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Victorkm posted:Does the artist not know the difference between a Jack and a Joker? There are no Jacks in the Wild Card deck, just Aces, Jokers and Black Queens. Also, Bolland covers best covers. Selachian posted:Looking it up, Fafhrd's ghoul girlfriend, Kreeshkra, appeared in a couple of the later volumes in the series, The Swords of Lankhmar and Swords and Ice Magic. Huh, I've both of these but have no memory of transparent tits. *Adds them to the reread pile*
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Oct 28, 2015 18:04
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EmptyVessel posted:There are no Jacks in the Wild Card deck, just Aces, Jokers and Black Queens. Well yeah, but its annoying to me that the Jokers look like Jacks instead of Jokers.
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Oct 31, 2015 03:22
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 SPECTOR quote:Spector stared across the Hudson River toward the Jersey shore. He'd grown up in Teaneck. As long as he could remember he'd hated New Yorkers. Hated them for their contemptuous attitudes and unending supply of Jersey jokes. They really thought they were better, just by living a few miles away. Every New Yorker he killed was a little revenge for the way he'd always been treated by them. I'm going to have to admit here, The Jersey Shore: Superpower Revenge Squad is a thing I'd watch. He happens to be staring and contemplating in the exact right direction to see a guy start hanggliding off a building. The thought of that freaks him out a bit because he's scared of heights. Spector has a lot of these little character quirks that are odd because they feel like the writer's making an effort to try to flesh him out, but they never quite add up to anything. He turns away from one coincidental sight to another one. He sees the Turtle floating over the river in his shell. He gets nervous and really hopes the Astronomer doesn't pick this even more coincidental moment to attack. quote:The hang glider moved straight and fast toward the Turtle. It was less than a hundred feet away. There was a sound like glass being cut and then a loud pop; the glider veered away. Spector recognized the noise and knew the Turtle was in trouble. One of the last aces the Astronomer had lured in was a Puerto Rican kid who he called Imp. He could generate an electromagnetic pulse that neutralized all electricity within fifty yards or so. The cameras and other equipment on the Turtle's shell were so much junk now. Hey, that could be interesting. Want to hear more about Imp, how he uses his power, and how he fell in with the cult? Well, you won't. Imp is one of those one-use aces who shows up to fulfill one specific job and then gets tossed out, like the Allen wrenches that come with Ikea furniture. Imp passes over the Turtle again. quote:Moments later the shell was covered in an explosion of orange flame. Napalm. The boom echoed off the water. As the flames began to die down, Spector could see that parts of the shell were on fire. Nothing like lack of flames to make you notice fire. Okay, I get that he means that there was sustained burning after the initial blast, but there has to be a less goofy way to put that. Incidentally, if you google “can metal catch fire,” the top result gently urges you not to put metal in the microwave. The shell wobbles and hits the water, then sinks. It's undramatic enough that Spector notices and gets spooked. quote:”Jesus. Who would've thought it could be so easy.” Spector figures the Astronomer is nearby and everybody is boned, so he takes off running. It seems like it would have made more sense for this section to be from the point of view of the Turtle instead of a random second-stringer. GRRM must have been available, since he was writing Hiram's parts already. I guess they didn't want to have a character only have a POV for a half page in the book. Either way, it's awkward: with Spector narrating, there's not much emotion and you have to strain coincidence to have him standing around the right place at the right time, but if it was Turtle-eye-view, though it would be a lot more tense, you would have to have his comms mysteriously go dead and then find a way to explain Imp later. The deaths of the redshirt Aces earlier are supposed to prime you to think that the Turtle is really down for the count here, but given that he and Croyd are the closest to popular characters as Wild Cards gets, so it's not a real nail-biter.  FORTUNATO Fortunato's talking to Hiram, and has brought Lily along with him. Plenty of other people are around, too, including robots. quote:Modular Man came over from where he'd been leaning by the window. “Hello,” he said to Jane. “I don't know if you remember me. Modular Man? You can call me Mod Man for short.” On the one hand, it's rude to brush people off. On the other hand, Modular Man is really boring. This section is about a page long. Let's see how many times Fortunato can be a dickweed. quote:”You don't need me here,” [Jane] said to Fortunato. “You're trying to hide me someplace where I'll be out off your hair.” That's one. He says gathering everybody together will give them strength in numbers, but he has to go out and do all the questing because it's his karma. Lily points out that she could actually be useful, and doing it on his own instead of using the backup that is literally right there is dumb as hell. He just  s at her and she gives up.quote:“I...oh, hell. Why am I wasting my breath? But one thing. If you leave me here, and somebody dies, or gets hurt, that I could have saved, I'm not going to let you forget it. Understand?” That's two. Hiram calls him over to tell him he got a call from a police guy who wants Fortunato to go to the Cloisters. He agrees to go do that. quote:”Fortunato?” And three. I don't even know why Fortunato hates Tachyon so much. Somebody with a lot of experience with psychic bullshit is exactly the teammate that could come in handy right now, and all Tachyon has ever done is dress funny at him. I guess he could be blaming him for the wild card virus the way a lot of characters do, but if so, it's weird to be that mad about the thing that made it so he can bang himself to the astral plane. quote:”Would it be okay if I at least warned him?” Why are you asking this douchebag's permission, Hiram?  Nobody died and made him king of Superhero Spago.quote:”I don't care,” Fortunato said. Four. quote:“Just as long as you don't do anything stupid and don't go off and leave the people I'm bringing here. I'm counting on you. Don't gently caress up.” And five. Thanks, Fortunato. NEXT TIME  SPECTOR BUYS A PRETZEL
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Nov 29, 2015 16:01
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Thinky Whale posted:I don't even know why Fortunato hates Tachyon so much. Somebody with a lot of experience with psychic bullshit is exactly the teammate that could come in handy right now, and all Tachyon has ever done is dress funny at him. I guess he could be blaming him for the wild card virus the way a lot of characters do, but if so, it's weird to be that mad about the thing that made it so he can bang himself to the astral plane. It's pretty much an entire cycle of "My name is Fortunato Montoya, you killed my father ... human being", with the last word being more important than the rest. He hates Tachyon mostly because he perceives the alien as effeminate. I think he also sees Tachyon as a user and discarder of women and dislikes him for that. It's an odd attitude coming from a pimp, but Fortunato consistently equates sex with love.
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Nov 29, 2015 17:44
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As weird as it is to say about Wild Cards in general and Fortunato specifically, that actually makes some sense.
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Nov 30, 2015 01:37
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Now if only you could tell whether the author is aware of the irony.
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Nov 30, 2015 13:51
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Thinky Whale posted:It seems like it would have made more sense for this section to be from the point of view of the Turtle instead of a random second-stringer. GRRM must have been available, since he was writing Hiram's parts already. I guess they didn't want to have a character only have a POV for a half page in the book. Either way, it's awkward: with Spector narrating, there's not much emotion and you have to strain coincidence to have him standing around the right place at the right time, but if it was Turtle-eye-view, though it would be a lot more tense, you would have to have his comms mysteriously go dead and then find a way to explain Imp later. It probably came down to "Walton Simons wanted a writing credit, and Demise is part of the Astronomer story arc, so we gave him this bit part." The Great and That's about the same reason you have redshirt characters like Imp - Imp's just there as a one-shot NPC they needed to make something happen. Nobody's actually playing him so he doesn't get an internal life beyond what they need to make the plot magic happen.
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Nov 30, 2015 22:36
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Yond Cassius posted:...so he's probably just someone who was at the table and they didn't want to leave their buddy out. About all the writing reputation necessary to get you into a wildcards book.
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Feb 20, 2016 06:54
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kcroy posted:About all the writing reputation necessary to get you into a wildcards book. Why the Zelazny stories are head and shoulders above the rest.
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Feb 20, 2016 07:00
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Wait, Zelazny as in Roger Zelazny? Did he seriously write for this series?  fake edit: yup, he did.  That's like having Gene Wolfe write Drzzt Do'Urdan books.
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Feb 21, 2016 06:07
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ManlyGrunting posted:Wait, Zelazny as in Roger Zelazny? Did he seriously write for this series? He didn't just write for it, he was one of the founder members of the Wild Cards Collective. It's not like the pool is short of talent, either. Down the years there have been at least nine other writers on the project who won or were nominated for major literary SF awards.
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Feb 21, 2016 10:04
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Jedit posted:He didn't just write for it, he was one of the founder members of the Wild Cards Collective. The New Class is pretty strong, too: http://grrm.livejournal.com/478080.html
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Mar 18, 2016 17:51
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Just as a heads-up, this isn't dead, I promise. I've just let it fall to the wayside for a while lately. I am going to finish this drat book.
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Mar 20, 2016 05:43
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SPECTOR Spector's hungry and once you're technically dead street carts hold no fear for you. quote:[The guy at the stand] wore a button that said PRETZEL VENDORS KNOW HOW TO GET TWISTED. That is a really specific button to make. Spector buys two pretzels, and the guy sighs about how if it was always Wild Card day he could make a fortune and retire to bet on horses. quote:The vendor had the kind of dim, simple-minded dreams only losers have. Spector was beyond even having dreams anymore. He just killed people and occasionally wondered why it didn't bother him more. It is a certain kind of bold to openly admit that your character's motivation is  “Enh.” But hey, he interacted with someone and didn't murder them! Doing good! He just walks off and eats pretzels.quote:A wave of nausea and dizziness hit him in midstride. Dangit, street vendors. But no! It's the Astronomer in a limo. Spector passes out as he's getting grabbed and hauled into it.  HIRAM Hiram is judging Jane aka Water Lily's choice of escape-from-evil-psychic wardrobe. quote:She seemed shy and sweet, but the way she was dressed simply would not do. Blue jeans had their place, but it was not at Aces High, and her sneakers were unbearably ratty. “A droll fellow, that one,” Hiram said conversationally, indicating the smirking likeness of Jumpin' Jack Flash on her faded T-shirt. I hope Captain Trips makes his own merch. You know that's a man who can airbrush. Does anybody actually say “droll”? I remember seeing it as “drôle” in French class first, back in junior high. There wasn't a translation and it was next to a picture of a doofy-looking kid doing a headstand, so we all kind of got the impression it meant “dumbass.” Jane asks if Jack will be around tonight, since him jumping through the window and nearly setting the wrong people on fire or whatever the hell happened in that clusterfuck at the end of book 2 didn't put a dent in her crush on him. Hiram says nope, but one of his friends might come by. I hope it's the surly porpoiseman. quote:When the chauffeur arrived, he introduced him to Jane and said, “Give him your sizes.” Well, his phrasing is on the condescending side but she does need fancy clothes if she's going to hang out with all the swanky cyborgs, so I can't call it creepy. quote:“Wait a minute,” she said, her eyes wide and apprehensive. “I can't afford a lot of expensive clothing.” Pull up, Hiram! Pull up! He says Aces High will cover it, but Jane stands her ground and won't take it as a gift. They work out a deal where she'll pay him back for it by taking a job as a waitress at the restaurant starting the next day, which is a solid solution, though they neglect the “assuming a wizard doesn't murder everybody here tonight” clause of the employment contract. With that figured out, she heads off to get lunch and he gets back to work. quote:Hiram found himself staring at the closed door after Jane had gone. She was far too young for him, but This is going to be one of those “I'm not racist, but” things where there is no good way to end that sentence, isn't it. quote:she was lovely, with an air of innocence about her that he found very erotic. Okay, now I can call it creepy. quote:She reminded him of Eileen Carter, who had been almost as young as Jane when she and Hiram had first met, years ago. You'll remember Eileen as the woman taking up the crisper drawer in Fortunato's fridge. But that's not all! quote:That had been a long time ago, seven years now, since Fortunato had come to him with a shiny blood-red penny and Hiram had given him the name, never dreaming that he was sealing her death warrant. Afterward, Hiram had scarcely been able to believe it. Dead? Eileen dead? She helped identify a rare coin, and for that she is dead? No mercy for numismatists!  quote:Eileen had been his lover year before the virus had taken him for its own. That was over by the time she had gotten involved with Fortunato, but she had still meant a good deal to him. Yes, Eileen didn't just exist to die to make a man sad; she existed to die to make two men sad. That night, Hiram had gotten mad and thought about using his powers to squish Fortunato. quote:He hadn't done it, of course. Hadn't done it because he realized something, as he listened to Fortunato's voice. It was nothing the man said; he was not the sort to make such admissions. Yet it was in his tone, and in the look of those dark eyes snug in their epicanthic folds: Fortunato had loved her too. He had perhaps loved her more than Hiram, who had his father's large appetites and wandering eye. And so he'd relaxed his half-made fist, and instead of hate, Hiram felt a strange bond to the sharp-tongued sorceror-pimp. They have a special bond in sharing the world's laziest motivation cliché. Hell, it makes me think I shouldn't give Spector so much crap for just skipping having one altogether. At least that's something different. Newly vengeful, Hiram thinks about how an old guy like the Astronomer must squish pretty easy, then has a cold, vengeful lunch. NEXT TIME: Spector gets his arm twisted and Roulette gets a sex scene. Cocks probe! Semen fountains! It's awkward.
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Mar 23, 2016 15:00
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I don't think I've ever seen droll used non-sarcastically. Even then, I feel like it's mostly British people. Maybe Hiram is British, I can't remember.
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Mar 23, 2016 18:03
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Hiram isn't, but, looking back, his father was, so that might account for why he talks like somebody doing a weird British guy impression.
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Mar 24, 2016 08:16
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Thinky Whale posted:Hiram isn't, but, looking back, his father was, so that might account for why he talks like somebody doing a weird British guy impression. Can't recall if Hiram was playing Brit or just going retro-"gentleman of a bygone age", offhand. The one that's straight-up fakeBrit is that Okie Chrysalis.
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Mar 24, 2016 17:21
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SPECTOR Spector wakes up in the Astronomer's deathlimo and pretends he hasn't. quote:”Don't play possum on me, Demise.” Look, you can either call people Demise or you can use folksy turns of phrase, not both. They took his gun away, so he tries the deathstare. quote:He tried his power; maybe this time it would work. No go. Just a plain no-sell. You want a reason, go to the Reason Store. There's also a middle-aged woman in the car who “looked like a caricature of someone beautiful,” and who it is specified is wearing no makeup. She's described as wearing a dress with shoulder pads and a narrow waist, so mostly I just picture her as triangular. She's an ace who messed with Spector's blood sugar at the end of the last scene to make him pass out, for once outsourcing something you'd think the Astronomer's psychic whatever could do on its own. She also messed with the Turtle to make him an easier target. quote:”Say hello to Insulin, Demise. She's my new star pupil.” The ability to make horrible puns in desperate circumstances is one I respect. So, why hasn't the Astronomer just re-killed Spector? quote:”This Fortunato-” the Astronomer made a fist with his free hand. “I want him to suffer before I kill him. He has women. You and I are going to entertain them tonight. You always did enjoy that, didn't you, Demise?” He needs him to collect more women for the fridge! Women for the pantry! Women for the cupboards! Fortunato must be left with no place to put his groceries at all! Really though I shouldn't be mad that Fortunato's harem is composed of cardboard angst-generating devices; around the eighth book they try to make one a character with her own storyline, and it's worse. quote:“Yeah. What time?” … Your scheduling is terrible, The Astronomer. He is still not happy with Spector for skipping out on him, and expresses it in an effectively disturbing way: quote:The Astronomer grabbed his arm with both hands and twisted. The bones in Spector's forearm snapped; grinding pain shot up his arm into his shoulder. He clawed at the old man, tearing flesh from his cheeks and knocking his glasses off. The Astronomer held the broken bones together at an oblique angle. … They let him out of the limo and he stumbles out. quote:The limo pulled out into traffic. Spector looked up. People were pointing at him, laughing like it was some kind of joke. Others turned away. Seriously? I'm not exactly a Pollyanna when it comes to human nature, but I am going to argue that if somebody with a horrific injury was dumped on the sidewalk, there would be some reaction besides “Huh.” and “Ha!” He glares at everybody in the normal non-fatal way and heads down the street. CHAPTER TEN 3:00 p.m.  ROULETTE quote:The bedroom continued the maroon motif, but with highlights in gray rather than white. More books, more flowers, and on the dresser the photo of a sad-eyed woman in the dress of the 1940s. An enormous walk-in closet filled with clothes, a riot of color. A tour of Tachyon's closet - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18To_r4yVCE They get down to business. quote:”I should be undressing you.” Roulette is admirably determined to get this bullshit over with. quote:”I am either flattered that you're so eager, or worried because you're simply anxious to have the deed done.” Yeah, the second one. They get naked. Her hair is “ebony,” Tachyon is “ivory and carnelian.” But you're not here for expensive decorating materials. You're here for hot eighties waterbed porn. quote:The mattress gurgled and swayed as they settled beneath the coverlet. He reached for her, then rolled away and unplugged the bedside phone. With a wink and a leer he snuggled against her, Is winking in bed a thing people do?  I thought that was the post-wink part of the relationship.quote:his hands and lips played expertly across her body finding the pleasure points, dissolving her nerves into a wash of sensation. This time it was not an obligation to be bitterly endured. He was an accomplished lover, seeming almost to worship her with his body. His fingers swept aside the moisture-matted hair of her mons, There aren't a lot of good choices when it comes to words for female genitalia. That one just makes me think of mountains on Mars. quote:and his tongue teased along the lips of her, tantalizing her clitoris. She tangled a hand in his hair, and pulled him closer. For a moment past and future were forgotten in the all-enveloping sensation of the moment. This was in the Before Times, predating the day we all realized the word “moist” is gross. quote:The head of his cock probed like a nuzzling foal at her mons; she sighed, spread wide welcoming him. But he continued to tease, his arms rigid on either side of her body, teeth worrying at her nipples, the maddening almost-penetration a hot presence against her clit. She growled, and jerked him down to her, capturing his mouth as he slid smoothly into her. heh quote:by the Astronomer to prevent just this sort of penetration, All right, you're doing that on purpose. quote:and the surging weight of the poison advancing like a questing hunting dog with tiny half starts and halt, waiting for permission. That is an interesting personification of your vagina venom. quote:A permission that she withheld, “Down, alien uterus hemlock! Stay!” quote:justifying the decision in a half-formed thought that she would toy with him, promise him love, so the betrayal would be all the more devastating for him. Her arms and legs twined about him, and she met each thrust with an uplift of the hips. His cries were punctuated with gently murmured endearments, but she bit back any sound, as if by silence she could deny the pleasure. He came, semen fountaining within her, gave a harsh cry, and collapsed across her chest, crushing her bosoms between them. Immediately post-coitus, he comments on the sophistication of her psychic shields, as you do. He thinks she's an ace and wants to check more thoroughly. Since that's actually been set up by the Astronomer to keep Tachyon from catching wind of their murder plan and either foiling it or pointing out that it's stupid, she freaks out and tells him to mind his own alien mind-beeswax. He comforts her by saying she's safe with him, and she does this:  So, basically how all sex goes. NEXT TIME: Mafia stuff and why 9 out of 10 vets recommend against feeding books to alligators.
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May 4, 2016 13:59
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I really don't want to imagine the RPG sessions this was based on.
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May 4, 2016 21:59
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anilEhilated posted:I really don't want to imagine the RPG sessions this was based on. To be fair, the RPG sessions probably didn't feature graphic sex. Even Fortunato recharging would be handled between sessions or with an "OK, you do that while the rest of the party goes to the police station (now go order the pizza)" rather than "I critically hit the G-spot!"
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May 5, 2016 15:50
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Jedit posted:To be fair, the RPG sessions probably didn't feature graphic sex. Even Fortunato recharging would be handled between sessions or with an "OK, you do that while the rest of the party goes to the police station (now go order the pizza)" rather than "I critically hit the G-spot!" You have far too much faith in humanity.
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May 5, 2016 17:52
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I remember the Demise arm break being pretty horrifying although that means I must have completely blocked the sex scene out of my memory. Penises are not nuzzling foals.
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May 5, 2016 17:57
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Jedit posted:To be fair, the RPG sessions probably didn't feature graphic sex. Even Fortunato recharging would be handled between sessions or with an "OK, you do that while the rest of the party goes to the police station (now go order the pizza)" rather than "I critically hit the G-spot!" Well, if they were running FATAL.... 
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May 5, 2016 18:03
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I read a bunch of Wild Cards maybe 15 years ago, then skimmed and kind of hated the revival a few years ago. Has the new stuff gotten any better?
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May 20, 2016 00:43
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Jedit posted:To be fair, the RPG sessions probably didn't feature graphic sex. Even Fortunato recharging would be handled between sessions or with an "OK, you do that while the rest of the party goes to the police station (now go order the pizza)" rather than "I critically hit the G-spot!" I could swear that I read somewhere that Peregrine, the winged TV presenter whose main trait is being groin-burstingly hot, is specifically based on someone's character from the RPG group.
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May 20, 2016 20:49
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Selachian posted:I could swear that I read somewhere that Peregrine, the winged TV presenter whose main trait is being groin-burstingly hot, is specifically based on someone's character from the RPG group. It is true, she was Gail Gerstner-Miller's character and there's a few hints dropped that she was directly based on Kim Basinger.
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May 21, 2016 02:04
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 BAGABOND Rosemary talks with some guys from the NYPD that the narrative flat out tells us are “cyphers, administrative types” about how the Gambiones being weak means there's a power vacuum and a gang war a-brewin'. They don't know Rosemary is a mafia princess; they just think she knows gang stuff real well. Meanwhile Bagabond is in psychic communication with gator-mode Jack. quote:Bagabond looked at her. “He's got the books – I think. The notebooks.” All items swallowed by reptiles become legal property of the DA's office. Bagabond takes a second to mess with the brain chemistry controlling Jack's legs and make him walk in slow motion so he won't get real far and will look hilarious in the process. quote:“Welcome back to the real world.” Rosemary closed the file. “So where's Jack?” “I need to either fall in love with him on a sinking ship, or ask him if he knows what day it is tomorrow.” quote:“Somewhere under the Bowery, as best I can tell.” She blinked. “Do you really think it is – the real world?” “Look, we can Philosophy 101 later, right now we have a walking reptile library to bag.” Rosemary calls a mob guy friend of hers and they talk about how everybody's going to the Haiphong Lily tonight to pick a new don, just to put a few more blinking lights on the IT'S GOING TO BE HER sign. Once she hangs up, Bagabond laughs about how none of the mob guys knows she's the DA. quote:”Of course they don't know. Rosemary Muldoon is black Irish and doesn't look a thing like Maria Gambione, the only twentieth-century Madonna. I haven't seen any of them in person since my mother's funeral years ago, and I wore a wig, veil, and no makeup for that.” Bagabond is miffed that Rosemary still cares about all her mafia dudes. She's annoyed that the whole book thing is just an excuse to reconnect with them, and the text hints that she's jealous of Rosemary's past: quote:It also made her jealous of Rosemary's past. Then she gets a call about the guy who Popinjay warped into prison, so they head out the door to go deal with that and then rendezvous with Jack. FORTUNATO Fortunato's meeting a cop outside the Cloisters, where they're clearing out the gang that lives there. Just kids, not anybody important enough to have a dumb name. The cop tells Fortunato about the Turtle going down into the river. This brings Fortunato to the conclusion that they're all hosed, he's going to die, and the one thing he can do is go down fighting. quote:Sometime, he thought, before four o'clock, you're going to get your shot. No Hamilton jokes. quote:What you have to do is wait for it. Oh for god's sake quote:Be ready. Don't even think about saving yourself, because you're already lost. What you have to do is kill him. Whatever it costs you, you have to kill him, or die trying. So you're saying it's win-win? quote:His hands were shaking. Not fear, not really. More like sick, helpless rage. … Before he knew he was going to do it he had turned and put his fist through the back window of one of the squad cars. The cop rushes over and asks if he's okay, which is not the first question most cops would have for somebody who just committed serious property damage for no reason. His second question is more understandable: quote:”Christ, how am I gonna explain this window?” At this point it is almost delightful when Fortunato is a douchebag in ridiculously petty ways. They turn the topic to exposition. What's going on here? quote:“Gangs,” Altobelli said, turning reluctantly from the car. “Nobody went to the Cloisters after you guys trashed the place, so the kids moved back in. PC thinks to grab some head lines from the jokers by rounding up the kids. Only what happens, there's all these tunnels under the place. And there's bodies down in there.” That's right: after a bust of some major-rear end cult crime, the cops just shrugged and walked off instead of investigating the scene. No follow-up whatsoever to check for more cult members, or hostages, or wife computers. The bodies include Roman, who was the handsome guy with the computer wife, “parts of either two of three girls,” and what appeared to be a wooden statue wearing clothes that Fortunato theorizes is “some kind of wood man or something.” The cop mentions that they also found an alive guy, and they go to say hi. NEXT TIME: Spector digs through garbage and Fortunato meets a bug.
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Jul 10, 2016 08:27
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Welcome back, Thinky!Thinky Whale posted:The cop rushes over and asks if he's okay, which is not the first question most cops would have for somebody who just committed serious property damage for no reason. His second question is more understandable: Fortunato's pretty recognisable. I imagine most cops in NY are signed up to #BlackLivesMatterWhenTheFuckerCanTurnYouInsideOutWithAThought by this point. Rosemary is one of the more interesting characters in early Wild Cards. At first she genuinely does seem to want to do the best job as DA that she can, except where the Mafia are involved. But as she gets closer to the top in both her jobs, she stops caring and starts pretending - about both of them. Ultimately she's a user and it's all about her.
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Jul 10, 2016 11:05
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Thanks! I've been alive, just lazy. Rosemary's got an interesting premise. I love the idea of somebody having to deal with the practical day-to-day legal issues that come up when you have a bunch of people with superpowers running around, and the notion of having her loyalties pulled between her job and her family has some potential, but it ends up feeling like a lot of setup with very little in the way of satisfying payoff.
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Jul 10, 2016 13:41
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Haven't visited for a while, but this is my fav thread on SA. WC got optioned for TV motherfuckers! http://grrm.livejournal.com/496792.html Be sure to comment on GRRMs live journal for which characters you want to see included! quote:Let's see... we have Jetboy, the Four Aces, Dr. Tachyon, the Great and Powerful Turtle, Modular Man, Yeoman, Wraith, Cap'n Trips, Fortunato, Puppetman, Chrysalis, Popinjay, the Oddity, Father Squid, Water Lily, Sewer Jack, Bagabond, Peregrine, Carnifex, Infamous Black Tongue, Bugsy, Curveball, Earth Witch, Cameo, Elephant Girl, Demise, Ramshead, Mackie Messer, Mr. Nobody, Double Helix, the Amazing Bubbles, Stuntman, Rustbelt, Lohengrin, Hoodoo Mama, Drummer Boy, Abigail the Understudy, the Midnight Angel, and many many MANY more. Which ones will you see? I don't know. Which ones do you want to see? Tell us below, in the comments. For.Tu.Na.DOOOOOooooooooohhhhh
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Aug 7, 2016 02:19
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kcroy posted:Haven't visited for a while, but this is my fav thread on SA. What a Saturday! Been waiting for this.
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Aug 7, 2016 03:05
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More info: http://www.ew.com/article/2016/08/07/george-rr-martin-wild-cards
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Aug 7, 2016 20:14
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And a reminder to all that the new volume is out in two weeks. I'm not convinced it'll be one of the better ones, but if you're going to go balls deep on the sunk cost fallacy this is the most appropriate series to be sunk balls deep into. Also Melinda Snodgrass is on the writing list and she publishes actual original novels these days.
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Aug 7, 2016 22:57
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kcroy posted:Haven't visited for a while, but this is my fav thread on SA. Aw  kcroy posted:For.Tu.Na.DOOOOOooooooooohhhhh My favorite part of that list is the boundless optimism of including Mr. Nobody. Count me in for excitement tinged with dread! It could either be decent or a total trainwreck. They could do a lot of interesting visual stuff with the jokers, depending on the budget. I saw somebody have a great idea about using Croyd for cameos by having him played by a different person every episode. The premise has potential to be a lot of fun, if they go the Legend of the Seeker route of shaving off the terrible parts and replacing them with campiness and lesbian subtext. I can only imagine a bunch of writers sitting in a board room looking at each other until somebody's the one to say, "So. About the necrophilia." Jedit posted:if you're going to go balls deep on the sunk cost fallacy this is the most appropriate series to be sunk balls deep into. Now there's your cover blurb!
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Aug 8, 2016 09:03
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I mean it has lots of potential that is for sure. I'm curious how much a budget hit a town full of loving crazy jokes would be? What drew me to this series in the first place was the backstory and how people made the best of these insane disabilities. It was also pretty gritty for me in my teens - very anti-hero in some ways ( though very campy as gently caress looking back ). I hope they don't get bogged down on specific characters ( do we really need jetboy? does anyone give a gently caress about that "clever" intro story? ). But if a bunch of fun writers just get to dig into this as a shared world and maybe just pull what they need, and leave the rest... it could be good. or not. we will see. perhaps if nothing else, it will draw some attention, people will buy the books, and more poor souls will end up in this thread reading your breakdowns, and Jedit's enthusiastic defenses of the series. Not sure if you ever read thieves world, but there is another "wakes up different person every time" and I always thought that was cool. I mean, every other episode could have Croyd waking up as some different bullshit, and the following episode intro would show how he made use of it, and then falling asleep. creating a 2 episode loop. Sort of a dr who rebirth every other episode. Could show off some of the pain / angst / adaptability of a specific joker. Just rambling here. kcroy fucked around with this message at 09:49 on Aug 9, 2016 |
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Aug 9, 2016 09:46
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Jedit posted:To be fair, the RPG sessions probably didn't feature graphic sex. Even Fortunato recharging would be handled between sessions or with an "OK, you do that while the rest of the party goes to the police station (now go order the pizza)" rather than "I critically hit the G-spot!" I would bet 100% they rolled on g-spot crits. C'mon look at this dude and his drunk Con hussy. 
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Aug 9, 2016 09:54
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SPECTOR This is a quick scene where Spector goes into an alleyway. He conjectures that the Astronomer is keeping him alive because “something about the way Spector killed people made it easier for the Astronomer to eat their energy, or whatever the hell it was he did to get his power,” but mostly what he does is find a headless marble horse-shaped paperweight in the trash and bash his arm straight. FORTUNATO AGAIN Fortunato's down in the cult tunnels under the Cloisters. It is specified as being furnished with lovely cheap vinyl chairs. The live cult guy turns out to be Kafka, the roach engineer dude. He is wearing a little cockroach labcoat. He didn't die because he ran and hid, and overheard the Astronomer talking to a woman and telling her to meet him that night. Also they were saying something about a ship. quote:A yacht? Fortunato wondered. Some kind of a cruise ship? Not likely. Nothing that traveled on water could take him far enough fast enough to keep Fortunato from finding him. Kafka is certain he is going to get Astronomurdered without the benefit of a labyrinthine trial in which the supposed crime is never stated, so Fortunato tells the cop guy to keep him under heavy guard until the book is over. Then we get a chapter break. They seem pretty arbitrary, since the narrative's breaking so frequently to switch between characters anyway, so I don't feel bad about putting it in the middle of an update. CHAPTER 11 4:00 pm  JACK Jack is moving around the sewers at a Bagabond-telepathy-induced saunter, thinking about food in general and a “particularly delectable morsel” with brown eyes and black hair in specific. The just-announced TV series had better cover this part just for the visual of watching an alligator move in slow motion for a while. quote:Near a narrow branching tunnel, someone with considerable time had incised letters in the rock: CROTOAN. That's a nice sci-fi injoke about a Harlan Ellison story where there's a sewer full of fetuses riding flushed gators, so he should care. Oh, then Jack runs into some of those. quote:He heard the scrabbling of a multitude of claws on stone, a hissing sibilance of almost-voices. Flushed alligators, not fetuses, though it takes so long to say so that that you could understandably make the mistake. This writer has a habit of established what he's talking about a few sentences after it would have made sense to. Done right, that builds mystery, but done clumsily it's just confusing. Jack feels some twinges of loneliness: quote:They could be food, but he didn't want them to be. They make friends and rub on each other like big scaly cats for a an undeniably  while, then the other alligators head off to get back to their congregation. Jack is tempted to go with them.quote:Something tugged at him, urging the creature to turn in the passage and follow after the smaller reptiles, to be part of something bigger, something different from what he already was. This is almost exactly the same words Spector used to talk about being in New Year's Eve crowds, so we could have us an actual running theme here. However, Jack has other stuff to do, so he says see you later. NEXT TIME: Wraith goes to church and encounters the only time eyes have ever been justifiably described as “orbs.”
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Aug 11, 2016 08:22
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which book are you reviewing... WC III?
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Aug 12, 2016 20:12
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kcroy posted:which book are you reviewing... WC III? Yeah, Joker's Wild, the first big "mosaic novel" of the series, which imitates the "joker" side of Xenovirus Takis-A by melding many different and not-entirely-fitting creations into an amphorous blob.
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Aug 12, 2016 21:30
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Zamboni Apocalypse posted:Yeah, Joker's Wild, the first big "mosaic novel" of the series, which imitates the "joker" side of Xenovirus Takis-A by melding many different and not-entirely-fitting creations into an amphorous blob. heh. I don't remember this one, but its been a while (decades) since I read it. Mostly I remember the triad(?) that deals with the political convention. That is one of the reasons reading these summaries is so awesome, it reminds me of the books while also making me crack up.
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Aug 12, 2016 21:47
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