8FOLD/ACRA: Jolt City # 22, "October Surprise!" (Part 1 of 3)

[Andrew Perron]

On 7/21/2014 6:38 PM, Tom Russell wrote:
> On Monday, July 21, 2014 12:20:33 AM UTC-4, Andrew Perron wrote:
<snip>
>> Good scene. It... doesn't have the vague things that were bothering me about
>> characterization in previous issues. `.`v
>
>The scene was at least in part intended as a corrective of that. I thought,
 > I had better write a damn good scene with Bethany, and a damn good scene
 > with Trimmer, so as to shake that "bitchy, insecure" vibe. And then I
 > thought, hey, might as well make it the same scene.

Awesome! It worked well.

>>>      "I said the thing we need to do is get you dating again," says Derek.
>>>      "No," says Martin. "That is not a thing we need to do."
>>
>> Oh god. <3
>
>I want to say that one thing I like about this style of commentary,
 > especially as you practice it, is that you point out the moment that you
 > <3. In some ways I can see my fiction as a collection of moments and beats.
 > This is especially true of JOLT CITY, which isn't as focused on the "plot"
 > (the way, say, that ORPHANS OF MARS can be) but rather on the "texture". So
 > something like this, in which you point out the bits of that texture that
 > work, is tremendously helpful.

Ah! Excellent. <3 I had been rather slacking on direct responses and 
justifying it with reviews, but really, there's room and purpose for both!

>> Derek is great.
>
> I like to think so. :-)
>
 > As you've said before, he's better at thinking his way out of things, and
 > figuring things out, then the actual punching-things/dodging-things part of
 > it. And as he becomes more cognizant-- or, to be more precise, because I
 > think he's already aware of it, rather as he becomes more accepting-- of
 > that fact, we'll see him growing in the direction I hinted at earlier, as a
 > sort of "buffer".

Excellent.

> That is, of course, should he survive the next issue.

DUN DUN DUNNNNN

>> Yeah um, about that - well, I'll save that comment for the resolution of this
>> plotline; see how you handle that. u.uv
>>
>> ...is what I said when I initially read through this. You have calmed my
>> doubts. <3
>
>One advantage to doing this longer-form kind of installments is that I can
 > raise and resolve issues in a single go.

Yeah! <3

> One disadvantage is that you sometimes have to wait a year between installments. :-)

...yeah `-`; Well, you've been doing well lately.

>>>      "A person leaves two trails," says Glass. "There's the trail they
>>> leave by documents. And the trail they leave in people. We've got
>>> plenty of the former, none of the latter."
>>
>> Oooooh, nice point.
>
>I tried to make these kind of procedural elements at least semi-convincing
 > (as much as possible given the genre).

They worked for me!

>>> People complain a lot about alternate timelines being confusing,
>>> but they're really not; anyone who has seen IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE can
>>> get a grasp on them. So I decided I should make them *actually*
>>> confusing. You're welcome.
>>
>> DANGIT TOM *fistshake*
>
>It's wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff. As Dr. Fay mentions later, this might
 > not actually be how time works in the Eightfold Universe (though the big
 > time-tries-to-kill-you thing is a bit of canon I've been meaning to
 > establish for a *very* long time, and one reason why I always tell new
 > writers, "no time travel"-- I was saving it for myself!).

Nice. <3 And that's fair. I can't imagine it being a model that will keep 
working indefinitely.

>>   >     "For my nephew was more than nephew. Having no children of my own,
>>   > truth told, he was more like my son. And only a son will do."
>>
>> Man, this is pretty medieval.
>
>With the whole gangster thing, I was going for a more-- I don't want to say
 > "elevated", because there's quite a bit of cursing; arch? ornate?-- a more
 > ornate approach to the dialogue. Which does give it a medieval sort of vibe.

I was really talking more about the shifting alliances and the bizarre, 
pointless things one does to satisfy the system of "honor" that's all that 
keeps people who are 100% okay with killing in check.

>One thing I talk about a lot when I talk about superheroes is that it's the
 > genre that's really every genre, where you can tell any kind of story, but
 > it's not something a do a whole lot of in practice. That is, I tend to stay
 > within a particular range in my superhero fiction, so doing this bizarre
 > and violent Dick Tracy/Godfather thing was an attempt to do some exploring
 > outside that comfortable range.

Awesome! <3 And I note that, despite how far it went out of that range, it 
never felt out of place in this milieu.

>>   >     "Aw, c'mon, Glass," says Derek. "If I'm going to be murdered, it
>>   > better be by a gorgeous woman. I want to leave this world the way I
>>   > lived in it."
>>   >     "Annoying the opposite sex?"
>>   >     "Exactly."
>>
>> Ahhhhhh, Derek. <3
>
 > One thing I've tried to do in this arc (from #18 on) is basically have
 > Derek be attracted to pretty much every woman he meets. He crushes on Pam,
 > Bethany, Trini Tran, Alix, Dr. Fay, even a girl in his class who is only
 > really mentioned in the context of his crushing. And that's because I
 > wanted to capture what it is to be twenty, single, and beginning to realize
 > that if you put a little bit of effort into it, you can probably get a
 > girlfriend or at least a date. At that time, for some men anyway, it can
 > seem like every woman is a potential partner. The whole world is filled
 > with romantic and erotic possibilities. Whether that's true or not is a
 > whole 'nother thing, but the "feeling" of it is what I wanted to capture.
 > The flip-side to this-- the pitfall-- of course is objectification or
 > misogyny. I tried to avoid that particular vibe by using humor.

I think it's worked well in this issue. In previous ones - it never felt 
objectifying or misogynistic, but sometimes it felt awkward and desperate, 
like, in situations where it wasn't supposed to be (awkward and desperate in 
the appropriate context is of course 100% okay). His egalitarian macking here 
is, I think, a good way to approach it.

>>   >     "Not a guess," says Derek. "You said you were the common enemy of
>>   > mankind. It was a quote. From Gibbon. Describing one of the roman
>>   > emperors. Caracalla. Kara Caller, Caracalla."
>>   >     "Caracalla will do," says she.
>>   >     "It was kind of obvious," says Derek. "Your overdue library book.
>>   > Also, the pun."
>>
>> Heeheehee.
>
>I've been sitting on this moment ever since I wrote the climax to the last
 > one. "The common enemy of mankind" is such a distinctive, and google-able,
 > quote that I was worried when I introduced Kara in this one that everyone
 > would be like, OH, KARA CALLER, COMMON ENEMY OF MANKIND.

I think most of us just thought it was a really good line. <3

>> (I wonder what you were planning before?)
>
>Something pretty similar, with the fear as the trigger, but far less cosmic
 > in scope. But honestly, by the time I had finished writing # 21, Medley # 1
 > had already come out, and I immediately thought, "y'know what, they would
 > work perfectly".

Awesome. Superawesome! <3 <3 <3

> Note that something else from your original story made a sort of sideways appearance here...
>
> He said, ominously.

Hmmmmm. There's two possibilities I can think of...

>> Tom, this is easily the best issue so far, and may, in fact, be the best thing
>> you've ever written. <3
>
>That's very kind; thank you. I wasn't sure about this one-- I felt I had
 > done a really good job with #21, and was worried this wouldn't, or didn't,
 > measure up. Glad to hear at least one opinion to the contrary. :-)

That was good, this is great. <3

>>   > [13] To be technical, a bundle of shingles is one-third of a square,
>>   > and a square is a roofer's measurement equal to one hundred square
>>   > feet. So, three bundles equals a hundred square feet, and a single
>>   > bundle actually works out to be thirty-three and a third.
>>
>> Hmmmm, yes *rubs chin*
>
>One advantage to Derek becoming a contractor is that I can actually draw on
 > knowledge from my working life (in a related field).

Always useful! I mean, there's a reason that Steve Rogers and Kyle Rayner and 
a surprising number of other superheroes have been comic book creators at one 
time or another.

>>   > [15] Wendy's Gourmet Mushroom Swissburger was a limited offer sandwich
>>   > available in America during the autumn of 2008 through early 2009.
>>   > And, I'm not going to lie: I LOVED THAT SANDWICH. It was pretty much
>>   > the best fast food burger I had ever had. At that time, I was eating
>>   > at Wendy's once or twice a week for lunch-- it was close to work-- and
>>   > I had it every time until it was discontinued.
>>
>> Honestly? Me too. I also really liked putting that stuff on the chicken sammiches.
>
> I WISH I HAD THOUGHT OF THAT
>
> ARGH WENDY'S COME ON BRING IT BACK

SRSLYYYYYY

>>   > Ronove (the gangster) is obviously different in many particulars. I
>>   > had considered using Furfur, a goetic demon that "never speaket Truth,
>>   > except he be compelled or brought up within a Triangle". He certainly
>>   > better fits the trickster role than Ronove. But Furfur, besides having
>>   > a silly name, has angel wings and antlers, and for some reason I can't
>>   > not see antlers as inherently ridiculous.
>>
>> I dunno - in your aesthetic, I think the ridiculousness would work.
>
>Well, ridiculousness works in the genre, provided you take it seriously.
 > It's something Kirby did really well, and something I like about the LNH
 > here on RACC. I think I wrote an essay about it a long time back, about how
 > the ridiculous can get you to the sublime.

Ah yes. <3 Love that one.

>But the antlers are just so ridiculous, and so comical for me, that I can't
 > take it seriously long enough to write anything. Like, I would just sit
 > there laughing hysterically the whole time, which wouldn't work for this
 > particular story. Something like Detective 999, for example, okay.

Fascinating! I suppose we all have our own lines to be crossed.

> That said, something antlered is on the way...

Megamoose is finally making her debut? o.o

>> Ooooh! Actually ginger-y ginger ale is something we've actually been
>> taste-testing, among local brands. We'll have to seek that out.
>
>It's worth it, but then again, I like the stuff. The wife had a coworker
 > who came to Michigan from Texas, and he thought we all were trying to
 > poison him. Like I said, acquired taste-- the way that White Castle is an
 > acquired taste.

Sounds fun!

Andrew "NO .SIG MAN" "Juan" Perron, now I forget which one we liked best.