After that brush with dignity, back to Batman.

[seiberwing]

Title: Solve Me
Fandom: Batman (1960s TV Show)
Characters: Riddler, Batman, OC
Warnings: Depression, discussion of suicide.
Summary: “What is the question every man asks and every man will solve, but no one can tell the answer to?”
Author’s Note: And my descent into depravity continues. Unsure where this fits in relation to my other two fics. One

Comments

[harleyquinn1517]

My overall impression on this was I felt drawn in, amazed, and really into this darker side of the 60's world. The minor references to some of the subculture and thinking of the time were brilliant touches, and the character dynamics were very strong and thorough

[seiberwing]

Just the entirety of Batman talking the Riddler down, showing him his life had value, dealing with a simultaneous cry for help and his ego...a delicate process to handle, and an even more delicate process to write, and it was handled beautifully.

As much as everyone decries the cheese and law-abiding to the point of utter ridiculousness of this particular Batman, I find it makes him an interesting character to play with. There's genuine sincerity in all the corny lectures he hands out and even by the standards of his canon he keeps himself completely on the level. Out of all the Batmans he actually is the one who'd sit down and calmly talk a villain down from suicide, and I wanted to see that happening.

Villains are fun. But genuinely nice guys can be interesting.

[flight_wo_wings]

This is the first one of your Batman stories that I've read, but now I'm going to have to go back and read the rest because this was great. ^_^ I've honestly never seen Batman interpreted this way, but I like it! He's completely and sincerely dedicated to making himself a force for good in the world -- and yet, he still has his dark side. I'd love to see a follow-up, if you ever get inspired.

[seiberwing]

Eeeee. ^_^

Yeah. It's a very, very different Batman, like some ungodly lovechild of Captain America and Superman at their corniest, but all the more fun to split him open and see what makes him stick.

We'll see how the muse takes me.

[flight_wo_wings]

Sorry for taking so long to reply, I got a job working the graveyard shift in a hotel and haven't yet gotten internet at home.

That Captain America/Superman vibe was exactly what I was thinking of. XD And yet at his core he's still darker than either character. The bit with him contemplating murder...it still gives me the chills, two weeks later. (Which is ironic, considering that Captain America canonically HAS killed people, certain excessively idealistic writers notwithstanding.)

[seiberwing]

I imagine they've both had those thoughts, just shoved them to the back of their minds as Batman's doing here.

Eeee, glad to have made such an impression!

[mithen]

I'm just blown away by your stories in this universe, I really am. The way you take the ethos of the world so seriously, not slightingly, and then dig in and see what makes these people tick without ever going out of character for them...it's really amazing.

Why have I never seen Wertham cast as an Arkham employee? It's such a natural, I love it!

The guards tipped their hats in his presence, a gesture that always made him feel a little uncomfortable. He was as much a civil servant as they were.

This is such a perfect little line, so very 60s Batman!

Obviously the whole conversation is just amazing--Riddler as trying to avoid thinking about the Final Riddle makes such sense, and Bruce's desperate compulsion to reach out to him--it's clear he's just as trapped by his own obsessions, it's just that he's been so careful to channel those obsessions into good. The way that plays out in the exchange between Robin and Batman at the end is marvelous and painful and just right. Also, I just love this line:

A bit presumptuous. Batman

[seiberwing]

I'm working on a bigger fic for this 'verse for queer_fest and I was getting a lot of nerves over it. You're encouraging me. ^_^ It's just so fucking bizarre that I love taking it apart to see how it works and what the people there are like below the funny costumes and zany antics. I don't know, it scratches some bizarre itch.

Why have I never seen Wertham cast as an Arkham employee? It's such a natural, I love it!

I needed a default 'narrow-minded psychologist' character and Wertham seemed the perfect man to steal. There's no Arkham here, but I figure at least a few of the odder balls at the prison would get put on the couch. One of the things I do keep in mind, albeit in a very small way because logic does not apply in Gotham, is that this is set in the late 1960s, and has different ideologies from us on gender and sexuality.

[mithen]

A bigger fic? How can I encourage you more?? I am pretty addicted to this take on the universe now and would love to see more.

One of the things I do keep in mind, albeit in a very small way because logic does not apply in Gotham, is that this is set in the late 1960s, and has different ideologies from us on gender and sexuality.

Ah, that actually ties into something that I remembered later I loved about this--how the Riddler clearly has bipolar disorder, but neither Battenburg nor Batman have the specific vocabulary to describe and label it, even though they clearly understand the facts of the case fairly well. I really like the way you "play by the rules" in what you can and can't say here...

[seiberwing]

You're encouraging me now. Part of my concern is that most people haven't seen the show so I want to make it appropriately understandable to people who know the generalities of Batman canon but not, say...Marsha, Queen of Diamonds and that one time she and Penguin ran around in a solid gold tank while her Aunt Hilda played gunner. So I want to make it comprehensible.

Ah, that actually ties into something that I remembered later I loved about this--how the Riddler clearly has bipolar disorder, but neither Battenburg nor Batman have the specific vocabulary to describe and label it, even though they clearly understand the facts of the case fairly well. I really like the way you "play by the rules" in what you can and can't say here...

*did-research-on-this-mode* At the time, what they had was manic-depressive illness, a slightly more crude definition of the same basic concept. And I'd better damn well know because it took way too long to find the necessary chunk of the DSM-II for my purposes. Turned up on some random dude's blog.