#i mean you can go home if you're not having fun.gif

[princessnijireiki]

girl, you're way too old to be on here bitching about an interactive fiction app. keyword being fiction. go live your own life.

[singtheskyandfightlikehell]

Do I hate Oswald?

So I’ve been informed that a lot of people one Twitter took my last fic to mean “I hate Oswald” and that’s... I’m not sure if that’s more funny or sad. Idk how many gotham followers I actually have, but in case anyone cares, I thought I would clarify exactly how I see Oswald.

Do I love Oswald? If by ‘love’ you mean I have a deep desire to coddle him and claim that he has never done anything wrong, than no. I don’t.

I love Oswald as a villain. I love the evil in Oswald. If he were a real person, I would not. But he is a fictional character, and his actions are not presented in a way that is likely to inspire real people to do harm, so I see no issue in admiring him for his ruthlessness.

Oswald’s real superpower is his ability to fast talk his way out of anything. He does terrible things, and when someone confronts him about it, he’s such a cunning strategist that he can pull an excuse out of thin air. In minutes he can have people who hated his guts thinking that he was actually working in their favor. And when he knows it’s a lost cause? When he knows the person is on their guard against his manipulations? He turns to strength in numbers. A few words to a mob, a small deed to “prove” he means it, and suddenly he’s made an army from the public. And when keeping that army becomes a greater cost than a reward? He drops them, because they meant nothing to him. If they turn on him, he’ll just do the whole thing over again.

That’s impressive. I love watching Oswald weave a web of lies around person after person in Gotham. I love how he can turn anything into a strength. When he’s lost his power, he puts on the most believable facade of vulnerability to lower his enemies’ defenses, and once they’re down, he strikes.

He’s a ruthless businessman, murderer, and strategist. He’s so absolutely amazing at it that he can convince others to do the work in building and rebuilding his empire, and they think it’s for them. I mean, there’s nothing more fun than white-washing a fence, am I right? And if he loses everything? Sure, it’s annoying, but does that stop him? Not in the slightest. Earlier on, yeah, he nearly gave up, but he moved past that. He developed as a character, and now a little stumble is nothing in what he sees as his destiny to rule Gotham.

I love every moment of it.

But what makes for a good business strategy does not make for a healthy relationship. Time and time again Oswald has shown a Machiavellian attitude, especially when it comes to the ends justifying the means. And in business? In politics? In organized crime? Maybe that works. Doing something bad to someone and coming up with a reason why it was good for them after the fact is fine and dandy when it comes to power plays and criminal politics, but it’s completely unacceptable in a relationship. In a relationship, you don’t do things to each other, you do them with each other. Nothing gives you the right to make decisions for someone else, not even universally sanctioned True Love™.

I also see no reason not to hold Oswald accountable for his actions. As a natural manipulator myself, who spent years studying manipulation to ensure I wouldn’t accidentally do it to people I care about, I have no problem seeing through the lies Oswald tells Gotham time and time again to regain their support each time something terrible happens to them (at his hand or another’s). He is a fully capable adult, with no conditions clouding his judgement, so he should be responsible for all the horrible things he’s done.

And yet, I still tend to root for him. Sometimes he goes too far, and I don’t excuse it when he does. But usually, he is the one I want controlling Gotham. I cheer on his victories, and I admire his skills at manipulating people. Frankly, if there’s one thing I truly dislike about him, it’s his stans. To me, it’s far more disrespectful to call him a little bird or imply what he really needs is a big strong man than it is to say sometimes he can be a dick. But people are gonna do what they’re gonna do, and I’m not about to make myself mad over the fact that I think their takes are bad. That’s why I know where the unfollow button is.

Like I said, Idk if it’s more funny or sad... the way I’ve seen people talk about Oswald leads me to believe they bought the bullshit he spews to the people of Gotham. I guess that impresses me even more, though - he’s such a good liar, he’s convinced people in our world, not just his lmao. I fucking wish I could be that good at manipulation.

tl;dr: to all the people on twitter whining about how I hate Oswald, I actually love him. I love him for being an evil fucking bastard who tricks and manipulates people at a scale I could only dream. But I also hold him accountable for his actions. I love Oswald as a character. He impresses me far more than he annoys me. Tbh, the thing about Oswald that annoys me most (and the reason why I don’t follow them) are his stans