#gothambutnotreally

made a little sketch to procrastinate working on a bigger drawing 💔

i don’t remember if I’ve spoken about this aspect of Ed (or if connor has spoken of it on his acc) but frankly I don’t care enough to check so I’ll explain!

Ed has a not so great habit of leaving the manor for. Long. Long periods of time. Sometimes it can just be days or a week, but sometimes it can be months. Usually no real estimation, and any estimation given usually ends up running longer than expected. He does this so he can properly focus on his Riddler schemes, needing complete isolation to properly work, aside for occasionally bringing in some lackies. It takes a lot of time to think of, plan out and build the things he needs for his schemes, and Oswald is unfortunately (in ED’S own words), “distracting”.

Which is sort of fair! Oswald is a LOT. She’s needy, will cause arguments on purpose purely for the sake of it, doesn’t particularly take an interest in Ed’s own interests and just wants them to do things she wants to do, ultimately he’s very annoying to be married to (Ed is too, don’t worry). Ed is just.. not really made to be in the company of someone who needs so much attention for a long period of time, especially when Oswald is so emotionally draining to him. This is his way of getting space, he just goes about it in a very bad and very extreme way.

some Oswald doodles from the other day!

I’ll have to collect my thoughts on how I want to go about the s2 Arkham plotline another time. But it’s pretty much same idea, with Strange conditioning Oswald to have an aversion to violence. HOWEVER. It is not using that stupid machine. I’m just gonna lean into the Clockwork Orange angle, which I’m fairly sure is what this plotline was always meant to reference. Being sat and forced and watch violent imagery and films, but unlike how they go about it in Clockwork Orange I think I’m gonna stick with shocks rather than drug induced nausea. That could be subject to change though, I need to do more research on the effectiveness of specific aversion therapies.

ALSO another detail that is changed with this arc is that Galavan is very much still around and involved! Oswald was admitted on ATTEMPTED charges. This entire program of “rehabilitation” with prisoners is going to be apart of Galavan’s mayoral campaign, something about being able to eradicate crime in Gotham. This gives reason for the entire experiment to take place, because the shit with Strange like,,, making monsters in the basement? Gone. That plotline is gone, sorry! To me that whole plotline is when the show started to go downhill. He is still very unethical and does MENTAL experiments and such purely for fun, but this version is just a littleeee more grounded than the show and other iterations. Oswald is essentially the face of the program, being paraded and such by Galavan for his campaign once she’s “cured”, and then subsequently tossed away with no aid. From that point it’s fairly similar to the show when she was in that weird state. Still a tad different though since the entire step family arc is also cut. I’ll have to get into that another time.

you've never seen yaoi this toxic

i feel that sometimes this is not expressed but . ed is the worst person in the whole wide world! hope everyone knows that.

Oswald is AWFUL too don’t get me wrong but eughhhh ed makes me want to punch him in the face. The thing about Ed you all might not know is that he is so horribly CONFIDENT. Which normally is a good thing! But despite literally Every person in his life besides maybe his. mom. genuinely hating or just disliking him, he somehow has the idea in his head that he is the best person around and everyone loves him.

This leads to him being overly… comfortable, in his relationship with Oswald. He feels that he could do literally anything and that she would never leave him- at least not permanently. He can disappear for months, be emotionally abusive, just kinda terrible and yeah they’ll argue but nothing will ever ACTUALLY happen.

Of course this is due to his overconfidence in Oswald’s view of him, but also because he feels a sort of. Ownership? Over her? That’s just kind of how he is in relationships. While he does respect Oswald more than he’s respected anyone else in his life, there is still an aspect of viewing her as a possession that is just permanently linked to him.

Oswald hates this. She is incredibly insecure in their relationship, and what is kinda shitty on his end is that she wants Ed to feel the same way! She wants Ed to stress and cry and be so desperate for attention the same way she is, but that isn’t the case. Ed finds any idea of her leaving him ridiculous, and he makes that clear to her! Because really, WHO ELSE is she gonna be with? Who else is gonna love her and put up with her issues? No one. At least, that’s the idea he gets across and Oswald believes.

(Oswald is soooo terrible too I cannot stress enough that they are equally terrible but I was in a mood to talk about Ed. This is just one of the many aspects of him that aren’t Great unfortunately.)

um. it was an okay start! but im also realizing I've been in this fucking fandom for 3 years now let me OUT (im barely in the actual fandom my version of Oswald is not entirely even the shows version anymore she's my OC basically)

Death Comes to the Banquet Table by Giovanni Martinelli (painting in background)

Finally an actual plot point!

Run down. The S3 betrayal arc is… different in plot but similar in execution. There is no Isabella, there is no other woman in the first place. In this AU Oswald betrays Ed by giving away some very, very important plans belonging to Ed, to the Batman. Batman is not a child in this, he’s an adult but not as old as Ed or Oswald. The topic of Batman is one of the biggest changes in this AU, which I’ll likely get into another time. But regardless, Batman is still a fairly new figure in Gotham, just as Ed is a new figure as a villain.

Ed had plans for what he considered to be a “debut” in his villainy, moreso than in S2. Now he feels fully confident in himself, not having to hide behind the GCPD. Oswald.. views Ed’s schemes as more of a fun thing, rather than what Ed sees them as, which is something that is shaping his life. So, here comes The Bat going to the guy everyone goes to for information- The Penguin. Oswald doesn’t see much harm in giving him some information on what Ed’s going to do, it’s just a quick and easy way to get a favor from Batman. It’s not like Ed’s THAT invested in this, right?

He is that invested.

Batman DEMOLISHES Ed the night that things are meant to go down. Oswald didn’t intend for this, but it happens nonetheless. This is the pivotal “betrayal”, after half a season of building up their friendship and budding relationship much more than the show does. Ed finds out it was Oswald that ratted, and is furious. Similar to the show, he methodically ruins her life.

At this point they’re both quite aware they had feelings for eachother, and that it was likely mutual. As a cherry on top, Ed figures it’d be especially clever to invite Oswald to a “dinner”, clearly implying romantic intentions. Oswald is thrilled, naturally. The dinner seems pleasant for the most part, despite the fact that Oswald’s mostly the only one talking. The only one… eating.

Ed only really talks later into the meal, calmly asking about Batman. It’s at this point Oswald starts to feel a bit dizzy, tired even. As if there was something in her food.