#gifset part 1 out of something for dis map

[nvoc]

TINY GLADE ; 04

[bandicoot88]

Gotham Discussion

Here’s an idea on what’s going on with Ed/Riddler in Season 5, and how it involves Oswald (sort of)...

SPOILERS!

He’s messed up in the head (when isn’t he though?), due to Strange  tampering with him. Riddler is waking up in random spots all over the city, and he thinks Ed is the one controlling him. He MIGHT be, but I don’t believe he is.

Also, a thing to point out, when I got an ask about this. Oswald and Ed/Riddler (I’m gonna call him Ed for arugment’s sake) did not meet in episode 1 of season 5. Several weeks have passed, and neither of them mention the other. Truth is, actually... I’m starting to believe that Oswald might think that Ed is dead. Why? Because Oswald would know something is going on with Ed, and would ask Strange about it. I thought this wouldn’t be the case at first, since Oswald doesn’t show real surprise until Ed mentions the dog’s name, but who’s to say those scenes played out in that order?

If Oswald thought Ed was dead, there would be no reason to seek out Strange to question him. In turn, why hasn’t Ed gone to Oswald sooner? If he knew Oswald was responsible for bringing him back to life, Oswald would be the first person Ed would seek out, rather than sticking pins in a map for God knows how long, cooped up in the library by himself.

In a nutshell, neither of them have a need to seek out the other, because they are being lied to/kept in the dark about what’s going on. It would also make it a little less creepy for Oswald to name his dog Edward, because while we all love the idea, in truth, it is a little bit isn’t it? But not if Ed was dead, or thought to be dead. It’s a way of keeping Ed’s presence alive, to not let the name be forgotten, and to give Oswald that normality he was use to back in season 3 when he was mayor.

Going back to Ed, I believe Ed might not return in the mirror, or in person... not as the other half at least, because I believe he will, or, already is merged with Riddler, and become one. I spoke about this before in that the split personality thing can’t go on forever, because it’s not practical, and something more along of what Two-Face is like.

Ed has always had problems discovering who he is, and I think Oswald might be the one to awaken him to realize who he truly is, and Oswald has often spoken about how he can see Ed for who he is, and who he can become. When Ed became Riddler, as he put it, Oswald disapproved for a while, refusing to speak his name, etc. Maybe he was foreshadowing the real Riddler, a combination of the two minds. Oswald wasn’t even aware of Ed’s other self until mid-season 4, but he still voiced in that he could “see” him. It makes sense, right?

It might also explain Ed’s vagueness in how he feels about Oswald. Maybe, in a sense, he didn’t love Oswald, because he didn’t know how. When people talk about Ed “not realizing his feelings for Oswald”, I find it a little unrealistic. He’s had years to figure out whether he either does love Oswald, or doesn’t. It’s not normal to be going through life wondering the answer to that question for that long, without a good reason.

I read something recently about Ed’s subconscious (I think it was here on Tumblr), in that when Ed killed Kristen, it was an accident, but Riddler saw her as a threat, so that part of Ed strangled her to keep her from going to the police. Ed was distraught, while Riddler didn’t care, and even made a game about where he’d hidden the body.

This might explain Ed’s vagueness/mixed signals in what’s going on, because he can’t stick to one thing, as his mind is somewhat fuzzy. It might also explain the dark Ed/middle ground Ed we see in season 2 and 3. He seems like a mixture of both, and again, something I read (this time in a fanfic), is that those times where he merged were often in the presence of Oswald.

When Oswald “died”, Ed tried to become Riddler, but what exactly happened with him? There was no switching between the 2 personas, he just “became” Riddler on his own terms. When he got thawed out from being frozen, normal Ed was back for a time, and he liked being that person until Riddler took over, with the help of Oswald, releasing him from his mind prison.

In season 5, I don’t really want to see Ed just falling in love with Oswald, as it won’t feel authentic, because all this build up with them... what would it have been for? Ed asked Oswald “Do you believe in fate?”, and I even made a gifset on the times they met, the times they saved each other, etc. They keep coming back into each other’s lives. What I need is for Ed to essentially get fixed, and I want Oswald to help him realize who is, what he feels, etc. A man doesn’t not go around calling himself only Riddler while refusing to be acknowledged as Ed. People still have names! Riddler is not a name, it’s a title/persona, like Penguin, or Batman. Riddler can still be Ed.

[vardasvapors]

nirvana in fiiiiiiire

there’s this one nobleman guy named lin shu who was like, royally screwed (+ a family member killed?) by some royalty in china back in um…..idk the dynasty. i think like 1000+ years ago? i’m not sure if screwed means “actually legitimately destroyed their lives” or “besmirched their Honor™ in some inconsequential way”, but anyway lin shu concocts some sort of diabolical Revenge plot to screw them over back, but it’s really dumb. by ruining his uncle’s birthday party? and killing people i think. or seizing control of the kingdom? it’s supposedly long-term but not, somehow

timeline????? i have no idea????

lin shu’s….friend? ex-friend? cousin? rivalrous acquaintance? is jingyan who is a prince I think, who is also plotting to get the throne? or like, maybe lin shu is plotting to get him the throne as part of his revenge plot for ____. anyway they’re super gay

there’s an official love interest too somewhere but no one talks about her except to laugh about how shitty her life is

someone called consort jin is something like a…idk, accomplice to lin shu of undisclosed enthusiasm, or otherwise fucking around in a more sympathetic way

Palace Intrigue™ I’m not sure what the intrigue is about but like….i haven’t seen any battle scenes in the gifsets

because the gifsets are all about stone-faced intense eye contact where 1 guy’s eyeball twitches slightly in the 5th gif and sets off a long capslock tag-ramble of FARCICAL HILARITY in gogolspeak, which is Angsty Feels in normal-people-speak

flashbacks to when all the characters were noblekids + friends before Politics. or maybe that’s just the fanart.

i think the plot is 75% vague forms of dick-waving constipated flirting and 25% revenge, also maybe Honor™

there’s someone called mei changsu(sp?) who is…i have no idea, but someone important

at one point one guy tries to show off @ his ex-boyfriend by pointing to a city on a map by grabbing his x-bf’s sword out of his x-bf’s sheath and awkwardly stabbing the map by pushing his elbow way back and almost getting the hilt caught in his long flappy sleeve

lin shu is trying to be a super machiavellian mastermind but he’s dumb

the finale was Dumb and either ooc or unsatifying. someone died!

everyone’s sideburns are Really Pointy. more than starfleet pointy!