#there's no season one edward nygma stuff either

[riddled-forensic]

SO THERES UNIVERSAL MONSTERS BLIND BAGS RIGHT

108 CHANCE?????????????

THE ONE GOOD JEKYLL AND HYDE FIGURE AND ITS A 108 CHANCE OF GETTING IT. WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS. ALL THE CHARACTERS I LIKE DON'T HAVE MERCHANDICE :,(

[southern-fried-simpin]

Taking some of the Gotham Boys to Spirit Halloween 🎃 | Headcanons

A/N: Saturday was the official start of Spooky Season™ (I mean it actually starts in August but yeah) so I had to make something to commemorate it 🎃Also I apologize that these are so short 😭

Warnings:Jerome, some nsfw implications here

Jerome Valeska

Um…why are you guys here? He doesn’t need a costume, he’s literally terrifying all by himself!

Oh, you wanted a costume? Can he help pick it out please please please?!

He’s taking you to the section with the corsets and tutus Surprise,surprise 🤡

“Babe, look I found the perfect costume for you!” “Jerome that’s literally just a pair of spandex shorts and a studded bra…” “Exactly!” “Okay but what would I be in this?”

He said you’d be his 🤡

Jervis Tetch

He has 3 different Alice costumes picked out for you within 5 minutes of walking in the door

None of them are particularly risqué but still very cute however, you love seeing him flustered, so you naturally go to find a “sexy” Alice costume

Success! You found it and Jervis’ eyes are as wide as saucers and he is blushing profusely

The poor man nearly dropped the costumes he was holding

“Um…d-dear, wouldn’t you rather wear something maybe a bit…longer to our tea party?” “Aw, but this one’s so cute! And look at these striped thigh highs I found, they’d look perfect with it!” GULP

Oh no, he can’t say no to you! Especially when he’s imagining you in that!

“W-well, perhaps we could get this one for just you and I and another one for our tea party with the other guests…” “I like that idea, just let me see if it fits before we checkout!” “No! …you can try it on once we’re home and if it doesn’t fit, we’ll simply bring it back! “

Well, it was a short trip but it was fun, nonetheless

But the real fun starts when y’all get home 🥴

Jonathan Crane

Could he interest you in a scarecrow costume?

Never mind, all of them are either too cute or too…vivacious….

He likes the animatronics and the decorations though

Oh but what’s this? You found some stuff you could throw together to make a spooky scarecrow costume to match with him?

Has he told you he loves you today?

Can and will go back later with toxin and rob the store for decor and novelties you both like

Edward Nygma

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! He has so many ideas for you two!

Ooh what about Frankenstein and his monster? Or Dracula and Mina Harker? GASP! WHAT ABOUT PERSEPHONE AND HADES?!

Ah dammit but there’s no hades costume other than the Disney version

Time to scrounge for supplies!

Okay you’ve both successfully found some cool things to throw together, time to see what you got before checking out!

He had to get a generic black robe but you managed to find a goddess costume that could pass for Persephone

And oh boy he’s blushing…are you sure you want to wear something with such a high slit up the leg to the Halloween party at the gcpd?

“Oh Eddie come on, don’t you want to show me off in front of all those jerks from the bull pen? Maybe get them to shut up for once?” “Well…when you put it that way…yes I think I would!”

Now he can’t wait to see you in your costume 😉

Costumes? No offense, y/n, but you and him are probably a little old for trick or treating.

You have to remind him that there’s a Halloween party at his work and suddenly he’s all giddy and ready to go

Ooh how about he dresses as a police officer and you be his little jail bird?

You could get some handcuffs, maybe one of those adorable totally not slutty striped outfits and…Aw whaddya mean that’s not appropriate for a work function?!

Hm…well now that he thinks about it, maybe the entire gcpd seeing you in a spandex romper and handcuffs isn’t the best idea

He’s willing to compromise and get the striped dress

But you best believe this man bought that romper for some alone time with you

[asilentguardian]

My Thoughts on Gotham

My mom and I finished watching Gotham on December 29th, and this analysis has been sitting in google docs since then. Some of this is a bit incoherent, some of it I wrote as I was watching, and some of it I wrote after finishing the entire show. So here it is. 2,000 words or so of rambling about Gotham. 

My thoughts on the show as a whole: Gotham changed my opinion on a lot of Batman’s villains. I used to be indifferent towards Penguin, now I love him. I used to hate Firefly, now I love her. While there were one or two decisions that I disagreed with, the portrayal of these characters was satisfying and the tone of the show as a whole was refreshing. The writing was good for the most part, however there are issues with sexism and homophobia that I personally noticed.

And now I’m going season by season cause I’m a nerd.

Season One

Season one is a bit of a mixed bag for me. It seemed to me that the show writers and the younger actors were still trying to find their footing and decide what kind of world their Gotham was. Some episodes are slow, but overall it’s intriguing and I was invested after a couple of episodes.

The pilot has a lot of moving parts and it still works. They did a good job of intertwining all of these characters before starting them all on their own paths.

I can’t imagine anyone else playing these roles. I am really happy with the casting choices for this show. Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock, and Bruce Wayne especially.

Fish Mooney is an interesting but welcome edition! To be honest, the first time my mom and I tried to watch Gotham, we hated her. The second time around, however, I LOVED her and her role in the rise of Penguin.

Having Edward Nygma start at the GCPD was a really cool idea! I think they executed his descent into madness perfectly. I wanted Ed to prevail and to be a goodman just as much as I wanted to see the Riddler emerge.

Speaking of the GCPD, the corruption and the conflict within the precinct is very believable and compelling. It’s easy to believe that Jim Gordon is a young and optimistic detective who believes wholeheartedly in doing good. I also appreciate the fact that Jim Gordon doesn’t lose that drive for good throughout the show. I also don’t find it too cheesy, even if it’s a common trope.

The Batman universe is huge so I was expecting references and easter eggs at every turn, and I was half right. There's plenty of references and cameos but they work and they aren’t essential to the plot which helps casual fans keep up with the story.

A lot of seeds are planted during this first season, and it’s rewarding to see them pay off. I don’t feel as if the first season suffers from the thing that a lot of movies do where they are clearly trailers for the next part in the franchise. 

I think my favorite episode of this season is episode 20 “Under the Knife.” The stakes are high and the story line with the Ogre is definitely unexpected and horrifying but in the best way. Also Ed kills Dougherty and it’s very satisfying.

Season Two

Rise/Wrath of the Villains!

Theo Galavan and Hugo Strange were the big bads of this season and I think they were written and acted very well.

Something I’ve noticed about some of the villains on this show and their interactions with children and Bruce in particular is that they’re... unsettling. I suppose that’s intentional and I definitely think it makes some of the villains more intimidating, but it’s really creepy. There are a lot of adults that are preying on Bruce’s innocence in this show. 

Theo Galavan was not my favorite. He was intimidating for a bit, but I kinda grew bored of him. I did enjoy the nod to Azrael. 

Hugo Strange! I was kinda indifferent to him when playing Arkham City but I enjoy him in this show! Loved when he showed up again in subsequent seasons and you immediately knew some Fucked Shit was happening.

So Mr. Freeze. I’m not too sure how I feel about Gotham’s take on this story. The casting is solid, but killing Nora? Not the move. Actually very angry about that to be honest. The Mr. Freeze episode could’ve been so much more compelling and emotional but instead it was a way to move Lee and Jim’s relationship forward :(

They managed to make Firefly not annoying, but I only found Firefly annoying before because of that stupid boss fight in Arkham Origins. But I liked Bridget.

Penguin and Nygma’s relationship is very fun in this season! More on them later, but at least in season two it’s very enjoyable to watch them learn to trust each other. My mom and I adored their story line.

I LOVE Nygma’s character arc in this season. His interactions with Gordon are some of my favorite bits from this season. They are very rewatchable and I find their relationship to be one of the more intriguing ones in the show.

Overall season 2 was decent. Some of the villains were forgettable, but the relationship arcs and character arcs that were compelling kept me interested.

Episode 15, Mad Grey Dawn, was one of my favorites this season. Seeing the Nygma v Gordon thing play out was so so so fun. I really loved being able to follow Nygma’s logic and feel Gordon’s frustration at being framed.

Season Three

Mad City/Heroes Rise!

There’s A LOT I have to say about season 3. I liked it. There’s a couple of big issues I have with season 3, but overall it was compelling and I enjoyed it.

While I’m not usually one for the “this character has a darkness inside of them” trope, I really didn’t mind it with Gordon. I thought it was believable and interesting enough to be engaging. bounty hunter Gordon was pretty fun, too. And hot. Anyway.

The Mad Hatter v Jim Gordon stuff is intense. Episode 6 where Gordon is forced to choose between Valerie and Lee is where the “dark side” trope lost me a little but I do like that they make a point to have Gordon always make his way back to the light. Valerie’s exit felt very rushed and sudden? I don’t know if the actress was written off for some reason, but it felt very weird.

So. Penguin and Nygma. I don’t know if I would necessarily call it queer-baiting, but it definitely doesn’t sit right with me. Here’s the thing about Gotham’s queer representation: it’s not good, but it’s not bad. There is 100% an issue with making all of your queer characters villains. And there’s a HUGE issue with having Barbara’s attraction to women only be present when she’s a) acting as an antagonist to Gordon’s work at the GCPD (Montoya in season one) or b) on the side of the antagonist and framed as crazy (Tabitha in season two). Also, notice how in season five she’s “sane” when she’s with Gordon. It’s homophobia luv.

However, in the case of Penguin and Nygma, the added layer of Penguin’s love for Nygma makes their arc a little more interesting and compelling (there’s still an issue with queer love being framed as toxic and obsessive in this show, but if I don’t stop talking about that this post will be miles long).

The Ivy thing is certainly a new plot device, but I don’t hate it. Took a bit to get used to, but older Ivy makes sense and to be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of child Ivy. Not that her character was bad, but I personally found her a tad annoying.

SEASON 3 EPISODE 14. THE GENTLE ART OF MAKING ENEMIES. I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS. Bruce’s character development in this episode made me extremely happy. I haven’t talked a lot about Jerome-Joker yet, but I really like him. Joker is one of those characters you can take a lot of liberties with and it can either really work or really suck (looking at you Jared Leto). Gotham’s version of Joker, while a bit rushed, is a good fucking Joker.

The reason why I like s3e14 so much is THIS is what the Joker vs Batman relationship is about. This is why they are perfect foils. Batman always has a reason, a method. Motivation and a cause. He believes in Gotham and he believes that EVERYONE has the capacity for good. Joker does things just for the hell of it (i.e. kidnapping Bruce). His point is anarchy and chaos. His point is that everyone has darkness and that they are “one bad day” away from giving into that darkness (subtle nods to The Killing Joke, very nice). This is illustrated SO beautifully in this episode. However, I do see an issue down the line of Joker knowing who Batman is instantly, but I digress.

The birth of Riddler! The development of Penguin and Riddler’s animosity! mwah!

Also. Bruce standing above Gotham in an early version of the suit. There’s no ears or cape but my mom and I were VERY excited. I felt so giddy.

Bruce’s vow not to kill was beautifully framed, props to the DP on that one. It felt nice to hear a live action version of Bruce Wayne say that. (Note from the future: yes he breaks it. Sorta. I’m mad about it, but I explain my feelings in depth later).

Season Four

A Dark Knight!

Alright. Season 4. To be honest, it took me a while to warm up to this one.

Scarecrow. Love his costume. Love his escape. Scarecrow is one of my favorites because he’s creepy and cool and terrifying. Well done. The episode where Jim goes after him is really brutal. He goes there alone, not even Harvey by his side, and he is forced to stare his biggest fear in the face. I loved it!

The Pax Penguina. I’m easily won over by references to old literature and history. This show has made me actually like Penguin. I used to find him annoying and didn’t understand why he was people’s favorite, but this show has proved him to be a competent and cunning villain. I love to hate him. It’s fun seeing him at the top of Gotham.

Riddler’s escape and Nygma’s return. His friendship with Lee and Grundy (Grundy!!). Ed and Lee was certainly an interesting choice. I didn’t hate it, it just seemed really odd. I enjoyed Lee’s rise to power though! 

Sofia Falcone. Not really a fan tbh. Didn’t trust her from the start and it was SO satisfying to see her get shot in the head. Talk about a ruthless mastermind. To be fair, I did love to hate her in the beginning, but then she kinda got on my nerves? The actress that played her was really good though!

Captain James Gordon. Yessir. What a legend. One step closer to Commissioner. But also ouchie he had to go behind Harvey’s back. That subplot hurt so good.

Professor Pyg is. A lot. Gotham is a mature show, but it’s hard to like Pyg even as a villain. He’s unsettling and his episodes are a bit too much. I tolerated him but it just got to be gratuitous. I will say that I am relieved that they weren’t heavy handed on the cross-dressing thing. Would prefer not to see that played for a joke anymore, and this show does not need to vilify queerness more than it has.

Jerome and Jeremiah! ahhhhh!!! What wonderful interpretations of the Joker! Jerome was great, but I think I’m partial to Jeremiah. Maybe because his costume looks so much like the Joker from the animated series and Mark Hamill will always be my Joker. Either way, I LOVED their story line in season 4.

Kinda love Barbara being involved in the League. Very sexy of her. Also very sexy of her to not be dead. 

Alright. Here we go. Ra’s Al Ghul and Bruce Wayne. I have mixed feelings about this. So Bruce kills. Technically he’s not Batman yet, and obviously Ra’s didn’t stay dead, but he already took the oath. I have a hard time staying with any adaptation that makes their Batman a killer, but this one wasn’t awful? And then technically Barbara uses Bruce’s hands to kill Ra’s in the finale. I’m upset that they went with a “what if Batman kills” story line in the first place, but the resolution wasn’t too terrible.

Those last three episodes of season 4. Wow. My mom and I couldn’t stop watching. The nods to The Killing Joke were cool but not too on the nose. The stakes felt high and I was so deeply invested because this story line in particular was very well crafted and planned out and it definitely shows. There’s so many loose ends at this finale, and somehow it works and you still have hope. But holy shit, those bridges coming down, the utter panic and confusion as you’re wondering “is X person okay? what happened to X?” wonderful, chefs kiss.

Season Five

Legend of the Dark Knight!

Oh gosh. I have so much I want to say, but I don’t know how to put it into words. I loved this season. I loved the post apocalyptic vibes of Gotham. Loved the rise of the villains into the people who will one day face Batman. Loved Gordon’s leadership and rise to Commissioner. There’s a few things I have issues with this season, but I’m just so in love with that finale. What a beautiful send off.

I loved how the finale was crafted, how we didn’t see the full Batman suit till the end. I did, in fact, cry when that thing was revealed. The score was beautiful. It felt so much like an episode of The Animated Series, yet so unlike any other piece of Batman media. It was so refreshing to have everything wrapped up nicely, so refreshing to have hope and satisfaction in a finale.

Overall, this version of Gotham City feels like a living, breathing thing that is lived in and flawed. It is wonderful. The set designers did wonderfully and it feels so timeless in the way that the Animated Series did as well. I think that’s part of the reason why I loved this show so much. It made me feel the same way that the Animated Series did.

I know I’ve missed a lot of details and plot lines, so if for some reason you are interested in my thoughts on a particular thing in this show, my inbox is open!!

[phantombmoll]

what do you think about harvey's relationship with other characters (not with gordon)? not only romantic ones, just his interactions with other people?

So I threw this out to tumblr 

I was wondering if there are any topics people might find interesting to read about? Or I mean if you have any Harvey questions you’d like me to answer/want to hear my opinions on, feel free to throw them my way! :) 

and @honestmrdual asked the above. 

So I think about Harvey a lot but it’s generally Harvey on his own, that being said I have thought about his relationships with other people. Romantic and non.

I decided (so that this list wouldn’t get too long) to focus on a select few-

Firstly Friendship and Romances in general and then specific relationships including; Dix, Scottie, Fish, Alfred, Edward (I was going to talk about more but it got so long so I cut half of them haha!)

Generally as a rule I think Harvey is pretty easy going on the romantic and friendship front. I think he picks up friends easily (despite what his friendship with Jim might tell us), there’s a lot of people have a lot of respect for Harvey as evidenced numerous times at the GCPD. I think part of that is because Harvey just has this cheeky charm that you can’t help but love.

I think Harvey has friendships of equal measure with men and women but I think Harvey is pretty old school in his views and I think he thinks that men and women probably can’t be friends without something happening.

Firstly then let’s turn our attention to Harvey and Dix’s friendship

Harvey has known Dix since he was a rookie cop trying to make detective (Nothing Shocking - Harv says as much) and I think he see’s Dix as a sort of mentor and father figure, because of this he wants to take care of Dix, even if he doesn’t always agree with him. I think we see this especially in the episode in season four (Nothing Shocking) when they have their moment in the office and it is a beautiful moment. It’s amazing what two actors can convey with so little to go on and that moment is an example of that. Furthering that idea of the parent/child relationship is the whole scene in Spirit of The Goat where Harvey storms off after saying he’s the smartest guy in the room and then we see him paying the nurse. Harvey rebels against Dix the way a child rebels against a parental figure - pushing boundaries (and thinking they know best) - something which is also evidenced in that first scene of Spirit of The Goat when Harvey, against Dix’s advice goes rushing in to try and stop the Goat. 

You can see that Harvey and Dix care about each other in all their interactions. That Dix doesn’t blame Harvey for his life getting busy and that he doesn’t want Harvey to be eaten up by that guilt.

There’s a hell of a lot of guilt in that relationship on both sides too. Harvey feels it more strongly for the way his actions cost Dix the use of his legs BUT also I think Dix feels it because he’s half the reason Harvey has ended up so jaded and so full of guilt.

They care about each other though and Dix seems to be one of the few characters to actually show concern about Harvey and his wellbeing throughout the seasons even if it’s not explicit.

Next Scottie Mullens and Harvey

- So when Scottie first came into the show (and she’s only in it for two episodes) I was pretty excited to see a potential love interest for Harvey. However this relationship really suffers in the hands of the writers and I think it’s because they just don’t know how to write women, especially not strong women. (I mean look at the rollercoaster of Lee’s portrayal).

In the first moments Scottie meets Harvey she tells him not to be an ass and at first I was excited because it seemed like here we had a woman who could banter with Harvey, but, for some reason this doesn’t feel like banter. It feels like she’s telling him off - which isn’t such a bad thing - only it’s kind of aggressive and if this were the other way round and the gender’s were switched there’d be red flags all over it. Scottie’s second and last appearance is at the start of season 2 where we find out Harvey is engaged. She is incredibly controlling in the two minutes we get of her. She is hostile to Jim, talks over him and Harvey.

She is the epitome of the nagging housewife that was prevalent in so many ‘comedy’ shows of the 60′s and 70′s and Harvey is supposed to be the slightly brow beaten husband.

Personally I don’t think Harvey’s happy, for one he introduces Scottie as his girlfriend not his fiancee. Second he sounds so dejected when he tells her he’s telling Jim no and thirdly after Harvey tells Jim in the previous episode that the civilian life if better there’s a moment where the camera lingers on him and we see a flash that shows he’s not all that happy with it.

I think Harvey - especially in romantic relationships, but it could be argued for platonic ones too - doesn’t think he’s worth much, so he gets himself into relationships that aren’t actually that good for him. “We accept the love we think we deserve.” and I personally don’t think Harvey thinks he’s worth that much. Especially after having to give up his pursuit to be a white knight. I think he’s had it knocked out of him by Gotham. I think this is a reason he visits prostitutes a lot, I think it’s why he gets into these romances with women who treat him, kind of like dirt - there’s a sort of side romance in the first Gotham novel and that’s all kind of messed up.

It’s not just a case of Harvey enjoying BDSM, or being dominated either (though I do think he enjoys being dominated), I genuinely think Harvey believes he isn’t worthy of love and he isn’t worthy of being loved and appreciated properly.

- Harvey and Fish is another romantic relationship that I think runs deeper than just the flirting.

I feel like with Harvey and Fish the relationship there, is one that just never got the timing right. On paper they work well together and they clearly care deeply about each other (though let’s not forget Fish has tried to kill Harvey a few times) BUT I don’t know if that’s also just circumstance that has brought them together. They strike me as the sort of people who SHOULD fit, who SHOULD be good together but then just aren’t and I think, well I headcanon that partly has to do with Fish’s sexual appetites that are referenced a few times throughout the seasons.

- Harvey and Alfred

The moment Harvey and Alfred were on screen together in season 1 (around the episode ten mark), I got SO excited. Alfred is another of my favourite characters, and he was from the start of the series. He’s just so handsome and lovely and british and bond-esque. ANYWAY-

I really like Harvey and Alfred’s relationship because I feel like they have a good degree of respect for each other. I feel like Harvey and Alfred are two sides of the same coin. They’re both a similar age and they both have this want in them to be a white knight but they both know that sometimes you have to do some dirty stuff to get the right stuff done. Both of them seem to recognise the realness of the world around them, both of them have clearly lived and loved and lost. I feel like Harvey and Alfred get in each other in a way Jim could never get either of them because Jim is so No BuT We HaVe tO mAkE gOtHaM bEtTeR and bullheaded and freaking self righteous and Alfred has never been like that with Harvey. Not that we ever see anyway.

Alfred for me is like, not a finessed Harvey, but maybe the man Harvey wishes he was - and I know a lot of people would argue that Jim takes that spot but I really really don’t believe he does, I think there are aspects of Jim that Harvey wishes he could be more like but not Jim on a whole, Harvey has never been an all american boy scout. I believe Alfred is the man Harvey wishes he was and as cliche as it is it might have been nice to see them have a romantic entanglement with the same lady, just to watch some jealousy, competition and back and forthing.

Now we’ll move onto the one that I don’t really want to talk about but have to because I love Harvey, even his bad and horrible points.

- Harvey and Ed

So I couldn’t do a list of Harvey’s relationships without talking about Edward Nygma.

When it comes to Nygma, Harvey is a bully. That’s the only way I can describe it. There’s not much of anything that Ed does to Harvey in those early days that justifies Harvey’s actions towards him. (Not like with Penguin).

I feel maybe with Harvey it’s one of two things;

1) Ed is so unashamed to be himself that it makes Harvey - who is hiding parts of himself and seems to have fractured some of his nature because of this - uncomfortable.

or

2) Ed is just one of those people (and we all have them) who makes Harvey feel uneasy and he can’t quite put his finger on why. - We’ve all met that one person that just makes us feel uncomfortable and we’re not sure why, maybe they’re a little bit creepy, but whatever it is something about us goes on high alert when they’re around and we don’t want to be alone with them for more than five seconds.

It doesn’t justify Harvey’s reaction to Ed or the way he treats him and he ends up contributing to Ed’s downfall, but it does go someway to explain it.

I think it’s quite telling that the one time Harvey tells Ed he’s done a good job Ed is surprised because he never expected praise from Harvey Bullock. I think this slight and temporary change in attitude probably has to do with the fact that Harvey probably hasn’t been hanging around with the same old crowds - like flass - now he’s having to run around with Jim and fighting crime.

Like I said this got super long so if you made it this far well done and I’m sorry not sorry for rambling on so much. Like I said I just love Gotham’s Harvey Bullock.

[malereader-inserts]

Emperor’s New Clothes

Fandom: Gotham Pairing: General & Male!Reader Summary: Done your time and served your sentence, dressed up and watch Gotham die. If it feels good, taste good, it has to be yours. Word Count: 1,655 A/n: I just binge-watched the first three seasons of Gotham and I just had to write more psychopathicish reader. So, Gotham request is open and I will accept: Oswald Cobblepot, Ed Nygma, Victor Zsasz, Jervis Tetch, Jim Gordon, Jerome Valeska (not Jeremiah yet because I haven’t encountered him yet - just started season four)

“Didn’t you hear?”

Nathanial Barnes looked up from Jim’s old desk, he had been hearing whispers and gossips around the station and had wondered what had gotten people in such a wary state. He looked at Jim, who had been wandering in and out of the station, who shrugged his shoulder before the two looked over to Hervey, his feet on the desk and leaning back on his chair.

“(Y/n) (L/n) is back in town,” Harvey spoke, as the two men looked confused, “(Y/n) is part of a very influential and powerful family in Gotham. Rumours about him are quick to be spread around.”

“I’m guessing that’s what everyone is talking about,” Captain Barnes huffed, almost a growl escaped his lips.

“Pin on the murder of his family,” Harvey mentions standing up and handing over a file of you, “Some says he’s killed more than three dozens people, therefore making him the most dangerous person as of now due to having the most murders in Gotham. He’s the only one who could inflict so much fear within Gotham in a space of an hour.”

“Then we arrest him.”

“No can do,” A voice appeared behind Harvey.

Harvey jumped as he turns around, Jim and Captain Barnes looking up from your criminal file. Captain Barnes locks his jaw as Hervey widens his eyes and shuffle back a bit.

There you stood, young and devilishly handsome. Unlike, Penguin, you dress down. A man in his twenties rather not flaunt around in suits or three pieces. If you were to murder someone you couldn’t risk staining a ten gran suit with a speck of blood.

You were far more modest.

Calculating eyes, your hair all nice up as stand against the stair railing. Your arms crossed over your chest and your right leg crossed over your left, your toe against the hard wooden floor. A smug smile had appeared on your face, charming.

“How do you know that?” Barnes challenged, his eyes hardening but you didn’t falter.

“Mr Cobblepot is still running around, in fact, he’s running for mayor - correct?” You spoke, slow and rough. Your chest heaved up as you heavily inhale then exhale, “He’s one of the most notorious criminals and yet he’s running around as a free man, certainly you have no evidence against me and any of my rumours to put me in Arkham.”

“We’ll be putting you where you belong.”

“Gotham is my city, gentlemen, see I haven’t been home for a few years and things have changed. My family has always put their opinions in the wellbeing of this fine city, I aim to take back what once was mine.”

“You mean your family, your crime family,” Jim spoke, your lips thinned before you stood up straight a smile returning on your face.

“We could stick it to your way, Gordon, but I’ve done some digging on the way here. And let me tell you, James Gordon, Captain Barnes, you’re not as innocent as you seem. Gotham runs on villains, murderers, psychopaths, freaks, monsters.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Jim threatened.

You looked around your surroundings, your eyes flickering up and down the building, a simple gesture of silence wouldn’t be so threatening but there was something about you was uneasy.

“You’re not a cop anymore, James,” you drawled out as his stares at you, “I may be young, but I know my stuff and I know it well. Before you know it, Oswald Cobblepot won’t be a threat to you.”

“I’m sensing that’s a promise.”

You grinned at the men before you.

“In every moment a choice exists. We can cling to the past or embrace the inevitability of change and allow a brighter future to unfold before us. Such an uncertain future may call for even more uncertain allies. Either way, a new day is coming whether we like it or not. The question is will you control it, or will it control you?”

“What do you mean (Y/n) is back?” Oswald growled in his seat, his eyes piercing into Butch. 

Ed looking lost, your name was familiar, but he tended to keep to his little bubble while working with GCPD. Butch shrugged his shoulders, sitting across Ed but staring at Oswald, who had his hand to his lips deep in thought.

“I don’t know boss, with Falcone out in retirement and Fish not being here. He’s back for revenge.”

“The man killed his family,” Oswald gnarred out, as if it was the answer to everything, “How could anyone follow him? He’s a psychopath!”

“Perhaps that’s why they’re following him,” Ed spoke, suddenly finding a voice in the matter, “People tend to follow out of fear, whoever (y/n) is, must be bad news.”

“Of course it’s bad news, the last of the (L/n) crime family, he has spies all over Gotham, men who would do anything at his feet.” Oswald takes a harsh sip out of his wine.

Ed flickered his eyes between Butch and Oswald, who was freaking out. Edward had sensed a new villain had returned to Gotham, someone who was unpredictable, mad, psychotic. Oswald lets out a shaky breath, by Ed’s judgement, Oswald was very afraid.

Oswald had a vague idea of what you wanted. The last time he had seen you, you had blood around your hands and on your pretty white shirt. You hadn’t falter to the look of Fish before you send her a wicked smile. You were merely eighteen years old at the time, you had been in Arkham before - the youngest yet. Now, you’re twenty-three years old, with a thirst of vengeance and Arkham wrapped around your pinky.

Oswald wasn’t like you, you had been brought up in the nature of crimes whilst he was simply introduced to it. Madness is in your blood, you were far more intelligent than he was with the crime. You know of sacrifices to need to make, games and plans to think out. 

Your dangerous trait was you were patient. 

You like to draw things out because you could, and that’s what truly terrified Oswald.

“What should we do, boss?”

Ed was excited to meet you if you could cause fear just by returning, what hell would you unleash? He’s a rookie murderer, but he could certainly look up inspiration.

“Find him, tell him we come for peace, take Zsasz with you too. That guy has a weird bond with (Y/n) and we need to be friends with him.”

“Should I invite him for dinner?”

“Yes, Butch!” Oswald snaps almost to say if it was that obvious.

Ed smiles, this year is going to get better.

The Sirens was packed with people, you stand in the back of the club with a glass of whiskey and a curious stare. Barbara Kean, Tabitha Galavan and Jervis Tetch in one little place, your eyes flickered to the hypnotist, who locks eyes with you, you send him a smile - inviting yet cold.

He was instantly drawn to you, there was darkness in you. Jervis was a man of mind control, he could feel anger, fear, regret within you but it wasn’t yours. Instead, you’re motivated by the three emotions to your biddings of crime. Jervis found you fascinating, someone he certainly wanted to know.

“Who’s he?” Barbara asked, whispering to Tabitha, staring at you.

Barbara looked over her shoulder to see who Jervis was staring at, found you watching the show. Tabitha looks over to you as well, shrugging her shoulder, to her you seem innocent and just out for a good time.

“Someone who you don’t want to mess around.”

An unexpected voice had caught the two women off guard as they turn to see Butch. He seemed nervous, unguarded as his eyes scan the venue, stopping momentarily to watch the show that was happening before meeting an angry gaze of his girl, Tabitha.

“What are you doing here, Butch?” Tabitha had scowled at the big man.

“I was looking for (Y/n), I heard enough rumours to know that he would like to find a crowd,” Butch looks over to you and see you greeting Victor Zsasz, “He’s dangerous, killed more than thirty-six people including his family. His family was one of the most powerful crime family there was, the (L/n)?”

“I was expecting more,” Barbara looked dissatisfied with the result of your name as she heard Jervis coming down the stage, “Great show again, Mr Tetch.”

He sends a grateful smile, “Is that someone important?” 

The four of them looked over to where you were standing, your hand in your pocket as you down that of your drink. You looked over to the group, locking their gaze as you tilt your head ever so slightly, a charming smile graced your lips as you blinked slowly and send them a polite wave, two fingers and a thumb before engaging your attention to the assassin in front of you.

Tabitha feels threaten with your innocent facade as she turns to look at the hypnotist.

“Important? Dangerous? Take your pick Mr Tetch, this is Gotham after all.”

You looked at Victor, who was almost a kid like Christmas when he heard you were back, as you smile at him.

“What do you plan to do first?”

“Make Gotham suffer, show who is really in power. I want them to fear me,” You responded, Victor started to laugh when your eyes darken - oh how much he missed you, “Want to help?”

“Obviously,” Victor stopped laughing, his drawl caused you to turn away and lock eyes with Butch.

“But, first I need you to fill in what I missed.”

Victor lets a peal of laughter pass his nose as he nods. He looks at you, satisfied there was someone who would actually treat him more human. Despite Falcone’s niceness, you were a tad more humane to interact with him.

“Come, Vic, tonight we shall make Gotham remember me.”

[mcrmadness]

I was tagged by @cupcakecurl a while back (thank you!) and finally I’m on the mood for doing this myself as well!

Rules: tag 9 people you’d like to get to know better!

Top 3 current ships: I actually have just one OTP, which is Bela/Farin (aka FUB) from Die Ärzte, and then multiple smaller ones here and there. I’m finding new ships way too easily and sometimes it bugs me because I meant to enjoy a thing and boom, suddenly I have a ship there to fuck up with my brain. B/F is pretty much the only ship that I can say to actually ship, the rest are more like just for fun, I enjoy seeing stuff but I don’t really do anything about it, you know?

But now as I think of it, I think of it, I could say another band ship here: Paulchard aka Paul Landers and Richard Z. Kruspe from Rammstein, about these I have also watched videos and read some fancomics too and last summer’s tour was a wild one and I was following the events quite a lot.

And then maybe I could throw one fictional ship here too as it’s pretty much current one since I just finished watching the 5th season of Gotham last week, and that is, of course Nygmobblepot aka Penguin/The Riddler aka Oswald Cobblepot/Edward Nygma. I’ve never in my life shipped these before, even tho I’ve been a Batman fan since 1999 (I was 8) as I saw the 60s series on TV and I can remember almost shipping Batman and Robin back then, and I was only 8 years old!, and then had been watching the movies more or less during my childhood, but this was never something I’d even think of before I started watching Gotham and things started happening in the show. But it’s an interesting one. And I have to admit that while the show was still running and I couldn’t watch it because I live in Europe (and was too lazy to look for a website to watch it :D), I was still browsing the tag on Tumblr after each episode and giving myself spoilers of what happens with them. But I think the ending was a lot different than what I thought based on the Tumblr posts, and I’m actually not sure what to think of it. Imho it was not as bad as everyone else seemed to think.

I’m putting this under a read more link as this is getting way too long and I don’t know if people are interested in reading my weird thoughts about ships and other random stuff, so here you go... 

Top 3 all-time ships:  Oh my gosh, I have had so many but only like 2 actually strong ones? And I have to say Bela/Farin here as well, the reasons are found from above and I’m just so obsessed with them and idc what it is, already the friendship is like friendhip goals, you know? But yeah, I’ve been making videos about these two idiots for like last 10 years so... :D

And the next one, okay I’m usually not so talkative about ships. I can talk about them with people in private but I don’t like to go and shout about them publicly, probably the only one I talk about this way is Bela/Farin but it’s because Tumblr is a safe place for this and there’s no hate with this ship or anything (and the other one is Paulchard, every now and then I will reblog something that crosses my dash). But mainly I like to keep ships to myself and like I said in that other tag game post, ships are more like a guilty pleasure. Maybe because of my age as it was very normal at the age of 15 but now as I’m 28? Why am I still “in love with other people’s love”? I actually don’t mind it but I think many people would find it weird, especially when I don’t read fanfictions anymore and I don’t want to imagine anything, I just like seeing cute stuff, but with many ships I don’t even want to see too much, I just like seeing them being close but with many ships even seeing them kiss would be too much.

But anyway, top 3 all-time ships... I think I need to mention here a ship that I was very much obsessed when I was 15-17, that I wrote LOTS OF fanfiction and was there to make lots of fan theories and all, and that one was Frerard aka Gerard Way/Frank Iero from My Chemical Romance. I was SO obsessed it’s insane. If you know anything about MCR and Frerard, you maybe are aware of how was the year 2007 and you can probably imagine how crazy we all went when Project Revolution stuff happened. So yeah, I need to mantion that here even tho I no longer “believe in this ship”, but I guess I’d lie if I said, that I didn’t believe that there was something there back in the day. I’ve actually recently been watching some Frerard theory videos just for fun, because there’s so many things I had forgotten and so many things I still can remember, but also lots of stuff that I kinda missed because they happened in 2010-2012, and even tho I was still very much in the fandom and I was to their second gig in Finland in 2011, I still was not that much into the Danger Days album so I was not so into digging up stuff either. And I had my own identity crisis and Die Ärzte had been my favorite band for 1-2 years at that time so I was spending lots of time watching DÄ videos, so MCR was kinda at the background. And then the whole band went quiet for some time until they quit in 2013 (and now they’re back), so all that Frerard hype kinda died after each of them started to get married to other people and the kids were born, so there just... kinda was no more room for the ship, you know? But Freard was my first actual huge slash ship, I’ve had others before it (for example, my first touch to slash fiction was Harry Potter fanfiction and of course Harry/Draco stuff, but that one also later died out), but it was the first really strong one and then Bela/Farin kinda took its place as Frerard died out but B/F has been going strong and the ship has been sailing itself since the 80s, so... :D

And as the last one I think I could again mention something fictional but at the same time something that is super weird for me as it’s not slash fiction but hetship, which is something REALLY weird for me. I usually don’t like heteroships as they’re just... boring and so cliché. But I need to mention this one that I got into when I was 15: Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from The X-Files. Yeah I know it was 2006 and the series had ended already in 2002, but I was a new fan! I had known about the series since I was a little kid as my dad was watching it back then, but I started watching it myself when the show had a rerun here in 2004-2005. And then I met my friend in 2006 when we were 15 and we found out that we both were very much into TXF and I remember how we somehow both started to ship Mulder and Scully (having no idea of how the series ended), and it was probably until the 6th season (there was 9 seasons at the time) when they stopped airing it altogether, so we were so furious about the fact because the last episode was such a cliffhanger and we NEEDED TO KNOW, so I had to buy them on dvd! So I remember how we would meet at school every day and after every episode, we went so crazy, discussing what had happened in the episode and if there was any Mulder/Scully activity, we were just so hyped :D And then, as we STILL hadn’t seen all the seasons, we went to see the second movie (”TXF: I want to believe”) in theaters in 2008 or so, and it’s set to happen after the events of the seasons, we were both so blown away by what was in the movie because we had no clue :D Fun fact: I actually finished watching the 9th season only last year. So now I understand the events of the second movie a lot better, and I’ve also seen the 10th and 11th seasons so now I’m finally aware of everything. But that really is a hetship that I accept and that is not like a typical movie romance type of ship. It has interesting dynamics.

---

Last song: Tatuoituna by Tehosekoitin

Lipstick or chapstick: Chapstick, I don’t use any make-up, but chapstick I need to use daily.

Last movie: Iron Sky. I’ve seen it before tho, but we’re gonna watch the sequel soon, so we had to watch this to remember what happened :D (And it’s made partially by Finns, so..!)

Reading: Atm I have 3 books I’m reading, all of them in Finnish:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which has all the short stories in one. But I think there’s some of the newer ones missing and that’s why I bought this bit newer book with more stories, and I’m gonna read those once I’m finished with this one. And I’ve been reading this now for years lol... but I’m slowly getting there, I’m already over halfway through :D

A collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories, I don’t know the name for this book and it doesn’t say any name for the original. This one I also started to read a years back, only to pause if for years and then last year I borrowed it again from my dad and tried to continue from where I was left the last time.

The Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan. I’ve been reading his books ever since I was a, well, teenager probably, and I have had a long pause with these books and reading overall, but now I’m back at it and trying to buy and read all of his books I still haven’t read.

I wanted to read the latter only after finishing with SH and Poe’s stories but I needed to read something and they’re bit too difficult reading at the times, and I needed something lighter but also didn’t want to start over with Harry Potter for the 5th time so I decided to go for this series instead. I really like reading SH and Poe’s stories, but like I said, they’re bit difficult at the times. You can’t just read them, you need to think and use your brains meanwhile you’re reading, and sometimes it’s just so incredibly hard to stay focused on it and I need to go back so often because I wasn’t paying attention and then had no clue what was happening and why.

And I sometimes I skip some of Poe’s stories because they’re so purely scientific about a topic that I cannot comprehend nor care about, e.g. this one story that was almost like a science essay about hot-air balloon flight in the form of a story, probably super interesting for someone who likes this kind of stuff and even more interesting for a writer interested in stuff like that, but I’m really not the target audience of that story :D But then there’s also lots of really interesting ones, I especially like the ones that have something to do with insanity. I guess people would call them as the horror stories, but idk, I just love that kind of mystery. For some reason all of my favorite stories are those where there is a dead woman/love interest :DD But probably my ultimate favorite is the one about writing an article to a magazine with horror stories, and how this guy become beheaded and all just to write a story about how it feels like and stays alive meanwhile, and I just LOVE IT when fictional works play with death and when something that is supposed to kill you, doesn’t, and I just love the idea of that story so much :D It’s just that you never know how a story will be like, as you start reading, is it a scientific essay or a mystery or a horror story or about insanity or what is it? And then when in the middle of reading and you realize this is bit boring or uninteresting, but still want to finish, but also want to skip, and that’s why I get stuck with that book, and I change to SH or something else. Often I also grab some of the comics (or non-fiction books) I own whenever I feel like reading but these books feel too heavy for that moment.

---

I should tag 9 people but I don’t even know that many people to tag lol. Okay I do know people, but I still don’t know who wants to be tagged and who doesn’t. Maybe I’ll be boring and tag @stufenlosregelbar again? :D And idk, maybe @annika-of-the-lost? Eh, I’m so bad at this whole tagging thing. I’m having a bad conscience if I don’t tag anyone/enough people in case they want to be tagged and I can’t read minds; and then I’m having bad conscience when I DO tag people in case they’re all somewhere facepalming and screaming “WHYYYYYY” into the void, as I still can’t read minds. So you can choose, do this tag game or ignore it and ban me from ever tagging you people again, I don’t mind :p

[justgotham]

For his story to begin, theirs must end. With tonight’s final episode, Gotham fans will finally say hello to Batman…and goodbye to the cast that have brought Fox’s hit Bat-prequel to life.

After five years and 100 episodes, Gotham is reaching the end of its television journey. The Batman prequel premiered on Fox in 2014 and since then has taken viewers on Bruce Wayne’s journey from Crime Alley orphan to the Dark Knight of Gotham. Tonight, Gotham will air its final episode and we’ll finally see what we’ve been building to since that first hour…Batman!

We had a chance to chat with the cast of Gotham as they said their final goodbyes to the series.

Wrapping up Gotham was especially bittersweet for our newly minted commissioner, Ben McKenzie, who fell in love with his wife Morena Baccarin while working on the show. In addition to playing Jim Gordon, McKenzie wrote and directed some of the series’ most memorable episodes.

Reflecting on the experience, McKenzie revealed which character was the hardest one to write for. “I would say my wife is hard to write for because she’s very demanding,” he said. “If I write her the wrong lines, it’s a tough night in the household. She’s tricky!”

On the subject of Gotham’s female characters, Jim’s one-night stand with Barbara earlier in the season shocked many fans. When asked about the moment McKenzie merely replied, “Poor choices for Jim.”

Of course, you can’t wrap up five years of playing Commissioner Gordon without taking a moment to reflect on his legacy.

“So many actors have played Gordon well, and of course, Gary Oldman is an exquisite actor so his version of Gordon in the films was terrific,” McKenzie offered. “But I’m very grateful to have held the baton for a while and pass it on to who-knows-who’s next.”

For years, Chris Chalk has played Lucius Fox as the voice of reason, using his intelligence to save the characters on more than one occasion.

“The good thing about Lucius is he’s very resourceful,” Chalk said. “My favorite thing Lucius has built was the suit. I like the suit. There’s always these little things because the props department is so amazing. There’s always these little devices they find. That kind of stuff is awesome to me.”

We asked Chris if Lucius would have any unfinished business after the show airs it’s final episode, and one particular thing came to mind: “Lucius Fox bucket list… Marriage. I think he deserves love. I think all the characters deserve love,” he shared.

Like Chalk, romance was on Cory Michael Smith’s mind as the show wrapped and he reflected on Edward Nygma’s love life.

“I’ve had some pretty devastating relationships with women on the show,” he acknowledged. “They’re all pretty miserable in the end.”

Don’t expect Ed’s luck to change during the finale either.

“I don’t think season 5 will be a season of love for Ed,” Smith suggested.

Although Robin Lord Taylor was emotional saying goodbye to the role of Oswald Cobblepot, he was all smiles when we spoke to him, as he read a zinger from an old jokebook entitled The Penguin’s Put-Downs, Jokes and Riddles.

“Why doesn’t the Penguin need a monocle in the artic? His ice-sight gets better,” he quipped.

Although his days as the Penguin are over, Robin joked that the material from the jokebook could make a good season 6. “Just tell Netflix.”

Camren Bicondova recently revealed in a social media post that she won’t be playing Selina during the final episode. Since the episode takes place ten years in the future, Lili Simmons will be picking up the mantle to play an older version of Selina. It’s an announcement that makes sense, but is still bittersweet, and we were unaware of it when we spoke with Bicondova, who gave us a carefully phrased hint when she said, “You won’t be seeing me in a catsuit.”

However, Bicondova did give us some clues on how the final version of Selina might look.

“Gotham is always different, as far as the costumes go, from the comic books,” she teased. “Our costumes have never been what we expect them to be. So, you won’t see me in one as far as latex and stiches go, but it’s always different.”

For five years, these actors have brought their comic book counterparts to colorful life, leaving their mark on an 80-year legacy that shows no sign of slowing down. With Gotham’s final episode, we’ll soon see them take their final bow and enter the dark night of their beloved city. Their journey may be ending, but for Bruce, Selina, Jim, Lucius, Oswald and Ed, things are only just getting started.

[ayankun]

GOTHAM

insanely rambley HUGE spoiler-ridden seasons 1-4 thoughts under cut

FIRST OFF LET ME TELL YOU I GOT CHILLS

Secondly, let’s think back to how I felt about season one.  A little loose in the narrative, not so much weaving threads as having threads, ones that you keep expecting to pull tight but more often than not just get dropped for other, shinier threads.  All leading to a surprisingly effective character-driven season finale that hopes to prove to you that a few meandering plot points can still add to a sum greater than the parts.

(Oswald goes from umbrella boy to King of Gotham, Bruce Wayne starts at the site of his parents’ murder and ends up taking his first steps into the Batcave, Jim enters as this black-and-white idealist and winds learning from a mob boss that even good men sometimes get their hands dirty to get the job done.  A socially awkward unrecognized genius has a psychic break, leading ultimately to the fall of Edward Nygma and the rise of the Riddler.)

Season two is a blur.  A period of transition from Jim “Good Cop” Gordon Fistfighting Corruption into... Gotham City: Arkham Asylum’s Backyard.  Think how much season one was about only Fish Mooney vs Falcone vs the GCPD and Cobblepot doublecrossing everyone he meets, and how much seasons two and three and four were about the Riddler and Valeska and Tetch and Ra’s al Ghul (and Valeska).  We have the bring-everyone-back-to-life at Indian Hill period to thank for the sudden left turn into the Strange.

WHICH IS NOT A COMPLAINT.

There are so many types of Batman stories, and there’s a time and a place for both Joe Chill and Killer Croc.  Gotham started in one and always knew it was headed for the other.

And B.D. Wong as Strange is a DELIGHT and I really appreciated his dynamic with Miss Peabody.  Speaking of, the bomb defusing scene was a real gem omg lololol give the woman some damn water already.

At the same time, the Fish storyline was like WHOA what EVEN is haPPENINg at any given moment.  And it ultimately didn’t amount to much?  There’s so much waffling between the surviving gang camps where everyone’s either got a kill-on-sight order or a owed-life-debt to each other and the pendulum swings back and forth so quickly it’s not really worth holding onto how anyone feels about anyone else.  That dead/MIA character will come back or the rivalry will be revived or the long-held grudge will be recalled if and when that plot point is going to be drafted, but other than that everyone’s friends and that’s ok.

And like.  Ivy??? Ivy Pepper???????  Why is that ride so wild???  There is no cause and effect, only next next next.  It’s insane.  Maybe watching this all at once rather than over the course of four years lends a different perspective, but holy cow.  Such a ballsy way to do whatever with a character you never had a plan for.

Which brings us to Barbara Kean?!  Season one she was there because they knew she was a Mythos Character but then they were like, wait, whateven is she for though?  Which is a fair question, since having her be the Little Lady Trophy Fiance meant she was a boring and needless character wasting space, not standing on her own and hardly informing Jim’s character either.  So what to do, what to do.  How about we kidnap her, put her through some insanely cruel physical and psychological abuse, make her a psycho-revenge-bride, put her in a coma, have her come back as a 100% Arkham Villain, give her a hench(wo)man, have the henchman KILL HER, have Ra’s al Ghul waltz up out of literally nowhere and say “lol, borrow this arcane mojo for a minute, I’ll want it back later or will I” and now she’s a kingpin of Gotham’s underworld with her own mini League of Assassin?!!!!!!!   !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like.  Even if they never had a plan going into it, I’m pretty okay with most of what they came up with.  Better than the lil wifey hanging out at home and having one passing remark about curating a gallery that we never saw and was never mentioned again.

Better off a once-crazy, once-dead mafiosa than the less inspired handling of Miss Kringle.  I won’t even get into that trainwreck I-only-exist-to-validate-manpain-of-my-murderer wait I said I wasn’t going to get into it.

So Nygma!  Like I said when I got started with the show, the season one Edward Nygma was crafted as this painfully unsympathetic offbeat loser and I think they fully succeeded with that characterization.  The emergence of the Riddler persona was a welcome change, an upgrade, a spit-shine into something clean cut and confident and stylish.  But I like that, compared to the Penguin, the posterchild for evil-psychotic-villain!Protaganist, for example, they held on to a lot of Nygma’s unlikeablilty in that he’s still an ass, even more of an insufferable egoist, and SO CRAZY he can’t even read himself (which was a big thing about the character before he split in half, so in itself that’s pretty great).

I don’t know.  Maybe you like him and I’m supposed to like him.  I think he’s exactly what he ought to be, and while I'd never want to see him marched off a peer with a bullet in his back, I’m more than happy to see his fellow villain-Protagonists knock him around once in a while.  Penguin and Mooney and now Lee (?!) and Zsasz even are the kind of villan!Protagonist you really root for.  But if it’s any one of them vs. the Riddler, they’re definitely not going to lose.  Nygma’s like in his own category of villain!Protagonist Antagonist.

Of course, the post-Arkham-proto-Riddler who was running Oswald’s mayoral campaign, now HOT DAMN that was a storyline I could get behind.  I almost actually believed they were going to do something great in the Nygmobblepot arena and that was a magical moment.  I think the resulting blood feud, as painful of a 360 as they come, was a sounder storytelling decision and more in line with the show’s Schroedinger’s Frenemies mentality.

And his season four storyline with the Ed Nygma persona challenging the Riddler was a nice full circle.  Sort of closing the gap between this raging banana nutball and the razor-sharp criminal mastermind he could be if tried.  Not SUPER THRILLED with his creeping on Lee but, with all due respect, that’s par for the character so again I say I don’t think I’m meant to like him??

I just spent half this rant on the Riddler so I guess they’re doing something right.

Ok so Cameron Monaghan’s VALESKA TWINS.  Let’s get right into it, shall we.

Holy smokes they did everything right on this one.  Loved the Primal Fear treatment of his introduction, and the way this random circus kid just so happens to start displaying jokey traits that astute viewers will start to suspect that this could be the big bad we’ve all been waiting for --

and then they kill him.

WOW

I was so ready for this kid to grow up to be the Joker, and they rip that dream away and replace it with an idea that anyone can grow up to be the Joker, and damn if that isn’t the nicest treatment of the character’s fractured and obfuscated origin story.  But.  THEN!

THEY BRING HIM BACK and it’s everything you wanted him to be.  He’s just so good.  There’s just the right amount of (IMO, anyway) Hamill-homage in what is otherwise a fully imagined Character who is instantly recognizable as one of many iterations but at the same time outclasses them all.  The high-level narrative and dialogue stuff, the stuff they create for him to do, I mean, is all great.  And then Monaghan brings this manic A++ game to the table and blows it out of the water.  Best Joker performance?  Arguably so, especially when you consider

JEREMIAH VELASKA because this kid can’t stop having stellar Joker performances.  He’s like, two and a half, three of the best Joker performances on the books.  Jeremiah’s distinct visual style, the characterization, AGAIN with the obfuscated we-are-legion origin story hocow.  NO COMPLAINTS HERE.

Anyway so if that’s what we get in return for sending Fish Mooney through a narrative meat grinder, then I guess it’s an even trade.

Pengiun.  What to say about Penguin.  I loved what they gave him in season two, a ton of character stuff because his plot stuff of rags to riches had played itself out.  I felt real bad for his mom, but I really liked that he went and made himself mayor, and even while his story arcs tend to go riches to rags and back again, it’s never not a pleasure watching him claw his way up to where he thinks he ought to be.

For the most part they do a good job stringing together these different Protagonist story-groups, keeping in mind that most of these groups serve mainly as antagonists amongst themselves (when they’re not being buddy-buddy to serve some winding end).  So when you get the villain!Antagonists you can really tell the difference.  I got a little yawny while we were setting up Fries, and by the time we finally locked Tetch up for good I was very grateful.  These will never be main characters and the show knows it and wants you to know it, too.  So while they’re the main on-screen villain, it can get a little stale because the same effort isn’t being put into their lasting appeal.

Um.  Jim Gordon.  Another thing I liked about season four was a strong return to GCPD bidniss.  Season two there was a lot of GCPD, but with Captain Barnes and the strike force and Galavan, so it was a completely different narrative animal than what Gordon was throwing down with in season one.  Then Gordon goes to prison and after that he doesn’t go back to GCPD until well into season three, and by then the story’s about Mario and Tetch and Lee and omg I forgot about Valerie Vale until this very moment whoops.

As was hinted in the season one finale, Jim Gordon went on a very twisty path through the mud before he figured himself out again.  Killing Galavan was like WHAT JIMBOY and that wasn’t even the worst of it.  What I liked most about his stint as a PI was the character’s eventual acceptance that the law isn’t the be all and end all of righteousness, and that there are other means available when enforcing peace and justice.  Not necessarily by killing every evil mayor you come across with your own two hands, but the eye-opening to the virtues of vigilantism is super important when you realize he’s going to be Batman’s main ally down the line and this time in his life is going to be what ultimately allows the future police commissioner to legitimize this kind of shadowy ninja behavior.

Anyway, in season four, Jim kind of comes back to roost at the GCPD, and finally ousting Bullock as Captain was rough but obviously warranted, and with only one season left that was a good time to do it.  Harper was a nice addition and I’d like to see more of her as a standalone character.  (Similarly, Fox has fit in nicely with the cops, but I’m not overly hankering to see more of his day to day antics.) 

What was my real point?  I really liked the Gordon vs the GCPD dynamics of season one, and while obviously that’s not a story you can tell forever, it did inform the sense that the police force is a living entity that can serve you very well if it trusts you, but before that can happen you really have to jump on its back and break its will LOL.

Also, remember Renee Montoya and Harvey Dent?  Yeah, I don’t either.

SO BRUCE WAYNE, MY FRIENDS.

Gotham is my very most favorite Bruce Wayne story, and much as Batman: TAS is my forever-reference for most Batmany things, Gotham is going to be my heart-canon for Bruce Wayne origins.

It’s one thing to say, “ok so this rich kid watches his parents get murdered in an alley, and from this moment on he vows to do something about it and makes himself a master detective/martial artist who puts on a mask and a cape and runs around at night smashing thugs’ heads in for justice” like it’s a foregone conclusion, a straight-forward A-to-B process, and a wholly other thing to show us, step by step, how he learns to become the thing we all know he’s going to become.

In season one he was this quiet, morose but driven child who didn’t know what to do with this crisis he’d been handed.  He’s a kid who sits in a pool with his whole clothes on, trying to hold his breath for as long as possible because he has no idea how else to become better prepared for handling his issues.  But he has Selina and he has Alfred and he has Fox and he has Jim Gordon, and he will have the Court of Owls and the Valeskas and Ra’s al Ghul who will all play a part in handing him pieces of himself until he has a full set.

He started with this strong sense of right and wrong, a deeply seated desire to put his talents and his money to some sort of use, an earnest diligence towards bettering himself in all ways, and little by little he gets shown just how much of a fragile and defenseless baby he is.  That time Alfred accidentally-on-purpose clobbered him in the eye -- that was the moment Bruce found out they’d all been pulling their punches with him and that he still had so so so far to go.

Of course, at the particular moment, he was going through a well-earned rebel without a cause phase (which will do him well when he calls on those behaviors for the benefit of a wider audience), so I don’t think that realization hit him at the time.  BUT I NOTICED.  Sure he’s got a bulletproof suit and he can look Jim Gordon straight in the eye now and he can fling himself off rooftops like a champ (and when Alfred gave him the keys to the Batmobile I cried a little), but he’s no Batman.  Not yet.  Not quite yet.

But you can see without a shadow of a doubt that he’s gonna be!  Instead of this “Bruce Wayne woke up as Batman” story, we get a look at all the day by day choices and experiences that inform, shape, and depend on Bruce Wayne’s core identity and the way that they will collectively create Batman.

Now, David Mazouz may not have the character acting chops of a Pinkett-Smith or a Taylor or a Monaghan, and he may not be as comfortable living in a everyday character like Pertwee and Logue do so effortlessly, but there’s a steeliness a Bruce Wayne should have, a hauntedness, an idealistness, that Mazouz emotes in spades.  Sometimes his Bruce Wayne does a stunt or pulls a pose that Mazouz KNOWS is Batman territory, and while his awareness of “I’m doing a cool thing look at me doing it” is a little distracting--it’s also SUPER EFFECTIVE and I fall for it hook, line, and sinker.

I’ve always been one of those fans who’s way more interested in the lives and characters of the secret identities (compared to the heroics of the super identities) so hot diggity dog is this the show for me.  All Bruce Wayne all the time.  When we he does put on the mask, it’s all the more powerful for knowing who exactly is wearing it and what’s driving him to do these borderline insane things.

Not 100% sold on Ra’s’ “I saw this in a dream” strong-arm prophecy, feeling like it steps on four years of Bruce Wayne’s self-determination.  Not 100% on how they introduced him and his aims and his baffling reincarnation(s).  But I am 100% on the pronunciation of “Ra’s” because I’m aware that Kevin Conroy et al figured it out somewhere between TAS and Arkham Asylum, but it’s something that they never quite got in Arrow.  (Oliver consistently uses “raysh” but everyone else is a grab bag between that and “rawz”.)

For that matter, David Mazouz consistently pronounces Ra’s with two syllables, so there’s also that.  Wait, hold on.  In Gotham they also draw a hard line between Ra’s al Ghul, the man, and “the demon’s head,” some sort of mystical power of time travel and flashlightiness.  Give one point to Arrow for not being that bizarre.

Long story short, the shot at the finale where Gordon’s waiting on the GCPD rooftop with the spot light and Bruce Wayne stalks up behind him was BEAUTIFUL.  (They also did the thing some episodes earlier where Bruce peaces out on Gordon when Gordon’s mid-sentence with his back turned and I laughed a lot)

Looking forward to their take on No Man’s Land.  Here’s a short story for you at the end of this long story:

One time I was reading No Man’s Land volume by volume from the library.  It was tough because I checked the first time and they had the full set, but then you never knew that the next one was going to be available when you went in for it.

So I get out of the car one day and look there’s a quarter on the ground.  Neat.  It’s mine now!

Going into the library, there was a cart of used books for sale by the door.  25 cents each.  Hell, I’ve got a quarter now, let’s see what they got.

What they got is the No Man’s Land novelization.  For 25 cents, or, in my case, free.

So I read that instead, and turned out I liked it way better than the source comics.  I have a hard time reading comics?  I tend to not look at the pictures, and certain art styles aren’t my jam.  Also when it comes to narrative capabilities, there are different tools and effects inherent to each form, and I appreciated the literary treatment and the internal voice it brought to the table that the comics couldn’t.

Also the author said in the note that his method was to sit down and jam out minimum 2000 words a day and that’s still a feat I admire.

Anyway, that’s my long winded take on Gotham.  Not perfection, but certainly a respectable and authoritative representation of a subject matter we all know and love.  I give it my second favorite Batman portrayal (behind Kevin Conroy and above Adam West) and my absolute favorite live-action Bruce Wayne, hands down.

[jameszmaguire]

hey so i basically 'watch' gotham through your content and like. what the FUCK happened with nygma and oswald since oswald literally froze his ex

okay anon,you’re in for a wild ride, strap in and fasten your seatbelt. this was a delight to write, i was giggling the whole time. this show is a big ball of insanity and nonsense, and it is so much fun

the abridgedguide to what edward nygma and oswald cobblepot have been up to around eachother on gotham fox

so, it allstarted in season 1, when eddy was young and innocent and working in forensicsat the gcpd. ozzy, newly gotten into some power in the shady underbelly of thecity, pranced into the precinct thinking he was the shit. it basically endedwith oz wanting to secure his authority and ed discretely throwing shade inreturn, and that’s it for interactions in season 1

then, season 2aka everything goes balls to the walls crazy rolls around. there has been somecharacter development on both sides, mostly to do with murder and sticking itto the people who never took them seriously. oz has kinda overthrown the orderof gotham’s underworld, declared himself king of the city in one very catharticscene and now tries to cope with his new power. Turns out, he’s not so good atnot making enemies, which leads to some double-crossing, some betrayal, hisbeloved mother dying and also people attempting to murder him

ed, in themeanwhile, has gone off the deep end, and murdered a few people, one of thembeing his girlfriend (big drama). while out in the woods because bodies don’tbury themselves, he finds ozzy at his lowest point, barely alive, and decidesto take him in, because, hey, every future batman villain is in dire need of amurder mentor. so, he nurses ozzy back to health, gets him out of his pants andfeeds him (i’m not making this up). they get take-out. also, there is a pianoduet at some point.

ozzy regains hishealth, leaves ed’s apartment, plots his revenge and fails so spectacularlythat he ends up in arkham asylum. they brain-wash him for a bit there, hebecomes nice, gets outta there and then ed rejects his attempt at renewing thefriendship, because he’s found enjoyment in the murder lifestyle and nice ozzydoesn’t work like that no more

so ed goes onkilling folks, then gets caught in one of the best episodes ever aired of thisshow, and promptly thrown into arkham, because, y’know, that’s how it goes. ozzyin the meantime finds his long-lost father, bonds over niceness, then hisstepmom murders the dad in an attempt on ozzy’s life. this triggers the evil tocome back to oz, and he murders her in return, but not before feeding her herown children, ‘cause that’s the sensible thing to do in such a situation

back to his evilroots, ozzy reconnects with ed while visiting him in arkham, and ed, like thesupportive dude he is, encourages the revenge fantasies. and, to everybody’ssurprise, the revenge plan (now with new and improved formula!) works out andozzy regains his power

this leads intoseason 3, where ed is released; ozzy of course comes to get him, and theyindulge in the newest plan – ozzy running for mayor, because some writer in thegotham staff clearly stans batman returns. and because appointing your friendsis swell, eddy is his chief of staff. ed is also genuinely supportive and smartenough to actually help during the campaign, and so ozzy wins

more importantly,he then realizes that he has fallen deeply truly madly in love with ed, planson telling him, and because gotham writers are the worst, they decide that thisis a good moment in the story to introduce ed’s new heterosexual love on firstsight interest, who, what are the chances, also looks almost identical to thatgirlfriend of his ed killed in season 2. y’know, because that is a good omen. So,there is some insane jealousy on ozzy’s part, and because he can, he decides tohave her killed. y’know, because that’s the sensible thing to do.

ed naturallyfalls right back into ozzy’s arms, but because oz royally sucks at not pissingoff people, there is more betrayal and back-stabbing and ed finds out about thekilling order, effectively turning ozzy’s most trusted and most bestest friendagainst him. he then leads ozzy on a merry chase, destroys his reputation, hispower and most of what’s left of his dignity, and then, for good measure, stabshim in the abdomen and drops him into a river

ozzy however,being resilient as a cockroach and having help from another future batman villain,survives once more. while he’s being nursed back to health, nygma tries to beevil and stuff, but finds himself haunted by some very fun hallucinations ofozzy where he is either dripping wet or dancing and singing romantic songs (iam still not making this up)

they meet upagain when they are both individually caught by an admittedly super-boringthird party (there was more betrayal and backstabbing and honestly, this showmakes it so hard to keep up with who’s betraying whom and for what reason) andlocked into adjacent cages. creating one of the most entertaining scenes inthis show’s history, they promptly proceed with either throwing tantrums likethe mature five-year-olds they are or bickering like an old married couple whichthey also are. at the end, they figure out that working together might be thebest option, and stage an amazing jailbreak that ends with the good ol’ “i’llkill you” “not if i kill you first” agreement

the entirety ofthis relationship culminates in the season finale, where they play cat and musewith one another, using every dirty trick and amnipulating the hell outta oneanother, showing just how well they know each other, all the strengths andweaknesses. it ends with ozzy getting the upper hand, telling ed that he wasthe only time he let love weaken him (call-back to when ed was nuring him backto health where he said that men who love nothing cannot be bargained with andare therefore stronger). ozzy then lets mr freeze turn ed into a majesticicicle, and then decides to exhibit his frozen lover in his new club, because,y’know, it’s what you do

that is the mostcondensed version of events i could come up with. i don’t know if it’s useful,but it explains why they ended up where they are now. in all honesty, the twoactors have so much chemistry around each other and they are clearly having somuch fun that it’s just a delight every time they’re on screen together

[nygmobblepot-slut]

My Nygmobblepot Journey

Alright, this is my entire Nygmobblepot journey from start to present. Here we go, it’s a long one...

-I started watching Gotham with a completely open mind. I knew very little about it and the characters, as I'm not necessarily a huge Batman fan I guess. (I've just not watched it is all.)

-Personally I like to find ships when I watch shows because it makes the show more interesting to me however with this one I didn’t really have any. 

-I did have favorite characters though, and right from the beginning too. My top two were Oswald Cobblepot and Edward Nygma. Naturally. 

-I loved them so much. I wanted them both to rise to the top and be happy. I relished the moment they first talked in the GCPD. I mean come on, my two favs talking for once?? That’s insane. I loved it. 

-THEN THEY BECAME FRIENDS. Ed saved Oswald and one thing led to another and suddenly my two little children were friends. I was ecstatic, could not have been more happy. 

-I was happy with just that, my “jump to conclusions” brain didn’t even think it possible that they would ever like each other as a romantic partner. 

-Then stuff started to happen and I was like wait a minute. Wait just a frick frackin minute. How had I not thought of it before? OF COURSE! Oswald and Ed! They’d be beautiful together. A power couple beyond belief!

-At that point, a couple episodes before Oswald actually admitted his love for Ed, my brother was insisting that that could never happen. It wouldn’t happen. That’s ridiculous and clearly crazy. 

-I almost believe him, but there it was right in my face. The way Oswald look at Ed, the way they acted around each other, I couldn’t deny that it was a thing. It was totally a thing. 

-When Oswald admitted he was in love with Ed I literally ran around the block because I had to much energy to get out of my system. This beautiful thing had snuck up on me. I didn’t know how to handle it. 

-I became so invested in their relationship. not that I wasn’t already because I enjoyed them just being friends, but to the extreme. I was so obsessed with the possibilities. My family thought I was crazy. 

-Then IT happened. The glorious truth was about to come out, I was finally about to witness a possibly legit Nygmobblepot moment on screen. Then SHE happened and fuuuuucked my entire life up. 

-I was beyond pissed okay, beyOND angry. I had been given this hope, been teased, and then was spit on. Why in the world would they fuck everyone over that bad? 

-I was perfectly content with my boys just being friends. I was happy with them being friends. And now? They’re literally enemies. 

-I didn’t ask for a ship. I mean I wouldn’t even be complaining if it worked out but it didn’t. And now two of my favorite characters are heartbroken and so am I. I feel personally attacked by the way this played out. 

-I understand that it probably never would’ve worked, but damn it they didn’t have to suggest it even would. I was content with them being friends, I would’ve understood if they stopped being friends, but why did it have to go that way? 

-To watch two characters who made each other so strong and happy, absolutely rip each other apart was so hard. 

(Warning! *Spoilers*)

-They didn’t kill each other, which gave me some kind of hope. It’s probably a mistake to hope but I can’t help it. 

-And now with this new episode? Sofia taking care of Oswald like that? Kind of reminds me of something a certain someone did for Oswald nearly two seasons ago. The only person Oswald had ever fallen for, Ed. 

-If Oswald falls for her it’s going to probably kill me. 

-For one, she’s got an ulterior motive. How could she not? He doesn’t know that and she’s manipulating him into trusting her which will fuck him up even more when she screws him over. 

-Two, he’s weak now having just gone through some terrible relationship issues. It may’ve technically been a friend break up, but it was still a break up. So he’s really not in the best mindset for falling for someone. 

-If anything I’d want Oswald to go back to his previous mindset about power over love rather than jump right into this new thing that he used to despise and look down on. I know he’s grown and changed but I don’t want this woman to make him weak and break him, furthering his doubts about love all together. 

-Then we have Ed, sweet stupid Ed. I kind of like the way he’s being humbled a little. I think he’ll get his intelligence back eventually but it’s interesting to see Ed deal with some challenges that don’t involve his love life for once.

Alright so to wrap it up I’ll put my semi-realistic-but-probably-won’t-happen theory...

-Okay so I’m thinking that one of the ways Nygmobblepot could become a thing again is going to happen over time. 

-It’s a possibility that both boys will be hurt and lost beyond personal repair. Grudges and egos set aside, they’re both so beaten down by life that they need each other to bring themselves back. 

-Obviously, Oswald could get tricked into something with Sofia, trusting her would be a mistake but he wouldn’t see this until after. Somehow he needs to loose everything, have no one. All his money, respect, and loyal servants are gone. He has nothing. He already looks on edge as it is, he’s fragile and sad and it wouldn’t be hard to take advantage. 

-It would go a little bit differently for Ed. He’d with Zombie Butch/Grundy now and is trying desperately to get his brain back in working order. Somethings got to happen to make him loose hope. He’ll get money with the fighting and try to fix his brain, but maybe nothing works like he thinks. What he needs is time, and to exercise his brain, reteach it. But he’s broken too, and he’s loosing hope. 

-But there’s got to be a way. Who is Gotham would be willing enough to take all that time and help him? Certainly not his new pal Grundy, or anyone else he use to associate with.

-Maybe Ed would go to Oswald and in his own head, just be ‘using’ him to make himself smart again. He apologizes to his ex-friend, and Oswald, who at this point has no one either, accepts his apology thinking it’s sincere. 

-Then they get started, Oswald takes the time to sit with Ed and help him get his brain unfrozen again, and says little riddles until Ed understands them. With practice and patience Ed gains back his intelligence bit by but, but also he’s starting to realize that Oswald was truly a good friend. 

-Once their both feeling like themselves again they can rebuild their empire and get back into the underworld of Gotham.

-If they’re able to put the past behind them it may be possible for them to be friends again.. or maybe eventually more. But I’d settle for just friends. 

So that’s it, my Nygmobblepot Journey. My thoughts on all of it, good and bad. But I want to know, what’s yours? Where do you think the show is going and what has been your reaction so far? 

Use ( #my nygmobblepot journey ) so I can read your journeys too!

[mandibierly]

31 Genre Show Producers on the Heart of Their Series

Over the last month, executive producers of more than 30 current genre shows have taken part in Yahoo TV’s “Why Genre Shows Matter” survey, either via email or by phone. We’ve learned which genre show was the first to resonate with them, which genre show they believe deserved more Emmy love, which current genre show they think is tackling an issue well, and, if they were a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, what moment, episode, or arc best explains why in honor of the show’s 20th anniversary.

Our final question to them: What is the issue you’re proudest of tackling, or most invested in, on your own show? Read on for their answers.

Related: Yahoo TV’s Complete “Why Genre Shows Matter” Coverage

Brian Minchin (BBC America’s ‘Doctor Who’)

The Doctor sees horrors in the universe and faces them with kindness and understanding. (While reserving the right to blow things up if required). That standpoint goes into everything, and is hugely valuable. I love that children watch a hero do that. (Credit: BBC America)

Source: Yahoo TV

J. Michael Straczynski (Netflix’s ‘Sense 8’)

We designed Sense8 to say that regardless of where we are born, what our ethnic background, gender or sexuality might be, we are more alike than we are different, that what unites us is stronger than what divides us, and that the common coin of our shared humanity trumps the forces that would set us at each others’ throats. At a time when we are being tribalized and factionalized and marginalized as never before, we felt that was an important message to convey, and it’s only become more relevant and vital in the last year or so. (Credit: Netflix)

Source: Yahoo TV

Eric Kripke (NBC’s ‘Timeless’)

I’m really proud of how Timeless shines a light on some of the lesser known stories in history, often involving the heroic contributions of women and minorities. I’m proud of how we’ve established ourselves as a warm, multi-ethnic, inclusive view of history. Because one, it’s the truth, and two, America’s history should be for everyone. (Credit: Sergei Bachlakov/NBC)

Source: Yahoo TV

Albert Kim (Fox’s ‘Sleepy Hollow’)

This season on Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane has gone head-to-head with a villain who believes that America has failed as a social and political experiment and that tyranny is how the country needs to move into the future. Which means Crane has been forced to defend the ideals of the country he helped establish over two centuries ago. It’s a situation that’;s allowed us to explore the question: What makes America America? Through that lens, we’ve looked at the stories of real historical figures like Benjamin Banneker, a Revolutionary War-era African American surveyor and engineer who knew that when Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase, “All men are created equal,” it sadly didn’t apply to everyone. Now, more than ever, seems to be a good time to be bringing up issues like this, even in a fictional context. (Credit: Tina Rowden/Fox)

Source: Yahoo TV

Robert Singer (The CW’s ‘Supernatural’)

I think as the show has matured, we’ve become very conscious of the idea that world is not black and white, and that the shades of gray in this life are not easy to deal with, but it is important to try. Sam and Dean have certainly, over time, found their moral center, and because of this they try very hard not to see the world in just black or white. This season, with The British Men of Letters, who do view the world in black and white, has given our leads moral challenges which for the most part they have been up to handling. When they haven’t been up to the task, the lessons learned from these episodes have been profound. I think the best genre shows try to do this, and while good lessons learned are very valuable, it also makes for better storytelling. (Credit: Dean Buscher/The CW)

Source: Yahoo TV

Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis (ABC’s ‘Once Upon a Time’)

There’s a saying on our show that we keep coming back to: “Evil isn’t born, it’s made.” Once Upon a Time is at its core a show about hope and optimism. We like to believe that the world is filled with good and when evil does rear its head it’s because circumstance conspired to create it. And if circumstance can create evil, then those same circumstances can be defeated, and the best of humanity can win out in the end. (Credit: Jack Rowand/ABC)

Source: Yahoo TV

Cheo Hodari Coker (Netflix’s ‘Luke Cage’)

I love the fact that we have two black male characters that you’ve never seen before. You’ve never seen a burly 240-lb. black man that can throw stuff that’s also a bookworm, and you’ve never seen a musician that’s a gangster. And the fact that you have a gangster that is really just a frustrated musician is interesting. And what Simone Missick did with Misty Knight or what Alfre [Woodard] did incredibly with Black Mariah, I mean, it’s just next level… All Blaxploitation is, is the opportunity for an African-American cast or lead actor or actress to do the same things that a white action hero gets to do… The reason that Shaft has a dominant theme song is because James Bond has a dominant theme song… I wanted the show to not be embarrassed by the Blaxploitation roots, but embrace it. Then at the same time, open up the camera, so to speak — widen the aperture — to include other genres. I mean, honestly, what Luke Cage; it’s a hip-hop Western. And you have Luke Cage as the sheriff of Harlem. He’s basically Shane. He’s Shane or he’s any number of reluctant heroes as played by Clint Eastwood. (Credit: Netflix) Read our full conversation with Coker.

Source: Yahoo TV

Joe Henderson (Fox’s ‘Lucifer’)

In the second episode of the show, we established that our lead male character is bisexual, which I think is pretty rare on network TV. We worried the studio and network might push against it, but instead, they championed it. And when I mentioned it to Tom (Ellis, Lucifer himself) he just shrugged. “Well of course he is.” When it aired, the only reaction was positive. I’m proud that what we thought might be pushing boundaries/creating controversy was instead welcomed as normal. Because of course it is. (Credit: Jack Rowand/FOX)

Source: Yahoo TV

Jeff Davis (MTV’s ‘Teen Wolf’)

The idea of inclusion on Teen Wolf has always been something for which we strive. We’ve heard from fans that how being gay is treated so nonchalantly in the world of Teen Wolf has been something they’ve loved most about the show. (Credit: MTV)

Source: Yahoo TV

Ken Woodruff (Fox’s ‘Gotham’)

The story I’m proudest of is from this season (Season 3). We were able to take a popular character from the canon of DC Comics, Penguin, and tell a personal, real, heartbreaking love story between him and another male character, Edward Nygma. (Credit: Jeff Neumann/FOX)

Source: Yahoo TV

Melissa Rosenberg (Netflix’s ‘Jessica Jones’)

In the comic books, Jessica wasn’t actually raped — she was an imprisoned voyeur to it, and we just wanted to make it a more personal experience and more realistic. We really were just telling the story of this character and never said, “Okay, we’re going to tackle the issue of rape or domestic violence or any issue like that.” We’re just going to tell her story and be responsible about it and be honest with the character. And so when it aired, there were initially all these think pieces on how it addressed rape and domestic violence. And then we were like, “Yes, that’s exactly what we intended to do!” Obviously we were dealing with an issue, but we never approached it that way. The minute you step on a soapbox is the minute people stop listening to you. (Credit: Netflix) Read our full conversation with Rosenberg and The Magicians showrunner Sera Gamble.

Source: Yahoo TV

Sera Gamble (Syfy’s ‘The Magicians’)

We felt that sexual assault was really the core of the Magicians story. The reveal that the Big Bad [The Beast] evolved into a monster as a defense mechanism to protect himself because he was being sexually abused as a young boy struck my partner, John McNamara, and me as a really amazing use of fantasy, and it felt psychologically real. It was non-negotiable for us. We really wanted to tell that story. It kind of became the guiding mechanism for the whole show; just the idea that fantasy is used to explore darkness and the human psyche and the various evils that we do to one another and to human beings. When we got to [where] Julia is assaulted by a trickster god, it’s a very graphic rape scene. What was important to us was to be honest and unflinching about it. We didn’t want to find any trapdoors that we could go through that made it less personal for the audience. So for example, we could have made the creature that assaulted her look less human and we chose not to. We wanted him to feel as human and present in the room as possible. Most important for us, when we filmed that scene, was to stay in Julia’s point of view, to make sure we were telling her story, and that she never became the object of the story. She was always the subject of the story. (Photo by: Carole Segal/Syfy) Read our full conversation with Gamble and Jessica Jones showrunner Melisssa Rosenberg.

Source: Yahoo TV

Bruce Miller (Hulu’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’)

I’m proudest of the way the show deals with institutionalized sexism and misogyny. The show takes place in an alternative present where women are commodified and strictly oppressed under threat of violence. In a world like this it’s easy to get lost in categories, i.e. victims, collaborators, oppressors, but I’m proud of how our show tries to humanize everyone in Atwood’s Gilead. (Credit: Take Five/Hulu)

Source: Yahoo TV

Michelle Lovretta (Syfy’s ‘Killjoys’)

Consent and agency are important themes in most of my work, and are also just a natural fit when dealing with science fiction, especially as a woman. In Killjoys, a lot of our long arcs are about systems trampling on the rights of individuals… and then we sit back, crack a beer, and have fun watching how our smartass underdogs win out. (Credit: Ian Watson/Syfy/Killjoys II Productions Limited)

Source: Yahoo TV

Ronald D. Moore (Starz’s ‘Outlander’)

I’m proud of the way we depict our heroine as a smart, strong woman who is able to adapt to living in the past without losing her sense of self. She’s not a damsel in distress and she’s often the one to come to the rescue of the man she loves. (Credit: Starz)

Source: Yahoo TV

Emily Andras (Syfy’s ‘Wynonna Earp’)

I’m very proud of the female representation on Wynonna Earp — has there ever been a western with more women running around firing guns and kicking ass? — and I like to think we handled the LGBT storyline delicately with grace and good spirit. (Credit: Michelle Faye/Syfy/Wynonna Earp Productions)

Source: Yahoo TV

Marco Ramirez (Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’)

From the beginning, Daredevil has been concerned with characters who uncover truth, whether through vigilante activity or journalistic integrity. The Ben Urich story, which then became Karen Page’s story, is something that seems to take on a new and different meaning every year. Season 1, it was about taking down Wilson Fisk. Season 2, it became about uncovering the truth behind the murder of Frank Castle’s family. Maybe it’s The X-Files still in my DNA, but “the truth is out there” is a hell of a dramatic motor in TV. (Credit: Barry Wetcher)

Source: Yahoo TV

Terry Matalas (’12 Monkeys’)

12 Monkeys is pretty morally gray, through and through — which gives us great latitude to explore things like blind faith in any kind of doctrine.  We delve into how one can be driven to do terrible things: Fear. Love. Faith. (Credit: Ben Mark Holzberg/Syfy)

Source: Yahoo TV

Mark Fergus (Syfy’s ‘The Expanse’)

You’ve got these middle-aged guys who have lived badly, or if they had convictions they lost them, they tripped and fell in life and they’re trying to find a way back to the light… That’s the story we gravitate to because I feel like we have something to say about that. It’s Children of Men, it’s Tony Stark, it’s Rick from Casablanca, it’s The Verdict. [In Season 2’s “Home”] Miller felt like his whole life had been the fabric leading him up to this moment, so the fact that he was a f–kup his whole life actually helped him in the moment where he needed to redeem himself. That final scene with Julie, that was the reason we wanted to make this show. That was the whole heart of it. It’s not only the heart of the book, I think it’s the heart of the whole show. (Credit: Syfy) Read our full conversation with Fergus.

Source: Yahoo TV

Bryan Fuller and Michael Green (Starz’s ‘American Gods’)

Fuller: We’re very proud of the coming-to-America stories. We told them because we were very moved by them as reminders of how we all got here. And when we made them, we thought everyone would be moved by them too and were very surprised to find out by the time it airs — especially after November — those immigration stories have become far more political than we would have ever expected. If people are moved by them, so much the better. If people are challenged by them, that’s there too, and not a bad thing at all. (Credit: Starz) Read our full conversation with Fuller and Green.

Source: Yahoo TV

Ryan Condal and Carlton Cuse (USA’s ‘Colony’)

Condal: We’re proudest of the human drama in Colony. The genre, the science-fiction, is just a backdrop that applies the correct pressures (i.e., an alien occupation of Los Angeles) to explore the themes in which we are most interested. This season, there are two particular issues that are addressed that really interested us. In episode 2.04 (“Panopticon”), we dramatize the very real and growing technological surveillance state as it applies to the world of Colony and, in particular, the Bowman family. What happens to a society when it lives in constant fear of being watched? Can anyone trust anyone? The answers are dark and approaching the nihilistic, which is why we were so drawn to it. The other issue is the true nature of resistance. When we think of the word “resistance,” in a science-fiction context, it tends to conjure images of the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars and Sarah Connor in The Terminator. But real resistance is ugly. It’s politically motivated, it’s brutally violent, it is uncompromising, and it is often utterly futile. This is a big theme this season, particularly in the second half, and I think the audience will be surprised about what Colony has to say about the issue. (Credit: Isabella Vosmikova/USA Network)

Source: Yahoo TV

David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf (NBC’s ‘Grimm’)

Greenwalt: Grimm attempts to offer an explanation for monstrous behavior and the inexplicable nature of evil. Kouf: The environmental issue in episode 9 of this season, as the environment is an issue that’s important to me, and the senility issue in episode 10 of this season, as it is an issue we all have to deal with. (Credit: Allyson Riggs/NBC)

Source: Yahoo TV

David Eick (Freeform’s ‘Beyond’)

Beyond is interested in how a nuclear family holds together despite extraordinary events, and how growing up and becoming an adult is sort of like learning to be a superhero. (Credit: Katie Yu/Freeform)

Source: Yahoo TV

Julie Plec (The CW’s ‘The Originals’)

It’s all about family, for better or for worse, through the good and the bad. It’s about the bonds of blood. And as children of dysfunction and abuse and tyranny, it’s about how these kids grew up to be both the worst parts of that and the best parts of themselves in spite of it all. (Credit: Annette Brown/The CW)

Source: Yahoo TV

Damon Lindelof (HBO’s ‘The Leftovers’)

I feel most proud of the way our show addresses grief… how surprising and upsetting and nonsensical coping mechanisms can be, whether that mechanism is joining a cult or hiring prostitutes to shoot you in the chest. There is no more profoundly complex human emotion than the one associated with losing someone you love and The Leftovers is a constant examination of that idea. (Credit: HBO)

Source: Yahoo TV

Julie Plec (The CW’s ‘The Vampire Diaries’)

I think that we said a lot that this is a show about love and loss. And those are two extremely universal things that everybody on this planet goes through at one point in their lives. They, with luck, fall deeply in love at least once. Unfortunately, over the course of a lifetime, they experience loss more times than anyone could hope. It’s very difficult for people to express themselves emotionally to deal with those emotions. In the phases of managing and moving on from grief, it’s a very complicated journey. A show that tackles issues of loss and grief, like what we do, is just another tool out there in the universe to let you sit and have a good cry, or to see something about your own experience in this fiction. (Photo: Bob Mahoney/The CW) Read our full conversation with Plec.

Source: Yahoo TV

Nick Antosca (Syfy’s ‘Channel Zero’)

Loss and the experience of coping with it, in Channel Zero: Candle Cove. We’re a horror show, and loss is the most universal real world horror. (Credit: Allen Fraser/Syfy)

Source: Yahoo TV

Dana Gould (IFC’s ‘Stan Against Evil’)

Stan Against Evil is largely about moving on after loss. We start Season 1 at the funeral of our lead character’s wife, and by the end of the season, he has only started to come to terms with it. I went through a divorce a couple years ago, and didn’t realize until midway through filming that I had been writing about myself. (Credit: Kim Simms/IFC)

Source: Yahoo TV

Dan Harmon (Adult Swim’s ‘Rick and Morty’)

I am proud that our show addresses what I consider the root of all our issues: it’s better to have felt an unfeeling universe than never to have felt at all. (Credit: Cartoon Network)

Source: Yahoo TV

Drew Goddard (NBC’s ‘The Good Place’)

I believe The Good Place is the first show to explore sexual relations between an anthropomorphized afterlife information delivery system and a gentleman from Jacksonville, but it’s possible St. Elsewhere got there first. (Credit: Vivian Zink/NBC)

Source: Yahoo TV

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’)

We spend a lot of time pondering the complexities of incestuous relations. Talk about a sticky situation! (Credit: HBO)

Source: Yahoo TV

[drbobbimorse]

I was tagged by the wonderful @peplumsandpitches (thanks!!!) to answer these ‘get to know me’ questions

Nickname: MC2 (squared), MC, Murry, Typhoid Mary, MC Morticia

Star Sign: Capricorn

Height: 5′6″

Last Thing I Googled: I was job hunting (been woefully unemployed since mid-September)

Favorite Musicians: Too many to name honestly. I adore Adele, Florence + the Machine, P!nk, OneRepublic, Safetysuit, Nicki Minaj, Billy Joel, Mumford & Sons, Bon Jovi; all of them are probably the only artists I’d actually pay to see in concert (seen two of them, actually). I like a lot of genres, too. Give me anything but screamo-death metal, most country and some rap and I’m good

Song Stuck in My Head: “You’re Welcome” by Jordan Fisher & Lin-Manuel Miranda -- I LOVE THIS MOVIE AND THIS VERSION OF THE SONG, DO NOT JUDGE ME!!!

Last Movie I Watched: Either Moana or Rogue One

Last TV Show I Watched: Man in the High Castle -- do yourself a favor and go watch it right now!!!

When Did You Create Your Blog?: 2013

What Kind of Stuff Do I Post: A little bit of everything. Mostly fandom related (all fandoms listed on my blog) and a lot of stuff for my characters/fics, some of my own edits or edits that friends are nice enough to make of my characters or include in their own edits

Do You Have Any Other Blogs?: Nope. I mean, I have 2 other urls saved but they’ll just link back to my regular blog

Do You Get Asks Regularly?: Not at all. It hurts the heart. If I’m bored and post an ask game, y’all should just be nice and play with me

Why Did You Choose Your URL?: Cause the MCU seemed to forget that Bobbi Morse has a fucking PhD on top of being an elite specialist spy and I needed to remind everyone that my girl is just an all-around brilliant badass who deserves some damn respect from the MCU and the fandom that vilifies her

Gender: Female

Hogwarts House: SLYTHERIN AND PROUD, HISS HISS MUTHERFUCKAS!!!

Pokemon Team: Mystic

Fave Color: Green. This was my favorite before I even knew about HP or knew I was a Slytherin, so it really worked out in my favor lmao

Average Hours of Sleep: It varies. It depends. I guess 7 is my usual

Lucky Number: Don’t have one but I like to think 7, 13 and 23 are my lucky numbers lol

Favorite Characters: Okay, well this is just impossible to answer. Bobbi Morse (obviously), Lorna Dane, Scott Summers, Charles Xavier, Zatanna Zatara, Janet Van Dyne, Kamala Khan, Miles Morales, Dinah/Laurel Lance, Ray Palmer, Kendra Saunders, Rip Hunter, Elektra Natachios, Karen Page, Frank Castle, Barbara Gordon, Edward Nygma, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Shades, Melinda May, Elijah Mikaelson, Hayley Marshall, Vincent Griffith, Rebekah Mikaelson, Mike Johnson, Olaf Johnson, Abbie Mills, Faith Lehane, Willow Rosenberg, Wesley Wyndam-Prince, Ruper Giles, Gwen Raiden, Annie Sawyer, George Sands, John Mitchell, Piper Halliwell, Phoebe Halliwell, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, Captain Jack Harkness, Joan Watson, Isabella of Valencia, Arianne Martell, the REAL Sand Snakes, Sansa Stark, Robb Stark, Davos Seaworth, Shireen Baratheon, Hermione Granger, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James Wilson, Peggy Olsen, Frank Frink, Nobusuke Tagomi, Khutulun, Mei Lin, Lily Frankenstein/Brona Croft, Sam Merlotte, Lafayette Reynolds, Tara Thornton, Pam Ravenscroft, Alec Hardison, Parker, Eliot Spencer, Veronica Fisher, Mickey Bricks, Juice Ortiz, Chibs/Filip, Malia Tate, Scott McCall, Sam Winchester, Jo & Ellen Harvelle, Gabriel/Trickster, Lagertha, Athelstan, Rick Grimes, Carl Grimes, Andrea Harrison, Glenn Rhee, Rosita Espinosa, Morgan Jones, the Sense8 cluster, literally the entire cast of Z-Nation, Lost Girl, Firefly/Serenity, H2GAWM and FDTD. I’m gonna stop here, cause we’ll be here all day otherwise

How Many Blankets Do You Sleep With?: Usually 2 or 3, depends on the season and the temp the house is

Dream Job: Anything in theater or film tbh

tagging: @yeahthatotheronewhatshername, @papermoon262, @darknightfrombeyond, @deadletterpoets, @cosmic-wanda, @kisaageckos, @lydamartin, @sicklyscribe and I guess anyone else that’s interested

[fyrapartnersearch]

fandom & myth search

hi there! i'm currently on the hunt for some new partners, so let me quickly get past some nitty-gritty details so we can get to the good stuff c:

my partner needs to be 18+ (seeing as i'm 28). this is non-negotiable, sorry.

i only rp over email, but ooc chatter over discord is fine. feel free to include your username when you first send me your message!

i am open to all pairing types, but my end will be m/f. there are a couple of exceptions -- you'll find them below in the fandom section.

i can reply a few times a week, depending on work, irl obligations, and other rps. i ask for the same from you, but a heads up if you'll be gone a week or longer would be greatly appreciated.

i tend to mirror my partner's posts, but i like to stay at least around 3 paragraphs per character. more is loved but not necessary.

i do not fade to black. i appreciate that some people do, but if you are one of those people, please do not contact me :c

limit-wise, i do not touch pedophilia, toiletplay, gore, bestiality, or incest. if there's an exception it'll be mentioned below.

i'm also on the lookout for more smutty threads, so if that appeals to you, do let me know!

okay, so! the fun stuff 

gotham

seeing all the photos from this upcoming season has inspired me, what can i say? that said, i'm only looking for oswald cobblepot/edward nygma, and my preference would be to play oswald. don't have any concrete ideas in mind, but i'm happy to discuss it with you! 

** someone who's up to date on the show would be my preference, but i wouldn't say it's mandatory. i'm also not looking to double here.

mythology

not technically a fandom, i guess, but i've been craving it a lot lately? i'm mostly looking to dabble in greek or norse (or even a meeting of these pantheons), though i'm familiar with other traditions as well. i'm mostly looking to write athena opposite an ares or maybe a loki. 

while i'm happy to double for you, please note that i don't really want to play unless you're willing to indulge my athena pairing :c 

i've written dionysus in the past (and quite enjoyed it), but please please do not ask me to play hades to your persephone. i'm also a little wary of including aphrodite as a main character, but it's something we can discuss if you're wanting it.

assassin's creed odyssey

i've beaten the main storyline and the bulk of side quests (including atlantis). mostly looking to play kassandra opposite a brasidas -- because that was just a tease, not letting him be romanceable ;o i'd also be interested in writing a lady oc opposite alexios (either as the protagonist or after he's left the cult as deimos).

for doubling purposes i'm more than happy to write kassandra or alexios for you (in any pairing type, for oc or canon characters). you can ask about others if you like!

marvel cinematic universe

i'm all up-to-date on the movies, except for ant-man & the wasp. that said, i'm really only looking to write a lady oc opposite a loki. 

i'll happily write tony stark, vision, hela, thor, or peter quill for you. i will not write bucky barnes, t'challa, peter parker, dr. strange, or loki for you. i may have to be coerced to write steve rogers or natasha romanoff. please inquire about others if the one you wanted is not in my list somewhere; i'm usually pretty happy to accommodate you -- villains included! 

inception

the oldie but goodie! c: not terribly keen in keeping things in universe unless you have an incredibly compelling plot post-movie. only looking to play arthur/eames where i play arthur. i'm also not looking to double here.

okay guys, i think that's everything. please reach out if i've piqued your interest even a little, or if you have any questions!

contact me: grimmsandhooks at gmail dot com

[fathersonholygore]

Fox’s Gotham Season 4, Episode 1: “Pax Penguina” Directed by Danny Cannon Written by John Stephens

* For a recap & review of the Season 3 Heroes Rise finale, “Heavydirtysoul” – click here * For a recap & review of the next episode, “The Fear Reaper” – click here Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) is gradually getting closer to his true self, Batman. He watches over Gotham’s streets, looking for victims of thieves and murderers. He confronts two men with guns, beating them down using all his training. One of them claims to have a “license,” which the young billionaire finds on him. It’s stamped with a little umbrella giving permissions for specific crimes. In the dark, Ra’s al Ghul (Alexander Siddig) is also keeping a watchful eye on Bruce. A band covers Rick Astley at a wedding when a bunch of criminals hold the place up. They loot the guests. However, waiting nearby is Victor Zsasz (Anthony Carrigan), who doesn’t like what he’s seeing. We hear more of the licenses, issued by Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor). Zsasz is there to make robbers are kicking up to the boss. “No license, no crime.” Speaking of Oswald, he’s ruling Gotham with an iron fist. He’s dropped violent crime, but he’s technically unionising it now, as well. Such is the irony of this seedy little city. There’s a new Mayor, a new police commissioner. Yet nothing’s changed much. Detective Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) is adjusting to the new “Penguin–approved” system of licensing crime. As in, he isn’t dealing with that shit except to arrest motherfuckers like always. Most of the GCPD aren’t happy with him, either. Certainly Captain Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) is going to have to do a bit of work to keep Jim in line, because they’re all forced to do what the new comish wants. The criminals turned away by Zsasz are looking into Arkham Asylum for answers to their problems. They go to the warden, searching out Jonathan Crane (Charlie Tahan). They’ve got a plan to “give someone a little scare.” Oh, this is looking dark already. The men take Jonathan to find his father’s things, to cook up some “scare juice,” and they’ve got an ugly scarecrow to keep the lad focused. Thus, no need for any crime licenses when they can gas people, make away with money, whatever they wish. This puts Dt. Gordon hotter on the case, works for him there’s no license to stop his investigation. He’s already thinking of the Crane family. Jim and Harvey go see Warden Reed (Damian Young), who bullshits them about Jonathan, of course. They want to see the young man. Eventually the warden gives up what he knows, leading the cops to one of the criminals. But Jim and Harvey get ambushed, the rest of the criminal gang escapes. We’re privy to more ass kicking by Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova), after a bunch of men try assaulting her in an alleyway. Helps that she’s got that new whip, she uses it incredibly well. No men are going to get a jump on her. Not to mention she’s being mentored a bit by Tabitha Galavan (Jessica Lucas). They beat dudes up, they eat pizza. When they get home, Zsasz is waiting. He’s delivering the message about the licenses, as well as inviting them to “kiss the ring” at the opening of the Iceberg Lounge. The Cat wouldn’t mind working for Penguin, whereas Tabitha says fuck that.

Alfred (Sean Pertwee) isn’t so sure about Master Bruce’s methods. Bruce is concerned about the city, though, he doesn’t like the licenses Penguin is issuing. He stops by the GCPD to see Jim, they speak for a little. In addition, we get the first of many quick exits by Mr. Wayne as he vanishes behind Jim’s back when they’re conversation is at an end. Classic! With the Iceberg Lounge about to open, Penguin speaks to the press of the “Pax Romana” and his own “Pax Penguina” relating himself to Caesar. He also shows them the centrepiece of his new club, the frozen Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) whom he claims had a disease of the brain. Perfect timing – Dt. Gordon pops by to call Oswald out in front of everybody, telling them about Crane’s fear toxin loose on the street. “We all have our fears to face” The GCPD are prepared, watching the Iceberg Lounge. Jim is sure the gang will be baited into going for Cobblepot there. Bullock’s not sold on the plan, even if his old partner is sure things will go as he anticipates. The detective gets a visit later in the locker room by his colleagues, they’re not pleased with him. Thus begins a new fist fight for ole Jim. Meanwhile, worse things are happening. Poor young Crane is locked away by the criminals in a closet with the terrifying scarecrow, and his fragile little mind isn’t going to bend much further before snapping. Everyone is present for the opening at the lounge. Bruce gets closer to Oswald, figuring out more about the license. Selina and Tabitha are there to take up the crime boss on his deal. In the back, the gang of criminals with their fear toxin wait to spring their plot. Only to be surprised by Penguin and Zsasz. What’ll be the punishment? Something gruesome, one hopes. He drags them out in front of everyone present, showing people what other criminals would have the city turned into if it weren’t for Penguin keeping Gotham safe from fear. When Bruce wants to get suited up Alfred urges: “There is time for masks, and there is a time for Bruce Wayne.” This prompts the young man to interrupt, confronting Oswald about what will happen to the criminals. None of that matters because Ivy Pepper (Maggie Geha) is fed up with her friend Penguin. She kills the lights in the lounge and the whole place goes insane. Ole Oz gets a blast of the fear toxin, seeing the Riddler emerge as a monstrous entity. Lucky for everybody, Jim and Harvey get there to arrest the gang of criminals. That night, Bruce does get his suit on. He tracks down the man with the list of licenses, then he vanishes into the night again. He starts looking for criminals, when he winds up falling through a window right into their path. Likewise stumbling into the path of GCPD officers doing a bust. Elsewhere, Jonathan has relinquished his identity. He is now just the Scarecrow, about to terrorise Gotham in his own horrific way. Just a knockout of an opening episode for Season 4! So much good stuff going on. I’m a huge fan of the Scarecrow character, so it’s nice to see a return of that storyline, including Jonathan himself. Lots to look forward to in this season. “The Fear Reaper” – a fitting title – comes next.

Gotham – A Dark Knight, Episode 1: “Pax Penguina” Fox's Gotham Season 4, Episode 1: "Pax Penguina" Directed by Danny Cannon Written by John Stephens…

[justgotham]

I really must thank the organisers of the Heroes & Villains event. I met up with the agent who had organised our passes, and arranged our interviews. He led me to a behind the scenes meeting room, knocked on the door, and inside I saw two of my favourite actors waiting for me. What was that line about real life, again?

My initial reaction was disbelief, I was immediately star-struck. To their credit both gentlemen put me at ease. By the end of the conversation It felt more like I’d been in a room with old friends. At first I couldn’t even get my fingers and thumbs working to hit the record button, but got there eventually. This wasn’t a tech issue, this was interviewer malfunction!

Action!

Dark Knight News: Right, it’s finally recording.

Robin Lord Taylor: Boom!

DKN: So, I’m here for Dark Knight News and DC Comics News with Cory Michael Smith and Robin Lord Taylor AKA Edward Nygma and Oswald Cobblepot. First of all, how are you finding London? Have we been nice to you?

Cory Michael Smith: Oh, yeah. I love it.

RLT: It’s been fantastic.

CMS: This is my fifth or sixth time here, it’s probably my most visited city outside the U.S. I love it! I came early, I’m staying late… it’s great!

RLT: Yeah, the same. I think it’s maybe my third or fourth time. It’s just fantastic. When I first came to London I was like oh my gosh, there’s actually another city I could conceivably see myself living in besides New York.

DKN: That’s how I feel about New York!

RLT: Really? Wow. They feel like sister cities in a way. They’re very similar in many ways.

Riddle Me This

DKN: I have loads of questions for you from the whole team, but… let’s have a look. (Under my breath) Are you single? Nope, skipping that… Do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend/partner/significant other? Nuh-uh… Will you marry me… What th’ … (Back in full voice) Ah, here we go (CMS and RLTare laughing at this point.)

Edward and Oswald… radical departures from the way that anyone has played them before, which is awesome. A conscious decision, or did the producers want you to go down fresh avenues of interpretation?

CMS: It was very conscious. In the beginning we had a conversation with the creators about the character, but it’s felt pretty hands off for most of it. Early on with Nygma we were trying still to find the character, we were so far away from The Riddler. So we had some course corrections, and tried some stuff and had some different plot lines. It’s been so fun to go from Nygma to The Riddler. It’s felt like a really exciting evolution. Then the back and forth…. it’s felt like a very organic development of character. It’s been really fun.

RLT: I don’t know if you’ve heard, but it was really fascinating the way they cast the show. When I auditioned (Robin looks over to Cory) and I don’t know if it was the same for you, but we were not allowed to see the script. We weren’t even supposed to know what the project was, so they had sent out just scenes that were written just for the audition, with very little description.

When I came in to audition I made choices not knowing it was The Penguin. I was given a scene, and so, OK, here’s what I’m gonna do with that, and it just happened to be exactly what they had in mind. And that was the same for all of us, they didn’t want us to come in with any expectation or any thought about what came before. So it was very intentionally, made to be a departure for all of us, from the characters as we knew them before.

DKN: That makes so much sense. That’s a much more organic way to form a character naturally. One of my favorite parts of the show is how organic and natural it does feel from a character performance standpoint. I was speaking to Drew (Powell) earlier, and having a real, physical Solomon Grundy, rather than a CGI monstrosity was brilliant.

CMS: Thanks.

RLT: Thank you.

Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue. I Have Multiple Personalities… And So Do I.

DKN: Obviously duality is a huge theme in Gotham, and in Batman’s universe. Robin, you started out as a good son, a family man, forced into becoming a monster. Cory, you were a nice, stand up guy, working for the police. You then had your heart broken, and your mind destroyed by guilt, forcing you to become the Riddler. Has it helped you, as actors, playing these two radically different personalities, that are the same person?

CMS: Absolutely! After four years of doing this, I feel way more in command of my body, and my voice, and there’s something really exciting about being on a TV show that feels so… operatic, and big. We both come from a theatre background, and you have the allowance to really fill a space when you’re doing theatre.

That’s rare in TV and film today, to be granted the authority to really flex your muscles that way. To learn how to do it on-screen, in a way that is focused, but still like… eruptive… it’s been a great education.

RLT: Yeah, definitely. It’s been great. There’s the idea that, when you’re on film that everything has to be smaller. This show has completely stripped all that away.

DKN: Every episode feels like a movie, and every performance is full of life.

RLT: Exactly, it’s larger… it’s like the largest performance you can give, and they want that. They encourage us to be big, and to be brave and put it all out there. That’s what I’ll take away from this whole experience. Feeling so much more confident in who I am, and knowing that when I walk into a room, I know how to command a space now… which I don’t think I really understood that before.

The Tools Of The Trade

DKN: Would either of you like to have the comic-book toys, like the staff, or the umbrellas in the final season?

CMS: Oh, yeah! Give me my cane! (All three of us laugh)

RLT: Yeah, he gets a cane, I get my umbrellas.

CMS: Give me my cane!

RLT: I’d love the helicopter umbrella, that would be great. Also, I’m really hoping that we get the monocle next year. In the storyline it’s an injury, so I don’t know who would cause it in the show (points at Cory) probably him… (We laugh) I think it would be fantastic! Especially since it’s wrapping up, I feel like, by the end, all of the pieces are gonna start coming together for all of us.

CMS: (To Robin) Do you plan on gaining 50 lbs this season? (We all laugh) Can you imagine? Oh, my God!

RLT: And shrinking! (More laughs)

DKN: That’s too funny.

I Did it My Way

DKN: Like you said, Robin, sadly things will be wrapping up. There’ve been quotes from the show-runners saying that characters like Mother and Orphan / The Lady Shiva and Cassandra Cain are coming onto the show. Are you guys excited about that? Some new blood?

CMS: Absolutely, yeah, totally.

RLT: I’m excited about new blood, but really what I’m hoping is, since it’s the last season, that even with the introduction of new characters, we’ll still be able to come back and focus on the core family, the core group that has been there since the beginning.

DKN: The backbone of the show.

RLT: Exactly. That’s going to be really gratifying, and it’s going to be very emotional. I’m already anticipating that.

CMS: I know, It’s a lot.. It’s a lot.

Men For All Seasons

DKN: The fans are, obviously, really sad about it ending too. I’ve been reporting on the show since it started, and one small comfort is that you’ll be going out with a bang, and not with a whimper.

CMS: Oh… it’ll be epic!

RLT: It’ll be fantastic. Also, just to know that it’s the end. I’ve been saying that once the show is done and time goes on, new people will still be discovering it. I’m just so glad that they’ll be able to watch it, all five seasons as though it’s a movie. The fact that we will have an ending, and that it will be, over five years, the big arc of the whole thing. I think it will be really great.

DKN: I was hoping you’d get ten years, like Smallville did, but…

(They both laugh and smile)

RLT: Hey, you never know… maybe Netflix will pick us up.

(More laughter from all three of us)

Every Girl’s Crazy ‘Bout A Sharp Dressed Man

DKN: It’s great seeing you both so casual, and relaxed. You’re usually in these sharp suits, and all dressed up. The costumes in the show are great! Do they feel as good to wear as they look?

CMS: Oh my God, yes. It’s extraordinary. We’re fortunate to have them custom made, and when you put them on you feel… powerful.

RLT: Yeah.

CMS: It feels right, and the fabric is beautiful, or it’s glistening, or it’s velvet, or whatever it may be. It just feels rich, and you can walk into a room and really own the clothes.

RLT: Yeah. It’s like putting on the skin of the character. I love working that way too, to be able to go from the outside into the emotional interior. To be able to put on the suit, have the nose, and then the hair. It’s like all these pieces come together, and then I’m Oswald. It feels really great.

Comic-Book Men

DKN: What was your relationship with comics. Before working on Gotham, and since?

CMS: Before the show, I didn’t have a relationship with comics, we didn’t grow up with them in our house. My brother and I didn’t read them. Now… (Laughing) now I have a collection! Particularly of Batman. I’m mostly focused on reading Batman comics, and now I have a little library that I’m pretty proud of.

DKN: Cool!

RLT: Yeah, same. I wasn’t a huge comic-book person as a child, but I was obsessed with the movies. Now it really is so rich. The art, the creativity and background of these characters I find so fascinating. It really feels like it’s mythology… the mythology of today, and I think it’s so exciting. The fact that it inspires both myself, and other people, that’s exciting.

DKN: Thank you so much.

So, to close. Any final message to our readers, your fans, from Cory and from Robin. What would you like to say?

CMS: Join us on the ride to the finale. It’s gonna be epic!

RLT: I love you, and thank you.

DKN: And we all love you, and thank you. Thanks guys!

RLT: Cheers, mate!

CMS: Thank you, man.

DKN: Fingers crossed, we’ll see you next year!

CMS: Yeah!

RLT: Fantastic!

[justgotham]

GOTHAM, Fox Network’s drama about the journey of young Bruce Wayne (played by David Mazouz) to becoming Batman, is in its fifth and final ten-episode season on Thursday nights. The series will culminate in an episode that shows Gotham City and its denizens ten years later, when Batman finally comes into his own, as do his enemies.

Most of the major cast and creatives do a Q&A panel for the Television Critics Association press tour, and then everybody starts hugging each other. From all evidence, it seems like they’ve all loved their time on the show, their characters and one another dearly.

Thus Donal Logue, who plays Gotham police detective Harvey Bullock, and Cory Michael Smith, who plays Edward Nygma, aka the Riddler, literally have their arms around each other’s backs for most of this conversation. Their characters might despise one another, but the actors are clearly fast comrades.

ASSIGNMENT X: Were you waiting for the day when you got to have that full ten years from now look as the Riddler?

CORY MICHAEL SMITH: The last episode? Yes. And I remember – our designer, John Glazer, he was so great about consulting with us, and saying if we had any ideas. They [the design department] pitched what they had been thinking, but asked if there were any alterations or thoughts that we had. These guys are so good. I was like, “You do you, and I will wear it the best that I can.” And they came up with just the most beautiful outfit. They’ve made the fabric so that it’s embossed with question marks, so that as you turn, you see different ones. The detail, and the passion, and the creativity, and the singular identity for this Riddler, and this show, I so appreciate and I could not be happier with the final look.

DONAL LOGUE: You look incredible.

SMITH: The one thing that I did get to pick out – I said, “I want a new pair of glasses.” And I got to help pick out the green glasses.

LOGUE: I wore the same thing five years, didn’t f**k with that. Harvey’s Harvey. So I didn’t have to do any of that s**t.

Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma / The Riddler in GOTHAM – Season | ©2018 Fox/Justin Stephens

AX: You’ve had quite a career during GOTHAM, outside of GOTHAM. On film, you were in CAROL, with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, you were the lead in 1985, you were in WONDERSTRUCK, and you just played Roger Chaffee in FIRST MAN. On stage, you played Lee Harvey Oswald in the New York City Center Encores production of Stephen Sondheim’s/John Weidman’s ASSASSINS. Are the people casting these productions GOTHAM fans, going, “Oh, my God, he’s incredible, get that guy,” or is that just happening independently of your work on the series?

LOGUE: That’s how talented Cory is.

SMITH: Thank you.

LOGUE: You remember the first season, when you were in the Frances McDormand [starrer, on HBO] OLIVE KITTRIDGE. I was watching OLIVE KITTRIDGE, I knew, I just instinctively, intuitively knew what Cory was capable of, just knowing him. But when I saw it, I was so transported. He’s just an actor of so much depth – what he can do, where he’s going to go, is going to be awesome to watch.

SMITH: Thank you. I’ve auditioned for the work, and the stuff that’s come to me I think has been because of being able to watch OLIVE KITTRIDGE and GOTHAM, and see two completely different people.

LOGUE: What’s so beautiful is – because [as an actor] you get stuck – you do a big, kind of comic-y, kind of clown-y kind of thing that we’re probably all capable of doing, but when you do that early on, then people go, “Okay, that’s what you do.” And Cory got to show, very early on, the different levels he was capable of, the different frequencies he can throw. He’s just such a beautiful performer. And people talk s**t about this, but in five years, we didn’t have a moment of trauma or static between anybody in this [GOTHAM] world.

AX: Do you feel like Harvey might eventually become Hank Dolworth, the former police detective/private investigator you played in TERRIERS?

LOGUE: No, they were so different. It’s so bizarre. Like, why is it like that, Cory, right? I’m so strange. Everything I’ve done in probably the last fifteen years or something, I either knew who the guy was immediately, or I didn’t. Harvey is very different than Hank Dolworth, I would say. But Hank Dolworth – I was me. If you watch TERRIERS, that’s just me being me, and Harvey was Harvey.

AX: It was just, Hank had been a hard-bitten detective, and …

LOGUE: Well, they were both trapped in prisons of alcoholism and some weird sadness and some loneliness. You didn’t get to see Harvey’s behind the scenes. That’s an appropriate point.

SMITH: The Riddler did not get closer to me, I will say that, so … No, I have maybe gotten closer to the Riddler [laughs].

AX: Not asking for spoilers, but what has been your highlight on the show so far for your performance?

SMITH: Of all five years, of this season?

AX: All five years.

SMITH: Oh, that’s so tough.

LOGUE: I’d say my favorite moment – I had so many, but my favorite moment was on the pilot, when we drive Penguin [played by Robin Lord Taylor] to the pier and I tell Jim Gordon [played by Ben McKenzie], take this dude out, march him down there, and shoot him, save us a lot of hassle. It was there in the pilot [laughs]. It was there with Robin and Ben, and it was freezing, and it was beautiful. There are too many, but I would say, that was an awesome one.

SMITH: I think probably the – it’s not necessarily – it’s my favorite moment maybe in the arc when, at the end of Season 1, I’m protecting Kristen Kringle [played by Chelsea Spack], and I try to pick a fight with this cop who’s half a foot taller than me, and I stab him and then I just keep going. And it was a year of this guy, of [pre-Riddler] Ed, being so pent-up and so frustrated, and him being denied friendship and attention and no one taking him seriously, and it was the first time that I felt like he was letting go, and I was overwhelmed by the fear and the exhilaration. It was the moment I felt like, “I am part of this show now. This is someone who belongs on this show.”