happy super belated new year :3
i've been trying to figure out how the hell to draw MLP ponies for ages - thought i'd make an attempt with jeremiah and jerome! apologies for the white void i'm lazy
...not entirely sure how being identical twins works for ponies, originally wanted jerome to be red as it was more fitting but idm the combo here
(don't look too close these are super super scratchy)
also tysm for the art asks! i should be getting onto them soon ^^
based on the headcanon(?) that Jeremiah got his affinity for makeup from watching his mom put it on
[+] her design is vaguely based on the 10 second clip of her body
[+] she would get Jeremiah to gossip/make fun of the other families at the circus (especially the mothers) as a drunken pastime - bonus points if he said something particularly cruel
[+] was considering including Jerome here too but it's pretty fitting for Lila to pretend she doesn't have another kid apart from her "golden boy", even though they're identical...
Gorgeous art! You somehow completely nail both of Jeremiah’s appearances, and Lila looks fantastic too!
I don’t much care for Lila - as it has been well and truly proven outside of Jerome’s testimony that she was indeed abusive - but your wonderful art helps to humanise her a smidge. She haunts the narrative a fair amount, like a minor and mostly ineffectual Rebecca, but very little is known about her. She’s a drunken whore who slept around and beat her sons, but who was she really? Who was the woman who created two of Gotham City’s most prolific monsters? What would she think of her sons if she could see how they turned out?
This just scratches the itch in my brain a bit. So many opportunities for speculation lurk in Jerome and Jeremiah’s backstory - we know so little, so really anything goes. While I doubt Jeremiah made it out of his childhood unscathed by the wrath of his mother and uncle, he was definitely the favourite. Maybe it’s a sort of (much less creepy) Norman Bates situation, where she loves and adores him, but doesn’t necessarily treat him well.
It is curious to me that no one ever actually comments on Jeremiah’s new look in the show. Aside from one “pale imitation of Jerome” comment from Jim (the comedy of which kills me every time), it’s so irrelevant to everything else that’s going on. There are bombs around the city and this freak just blew the clocktower, who gives a shit if he’s wearing lipstick and has dyed his hair? Because he is definitely wearing makeup now, since his lips seem redder than in the graveyard (although that scene is admittedly pretty washed out…). I also love that he was vain enough to dye his hair, knowing that he probably wouldn’t be too intimidating looking like a ginger snowman.
It has been suggested by many people smarter than me that the gas provided a sort of queer awakening for Jeremiah - as he lost his inhibitions surrounding violence, he also stopped feeling the need to hide, in general, but also in regards to his queerness. Perhaps he played around with his mother’s makeup as a child, less and less as the years went on and masculinity forced its way in, before leaving it behind completely when he left the circus. He’s absolutely more prim and put together after the gas, and it’s no secret that he gained a certain level of self confidence after being ‘set free’.
Comparing the Jeremiah of ‘Mandatory Brunch Meeting’ and that of ‘Ace Chemicals’, they’re essentially completely different characters. He’s entirely lost any and all inhibitions, and is not afraid to be feminine to a degree - wearing much more makeup than before, as well as donning glittery suits and swinging his knife about without a care in the world. A lot of fun queer-coded villain vibes.
Much can be said about the writing between seasons, but S4 Jeremiah is much more understated and realistic, while S5 is more cartoonish and playful. Even in the makeup styles, initially Jeremiah seems to be accentuating his new features without appearing any more unnatural than he already does, perhaps a bit of lipstick, but that’s really it. In season 5 on the other hand (assuming that the prolonged effects of the gas hasn’t changed his appearance over time), Jeremiah is putting on a full clown face every day, on top of his already white skin. The brows, the eyeshadow - the fact that his hair is green now where it was black before, (i know there’s that one very cool shot from the end of season 4, where he looks very Joker-y, but i assume that’s more of a lighting choice and mise un scen than diagetically happening). He’s performing now, enjoying the art in a manner that is a lot more Jerome than what we’ve previously seen of Jeremiah. Ecco starts wearing clown paint to emulate him. And that love of makeup probably started with his mother.
Other matters:
He definitely figured out the father situation too, long before Jerome was ever told.
I like to think that a Post-Gotham Jeremiah/Joker would think fondly of Jerome, and have some level of gratitude for giving him the life he has now. Maybe reading his diary was what pushed Jeremiah over the edge of violence in the end, ‘well, if he thinks be can do that, i just have to show i can do it better’. Perhaps he showed more appreciation for Jerome’s schemes than he let on, finally able to see the chaotic mind at work. You can’t tell me that a modern Joker wouldn’t at least respect his brother’s visionary.
I kind of head-canon that Jeremiah has fleeting moments of lucidity, few and far between, over the years, where he really feels his sins and guilt, where the old (pre gas) Jeremiah slips through the cracks a bit. Maybe in the tears and confusion he visits Jerome’s grave every so often and reminisces on how badly he hurt his brother. He probably doesn’t remember these feelings once they’re done, and doesn’t like to think about it because it unsettles him. Bruce might witness one such moment and it causes him to hold out hope of rehabilitation, right up until Jeremiah kills Jason, after which he closes that off.
Getting really self indulgent here, but I adore the thought of Jerome and Jeremiah not really knowing their birthdate - Lila was too drunk of unbothered to remember - so they, at age four or so, decide that April Fool’s is their new birthday. The twins celebrated together until they were ten, even when tensions were high, and in the years following Jerome kept on, maybe wishing every year that his brother would return. Jeremiah probably abandoned the tradition, never actually forgetting but refusing to put any action into it. Perhaps he picks it up again after Jerome dies the first time, as a sort of guilt ridden apology. Maybe after the timeskip he takes a cupcake to Jerome’s grave whenever he’s out of Arkham for the beginning of April. Talking to a grave and bouncing ideas off of it doesn’t sound too out of character for a post canon Joker, even if he has abandoned the Jeremiah persona. Perhaps he gets picked up by Batman, or, better yet, the GCPD, and has to spin some lie or scheme to prevent them from thinking him sentimental. Ecco would know about the secret day, and Bruce could probably guess without being told, meanwhile Jim is splitting hairs wondering what brutal scheme is being cooked up that Joker would return to his ringleader brother’s grave on April Fool’s. Jeremiah never audibly tells anyone, because he doesn’t care, really, he’s not that person anymore, a stupid made up celebration doesn’t matter to him - but still he keeps quiet. On the rare occasion that he does think about it, he wants to keep it to himself.
I have a lot of thoughts about these two, alright?
I don't have anything intelligible to say in response to this, but I truly, deeply adore your analysis here and the April Fool's day concept is so, so perfect!
I've always had a weird consideration for Jeremiah's grief concerning his mother, especially with it being so two-pronged with her abuse and neglect of the twins. It's mostly just based on his "You killed our mother," line and how he acts there, and Lila's (at least, visual) extravagance being something they share. Even pre-gas Jeremiah was very, very concerned with his appearance - wearing a custom suit in
an underground bunker when he was in hiding, for instance. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say he may have inherited that from a mother who was vain, and overtly focused on what she looked like, so she could attract who she wanted.
That isn't to say he didn't hate her too, but it is exceptionally hard to 100% despise a parent, even when they are objectively cruel, and it is just as easy to share traits with them. Which does tie into Jeremiah being the 'favourite'. I can see Lila pitting him and Jerome against each-other when they were younger, and Jeremiah learning to use Jerome as a scapegoat, which escalated to him hatching his plan to leave. Playing into that role surely gained him praise from her, and heavily fed into the narrative of Jerome being 'the bad one'. Even Jeremiah leaving for St. Ignatius sort of solidified him as superior, in her mind (fucked up dynamic, huh?), though it was ultimately to escape.
While that is by no means a good thing, I imagine it fed into Jeremiah's over-inflated sense of self. Sorry to bring up Wayleska under an unrelated post, but his obsession with Bruce kind of ties into this; he made him feel special. For someone so insular and reserved (at first) I think Jeremiah wants people to be aware of how impressive he is, or at least his intellect is. Which is why complimenting him on the generator ended up getting him out of his bunker... This is purely head-canon at this point, but that could have been rooted in Lila elevating him over Jerome at a young age. He wants to be picked above everyone else, and cannot stand it when he isn't. Case in point: inserting himself into the middle of Bruce's trauma. He wants to be the star of the show.
It's with Jerome this act or expectation(?) sort of drops off. Since Jerome doesn't view Jeremiah as a saint, or a tragic figure, he just sees his shit-heel brother. Being identical there's this sort of immovable equality to the two of them (though I imagine they do not see it that way at all!), which is why Jeremiah is so fixated on their rivalry. It is exceptionally hard to best someone who can indeed think like you (case in point: Jerome easily navigating the bunker).
Sort of went on a tangent, not entirely sure what my original point was. Thank you for this reblog ^^ it gave me A LOT to think about, I'm sure I could go on...
being a fan of ryan ross at this point is just like being a fan of some dude. some random dude living in LA. you may as well be a fan of the guy who works at your local pizza hut
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