Gotham "Blood Rush": Is everyone gonna go crazy?!

The effects of a recent incident begin to cause Barnes to go mad; Nygma is over his head in his relationship with Isabella; Carmine Falcone throws an engagement party for Lee and Mario.

I'm seriously asking myself why I even bother to come up with all these insane predictions, Gotham screws us over anyway every week. I guess it's a coping mechanism to bridge the time between new episodes and trying to make sense of things. But then: this is Gotham, we never know what will happen so let's see what they're trying to do to us tomorrow:

Let me just say that it's wonderful to see Jim back with the GCPD and Bullock. I missed the dynamic between the two and I do hope that we get to see some old-school Season 1/2 moments. However, I don't believe that Jim will have time to calmly ease into his old position again, something's going to come up and it's going to be something personal.

The focus of this episode however, is going to move away from Jim a bit because the Mad Hatter has been captured, but there's still his sister's blood and what it did to this guy:

(Source: tvfanatic.com)

I believe tomorrow we will see what truly has happened to Barnes, his powers are going to come out for real this time. And we also see him talking to the Mad Hatter in Arkham Asylum, there might be some sinister things going on between the two. Jervis looks very excited and interested about Barnes' transformation, seeing the connection to his sister in those new powers. Jervis will definitely try to fuel those strange feelings/thoughts within Barnes, who will try to deny them but eventually be unable to control them. I think that tomorrow we might finally get to know who Barnes has really become. if he is going to be Bane (still don't think so) or someone completely else? And the Mad Hatter certainly has his hands in their somewhere so I believe we will see more of Barnes' transformation in connection to Jervis.

(Source: tvfanatic.com)

Somewhere else in Gotham Lee is trying to live her new life. But in a city like Gotham, even an engagement can mean something horrible. The engagement party is most certainly not going to be 100% care-free. Lee still has some feelings for Jim (who also still loves her), Mario is part of the Falcone family (which says it all) and in the trailer we see a two old girlfriends getting together again: Lee and Barbara back together. Presumably Barbara is just there to troll Lee, teasing her about Jim and her past and new life. It's going to be interesting how the two women will interact after all this time. Mario and Jim also seem to crash once again. It's imaginable but daring to think that Jim will actually turn up at the engagement party. I'm already calling the awkwardness and the anger between Jim and Mario. Something bad is about to happen...

(Source: tvfanatic.com)

Let us come to our (well, certainly my) favourite topic when we talk about Gotham: what's up with Oswald and Edward? I was pretty much Oswald in the last episode: jealous, angry and trying very hard not to kill Isabella. But maybe she's soon going to disappear by herself because: did you fucking see that real-looking Kristen?! Once again I'm calling it: something is very fishy and weird about that Clone-Kristen and I think tomorrow we're going to see why. Did you see her devilish, sneaky look in the trailer when she picked up those glasses? And guess who's glasses those are?! Could be Edward's, but I'm almost 100% sure those are Kristen's which Edward kept after her death. And who do we see in the mirror and shitting our pants just like Edward: suddenly old Kristen is back!

(Source: tvfanatic.com)

I'm telling you, that Clone-Kristen is about to do some very weird and fucked up shit. Perhaps she is so much into Edward and especially his dark side that she finds out about the original Kristen and dresses up as her in order to surprise Edward and do something (I have no idea what) to him. Edward doesn't seem too thrilled by that whole scenario. Sure, we see him kiss that Kristen in the trailer, but his hand is on her throat and he obviously seems very unsettled by all this.

(Source: tumblr.com)

Maybe Clone-Kristen is stepping up her game in seducing and manipulating Edward, which would play even more into the theory that she's some sort of honey-trap send my Butch or I don't know who. If we're are lucky Edward is perhaps slowly realising that this Clone-Kristen isn't good for him and that there's actually a certain someone who truly loves him.

(Source: tvfanatic.com)

And all the Nygmobblepot people (me included) are like: AHHHHH!!!! I don't think they will make the feelings between these two mutual (yet) but maybe there's going to be another nice moment between Oswald and Edward. Maybe Edward is in doubt over his relationship with Clone-Kristen (because she starts to get creepy) and Oswald comforts him, maybe even seeing his chance of coming back into the game. With a bit of luck and hope we might even see Edward starting to discover his own feelings for Oswald and perhaps he'll be in some kind of confusion over his feelings for both those people. I believe there's an emotional roller-coaster waiting for Edward and maybe the Nygmobblepot-ship is still going to happen. (Hopefully) Let's just hope our dear little Oswald doesn't keep looking like this for much longer:

(Source: tvfanatic.com)

I think the next episode might truly be about going crazy, there are some interesting and creepy surprises waiting for us tomorrow. Let's hope Gotham won't kill our souls. Again. (Okay, they always do that)

Gotham S03E07: Hallucionations and Heartbreak

Well, this week's episode of Gotham has certainly been a trip down the rabbit hole. Not just for Jim Gordon. We saw some crazy fantasies, some nice character moments, some mysteriousness and some heartbreak. It certainly is never easy for our citizens of Gotham, it's like they can never have one quiet day.

(Source: denofgeek.com)

Let's immediately start with our dear sweet Oswald Cobblepot, mayor of Gotham and still trying to tell Edward his feelings for him. Life is not being easy on Oswald, not at all and by now I really feel sorry for the little Penguin. He is mayor and is in love and yet he's one of the most unluckiest characters at the moment, because in comes Edward with the great news of having fallen in love. And you could immediately see and feel Oswald's heart break. Respect to Robin Lord Taylor who, once again, shows what a fantastic actor he is. The moments of jealousy while still trying to keep up the facade of a happy friend, came out very nicely, so it felt both kinda funny and sad to see Oswald being upset about Clone-Kristen. And as expected he didn't leave that woman alone and right away tried to get her away from Edward, but (also as expected) this didn't work out. For now it seems like Edward takes this Clone-Kristen for granted and does have feelings for her without realising what he does to Oswald. It's really sad to see that even now Oswald still can't really escape this unfair and cruel life he's always had and I'm pretty sure that this will take a very dark turn very soon...

(Source: Facebook) 

Our dear old friend Jim Gordon has to fight some demons of his own. Almost literally. A hallucination story for a character is nothing new but I must say that they executed this quite nicely with the different scenarios. I was okay with Barbara in this episode, she was there and had a purpose and wasn't too annoying. It was also nice to see some longer, "personal" interaction between her and Jim. It was interesting to see what characters would appear in what way. Bruce was there and he was being quite creepy and very mysterious; unusual to see Bruce like this but I liked it. I also appreciate that they had Penguin in Jim's hallucination (in some very cool soldier outfits) because this shows the connection these two character have shared and still have. And then we see what Jim truly desires: a happy family life with Lee. I can't say I wasn't really surprised to see that, but it was nice to see a slightly more different side of Jim. Not the dark, serious and brooding fighter of justice, but simply a man who's happy. Why don't we get more moments like this? Adds some nice details to Jim's character. Nice move to actually have Lee's fiance be the one who saves Jim. It's very interesting to see how these two interact. In the end Jim is saved and Tetch actually captured, but this will most likely not be the end of it. And Jim joins the GCPD again. Finally! I was waiting for this for quite some time and I'm glad he's back in his proper place where we want him to be. That'll also gives us some more interaction between Jim and Bullock again which I missed a lot.

(Source: tvfanatic.com)

But hang on! Wasn't there something between Barnes and Tetch? Yes, Barnes is still about to go crazy and now the Mad Hatter knows about it. There's definitely going to be some little story between these two characters and I think we will soon get to see what becomes of Barnes when the blood finally unleashes its entire power. I'm still wondering what kind of villain or whatever Barnes is going to be, it promises to be quite interesting, especially with the Mad Hatter knowing about this all now.

(Source: seat42f.com)

We also got to see Bruce and Selina again this week! Not much but it was really nice to see that they are trying to develop their relationship, with both of them admitting that they find this whole thing weird. It's nice to see that the two of them finally seem to agree with each other more and more and not get angry at each other every other moment or so. That cooking and baking was basically also a very nice touch of an already very mature Bruce trying to care about those he likes. Alfred also had some nice lines, being the concerned father figure here. I do hope we get to see more of these characters again in the next episodes.

(Source: fabnewz.com)

The two last things kind of go together: Jim's father and the Court of Owls. In his trip down the rabbit hole, Jim is confronted with his dead father and they have a very nice and interesting conversation, showing us who Jim wants to be and getting our focus on a mysterious ring on the hand of the father. Now, at the dinner Oswald attends, he meets the woman we already know from the Court of Owls. Here is where it gets interesting because we are told that they have basically been watching Oswald for a longer time already! So Penguin is under the watchful eye of the Court which could mean they already are trying to interfere with his affairs in some way or another. Maybe they are the ones who sent Clone-Kristen? It certainly is possible, it wouldn't be the first time they come of with a big, mysterious plan. At the end of the episode we're getting even more proof for this as we see the Court of Owls lady talking to a new, still kept in the dark figure. And what was that man wearing? The exact same ring that Jim's father had! First thought of course would be that Jim's dad actually runs the Court and thus Gotham. Maybe he faked his own death and stays away from his son. It could also be someone connected to Jim's father who received the ring from him. We don't know! And thus Gotham has created another story we so desperately want to see explained.

(Source: Facebook)

This has certainly been one roller coaster episode once again and the trailer for the next one already has me going crazy. I will write another predictions-post about the next episode in a few days, analysing the trailer and telling you what I think might happen. I'm also planning on writing about the whole Oswald x Edward homophobia affair so stay tuned for that. I'm just trying to bridge the time until the next episode and I'm getting more and more worried and excited every day!

Gotham "The Red Queen": What the hell is going to happen to everyone?!

When Jim Gordon makes contact with a substance in the hand of Mad Hatter, he's led on a psychedelic trip in which he must face his past, present and future; Penguin has a difficult time with Nygma's new relationship.

Well, the new episode of Gotham is just around the corner and I'm still not over the emotional roller coaster of the last one. Oswald admitted his feelings for Edward but couldn't tell him, Edward met a Clone-Kristen and seems very smitten, Jim is still under the watchful eye of the Mad Hatter and the GCPD, Barnes' anger issues are coming through and we haven't seen Bruce in a while; basically everything is going down the rabbit-hole, as they say. The trailer for the seventh episode of this season certainly looks like it's going to get even crazier than we thought.

The Mad Hatter can't seem to let go of our dear Jim Gordon and this time it gets even more psychological and delusional as before. Obviously the Mad Hatter poisons Jim somehow and there we have that classic Mad Hatter mo: Jim goes down the rabbit hole and sees and hears things he can't explain. Barbara is there and she seems to be like his "guide" in this strange fantasy world and takes him to all the weird places. In the featurette of the upcoming episode it's explained that Jim will be taken to all the moments and places of his recent life about which he somehow feels bad, guilty or emotional. We can see Lee in there in some old school outfit and there might also be the child she lost. There's also Jim in an alleyway with a fancy car in the background which could be the alleyway where Bruce's parents died, implying that he still feels guilty that he couldn't fulfil his promise to Bruce. There might also be some very angry but also emotional moments between him and Barbara, after all they have quite some history together. It'll be interesting to see what Jim will actually see, I just get the feeling that whatever is going to happen to him: it will change him in some way or another, maybe driving him even more insane.

But this time the Mad Hatter doesn't seem to only focus on Jim. We see a shocked Oswald Cobblepot hold at gunpoint by the Mad Hatter telling him to die. This actually brings me directly to this time's predictions and thoughts about our dear Oswald x Edward relationship. You might wonder how those go together, well look at the name of the episode: "Red Queen". The literature geeks know very well that the Red Queen is a character from Lewis Carol's "Through the Looking-Glas", so another figure of  "Alice in Wonderland" and we all know how big the Mad Hatter is about that kind of stuff. He even says "Red Queen" in the trailer and guess when he says it: exactly when we see Edward kiss Clone-Kristen! Remember my last blog entry here, where I said that maybe Clone-Kristen was send by someone to cause problems? What if the Mad Hatter was that person? The Red Queen isn't the nicest of persons in "Through the Looking-Class" and is mostly seen as some form of antagonist for Alice. While she does have her nice moments in the story and does give advice from time to time, she can also be characterised as

...overbearing, meticulously obsessive about manners, and civil in a self-righteous and supercilious way. [...] Her assertions are often arbitrary recitations of strict behavioral advice [...] She fits into the framework of Alice’s dream as representative arbitrary authority, serving as a caricature of an overbearing governess figure at odds with her young charges.  

(Source: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/through-the-looking-glass/canalysis.html)

I'm still sticking to the theory that Clone-Kristen is a very fishy figure. She's just too perfect of a character (looking like Ed's late girlfriend, she likes riddles) and she comes in exactly at a time when everything seems to go perfectly for Oswald and Edward. And it would also tie in with that scene we saw of Oswald and the Mad Hatter. The only question would be: why is the Mad Hatter suddenly going for Oswald? Up to this point it has all been about Jim Gordon and no one else. Perhaps the Mad Hatter is playing an even bigger game than we expected or somehow Oswald (and Edward) crossed his path/plan without realising it. It'll be fascinating to see as to how all these characters now come together.

Apropos Oswald and Edward: back to our favourite TV couple! There have been kind of good news for all us shippers in the form of a new Gotham featurette video titled "Robin Lord Taylor & Cory Michael Smith Ship Oswald & Nygma". Yes, yes that actually happened! And you can really tell that those two actors love their characters and playing with what they're given and it's just wonderful to see that even the actors are sort of on our side.

After watching this video I also had to admit that I stand corrected about the whole "Oswald sends Clone-Kristen as a 'present'" thing because just look at our dear little Oswald. He acts so jealous when he hears about that new woman and I don't know if I find this cute or sad. Probably both. I mean just look at him asking about Edward's date: 

So for now the whole Edward x Clone-Kristen seems to be a thing whether we like it or not. (Does anyone like this?!) We still can't be sure if Edward seems to be truly in love with this woman but for now it looks like it and just as Oswald we sit there with seething jealous rage while we just want to kill that woman and make Edward ours. (This writing takes a strange turn, I know) It is still very hard to say what will happen and if they might give us the relationship we so desperately have been teased with for more than one season. I have the fear that Edward might not reply Oswald's feelings because he simply doesn't feel that way, but I also have that strange hope that the two will be together for some time or at least kiss or something. However, in one point I seem to be on the right track: Oswald will do something to Clone-Kristen in order to win Edward. We see him talking to Clone-Kristen so she will lose interest in Edward. I'm pretty sure something as easy as this won't work just like that, so maybe Oswald will decide to go even further. 

Over the past week there have been even more discussions about Oswald's and Edward's relationship and the Penguin's sexuality. Many people are happy but just as many are upset and angry. And some of them are just homophobe arseholes but that's not the side we have to look at. I've read a lot of comments and such over the past days addressing this topic and I was happy and angry within seconds. There are a lot of thoughts on my mind about all the uproar comments and discussions and in the next days I will write another entry talking about those. 

But for now let us address the other story line that is often a bit pushed in the back, but we shouldn't forget about good old Barnes who still has to fight with his anger issues:

So the question is: what the hell is happening to Barnes? It has already been a while since he has been infected by Alice's blood and in the last episode we already got so see some of the effects when he got so angry he damaged a metal chair. It is still unclear who or what Barnes is going to become, there have been quite a few theories. Some people believe that he's going to become Bane because of the name similarity and the anger power he got. But I honestly don't think he's going to become Bane because of multiple reasons: Barnes is a little too old to become a future Batman enemy; he's not Mexican and they already introduced the actual poison that gives original Bane his powers, so why would they come up with a different story now? Some people also think that he's going to be Solomon Grundy but I doubt that as well, since the makers of Gotham already said that Solomon Grundy is going to be a character we haven't seen yet. Maybe Barnes is going to be a completely new character purely created for this show, or this is going to be a very old school, more unknown Batman villain. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

As a more happier last note: Bruce is back! And Selina as well! So after their confusing, emotional kiss encounter the last time, we'll see how their relationship is going to develop from now on. I hope that we get to see more of future-playboy Bruce and also more of his detective side. I loved that moment two episodes ago when he deduced that Jim was seeing Valery Vale because he saw the lipstick on Jim's mug. Damn that was badass! So I hope we get to see more of that Batman development while observing Bruce's and Selina's relationship. Maybe we will also see both of them in Jim's hallucinations so we'll see how those two play into that story line.

Gotham's Season 3 Episode 7 is on its way and I'm honestly unsure as to what to expect. Sure, I'm making predictions and I have hopes and fears but Gotham is such a clever and sneaky show, you'll never know what they will do and that still angers and excites me every week.  

Gotham's Oswald x Edward S03E6: What the hell are you doing to me?!

First, let's quickly clear up something: if you think I'm one of those people who fight the idea of Penguin and Riddler being together, then please stay! If you yourself are one of those people who can't bear the aforementioned idea, well then: bye! Who's been following me on Google+ and Instagram already knows very well how much I dig the bromance between Oswald and Edward, so that I end up writing about it isn't really that big of a surprise. Now, where are we with this special friendship so far?

When Edward's true side is born, he starts to admire Oswald, the crime-king of Gotham. When the Penguin is hurt in body and spirit, Edward takes him in and helps him to become his old self again. Oswald lands in Arkham and when he is released seems cured, so he first goes to his old friend to show him so. Obviously Edward is a little irritated by the new Oswald and the two part ways for some time. Eventually it's Edward's time to go to Arkham and guess who always comes to visit and eventually pick him up when he is released? Oswald is working o becoming the mayor of Gotham and of course he wants his old friend at his side. together they work hard of the Penguin's plan, Edward using his mind and schemes to help Oswald. Edward manages to show Oswald that he can win without criminal actions through the power of love. Shocked and touched, Oswald becomes mayor and makes Edward his chief of staff. In a turn of events one of Oswald's most trusted henchmen betrays him, but Edward saw this coming. He saves his friend, nearly getting strangled to death in the process. The two young men find themselves in the Penguin's house, Oswald is still in shock but Edward insists that he would do anything for him. For a few seconds there's this undescribable look between them, Oswald moves closer and the two embrace.

This is where we were last week and I believe most of us were shocked and surprised in some form or another. is Gotham really ging there? Making these two iconic characters fall in love with each other? well, this week we got the answer: sort of.
But one thing is for sure: Oswald loves Edward. he remembers his mother telling him to cease the chance for true love when you see it and so Oswald eventually decides to confess his feeling to Edward.
You won't believe how excited and thrilled I became when I heard him say that. I literally had to stop the video in that moment to get up and scream. Like I said, I've been digging this relationship hardcore, so of course I'm happy about a turn like this. They've been developing this relationship in a very nice and lovely way and you're just happy as soon as you see those two on screen. I do honestly get why some people oppose the idea of the two of them being together. They're classic, iconic characters who in the comics were never gay or that close; I understand this. (However, if you don't like the idea because you're a homophobe arse, then fuck off!) And I'm usually someone who prefers the classic, old-school version as well, but with Gotham it's different. They have made some changes, but executed (most of) them very well so I can get along with them. The relationship of Oswald and Edward has gone down such a wonderful path so far, so I couldn't be any happier. This week's episode though got me thinking; again.

(Source: http://seventhief.tumblr.com)

I love that Gotham is not afraid to do this "Oswald loves Edward"-thing, I admire this. However, my fear/thought is that they still won't let the two be together (or at least not soon). Oswald tries to tell Edward what he feels but can't go through with it the first time. Hey, I'm fine with that; many of us know these kind of moments, it isn't that easy. Then we have the dinner to which Oswald invited Edward in order to finally confess his feelings. We cut to Edward buying a bottle of wine (probably for Oswald) where he encounters a young woman. Three guesses on who this woman resembles: Kristen Kringle! Edward's former big love who he had killed. Right away Edward is intrigued and even seems smitten once more; Oswald seems forgotten.
Okay: why?! Come on, people! I'm ready for the whole "I love you, Edward." and then they come up with this at the end of the episode. Tension? New love interest? Reason of anger for Oswald? Jealousy? Why did they come up with a Clone-Kristen right now?! What's going to happen?!
Well, let me tell you all the thoughts and theories I already have on this:

1. This Clone-Kristen has some connection to Oswald. Maybe he found someone who looks like her in order to make Edward happy. That's his form of saying "I love you". Also he maybe fears that Edward won't love him back so instead Oswald gives Edward something that he loves. Question however is: why the whole dinner thing then? Symbolism?

2. Clone-Kristen was send by someone else (maybe Butch or someone completely else) and is either really close to Kristen in looks or was created to resemble her in order to draw Edward in and away from Oswald. Question: who sent Clone-Kristen and why?

3. Clone-Kristen is just a simple, not-special person who happens to look like Edward's late girlfriend. Total randomness. But then the big question here would simply be: why? Why would they randomly bring in a Clone-Kristen now?
  3.a Simply for (romantic) tension. Edward is going to have to choose between Oswald and Clone-Kristen.
  3.b To awake Oswald's rage once more and give Edward a reason to go against Penguin. Oswald might get very upset and do something horrible to Clone-Kristen so he can have Edward. But obviously Edward wouldn't be very happy about something like this and eventually betray Oswald.
  3.c So Oswald and Edward simply can't end up together. This is the worst case scenario because this would put the writers of Gotham in a bad light. Keyword: queerbaiting. Giving us the cute little Edwald/Osward moments for those who ship it but eventually putting their romantic interests somewhere else. "Luckily", in this case, this would only apply to Edward.

4. Some very clever and weird story lies behind all this. Something so unthinkable is going to happen and I just don't know what it could be . Big question here: what is it?!

Side Note: I'm already calling bullshit on the Clone-Kristen anyway. Something is fishy about her, she just seems too perfect: she resembles Kristen but isn't her, isn't afraid of Edward and seems to like riddles. Very suspicious.

Personally, I can't really say what I believe will happen. I'm honestly surprised already that they went so far as to say that Oswald loves Edward. Sadly, I'm somehow led to believe that they won't end up together, as much as I would love to see that happen. I don't know, call it a gut feeling. I also think that the harmonious relationship between Oswald and Edward is not going to last. At some point, maybe towards the end of the season, Edward is going to betray Oswald. He's the Riddler after all, he always has a bigger picture in his mind. I do believe he feels something for Oswald as well but also uses those feelings to his advantage. When Oswald was close to telling him "I love you" there was this look in Edward's eyes like he already knew. I have seriously no idea what's going to happen; but then this only shows what a brilliant show Gotham is. All I can say is that I'm very excited for next week's episode. I want to see more of Oswald and Edward, no matter how or what. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

My edit ^-^

Why Suicide Squad movie's Joker x Harley relationship gives a wrong picture

Hang on there! Don't troll me yet! I swear I'm not one of those people who bash every DC movie! And even though I might be a DC fanboy, I'm not one of those who HAS TO point out every silly detail the movie makers got wrong. I'm just a concerned citizen as everyone else and I just want people to know what's on my mind. There obviously are mistakes within the Suicide Squad movie, but that's not my point. In fact I actually quite enjoyed the movie and found it entertaining, so don't tell me I'm one of those DC haters. I freaking LOVE Batman v Superman. Yeah. I mean that. 100%.

I love the DC comics, especially Batman, he is one of my all-time favourite heroes. And what's a Batman without his Joker? And I love the Joker. No seriously, I LOVE the Joker (like beyond Harley Quinn level of love). He is probably my favourite comic book character of all time, no matter when and where. I like every incarnation of the Joker, also the ones that might be considered "bad"; I can see something brilliant in every incarnation of this character because he's just so awesome! He gets all the cool lines, and, let's be honest here, many of the more brilliant Batman stories include the Joker. So that character means a lot to me and of course I was looking forward to see Jared Leto in this iconic role. I'm not here to talk about the pros and cons of Leto's portrayal of the Joker, that can cover another entire blog post. Just for the record: I thought he was alright. He's not gonna be my favourite (that'll always be Mark Hamill) but it was fun watching him. But this is about something else; this is also about the Joker but not only him, it's about these two:

(Source: mtv.com)

What would Harley Quinn be without her Puddin'? Well, she as a character wouldn't even exist because this relationship is her quint-essence. Her obsession and twisted, crazy love for this man makes her so interesting and insane; partly even more insane than the Joker himself because Harley is crazy enough to love a man like this and would do anything for him. And she fell in love with him because he made her to; he manipulated her and made her feel special to have her on his side. She is so blind in her love for this man that she became crazy and a reckless bad guy (well, girl). And that brings me to the topic of this post. Let's start where Harley started as well, because this already begins to show my point:   

Doctor Harleen Quinzel was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, she has always been interested in the human mind and really wanted a challenge. She wanted to explore the worst and most twisted minds of the Asylum and who else to go to but the Clown Prince of Crime himself to achieve this goal? The craziest of them all and Harley knows that, she wants to discover everything about that man's brain and so she goes down this road, which is going to take a dark and twisted turn. The Joker does indeed talk to Harleen and even opens up a little. But of course he doesn't do that without something on his mind, he's not just talking about himself to anyone. He sees something in Harleen and that's what he uses, he uses her heart, mind and interest from the very beginning. The manipulation starts right there, so early on. That's the point: the Joker manipulates Harleen on every level. He tells her sentiment stories so she starts feeling connected to him, he gives her some compliments and makes her feel special and before you can say "Batsy!" Harleen has fallen for the Joker and disappeared in his web to become Harley Quinn. 

(Source: http://jacqui-m-sky.tumblr.com/)

But what about the Joker? Did he really mean all that? Does he love that girl too? Does he care for hear? Doubtful. I don't deny that there are moments in the comics and the animations when the Joker does feel jealous when someone else has Harley, and there are moments when he replies her advances and thanks her. But this is about some deep psychology and as we all know: the Joker's psyche runs deep. He doesn't purely love that girl; sure he seems to like her somehow, I know that there are actually kind of "sweet" and caring moments between them. But I'm doubting that he does really care for her on more levels than he simply uses her. This is some f-ed up shit we are dealing with. And when it comes to the relationship between Harley and the Joker, things go into some deep dark waters.

Let me come to the core of this whole story: I saw Suicide Squad and was looking forward to see the Harley x Joker scenes; two f-ed up people in an even more f-ed up relationship, that's exactly my thing. And don't get me wrong: it was fun watching these characters and the actors did a good job. My personal problem is that they portrayed this relationship in a very misleading way. At the end of the movie I was thinking "It was cool to watch, but that's not them!" And what's even worse is that there are now these (without wanting to be biased or too stereotypical) people who make posts about these two and absolutely adore them and say stuff like "Oh, they are so cute together! I want a relationship like these two! Joker x Harley, now that's what I want a relationship to be like!" And I'm just sitting there thinking "NO! YOU REALLY DON'T WANT THAT!!!"

My problem is that the Joker x Harley relationship in the Suicide Squad movie has been portrayed as too loving, too caring and two sided. The Joker is all about busting his baby out of the chaos she was put in, he almost appears "Romeo-like" in his "I'm coming to safe you, my love"-attitude. I had a hard time accepting this "Oh baby, I'm coming for you" part of the Joker character and that's (unfortunately) mostly all the Joker is about in this movie. Again: I know that there are the moments when the Joker does defend Harley when someone's pushing her around and he can get a little jealous ("Stop pushing her around. That's my thing!"). But that's not the Joker's dominant character in this relationship, in fact it's a side that we don't see often. Most of the time it isn't about love and he doesn't care for her. There are moments when he lets her drop like some useless tool, he would push her into danger to save himself and wouldn't move a bit when she got busted by the Batman or the police as long as he gets away to a good place to watch and laugh. 

(Source: hollywoodreporter.com)

The relationship can best be described by these words: dysfunctional, abusive and manipulative. It's by far not all "Aw, Puddin''!" and "Come here, tuts!", it's far more violent and dark. Remember Harley's story: the Joker talked her into liking him, he manipulated her from the very beginning so he could use her. That's what the Joker x Harley thing is all about: the Joker is one manipulative and abusive bastard towards Harley. He abuses her mentally and physically; he can push her off a cliff and she would still come back to him, smiling. Harley's mind has been broken into this reality where she still loves the Joker no matter what he does to her, in the end he can sweet-talk her into almost everything. That's mental abuse and manipulation on the highest and most dangerous level. You can say that the Joker's mind-plays are the whole reason Harley Quinn was born; if Harleen had never met and talked to him, she would never have heard his manipulative words and just stayed the psychiatrist she was. That's what the Joker did: he mentally abused her into becoming another person who is completely dependent on this man. And it doesn't stop with the mind, the Joker has always been known to never leave a body unhurt. He kicks her, he punches her, he strangles her. Anything you can think of, the Joker simply doesn't care, even when it comes to Harley! On multiple occasions he has physically abused Harley and also tried to kill her! This has driven her so far that even she has tried to murder the Joker but she has been so manipulated by him that he can sweet-talk her into lowering the gun and immediately pointing one at her himself. I think you're slowly getting the picture I'm trying to paint here, right?

If I had to point out one scene in the movie that got me thinking about this, it's the scene when Harley jumps into the chemical bath. Now, I didn't entirely have a problem with the scene as a whole; it shows us what really happened to Harley and what she would actually do to win the Joker's approval. What go me thinking was the bit after she landed in the chemicals: first the Joker wants to leave but then he stops, closes his eyes to think, curses and jumps in after Harley to save her. That had me frown because this showed that the Joker must have been thinking something like "Shit! I can't just leave her. She's has been kinda cool, I can't abandon her." (Might be a bit exaggerated) What upsets me is that they are implying that the Joker jumps after her because he actually seems to like and care for her so he feels responsible if something bad happened to her, so he has to jump after her to see if she's okay. Now, let's see how this plays out in the comics:

(Source: amazonaws.com)

This is what I imagined it to be: he pushes her in (the rude bastard he is) and he does go looking for her but not to save her. He just goes to look what has happened to her, to see if he really could push her (literally) so far as to make her like him. And she is, she is even more crazy for him after this and that's how this f-ed up relationship is born.  

Okay, I can't give the movie all the bad credit. Just as Batman v Superman, the Suicide Squad movie suffers from the fact that a lot of scenes got cut which could have added much more interesting detail. And some of the stuff I have mentioned is due to the fact that so many of the Joker scenes got cut. Among these scenes were actually these abusive and manipulative moments between the Joker and Harley. There is a scene where Harley actually points a gun at the Joker and he sweet-talks her into lowering it before slapping her. And in their last moments in the movie when he pushes her out of the helicopter, he originally doesn't do it to save her; they actually have a fight and he pushes her out in anger. Out of all the scenes they had to cut: why those?! Apparently because the studio thought such a dark relationship as Joker x Harley was TOO dark and not good for audiences, especially the PG-13 audience. Still, BIG MISTAKE! If they had kept those scenes, I wouldn't have to write all this now and we could all be happy. Those scenes would have added the details we needed about Harley and the Joker and would have given a far better portrayal of their psyche. Especially for the people who are not familiar with the comics, they need those scenes to properly understand! But no, we got this lovely, kind of psycho, badass relationship that makes girls longing for such a relationship although they really shouldn't! In fact, you can look up the scenes I described on YouTube and I'm pretty sure most of you will agree with me. 

(Source: gamezone.com)

Okay, I think I have made my point clear. You really don't want a relationship like these two; it's fun to watch but horrible to imitate. I just want those people who don't know the comics or the characters so well to understand what actually lies behind Harley and her love for the Joker. I hope if we really do get that Harley Quinn movie one day, that we'll get to see the true side of this relationship and how destructive these two are for each other. Margot Robbie and Jared Leto are brilliant actors and I personally got the impression that these two really do love to portray these roles and I'm pretty sure they could be totally awesome if they were given the right material. But we are only at the beginning with these incarnations of the Joker and Harley, there's still so much to come in the future. I'm honestly looking forward to see more of Jared Leto and Margot Robbie and I would definitely love to see some more psycho Joker x Harley stuff!

(Source: wallpapercave.com)

  

Short Story Time (2)

The last time we had a mysterious story about a night at a railway station. This time we move into the horror genre and become a witness to a killing spree...

(Source:http://data.whicdn.com/images/33484724/561119_498574300157409_1916403034_n_large.jpg)

We all go a little mad sometimes…

Have you ever been sitting in a room full of people, perhaps in school, university or at a group meeting, and find yourself in the position in which you think that you could completely lose it any second? This wish just to stand up and scream, throwing over the tables and chairs while acting like a complete lunatic. But you aren’t crazy, you simply want to let it out, you want to have fun.

Those people there have no idea what’s happening, what you could do to them. Perhaps they’re confused or even scared by you. And you want them to be! At this point anything could happen because you’re just letting everything out; you’re doing what I’ve wanted to do for such a long time!

Those people are all fools, they don’t- they can’t understand you.

Let us think a bit further.

The room is closed, you have locked everyone in with the key you took from one of them; from now on everyone is at your mercy, at your liking. Who ruins your moment, your fantasy is the first to die. People are going to day anyway but those little know-it-all-heroes make it easier for the beginning to choose someone.

Perhaps you even did pack your hunting knife this morning or you simply have it with you in general. Slowly for everyone to see you get it out, you want them to know that things have changed, this is your show now. Their faces look irritated, shocked, the best ones are those who are afraid and scared of you.  This expression is the best you can get from those fools!

An amused laugh exits your throat, similar to the evil laughter you always see in films, but yours is so much better because yours is real and authentic. Nobody can take this way from you, this is your own little enjoyment and everybody else has to play along. What happens later is not important at this point; this is about living in the moment, in the excitement!

Let them see the blinking surface of your knife as it reflects their shocking, crying eyes that follow your every move. Let them see and know what they are about to face because this blade is not going to stay clean today. You want to behold its shine covered in a red curtain drawn from the bodies of the people in front of you.  Tell them what has been going on in your mind, shouldn’t they at least know what honour they receive by being here fulfilling your fantasy. You had planned this in your head so many times; theoretically they have gone through this so often. Not quite sure if there was ever a version those fools would have liked, it is highly unlikely; as are survivors.

You laugh again as you think about this. They have no idea what is about to happen, this is hilarious!

But even a pack of fools has a leader, someone all the others look up to although the authority lies in their bed crying just as the rest does. Show them what you’ve got; after all you want them to know that right now you stand above every single one of them. The leader, the figure of authority is nothing to you now, it has never noticed nor acknowledged you; it doesn’t even know your name! But from this day on no one shall forget who you are forevermore. Authority has never taught you anything, it only ever held you back and now this is what they receive in return. And as the grey flesh of authority touches your blade, you look into its eyes one more time to laugh at their ignorance as finally their red river streams over your hand.

One of the girls shrieks as the body falls to the floor where authority lives its last seconds. The rest of the people are either too disgusted to look or watch with eyes wide open and shock written all over their faces.

Oh, this is most splendid!

You had anticipated this day for such a very long time but never had you imagined that it would feel so marvellous, so freeing. Why others regard this as inhumane you’ll never quite understand.

“You see this?” Finally you turn to attend the crowd; a smile is about your lips as you speak your words. “I have dreamed about this for so long and none of you had the faintest idea!” An amused laugh echoes through the room no one can escape. Your voice is full of enjoyment, with relish you speak to the people cowering to your feet. “This is what I can and would love to do with every – single – one – of you. This is going to be the most enjoyable day I’ve ever had.” Again there’s the laughter the others cannot bear to hear. But it is not like that this is of importance to you.

“You might wonder why this is happening? Why am I doing this?” You carefully pace through the room, looking into the others’ eyes and smile when you see their fear as they turn their heads away from you. “Why, let me tell you…”

Slowly your gaze wanders before it stops at a girl, all dressed up with tons of fake beauty all over her, who cowers at the wall and bears an expression as if the most revolting thing is happening to her. She doesn’t want to look at you so she doesn’t quite notice you walking up to her.

“Yes, let me tell you, little girl.” You grab her by the arm to get her up, she fights but you only have to show her the blade and she is quiet. Gently you lead her up to the front of the crowd, almost as if you had asked her for a dance.

“Have you ever had this random thought of pushing someone in front of a train while waiting on a platform?” You can see in their eyes that you have hit the right spot. “Or simply punching a stranger in the street?”

You slap the girl next to you so that she cries out, but you only laugh again. She holds her reddened cheek with her hand but you push that aside and slap her again: this time even harder. She falls to the ground, crying out.

“Oh, you have no idea how strong this desire has been burning in my chest…” You bow down to her, now raising your knife again. The blade is right next to her cheek. “Ohhh…” You growl a noise similar to a deep purr into her ear and you can feel that a shiver is running down her spine. “How I would love to cut your rosy face…” You make her look into your eyes and what you see pleases you.

Suddenly you can hear someone standing up behind you.

“Stop this bullshit! Why ARE you doing this?!”

You can hear steps so you turn around to see a young man walking up to you in rage. But you are quicker.

You switch the blade in your hand and rush towards him. “Don’t be such an impatient spoil-sport!” you laugh then the knife has already found its way into the boy’s abdomen two times. You hurry back to the girl to pull her next to the lying boy.

“I’m just trying to have some fun!”

With those words you cut the girl’s throat and her blood spills all over the young man who has to watch everything. You let go of her and she falls on his wounds where she finds her last bed as the blood quills out of her neck, covering the boy’s clothes and the floor in a deep coloured stain.

For a few seconds you stare at the bodies while you see the boy’s eyes blinking for a last time before they don’t close anymore.

“You see?”

Slowly you rise up again, the blood now dropping from the crimson blade. “That’s all you are.” With relish you let the knife glide over your tongue so you can taste your reward. You let your gaze wander while doing so to enjoy all those frightened and petrified looks that now lie in the others’ eyes.

Suddenly you run into the crowd again to grab another girl by her ponytail and thus throwing her to the ground. Smiling, you step over her never losing your smug expression.

“Something to have fun with.”

You lift her shirt so her stomach is exposed. Carefully you position the knife on the naked flesh with a certain amount of pressure. Then you start drawing a line. The girl beneath you is screaming as the metal cuts deep into her body all the way along her waist. More cuts into her torso follow, some longer, some deeper. The girl is continuously weeping, which is good; you want to hear her despair. You are now working your way up to her head but without touching her throat yet.

“Don’t close your eyes.” you mumble into her ear. “Or I’ll have to keep them open for you.”

You put the blade on her forehead. From the left temple to the right temple a fine but bloody line now decorates her face. Another one you set right between her eyes along the back of her nose. At this point she doesn’t manage it to keep her eyes up any longer; she screams from her lungs.

“Come on!” you complain, falling back. “I want to see what you think when you look at me!” She is breathing heavily as she coughs and some blood even comes out of her mouth. This lightens you up a bit again while she has her eyes opened again. “Good girl…” You smile at her. “You’re learning.”

But then you have to turn around; you heard steps again.

This time it’s two men, more muscles, less brain. They honestly believe that this is going to work on you.

“Boys! We already had this!” You point towards the other boy upon whom the girl lies. At first you laugh but then they run towards you and all your attention focuses.

You manage it to slash at the first one but then the other one can grab you. The boy you had hurt gets up and comes towards you. With a sudden jump you lift your legs to kick him; he falls back while you and the other boy holding you crash into the wall. The boy’s grip loosens and you turn around, slashing his throat twice immediately. Furiously you turn back to see that the second young man had gotten up again. With a scream you run up to him and thus overthrowing him. The two of you wrestle on the ground for a few seconds but then you manage it to get your hands free to grab the knife you had accidently lost. Savagely you drive the blade into his chest multiple times even after he is not moving anymore.

How many holes he has in the end you aren’t sure about; you lost count pretty quickly.

As you slowly move back into reality you look at your hands which are by now completely covered in blood; a look into the window shows you that it’s the same with your face.

You stand there for more than a minute, beholding the strange but appealing beauty of this red vital fluid on your body.

With a deep sigh you eventually turn back to the crowd. The girl with the cuts all over her body is still breathing though just barely. 

“Don’t be smart people. It doesn’t suit you. Don’t ruin this.” With smooth steps you walk through the room back to the girl while everyone listens to your words. “You DON’T ruin this FOR ME!” With these last words you run the knife into the coughing girl’s heart. She stops breathing immediately.

You sit down next to her for a moment; the blade is still stuck in her chest. Everyone’s eyes are now on you as if they were waiting for you to choose the next to kill. You look around slowly, curiously, taking in every look that is given to you.

“You see, you don’t intervene.” You’re speaking quietly, unsure if to really address the people in the room. “You don’t do that otherwise it just doesn’t work!” Now you do look up into their faces. Someone has to be blamed after all. “I just- I just want to do this. You don’t destroy this for me. I’ve already kept this back for far too long.” You reach for the knife in the girl’s chest, it takes a few tries until you manage to pull it out. “To you I’m the bad-guy in all this. But-” You let out an almost sarcastic laugh. “Let’s be honest here, people.”

You are now standing in the middle of the room again, observing every single one of those kneeling fools. None of them even have the chance to react as you flash around to the people next to the windows, grab one of the boys by the shoulder and push the knife through his lower skull.

The people next to you shriek back, behind you some girls are screaming again.

With a jolt you pull the blade out of the boy who immediately falls over. You push him aside then look at your tool once more to taste its crimson cover before you address the crowd again:

“We all have our dark little secrets and we all need to blow off some steam from time to time.”

“You’re crazy!” it suddenly comes from on of the girls near the backroom corner.

“Am I?” You smile at her; not mockingly but still somehow amused. “That’s nice of you to think but I believe that I have to decline that statement. Trust me-” You now look her directly into the eyes and you can see that she has to force herself not to turn away. “I am fully aware of what I’m doing.”

“Don’t you have any regards for human life?!” She spits the words in disgust but eventually breaks visual contact.

“As much as you like to think that: I’m not a psychopath.” You still look at her but you speak up loud enough for everyone to hear. “Don’t presume to know what I feel like! As much as I want to…” For a second you pause and lower your eyes. “I cannot act completely without remorse.”

A strange silence follows this answer. Somehow everyone’s look wanders towards you, either directly or in mind.

“Then…” the girl carefully speaks up again. “Why are you doing this?”

For another second it’s quiet then you flash around and lay the knife onto her throat.

“Because I want to!”

Your eyes wide opened you stare at her. She doesn’t look away but doesn’t utter another word. Her breathing is heavy, she doesn’t dare to move another muscle afraid that you will slit her throat next. However, you slowly move the blade away from her rosy flesh while you even give her a well-meant smile.

For a moment you are lost in thoughts and just keep quiet while your gaze wanders along the row of windows. It couldn’t have been a nicer day. At least they were not dying on a rainy grey afternoon. It would only be too typical if a day of death was accompanied by a stormy dark mood. It’s an ordinary day for ordinary people.

That’s all they are: ordinary.

“So! How can we make things a bit more special?”

You are out of your trance and put on a sneaky grin again. You pause as if you expected someone to actually reply something. “Ha! I thought someone would say ‘You could let us go.’” You laugh, the only one to do so.

Slowly you pace through the room like a lion choosing her pray; elegant but deadly. You like the idea of this picture but the others are too oblivious to see it as well.

Your eyes fall onto a boy sitting against the wall who you recognise. He’s one of those people who points at you and laughs when you walk by. You should know, after all he has done it to you several times.

“And you thought I never noticed…” you sigh as you approach him.

“It’s me next?” He tries to sound unimpressed but doesn’t quite manage it. “Sure you can take me on?”

“Don’t play the cool guy!” you interrupt him. “How could anyone ever like someone like you?”

You draw near him but he surprises you and launches forward.  He throws you to the ground and instantly kneels over you as to apprehend you from moving. You try to struggle but then he starts punching you. Soon you can feel a swollen lip and begin to taste blood. The next punch is going to break your nose and the one after that will knock you out, you’re sure of it. Then it would all be over already.

This was NOT going to happen!

The boy’s fist hits your nose, you hear it crack and then his look stiffens.

You had managed it to move your arm and thrust the knife into his abdomen.

“You wish!” you hiss in his face before you pull the blade out and push him off you. Now he lies under you, now he’s at your mercy.

He’s fighting heavily, you realise that he won’t be so easy. The first thrust goes into his left hand. He screams as he looks into the hole in his palm but is interrupted by his own second shriek as you drive the second thrust through his right hand, pushing it to the ground and sticking the blade into the floor.

He is still struggling but now it is only pathetic to look at. Delightfully you are laying your hands around his throat and slowly start to apply more and more pressure. Sure, it takes longer and isn’t bloody but to see the life leaving his eyes gives you such a fantastic feeling of excitement which makes this completely worth it.

You don’t loosen your grip until his chest stops moving and even then it takes a few seconds before you take your hands off. After all you want to be sure that he is not standing up again.

“I could have taken you on any time I wanted.” you whisper into his ear before you finally get off him and let yourself fall against a table you had pushed aside during your struggle. Almost bored you look at the body next to you and sigh deeply.

“Thanks”

Surprised you look up and see that a girl only sitting a few feet away to your left is looking directly at you.

“Thanks?” you reply doubtfully.  “That’s something new.” You smile at her but she is unable to reply it.

“This guy has been laughing at me and insulting me for over a year…” She quivers and speaks without looking at anyone and still she has your full attention. “I’ve been afraid to come here every day. Somehow he would always turn up where I was, I don’t even know why…” Her voice trails off into a tremoring whisper. “I just never knew what to do…”

She closes her eyes and falls silent. It’s clear to you that she feels uncomfortable about this whole thing but you also heard the touch of relief in her voice as she spoke her words.

“Don’t feel ashamed of this.” you tell her. She doesn’t move. “It’s okay to think a little madly sometimes…” She doesn’t want to answer but you don’t blame her; people have difficulty with embracing their more unusual and dark psyche.

You watch her for a few more seconds then your look falls back to the knife in the boy’s hand. After some wobbling to and fro you eventually manage to pull it out as blood drips from its tip. Admiringly you behold the blade for a longer moment while slightly tilting it to see its red shade in the light of the sun.

“Isn’t this the most beautiful colour you have ever seen?” Although you don’t expect a reply it still kind of bothers you that no one answers you.

“Aren’t you all simple minded little fools?” you laugh as you rise to walk through the room once more. “How are people like you even able to enjoy life? No one seems to be able to recognise what is important; how it’s not only about work, appointments and finding a partner. You’ve got to live in the here and now otherwise you will regret it later.”

You stop in the front of the room where a group of all made up girls in too short skirts is cowering. They start to cry as they see that you decided to focus on them, desperately trying to move further away from you into the room’s corner. But there’s nowhere they can go anymore.

You grab the fake blonde in the middle but the others try to hold on to her, however their strength is a joke to you and soon you have the girl in your arms. You take her hand in a loving motion and even smile at her.

“Never shrink away from something you want to do.”

And before the girl even has the chance to react you have already twisted her wrist and made three deep vertical cuts into her arteries. The blood splashes over yours and the girl’s face as she falls to the floor, screaming in agony. You pick up another girl from the group who tries to slap and get away from you but her struggle is useless as you cut her throat and throw her down next to the blonde. You kneel down to the two of them, observing that the yellow haired girl tries to hold her wounds with her other hand. You take this as an unintentional reminder and grab her other wrist to slash it as well. Both girls are still breathing under their heavy trembling as you behold the two in an observational fashion.

“Now, let’s see who manages to stay up longer.” You even stay down for a moment to look into their faces which are full of agony and despair. They are crying and trying not to waste too much breath while holding their wounds with their hands as to not lose more blood.

“-come quick, please! Hurry!”

The words are spoken quietly but you can still hear them and turn around sharply. And just as you feared there was a boy nervously hissing into his mobile phone. You run towards him as fast as you can and take the phone out of his hands and slap him out of the way.

“I’m sorry!” you say as calmly as you are able to right now. “My friends and I are having a party and we forced one of us to prank-call the police. I’m sorry we bothered you, it won’t happen again.”

“Are you share that everything is okay?” the woman replies doubtfully on the other side.

“Absolutely, miss. I’m sorry that-”

“RICHARDS STREET 25, JUST COME! PEOPLE ARE DYING!”

As quickly as you can you cancel the call and turn around furiously. A girl right behind you had screamed the address of the building out of her lungs.

“Next person who tries to play the hero or touches his phone won’t get such a nice treatment as the others!” With those words you throw the phone against the wall right above the hero-girl’s head.

You start pacing through the room, ruffling nervously through your hair. You know what you hadn’t cancelled the call fast enough and the police woman certainly would not let this call pass without any suspicious thoughts.

“What’re you gonna do now?” It is the girl from before who had called you crazy and asked you why you were doing this. “You can’t kill all of us before the police will arrive here.”

“Do you want me to try?” you reply with a smile. “Until the woman decides to tell her officers about this five minutes pass plus another ten to fifteen minutes in which they discuss whether to come here or not what they will most likely do which takes another ten minutes. This adds up to about twenty five to thirty minutes.” You try to give her a self-confident expression but you know that it doesn’t seem as good as you want it to be.

“Well, this is a little unfortunate…” you sigh as you start walking through the room again. Eventually you stop at the two girls to see what had happened to them. The girl with the cut throat isn’t moving any longer while the other girl’s chest is still, although just barely, moving. Slowly you bow down to her and behold her with a tired expression. “Well, at least someone won something.” you say in an airy fashion. “Congratulations” You slam the blade into her chest and thus ending her final struggle; an almost relieved expression lies on her face as you see her eventually leave.

But somehow it doesn’t excite you as much as the other ones before.

You realise that it would not take any longer before the police would storm into this room. Leaving is an option you never had in mind from the beginning but it slowly seems to become the only logical solution to get out of this situation. In thought you put your hands into your pocket and get out the key which you had taken away from authority to lock the door.

“You’re not gonna leave, are you?” asks the same girl again, this time in a scornful manner. “Are you a coward after all?”

You laugh at her words but can’t help it to think about them. “You just want me to get caught, don’t you?”

“I want you to stand in for what you did!” she replies angrily.

“But I also want to continue what I did today.” you answer her and look at the key again. Your glance wanders to the door.  

Suddenly the girl throws herself at on you and pulls at your hand. She forces your hand open and you lose the key. The girl takes it and you take a swing with the knife but you stop the blade before it touches her.

“Give it to me!”

“If we’re not allowed to leave, you’re neither!” she screams and kicks you in the stomach.

You fall back and she stands up, rushing towards the door but you run after her. The two of you struggle along the back wall until you end up at the window side. The girl manages to get her hand free and then you already see her throwing the key out of the opened window.

“You stupid bitch!”

Madly you turn around to her and she closes her eyes with a scared expression. But you only stare at her, the hand with the knife tremors nervously. You think about slashing her but as she notices that you don’t do anything she looks up to you again; you can’t move.

“So” she says slowly as she finally dares to react. “What’s gonna happen now?”

You want to give her a witty and calm answer but can’t think of anything and eventually just walk past her into the middle of the room. Faster and faster you start pacing to and fro, not knowing what to do or how to react. This is not how this was supposed to go! You just wanted to-

You scream in desperation so that everyone in the room looks at you.

Something! Just something had to be done!

“This is not how I wanted it to be!” you say. “This is not how it was supposed to end!”

The people in the room observe you carefully, afraid of being attacked in your rage out of a sudden. 

“What did you think would happen?” the girl now addresses you again. She is still at the back wall and has now fixed you with a serious look. “Did you honestly believe you could kill every single one of us and then just walk out of here without getting caught?”

“No! I just- I just wanted to-” You tear your hair in frustration, not having the slightest idea what to do next.

“In what kind of fantasy world do you live?”

The girl still isn’t quiet, why does she say those words?

“What happened to you that you are doing this today? Is it us, is it your family, is it society? Is this some kind of weird vendetta? What are you trying to prove? Do you-”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!”

You have stopped pacing and now your look is fixed upon her as well. She has no clue and yet she talks as if she knew who you are. Nobody knows who you are, who you can be.

“You don’t have the faintest idea what I am capable of! I want you all to know that no one’s behaviour can be taken for granted. I’m as normal as they come. They being every single of you. I am not crazy. I’m simply living out what no one else dares to do in a ‘behaved society’.”

Now you let your gaze wander over the crowd, occasionally looking someone directly in the eyes.

“Have you never asked yourself what it must be like to end a human’s life? Did you never just want to let go off it all and just run wild?” You smile a bit as you think about your next sentence; you like its metaphor. “We’re being a Jekyll all our lives but so often we wish that we could just let out our Hyde.” You can see that even the girl smiles briefly about your comparison and you a feel a bit better. “You have to live in the moment. Life is too valuable to be wasted one moment. It can end every and at any second.” You smile gently. “As we have seen today.”

The looks of you and the girl meet again and you quietly stare at each other for a few seconds. 

“And you couldn’t have just done boxing or something like that?” she asks mockingly.

The two of you share a warm laugh.

“I should have considered that.” you say quietly. “Well, perhaps it becomes an alternative for passing time later…”   

“Later?” the girl inquires carefully. “You mean when you are…”

A deep sigh exits your throat as you look at her with raised eyebrows.

“Let’s be honest.” You take a look at your wrist watch. “Probably when I’m in prison.”

“You won’t try to run away from this?” she asks.

You snort a silent laugh. “As if I could. You threw the key for the locked door out of the window of a fourth floor room. And I only got about five minutes left anyway before the police come here to look into this matter.”

Your glance wanders from her to your hand in which you are still holding the bloody knife. Its blade is completely covered in red and so are your hands. Now that you look at yourself you see that your clothes are sprinkled with blood, even the soles of your shoes. You scan the room and see bloody footprints all over the ground. In the pools of red water ten people are lying dead all over the room. The others who had backed away are still cowering at the walls. The tables and chairs you had wildly pushed aside to capture your victims that tried to struggle.

You take a look at your watch again. Not long now, you could slowly prepare yourself.

“I guess this will go into evidence anyway…” You look at the knife then you carefully place it on the floor in front of you. While your gaze glides over to the girl next to you, you slowly get up and walk over to the window to look outside. Multiple police cars are already standing outside the building. Any moment now.

“Are they here?” the girl asks.

You keep still for a moment then you turn around to her and just nod. But as you look in her direction you see that the knife doesn’t lie on the floor any longer. The girl follows your look and recognises it too in slight shock.

“Okay, who’s got the knife?” you ask into the room in an annoyed tone. Carefully you take a few steps forward while looking around slowly. “Come on!” You stretch the words to make it sound more casual but you can’t help it that you feel nervous. “It’s a bit late to play the hero, don’t you think?”

It is quiet for a few seconds and just as you suspect something to happen you get thrown over from behind. You fall over immediately and see about you one of the young men who wields the knife in his hand.

“I can’t let you get away like this! You don’t deserve it!”

You struggle and desperately try to break free but you fear that nothing is gonna help to get you out of this this time.

But then you see the girl running towards you, she grabs the boy by his shoulders and pulls him away as hard as she can. He falls back and she forces his hand open so she can get the knife from him.

For a second the three of you stop to breathe and you can hear multiple heavy steps outside in the corridor.

But before you can react the boy is on you again, forcing you down and ascending his fists into your face. Again the girl starts pulling at him but this time he is prepared and doesn’t fall over. He pushes her aside and keeps punching you. You struggle and try to defend yourself but you know that he has the better position. You can hear the girl slamming against the door and screaming that they should hurry to come in. You try to crawl away from the boy but he seems like he doesn’t want to stop. Over and over his fists hit you and you start feeling numb all over your body.

But then you see a flash of movement; the girl runs towards you with full speed and throws herself on the boy so that the two of them fall off you. You can finally get up and look at the girl who also stands up after pushing the boy aside; quickly she picks up the knight which she had lost during her attacks and had landed near the boy.

The police are starting to kick the door down, they will be through any moment. You nod towards the girl’s hand.

“Do you give me this last one?”

She stares at you, her hand shivers. Quickly you walk up to her and you even believe to see her raise the hand towards you but you just take the knife from her and run to the boy who also comes at you fiercely. But he won’t stand a chance.

This second the door swings open with a crash and several police men storm in. They point their guns at you but the exact moment they come into the room you drive the blade through the boy’s chin up into his brain.

For a second the police men are shocked then one of them says “Put down the knife!”

You pull the blade out of the boy who immediately falls to the ground. Then you slowly put your hands in the air and let the knife drop. Quickly the police men draw in on you and after a few seconds you find yourself in handcuffs. They are telling you your rights as they lead you out of the room but you aren’t listening. You look at the girl a last time before the police officers bring you away and into the corridors of the building. The people you pass look at you scared and in shock. They don’t even know yet what has happened. But you don’t care. You did what you wanted to do, you are satisfied. Everything else is unimportant.

Epilogue

They secure your hands and feet before they lead you anywhere. They have learned not to take any risks with you since you get bored quickly. But in general you are an inmate that knows how to behave.

You are allowed to receive visitors in the usual little hall as the others but up until now it had only been your parents and your siblings since the first day that had come to visit you. But as you enter the hall you see a girl that’s neither your mother nor your sister. Slowly you sit down but with a gentle smile on your face.

“It’s you.” you simply say. “I’m honestly a little surprised to see you here.”

She even smiles a bit as well.

“I’m not quite sure why I came.” she answers slowly. “I guess I just wanted to see what has become of you.” She scans you for a second. “Your trial was quite the big thing in the news.”

“I hope it was.” you reply with a laugh. “I’m not that aware of it since I was busy being IN court.”

She laughs mildly back at you.

“You plead guilty.” she says.

“Of course.” you answer and now look her directly in the eyes. “I stand in for what I do.”

She beholds your expression for a moment then she shakes her head.  “No plea of innocence because of insanity?”

You can’t help but laugh. “My lawyer actually tried that!” you say amused. “But I told him that this wouldn’t work with me.”

She avoids your look and you can see that she blushes. You look at her but don’t say anything.

“Well…” she starts talking again. “Then I guess the book I got you as a gift could appear to be a bit… ironic.”

You stare at her in surprise as she reaches into her bag and gets out a little wrapped square. You take it with a polite nod.

“Don’t open it here!” she hurries to say.

You smile at her and nod again. “How are things with the others?” you ask her curiously.

Now her face stiffens a little but she is thinking about an answer.

“They try to forget about it all now.” she eventually says. “They were glad when you landed you here and now they just wanna continue with their lives.”

“And you?” you reply. “Have you forgotten?”

She looks at you and then shakes her head.

“No. I won’t.”

You smile mildly at her.

The guard comes to tell you that your time is over.

“Thanks for visiting!” you tell her as you are led away and smile. You hope that she will visit you again but you don’t expect it from her.

Without a word between you and the guard you are brought back to your cell and your restraints get taken off. You sit down on your little hard bench and open the present. As soon as you see the title you really have to laugh a bit. But you lie back against the wall of your prison cell and start reading Robert Bloch’s Psycho.