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idothisforfunx · 5 years

Note

-BREAKS THROUGH WINDOW BLEEDING- WHAT IF NILES IS WEAK AGAINST KISSES UPON HIS EYEPATCH AND BECOMES A SOFT MESS AFTER

I fucking love you I hope you know and understand this EDIT: Wait are you Alfred F. Jones of the United States of America-

NOTE: Please read Niles’ skinship lines here! (THANK YOU TERRA FOR FINDING THEM HOLY FUCK) The first few are kinda fucky, but the last ones are so sweet. And this fic/drabble draws from those lines, so…. (I literally teared up just rereading them now)

———-

It was a calm night. The stars shone in the deep blue sky, drowned out only by the bright light of the crescent moon. A small breeze blew by the castle, sweeping in through your open bedroom window.

Your bed was empty; the sheets untouched and cold. Instead, you sat in the chair at your desk, writing a letter to hero you had sent home earlier that day.

It was quiet tonight. So you acknowledged the sound of a pair of footsteps getting closer and closer to your closed door.

The sound stopped right outside your door, and you looked over expectantly. Putting down your pen, you moved to get out of the chair when you heard an almost inaudible voice come from the other side.

“(Y/N)?”

You perked up at the sound of your name, wrapping your robe tighter around your body as you moved from your chair and over to the door.

“Yeah?”

“…..May I come in?”

You reached forward and twisted the doorknob, opening the wooden barricade to reveal a familiar shadow standing in the hallway. He quickly moved into your room, and you felt a pair of arms wrap around your waist and a head bury itself into your neck.

“Niles?” You said quietly, placing your arms around his back and rubbing it gently. This was certainly out of character for him.

“I… must apologize for my s-sudden appearance. I-”

“-woah hey, Niles, it’s alright.”

You pulled away from him so you could see his face in the dim moonlight pouring in from your open window. And you were greeted by a pale face; his eye slightly puffy and red. You could hear something in his voice, and you were frankly very concerned. The fearless Niles was crying?

You reached behind him as best as you could, pushing the door shut behind him as you lead him further into your bedroom. Concern washed over you as your hand came up to wipe away the tear from his face.

“What happened? What’s wrong?”

The fearless Niles held himself together quite well, not even sniffling as he looked at you. But his eye was frantic, searching your face for something as you saw more tears well up in his ocean blue orb.

He didn’t respond to you. It seemed like he was trying to hard to hold himself together. He was cold, and drenched in sweat; his hair matted to his forehead.

You thought about what might be wrong, and you pieced together the answer.

“…..Niles, did you have a nightmare?”

You felt something on your hand, and quickly realized it was his own wrapping around yours. And in that moment, your heart shattered.

“Why don’t you stay with me tonight? I was just heading to bed. It’s big enough for the both of us.”

Keeping his hand in yours, you pulled him over to the bed and let him sit down. You parted from him briefly, walking over to the other side and climbing in. You sat down, and immediately turned to him with your arms spread open. He didn’t move, for a moment. But eventually, with a shaky breath, he moved over to you and into your arms. You looked at him and smiled softly.

“I don’t know what you saw that scared you, and I will never truly understand your experiences or nightmares, but.. I can be here for you when memories come back.”

You raised your hand to move his matted hair off his forehead; moving the long locks away from his eye so you could fully see his face. He seemed to be calming down a bit now.

You felt his fingers curl around yours, and you held on tightly.

“All of what you have seen is in the past now, love. You’re strong; and you have friends all around you. Nobody is going to hurt you again; I swear it.”

His voice was corse and raspy. Quiet.

“Thank you..”

You pulled him closer to you, planting a kiss on the soft fabric of his eyepatch. He seemed to melt at your touch, relaxing into your body.

It was strange, not hearing any of his usual sass or sexual remarks. Whatever nightmare he had; whatever he saw in his dream… must have scared him nearly to death.

“I love you Niles.”

Your thumb moved along his cheek, moving over the patch softly. Carefully, you moved the tip of your thumb under the fabric, tugging on it slightly as you pulled it up and over his head, revealing the moist area underneath.

He didn’t react negatively. In fact, he barely reacted at all. He let you continue without protest, closing his other eye as you tugged the patch off.

A tear fell from the corner of the missing eye, swiftly rolling down his cheek and dipping onto the blankets below.

His good eye opened, revealing his beautiful blue orb. You let his eyepatch fall, landing on the pillow with a soft plop. Your hand came back up, placing your palm on his cheek once again. You ran your thumb over his eyelid as gently as you possibly could. He nuzzled into your hand, enjoying the soft and caring touch.

“You must be tired. Let’s get some sleep. We don’t have to wake up for anything tomorrow morning, so don’t worry.” You smiled softly at him again, and he opened his eye to look at you. It was filled with pain.

“I watched you die. And I was alone all over again. I was back in those wretched streets…. I… It was my fault… I… I couldn’t handle it….!”

Gods, you nearly felt a tear run down your own cheek. The man was broken, tears running down his face as he came to you and told you he watched you die.

“Oh, Niles…” You said quietly, your hand coming away from his face to bring him back in an embrace. But before you could even get close, his other hand darted up to grab yours, pulling you into him as he smashed his mouth against yours.

His lips tasted salty from the tears, but you didn’t mind. The two of you danced slowly; a moonlit embrace.

The both of you eventually reluctantly pulled away. But it was… breathtaking. You looked at him, searching his face to see if he was still in distress. Thankfully, he seemed…. alright now. You brought his hand up to your lips, and you kissed his knuckles, your thumb rubbing circles into the back of his hand.

“Cmon, let’s sleep.”

“…Alright….”

You pulled the blankets up, letting the both of you get more comfortable. You made sure he laid down, comfortable on the pillows. You shifted so you sat up beside him, and giving a small, cheeky smile, you leaned down and placed another quick kiss on his eyelid; soft and loving.

You moved to lay down beside him, lying on your back at first before you rolled over onto your side to face him. He let out another shaky breath, turning to face you as well. You gave him a reassuring smile.

“It’ll be alright, ok? Here…” You took his hand in yours one more time, holding it infront of the both of you.

“I’ll be right here when you wake up. I promise. And if you have another nightmare, just remember I’m here, alright?”

“…Ok…” He said, the corners of his lips turning upright slightly. This made your smile grow.

“Alright, sleep well, my love.”

“Goodnight…”

It was silent for a few moments, the both of you shutting your eyes and attempting to find that comfortable place of unconscious.

Another few minutes passed, and your breathing seemed to slow. Niles’ eye stayed on your sleep face; so many thoughts racing through his mind. How did someone as wonderful as you end up liking him? What did he do to deserve you?

He spoke softly, as not to wake you. He was calm, now. But his heart was still heavy.

“If I were to wake up and see you beside me… I’ll be okay. Please stay by my side… and… never let go of my hand, no matter what happens….”

He closed his heavy eyelid, relaxing fully into the soft bed below.

“I love you, more then anyone ever before… and I will always love you, with all of my being. I promise.”

And with that, he felt into a dreamless sleep by your side.

#feh #fire emblem heroes #fe heroes #niles #fire emblem #niles x reader #niles fanfic #reader insert #corrin x niles #summoner x niles

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sunlitroom · 5 years

Text

Gotham – s5e03 – Penguin, Our Hero

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

Previously on Gotham:

Selina can walk again. She’s also part cat, thanks to the whole ‘medication may release the darker angels of your true self’ side-effect. Big-eyed orphans flocked to Jim. Tabitha ran into Oswald’s knife. Lots of gangleaders want to kill Jim. Barbara rescued him because she needs his help killing Oswald, because no-one else in interested, because Tabitha was easily one of the most dislikeable people in town. Seriously, Barbara. Have you noticed that Sirens isn’t exactly swamped in floral tributes? Haven exists in soft focus. Ed and Tank got rough. Some very lazy graffiti implicated Oswald in the killing of several gang members.

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.

Oswald opens what I’m assuming is his bedroom door, or a door to his private rooms. He hears a choir singing a song of praise and smiles beatifically.

(An aside. This is really dumb and I hate it - I'm not wasting wrist strength on it. Also - it's really offensive. Really really offensive)

In summary, Penn gives Oswald good news about production. The writers feel the need to really hammer home that totalitarian regimes are bad, like we may be somehow unaware of this. We also learn that people are ‘defecting’ to Haven, and that people love Jim Gordon. Oswald pitches a hissy fit that’s interrupted when a bunch of bikers break in, looking for revenge for Oswald’s apparent attack. He explains to the leader exactly how and why he’s stupid, and orders him to be interrogated.

In her hospital bed, Selina dreams about being shot by Jeremiah. This will be a recurring theme in this episode – Selina has flashbacks later - and I think it’s a good thing that we get to see someone actually dealing with the aftermath of trauma. I hope they don’t try to attribute this to the nasty seed thing later.

Waking with a start, she gets up and dressed and heads out onto the roof. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she leaps off the side, like she used to do.

At Haven, Harvey is warning about coping with the growth of new arrivals - word spreading like bad case of clap. He also warns that the gangs will come looking for the slave labour they’ve lost.

Jim seems unconcerned. Let 'em

Harvey says they hardly have any ammo or food to deal with either issue– but Jim still refuses to turn people away.

Harvey then eyes Jim, and asks him when he slept – he’s been going full-tilt for months. Jim tells him he’s OK – but does seem a little flat as he says this.

They enter a makeshift canteen, where Bruce is working. They ask him for some good news, and Bruce tells them something about a water purification system that’s small-scale, but still an improvement.

As they’re talking, a fight breaks out over rations. Jim breaks it up, and then realises people are staring expectantly, and delivers a speech. He tells the new arrivals that they’re all welcome, but they need to leave the fighting outside. The government thinks they don’t need help, and they need to prove otherwise. The gangs outside can tear each other apart – but they need to help each other survive.

Harvey is the voice of cynicism – pointing out that Jim’s speech worked now, but that it’s not going to be pretty when they find out that the government has abandoned them.

Bruce tells Jim that he’s holding this place together, and giving everyone hope – but he has more to add to his plate. Will, the big-eyed orphan, is having nightmares and broke his arm falling from his bed. Could Jim talk to him?

(An aside. I get that they’re building up Jim as a more uncomplicated protagonist and father figure. This is also to emphasise how emotionally invested Jim is in Haven, so that the explosion at the end will have added impact. However. It is treacly to the point of becoming sickening. Maybe it’s setting up another of Jim’s dark paths – where he’ll side with his old army pal over tried and tested allies in Gotham, and have a one night stand with Barbara – but even then, it’s just all felt a little heavy-handed)

In the dormitory, Jim sits down next to Will. Bruce tells him that they can’t imagine what he’s been through, but that he’s safe now. Jim underlines this by telling him that he’ll never let anyone hurt him again.

(An aside. Jim, no. You can’t promise that. You can promise to do your best – but you can’t promise to keep someone safe like that. Bruce is young enough to have an excuse. You know better.)

Jim offers the boy a treat before he leaves.

I’ve got something for you: pineapple from my rations. Hang in there – I’ll check on you later

He and Bruce walk away

(An aside – the obvious parallel here is between Jim and Oswald as leaders. Oswald – on an ego-trip, serving himself an elaborate breakfast, literally enjoying hearing his praises sung, slowly leaking followers. Jim – giving his rations away, working himself exhausted for his people, with people endlessly arriving at Haven.

And I suspect that’s how we’re supposed to view it – but, and I know I’m probably overcomplicating, it’s not quite so black and white. It’s not as nakedly motivated by ego as Oswald’s actions, but there’s no way that this isn’t gratifying for Jim)

Selina shows up in the dormitory. An alarmed Bruce tells her she’s supposed to be resting- but a cocky Selina asks him if she looks like she needs it. She’s never felt better, and she wants to find the freak who shot me.

Bruce says he’s been looking for Jeremiah, but never found anything. Selina points out that there’s been an influx of refugees from all over the city – someone must know something.

Bruce says he wants to find him as much as Selina – but he’s had months to fortify, and they need to be careful. Selina looks askance at him, and asks him if he’s scared. Bruce replies that of course he is, Jeremiah

Shot you to get to me

He tells her he can’t lose her

Selina tells him she’s not his to lose. He can’t stop her, but she does want his help. Bruce stares for a moment, and says that if they’re going to take him down, they’ll do it right. They’ll bring him back here and he’ll stand trial

(An aside. Honestly, Bruce? I don’t see any judges hanging around. A makeshift court consisting of you, Jim and Harvey isn’t exactly doing it right. On top of that, do you really want to bring Jeremiah into close proximity with defenceless civilians?)

Selina smiles fondly at Bruce’s naivete. Reaching up, she touches his face and kisses him.

I was hoping I could count on you

Further in the dormitory, a man sitting on a bed says he heard rumours in dark zone – which is apparently a place of chaos - ruled by those who lost their minds when the bridges went down

(An aside. Sigh, Gotham. So the mentally ill are scary again.)

Jeremiah is there, gathering followers. Selina makes to leave immediately, but the man remonstrates, telling her

You can’t go there: you’ll die! Jeremiah is the least of your worries. Everyone there is insane. Look what they did to my friend

He pulls the cover down, and we can see the man in the bed has had stuff carved into his torso.

Oswald opens his bedroom door, in a snit, clad in underwear this time. He’s wearing a tight black top and shorts under his white cotton garment. I’m guessing the white thing was possibly a little too see through, and they decided to just let the black underwear show rather than get a headache trying to hide it.

Penn! Where the f…..

His choir is gone, and there’s only Olga singing alone

(An aside – I know it’s not the biggest point in the world: but if people like Olga and Eyepatch Guy consistently come back to work for Oswald, then he’s not as uniformly loathsome as the show likes to paint him)

Oswald interrupts her – asking where his staff and Mr Penn are. She informs them that they all defected to Haven. He fulminates before panicking, looking for his dog.

He turns to Olga, teary-eyed

They took my dog?

She looks blandly at him

Rumour say pup went willingly

(An aside – I know Oswald’s scenes are more or less comic relief at points, but I still do get irritated when he takes more of a kicking than any other character in terms of sheer humiliation and being told he’s unlovable.)

He screams in rage and grabs the biker chained to the wall

You're in luck. Our interests are now aligned – and you may live

He tells him to contact the other deeply irritating petty gangs, and to gather men, vehicles and petrol. He has bullets. They’re going to pay a visit to Haven.

After he’s dressed, that is.

At GCPD/Haven, Harvey – accompanied by Alvarez - tells Jim Oswald has made it through the barricade with gangs.

Jim tells them to load up. Harvey points out they’re low on ammo. Jim sends him to someone he hopes with be friendly.

(An aside here. How much time has passed since last episode? Barbara made clear to Jim when she saved him that this was essentially conditional on him agreeing to plot Oswald’s death with her. Jim said he’d table that for later. Is she still waiting for this to happen? Has she just assumed he’s not going to do it? When are we, exactly? If he’s really just never got back in touch, why assume that she’s going to be willing to help – other than the fact that he has no other options, and Jim has a track record of expecting help from people – no matter whether he’s recently jerked them around.)

Down the tree-lined street where Ivy and Selina once wandered – and which is now the dark zone. Selina cracks a joke about calling it the dull zone, and Bruce gazes at her – telling her he’s glad she seems herself again

Selina says she’s been here before – it’s the posh part of town. Bruce says people with money got out. She points out that he didn’t, and he tells her seriously that he had a reason to stay.

(An aside. Oh Selina – and it wasn’t staying with you. Bruce wanted Alfred to evacuate with Selina. He was going to stay and hunt Jeremiah down. Does Selina know this?)

A man with a bomb strapped to him runs towards them, frantically asking for help, before the bomb explodes. We hear laughter and gunshot, as a band of God knows what approaches. Actually. There was a version of Phantom of the Opera set in a disco in the 70s - called Phantom of the Paradise. They remind me of this, crossed with the slightly naff cenobites from Hellraiser III

Anyway

They turn to run, and collide with a hulking guy who’s not exactly friendly

Selina says they’re looking for Jeremiah

Kill you. Kill Jeremiah

Selina decides the best course of action is to find the schoolyard’s biggest bully and take him down

They all start fighting.

Haven, where Mr Penn is still conducting the choir - who now do hymns instead. We hear the sound of bikes approaching. Penn nervously asks Jim what’s going on.

It’s Oswald. Jim tells his men to hold their fire

Oswald gets out of his car – lividly angry.

Well. If it isn’t my old friend Mr Penn, and the Gertrud Kapelput Memorial Choir. How nice to see some familiar faces!

Jim tells Oswald that he shouldn’t have come to Haven. Oswald responds angrily that he stole his people and his dog.

Jim says that the people came here of their own free will. Oswald ignores him to call on his dog, who doesn’t respond to him

Jim raises his eyebrows at him triumphantly when the dog refuses to come when called.

Oswald reiterates that Jim is to return his people and his dog – and also apologise.

Jim says no.

Oswald tells him he knows his ammo is used up – he’s bluffing.

On Jim’s signal – some of his men take down some of the bikers. Oswald pulls a face, and Jim says his men need some target practice.

Back with Selina and Bruce. The hulking guy tells her that she looks soft – while she tells him he looks 300lbs of ugly.

Selina gets the man on the ground and starts clawing at his face with her new metal claws – demanding that he tell her where Jeremiah is.

The man protests that they don't mess with him – but then tells her he’s at Hotel North.

Selina’s still going, though, clawing at his face. Bruce tells her he’s had enough. She says it’s enough when she says so, and he restrains her.

He looks at her, troubled, and tells her she won. It’s over.

Selina blithely replies that it was easy, and strolls off. Bruce stares after her unhappily.

Back at Haven, an irate Oswald tells the bikers that Jim is bluffing. The leader asks how he knows.

I know Jim Gordon

Oswald says if they require a demonstration – they should march forward. The biker says they have guns – Oswald retorts that he does too, and his are loaded.

They march. As they approach, Jim tells his men to make ‘em count.

They shoot – but run out of bullets, leaving one man standing.

Oswald gloats that Jim is out of ammo, and points out that he doesn’t want his men to die.

On the count of three, GCPD lower their weapons.

Bruce and Selina head to the church – Selina deftly climbing over cars. Bruce is not happy at how she handled the big guy earlier, but Selina disagrees – asking whose side he’s on?

Yours. Always

As they approach the church, they see a shrine to Jeremiah. Selina says she’ll tear his throat out. They follow some other people up the stairs to the church and enter the building.

A woman in a mask welcomes them to the Church of Jeremiah, where the faithful will become their best selves – after a demonstration of faith.

They’re very oddly dressed. Shirt and tie – and one guy in a kilt (which tends really to be formal wear)

They walk further in. The masked woman stops Selina – and points out she doesn’t look like a worshipper. Selina insincerely says she witnessed his work first hand, and she’ll never forget it.

She is permitted to pass, and follows the adherents upstairs. The masked woman whispers in the ear of another guard before removing her mask. It’s Ecco, in some dilapidated makeup.

Bruce slips away

(An aside - Where are the clean and well-dressed devotees coming from? I thought the Dark Zone was a terrifying bedlam? How did they get there without being attacked? Why are they so clean and well-presented?)

Oswald leads Jim to a cage/cell. Jim tells him he’s going to regret this. Oswald gloats that those are strong words for someone out of options. He’s going to have Jim watch while they destroy Haven, and then shoot him and leave him for dead like did to Oswald

(An aside – Oswald – no you’re not. We both know this. Jim knows this. That one-episode biker leader knows this. Tank knows this. Those weird English peasants at Ivy’s know this. Give. It. Up)

Jim tells him when the government finds out what he’s done, he’ll be at the top of the wanted list. Jim – Jeremiah created this whole crisis. Jonathan is crucifying people. The government will not share your pigtail-pulling fascination with Oswald.

Oswald tells Jim the only law in Gotham is power. Jim tells him they have children and families here. What will happen when the gangs take them back? Oswald blithely says they’ll go back to being slaves. His people will go back to their lives: bellies full of gruel, with him as their protector.

Jim tells him to take revenge on him – but leave the refugees alone. Oswald tells him it’s almost tempting – before leaving

(An aside – and here, again, we have the problem with this storyline. If you can tug on anyone’s heartstrings, it’s Oswald’s. It’s stupid enough that they have him genuinely believing his people enjoy their life. The additional notion that he wouldn’t actually care about children and families is stupid. Let’s not forget – when Oswald was piloting the blimp, the worst outcome he could imagine was the death of thousands of innocent citizens. It was Jim who felt the need to further incentivise him by appealing to his ambition. Seriously, now. It wasn’t that long ago. I’ve said it several times before – but if your plot demands that the characters are ooc in order to facilitate it, your plot isn’t good)

Outside, Penn is being chained up. Oswald’s not happy at this, and steps in

Stop - that one belongs to me

He manages to unchain Mr Penn – who smiles happily - at being rescued, but also maybe at the indication that Oswald actually appreciates him.

One of the annoying bikers grumbles that Oswald sacrificed one of his guys. While Oswald is untying Mr Penn, who’s thanking him all the while – the biker shoots Penn in the gut.

Penn drops to the floor. Oswald tries to stem the bleeding but it’s no good.

You should have stayed with me! Why did you leave?

Penn looks up at him and, without malice, simply tells him

Everyone hated you

Oswald looks down, his face blanched.

One of the bikers tells him they’ll take everything. An enraged Oswald says he’ll pay for this, before the biker wallops him hard in the face.

(An aside – sorry, but no. Oswald is cleverer than this. He’s adept at reading other people’s needs and wants. The notion that he honestly would have no idea of how he was perceived is just silly.

Also – I know there apparently wasn’t time to develop Penn as the Ventriloquist, but I don’t think they had to kill him off. It feels really unnecessary. Given that this ‘revelation’ was only needed because they made Oswald temporarily stupid, it’s particularly bitter. On top of that, if I feel he’s been jettisoned to help make room for the compulsory indigestible lump of Os/Ed interaction we’ve to dutifully swallow later this season, I am going to feel rather cross.)

Oswald is taken to the cage, struggling and protesting.

Let me go, we had a deal!

As he’s shoved in, Jim watches him calmly from the corner.

I take it that didn’t work out like you planned?

Harvey is at Sirens, calling for Barbara. She sneaks up behind him, puts a knife to his throat and tells him there no men in Sirens past midnight – making it surely a very inconvenient brothel.

She adds that perhaps it’s time golden boy learned to save himself. She asks Harvey if he’s tired of playing sidekick.

Harvey tells her he doesn’t see it that way. They’re friends fighting for same thing.

Barbara says she remembers when Jim was the idealistic rookie and Harvey was the cynical veteran. Harvey cuts in that she was sane back then. Barbara snidely says that now Harvey carries Jim’s laundry.

Don’t you wonder what your life would have been like if you never met Jim Gordon?

(An aside - Barbara. Yes – you have ample cause to deeply resent Jim. He compartmentalised the bejesus out of his life when he was engaged to you, he moved on indecently fast, and his default facial expression when he’s encountered you since has been a curled lip and a sneer. You turned to him after your release from Arkham and asked for him simply to recognise you as a person, and he wouldn’t do it.

However, laying the blame at everyone else’s door for your current situation has become tedious. You were placed in horrible situations, but you have also had agency. Decisions were made. Paths were taken. For the actual love of God, stop whining. I’m so bored.)

Harvey replies that he’d be dead, or wishing he was.

(Another aside. The spectre of Death has hung over Harvey since day one. I do hope he makes it to the end)

Barbara sneers that he’s delusional – like the saps who expect the government to help.

Harvey tries again – commenting that he knows they’ve had their differences, before mentioning that Oswald has turned up…

Barbara’s tune changes, and she tells him he should have opened with that.

Let’s move

Back in the cell, Jim is trying to cut his bindings. Oswald is ranting. Jim’s taken everything from him. Jim tells him to keep his voice down. Oswald keeps talking. His people should have loved him, he kept them safe. What so special about Haven?

Jim pulls a face at him, and says it’s special because it’s far away from him. Oswald pulls a face of his own

That's rich

People are coming, and Jim hisses at Oswald to be quiet. We see the head biker and a couple of children come in looking for supplies – one of whom is big-eyed orphan boy, who glances quickly at Jim. Jim tells Oswald to just act normal, adding

I know it's a stretch

The boy slides a piece of metal under the cage, which Oswald covers with his foot. The bikers find he booze they were looking for, and leave.

Oswald laughs manically. When they get out – he is going to tear this place to the ground. He starts to rant – but Jim interrupts him. That won’t solve the problem. They need to take the gangs out – right here, right now.

They look down at the piece of metal. Oswald asks how they pick it up.

They eye each other, and – honestly – the fact that they both wordlessly come to the same impractical solution points to how bizarrely close they are.

They turn back to back and – leaning against each other – lower themselves slowly to the floor, with Jim making some of the best facial expressions ever seen.

(An aside. OK. Fair enough, Oswald can’t really pick that up: I don’t think his leg would allow him. But Jim. Jimothy. JimJam. Jimbalaya. I ran a test. It’s easy to lower down to the ground with your hands behind your back, pick something up, and then stand again. You saw a chance for some body contact and you took it. Naughty.)

Bruce creeping about at Jeremiah's lair. He encounters a corridor strewn with the corpses of pilgrims, all with gunshot wounds to the head.

Meanwhile, Selina joins Ecco and the others in an empty swimming pool. Essentially, they play a group game of Russian roulette. Ecco is very theatrical and Harley Quinn-ish about all this. Selina scoffs – but, on Ecco implying she’s a coward, places the bullet in the chamber and spins the barrel.

Ecco counts them down – again, slightly aggravating on the quirky preciousness front. We go quickly back to Bruce, whose head turns sharply when he hears the gunshots.

Ecco strolls round, announcing that she’s disappointed in those who didn’t participate. Selina says she’s

Just not a mindless idiot willing to get shot in the head for nothing

Ecco glares. She comments that Curls is here to judge all of us. She goes on, though, indulging in some wittering about Jeremiah and his methods and how it looks like madness but it’s really liberation, blah blah blah

She then tells them all to leave now – she needs to have a word with Selina. They all got straight ‘As’ and can proceed and be reborn.

Elsewhere, Bruce follows two guards before beating them. He ascends further up the staircase.

Selina faces off with Ecco. Ecco says she doesn’t want to meet Jeremiah, but Selina insists she does – only she’s not willing to play that psychotic game

Ecco does some more quirky stuff

But baby – it’s so fun!

Selina asks why Ecco doesn’t play. Ecco tells her she doesn’t get it. Lifting her hair, she displays a scar at the base of her skull, near her ear.

The bullet’s still inside. I hear it. Ping ping ping. Boy do I feel it when the nights get cold

She pulls the trigger, but there’s no bullet. She seems to be getting off a little on it.

Selina tells her she’s insane – but she’s indignant at this, saying she was willing to look death in the face and allow the old her to die. This is the gift Jerome gave Jeremiah – and now it’s the gift he’s giving them

(An aside – interestingly, Jeremiah seems to have rather retconned his past with Jerome again. The gas wouldn’t have killed Jeremiah – there was no potentially fatal option, as with his gun method)

Ecco smiles

We want you to experience that gift….Selina

Selina’s eyes widen

You know me

Ecco smiles

There’s not a single part of Bruce's life we don’t know about. His joys, his fears, his desires

(An aside. Wow. That sounds a like a fun couple activity.)

She adds that Bruce wasn’t ready for Jeremiah’s gift, and nor was Selina.

Selina grimaces as Ecco points the gun at her face

One thing Jeremiah did teach me. I hate a gun pointed at my face.

She hisses angrily, and they start to fight.

Oh puddin’. Aren't you delicious?

(An aside. I suppose you can’t really blame Ecco for flirting with Selina. It sounds like most of her evenings with Jeremiah are spent working on the big Bruce scrapbook.)

Ecco says she knew she had it in her – all it took was a kick in the pants.

Bruce appears. Ecco sneers that her boyfriend is worried about her.

Selina flashes back to her shooting. She manages to turn the gun on Ecco – but Bruce yells stop, and Ecco escapes, stabbing Selina in the leg as she goes. Selina screams in rage and makes after her – but Bruce stops her, telling her that she’s bleeding.

Selina cuffs him to the gate. Bruce protests, but Selina says they’ve done things his way. Not it’s her turn. Bruce is left yelling after her as Selina drags herself off after Ecco.

Back at Haven, the bikers eyeing up cops and discussing who might be best for fights. Jim strolls up

How about this?

He points his gun

The biker says he’s bluffing

I’m afraid not

Oswald appears at the other end of the room

Neither am I

Oswald shoots the gang members. Jim calls on the cops to come out. Jim and Oswald face each other across the room. We hear a whimper, and Oswald’s dog approaches him. He fusses over him, and reassures him that he killed the bad men.

The crowd behind him overhear this and mutter agreement – he did shoot the bad men. They start to chant his name.

Oswald smiles gleefully. In many ways, he’s the world's simplest creature.

Back at Haven, people are arguing both with and about Jim

You promised safety!

He saved us!

Oh boy. Time for another speech.

It was a hard day - but we won.

He points out that they’ve got Oswald's guns and ammo now, and that they survived. Hope survived too – and he thinks that’s worth fighting for.

So do I

It’s the winsome orphan who rescued him

(An aside. Mercy, Gotham. I can’t take much more of this treacle.)

Jim blinks in response to this support. He goes on. Now there’s work to be done, wounded to be cared for.

Tomorrow's another day

Jim’s Scarlett O'Hara now.

A cop appears to tell Jim that Oswald is outside.

Before he heads out, Jim tells the winsome orphan that he did a brave thing, and that they wouldn’t have escaped if not for him. The boy replies that Jim helped him, so he wanted to reciprocate. He hands the boy his badge, and tells him he needs deputies. He smiles and thanks him – especially since he’s allergic to pineapple.

Jim walks towards Oswald, who is fussing over the dog. He straightens up as Jim approaches, and asks him if the cops are really necessary: after all, he just saved hundreds of people.

Jim adds that he endangered them to start with, so he can be forgiven for wanting to play it safe.

Oswald looks up at him, his face more sincere

Still - I do hope there’s no hard feelings?

Jim steps closer and looks at him like he’s recently been caught stealing apples, as opposed to putting a bounty on his head and then breaking through the barricade with a gang of bikers.

You did the right thing today, Oswald. You’re free to go. Don’t make me regret it.

They stand close and – even with my shipper glasses off, there’s really no other way to describe this – stare at each other fondly, smiles on their faces.

(An aside, before Barbara comes in waving the plot point no-one cares about.

I ship this like crazy. I like writing fic for it. One thing that’s blocked me for ages is how readily Oswald can forgive the worst of behaviour from Jim, and how Jim readily heads back to him for help each time no matter where their relationship has been. But actually seeing this helped me get it. Oswald thinks he’s capable of doing great things for the city and its people. Jim also believes this of himself: Jim Gordon, hero of Gotham. They also both know they are capable of terrible, terrible things.

To have someone who is not only seemingly willing to forgive you anything, but who also has a seemingly endless capacity to believe in you? That’s about as a big a deal as you can get. No wonder they keep gravitating towards each other. Who wouldn’t?)

Harvey hurries in, shouting a Jim in warning. He’s swiftly followed by Barbara.

Hi Pengy. Bye Pengy

Wide-eyed, Oswald holds his hands out in front of him, falling back on what he always falls back on in dire straits

Jim!

Jim hurriedly gets in front of him, and faces Barbara down

Barbara, no

Barbara tells him to get out of her way or he’ll get her first bullet.

Jim insists that he’s not moving

We don’t get to see what Barbara does next, because there’s an explosion that knocks everyone to the ground. Oswald, Barbara and Harvey are unconscious, but Jim stands and looks around to see Haven up in flames. There’s no scream of rage – just resignation, and weariness.

(An aside - So, I’m guessing that the explosion was Jeremiah’s doing – given that it just so happened to coincide with Bruce not being anywhere near the building?)

General Observations

A couple of themes here.

The obvious parallel is between Jim and Oswald as leaders. Jim is the ‘good’ leader, Oswald the ‘bad’ leader. I don’t think we’re supposed to read more into it – but, as I said, I think you can really dig into a little more. Barbara comments offhand that Jim wants to be a hero. They both get emotional gratification from what they’re doing.

Oswald has already been chastened by Mr Penn’s death. How Jim copes with what has happened remains to be seen.

There was a little bit of crossover between storylines, if you squint, in the notion of proving yourself under pressure. Oswald eventually did the right thing. Oswald and Jim came together when it counted. On the darker side, Ecco seemed insistent that Selina could step up to the challenge she posed after a kick in the pants.

Given that it lasted a whole two episodes – the Oswald as dictator thing was dumb. Oswald’s whole thing is his ability to read motivations and needs and exploit those. He can’t just fall back on a family name, or use brawn to succeed. But suddenly he actually hadn’t realised that people hated him? Really? Equally – the bit later about him not understanding why people would resent the situation he offered: safety and stability – Oswald’s whole first season is him rejecting the notion of ‘knowing his place’ in favour of clawing his way up, risking his neck repeatedly.

Sorry – but this storyline has been dependent on both ooc-ness and Flanderizing his character.

Hmmm. See – here’s the thing. I liked Jeremiah last season – pre and post-gas. He was different and had his own quirks and complexities. He simmered icily – a contrast to Jerome’s all-out mayhem. But I find the whole Cult of Joker thing tiresome – with all the witless, biddable acolytes wittering on about how he’ll open your mind. It feels even more marked with Jeremiah, who essentially displays almost total contempt to anyone who isn’t Bruce. I’m guessing part of the reason he stays secluded is that he can barely tolerate them.

I wonder if we’ll ever find out why Ecco was so devoted to Jeremiah. Because she was – back last season – before all the gas stuff. Fiercely devoted. It didn’t feel like a romantic thing – and I was curious to find out what it was. Had he helped her out of a bad situation? Did his working set-up meet her needs and personality in some particular way?

Thoughts?

#gotham commentary #gotham s5e03 #penguin our hero

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