ladybug_archive | Entries tagged with the batman

I was sure I never watched the Real Ghostbusters cartoon growing up, because 99% of the time I wasn't interested in people cartoons and preferred animal cartoons instead. But there was that exception with Peter Pan and the Pirates (and oh, Beetlejuice too; that's ... technically a people show), and oy, the more I watch the Real Ghostbusters now, the more the opening and ending both look familiar. It's possible on the one hand that I saw the opening on YouTube when I was just fooling around, but that wouldn't explain the ending. I know I must have seen the show coming and going; perhaps it came right before something I was trying to catch. The big question, whether I actually watched the show itself, I honestly can't answer. It ended the year I turned five and the memories are patchy at best. I'm sure enjoying it now, though. It's just perfect for me: friendship stuff and ghosties and creepy situations.... I don't suppose Mom would remember if I watched it if I asked her. Couldn't hurt to try, though. It would be kind of cool if I actually did watch it and liked it and that's why I was given the pinball game. But on the other hand, Dad sometimes just picked up stuff if it was a cartoon, whether I watched it or not. LOL. Like, I have some toy walkie-talkies from the short-lived Fish Police, which I definitely never watched. But since he's not into supernatural creepy stuff and usually doesn't like my interest in it, it's kind of surprising either way about him getting the Ghostbusters pinball game. Still, he sometimes indulged my love of Turtles stuff even though he didn't really like that. So hmm. A puzzle.

Egon was pretty much immediately my favorite watching it now and that hasn't changed. Not surprising, since he seems to be the most logically-minded of the group and I almost always go for that type in shows. My first (recent) episode was the Boogieman one and I really loved Winston in it too. He was also adorable in another episode, when he was excited about a blueberry fudge cake (yuuuum) and Slimer ate the whole flippin' thing. **headdesk.** Winston was such a good sport about it and it was very endearing. I like the whole group, though. Slimer is still cute, but it is exasperating that he keeps eating everything and not leaving any for anyone else, even when he promises to. Oy, in life he must have been like Sergei on WWW, always wanting to eat. But I love when he manages to do something to help.

I'm going to get to see the new Ghostbusters movie in a week. I went to see my movie-going friend this past day and she gave me a cool mini-poster for the film. At home, I was still tired and took a nap and I had a weirdo dream about watching the film because of looking at the poster. Naturally, in the dream the movie wasn't anywhere as exciting as it probably will actually be. Earlier, I was reading one of my Batman fics, the one where The Riddler comes back alive after they thought he was dead, and I had a dream about that too. It was one of those kind of "run/evade/don't be seen" dreams and he was trying not to let someone in particular know that he was alive. He had to go through a series of ten mazes without being spotted by them. Naturally, he was eventually seen and the chase was on.

On Tuesday I went out to see if I could find the Donatello plush locally for a good price. I couldn't find any at the Wal-Marts we visited, which wasn't surprising. But I finally found the Lyra Pony plush! I've been looking for her for a year and a half, so I didn't want to leave without her. I decided on the best one and brought her home with me. I also got Sweetie Drops. She appeared at our Wal-Mart recently, but I didn't have the money to get her and I'd kind of hoped to find a better one of her. Two were understuffed and a third had a slightly crinkled nose. And I wasn't sure I wanted to get her at all if I didn't know I could get Lyra too, since they're best friends. But once I got Lyra, I immediately wanted to get Sweetie Drops too. Wal-Mart still had one of her and oddly enough, it was the one I felt was the best of the three. I don't know why she wasn't snapped up but the other two were. But that was good for me!

I finally broke down and decided to do the Amazon Prime trial, since they at last got some more Donnies in and I really couldn't afford to add $29 cash to the $25 gift card to get free shipping right now. The two-day shipping certainly was lovely! I got some Turtles DVDs (two season 3 sets and the season 2 one) and Donnie and they showed up this past day. But Donnie is a bit understuffed compared to Leo, which is really frustrating since what I like about these plushies is that they're not understuffed, and gah, it looks like maybe part of his left arm is loose and I'll need to go over it with stitches to make sure it's secure. I already found a small hole near his wrist and had to sew that up. That sort of thing is why I hate buying plushies sight unseen, sigh. But overall he's great and it looks so good to see another splash of Turtle mask color. Now to get Mikey and complete the team.

Also, I went back over my Six Million Dollar Man entries and saw that the previous Dynamite comic arc left a whole slew of loose ends. That makes this new arc even more maddening, because I don't think it's in the same continuity. It doesn't sound like it addressed even one of those loose ends. WTH. They had a bunch of unresolved stuff there and the series really couldn't continue based on that arc without addressing most of it. They should have focused on those things for their second arc instead of starting something completely unrelated. That definitely makes me even less enthusiastic about trying this new arc, sigh.

I am totally in a hurt/comfort mood too, and have been for the past few days. But instead of wanting to write hurt/comfort, I seem to want to watch and read it, and about a random assortment of subjects. I wanted to see some Dying Informant segments (which I finally got around to now). I wanted some Turtles h/c and delighted in re-watching one of my favorite episodes of the 2003 series, Tales of Leo. I also delighted in more Leo h/c in one of the 1987 episodes I watched today. I wanted Riddler h/c and re-read some stuff in my fics. I watched most of my music videos and want to re-read some of my Princess Tutu stuff and get a helping of Autor h/c. I crave Napoleon h/c too, and that I might actually write. I'll have to see; I really don't think I'm much good at U.N.C.L.E. hurt/comfort. At any rate, it doesn't come easily for me when I try to write it, unless it's about Ecks and Wye.

Current Mood: tired

Made a few new icons the other day, when I realized The Disappearing Declaration was a season 1 episode with high enough quality that the icons would probably be good. This is my favorite, although I wish I could have gotten Barry in there a little better. But this one still does better than my last attempt, I think, to get them all in fairly equally. And Sean still gets highlighted as lead singer. Awesome.

Yesterday I finally got to go in to use the birthday coupon at Build-a-Bear and I bought the bat plushie. I didn't have enough money to get the cat right then, and anyway, after Halloween the bat will be gone but the cat will still be there. And the bat is so cute! Probably the cutest bat plushie ever made. I had the oddest urge to name her Milly, and yes, it had to be with a Y. So that is what her birth certificate says.

For some weird reason, earlier in the month I was muddledly thinking that bats were rodents and naturally I didn't want any rodent plushie after this summer's disaster. (Note that I still love Mickey Mouse and any other cartoon rodents I previously liked, however. In general, they behave more like people than rodents. Heh.) I'm assuming the misconception is because Batman is sometimes called a rodent by the villains in the 1960s show. But so I Googled "Are bats rodents" and went "... Well, duh, what's the matter with me" at the information that they are not and that was the first step to feeling okay about a bat plushie. Anyway, too, I've cosplayed Rouge the Bat three times and I love Batman, so a bat plushie rather makes sense for me, doesn't it?

Also, at Build-a-Bear I was thrilled to see the online exclusives Zecora and Shining Armor! I didn't have enough money to get one of them, and anyway, I had my heart set on the bat, but I hope I'll have the chance to get them both now that I don't have to buy them online! I was so excited to see them there!

I also had a coupon for half off something at Jo-Ann's, so we went there and I found that the doll I'd put away in the back in hopes of buying it when I wasn't broke was still there, so I bought it. It will become Barry. I just hope I can find a decent doll wig. It's bizarre that I can't find a simple brown shoulder-length doll wig.

Then I've been contacted by a sweet girl who really loves my Detective Conan fics and especially my Gin/Sherry stuff. She was hoping I could finish Snow White Queen. I doubt I ever will, which I told her, but I told her how I planned for it to end and I let her see an unfinished chapter I'd apparently started years ago, and she was happy with those things.

When I was trying to help her, I ended up re-reading what I have of that fic and pondering on things regarding it and how it happened. The whole idea of Gin/Sherry is twisted to begin with, and then I was trying to figure out how to turn that twisted mess into something that could be happy for both of them. That happened mainly because when I was scoffing at the idea that the pairing could ever be anything but twisted, someone (Claude, I believe) talked to me about different possibilities that could make it end up happy. And I was curious and interested and decided to take up the challenge, so I started writing various things with them, liked it, and eventually started work on Snow White Queen.

I have to admit, I do think it's written fairly well, but it's very strange seeing me try to take the twisted canon information and make something positive out of it. I suppose maybe it's possible, especially considering those characters' backgrounds (both canon and what I invented to flesh out their pasts), but I am still pretty skeptical that it could work realistically.

It's interesting that what started as an experiment became something I genuinely loved and was enthused about. I think I always struggled a bit, though, and I think that's why the story trailed off. I just wasn't sure how to get them from Point A to Point C. Point B baffled me. That didn't stop me from writing stuff after they get to Point C, but I really needed to show how it happened and that problem stopped me in my tracks.

I used to write a lot of darker stuff that handled twisted situations, twisted characters, etc. etc. It wasn't just Detective Conan, but some of the psychological horror fics I did for YGO and maybe other categories. I think a lot of the reason why I did it was because I was encouraged and I really liked the praise I was getting. It was fun to impress people and have them feel like I was smart and deep. But I don't know, I don't feel like writing twisted things was really me. Or maybe it was me then. Eventually I got tired and worn-out and didn't want to play in many of those fields anymore. Maybe I stopped wanting to impress people so much. I still want them to like what I write, but that's not as much of my drive as it used to be.

I'm still tired. Mostly now I just want to write fun things or hurt/comfort. That doesn't mean I don't like deep subjects or exploring how characters' minds tick; that's still a lot of how my stories run. But I don't think I'm really into dealing with twisted stuff like figuring out how to make a positive relationship when the canon is Gin being possessive and sadistic towards Sherry (and of course, Sherry hating him). Somehow in the "after Point C" stories I actually did manage to get them to a more normal place where Gin wasn't sadistic and Sherry wasn't hateful and Gin's possessiveness was softened a bit into more protectiveness. And I know it probably all sounds terrible and like a bad fanfic from what I'm describing. It actually isn't as bad in actual fact; it's certainly not like Twilight or 50 Shades of Grey or something that tries to make it look like the bad stuff is okay. And it's not hearts and rainbows and suddenly everybody is good, wheeee. It's more the characters being able to gradually get past the bad things and grow and mature into better people. But I'm skeptical it could ever really happen in a situation like theirs and I don't think it's a place I want to explore again.

Some of the characters I write for are still somewhat twisted, though, like Ginger. And it certainly took a lot of pondering and struggling to try to figure out how to make it make sense that Lou could both care about Mike and forgive Ginger for shooting him. I think my essay approached the problem from all possible angles the episode hinted at and presented every possible answer. The difference with those characters is that, more unlike Gin and Vodka (or Baby Face and his gang), I do have them try to go straight. They're still antiheroes/unconventional heroes and don't like to get involved in trouble if they can at all avoid it, and Ginger can be dark and vengeful, but mostly what I write about them is cute slice-of-life, conversational fics, and mysteries and hurt/comfort.

And then there's Ecks and Wye, who are in the same sort of situation as Gin and Vodka from Detective Conan regarding employment. (I do, however, try to soften it a bit with the implied idea that Ecks and Wye are in it for the spying part and go after other spies and don't have much, if anything, to do with going after innocent civilians. I also tried to make Ecks a little sympathetic with the idea that he grew up in the organization and couldn't get out, same as I did with Gin, actually....) I honestly probably wouldn't even be interested in them if not for two factors: Ecks is played by darling Christopher Cary and Wye absolutely flipped after finding Ecks stabbed, indicating they were very close. I was immediately intrigued. Actually, the idea of interaction between Gin and Vodka is how I got interested in writing for them, too. But I did keep them with the Black Org and carrying out missions, at least until I developed that Snow White Queen timeline where they and Sherry escape to make a new life elsewhere. With Ecks and Wye's situation, were they to survive their episode, they would very likely have to run for their lives to avoid being killed as traitors to the extremist organization. Which is how I approached that. I wouldn't exactly say they're going straight now, but they are trying to avoid getting in trouble with the law.

The Riddler is in the same situation. I didn't really want to have him completely straight, and he's certainly an unconventional hero in that he's most interested in matching wits with his opponents rather than bringing crooks to justice, but if they're so heinous that even The Riddler is upset by them, then he will go after them for the purpose of bringing them to justice. Of course, since he probably always will be at least a little twisted, his justice would include making them play through one of his complex, booby-trapped mazes. But they would survive; I actually question whether any of the traps set by The Batman's Riddler would kill or if it was only a tease. (Yes, maybe even the bombs were set up in a way that wouldn't have killed Gorman. Possibly. I debate over that because The Riddler wanted Gorman to really experience failure, so maybe he would want to keep Gorman alive to experience it for a good, long while. On the other hand, maybe he wanted Gorman's last thoughts of be of his failure and then the bombs would kill. I just don't know. But anyway....) He seems like the type who might tease, especially considering his first appearance on the show. Batman: The Animated Series' Riddler sets traps to kill, but he is a completely different character.

And then there's Snakes, oh boy. With him, though, he really is trying to go straight. But he's selfish and cowardly and in most verses, is struggling to learn about friendship. I have so much fun developing him everywhere.

I dunno; thinking on things in these lights, I definitely still do a lot with criminal-type characters (even though sometimes I just want more true-blue heroes, like the ACME characters). And even though, yes, I do like reforming them when possible, I always try to keep their personalities intact, especially if they're wild cards. I think the reason why I'm more burned-out on Detective Conan stuff is Gin's specific personality, the absolute twisted mess of the Gin/Sherry pairing, and the fact of not particularly being into writing about enemy assassins at work in their organization. Well, and the fact that I was never comfortable with the series' basic premise. It took me ages to feel like trying it at all, and after playing in the waters for a while, I don't think I'll go back. That doesn't mean I won't, though. I sometimes end up doing a lot of things I hadn't planned on doing again.

Like writing Carmen fics, heh. But I do love the semi-fictional Rockapella and I just couldn't stay away. Once Crystal's enthusiasm started us both on a second renaissance, it didn't take long and we both started writing fics again. And we haven't shied away from hurt/comfort, either, heh. And not just with the Dying Informant character, either. However, I do think the stories are a little more mild this time around, anyway, even mine.

Sometimes it's fun writing about more true-blue hero characters rather than antiheroes/unconventional heroes. They aren't just blandly good guys; they have a lot of personality and they struggle with things too. Not all deep things have to involve dark and twisted characters and situations.

I guess it all depends on my mood. But even though I did kind of like looking at that old Detective Conan fic, and feel a little sad it will probably never be finished, I still doubt that it ever will be.

That said, my romantic side does still like the idea of the "After Point C" stories where Gin/Sherry are a thing. And I still love the things that others made for me regarding the pairing.

Current Mood: uncomfortable

I'm not sure whether to keep this icon or not. It's adorable and squeeable and so cute, but it stands out so colorfully from every other icon I'm using, even the other color ones. (There, in fact, I'm showing my Twilight side of liking things to be in order.) Still, I've wanted a Pony icon for a long time, and even though sometimes I feel like I'm a doormat like Fluttershy, in the end I really think I'm more like Twilight Sparkle (with some Applejack mixed in; once I got both of them on a Pony personality test). And regardless of which one I'm most like, I simply love Twilight the very most.

I finished the U.N.C.L.E. fic and printed it. As usually happens, it turned out a little different from my initial idea. I had planned to have a silly subplot where Napoleon and Illya start spying on Ecks and Wye to try to figure out how they get along under the same roof when Napoleon and Illya have trouble doing the same thing. I eliminated that and pretty much focused the story completely around the mystery. I'm still amused by the idea, though, so maybe I'll write it sometime as a random stand-alone piece.

I'm not sure if in the end it moves too fast; I was thinking to myself how it's like the manga version of Sailor Moon in that it stays strictly to the plot and doesn't have fillery detours, except an occasional character-developing conversation. I think the Sailor Moon manga moves too fast; I prefer for there to be some filler, as it's both a nice diversion from the heavy stuff and it serves character-building purposes. But I was hesitant to do filler in the fic, knowing that a lot of people don't care for that. And it never seemed like there was a good place to insert it, either.

Towards the end of the story, I got the idea that Napoleon and Illya should meet David McCallum's meek and mild Perry Mason character. By the time I wrote the epilogue, I had decided to make that the next fic and also to have it continue from the one I was finishing, with them on the trail of a missing enemy spy from Ecks and Wye's organization. I'm going to call it The Fifty Millionth Frenchman Affair, in tribute to the Perry Mason episode, and also signaling for those in the know that it's going to bring in that character.

It's interesting writing in a way that leaves the time period completely vague. I managed to get through the story without encountering one issue where I'd have to reveal the truth, which is unusual. It will be even more interesting seeing if I can pull it off in the next story, since they'll be in Los Angeles and therefore probably crossing over with all of my L.A. shows. I'll probably drop a couple of small mentions to the WWW fic Deadly Codename, since Napoleon, Illya, and Mr. Waverly were in that and trying to stop THRUSH from destroying the world, along with WWW, Cannon, and The Fugitive characters.

And there's a challenge running soon to write fics showing Napoleon and Illya's first meetings. I'm toying with the idea of participating, probably just to the extent of showing a short, first conversation fic. That is probably going to be the most interesting experiment of all, trying to write that and show distrust between them and somehow not reveal that it's the approximate present-day (several years ago). I've even been doing some research of Russia in the 1990s to start crafting my own backstory for Illya in my timeline. Even though it's highly unlikely that I will actually write that backstory into the story, I think crafting it in private will still help me figure out how to write him in a first meeting piece with Napoleon.

As to why hiding the time period is even a thing, the explanation is fairly simple. Most people prefer U.N.C.L.E. to be a period piece, even though the episodes are really timeless and rarely ever show an indication that it's meant to be a period piece. There's not even consternation over a Russian being around in a law enforcement position; it's just accepted everywhere, by most all the characters they encounter. So to me, it only takes place in the 1960s because it was made then and was taking place in the present-day of its time. And I think it fits seamlessly into the present-day of this time. But since most people want it to be a period piece, I try to compromise by not revealing any time period at all. That way, everyone can picture it as they want and everyone's happy.

I do reveal it's the present-day in the Ecks and Wye solo pieces, though, since I figure I'm the only one who'd be reading those. Ecks seems to like the (1970s?) band Queen, as Wye mentions him listening to them once, Mr. Zed has a DVD collection as well as his actual vintage film collection, and Ecks uses a rock song as his ringtone (probably a Queen song, although I didn't specify that). It's also mentioned that he hacked into U.N.C.L.E.'s computers, whereas in the stories with Napoleon and Illya I just say he reprogrammed the computers and don't mention how.

... There was a slight place in the mystery story I just did where the time period was accidentally alluded to, now that I think of it. When Illya's communicator pen goes off in chapter 2, no one around him seems that confused. The reason is because they figure it's a cellphone going off, but I didn't mention that in the story. It wasn't a deliberate thing, but once Illya's pen went off, I realized that how the characters behaved about it would definitely indicate time period.

Another fic plan involves a Mannix story where Roger Bard shows up wanting Lew Wickersham's help because he's got some important documents and all kinds of people are after him. If I write that, Napoleon and Illya would be among the pursuers, as well as Ecks and Wye (and other characters from Roger's Mannix episode). It's based on a role-play I've been doing.

I also need to finish the two Mannix stories I've got going, the one showing how Joe and Lew first met and one where they're trapped in a town without pity. The latter is the shorter one, but I'm having trouble getting inspiration for it beyond some of the horrors Lew goes through. If I launch into those now, though, it's probably too soon and the story won't feel natural. That's how I ended up stalling on that one in the first place. After re-reading both, I have more inspiration for the other one, yet I really wish I could work on the town one since it's the shorter one.

Then there's two Mannix oneshots, an old idea and a new one. The old one involves Joe going to Lew's office around season 8, getting a drink from the decanter (as he really does multiple times in season 1), and flopping on Lew's couch for a tired rant. He's so sick of so many friends turning out to be crooks. Seriously, sooo many episodes have that plot twist. I think Joe really would be getting sick of it by season 8. And he wants to reassure himself that Lew is still the same honest, upright person he remembers.

The new one would be Joe, Peggy, and Lew in a weird, creepy house, because there can never be too many weird, creepy house fics. I love figuring out how to make each house different from all the others.

I still want to do my idea of Della Street meeting Peggy, too. They could have an awesome friendship.

I also have some less distinctive plunnies that I nevertheless might like to do sometime, like another Sunset Shimmer fic, maybe with backstory for her from her time as a Pony, because I don't entirely agree with the comic's portrayal of her and I want to show my version. The comic had her portrayed as really nasty all the way along as a Pony, but to me that doesn't align with the movies. In the first movie, Celestia says she only became nasty when things didn't happen for her as soon as she wanted. And she's such a sweetheart in the second movie that I feel she must have been sweet as a Pony too, until her impatience got the better of her. I also kind of like an idea I saw in a fan-made video where she was bullied as a Pony. It could definitely help explain why she turns to bullying when she first arrives in the human world. She doesn't want to be anything less than the best, and by this point she thinks being cold and cruel is the only way to be the best. She doesn't change her mind on that until Twilight and the human counterparts of her Pony friends are able to defeat her when magic is activated by the power of Twilight's friends trying to protect Twilight.

I picture the fic opening with a nightmare, maybe with bullying going on, and then it zeroes in and shows that Sunset is being bullied by her bad self. Sunset awakens in horror. It would take place between the two movies and show how she's dealing with her actions and how she's trying to turn back to being good again after being so bad. Throughout the fic, there would be little flashbacks to her time in Equestria.

Writing about it, I'm getting really excited for it again. Maybe I'll start writing it soon and see how it starts coming out. I had wanted to finish the U.N.C.L.E. fic before I started it, and now I have, so maybe I should test it out before I start the next U.N.C.L.E. fic (even though I'm excited for that, too).

Another idea would be very surreal and have Sunset talking to Snakes, even though I generally have the show as fiction in my main verse and it's something Snakes knows about. I just have this urge to see what would happen if he and Sunset conversed, considering all the canon parallels of Sunset with my fanon version of Snakes. It's really interesting how that happened entirely by accident.

I also found someone on the Pony forum who likes The Batman, so I'm getting plunnied again for my idea where The Batman's Riddler meets The Animated Series Riddler. I looked over my notes for the story and hope to test that out soon.

So many stories, so little time.

Current Mood: contemplative

So for the last couple of weeks or so, I've been working on a picture of Scarecrow and Riddler fighting. I used the concept art of The Batman version of Scarecrow, since that's the verse the story takes place in. Man, that version of Scarecrow looks freaky. I think the picture is coming out pretty cool. I just finished the inking last night. I'll scan the inked version and then color it and scan that version.

I still haven't tried to get back on dA and post the inked version of the Riddler standing under the lamppost. Now I have the colorized version of that, too, only I lost my flesh-colored pencil (well, the smidgen of it I had left, anyway) and since the Riddler's skin is so pale in this verse, I currently haven't colored it in at all. Not sure whether I'll keep it like that or not, but I'm really not sure what to do without that pencil. The other possible colors I could use are too dark.

Also, the continuing nonsense on Once is making me retreat further into my little post-3A world and insist on imagining that it's what happened instead of 3B and 4A. I also started considering more seriously the idea of buying seasons 1 and 2 on DVD. Maybe season 3, even, when the price drops, to have the first half of the season. (One of the only times I ever wished for a season's release DVDs to be split up. I also wish that would happen with Gotham, so I could rewatch the first half of season 1 in the privacy of my room and not have to wait until fall for the whole season set.) I still don't know that I really will buy any of them, but more and more I'm missing how good the show used to be and I want to relive those times again.

I miss the good times so much that I actually sat down and starting drawing a picture of Mr. Gold from memory. I didn't quite get the hair right and I'll have to alter that, but I went for that gentle, sort of awed expression he gets around Belle and I really love how that came out. Then I tried putting Belle in the picture too. She came out awful at first and I had to try again. That time she came out pretty nice. I'm looking forward to touching up the sketch and scanning it in. Don't know if I'll color it; I tend to not color the stuff I draw of realistic people, because I want each soft strand of hair to be more visible than it would be colored.

Pondering on whether to buy anything at the store tonight. I need to start getting Christmas presents for people, and then I'm still considering getting volume 1 of Batman: The Animated Series. I could ask for it for Christmas, but there's so many Batman things at Wal-Mart that I wouldn't be surprised if Dad might get confused and get the wrong thing. Then I'm also considering season 1 of Once, if they still have any in stock. There's the DJ Pon-3 doll I wanted, and if the $9.98 sale is still going on, it's the perfect time to get her. There's a cool Batman charm necklace. I've even thought of getting their Hello Kitty plush. It's about the same size as Build-a-Bear's, but eight dollars cheaper and already dressed. I'm not really into Hello Kitty a whole lot, but I think she's cute and I kind of casually would like a plush.

Naturally, I would only pick one of those things, if I get anything.

Current Mood: okay

Following the same train of thought as the previous, locked entry, I was just working on a bit of chapter 8. I really haven't planned any other stories in this series. (I hadn't planned on writing this Scarecrow one either. Heh.) I'm still thinking that when I'm done with this one, I'll do the oneshot of the meeting of the Riddlers and maybe do the cracky thing crossing over with the 1960's show.

But now I also have a possible idea for another multi-chapter, should I decide I want to do it. Yin was mentioning that the commissioner and the district attorney have to okay the idea of raiding Arkham based on the information from Penguin. That got me thinking, "Hmm ... district attorney...." The Batman series doesn't have a Harvey Dent, either. Now I have a plunnie of him being the focus of a new mystery.

The Riddler may know him from Dent prosecuting his case in the past. Perhaps the Riddler is the only one of the main characters who really sees that Dent isn't necessarily the white knight the others believe him to be. I was never crazy about the idea of Dent really being a white knight, since to flip and turn into Two-Face, I felt he would have to have had some instability and darkness before that, and it seems like most portrayals of the character agree with that assessment. And I don't really like the character on Gotham; it disgusted me that he ( Spoilers! )

But anyway. This isn't about the Gotham series; it's about The Batman. So the plot would probably follow Dent's gradual descent to being Two-Face and succumbing to complete madness. Maybe he would be doing some shady things while at the same time seeming to be an aboveboard district attorney and a friend to Jim Gordon and Batman. The Riddler would sense the darkness in Dent and maybe see a bit of it, but he wouldn't be widely believed. The commissioner and probably Batman would think he was just bitter because of Dent prosecuting him, at least at first. Yin wouldn't know what to think, but she probably wouldn't just outright dismiss him.

There have been several versions of how Dent got disfigured, ranging from the most famous (being hit with acid by a mobster), to it happening in an explosion (The Dark Knight) to The New 52 (I think the sister of someone he prosecuted threw acid at him?). I'm not sure how I would write it happening. Or if I'll write this fic at all. But at least the idea's here, if I want it.

... Suddenly it occurs to me that reimagining Clayface as a former friend of Bruce's and an upright policeman may have been The Batman crew's version of Two-Face. But that won't stop me from using Dent if I decide I want to. It would be a much different story than Ethan's, since Ethan is a much nicer guy than it seems Dent ever really was.

I think I'll draw Dr. Portman and Jonathan Crane. You know, I've never drawn Portman at all, in all the years I've used her as a villain? I'm a little worried now that I may end up making her look too similar to my redesign of Florence, just with glasses. Both have short-cropped blonde hair, slightly curly, and green eyes. I'll work hard to make Portman look different, especially since I was just complaining about similar designs of characters on The Animated Series.

Speaking of that, I did run across two The Batman characters who look similar. A doctor at Arkham in the season 1 episode Topsy Turvy looks almost exactly like the president of the Riddler's university in the season 4 episode Riddler's Revenge. The latter is basically identical to the former, just with red hair instead of dark. Maybe if I ever address that in the fics, I'll say they're brothers. LOL.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: Sleigh Ride---Hayley Westenra

Been enjoying the first season Batman DVD set. I've been enjoying it so much, I'm not sure how I'll stand to wait for the next release in February. I'm wondering if sellers will start breaking up complete sets of the series and selling the seasons individually. I guess it's awful, but I'm kind of hoping for that.... I just couldn't afford the complete set, so I have to get the individual seasons. Anyway, judging from the price of the complete set, it's cheaper buying them separate.

I've seen several of the Penguin episodes now, and the first Joker episodes. I remember seeing a couple of the Penguin episodes six years ago, but I only remembered, very vaguely, the last few minutes of the second of those. Best part? Batman and Robin watch Penguin romance a girl. Robin's appalled reaction: "Holy mush!" ROTFLOL!

Tom Kenny's Penguin doesn't sound like Burgess Meredith all the time, but oh my gosh, whenever Burgess gets gravel in his voice, Tom Kenny's Penguin sounds almost exactly like him. I marvel at Tom's imitative abilities.

I liked these Joker episodes better than the other ones I saw. But I've heard the first season ones are a little different than the later ones. Then again, maybe I'll like the later ones better this time, too.

Going to watch some Riddler episodes I haven't seen for six years. Bracing myself for a giggling Riddler, since I prefer him serious. Must always remember that Frank Gorshin made the character popular and serious Riddlers probably wouldn't even exist if not for the character's popularity.

Overall, Penguin is still definitely my favorite in the live-action series.

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer---Gene Autry

It rather intrigues me how Penguin tries to stop Joker from crashing Dracula's hideout, and then he seems shaken when Dracula turns Joker into a vampire. They're both fairly nasty people and they don't like each other. They only work together occasionally, out of necessity, and it never lasts long. And Joker had been particularly nasty to Penguin earlier in the film, electrocuting him with dangerous joy buzzers after tricking him into shaking on a partnership.

Maybe Penguin just didn't like seeing someone he knew turned into a vampire? Although if it was Batman/Bruce Wayne, he would probably crack up laughing.

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Happy Xmas (War is Over)---Neil Diamond

Sometimes I get way too wrapped up in certain shows. There was a time when I actually wanted to be a Sailor Senshi (of course at the same time knowing they don't exist). It seemed fun and glamorous. I was finally pulled back to Earth by reading a friend's post where he was musing how they had no lives to themselves and had to jump up at a moment's notice to fight horrible monsters and evil people and eventually, realistically, they would likely burn out.

But I'm having the same sort of thing happen again, thinking it would be fun to be in the Batman world and/or if there were really similar things going on in the real world/vigilantes like Batman/etc. Yet at the same time, I know it wouldn't be fun at all; people would live in terror of the next horrific scheme of the Joker's or the next bizarre experiment by Dr. Langstrom or Scarecrow or Hugo Strange.

I watch Batman and Robin and Batgirl swinging on buildings with their Bathooks and it looks fun and exciting, but I know in reality I would be utterly terrified. And in reality, I doubt such feats as theirs could even be performed safely.

I would make a horrible vigilante and it would be absolutely horrifying if supervillains really existed.

But ... I still think it would be fun to visit Gotham, or fun if there was really a Batman, or fun to help him stop at least one crime, etc.

I suppose a lot of kids have fantasized with those types of thoughts. But I'm an adult; I should know better.

I am hopeless.

Current Mood: tired

So I got another Batman: The Animated Series disc today, with the second Riddler episode.

Overall, I think I liked this disc better than the last one I had out. Best episode was totally I Am the Night, where Commissioner Gordon is badly hurt and Batman blames himself for not getting there in time. Gah. He wonders if he's really doing any good in Gotham and if he should quit. He was feeling that way before, and Gordon being hurt while Batman was stopping some thugs from beating up a two-bit conman didn't help. But Dick was finally able to get through to Batman not to give up, probably a lot because the guy who shot Gordon was trying to finish the job. Batman went and found and stopped him at the hospital, Gordon woke up and there was squee, and then the two-bit conman Batman had saved earlier decided to turn his life around and thanked Batman for helping him.

I also liked Almost Got 'Im, where a bunch of crooks sit around discussing how they almost got Batman. I saw it six years ago, and it was every bit as enjoyable this time around. And I'd forgotten about Batman's awesome infiltration trick to find out what Joker did with Catwoman after Catwoman saved Batman from Joker's latest scheme, so that was cool to be surprised by anew.

Honestly, though, I wonder if I'm about the only person who really doesn't like Harley Quinn. She can be amusing, but usually annoying instead. And I definitely don't agree with the staff's commentary on her being rather innocent. She's going to kill Catwoman and make her into cat food! That is not the act of an innocent. Especially when she's not apologetic about it at all and is looking forward to it. Okay, Joker tricked her long ago in Arkham and she was naive to fall for him and that was rather sad, but it doesn't excuse her actions. And I actually think her ditziness, combined with the monstrous things she does, makes my skin crawl even more than if she wasn't ditzy, precisely because I expect a ditzy person to be sweet and cute and nice, and Harley is not nice at all. I don't like her either in this verse or on The Batman.

Birds of a Feather was sad.... Penguin thought he'd found someone who actually liked him, and he genuinely cared about her, but she was just using him because she thought he'd liven up her party. Ugh. Then things turned Phantom of the Opera-ish, with Penguin kidnapping her. Her ... business manager or someone (I was never clear on who he was) went to find her and ended up underground, coming out in the theatre, where Penguin had tied her to the chandelier, which he was going to bring down.

Sometimes it seems like The Animated Series has character designs that are way too similar. Kirk Langstrom looks a lot like the Riddler (just with a more square jaw), and his wife looks like Selina Kyle with glasses. Then another episode features a dude who looks way too much like Bruce Wayne (although I wonder a bit if that one was deliberate, since he was also a businessman and maybe they wanted to show the personality contrast). The Batman's animation style might be quirky as heck, but I don't think any two characters closely resemble each other. Of course, I'm willing to concede that when doing a show with a realistic feel, it's hard not to get some characters to look similar. I guess I'm more used to quirky animation styles, where everyone looks very different.

Also, it's interesting how The Animated Series is a clash of time periods. The police fedoras and some of the hairstyles and telephones look so 1940s-ish, yet it's definitely the modern day, with computers and technology everywhere. It looks very cool (and in some ways is similar to the modern-day world I picture in my stories), yet I wonder if it also makes the show feel a bit dated to me, whereas The Batman feels very up-to-date and modern (and easier to relate to).

And on the Riddler episode.... The plot was interesting; he's destroying all evidence of Edward Nygma, because as he says, "Edward Nygma no longer exists. I am the Riddler." He blames Batman for knowing his identity and making it public on what he tried to do to his ex-boss. (Although if he didn't want it public, maybe he shouldn't have sent the ex-boss a message on a public marquee! Good grief.) He sets up a virtual reality world for him and Batman to duke it out in.

First, let me make it clear that I really love the Riddler's voice. John Glover does a wonderful job. But ... I just don't really feel for this version of the character. I don't understand him and I don't really like him. He just seems so illogical and cold and cruel and hard to sympathize with. And this idea of him finding Batman so fascinating as an opponent isn't emphasized as much, even though apparently it's at least part of his motives. On The Batman, it's always very clear how fascinated he is to match wits with Batman.

I wonder if the idea of him and Batman as mental sparring partners didn't really exist in the era of The Animated Series, since the idea of a serious Riddler was at least somewhat new back then. Maybe it only came a lot later, with some of the semi-recent comics like Hush, and then it became part of the character's psychological makeup for The Batman cartoon as well. I definitely think it made the character better.

Also, I really didn't like that Batman needed Robin to solve most of the riddles for him. Batman really didn't seem like a good mental match for the Riddler here. He solved most of the riddles on his own in the previous episode; why did he need Robin to do it this time? I wonder if he really didn't and the writers just wanted to give Robin something to do. And on The Batman, Batman is well-versed in puzzles and riddles enough that he can match wits with the Riddler without any need for some kid to help him out.

The episode ended with the Riddler trapped in his own virtual world. Poetic justice, I suppose, but I hate when things end like that. I think he's perfectly alright in his next episode, and I'm left wondering how in the world they got him out of there!

So in the end, some good episodes for The Animated Series, but I am still not impressed with this version of the Riddler. It's really rather a shame that so many people can't get past the Marilyn Manson redesign on The Batman and see what a fascinating fellow he is there. (And the redesign really is cool anyway.)

I did end up with a plunnie.... Now I'm curious to see what would happen if the two Riddlers met and clashed. It would probably seem like they were evenly matched at first, but I'd really like The Batman Riddler to come out the victor. I'm unsure how to work that at the moment, though, since he's younger and more spry and he probably would be the favorite to win all along if going by physical attributes alone. Okay, he's not much in hand-to-hand combat, but wow, he can move. So the cliche way for the idea to go would probably involve him triumphing and then The Animated Series version being the underdog who defeats him anyway.

On the other hand, since The Batman version is generally disliked for physical appearance alone, maybe it wouldn't be entirely illogical for The Animated Series Riddler to scoff and say there's no way he would be as smart. All Riddlers have huge egos. So The Animated Series Riddler would come up with a scheme, they would play it out, and it would end with him thinking he had the upper hand. I'm thinking this is in the virtual world and The Batman Riddler apparently has a sensory overload and dies. So The Animated Series Riddler proclaims himself the victor and the better Riddler, and suddenly The Batman Riddler struggles to come back to himself. He hooks The Animated Series Riddler with his cane and drags him back to the real world with him.

EDIT: Thinking more on this, I think it would be a long oneshot. And I think it would take place after the episode I watched, What is Reality? The Animated Series Riddler would be wandering in the virtual world and somehow end up in another verse altogether, where he communicates with The Batman Riddler through his computer. LOL. They are each appalled for the other to call himself not only the Riddler, but Edward Nygma as well, and agree to a battle of wits.

Eventually The Batman Riddler would be drawn into the VR world via a local computer with VR technology, where they would continue their battle of wits, discuss their pasts and motivations, and even physically fight a bit. The Batman Riddler would win in a fight, I think; I've never seen The Animated Series Riddler fight at all. But the battle of wits would be harder to determine the outcome, since they're both very smart and very egotistical. The sensory overload thing would happen when The Animated Series Riddler leads The Batman Riddler into a trap. He thinks he's won, but The Batman Riddler proves to be more crafty and stubborn than thought. He bounces back, defeats The Animated Series Riddler in one final twist, and leaves the VR world. And I think it would end with The Animated Series Riddler waking up back in his verse, finally free of the VR world as well. Perhaps the stimulation of encountering another version of himself would be enough to break through whatever damage the VR world did to him in the episode.

I'd try to be fair to both Riddlers, of course, but since I would have things slanted more in favor of The Batman Riddler (whom I totally like better), I wonder if people would get too mad. Maybe they'd be happy for me to get The Animated Series Riddler out of the VR world, though, so it might all even out.

Current Mood: thoughtful

Well, my confusion over the DVD set has fully been solved. Not only does disc 1 have more odd nicks than I remembered, disc 2 is now misbehaving as well. I watched all of it before since it played okay, but now it's totally locking up the DVD player when I try to play one particular episode. None of my other sets do dumb things like this. The whole set is definitely faulty. It's going back Friday. At least I don't have to pay return shipping.

I can hardly believe it's almost been a year since I got my Build-a-Bear Twilight. That was a happy and fun day, when we went in and it was snowing and felt so Christmassy, and even though we hung around the university library quite a while as Dad looked up stuff he wanted, and I was exhausted from not having had any sleep, I remember the whole day so fondly. As much fun as it always is to visit Build-a-Bear, nothing ever quite compares to that very first time. Maybe because Twilight is such an extreme favorite of mine and it was so thrilling to get a big, beautiful plush of her. And it was so magical to experience the store for the very first time.

I've been feeling very nostalgic and am thinking I'll spend some time with my Twilight soon.

Also, I'm ... kind of partial to the Batman bear the store currently has. You can even get a cute Batman costume for it, although since the bear has the Batman logo all over it, I don't know that I'd want to cover that up. (And anyway, the costume is $16. When the bear by itself is $25. Eeeek.) I don't recall if I've actually seen the Batman bear in the store, though. I definitely remember the Spider-Man and Captain America bears, but not the Batman or Superman bears.

And I was thinking about my most favorite female characters in shows. Usually I'm not absolutely ecstatic over female characters to the point of "Must have merchandise. I love this character so much it's probably not healthy." But there are definitely a select few that I feel that way about. On that list are:

Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop)
Meroko Yui (Full Moon wo Sagashite)
Sailors Mercury, Chibi Moon, and Pluto (Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon)
Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer (My Little Pony)
Detective Ellen Yin (The Batman)

I adore how much Yin grows through the episodes she's in. She starts out so flat-out by-the-book and ends up deciding Batman is needed and allies herself with him. She's loyal and strong (both physically and mentally) and very sharp. She puts together things like Ethan being Clayface all on her own, without help from Batman. Season 3 is toted as being filled with girl power because of Batgirl, but honestly, they had girl power all along with Yin there.

Current Mood: irritated
Current Music: A Baby Changes Everything---Faith Hill

Watched some more episodes of The Batman last night. I saw the two-parter where Ethan becomes Clayface and the one where he fails to integrate into society again and then decided I wanted a funny episode after all those downers. So I picked the season 2 opener, where Batman and Catwoman are handcuffed together by Penguin, who tries to harness the power of Ra using two Egyptian statues.

It's hilarious and always good for a laugh. And it's kind of cute when Penguin's geishas get jealous of Catwoman, thinking she really means something to him.

But I keep thinking something was a little off with Penguin's characterization in the episode. He has the statues and rigs up a thing in the Gotham lighthouse, demanding money or he'll start destroying populated buildings.

I honestly don't recall Penguin ever doing anything that destructive in any other episode of this series. He seems to just be a spoiled, down-on-his-luck guy who turned to jewel theft to try to reclaim his family fortune. He definitely doesn't seem like the crime boss he's described as in the special features (and that he is in other versions of the character). He endangers Bruce Wayne and Alfred and Batman and Batgirl, but as far as threatening entire buildings of people (even a children's hospital, oh gosh), I don't recall him ever going that far. It just seemed so un-Penguin-like.

I didn't recognize the names of the writers of that episode, so I kind of wondered if that was their only or one of their only scripts for The Batman. That could explain the apparent OOC behavior; maybe they didn't really know how to write for Penguin (although they seemed to do pretty well for everyone else).

And I'm having trouble with my season 3 DVD set. Disc 2 plays fine everywhere, but there's some odd little nicks under the coating of the outer edge of Disc 1 that gives the older DVD players fits trying to handle it. I can only play it in the living room, which is inconvenient and uncomfortable, since Dad can't seem to recognize that a closed living room door means privacy, please and I wouldn't like him walking in on me.

But I don't know whether to actually send it back or not since it will play somewhere in the house. I'm worried that maybe it's a defect present on other copies too, although that seems unlikely since all my other The Batman sets are fine. And I'm also worried that the seller might throw it away when I send it back. I tried to ask what he would do with it, but I didn't get a very clear answer. And it would be such a waste to throw it away.

I was idly thinking of buying another new $20 DVD player this year to have in my room, like the one I bought for the living room last year, and if I did that, the disc would probably be okay there since the player that will take it is a newer model and a second newer model should hence be able to play it too. Still inconvenient to not be able to play it on the laptop, but I'd be willing to put up with that if I could play it somewhere other than the living room.

But so yeah. I wouldn't buy a new DVD player for my room unless I have enough spending money after I get other things, and if the only playable place is the living room, I can't decide whether to keep the disc or not.

Uggggh.

Current Mood: tired

I am utterly appalled at the trouble I've had trying to post cosplay pictures. It's taken me ages to try getting up some of my Rouge the Bat cosplay pictures, and then when I finally get around to trying, they won't qualify into CosplayLab's strict rules, and Cosplay.com only lets you post an icon of the costume! WTH?! I was sure they used to allow galleries! Or at least, one full-length picture!

I didn't feel like wrestling with DeviantArt after the trouble I had trying to post a picture a couple of weeks ago, so instead in disgust I created a Cosplay album here on LJ. I added a few pictures each of the Rouge the Bat and the Riddler costumes.

http://insaneladybug.livejournal.com/pics/catalog/2622

And I've been writing my Scarecrow fic for The Batman. I have chapter 3 just about ready to post. I'm really excited about this fic. I think it, more than the others I've done, really captures the feel of the series. And it's kind of a season 2/season 3 feeling, with lots of Batman and Alfred interaction, Yin, and the Riddler, while feeling kind of darker the way season 3 does. I bought season 3 and have been watching some of it, and aside from Batgirl setting my teeth on edge, I really like it. It has kind of a more "comic book" feel, for those who felt the show didn't have that, but Alfred is still vitally important to things, instead of fading more into the background like he does in season 4. The stories do take place in season 4, as mentioned, but I prefer capturing the older seasons' feel.

Currently I have Dick away with friends for Halloween (since Halloween was the perfect time for Scarecrow to make his first strike, especially since the fics already take place during autumn) and Batgirl's absence is not explained. She wasn't in about half the episodes after she came in, with no explanation, so I figure I can get away with that. But it will be harder to keep Dick in the background for the whole fic, I think. Although there were episodes of The Animated Series without him, he was older there and it was more understandable for him to be missing from some of the storylines. I ... really kind of don't want the kids in this fic, if at all possible. It's a dark fic, with what Scarecrow's up to, and I already have such a big cast, with Ethan, Penguin, and Joker also along for the ride, that I think the kids would crowd it unnecessarily.

I've also kind of been bouncing an idea around in my head for some future fic, which would be very dark as well. I don't know if I'd really do it, but the basic idea would be that it would be set after Yin and the Riddler have become very close, either platonically or romantically (and I still lean towards platonically). Yin and Batman are trying to stop a crook, and somehow a situation gets set up where Batman has to choose between rescuing Yin and the city, and although he tries not to have to make the choice and find another way to defeat the crook, he isn't able to do that and is finally forced to choose the city. Yin is seriously hurt or even apparently dies (of course I wouldn't really kill her), and the Riddler blames Batman and flips out. He sends Batman a coded message and gets him into one of his riddle obstacle courses. Batman tries to reason with him, initially to no avail, but at the end of the course, as they fight, he finally gets through to the Riddler by telling him that he hates what he had to do but he had to do it anyway and that the Riddler is dishonoring Yin by doing this. Robin would wonder if Batman would have the Riddler arrested and sent back to Arkham, but Batman says No, as the Riddler was only targeting him (as opposed to Robin or Alfred or the whole city), no one was hurt, and he was grief-stricken and angry, as many people would be in the same situation. Yin would be alright at the end and she and the Riddler would reunite. He would probably tell her what he had done and they would have a long talk.

I don't know if I want to do it because it would be so dang depressing and sad. I originally thought of it because while the Riddler is trying to go straight, Yin has observed that there's still a darkness in him, and even though I think he has a greater chance for redemption than some of the others (especially since he regrets being a criminal, unlike most of the rogues' gallery), I think that darkness could flare up if someone he cares deeply about is harmed. And I kind of miss the thought of him never doing any more riddle obstacle courses (although he's probably doing them to catch the crooks he goes after in his consulting/troubleshooting business). The fic would definitely be introspective and soul-searching, exploring the concept of the greater good and how Batman would handle things if he had to make a choice like that, and my intrigue over the idea might win out over how depressing it sounds.

Current Mood: thirsty
Current Music: Santa Claus is Coming to Town---Barry Manilow

So I finally ordered a Batman: The Animated Series disc from Netflix so I could watch the first of their Riddler episodes. I've wanted to see it for six years, and Netflix is the easiest access to it, so even though I try not to order things from there unless at least two of us would be interested, I decided to get it instead of waiting until I was ready to buy the set.

I spent the afternoon watching the whole disc. I basically enjoyed all of it, although the first episode really upset me because it involved a crummy company experimenting on animals. Luckily, Batman was able to put a stop to it. And Selina Kyle's cat was one of the ones being used and it was so sad. But the kitty got the cure and Batman brought her back to Selina. It was a squeeable scene: Selina was so sad worrying about the kitty and looking at a picture of her, and then Batman lowers her in a basket to the balcony doors and Selina hears a meow and it's so cute.

Also, the Harvey Bullock in The Animated Series reminds me a little bit of Lieutenant Schrank. Heavyset, dark-haired, cynical police lieutenants wearing fedoras....

And Barbara Gordon in The Animated Series is cool. She's not an annoying Jade clone like she is to start with on The Batman.

It's always kind of a shell-shock to see The Animated Series' Joker, who seems a lot more psycho freak than The Batman character, and yet at the same time, he somehow doesn't seem quite as nuts. I know that probably doesn't exactly make sense, but to try to explain it better, The Batman's Joker often seems more ... feral? He doesn't like shoes and he often crouches instead of standing straight. And I'm eager to watch The Batman and see him again.

And on to the main prize, what I watched first: the Riddler episode. It's a backstory-ish episode, and runs some interesting parallels with the backstory on The Batman. But which one tells the story better? The answer might be surprising.

The major parallels are the following: both Riddlers invented things that were basically stolen from them by unscrupulous businessmen. They both retaliated by putting the businessmen into deathtraps. Both Riddlers are very tech-oriented and designed some amazing things. Both Riddlers first meet Batman when he tries to stop the plots against the businessmen.

The Animated Series' Riddler shows his backstory, as it is, in his first episode. The Batman's Riddler is presented as a complete enigma in season 2 and his story is only learned in season 4. This might cause some people to think The Animated Series makes more sense. But ...

On The Batman, we really learn in-depth about the character's feelings and motivations, once we get into the backstory information. We learned his home life was unhappy, that he was always into riddles and puzzles and eventually got into crime that way. We learn he tried to go straight and was unable to when his reputation was ruined and his invention stolen. Then he was filled with bitterness and turned back to crime and became the Riddler.

On The Animated Series, we only meet the Riddler moments before he's cruelly fired from the company, his "work for hire" contract being waved in his face. The businessman refuses to pay him royalty fees for the game he created. This apparently makes the fellow snap and turn to super-crime.

Um, what?

I was really expecting some build-up, seeing Nygma working on the game and being excited, and the boss being a greedy jerk as he observes, instead of just immediately showing the firing. And the character really is an enigma here; we don't really see into his mind. Of course, what happened to him is highly upsetting and it's understandable he'd be furious, but honestly, the way things are set up makes less sense than what happens to The Batman's Riddler. With him, we see his unhappiness all the way through his life. And knowing he was a crook before and tried to go straight makes his turn to super-crime much more sensible than just seeing an apparently nice guy get fired and snap. If we'd even seen a scene of his home life, or going to work, or something other than immediately showing the firing, it would feel more like we really came to know the character more. The Batman's Riddler feels more "real" and relatable because his backstory was much more fleshed-out and so was the incident of his invention being stolen.

Also, I kind of think The Batman's Riddler is a little more creative? The Animated Series' Riddler just ties the businessman to a platform and sets a time when he'll die if not rescued. The Batman's Riddler makes the businessman actually go through the deathtrap and play the game.

And while both Riddlers apparently had murder on their minds regarding the businessmen, it seems like The Animated Series' Riddler is a lot more cold. The businessman on The Batman has a chance to make it through the maze and get out alive. And with that Riddler putting lime Jell-O in the canisters around town instead of bombs in another episode, I'm not entirely sure he was ever going to actually kill the businessman. The supposed traps might have been as fake as the bombs. He might have only wanted to scare the man. And when he blew up the crates with his stolen invention, he may have intended that the businessman would watch it happen but not actually die himself. (Although by that point, it really does seem more like he meant to kill the guy. But since what he wanted was to ruin him like he was ruined himself, it seems very possible that he wanted the guy kept alive to go through the consequences of that.)

The Animated Series' Riddler also plans to cold-bloodedly kill Batman and Robin because Batman knows who he is. He tells his henchmen that they'll have to get Batman and Robin out of the way. He then puts them in the maze and his traps are undeniably lethal.

The Batman's Riddler tries to kill Batman a couple of times, but it's always a split-second emotional thing rather than precise, careful premeditation.

And it seems like Batman in The Animated Series comes to know/understand the Riddler a little too quick for believability, even saying how the brain is the only thing he respects. True, puzzles and riddles help solve the maze, but it seems a lot more understated here. And there's a lot more interaction with the Riddler himself on The Batman, making it more believable for Batman to get a good grasp of what he's like.

Both businessmen are really nasty people, although Gorman on The Batman is the worst, I think. He's not even grateful to Batman for saving him and tries to kill him along with the Riddler.

And the final blow.... In spite of this, while the businessman on The Animated Series really is the bad guy who stole the invention, and it looks like it's the same way on The Batman, instead it turns out that on The Batman it's the one person the Riddler trusted who betrayed him in order to sell out to the businessman.

I suppose some people might say that the backstory is overly tragic on The Batman, as is the current trend with many villains these days. But regardless of whether it is or not, the fact is that it's more fleshed-out since it follows him from childhood to where he is now.

Overall, I was left unsatisfied and puzzled by The Animated Series' Riddler. I want to watch his other two episodes, but I don't know if he'll be any less of a mystery to me afterwards. People may hate The Batman's Riddler redesign, but overall he seems a much more three-dimensional character.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that I think The Animated Series was the first time they really tried to have a serious Riddler, aside from a few comic stories. I saw a clip where they talked about the Frank Gorshin Riddler and how that is what they kept thinking of and they needed to make the character different so he wouldn't be a Joker clone. The whole thing was very experimental. But it doesn't fully explain why the backstory couldn't have been fleshed out better, when they did well on other characters' backstories.

(Also, totally unrelated, but I think The Batman was closer to comic-book canon on Hugo Strange? He was a doctor at a resort here, but on The Batman and I thought in the comics, he was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. I like that better, honestly.)

I find it rather amusing that I just got through saying not that long ago how The Batman can't really be compared to The Animated Series because The Animated Series is undeniably the top dog, in a class by itself. But suddenly, I'm not so sure. It will always be the better liked show, but honestly, maybe at least sometimes, it wasn't always the top creative genius in story-telling. Maybe sometimes, other approaches made more sense.

While it isn't always the case with me, for this franchise I think I will always love best the version that got me interested in the first place. I always enjoyed watching The Animated Series when I saw some of it six years ago, but I didn't like it better than The Batman and I still don't.

I think The Animated Series is a little too dark for me sometimes, whereas The Batman seems to have a pretty good balance between seriousness and humor. I'm oddly reminded of my feelings regarding the old SatAM Sonic the Hedgehog series and its corresponding comics. I didn't always like the series; I found it too dark and serious for me a lot of the time. When I watched it again more recently, I felt the same, even though I'd acquired a taste for certain darker things by that point. I liked the comics better. Reading the comics more recently, though, they seemed too silly. (And then they got confusing and dark later.) So now I don't seem to particularly like either one. Heh.

It's hard to predict what I'll like and what I won't, though. I have to take it on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes I like funny things, like the 1960s Batman. Sometimes I like darker things, like Gotham. When something reaches a certain amount of darkness, though, I probably won't like it. Same for certain kinds of humor. And I never know exactly when that feeling of "Too much!" will strike me.

Regarding The Batman, sometimes it's hard to put into words other reasons why I love it so much. Maybe because it was a new era, a more modern era, and everything seemed so bright and new, even though the show wasn't some perky laughfest like the 1960s show. It was the first time I was really immersed in the Batman world and I was entranced instead of being bored, as I'd worried I'd be. And I love Detective Yin so much. I sorely missed her while watching The Animated Series. She's so spunky, so determined, and she doesn't make me want to tear my hair out, like The Batman's Batgirl can.

Also, I have this habit of absolutely adoring prequels and "early years" stuff. That's one reason why The Batman appeals to me, too. Also why I really liked Batman Begins of the recent movies. (I liked The Dark Knight too, but not as much. It was a little too dark for my tastes.) And why Gotham totally appeals me. Prequels just excite me so much.

I'm kind of curious about the Beware the Batman cartoon, as it's also an "early years" thing, but it seems to either be using original villains or ones not as prominent in the comics, and I don't think I'd like that very much. I prefer to see things like Batman's early encounters with the characters I know and already care about.

Current Mood: contemplative

I'm still torn between the two DVD sets.... My money will hopefully be available on Monday, and both sets will hopefully still be available then, too. I have established that our local Wal-Mart carries them. But Sailor Moon is selling so quickly that there might not be any by Monday. And I really wanted the Batman set first and wait to get the Sailor Moon one until my Amazon gift card comes in....

The Crystal episode today did not help me decide. I have more hope that the Generals/Kings may live in Crystal-verse, because I get the feeling that Crystal is aiming for an ultimately happy ending for everyone. It feels so hopeful in the mood it sets. However, the catch is that ( Spoiler! )

Even with their sad fates in the original anime, I still want that set. I just wish I could feel confident that it wouldn't completely sell out if I get Batman first and wait for the gift card for Sailor Moon. Then I start thinking that I'd really like to see the Nephrite/Naru stuff in the original anime right away and that I want that first. But they don't even have the whole Nephrite/Naru arc on this new set; the final episode is delayed to the second set. Ugh. They did that so each set could be evenly split into 23 episodes, but that is still way frustrating to be left hanging like that.

And I watched The Batman vs. Dracula again and suddenly realized that the most obvious time period for it is season 1, not 2. Yin wouldn't be Batman's ally in season 1. Ethan supports Batman, but he doesn't have access to him like Yin does later. They wouldn't have agreed with the SWAT team's actions, but probably wouldn't have had any power to stop it. I always figured it was season 2 because that was when they started making the film, but it just doesn't make sense for Yin not to be there if it's season 2. And if it's after season 2, it doesn't make sense for Commissioner Gordon not to be there. So season 1 is what's left.

Also, I determined that Kevin Michael Richardson's interpretation of The Joker can actually be lovable at times. He's deadly dangerous, make no mistake about that, and he's nasty and only cares about himself, yet he can be genuinely funny and somehow, Kevin plays him so well that he's somehow lovable in spite of all this. That takes talent! And I, at least, am left wanting more. A lot of people hated that Joker because of his wild redesign (giant floppy spikes, like Yami Marik's, only longer, and no shoes, ROTFLOL), but that's such a shame. I was stunned by the redesign, I'll admit, but it didn't take me long to warm up. I was more interested in personality than design, and he was such fun that I focused on that. And eventually I became very fond of the redesign, too.

(With the Riddler, I'll admit that I was instantly attracted to his redesign. I thought it was awesommmme. But personality-wise, I was disgusted by him until it was revealed halfway through his first episode that there weren't real bombs throughout the city at all, just lime Jell-O. Suddenly he was extremely intriguing and I was fond of him in every way. He really isn't like most of the other members of the rogue's gallery.)

You know, it's kind of scary to think that a nutcase like The Joker must be really smart where chemistry and biology are concerned. He couldn't just throw a bunch of random stuff together; he'd have to really know how everything worked in order to make things that would do what he wanted, like the Joker Gas and the Joker Putty. I think that might be the most frightening thing about him: he's really capable of making dangerous stuff and has no qualms about using it everywhere, on everyone.

And Tom Kenny took more from Burgess Meredith's Penguin than just the laugh. While watching a couple of 1960s Batman clips, I was amused by the familiar, gravelly voice. That may be one reason why I ended up loving the 1960s series so much, because the Penguin there was like the one I was used to from The Batman. I think it's way cool that Tom Kenny copied the voice and laugh on Burgess Meredith's. The 1960s Penguin isn't crude, at least, not that I remember, but otherwise, Tom Kenny's is very similar to him.

I watched a couple of clips from The Animated Series too, and I kind of winced at their Penguin's voice. He's interesting in personality, but the voice just really ... lacks something. It seems so bland compared to the colorful tones of Burgess and Tom's Penguins.

Also, the new and popular Arkham series of video games.... Wow, a Cockney Penguin. That's something I thought I'd never hear. And the graphics .... oh my goodness. The graphics are incredible.

I wonder why it's becoming a trend for the Riddler to wear glasses? I think it started in Batman Forever, but then stopped; the cartoon versions did not wear glasses. Then Young Justice's did, and Arkham's did, and Gotham's does. Huh.

I like the Riddler's voice in the Arkham games, too. And the voice actor is actually on the message board for the 1960s Batman series! Sweet. I love accessible celebrities. I wish some people from The Batman would wander in too, and I could ask them the questions I'm dying to about the Riddler redesign and Robert Englund playing him.

Current Mood: contemplative

Finished the first draft of the fic! I'll re-read the whole thing before I post the epilogue, just to make sure I've tied up all loose ends. I include the proposed teaser at the end, with Dr. Portman and Scarecrow laughing about their plans for Gotham. I describe Scarecrow as having dark hair, as that's what I remember from the movie, but it looks like from some comic panels that his hair was originally lighter? Oh well, since there's no Scarecrow in The Batman, and the only design picture has him costumed, I can make him look any way I choose.

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to write him, though. I might need to watch the movie again to refresh my memory on that portrayal. One comic version has him speaking in rhyme, but I don't think I could do that. I will have him recite nursery rhymes, though, because that is just so, so demented and creepy. Reading his comic backstories and about all the people he killed makes my skin crawl. He is definitely among the darkest in Batman's rogue's gallery. Portman will love working with him.

And it would be lovely if money grew on trees. Thinking about things further leaves me in a quandary over whether to buy the 1960s Batman or the Sailor Moon set. I seem to want both equally, but can only have one right now. I actually wasn't expecting the Sailor Moon set to turn up at Wal-Mart, or that it would be the same awesome price as the Batman set. Reading the episode guides for each does nothing to help the problem. I am concerned, however, that it may be more difficult to find Sailor Moon at the continuing lower price than Batman. Wal-Mart probably won't have it for long, and Amazon's price for Sailor Moon has never been as low as Wal-Mart's ... at least, not before this week. Checking it just now reveals that it currently is the same price. Which only makes the decision harder still.

I also really need some new pajama pants and have been looking over the fun licensed character ones Wal-Mart has. I like both a TMNT and a Batman logo print. But I can't seem to find the Batman print in the size I need, and the TMNT one is for the 1980s show, which I was never actually into as much as some other branches of the franchise. So I kind of lean more towards wanting the Batman one. Wish they'd get some in in the proper size....

I also finally saw The Batman vs. Dracula movie. (LOL.) I don't know why it's taken me nine years to get to it, since I was interested from the first year it came out. Even people who aren't big fans of The Batman incarnation will sometimes like the movie, as it's darker than the series. There's blood as Penguin cuts himself on his umbrella sword (and accidentally revives Dracula when it drips on the bones), The Joker gets electrocuted and supposedly dies (for a while), Batman is very shaken by it, as he was there at the time, and later on, when The Joker comes back, he immediately gets assaulted by Dracula and turned into a vampire himself.

What I find especially intriguing about the film is that Batman immediately takes a scientific approach to the vampirism plaguing Gotham and decides that since the vampires' bites infect the blood, maybe there's a way to heal the blood and reverse the process. After a fight with Joker in a blood bank (LOL), Batman locks him up in the Batcave and tries to use him to find a cure for everyone. It takes so long that Joker is screaming about being hungry and is in a lot of pain. Batman actually fills a blood bag with some of his blood to give to the Joker to ease his suffering while the search for the cure goes on. It's a very moving and powerful scene.

Of course, Batman eventually finds the cure and is able to help Joker and all the townspeople. But Dracula himself cannot be cured. He calls himself The Prince of Darkness and it's very creepy. He also tries to use reporter Vicky Vale's soul to revive his dead love. Batman rushes in to stop it just in time.

The title of the movie is definitely amusing, but in actual practice it's quite a dark and intense film. I loved it so much I wanted to watch it again the same day, but I didn't get that chance. I'll probably watch it again today sometime.

Another thing I adore about it is that it takes place in the earlier seasons era, so the focus of the interaction is on Batman and Alfred and Batman and the bad guys. There's no Yin, sadly, and Batman really could have benefited from her being there, as the police end up thinking Batman is responsible for the disappearing people and come after him. That makes it difficult to pinpoint the exact time period, because if James Gordon was commissioner yet, I don't think he would have allowed the outrageous and unfair attack. (The SWAT teams seemed to be shooting to kill, without Batman even doing anything to fight them!) And if he wasn't commissioner yet, Yin should have definitely been there. If I had to guess, I'd say it was probably in the middle of season 2 and maybe Yin was on vacation or something.

There's also some awesome special features, including a section on the voice actors and some of the fun things going on while they were recording. I love seeing what the actors look like, and how they perform the voices during the recording sessions. It makes me wish so much again that they had kept doing awesome special features for every release of the show. I still want so bad to know about what prompted them to redesign the Riddler so drastically (and awesomely) and what it was like having Robert Englund come in to do the voice.

Current Mood: tired

Note the icon of my beloved, serious, Marilyn Manson Riddler from The Batman. When I talk about The Riddler, unless otherwise specified, this is the one I mean.

Had to get my I.D. renewed today, and that took us out by some of my favorite stores, so I browsed for a bit and weighed how much I wanted certain things.

Spent the longest amount of time in Barnes and Noble, looking at some of the Batman graphic novels. Found Hush and read the part where Batman pieces together that the Riddler is behind everything. Unlike what Wikipedia said, it seems like the Riddler was only in the scheme to prove he was capable of masterminding something so intricate and ingenious. He didn't have it in for Batman so thoroughly that he went through the whole thing just to torture him. That's good to know. I could certainly picture The Batman's Riddler orchestrating the scheme just to prove he could. So if that's how they would have done a version of Hush in The Batman, I wish now that the project had been green-lit after all.

I still think it was too cruel of him to taunt Batman about Jason Todd, though. Gah. Of course, Jason Todd isn't part of The Batman continuity (it's before his time), so there wouldn't be that problem in the proposed and failed Hush movie for The Batman.

Also looked for 1960s Batman stuff at Toys R Us and was horrified that they're selling the 6-inch figures for $22.99. And Wal-Mart had them for $15.99! The Batmobile Toys R Us has as an exclusive is way awesome, though.

Found season 1 of 1960s Batman and the new Sailor Moon season 1 set at a Wal-Mart. Squeee. I hope our local one will have them too. I have money in transit, so I will likely buy one or the other in a few days. I lean towards the Batman set for now, although I want both eventually. But as much as I adore the original Sailor Moon anime, the Generals certainly didn't have good fates in it and I'm still desperately hoping for happier outcomes for them in Crystal.

I'm almost done with my fic for The Batman. But I think I might write another one after it's done. I've had this image in my mind of a scene where Yin comes and finds the Riddler lying beaten on the sidewalk outside his private detective office. She helps him up and asks what on earth happened. He tells her his father showed up and went berserk, beating him as he had done years ago.

I haven't been able to figure out why it happened, though, and then tonight it clicked. There was never a Scarecrow in The Batman verse, albeit they did have a design for one. Maybe I could write a fic about a The Batman version of Scarecrow, and he either caused the father to flip out and attack the Riddler, or else the attack didn't really happen and the Riddler was hit by the fear gas and imagined it.

This would also enable me to tie things in with my Dr. Portman character, who is currently head of psychiatry at Arkham. She's basically a female Hugo Strange, but her true colors haven't yet been revealed. She would be fascinated by Scarecrow and his experiments, and I could definitely see them working together to cause mayhem.

Also, Scarecrow is seriously creepy. Living scarecrows are freaky things (except in The Wizard of Oz), and his get-up definitely invokes fear. It would have been cool to have seen him on The Batman.

Current Mood: chipper

Sometimes I think the main reason people don't like The Batman cartoon is because they insist on comparing it to Batman: The Animated Series. That is a really pointless thing to do, because honestly, of course nothing is going to be on par with that series! Each one has to be appreciated for its own merits.

The Batman was, I think, created for a younger audience, and that should be taken into account too. I think it's a great way to get kids familiar with the Batman mythos, by having a show that's not anywhere as dark as Batman: The Animated Series, but that's still fun and very Batman.

After being familiar with several branches of the franchise, I think I have to conclude that there is no Joker as shamelessly nuts as The Batman version. LOL. All the other Jokers I've seen somehow seem either more sane or more quietly nuts or more complete psycho freak. The Batman's Joker is very dangerous, but somehow he genuinely is funny, even maybe over-the-top, and I find myself laughing with him much more than with any other Joker. I think that is something that younger kids would enjoy, whereas some of the other Jokers are downright scary sometimes.

Actually, a lot of the villains on The Batman aren't anywhere as dark as other versions. Their Penguin is crude and rude, which I don't always like, but he does give me the giggles sometimes and I totally love that he can break out the martial arts. One wouldn't really expect that of someone with Penguin's ... physique. And I adore that voice actor Tom Kenny (yes, Spongebob) does an exaggerated version of Burgess Meredith's laugh from the 1960s show.

The season 1 set has a bunch of interesting special features, leaving me longing all the more that the other season sets had been that way too. But they mentioned that they didn't even want to mess with the popular and heartbreaking Mr. Freeze backstory from The Animated Series, so that's why they went in a completely different direction with him on The Batman. I do wish they would have made that character deeper on The Batman version; they could have done a different tragic backstory, but if I'm right that the show is streamlined more for the younger set, then it makes sense that they decided not to go that route and instead made him a common diamond thief instead.

That, however, makes it all the more intriguing that out of all the villains on The Batman incarnation, their Riddler is serious instead of giggling and he does have a deep and sad backstory. I think he and the first Clayface are the only two really "dark" recurring antagonists on the series (albeit there are some dark oneshot villains, too). Lovers of season 4 could argue that the Riddler might not have been allowed to have a dark backstory in earlier seasons, but I would doubt that, because Clayface #1 is introduced at the end of season 1.

Ethan Bennett is a police detective and Bruce Wayne's best friend. While trying to stop the Joker, he ends up abducted and psychologically tortured. The Joker even says his famous line from the comics that "one bad day" can turn someone into a criminal. Later he tries to experiment on Ethan with a chemical device he created called Joker Putty. Detective Yin arrives and stops him, but Ethan is still exposed to the fumes from the stuff.

Later on, at home, his body reacts to the chemicals and he morphs into the Clayface creature. At first, shocked and scared and horrified, he isn't able to control the form or even his voice, and the scene where he goes outside and tries to get the police to listen to him and realize it's him is absolutely heartbreaking. Later, he's able to get some control over it and can change back to look like Ethan Bennett, but his body is still comprised of the clay substance and he really can't live a normal life. After flipping out and abducting Chief Rojas, who really is a jerk with his zero tolerance for freaks policy, he escapes capture and season 1 ends with his partner Yin and Batman forming an alliance and wondering where Ethan is now.

Season 2 has an episode where he's caught and Wayne Industries has developed some kind of antidote that brings Ethan back to being a normal human and puts the Clayface cells into remission. But Ethan can't seem to adjust to being human again and he isn't treated very kindly by most people, and he flips out again while trying to stop the Joker after running into him. Up until season 4, he stays Clayface, whereupon his human side finally gets the upper hand and a real cure is found.

I'm really happy they allowed him to have a happy ending and not to just remain Clayface forever. That would have been way too sad. The two-parter that introduces him as Clayface, and the season 2 episode where he fails to integrate back into society, are just heartbreaking.

Meanwhile, the Riddler's backstory is revealed in season 4. He didn't have a happy home life. They don't include the thing from the comics where his father actually beat him, but the man was a jerk and would break his stuff. Later, he got into safe-cracking because he liked challenges, but then he tried to go straight at the university. He developed a cool invention and worked with a girl he came to love. A businessman wanted the invention and tried to cut a deal, but he wasn't interested. The girl was upset he wasn't. When it came time to demonstrate the invention, it suddenly and inexplicably malfunctioned and harmed the president of the university, who was testing it. The Riddler believed the businessman did it to discredit him and get hold of the invention himself. The incident ruined him and his reputation and the university made him leave. Batman, to whom the story is being told, realizes that the businessman wouldn't know how to sabotage the disc and that the culprit would have to be the girl the Riddler trusts. The Riddler goes to confront her and she smirks and admits what she did and says it was because she knew the Riddler would ruin any chance of success, so she wanted to get rid of him. He flips out in heartbroken anguish and tries to kill her, but Batman and Robin stop him. Batman stops Robin from untying the girl and says they'll let the police free her. He then asks Robin, "When is a villain not THE villain?" and glowers at the girl. She shrinks back under his glare, knowing she did wrong, and looks down at the Riddler, lying unconscious on the floor. A tear slips from his eye.

So no one can say that The Batman isn't capable of doing dark and deep things. And not just in season 4, either.

And the first couple of seasons have lots of interaction between Batman and Alfred and Alfred is really shown to be an important character. I miss that so much in the later seasons. I'd rather see interaction between Batman and Alfred instead of Batman and the kids, because Alfred generally seems to be an unsung hero and once the kids come in, we don't see much of him. Plus, both of the kids can be obnoxious, in this verse, at least. Batgirl is basically Jade at first (but thankfully she does mature, unlike Jade) and Robin is otherwise smarmy, although sometimes I get a laugh from his comments.

The Batman is what really made me a fan of the franchise in general, even though I always kind of "grew up" with it due to a big coloring book my brother gave me with two Batman stories in it and some Batman activities, and a Penguin figure he gave me. I was skeptical of watching The Batman when it was first coming out, but I decided to give it a chance and I've never regretted it. Because of The Batman, I wanted to see the movies (I still need to see all of the 1980s/1990s ones), and then I got into The Animated Series and the 1960s show. I still want to read some of the comic arcs (the main comics, that is, not the tie-in comics with The Batman that I've mentioned before). I remember wanting The Long Halloween and its follow-up story. I still want to get those eventually. I'm also curious about the Hush arc and would like to read that, although I'm not sure I like the Riddler being behind such a large-scale scheme to torture Batman over a long period of time and even taunting him with his failure to save the second Robin, Jason Todd. They were actually going to make a Hush movie in The Batman verse, and I'm really not sure the Riddler of that verse, at least, would be that dark and that cruel. I'm kind of glad the project was not green-lit, although I curiously wonder if they could have tweaked it and pulled it off without the Riddler seeming OOC.

But so anyway, The Batman has to be given credit for really interesting me in the whole franchise. And I love all the assorted branches I've really gotten into, especially The Batman, The Animated Series, and the 1960s show. And Gotham. I appreciate each for what they have to offer, instead of being upset that they're all different.

My The Batman fic is breezing right along, just like the other one did six years ago. It's so fun to write the character interaction scenes, and intersperse them with the mystery. I'm moving towards the climax now. Robin is in it and Batgirl is mentioned, but I'm also trying to have Alfred interaction like there was earlier on. My Batman fics take place in season 4 out of necessity, since they rely heavily on characters and information gleaned from the Riddler's backstory. But I don't acknowledge The Joining or the season 5 stuff with the other superheroes coming in.

I was disappointed that The Batman went that route, honestly. Since Batman relies on logic and skill and not supernatural powers, it seems better to me to not have him interact with supernatural superheroes. That said, I still like the Justice League series. Of course, I'll always adore George Newbern.

And I am absolutely ecstatic that he's joining the cast of the series Granite Flats for season 3! I am annoyed that Granite Flats only does eight episodes and calls that a season, but eight episodes of George ... still paradise! I hope he'll play a (relative) good guy.

Current Mood: excited

Halloween was so much fun. I ended up going to the Trunk or Treat my church always has, and it didn't last as long as I thought, so I was also able to answer the door. I saw more kids at the Trunk or Treat than at the door. But it was fun times. It was awesome to see a lot of costumed kids again, after seeing hardly any for years. And I really enjoyed putting together my Riddler costume and it felt so good to finally do it after six years. The character was recognized by people and I saw three Batmen and a Joker, so that was cool, and then we went out to see decorations and drop in at Wal-Mart. A girl in a Batman shirt complemented me.

Sometimes it's really nice to dress up as characters that are more easily recognizable. I really soaked up the praise and recognition and I had a blast.

As I said, I was of course playing the version of the Riddler from The Batman cartoon, with my long hair and the black makeup I'd found. But since I was never crazy about doing the jumpsuit for the clothing, I'd decided to wear Mom's green blazer and a black shirt and pants. I put a construction paper green question mark on the shirt. I also made a construction paper mask, as talked about, and it actually held together and things stayed tied and attached and it was wonderful. I did see a solid green eye mask at Wal-Mart when we went afterwards, but the one I'd made was actually closer to the right shape and it had held together so well that I think I'd be sad to replace it if I ever use the costume again. So I didn't buy that mask at Wal-Mart to save for another time. I figured I wouldn't be able to have a hat, and then I decided I'd invert the colors and put a green question mark on my black fedora. I was very pleased with the results. I need to take the question marks off my hat and shirt now, yet I don't seem to have the heart to do it yet.

You know, I had so much fun that I was really sad to get out of the costume at the end of Halloween. A lot of times lately I'm just weary and tired and discouraged and am anxious to get out of it. This time I just didn't want to give it up.

In the sequel to my first multi-chapter Batman fic, I have the Riddler attempting to go the way of his comic-book counterpart by taking on the work of a police consultant. In the story, however, he calls himself a consultant and troubleshooter, and is more of a private detective than a consultant alone. He also decides to try wearing a suit, so his clothing in the story is similar to what I wore for Halloween.

I was rather giddy yesterday when I stumbled on a picture of Frank Gorshin's 1960s Riddler wearing the suit of later episodes and he had a black hat with a green question mark! I hadn't remembered that. I thought the Riddler's hat was always green, when he wore one.

I love The Batman version of the character the best: serious and intriguing and voiced by Robert Englund. But I appreciate Frank Gorshin's giggling Riddler for being the first to really make the character popular. And I like that Frank wasn't comfortable with wearing the skintight jumpsuit and that's why they made that later outfit for him to wear.

I'm slightly wondering if I might be developing a slight crush on Frank Gorshin. If I am, it is highly amusing because he's also someone I've seen and been aware of for years, thanks to Disney's That Darn Cat! (the original). I suppose it's silly of me, but it kind of bothers me that I still can't think of anything I've seen Chrissy in years and years ago, because he is the only one who breaks the pattern. Absolutely everyone else I'm crazy about I saw in stuff many years ago. Yes, even Luke Andreas. I did see Chrissy on Rockford before I became a fan, and thought he was one good-looking British cutie, but that was only a year or two before I started really being crazy about him. These others, I saw them as much as ten or fifteen years before being nuts about them, and I liked them back then, too. I keep thinking I must have seen Chrissy somewhere, in something, many years ago and someday I'll find it.

They're finally releasing the 1960s Batman series on DVD starting on the 11th, with complete sets and individual season sets. Season 1 will be out on the 11th, with the other two individual seasons to follow sometime later. They're actually cheaper bought individually, according to current prices, and I'm seriously considering picking up season 1 when it comes out. I love the 1960s Batman series; it's so silly and fun and adorable and always makes me laugh and smile. I wasn't too crazy about one Joker episode I saw, but that was the only one I haven't liked. Maybe I don't care for Cesar Romero's interpretation of the character? I'm not sure. I'll have to see how I feel watching other Joker episodes. But I'm happy with most of the other characters, so I should be fine.

I also stumbled across a plunnie I had six years ago for some space-time dimensional accident to happen and The Batman's Riddler and the 1960s Riddler end up in each other's verses. LOL. The serious Riddler would be appalled and confused and alarmed and horrified at the weird world of the 1960s show, while Batman and Robin and Yin and maybe Batgirl (not sure if I'd include her) of The Batman series would be bowled over and weirded out and disturbed by the 1960s giggling Riddler. ROTFLOL. I might really write the thing sometime, just for cracky fun. But for now, I'm content to focus on my current Batman fic.

Current Mood: happy

As usual, I kicked off Halloween by watching the Grundy's Night episode of The Batman. I then decided to follow-up that specific Halloween episode by watching Strange Minds, the one where Hugo Strange and Batman go into the Joker's mind to find out where he's taken Yin. Going into the Joker's mind? It can't get much more Halloween-appropriate than that! The episode is hilarious and creepy all at once and has some of my favorite scenes and imagery, like Moon Joker and Hugo Strange analyzing Batman.

And I ended up with a plunnie. Now I'm thinking I wanna do a fic where Hugo Strange escapes from Arkham and manages to abduct the Riddler. He's intrigued by the Riddler's various actions in my multi-chapter fics and wants to go into his mind with that device he invented.

It would be a lot of fun to write and give me the chance to design what the Riddler's mind is probably like. I am imagining question marks and deathtraps everywhere. It's a dark place, yet there is still light. Naturally I'd need to create some intriguing imagery to showcase Julie's place in his mind. His deadbeat father would be depicted in a way to show how he was someone the Riddler trusted, until he grew jealous of the Riddler getting good grades in school and beat him for it. Batman would probably be considered the Riddler's ultimate rival/favorite person to play against. I'm not sure where Yin would fit in.

I'm also trying to figure out how to get her into the action, as I really wanted her to see into the Riddler's mind as well. Batman can go in to try to find out where Hugo Strange has him because Wayne Industries has the prototype of Hugo Strange's machine. Technically, I suppose that would mean two could go and Yin could get in that way. But that would mean he would have to reveal his identity as Bruce Wayne to her. Either that or pretend to break into Wayne Industries as Batman to access the machine. Or something like that.

It could be interesting if he revealed his true identity to Yin. I'll probably lean most strongly towards that idea.

I just hope I can refrain from actually writing this fic until I have the current one done. I have four chapters up and I'm not sure how long it will be. The first one was ten, including the epilogue. Maybe if the plunnie grows too insistent, I'll write a blurb or two to try to make it settle down.

Current Mood: amused

Was able to get some Halloween makeup tonight. It looks like the black crayon can be used around the mouth, so I'll have some form of black lipstick after all. I looked for the genuine article, but couldn't find it. I wonder if you can only buy it in places that cater to the goth subculture.

I'm going to cut out some green diamond things from construction paper and put them on the golden cane. The Riddler has green buttons on the cane that he uses to remote-control stuff. And I guess if I want a mask, it will have to be construction paper. I couldn't find any simple solid color eye masks, just really fancy ones. And I don't have time to sew one, especially since there was no chance to go to Wal-Mart clear across town to get fabric.

I am kind of excited to finally be able to try this costume. I can't remember why I didn't do it six years ago.

Also, there's a yard in town (one of many) that really goes all-out for Halloween with big figures and such. One of them is Freddy Krueger and I just had to giggle to myself. I've never seen the Nightmare on Elm Street films and likely never will, but I like Robert Englund for a much different role. He voices the Riddler on The Batman, the version I'm playing.

Current Mood: amused

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Ramblings and Musings of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

We were so carefree then, our hearts were on a cloud....

Entries tagged with the batman

Curious.

Story subject changes

Assorted plans.

Fanarts

Another story possible?

Yay, 1960's Batman!

Hmm.

Foolishness.

More Batman: The Animated Series thoughts

headdesk.

OOC Penguin? And DVD woes....

Oy vey!

Different ways to tell a backstory

Ah, sigh.

Decisions, Decisions....

Yay!

The Batman

Awesome!

Yay! LOL.

LOL.