(no subject)
Aug. 13th, 2019 07:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. For those who want to get a look-see at what Jonathan Hickman is doing with the X-men, in Powers of X -- go HERE -- Scans Daily posted a sizable sample.
Fascinating comic -- for those who like this sort of thing. A lot of people don't.
ETA: What's weird is the nit-picking against it. Screen rant decided that the retcon didn't work based on a story arc that I honestly don't even remember. I read those comics, but honestly can't remember that story arc at all. Apparently Moira McTaggart contracted the Legacy Virus and died from it, as the first human to contract it. I don't remember that -- but I think it was on purpose -- because it was a badly written arc and offensive. It was Marvel's misguided attempt to examine the AIDs issue, except...the analogy and metaphors didn't work.
Also, when people get nit-picky about continuity or consistent character arcs in soap opera serials, Doctor Who, or X-men comic books -- I tend to laugh at them.
Folks -- you are talking about a series that has a high turn over in writers, no character bible, no plot bible, and they basically are told to write something rather fast and come up with a new story for characters that have been around since 1963. Not only that, but in the case of Who and the X-men, haven't aged. This isn't a genre that you should get nit-picky on canon regarding -- because really there is none. The canon is rebooted and retconned at will. Characters are killed off and brought back with little explanation. And the rules changed continuously. When reading long-running serials or watching them, look at like what-if scenario fanfic.
Or various explorations on character and theme. And worry about the plot/characters working for that specific arc and that writer's arc -- not across the board. It's a comic book, not a Shakespearean Play, although I've read Shakespearean plays in which the plot continuity didn't make a lot of sense -- Hamlet comes to mind.
2. Finished two books..one, sigh, did not work. It was a contemporary romance and honestly, I do not know why I keep trying to read these books -- they always disappoint me. This is why I'm writing my own contemporary romance novel -- which I beginning to hate at the moment, because the dumb thing won't let me go, and I'd much rather continue with my sci-fi novels.
Anyhow...it's called The Tycoon by Molly O'Keefe , part of a series, different writers writing different novels. So clearly they were given template characters to write about, and it shows. Mainly a set-up to write erotic fiction. Although I wouldn't say it was that erotic, boring yes, erotic, no.
The beginning or first 65% of it, was pretty good. I liked the hero, Clayton, quite a bit. He was interesting -- even if he seems a bit contradictory and doesn't make a lot of sense. The heroine on the other hand...worked fine up to a point, until she really didn't and I began to want to smack her upside the head.
But mainly the plot didn't quite work -- nor did the central conflict -- which threw me out of the story. And made me dislike the wrong characters.
The plot doesn't quite work -- in part because the central conflict is rather contrived, and far too much time is spent on sex, and far too little on plot. I hate to say this? But comic books are actually better written than a lot of romance novels -- because they spend a bit more time on character development, plot, and world-building. Granted a comic can get derailed by too much time spent on action sequences. Actually -- rule of thumb? If an action sequence or sex scene (which is basically an action sequence) does not further the characters and/or the plot and theme -- don't do it. We don't need to see it. It's just gratuitous at this point.
We basically have a tale of poor abused boy meets wealthy girl with serious Daddy issues, actually they both have Daddy and Mommy issues -- and he decides he wants Daddy's company, the girl and a piece of land. The land bit is a mystery -- that I figured out early on. Anyhow, his mistake is that he convinces the father to give him everything in exchange for marrying the girl -- because of course Daddy sees his daughter as little more than a commodity. But in reality he loves the daughter and is trying to protect her from all the other would-be suitors Daddy has lined up to do the deed.
Daughter, Veronica, finds out about the marriage contract in worst way possible and jilts him, taking off to Austin. He lets her go and plots to get her back upon her father's timely death. Honestly, I don't know why he didn't do it earlier. Neither does he, apparently it had something to do with wanting to gift her the father's company, and well get that plot of land.
Daddy dies and Clayton (the boy) inherits the company and the homestead/ranch. Veronica gets the plot of land that Clayton wanted. Because Daddy is an ass. Anyhow, Clayton offers to buy the plot of land for twice it's value, and to marry Veronica in exchange for giving her the foundation that was her mother's, and a setting up a trust for her two troublesome (and somewhat whiny) sisters. Veronica after much hemming and hawing caves. Then she discovers the secret about the land, and falls in love with him all over again..only to almost break everything off -- when she discovers that he wrote her brother (who she's not seen in years and barely returns her emails) that he'll give him $2M if the guy stays away from his inheritance, and let's Clayton take care of Veronica and her sisters. Because said brother clearly could care less about them and the inheritance.
I was thrown out of the story at this point -- because honestly why would she be upset that her fiancee paid off her brother to stay out of it? Her brother who has never shown any interest in her or her sisters, and could show up at any time to take his inheritance and leave them penniless, destroying the company and everything else. The writer didn't do a good job of building this. Instead of being angry at Clayton, I wanted to rip Veronica a new one. It didn't work. Also, my take on the brother, Dylan, is Clayton's right he's an entitled ass, with Daddy issues.
The fact that Clayton had the worst parent-child relationship of all concerned doesn't help the plot much. Or that Clayton is the most interesting of the characters. His story is admittedly a tad boiler plate - abused by Dad, scrounging money, Dad broke his bike and killed his Dog...he worked to ensure his father had a home, regardless. But it does make him rather sympathetic. Veronica seems a bit flighty in comparison -- she has a business in Austen, where she's allegedly helping women with their finances -- that she ups and leaves to marry Clayton and work with a foundation instead, then when Clayton appears to be untrustworthy, via the letter, she decides to leave the foundation and all the people she was going to help via it high and dry and is back to Austin again. It's as if all this woman cares about is orgasms with Clayton or whether he chooses her. Because damn, she feels no one has.
Like I said...it doesn't work, there's too many plot holes, and far too much focus on sexy times. Also the characters who have been separated for five years instantly fall back into bed together. No. Too easy. The sex is okay. I got bored fairly quickly.
Also there are a lot of odd and somewhat jarring typographical errors in the Kindle edition...such as the wrong name for one character, (the nurse's name is Maggie and then suddenly it is Cindy), and words left out of dialogue, which may or may not have been deliberate. "Not no lies" - is an example of this. Usually, I hand wave, because people miss things. But these were odd mistakes.
The other book, a graphic novel or a collection of comics in graphic novel format, The Mighty Thor - Vol #1 - Thunder in Her Viens by Jason Aaron was as good as recommended. I picked this one up via cjlasky's recommendation. And he was right, it is good. The story is about Dr. Jane Foster who when Thor disappeared, picked up his hammer to continue his fight...but, it doesn't stop there. Dr. Jane Foster has fourth stage breast cancer and is in her sixth round of chemo, but each time she picks up Thor's hammer, it eradicates the chemo from her system treating it like cancer -- and she is back to ground zero, as if she hadn't had it at all. The Hammer sees the cancer as a part of her -- so it doesn't eradicate that. The comic works as an interesting metaphor on the traumas of breast cancer and living in an increasingly toxic male world. And the protagonists are all women, with the point of view largely split between Jane/Thor (Goddess of Thunder) and Loki (God of Michief) paralleling the two character arcs.
The art is stunning. And does a good job complementing the writing. It never shifts, and it provides depth to the world and characters along the way.
I was rather impressed by this volume, so much so, that I've borrowed others from comixcology, and bought a few on sale. (Comixcology is making it possible for me to afford my comic addiction.)
Right now, I'm reading The Cooking Gene...A Journey Through the Culinary Arts of the Old South which is part memoir, part history lesson. I'd tried it previously and couldn't get into it, but after it was rec'd by Mammacunluna on facebook, I chose to give it another try.
3. Was talking to the co-worker across the aisle about Endgame and the Marvel verse.
She's the one who told me to find mindless fluff to watch last night..I'm not sure General Hospital counts? Maybe it does? The current story line is definitely wackadoodle albeit not as wacky as it's former storylines were. In this one, Franco ( a former serial killer who changed after his brain tumor was removed) got the memories of a Navy Seal (Drew) implanted in his brain, while said Navy Seal (Drew) ended up with the memories of his twin brother the hitman, Jason. So as one fan put it..."OMG, Franco has Drew's memories, while Drew has Jason's memories, and Jason has Drew's face." Sigh. Soaps. Sigh. But oh so much fun. So maybe it does count?
Anyhow..she asked what movies she'd have to watch to be able to follow Endgame. Did she have to see all of them? And I said no.
"You need to watch:
Avengers, Avengers Age of Ultron, Captain America : Winter Solider, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers Infinity War, and Avengers End Game.
While it helps if you see Iron Man and Iron Man II -- it's not absolutely necessary.
You can skip Hulk, Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, Black Panther (although I highly recommend Black Panther -- because it changed action movies), Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Thor films. It may be a good idea to see the first Captain America movie -- just to get some context.
Although Black Widow makes her first appearance in Iron Man, it's not significant. And you can pretty much figure out who Tony is in the Avengers. Same too with Captain America.
If you have too? You could probably skip Age of Ultron -- since Vision and Scarlet Witch are clearly established in Winter Solider and Civil War. "
Today, co-worker told me that she asked her son the same question, and freaked out. If she closed her eyes -- it was if she was hearing my voice. Her son said exactly the same things I did. Then his friend chimed in, and she began to back away slowly.
LOL!
We also had a discussion about liking boy stuff as kids and struggling with Mother's who kept foisting girl stuff on us. Neither of us were into dolls, but got them, because our mothers loved dolls. (I used dolls the way you would use action figures to tell adventure stories...like rescue, swept away, fighting aliens...). I was into climbing trees, swimming and running. Could care less about makeup, fashion, heels, or sewing, gardening, knitting, etc. I'm not domestic in the least. I can't count to save my life -- so really not a good knitter or sewer.
Fascinating comic -- for those who like this sort of thing. A lot of people don't.
ETA: What's weird is the nit-picking against it. Screen rant decided that the retcon didn't work based on a story arc that I honestly don't even remember. I read those comics, but honestly can't remember that story arc at all. Apparently Moira McTaggart contracted the Legacy Virus and died from it, as the first human to contract it. I don't remember that -- but I think it was on purpose -- because it was a badly written arc and offensive. It was Marvel's misguided attempt to examine the AIDs issue, except...the analogy and metaphors didn't work.
Also, when people get nit-picky about continuity or consistent character arcs in soap opera serials, Doctor Who, or X-men comic books -- I tend to laugh at them.
Folks -- you are talking about a series that has a high turn over in writers, no character bible, no plot bible, and they basically are told to write something rather fast and come up with a new story for characters that have been around since 1963. Not only that, but in the case of Who and the X-men, haven't aged. This isn't a genre that you should get nit-picky on canon regarding -- because really there is none. The canon is rebooted and retconned at will. Characters are killed off and brought back with little explanation. And the rules changed continuously. When reading long-running serials or watching them, look at like what-if scenario fanfic.
Or various explorations on character and theme. And worry about the plot/characters working for that specific arc and that writer's arc -- not across the board. It's a comic book, not a Shakespearean Play, although I've read Shakespearean plays in which the plot continuity didn't make a lot of sense -- Hamlet comes to mind.
2. Finished two books..one, sigh, did not work. It was a contemporary romance and honestly, I do not know why I keep trying to read these books -- they always disappoint me. This is why I'm writing my own contemporary romance novel -- which I beginning to hate at the moment, because the dumb thing won't let me go, and I'd much rather continue with my sci-fi novels.
Anyhow...it's called The Tycoon by Molly O'Keefe , part of a series, different writers writing different novels. So clearly they were given template characters to write about, and it shows. Mainly a set-up to write erotic fiction. Although I wouldn't say it was that erotic, boring yes, erotic, no.
The beginning or first 65% of it, was pretty good. I liked the hero, Clayton, quite a bit. He was interesting -- even if he seems a bit contradictory and doesn't make a lot of sense. The heroine on the other hand...worked fine up to a point, until she really didn't and I began to want to smack her upside the head.
But mainly the plot didn't quite work -- nor did the central conflict -- which threw me out of the story. And made me dislike the wrong characters.
The plot doesn't quite work -- in part because the central conflict is rather contrived, and far too much time is spent on sex, and far too little on plot. I hate to say this? But comic books are actually better written than a lot of romance novels -- because they spend a bit more time on character development, plot, and world-building. Granted a comic can get derailed by too much time spent on action sequences. Actually -- rule of thumb? If an action sequence or sex scene (which is basically an action sequence) does not further the characters and/or the plot and theme -- don't do it. We don't need to see it. It's just gratuitous at this point.
We basically have a tale of poor abused boy meets wealthy girl with serious Daddy issues, actually they both have Daddy and Mommy issues -- and he decides he wants Daddy's company, the girl and a piece of land. The land bit is a mystery -- that I figured out early on. Anyhow, his mistake is that he convinces the father to give him everything in exchange for marrying the girl -- because of course Daddy sees his daughter as little more than a commodity. But in reality he loves the daughter and is trying to protect her from all the other would-be suitors Daddy has lined up to do the deed.
Daughter, Veronica, finds out about the marriage contract in worst way possible and jilts him, taking off to Austin. He lets her go and plots to get her back upon her father's timely death. Honestly, I don't know why he didn't do it earlier. Neither does he, apparently it had something to do with wanting to gift her the father's company, and well get that plot of land.
Daddy dies and Clayton (the boy) inherits the company and the homestead/ranch. Veronica gets the plot of land that Clayton wanted. Because Daddy is an ass. Anyhow, Clayton offers to buy the plot of land for twice it's value, and to marry Veronica in exchange for giving her the foundation that was her mother's, and a setting up a trust for her two troublesome (and somewhat whiny) sisters. Veronica after much hemming and hawing caves. Then she discovers the secret about the land, and falls in love with him all over again..only to almost break everything off -- when she discovers that he wrote her brother (who she's not seen in years and barely returns her emails) that he'll give him $2M if the guy stays away from his inheritance, and let's Clayton take care of Veronica and her sisters. Because said brother clearly could care less about them and the inheritance.
I was thrown out of the story at this point -- because honestly why would she be upset that her fiancee paid off her brother to stay out of it? Her brother who has never shown any interest in her or her sisters, and could show up at any time to take his inheritance and leave them penniless, destroying the company and everything else. The writer didn't do a good job of building this. Instead of being angry at Clayton, I wanted to rip Veronica a new one. It didn't work. Also, my take on the brother, Dylan, is Clayton's right he's an entitled ass, with Daddy issues.
The fact that Clayton had the worst parent-child relationship of all concerned doesn't help the plot much. Or that Clayton is the most interesting of the characters. His story is admittedly a tad boiler plate - abused by Dad, scrounging money, Dad broke his bike and killed his Dog...he worked to ensure his father had a home, regardless. But it does make him rather sympathetic. Veronica seems a bit flighty in comparison -- she has a business in Austen, where she's allegedly helping women with their finances -- that she ups and leaves to marry Clayton and work with a foundation instead, then when Clayton appears to be untrustworthy, via the letter, she decides to leave the foundation and all the people she was going to help via it high and dry and is back to Austin again. It's as if all this woman cares about is orgasms with Clayton or whether he chooses her. Because damn, she feels no one has.
Like I said...it doesn't work, there's too many plot holes, and far too much focus on sexy times. Also the characters who have been separated for five years instantly fall back into bed together. No. Too easy. The sex is okay. I got bored fairly quickly.
Also there are a lot of odd and somewhat jarring typographical errors in the Kindle edition...such as the wrong name for one character, (the nurse's name is Maggie and then suddenly it is Cindy), and words left out of dialogue, which may or may not have been deliberate. "Not no lies" - is an example of this. Usually, I hand wave, because people miss things. But these were odd mistakes.
The other book, a graphic novel or a collection of comics in graphic novel format, The Mighty Thor - Vol #1 - Thunder in Her Viens by Jason Aaron was as good as recommended. I picked this one up via cjlasky's recommendation. And he was right, it is good. The story is about Dr. Jane Foster who when Thor disappeared, picked up his hammer to continue his fight...but, it doesn't stop there. Dr. Jane Foster has fourth stage breast cancer and is in her sixth round of chemo, but each time she picks up Thor's hammer, it eradicates the chemo from her system treating it like cancer -- and she is back to ground zero, as if she hadn't had it at all. The Hammer sees the cancer as a part of her -- so it doesn't eradicate that. The comic works as an interesting metaphor on the traumas of breast cancer and living in an increasingly toxic male world. And the protagonists are all women, with the point of view largely split between Jane/Thor (Goddess of Thunder) and Loki (God of Michief) paralleling the two character arcs.
The art is stunning. And does a good job complementing the writing. It never shifts, and it provides depth to the world and characters along the way.
I was rather impressed by this volume, so much so, that I've borrowed others from comixcology, and bought a few on sale. (Comixcology is making it possible for me to afford my comic addiction.)
Right now, I'm reading The Cooking Gene...A Journey Through the Culinary Arts of the Old South which is part memoir, part history lesson. I'd tried it previously and couldn't get into it, but after it was rec'd by Mammacunluna on facebook, I chose to give it another try.
3. Was talking to the co-worker across the aisle about Endgame and the Marvel verse.
She's the one who told me to find mindless fluff to watch last night..I'm not sure General Hospital counts? Maybe it does? The current story line is definitely wackadoodle albeit not as wacky as it's former storylines were. In this one, Franco ( a former serial killer who changed after his brain tumor was removed) got the memories of a Navy Seal (Drew) implanted in his brain, while said Navy Seal (Drew) ended up with the memories of his twin brother the hitman, Jason. So as one fan put it..."OMG, Franco has Drew's memories, while Drew has Jason's memories, and Jason has Drew's face." Sigh. Soaps. Sigh. But oh so much fun. So maybe it does count?
Anyhow..she asked what movies she'd have to watch to be able to follow Endgame. Did she have to see all of them? And I said no.
"You need to watch:
Avengers, Avengers Age of Ultron, Captain America : Winter Solider, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers Infinity War, and Avengers End Game.
While it helps if you see Iron Man and Iron Man II -- it's not absolutely necessary.
You can skip Hulk, Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, Black Panther (although I highly recommend Black Panther -- because it changed action movies), Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Thor films. It may be a good idea to see the first Captain America movie -- just to get some context.
Although Black Widow makes her first appearance in Iron Man, it's not significant. And you can pretty much figure out who Tony is in the Avengers. Same too with Captain America.
If you have too? You could probably skip Age of Ultron -- since Vision and Scarlet Witch are clearly established in Winter Solider and Civil War. "
Today, co-worker told me that she asked her son the same question, and freaked out. If she closed her eyes -- it was if she was hearing my voice. Her son said exactly the same things I did. Then his friend chimed in, and she began to back away slowly.
LOL!
We also had a discussion about liking boy stuff as kids and struggling with Mother's who kept foisting girl stuff on us. Neither of us were into dolls, but got them, because our mothers loved dolls. (I used dolls the way you would use action figures to tell adventure stories...like rescue, swept away, fighting aliens...). I was into climbing trees, swimming and running. Could care less about makeup, fashion, heels, or sewing, gardening, knitting, etc. I'm not domestic in the least. I can't count to save my life -- so really not a good knitter or sewer.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-14 01:25 am (UTC)I was not a tomboy. I was scared of too many things. (Turns out I was just half-blind. 20/200 in my left eye, and I had no depth perception, so playing ball, or jumping into something was scary as shit.)
no subject
Date: 2019-08-14 01:48 am (UTC)Oh, I'm not that much different. I liked to make up stories in my head, and was into books. I ran, swam, and climbed, but that was it.
I can't play ball to save my life, and tend to be very cautious. My mother remembers me touching the grass before stepping on it.
Also no depth perception -- which is one of the reasons why I no longer drive. Scares me. So, yeah, jumping into things scary as shit -- totally relate.
I lived a lot in my head -- safer that way. My brother, on the other hand, was and is fearless.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-14 10:31 am (UTC)