T-thank you. A-and what m-may I call m-my savior?" "Y/n. Y/n L/n. It's a pleasure to meet you..." "Uh Jeremiah Valeska." I smiled at him and shook his hand, his very pale in comparison to mine. "Thank you again Miss Y/n. I must have had too much on my mind to notice that truck. Why he was going so fast on a busy street I could never tell you." I chuckled and shook my head. "Welcome to Gotham, Jeremiah!" He gave a nervous laugh before adjusting his glasses straight. "C-could I perhaps buy you a coffee in repayment?" "You don't have to, Jeremiah. Just seeing you safe is enough pay back for me!" "On no please I insist!" "Alright. If you insist. I know this nice place just around the corner if you're in a hurry." "Lead the way." With that we made our way around the corner to one of my favorite spots, him getting a black coffee with two sugars and I a (favorite hot drink). Sitting in the corner by the window we talked about our lives, I finding Jeremiah's much more interesting than at first glance. Our discussion lasted for about an hour, it only breaking when he needed to go for a business meeting. "Well I must thank you again for saving me, Miss Y/n. I find your kindness surprising in a drab city like this." "No problem, Jeremiah. Just stay safe." "Till we meet again." I gave him a solemn nod before heading on my way back home, I feeling the ginger's eyes on me until I rounded the corner.

{End Flashback}

I was startled out of my thoughts when I heard the door creak open and light footsteps enter the room, my heart skipping a beat. "Y/n, come and sit down. I have to change your IV before Jeremiah comes back." Ecco's voice rang out.

Letting my hand slide down the window I let it rest at my side as I slowly rolled my IV stand with me. Sinking down into the green armchair once more I didn't even watch as the blonde woman changed the plastic bag out with a fresh one and replaced the tube in my arm after rolling up my sleeve, I not even flinching anymore. "Jeremiah should be home soon. He said he'd have dinner with us when he returned."

I trembled when she said the word home. This place was no home of mine. It may have been coined that title but under no circumstance would I ever call it that. Ecco must have noticed my sudden change in mood for she gently pat my hand and offered me a smile. "You'll have to give up your rebellious tendencies sometime, Y/n. Jeremiah doesn't like it when his darling misbehaves."

I just stared straight through the window, her words falling short. Suddenly we both heard the front door slide shut, Ecco standing and going to her master's side. Meanwhile I just sat in silence, my nimble fingers playing with the hem of my baggy long sleeved shirt. From where I sat I could hear my captor's hushed whispers and then banging in the kitchen. I tried to settle my breathing as I heard the stairs creak and then the floorboards behind me following suite. In a few steps my so called lover kneeled beside me, his gloved hand gently caressing my cool flesh. "Good evening, love. Sorry I took so long. I didn't expect my meeting to last till now."

I didn't offer a reply. How could I? This madman had done so much to hurt me already.I heard Jeremiah sigh as he stood fluffing his jacket. "I know you're still settling into this whole new situation but can't you at least offer me some sort of thank you?"

That was it.

I snapped my head at him and glared, Jeremiah's lip twitching with a smile. "Why should I thank you? You've ruined my life."

"Ruined it? Oh no, I'm simply repaying you for saving me. Don't you remember that time, Y/n? After you rescued me from being crushed and we shared a drink and a laugh I knew you were the one!" Jeremiah stood and clutched his hands in a lovesick manner, a grin stretching his red lips wide. "And after doing a little digging and finding out about your weak heart I knew that I had to help you, just like you did for me."

"But you didn't have to kill Selina and give me her heart to do that! I-I was on-"

"A waiting list for a transplant, yes. But I knew you'd have never gotten one in time. You would have been dead by the time a willing participant showed themselves. I simply took matters into my own hands. Besides that Kyle brat was getting too close to you and Bruce."

I bit back a sob and quickly turned my head, not wanting the beast to see any weakness. Near my chest I could feel his fingers untangle the wires to my breathing tube and heart monitor pack, it resting in a sewed on pocket near my heart. "Ecco tells me you were walking around up here. I thought I told you to stay put in this chair until I returned home."

"I was getting restless. Being cooped up in the same place for three days can take a toll on you."

Jeremiah nodded firmly before resting his purple leather gloved hands on top of my own, allowing him to lean in gently and stare into my teared up orbs. "You know I'm doing this for your protection and well being, right my dear?"

His fingers danced lightly across my flesh as he gazed longingly at me. With his blue eyed stare embedded into my soul I couldn't help but cry, the tears soiling my pale cheeks and sobs wracking my body. Due to my emotional break down the monitor sped up a bit, the jagged red lines going faster along with it's beeps. My captor tilted his head and let concern grace his brow before he took off his gloves and allowed his thumbs to wipe away my tears. "Shh, dearest. You'll be alright. Ecco and I will make sure your recovery goes nice and smoothly as it will take you several months to feel one hundred percent better. And even after this is all through I'll still protect you because I can never let you go."

With that Jeremiah caressed my hair and leaned in to give me a kiss, my sorrow and agony still there as he laid his so called affection on me. After a few seconds he pulled away and gave me a smile, his thumbs reaching down and pulling the corners of my lips up to form a grin. "There's the smile I know and love!"

I sniffled as he held my face like that, our eyes gazing into each other's as I tried to hold back my sobs. Even though Jeremiah was being calm as can be I didn't want to risk flaring up his anger so I chocked back my sobs, them causing me to cough and splutter. "Careful, my dear. Don't want to ruin the stitches."

His finger delicately ran down my chest and I couldn't help but shudder. Just as his hand was about to go lower a bell went off, signaling dinner was ready. Jeremiah paused, his blue orbs sparkling with what I could only describe as lust. Grinning, he gently helped me stand and led me towards the stairs, him humming a tune along the way and my socked feet lightly brushing the wooden planks. As we came to the stairwell Ecco was there to assist with my machines, her lifting them as Jeremiah guided me down the steps. As we hit the ground floor the blonde placed my medical equipment down and hurried ahead of us to the dining room. The dark haired male next to me craned his head down at me, his eyes giving off a dangerous glint in the lamplight. "Let's have a nice family dinner tonight, alright Y/n. Behave like a good girl and I won't have Ecco force feed you like last time."

I gulped as I could still feel the bruises from where the blonde had roughly grabbed me. I nodded quickly causing Jeremiah to chuckle and lean into give me a peck on the cheek. "Let's not keep her waiting then."

With that we walked into the room and had an interesting meal, all the while I questioned when Bruce and the police would come and save me from this madman.

#x reader #yandere #yandere x reader #gotham #gotham tv show #gotham on fox #jeremiah velaska #yandere jeremiah valeska #one shot #jeremiah x reader #jeremiah valeska x reader #ecco gotham #gotham fanfiction #gotham x reader

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sunlitroom · 5 years

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Gotham – s5e02 – Trespassers

As I watched it, and some random observations here and there.

Previously on Gotham:

Did you miss the finale of season 4 and only now tune in? For anyone who somehow forgot, Jeremiah’s bid to get Bruce to notice him helpfully coincided with Ra’s need to speed Bruce’s destiny along by destroying the city. Jim helpfully tells us that the city is now up for grabs. Tabitha made an absolute mess of attempting to get revenge for Butch – going out not only irritating and unsympathetic, but really, really dumb. Barbara wailed. Jim shot Oswald in the leg, for which he has put a bounty on his head. We are reminded that Jeremiah shot Selina – and a nurse with very distinctive eyebrows recommended that Bruce go find the witch. A lisping big-eyed orphan child pleaded with Jim for help.

As always, long post will be long. There are likely to be rambling digressions. Gobblepot might appear (although I welcome all shippers and non-shippers alike :)). There will be naked favouritism and naked not-favouritism. Broader comments at the end on plotlines and parallels and general direction.

We open on the boy, Will, from the last episode. Jim and Harvey watch from the doorway as he is examined, and fill us in on his situation. His parents were killed in a home invasion and he was taken to a factory, to be a slave alongside lots of other children. The people responsible are known as the Soothsayers.

Harvey’s never heard of them before – but can hazard a guess as to the location of the tunnel they’re building near the docks.

Winsome orphan boy begs Detective Gordon to save his friends, because they’ll be punished for his escape.

Jim and Harvey leave – Jim resolved to go rescue the children. Harvey reminds him, though, that Oswald has a bounty on his head and he can’t safely leave the station. Someone appears and tells Jim that there’s a call for him from the mainland

Jim goes to take the call. The voice on the other end tells him that confrontations must be avoided. Jim tells him to please think of the children. The voice says that his dedication is admirable but he lacks perspective – he runs the risk of sacrificing many to save a few. He’s told that it’s the ‘collective opinion’ that he stand down and keep the green zone safe.

Jim protests – and says they need supplies. The voice says they cannot risk any more pilots. Jim snaps that they can preserve the lives of a few over many, but he can’t. The conversation is seemingly over and Jim stares consideringly into the distance.

Harvey enters with Lucius. Jim immediately starts to plan a rescue mission. They need to go through the Dark Zone. Harvey reminds Jim of the ammo situation. Jim says he’ll talk to Barbara. Harvey reminds Jim that she might not be amenable. Turning to Lucius, Jim asks him to sort out some sort of housing for the children they’ll rescue. Harvey makes an unhappy face about the general risk of it all.

(An aside – in a desperate bid to extract something of interest from an episode that was pretty turgid.

I know we’re probably not supposed to complicate matters to this extent– but anything this straightforward is boring, so I feel like some over-analytical meta is needed to problematise everything.

It occurs to me that this desperate time of suffering is maybe the happiest Jim has ever been in Gotham.

St Jim of Gotham. They love their Jim Gordon. Detective Gordon can save us.

He constantly gets to be heroic – Jim Gordon keeping everyone safe, bringing them supplies. His word is law – Harvey and Lucius might pull faces, but they do what they’re told. He has no boss, no troublesome politics to play. There’s no awkward shades of grey – just good guys and bad guys. The voice of authority is just that – a voice – and so perfectly unreasonable and hateable and removed – so absolutely in the wrong. Hell – Jim should send Jeremiah a bouquet for this.

It’s telling, I think, that when Harvey later spots the candle burning in the abandoned building Jim’s head goes straight to the Wild West. If you want to sell me that Oswald is enjoying playing benevolent leader over in City Hall, then it must also be accepted that Jim’s equally loving playing Gary Cooper at GCPD)

We hear night time noises and see Bruce at the gates of an abandoned mansion. He’s looking for the witch. As he enters the house, we see ivy climbing over the walls. As he progresses, we see it weapped around statues, and – more alarmingly – twisted around various corpses.

We see movement behind him. Someone has sneaked up on him – but Bruce had spotted them, and easily disarms him.

Are you with her?

What? I’m not sure why Gotham went with characters from a Hammer Horror - but, whatever. It’s all corduroy waistcoats, flat caps, and English accents.

Basically – they’ve decided Ivy is a witch who can talk to plants and knows magic and can take souls. They’ve trapped her in a windowless room with no food or water, and salted the floor. Eventually, they’re going to burn her. A few months of isolation and apparently parts of Gotham have turned into small superstitious English hamlets from the eighteenth century. There’s terrible doings up at the manor! His Lordship’s up to no good!

Bruce quickly makes up a story about a missing brother. Credulous villager from another film says he’ll let Bruce talk to Ivy. Bruce shines a torch into the room – and we see a sleeping Ivy. She’s wearing a sequinned jumper that also impressively manages to look like slimy moss.

Hello Ivy

At Sirens, where people are eating and drinking and generally having a good time. Barbara, meantime, swigs from a bottle at the bar.

Jim enters. We see there are lots of other men there. Jim tries to make small talk about how busy the bar is. Barbara points at his head and reminds him of Oswald’s bounty. She asks if he’s out for one last hurrah. Jim says he wants a favour.

Barbara laughs

A favour? That’s why you stood back and did nothing while my best friend on this earth was stabbed through the heart?

(Best friend. Best friend. Wow.)

Jim protests weakly that he put Oswald down – but Barbara shrieks, eyes bulging with rage.

You restored his limp - he should be dead!

Jim takes what I think the Marquise de Mertueil described as ‘a marital tone’, and delivers an admonishing

Barbara

On this – Barbara starts shrieking

Everybody out!

Jim asks if she’s planning revenge. Barbara retorts that

Someone has to do something about that freak

(An aside - Again with the ‘freak’ word. It really does nothing to make her more likeable. Also – the only things she could pair with it in the warehouse were the fact that Oswald has a beaky nose and a limp. That’s all it takes for Barbara to decide you’re a freak. Writers - if you want to cultivate any sympathy whatsoever for Barbara and her lost ‘best friend’ – it’s perhaps best not to remind the audience that they’re both beautiful entitled rich girls who looked right down their noses at almost everyone else who failed to fit that description.)

Jim tells her he has an army – it would be suicide. Barbara angsts it up and tells him to look around – they’re all slowly dying. Some get to choose how. I think this is meant to be about how she’d choose to die killing Oswald – but all it does is remind you that Tabitha most definitely opted for her fate – and renders it all less than sympathetic again

Jim tells her he’s sorry about Tabitha, and that things got out of control. What things? When she ran into a warehouse filled with Oswald’s men and a bunch of ammunition?

He goes on to say he’s trying to keep the city from falling apart. Barbara stares back at him and tells him he’s too late. Jim frowns.

She goes on – though, and asks him about the favour. He asks for trucks. She asks what for – and Jim stodgily replies that it’s a police matter. Barbara laughs at the absurdity of it – catapulted back to the compartmentalising days of their engagement – and says they could write that on his tombstone.

She caves, though, and gives him the trucks. She then bizarrely screams after him, though

Knock yourself out - drive into the nightmare you created. Here he comes, Gotham – your judge, gaoler, most hated son. Have at him - rip him to shreds. No-one deserves to die more than he!

So don’t give him the trucks, then. Make your mind up, Barbara.

Her lip wobbles and she drinks again. I’d give it a rest, Barbara – that was mental. You’re one drink away from a self-indulgent karaoke song.

Jim and Harvey drive through the city – specifically under a bridge, where we can see bodies hanging. Apparently, this area was a cesspool before – but is now even worse. People dressed in gothy, skull-heavy outfits suddenly appear alongside them, flinging Molotov cocktails and firing arrows.

Welcome to the Badlands.

We’re at the location the place Will mentioned, where there’s child slave labour overseen by some tools in gasmasks. One complains that the oldest boy we see – Gabriel – allowed Will to escape. He thought Gabriel had promise – and offers a chance to inhale whatever is in his mask for energy or to see the future.

He then witters on about the tunnel they’re building that will give them exclusive access to the mainland for trade. Until the situation is resolved. Or, you know, someone just comes in and takes it from them.

Gabriel points out that the tunnel is too narrow. Progress is slow, the roof is leaking, and it’ll collapse when they hit the river.

Beardy gasmask guy gets cross at this. He had high hopes for Gabriel. He points his gun at him, but is disturbed by one of his minions telling him to get out front.

Outside – we see trucks parked. Beardy irritably asks who was on watch. One of your tedious stoner mates?

Put your weapons down

Is that the James Gordon?

We get western-style music

Beardy comments that if they kill him they’ll get bullets and be in Oswald’s good graces. They draw guns – but are surrounded by GCPD. There’s a bit of back and forth – but Jim takes his keys, and goes into the building, telling Harvey to kill him if he moves.

The children all stare adoringly at Jim. He gives the keys to Gabriel, who starts to release all the other children’s manacles/cuffs/whatever. It was a pretty tooth-rotting moment.

Outside, leader man asks Harvey why he’d be a cop in this town. Harvey says the costume shop was out of gas masks – so it was either this or sexy nurse.

As they talk – the leader’s eye flits to one of his men, creeping up. There’s a disagreement that quickly turns into a full rammy. Most of the children escape in the trucks – but Jim, Harvey, Gabriel and two little girls are left fleeing on foot.

Back at the mansion, Bruce approaches Ivy. She seems relieved – asking for his help. She says she didn’t kill the men in the vines – it’s the park. The trees, plants, roots – speaking to one another. The men came to kill her – but the plants saved her

Bruce tells her that he needs help for a friend who was shot – not naming Selina. The nurse directed him to The Witch – and here he is. Ivy said she would usually help – but this park is behaving so oddly.

We hear a knock at the door – jaunty waistcoat villager. Bruce asks him to wait. Ivy says there’s a magical seed under the oak – she’ll help him find it if he protects her.

Back at the Library, Ed wakes up. He's chained himself down – and is exultant that it seems to have stopped his sleep walking.

Doesn’t he…. have the key? Jfc, Ed.

He unlocks the padlock and gets up, heading to the bathroom

Why am I seeing this?

I don't need Ed peeing

As he relieves himself – he talks to himself in the mirror about how the sleepwalking was likely just stress.

We hear grunting from somewhere else in the room. Ed pulls back the shower curtain, and finds a burly biker man tied up in the bath.

Ed looks away, back into the mirror and tells himself there’s nothing there – laughing hysterically. His laughing fades and he closes his eyes.

He pulls back the shower curtain again – this time wielding a plunger. Without washing his hands.

He asks the biker who the hell he is. The biker is massively disgruntled.

Are you serious?

Ed admits he doesn’t remember. The man’s name is apparently Tank. He’s part of the Street Demons gang.Ed asks if he hit him, etc. Tank is still sullen – and says Ed wanted information, but he wouldn’t give it. Ed eyes him

I’m gonna guess you gave it to me

Oo-er, missus.

Ed says he can't remember the info – so they’ll have to do it all again, and hauls him out of the bath.

Jim and co running through the streets, hunted. Shooting Oswald was dumb, Jim. I know he’ll forgive you shortly – but it’s inconvenient in the meantime.

They run into a nearby building. Harvey points to the candle burning, and warns that someone else is there. Jim’s all caught up in the romance of his sheriff fantasy, and says that settlers in the Old West would sometimes leave a candle burning as a sign of sanctuary. Maybe there’s still good people left in Gotham

Harvey raises an eyebrow at this romanticism, and then complains when Jim sends him to search the basement in this creepy hotel. Jim meanwhile heads upstairs. The children are left behind – and we see a shadowy figure pass behind them, looking sort of Victorian.

(An aside because this episode is boring – it’s odd how our collective imagination heads straight to Victorian stuff when it comes to ghosts)

Jim walks along the upper floor. It’s a nice, creepy atmosphere. There’s a room with a flickering bulb. Jim offers a very tentative GCPD. A small boy dressed in a school uniform runs out. Jim reassures him.

Harvey in the basement, which is actually a proper kitchen like you would get in a big old house. Less traditional are the containers on the table containing jewellery, glasses, teeth, and fingers.

Harvey starts to quietly panic. He’s then accosted by the masked Victorian woman wielding a razor, and starts to loudly panic.

Jimmmm!

Back at the library, Ed hits the biker in the face. Am I expected to believe Ed was able to overpower this guy?

He caves and passes the info – which is pretty pedestrian: Ed wanted to know where the Street Demon base was and whether their boss, Emmanuel Vazquez, would be there.

Ed asks the man what his demeanour was like last night. Was he confident, flamboyant, charismatic? Or a little repressed? Conservative? Nerdy?

The man says he seemed stiff – in a daze. Ed digests this, and then they leave.

Back at Ivy's impromptu 60s horror film. Bruce leaves the room with a faux terrified Ivy. Bruce tells the villagers to stay calm – he’ll take responsibility for her. Ivy promptly kills them all.

She turns to him – a hand on his throat – and tells him he’s utterly naïve. Bruce says she didn’t have to kill them, but she replies that she wanted to.

Bruce stares balefully at her. He tells her the friend he’s here for is Selina – she’s paralysed and has lost the will to live. Ivy glares back at him.

Good. That bitch destroyed the last drop of Lazarus water. Let her suffer

Bruce says he doesn’t believe her. Ivy avoids answering him like Jim has avoided awkward discussions about killing Oswald. She tells him she wasn’t lying about the park. She’s been feeding it corpses. It consumes them then flourishes. She says she’ll plant Bruce. What will grow, she wonders.

He tells her those men she killed were right. She’s a murderous, callous witch. She smiles

Trying to bait me, boy?

Bruce says he wouldn’t waste his breath. There’s no good left in her. The park isn’t beautiful and colourful and flourishing. It smells of death.

Ivy doesn’t like this. She purses her lips and tells him it’s a work in progress. Bruce says it’s a nightmare. She looks at him, and says if she helps him, he’s to leave her alone. They leave for the garden.

Back with Jim and the kid from the room

(An aside – it struck me here that the pacing in this episode felt really off. This should have been tense – but we spent too long with Ed and Bruce, and now we’ve lost a lot of tension.)

The boy tells Jim that his parents are dead – the woman here found him – the ghost. She was kind at first.

They’re interrupted by Harvey. He says that there’s a crazy woman here. Jim tells the boy that they’ll protect him. As they start to run, the boy says she makes him call her mother.

They head into a room off the corridor, but the boy slips out and shuts Jim and Harvey in. We see the lights in the room flicker and strobe. The boy, stone-faced on the other side of the door tells them

The lights will make you dizzy. Then fall asleep. You won't feel a thing

Harvey starts to fold. Jim kicks at the door. The boy calls that he should give into it. As he does, we see the woman behind him, and she slashes out at him with her razor.

There’s a scuffle. Harvey smashes the window – allowing light into the room. Her mask falls off, and the ghostliness is all gone. She screeches at Jim – she’s the only mother the boy knows. Harvey tells her she’s a crazy bitch – but she protests that she’s protecting him: she taught him how to survive.

She also manages to kick and slash Jim, and makes her escape.

At the biker hideout, which is apparently deserted. As we look round, though, we see lots of stabbed bikers – including the boss. Tank asks if Ed does this, to which Ed honestly responds that he can’t remember

Turning, we see a really boringly painted message on the wall

Penguin was here.

The biker growls: Penguin did this

Ed looks dubious. I think not

Tank replies that whoever it was, someone started a war

Back at Ivy’s park. She reaches into the earth as Bruce watches and extracts a seed. It looks incredibly gross.

She hands it to Bruce. He asks her if that’s human blood that it’s coated in. She tells him that if Selina ingests it, it will find the way to the wound. Bruce asks if it will cure her. Ivy shrugs. Everyone responds differently. The only thing that’s sure is that she’ll be altered forever – the darker angels of her nature unlocked and set free. You very rarely see that one listed in the side-effect section of the information pamphlet.

She asks if Selina can live with it, then eyes him shrewdly and asks if he can. Bruce tells her he doesn’t know any other way. Ivy smiles – and tells him to go then, give her the seed. She adds that he still doesn’t know if he can trust her. Bruce agrees and she replies.

Good – you’re finally becoming a man

Bruce asks where she’ll go, and she says that’s none of his business. He needs to hurry: the seed will die if exposed to the air for too long.

(An aside - if I desperately scrabble to get more fro this episode - I could say that there’s maybe a Jim and Bruce parallel. Jim’s doing good - but he’s definitely getting something from what he’s doing now. Bruce’s actions are to save Selina - but also to salve his own guilt at how she ended up shot in the first place)

Back at the haunted hotel, Harvey and Jim run downstairs and usher the children out. As they do, Harvey turns to Jim

Not everyone wants help, Jim Gordon

They run out into the street. We get a slightly too loud bit of dialogue between Harvey and Jim to let us know that Jim only has two bullets left. It had a real look out for snakes! quality.

The soothsayers and the goths show up. There’s a standoff where they both have guns pointed at Jim – both keen to collect the bounty.

Bruce is back in the ward. Alfred tells her that Selina’s not great – hasn’t uttered a word since he left. Bruce tells him the witch is actually Ivy. Alfred looks dubiously at the seed – which does look really nasty.

Bruce says it might help. Alfred says Ivy is a maniacal cold-hearted killer

Selina suddenly pipes up

Give it to me

Bruce says he has doubts. Selina says that she’s suicidal anyway – so if Ivy wants to kill her, she can have at it. Bruce hands her the pill. She asks if she’s just to swallow it, and then does so without hesitation. Bravo, Selina. That seed looked gross.

They watch. She exhales

Still here

Alfred laughs.

Selina says she knows Ivy has lost her mind – but Selina found her when she was first on the street, after her parents died. It was a cold winter – and Ivy got really sick. Selina took her under her wing: showed her how to find food, a roof. Eventually she got colour in her face – and Selina kept checking in with her every day.

I know she looks old now – but she'll always be that little girl to me

Alfred and Bruce look fondly at her – but as they do, she starts to sweat and convulse. Doctors and nurses rush in, and Alfred holds Bruce back

My God. What have I done?

Back at the standoff. This is really unforgiveably boring.

Blah blah - Jim has two bullets. Basically, Barbara arrives before things can go very wrong. She’s had a change of mind since their chat. Beardy guy takes aim at her from the ground, but Jim shoots him. Barbara comments that it must be love, since it was his last bullet.

She steps closer and tells him to

Help me do what needs doing - kill Penguin

(An aside -I’m so very done with this stupid notion that Oswald is the big problem in town. It makes absolutely no sense. If anything, the only reason we don’t have all-out gang warfare is because there’s not enough ammunition to go round, because Oswald has a grip on it. As for the notion that Barbara is somehow better – she’s hoarding food and drink to run a brothel while there’s not enough to go round. If they show doesn’t make clear later that Barbara’s stance is entirely personal and irrational, I’m going to be very grumpy.)

Jim says they’ll table this discussion for later.

(An aside. Barbara. Harvey. Jim is not going to kill Oswald. If you don’t know this by now, then you haven’t been paying attention. He didn’t do it to placate Falcone. He didn’t do it to string Theo Galavan along and get a conviction. He didn’t do it to guarantee silence after Theo’s murder. He didn’t do it when Oswald’s actions threatened to disrupt his work with the Court of Owls. He didn’t do it when he was apparently all darkness and rage with the Tetch virus. He didn’t do it at the bequest of Sofia Falcone, and he didn’t do it most recently, when the city is a wasteland and Oswald controls virtually all the weaponry. It’s a no, guys. If he changes his mind on this, then it’s an ooc swizz.)

In the Green Zone - where the lighting is all idyllic. Lucius shows off the new lodgings he’s found/created. It’s not ideal – but it’s better than anywhere else. Citizens are gathering, and it’ll be full by lunchtime.

A woman approaches with her children to thank Jim for delivering them. Barbara rolls her eyes and leaves – calling over her shoulder:

See you around, killer. We have unfinished business

I have to ask – is anyone invested in this? Anyone?

Back with Selina. The doc says whatever she took put her into shock – but she’s now stabilised. Bruce looks solemn. There’s a statue of Jesus behind him. Hi Jesus!

Alfred says they should go. He walks on, but Bruce lingers to peek in, and is shocked to see Selina’s bed empty and the window open. He rushes in and looks out the window. Selina walks up behind him

Bruce says it's a miracle. Selina’s eyes are closed, and she smiles beatifically. She says she feels no no pain. Bruce says he thought he’d killed her, but Seline says she’s even better than before.

They hug, and over Bruce’s shoulder, we see Selina open her eyes – which momentarily look just like a cat’s eyes.

General Observations

Ugh. With a couple of exceptions, that was a slog.

No Oswald at all. I’m not sure why this would be the case – but the episode palled badly without him. If it’s to try and easily paint him as a flat villain in his absence, it failed. Life in Gotham is mind-bendingly boring without him.

It’s not that I’m not interested in Ed, but there’s not really much need for interpretation or further examination for what’s going on. It’s either part of his own subconscious (we’ve seen that this can happen with Ed), or something to do with Hugo’s tinkering. I’m not quite sure why I feel a sort of weird lack of tension with this plotline, but there it is.

Barbara

Likewise – Barbara’s revenge plot is really just tiresome. I will admit to being nakedly biased towards Oswald, but even if that weren’t the case - it’s hard to feel real sympathy here. Babs – Oswald didn’t invade Sirens, seek Tabitha out and then stab her in the heart. She went looking for him, and then left him with no other options. Not only that – but she was fully aware that getting revenge for Butch meant leaving you alone. Last, but not least: She. Murdered. His. Mother. I know the big female solidarity thing really only extends to women 18-40 who can turn a profit for you – but still. Take a moment to think this over.

Look I get that it’s easier for her to be angry at Oswald than it is to be angry at Tabitha – but it’s still a bit tedious. A lot tedious.

Jim

As previously discussed, there’s more meat to Jim’s story right now – but I’ve no idea whether it’s intentional. I’m sure Jim does genuinely care about the citizens who need help. However, Jim is also loving this. All that murky stuff from the past is gone. Here, he’s Big Jim Gordon, the heroic sheriff in a Wild West town. His deputies do what he says, and Miss Kitty who runs the brothel can help out when needed. Big-eyed children rush to him for help, mothers thank him, and he gets to rush headfirst into fights outgunned whenever he wants.

I’m not sure where that fancy-dressed guy with the European name and the limp fits in to his story, but maybe Jim’s watched more Westerns than I have.

Hopefully this might head in a more complicated direction. A couple of the scenes with Jim and the children seemed deliberately too saccharine. Harvey warned him that not everyone wants his help. Let’s see where things go.

Jim and Barbara

I remember, way back when, commenting that the lack of real closure between Jim and Barbara felt unrealistic. Jim’s serious-minded and quite traditional (or seemed so at that point, anyway). He and Barbara were engaged to be married – church booked and dress bought, as Barbara told us. The relationship did have had its problems: Barbara was depressed and day drinking, while Jim was busily emulating his father and compartmentalising like crazy – but it always felt like they would have more definitively closed the chapter, as opposed to just moving on like it was a short-term relationship. I think what we’re seeing here is basically unfinished business being played out. Probably better for it to play out with the help of contraceptives, but hey, we know where they’ve decided to go with this.

Again - if you want to make it more problematic in a desperate bid to make things more interesting - killing Tabitha, having Barbara trade in ‘information’ instead of all out violence, masking what goes on in Sirens, putting a nice white coat on her: it’s all to ‘purify’ her character to make her suitable for the pregnancy storyline later. Not too, pure, though. My guess is she’ll die nobly at some point, and Lee will wind up raising the baby with Jim.

Recaps are a lot faster and easier when there’s no Oswald and the episode is a bit lacklustre.

Thoughts?

#gotham commentary #gotham s5e02 #trespassers

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