And at last, a real honest-to-Bast response to
reviews! Thank you all for your patience…
>>There is a mental image in there that nobody in this world or any other needs
Yeah, ah, sorry about that, kat. You’re not the first to mention I should have put a warning label regarding the “FFO”
>> …when Eddie's not being nuts.
Yeah, see that’s the part that always trips him up.
>>Poor Eddie
I knew when I first had the idea for this story that we’d be hearing that a lot.
>> did Riddler 'announce' himself, including his Name, when he started up against Bats?
Well, Nodrog did answer this already but I’m going to chime in too. In the Catverse, we do glimpse his pre-Batman operation in flashback during Cattitude, where he ws calling himself the Riddler, sporting an early question mark, and leaving clues for the police. But it hadn’t quite come together yet. It seems to be encountering an adversary that solved his riddle and was there waiting that gave him that extra nudge into the persona we see today.
>> Poor Jervis, he got a worse takedown than Hugo Strange.
Well, to be fair, Nightwing gave Hugo the sort of drudging our Bat-boys give anyone who messes with Dr. Leslie. Alice on the other hand had been hated into becoming (EW!) Jervis’s Alice, so it’s a much greater offense than Hugo grabbing Leslie, and she was doling out the payback herself. Hell hath no fury —a lesson we dearly hope certain DCites will be learning one of these days.
Not that it matters, but to clarify several points of Jervis’s operation: He did not invent/set up the Rabbit Hole initially, that was an independent nightclub whose owners obviously ignored the Chamber of Commerce list of INCREDIBLY BAD NAMES to use in Gotham (Why do they keep doing that? Why?). He took it over, presumably by hatting the owners, as a way to score a steady supply of drones. Now just what he was planning to do with them is anybody’s guess. As B observed of Scarecrow’s foiled efforts one time, we won’t find out—until he tries again.
>> back to this question of unpredictability… Or perhaps Selina just simply wants to have a little fun.
I think Bruce would be the first to admit that with women and with cats, and especially with this particular womancat, unpredictability and the quest for fun are a constant state of being. Clark is already taking bets as to who is really going to wind up with the touch of grey at the temples.
>> Oh, Eddie, you poor, poor bastard!
This too I imagined would be uttered at least once in the course of the story. Love ya, Jarissa!
>> Question: why are Eddie's riddles not working? Answer (possible): They're geared for a dumbed-down Batman, not Superman.
Very well put, RE. I agree that Clark is not a stupid man, he’s just not “A Batman that can fly” any more than Bruce is “A Superman that can’t benchpress a planet.” The real problem is indeed Eddie’s approach to the whole thing, and I think you’ve nailed it in that there are realities he’s not facing that prevent him from seeing that. There was a B5 that had a doctor at his wits end because a population was dying and they wouldn’t accept treatment because of a social stigma attached to the disease. This guy was a scientist, and he tried (fruitlessly) to explain that you can’t politicize a disease. At the time, sure, it was quite the AIDS metaphor, but in the decades since, I’ve seen the dynamic in a lot of other contexts related to a lot of other problems. Oh but this show MUST be popular, because it's our new ED's baby and we so much money on it. Let’s ignore the fact that it bombed, and put it on the cover of all our subscription brochures for the new year… Hey, why aren’t people signing up for the theatre that brought them a show they hated? Let’s send out a new mailer reminding them how much we paid to bring in that director… Yeah, I know, digressing again. On to happier thoughts:
>> I'm looking forward to more Eddie-Lois interactions.
Lois is excited, she likes screentime!
>> …urge to scrub your brain?
Well I had that urge when I got the idea, but you’ll notice it didn’t stop me from sharing it with the rest of you. :P
Hi Nikitee! Kudos on spotting the World’s Fair stuff. I probably could have used Cleveland, but to tell the truth I don’t know all that much about it. And Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the country, so I figured Big Blue would go for the biggest available (yes I know, I know, *the* biggest is Gotham/New York, but Clark just isn’t East Coast people.)
>> I've seen people fanatically try to rationalize a major decision they now regret, and they sound just like this...
Yep. One of my favorite Sex and the Citys, Miranda has her standup routine for parties to explain why she’s not married, and a married friend of hers has one to explain why she doesn’t have children. I guess we all do it in some way at some point...
>>Poor Selina obviously has never had to deal with Bruce when he is in the mood to trump a villain's plans
So true, Ben. As a rule, she was pleased when he showed up, even if it was unexpected. Like the cat discovering a milk ring on the carpet: Here’s fun!
>>You see both sides of the couple in this story. Most importantly, you see how Selina and Bruce are integrated with Catwoman and Batman.
*raises finger to speak* Nah, you know what, I’m going to save that for Chapter 4. *naughty grin*
>> Exactly what "fun" does Selina want?
I don’t think she knows.
>> MY EYES! MY EYES! OH THE HUMANITY!!! *Runs across hall in fit of hysterical blindness and crashes straight into far wall.*
Eh, sorry about that.
Okay gang, I'm off until next time. Keep the faith
>>There is a mental image in there that nobody in this world or any other needs
Yeah, ah, sorry about that, kat. You’re not the first to mention I should have put a warning label regarding the “FFO”
>> …when Eddie's not being nuts.
Yeah, see that’s the part that always trips him up.
>>Poor Eddie
I knew when I first had the idea for this story that we’d be hearing that a lot.
>> did Riddler 'announce' himself, including his Name, when he started up against Bats?
Well, Nodrog did answer this already but I’m going to chime in too. In the Catverse, we do glimpse his pre-Batman operation in flashback during Cattitude, where he ws calling himself the Riddler, sporting an early question mark, and leaving clues for the police. But it hadn’t quite come together yet. It seems to be encountering an adversary that solved his riddle and was there waiting that gave him that extra nudge into the persona we see today.
>> Poor Jervis, he got a worse takedown than Hugo Strange.
Well, to be fair, Nightwing gave Hugo the sort of drudging our Bat-boys give anyone who messes with Dr. Leslie. Alice on the other hand had been hated into becoming (EW!) Jervis’s Alice, so it’s a much greater offense than Hugo grabbing Leslie, and she was doling out the payback herself. Hell hath no fury —a lesson we dearly hope certain DCites will be learning one of these days.
Not that it matters, but to clarify several points of Jervis’s operation: He did not invent/set up the Rabbit Hole initially, that was an independent nightclub whose owners obviously ignored the Chamber of Commerce list of INCREDIBLY BAD NAMES to use in Gotham (Why do they keep doing that? Why?). He took it over, presumably by hatting the owners, as a way to score a steady supply of drones. Now just what he was planning to do with them is anybody’s guess. As B observed of Scarecrow’s foiled efforts one time, we won’t find out—until he tries again.
>> back to this question of unpredictability… Or perhaps Selina just simply wants to have a little fun.
I think Bruce would be the first to admit that with women and with cats, and especially with this particular womancat, unpredictability and the quest for fun are a constant state of being. Clark is already taking bets as to who is really going to wind up with the touch of grey at the temples.
>> Oh, Eddie, you poor, poor bastard!
This too I imagined would be uttered at least once in the course of the story. Love ya, Jarissa!
>> Question: why are Eddie's riddles not working? Answer (possible): They're geared for a dumbed-down Batman, not Superman.
Very well put, RE. I agree that Clark is not a stupid man, he’s just not “A Batman that can fly” any more than Bruce is “A Superman that can’t benchpress a planet.” The real problem is indeed Eddie’s approach to the whole thing, and I think you’ve nailed it in that there are realities he’s not facing that prevent him from seeing that. There was a B5 that had a doctor at his wits end because a population was dying and they wouldn’t accept treatment because of a social stigma attached to the disease. This guy was a scientist, and he tried (fruitlessly) to explain that you can’t politicize a disease. At the time, sure, it was quite the AIDS metaphor, but in the decades since, I’ve seen the dynamic in a lot of other contexts related to a lot of other problems. Oh but this show MUST be popular, because it's our new ED's baby and we so much money on it. Let’s ignore the fact that it bombed, and put it on the cover of all our subscription brochures for the new year… Hey, why aren’t people signing up for the theatre that brought them a show they hated? Let’s send out a new mailer reminding them how much we paid to bring in that director… Yeah, I know, digressing again. On to happier thoughts:
>> I'm looking forward to more Eddie-Lois interactions.
Lois is excited, she likes screentime!
>> …urge to scrub your brain?
Well I had that urge when I got the idea, but you’ll notice it didn’t stop me from sharing it with the rest of you. :P
Hi Nikitee! Kudos on spotting the World’s Fair stuff. I probably could have used Cleveland, but to tell the truth I don’t know all that much about it. And Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the country, so I figured Big Blue would go for the biggest available (yes I know, I know, *the* biggest is Gotham/New York, but Clark just isn’t East Coast people.)
>> I've seen people fanatically try to rationalize a major decision they now regret, and they sound just like this...
Yep. One of my favorite Sex and the Citys, Miranda has her standup routine for parties to explain why she’s not married, and a married friend of hers has one to explain why she doesn’t have children. I guess we all do it in some way at some point...
>>Poor Selina obviously has never had to deal with Bruce when he is in the mood to trump a villain's plans
So true, Ben. As a rule, she was pleased when he showed up, even if it was unexpected. Like the cat discovering a milk ring on the carpet: Here’s fun!
>>You see both sides of the couple in this story. Most importantly, you see how Selina and Bruce are integrated with Catwoman and Batman.
*raises finger to speak* Nah, you know what, I’m going to save that for Chapter 4. *naughty grin*
>> Exactly what "fun" does Selina want?
I don’t think she knows.
>> MY EYES! MY EYES! OH THE HUMANITY!!! *Runs across hall in fit of hysterical blindness and crashes straight into far wall.*
Eh, sorry about that.
Okay gang, I'm off until next time. Keep the faith
I did like
the little subtle implication that Dick is a
little more sympathetic than Barbara but is
sticking to the company line to back Bruce up in keeping
Tim honest.
Ah, the
ladies! Always keeping us guys on our toes!
