The Batman (Reagan)’s Comments (group member since Jul 08, 2024)

The Batman (Reagan)’s comments from the 𝓐𝖗𝖐𝖍𝖆𝖒 𝓐𝖘𝖞𝖑𝖚𝖒 group.

Tim answered. "Yeah. He was pinpointing individuals he believed had failed in some way. The judge. Apparently, he's under the impression one of her recent cases was a sham. Eddie Hill, I think? Something about a shipment of weapons." We need a copy of the invoice or the shipping manifest"
"Anything interesting to report, Jason?" Dick ssked.
~~~

"Thank you for your help, Gloria." Batman told her. When she looked up from her puzzle he was gone.
"Alfred," He said. "Bruce Wayne..." He changed his voice's register. "I need to schedule an appointment with the Gazette to offer my condolences." He quickly filled him in on the details.

((Anything else here? I feel like I'm missing something, but can't put my finger on it. Was this just for Ethan Nickles name? I don't want to have Batman dismiss himself without accomplishing the goal.))
~~~

"Well, first he clued us into the whole riddle thing with the answer being Riddle. Then next was Security. Third was Idiots. R, S, and I. Could get IRS or SIR. But I don't know that either of those make sense." Dick laid out the clues.
"Combined with the E, N, and C from earlier, we almost have a few words. Silence.Sincere..." Tim added.
"Can we count the R? It was bonus points, right?" Dick asked. "Where is Jason by the way?"
"Is? Something is another thing?" Tim suggested.

((Sorry. Got home late. Started a draft, but I'm gonna crash.))

((Gonna respond tomorrow. Just wanted to say that I was listening to Cry, Cry, Cry by Johnny Cash as I read about Gloria clicking the pen. That's exactly how the percussion sounds, so now in my head, she's timing out Johnny Cash.))

((If you want, that's viable too. But if you feel the need to just stick with one character, you can ask in the RP Requests thread.

I was considering allowing people to create islander characters soon
Maybe one of the Stranded breaks away from the others to be with the Islander.))

Eve O. Spellman wrote: "((I plan to moderate and help out as needed. I cannot group rp. Never works out well.))"

Well, There's a system in place to pair off.))

((Right now we're still in one room, but we'll spread out over time. We can start using @Username, blahblahblah. It also helps to determine a turn order.))

((I'm trying to write a bit more of Aquilla's story now.))

Eve O. Spellman wrote: "((Oh, no you're good. Gloria just has a slight puzzle ego. And that's a really good idea. I'll see if I can do that.

I'll post later.))"

((Cool. We've started over at Stranded, by the way.))

((Sorry if you wanted him to solve it. Also, I don't know if this fits into your idea at all, but what if Nickles is not actually Riddler, but a messenger and informant for him?))
"Hmm... enigma." Batman recalled Alfred's joke earler. "I had a hunch. Tell me... Ethan Nickles. How long has he been at the Gazette? Does he work in your department too?"
***
"Well, that's where he got the drones and it's a really prominent landmark. Few places better to get the attention he craves." Tim said as he stared at a map of all the locations. "Also, he's probably trying to paint a target toward some grand finale. There aren't enough data points to determine a pattern just yet, but I bet we'll be able to determine a radius soon. But you do make a point. This was deliberate."

Dick nodded. "What's the connection to all the victim's?" He paused. "Well, they all have some level of public notoriety and influence in the city. They all make pretty substantial salaries." He shrugged.

"I'm not sure that tracks" Tim replied. "If he was into money, he could crash the stock market or rob a bank. And if he wanted publicity, he wouldn't wear a mask or Skype call Wayne Enterprises."

"Skype?" Dick asked.

Tim clicked his tongue and gave Dick an exasperated glance. "Was that really what you took away from everything I said?"

((I'm picturing Rebecca Ferguson as Gloria (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]))

"Fair enough. As I said, I don't blame you. I'll take what help you can provide." He walked over to the low coffee table, standing over it in such a way as to not block what little light was coming from the overhead fixture. It had the capacity for four bulbs, but either three were dead, or Gloria had it set to to use one. Ethan Nickles. He filed the name away. "So then. the puzzle... Are you going to make me solve it myself, or are you willing to provide the answer?"

~~~
"He didn't." Dick answered. "For now, let's lay out what we know for certain." He began building what looked like a conspiracy board on one of the Batcomputer's massive monitors. "Victims. Clues, Etc. Etc."
Tim thought a moment. "One of the victims was named Edward. Eddie Hills was mentioned by Judge Kilinger as a witness being paid off by the mob. I don't know why that feels relevant, but I feel like it's worth marking the connection."
Dick looked at him for a long moment then at Barbara. "Seems far-fetched, but sure." He circled the names in their respective notes and drew a light gray dotted line between them. He turned the opacity way down so that it was still barely visible but not distracting.

((I just realized the note about Gloria was separate to the newspaper clipping. "Ask Gloria about changed Entertainment Section and promised rewards.

It had a phone number written under it and beside it was a copy of last week's Entertainment Section. The paper had included riddles, brainteasers, and the formatting had changed so that, within the print, the letter 'N' could be found."))


"As I stated, I'm here because I believe you may be in danger. Why? The man who murdered your boss is a homicidal sociopath and apparently has aspirations to become a serial killer. His motivations are his and his alone to understand. However, that doesn't mean he isn't predictable. Puzzles are his thing. You write puzzles for the paper. Your name was, unwittingly, provided by one of his targets. Ergo..." He trailed off as he was now just repeating himself. "i came here to tell you the news, ask about the new entertainment section, and to warn you. But I also think you may be our best lead to taking him down. Assuming he'll want to come after you, we can turn it against him. We can sweeten the deal and present him with a puzzle he can't resist."
~~~

Nightwing whistled at the news. "Yeah, I'm stating the obvious, but this guy needs to go down. We need to see what clues we're working with. Oh yeah, Alfred, you're gonna love this: The dude leaves clues behind like he's trying to turn Gotham into some giant escape room." He gestured for Babs to present the paper she'd received. "Bruce said he got a Polaroid with an E."
Tim showed up just then. "He had an N as well. E, N, and C"
NIghtwing started pacing. "You think there's more pieces and this is an anagram, or is it an acronym?"

((Would you want to do a story line with Barbara and Dick on a date at some point? Don't usually do romance (by which I mean never), but I'm willing to try something different.))

((It's a bad habit of mine to open a duplicate tab while writing so I can go back and look for certain details and then closing the wrong tab...I have a fairly good memory so I can usually rewrite it fairly quickly. (Long term. My short term SUCKS! Tell me something and I'll forget within five minutes, but then it'll keep me awake every night for the rest of my life. Also, sorry for harping on the donuts. Sometimes I just find a joke and beat it to death. I once was in an RP with Willow and we started including the word Lo Mein in literally every post. Just the worst analogies, or a nonsequitor just to have a takeout box in the corner, or a character's nickname at one point. It was fun. ))

Dick, with Babs just behind him on the bike, pulled into the Batcave's carpark just below Wayne Manor a few minutes before Tim. Jason... well, as per usual, he had no idea where Jason was at the moment. Probably still caught up at the GCPD apologizing for bringing the bakery's discounted day-old donuts instead of a fresh batch. "We're on Bruce Wayne's dime, Dude..." He muttered to himself. He jumped off and headed for the lift up to the cave proper. "Alright, theories anyone?"

((Yeah. In a bit. Gotta reply to another group real quick.))

((Sure. Or we can skip to the Batcave. Batman can arrive later. Did Jason find any letters?))
~~~

Batman had too many things on his mind to solve the puzzle immediately, but he knew the answer would come to him. He filed it away for now. Instead, he looked down at the note and cursed himself for not having recognized the handwriting. Granted, Bruce Wayne and Mr. Elliot had never been close even when the former had been friends with the latter's son, but it was absurd to think he'd confused the hurried pen-strokes of the aged man for the frantic scribblings of a homocidal lunatic. "I... I actually found it on his desk in his house. I thought it had been left by someone else." He sighed through his nose. This was going to be difficult. Keeping his voice even, he told her about the recent attacks and the events that had transpired at the elderly editor's estate. "No doubt the killer saw this while in the house. He seems to have a compulsion towards puzzles and brainteasers, so this could very well make you a target, It would be safest for you to leave the city for a while and I wouldn't hold it against you if you left. However, your intellect may also be a valuable asset in bringing this criminal to justice." He looked her in the eyes, trying to judge her reaction to the news as he spoke, wishing he didn't have to hide his sympathy behind the cowl.
~~~

((Did you have anything to add here? Otherwise, this plot-line can be condensed into the first.))

((2 and 4 was how I was leaning too.))

((So I've known from the get-go of this crossover project, I've wanted Harvey to be based on the Billy Dee Williams version: The darker skin and blue suit is very Korra era to present timeline Southern Water Tribe. However, I'm still trying to decide on the exact aesthetic/ tone of his design. I kind of have a preference between 1 and 2, but 3 and 4, and 5 are the parts I'm wondering about.

1.) Blue/ Dark Blue Water Tribe suit. Obsession with dichotomies already inherent to the element, Tui and La, the push and pull of the tide's ebb and flow, the phases of the moon, etc. Mother was a healer, father was a fighter, using ice and high pressure techniques. Coin would probably have Tui and La on either side. (Would not have Harvey use bloodbending.)

Or

2.) Water bender mother, fire bender father. Red and blue suit. Focus on the hot and cold aspects. Both have the potential to harm and heal, yet one has the reputation for volatility and violence over the other. Coin would have the traditional burnt side. He would have put his fire bending heritage behind him and choose to live as his mother did.

3.) Damaged face is a result of fire based scarring. Rupert Thorne probably challenged him to an Agni Ki, which makes more sense if he has Fire Nation heritage. Thorne would be trying to provoke Harvey to show his "true colors". Feels a little too Zuko.

Or

4.) Damaged face is actually a result of spirit melding. Would be an excuse to use the blue-green color from the animated series. Maybe Harvey was convinced to seek the spirit to heal him, but it provokes and feeds on his suppressed anger?

5) Waterbender, Firebender, nonbender?))

((Regarding Eve and the Judge, I didn't have anything in mind, but they do both have a broken arm more or less from the same guy. So there's that. Could be that the judge, seeing she's not the only victim, begins a campaign to bring him down.

Also, irrelevant, but I had ideas for Two-face in my Avatar crossover.))

((There ya go. Probably not worth the wait, but it is now a finished post.))

((Sorry. I'll see if I can finish my post on lunch break. Just wants to point out that I thought Riddler had left the note for Batman. I thought maybe Gloria was tangentally involved only because Riddler was upset she managed to stump him or something and he wants revenge. Have you ever read Discworld? Vetenari falls in love with the Crossword Writer for that same reason.))