#and it's so obvious that she's desperate to keep up the Traumatised Kids Club but is running out of ideas

[hella1975]

the confirmation that andrew never heals sucks so bad but it's also funny as hell because i'm assuming this was on her blog mentioned at the back of the book. so. either she just, completely unprompted, felt the need to say this. which is hysterical on it's own. OR the even funnier option i'm picturing she got some sort of question from a fan like "hey i love your books! i just wanted to ask what you think andrew and neil's future looks like! does andrew ever heal?" and this fucking woman answering with something like "hi! this is such a lovely thing to say, i'm glad you enjoyed my books! as for your question,

no. andrew never heals. him and neil never learn to say 'i love you' to each other.

but they adopt two adorable cats and give them silly little names! one is grey and the other is orange :)"

literally she could have just shut the fuck up WHY did she feel the need to add all the shit she did. she so easily could have left this series alone after getting so much hate but instead she decided to make it objectively worse for herself. she amazes me

[countessrivers]

What-ifs/Alternate Timelines for Jim Gordon - maybe the raised-by-Falcones version?

- It could probably still have started with a car accident, only this time with Mama Gordon in the car too. Jim I would say was still there, just in the back seat, and having to watch both parents die would probably leave him even more vulnerable.

- Carmine doesn’t initially intend to adopt Jim. Frank takes off immediately, consumed with guilt, and Jim has no one else, so Carmine steps in, because he owes Jim, he owes Peter. He did what the Court wanted, but he cared for Peter, Gotham is worse off without him, and now Peter’s nine year old son is all alone, because of him. It starts off with Carmine just paying for Jim’s hospital stay, for his physio, but then he starts just coming around, checking in on Jim, visiting, and Jim who maybe vaguely knows who Falcone is (would sometimes eavesdrop from the top of the stairs when Falcone was over, speaking with his parents) latches on. Jim is lost and traumatised and alone and he latches onto the first person who shows him any attention. And that then forms the basis of their relationship.

- Carmine has himself made Jim’s guardian. It’s only supposed to be temporary, but the longer Jim is around, the less inclined Carmine is to let him go, because he looks at Jim and he sees a bit of Peter. He also sees stubbornness, and potential, and most importantly, something that can be moulded. It doesn’t take long for Carmine to give Jim his name.

- I don’t know how old anyone’s supposed to be. In the show, according to my attempts at maths, Jim is 34-ish in season 4. Ben was obviously older, but Crystal Reed was around that age too, so Sofia could be about the same age as Jim, or at most a few years younger. Mario is older than Sofia, but the actor is about the same age as Ben, so Mario is likely at least a bit older than Jim, particularly as Mario and Sofia seemingly have different mothers. For this lets just go with Mario is a good few years older than Jim, who is in turn maybe two years older than Sofia.

- Sofia latches onto Jim immediately. She’s used to sharing her father’s affection/time, so Jim being in the picture makes little difference to her in that regard. But to her, he’s new and interesting and he’ll follow her around. He’s not too old like Mario now is. He can be hers. Mario, meanwhile, is jealous from the get go, hating the way his father cares for this orphan nobody, hating how much attention Sofia pays him, and that just festers into something obsessive as they get older. 

- And it doesn’t start off intentional (because she’s like 7), but Jim and Sofia get hella unhealthily co-dependent very quickly, and as they do get older, Sofia encourages that, desperate for the love and devotion and validation she isn’t getting from the rest of her family. And Jim provides. He latches onto Sofia right back, from the start craving comfort and companionship and family. They first sleep together as teenagers, and keep on doing so until Carmine catches them. which is why he sends Sofia away. Deep down Jim and Sofia both resent him for that, for separating them, even though Sofia still has Mario, and that festers too.

- Carmine, in answer to his promise to Mario’s mum, sends Mario down south too, which leaves him with only Jim. But that’s almost better in a way. He has made no promises to protect Jim, to keep him clean, and he can see already that Jim has the potential to succeed him. He feels (almost) no guilt in moulding him, in teaching him everything, in turning Jim first into a weapon, and then his heir. And he’s careful. He of course has genuine affection for Jim, maybe even loves him more than his own children, but he’s not one to take chances, to leave his back unguarded, so he makes Jim loyal. Reminds him again and again that it’s by his mercy and compassion that Jim has a home, a family. Tells Jim that he loves him, and that Jim must show his love by being loyal, always. By obeying. Tying the concept of love to loyalty and obedience, and punishing Jim both physically and emotionally when he fails.

- Jim vomits the first time he kills someone. He’s hurt people before, has seen plenty of people die as he stood at his father’s shoulder, but it’s different when the gun’s in his hand. When he’s the one pulling the trigger. He waits until they get home though. Barely feels the gun being taken back, or the heavy hand on his shoulder. Only vaguely hears Carmine commend him on a job well done. Just nods, and follows, and once he’s in his room, dashes to the ensuite to vomit up the contents of his stomach. It gets easier after that, but Jim never learns to enjoy it. He never takes the joy, the pleasure he sees other take in killing. At most there may be some satisfaction, some relief, but he never starts to like it. Killing becomes a necessity, something to keep the balance, to ensure business keeps running, but never anything more than that. Carmine suspects as much, but it doesn’t bother him. As long as Jim does the job, is willing to do the job. It’s not like he takes any real pleasure from killing either.

- It’s not until he becomes Fish’s umbrella boy that Oswald first sees Jim. He’s been working his way up through the lowest levels of the organisation, and had yet to properly lay eyes on the Don or his son. It’s only when they both pay a visit to the club one day, and Oswald happens to be there. He knew of Jim, but he hadn’t ever seen him in person. Fish waves him off while she and Carmine talk shop, and Oswald kind of just hovers, watching Jim as he speaks with Butch, but trying not to make it obvious that he’s staring. Jim’s not staring back, but he notices Oswald too. Jim notices everything, but he finds himself lingering, though he can’t say why, hyper aware of the eyes on him, even as Butch goes on about things Jim really should be paying closer attention to.

- After that, after seeing Jim in person, Oswald can’t let go. Ambition has had him collection info and dirt on all the key players already, but he wants to know more about Jim. About who he is, where he came from, what he might do, and how Oswald might use him. He digs, and eventually finds out how the Gordons really died. He doesn’t get quite as far as the Court, but he uncovers enough to implicate Carmine. He holds onto the information, knowing its value, and waits for the opportune moment (he’ll tell Jim later, use it to try and sway Jim to his side, to convince him to turn on his father and help take him out).

- Oswald learns other things about Jim too. Probably picks up on the rumours about him and Sofia, and the relationship that has continued on and off over the years under their father’s nose, but other things as well. Like his open soft spot for kids, orphans particularly, and the embargo he puts on his men over involving or harming kids in anyway (think Red Hood, “no dealing to kids” and a dufflebag full of heads). In general, the way Jim leaves families and civilians alone - he’ll “question”, he’ll execute a traitor, a thief, a snitch, but he won’t touch their families. The way he reacts to Carmine, this mix of fear and anger and loyalty and love and resentment. The way he inspires loyalty from both his people and the city, in a way that is wholly different to how his father does it (softer, in a sense. Less through fear, more through obligation, through helping and building and taking care of problems. Engendering good will, and making sure that in times of trouble, they look to him first. A different idea of family, for all that Carmine still has him tangled up by almost a lifetime of grooming and manipulation). Oswald learns about Jim’s likes, his dislikes, his fears, his wants, his raging daddy issues. Watches how Jim navigates the power struggles between the other underbosses. He watches and follows and learns everything he can about Jim.

- Which is why he’s fairly confident when he asks Carmine to have Jim do the deed when he’s caught snitching to the MCU. It’s a risk - Jim is still loyal to his father, still shares the general disdain of snitches and traitors felt by most in their line of work - but Oswald tries, figures he knows enough about who Jim is to convince him to spare his life. So he begs, warns Jim of the war he can see is coming, of the blood and all the senseless death that will come with it. Gets a little pathetic with his pleading, a smidge of fear admittedly rising as Jim keeps on walking him towards the water, offering anything, offering himself, and he might have gone further had he not be interrupted by Jim turning him around. And there had been a moment, staring out over the icy river, where he thought he was done, that he’s miscalculated, overplayed his hand, but the moment of shock quickly gave way to vindication as Jim hissed at him to never come back to Gotham. Because he’d been right, because he’d managed to make Jim disobey. Because Oswald was alive and Jim was going to help him change Gotham, change everything (whether he wanted to or not).