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darklightsworld · 5 years ago

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Okay, so once again a Lanyon book is keeping my mind busy… The fourth book in The Art of Murder series was released a few days ago, I devoured it immediately, and now I’m trying to figure it out while dreading the fact that the final book will take more than a year. Below is a long (I mean loooooong) gushing and rant with spoilers, and it doesn’t really make sense for non-readers, so the J key is your friend. I just want to get this out of my system XD;

I like The Art of Murder series, I like hot-and-cold behavioral analyst Sam Kennedy (45-46) and not-just-a-pretty-face, devoted-to-protect-art Jason West (33-34), I like them together, I like how they try to make their relationship work (when they do), I like how they change. Sure, there are still a lot of reasons for shaking my head, like Jason doing stupid things, being too stubborn and irresponsible, and being really angry with Sam usually makes him pretty blind and prone to more stupid actions. And Sam is just Sam, set in his ways, lone ranger, totally inept at making a relationship work, even fights it with all he has, black and white views, great at his job but unable to understand his and Jason’s feelings in many conflicts and prone to shut off completely. But I love them nonetheless.

Now, how does it look like as a series? The first book, The Mermaid Murders, was amazing! Intriguing crime and mystery, it had to do with Jason’s past, so we got to know him a bit, while Sam was a mystery and generally a difficult guy. Dislike at first sight for both, but they can’t keep their paws off each other, and regardless of how Sam fights it, it does not end in his usually “catch and release”. The way they got closed was fascinating. All round a gripping read from the first pages till the very end.

The second book, The Monet Murders, was equally exciting. Interesting mystery, we learned more about Jason, his work and also his family. The mystery/crime was interesting and complex, and the overarching plots were set in motion. Relationship-wise it was an intense book. The boys had a long-distance phone relationship for eight months (wow 0_0), but Sam decided to end it - without telling Jason about it ^^;;; The boys weren’t together in the first half of the book, but it was still interesting, because regardless of Sam ending it, he couldn’t let go at all, and he’s willing to go at great lengths for Jason - even when he claimed he wanted to break up. He’s reactions are so telling - except for Jason ^^; (Best quote in relation to that: “Dōmo arigatō, Mr. Roboto” XDDD) Extra fun: the story runs parallel to Winter Kill (I still have some grievance about how that book and the Roadside Ripper case was wrapped up - especially because it was important for Sam too)

Third book, The Magician Murders. It was different, but still very good. The murder case of the book wasn’t all that exciting, but the book was more relationship centric. The boys were together a lot, and despite the problems they and their relationship grew a lot, and most importantly we got to know more about Sam, his family, background, motivations and his tragic first love. The overarching stalker plot had important twists and an evil, goose bump-inducing ending. There were two main conflicts: Jason not realizing/admitting, that he’s under shock and his judgment is not the best. The other is that Sam withholds some information and tries to make decisions about Jason without consulting him - which is mostly because he’s aware of Jason’s limited abilities after his trauma, so the main point was that he could not communicate it. I always thought Jason was overreacting to this (”It feels like I don’t know you” - WTF?!), but they resolved it and they came out stronger.

So how was the fourth book, The Monuments Men Murders after these? Interestingly after reading I liked it (although it was clear it was by far not as good as the previous ones), but the more time passed the more confused I was about it. The good: the boys are happily together in the first half of the book, it’s totally loving, nice, Sam is happier, totally deredere, it’s just right - although the sex scene is a major lackluster and only two pages long, which is a huge change from the previous books. Okay, we get cuddles and talking in bed, sleeping together and stuff, but still, it’s not enough. I only realized after skimming through the previous books again, but there are a lot of references to previous things (aside from the outright mentioned first sex and others), like now Sam leaves a note when he goes jogging in the morning, and he also won’t bother trying to wake Jason with knocking, because he’s a deep sleeper. Sam was also once again expecting Jason to call him when he was in a dangerous situation regardless of the catastrophic state of their relationship, and once again he didn’t understand why Jason didn’t want his help XD;;;; They have come a long way... and not XD;;;

The problem even with the happy first half is, that everything is overshadowed by Jason’s idiotic actions, because you know it from the first pages that it will blow up. It’s like watching a train wreck... Jason’s current case implies his grandfather might have had been part of a crime, and instead of pulling out of the case, he takes the morally and ethically wrong choice and investigates himself compromising the case. Tbh this time I could not sympathize with Jason on any level. His reasoning to himself, the way he convinces himself it’s okay what he does, the way he doesn’t see he’s wrong even when it blows up with Sam is irritating, and I have no understanding for him - except for the fact that his judgment might be influenced by the stress from the ongoing stalker issue. But yeah, that would be an exaggerated repetition of the third book’s conflict. All in all this whole thing made me like Jason less, and I kind of hope he gets his ass kicked for everything he has done.

I could totally understand that Sam was very angry and disappointed, and also that he didn’t want to see him for a while (although it was a bit extreme that he questioned the foundations of their relationship - we got a deja vu for the “It feels like I don’t know you“, and it didn’t make more sense this time either). On the other hand what I couldn’t really understand was how Jason assumed Sam was shutting him out and turning his feelings off again when Sam was clearly suffering??? And how he was once again eager to throw the relationship away saying they can’t go on like this - like, heh??? You fucked up, but you’re fed up, when you only gave Sam one-two days to tackle it??? And Sam has to come to you and literally beg you??? The thing is, we already had all this before, and it didn’t make any sense to do it once again. Of course they will be even stronger after another crisis like this, but it was completely unnecessary.

The case itself was also a lackluster. For instance it was just one murder, not murders, and it was very simple, not like the complex (or seemingly complex) cases from before. Sure, the art rescuing tidbits and the Vermeer stuff was interesting, but there should have been much more. Btw, the book was very short, less than 200 pages, so that also explains the simplicity, but it does not make it good. More pages, more complex case. Since the previous books all allowed us to learn more about the boys and their pasts I was expecting the same here, for example many memories about Jason and his grandfather, but we got nothing, and this was a problem with the book too. And speaking of investigation... that was a wreck too. Many important facts were found off screen by JJ, and more often than not Jason was absentminded and preoccupied with clearing his grandfather’s name to really do the investigation (so yeah, Sam was right). Yeah, this whole thing was not necessary, or it would have been better if Jason has a breakdown or something to explain or give it a reason, but in the end his issues aren’t even mentioned in relation to his blowup. It was also a pity/mistake that Sam and Jason did not take part in each others cases in any way, also because Sam wasn’t even there for solving a case...

A pleasant surprise was JJ, though, ongoing asshole since Winter Kill, but here he redeemed himself quite a bit, and it was nice to see the partnership between him and Jason getting better. Unpleasant surprise was one of Sam’s previous “mission only“ bed partners. Yeah, we knew he had many of those and it was unavoidable, but aside from the meeting and talking about it with Sam once it was unnecessary. Jason knows, we know Sam doesn’t care, there was no dangerous development, so further mention was useless.

All in all, while I liked to have more about Sam and Jason, because I love them (I don’t do patreon but I’m considering to pay one month for their extras...), this book was not really necessary for them, and yeah, it could have, should have been much-much better. After reading it I skimmed over the previous three books, and once again I re-confirmed just how amazing they are and re-readable all the time - while I’m less inclined to re-read the fourth one. Now I only hope the final volume will be a good one. No more relationship crisis, and I want to have a solution for the stalker issue, the forgery case (tbh one of these should have been resolved in the fourth book, preferably the forgery one) and a realistic plan for Sam and Jason’s future.

Btw the images are from the sample of the Japanese edition of The Mermaid Murders. First it seemed strange, but it grew on me. I would love to see he other illustrations as well *__*

#m/m novel #long post #rant

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taiblogcomics · 5 years ago

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Red Hood: Outlawed

Hey there, freemium game currency. Well, here we go. We're finally at the big point I was trying to reach in Red Hood. I mean, technically it doesn't kick in until the next issue. But still, here's where it begins.

Here's the cover:

"And my axe!" But in seriousness, if the point of a cover is to sell an issue, then surely this one succeeds. Anyone who knows about the relationship between Jason Todd and Batman is gonna be sold on this. Particularly if you splash "Extra-Sized Anniversary Issue" on it. 25 isn't much of an anniversary, but I guess it counts. As one last note, I like that Jason is the more beat up, despite arguably being the star of the comic~

So last issue, as you may recall, Bizarro got stupid again while Jason shot the Penguin. Batman is pretty pissed about it. But anyway, we open on an artsy shot of Jason as Robin suspended in the water. In case you want to make this first page into a poster on your wall or something. It turns out this is a flashback (of course), where the Batmobile has crashed. Jason wasn't driving, but his radio voice (presumably Alfred) warns him he only has three minutes to get to the surface. Jason, however, stubbornly dives again, cuts Batman out of his seatbelt, and pulls him to the surface. He then performs CPR on Batman, saving his life. This is all meant to be an ironic setup for the rest of the issue. And, let's turn the page and see...

Aww. I was really hoping the very next page would be Jason and Batman in a fistfight, like on the cover. But I guess an "extra-long anniversary issue" has time to actually set up them meeting before the fistfight. Instead, Jason finds himself surrounded by cops. He reaches for his gun, but fortunately doesn't have to shoot a policeman because instead debris from the falling Outlaws HQ takes the man out. The cops, like Chicken Little before them, scatter because an invisible building is falling from the sky.

Meanwhile, inside said building, Artemis and Bizarro are looking for a way out. The building's AI no longer works, because it was directly connected to Bizarro's brain. With his intelligence dropped, so has the artificial intelligence. Bizarro tries apologising for whatever's going on, and Artemis doesn't blame him in the slightest. The pair of them continue to try and escape. Jason climbs a skyscraper and attempts to enter the HQ himself, despite that the cloaking technology keeps flickering in and out. But as he jumps, a rope appears around his leg, yanking him back towards the building. Yep, Batman has shown up. And only three paragraphs in, if you don't count the flashback!

The initial fight is actually very brief. Jason shoots at Batman, which is only going to piss Batman off more. He tries to get Batman to engage in banter, and Batman just kicks him in the face hard enough to break his mask and turn the background white. Batman tells Jason it was a mistake to ever trust him, that their agreement was that he could operate in Gotham if he didn't kill anybody. Batman declares "No more jokes, no more killing, no more Red Hood", and prepares to punch him again. But suddenly Bizarro shows up and whisks Jason away.

Bizarro delivers Jason to Artemis' side as she's trying to find a way to stop the HQ from falling. She does, however, stop a moment to give Jason a look of concern over his face--he's that beaten up. They put that aside for now, though, and begin arguing over how to crash the HQ most safely. Something in their comments gives Bizarro an idea, and he suddenly grabs a big pipeline through the floor and enters the quantum door to someplace. The door is kind of exploding, and Artemis tells Jason she'll be the one to go after him, and when he protests, she gives him a kiss.

Artemis pushes him out of the falling HQ onto a nearby roof. The HQ then explodes, to his horror. He's just lost two of his friends, and Batman is right behind him. With the injuries he's already sustained, Batman knocks him out with one punch. He then adds insult to injury by tearing the Bat logo off Jason's costume. Batman invokes the discussion from the flashback at the beginning of the comic: "If you leave Gotham, it'll be your decision, not mine." He begins hauling Jason off, when suddenly red smoke billows around them and an arrow hits Batman, electrocuting him. Roy fucking Harper, stupid ballcap and all, appears and helps Jason to his feet, saying he's got his buddy.

So, that's the main story. Why is all that worth a "extra-size anniversary issue"? Well, because there's a backup story to all this. Remember that animation or whatever the fuck it was Bizarro was watching in the previous issue? We start with a bit of this. Batman's being beaten by the Joker with a bloody crowbar, when suddenly The Outlaws burst through the wall. Jason uses a rocket launcher and blows up Joker in a surprisingly gory fashion. He helps Batman up, apologising for breaking Batman's "golden rule". Batman says it's okay, the world has enough heroes and sometimes they need outlaws.

This turns out to be a stack of comics that Ma Gunn is reading by the fireplace. Yeah, remember her? We need some closure on her story here. That triple-faced guy Solitary shows up suddenly, and the implication that Ma Gunn refers to him as "Willis" is that he's Jason's father. Ma Gunn then further reveals herself to be Jason's grandmother. She's known that since the very first day he showed up at her door, and has never said anything. Anyway, Solitary's not even really there, he's just checking on her. He disappears like he's been snapped by Thanos, and Ma Gunn says it's fine, she's used to being in the dark. Yeah, she's still shrunken inside a bottle, in case you forgot. And with Bizarro a dummy again, they’ll probably never find her. What a happy ending for her!

So then! This issue. ...Honestly, I’m on Batman’s side. Jason killed a man, and Batman would in no way think that was okay. They made a deal and Jason broke it. That’s really all it boils down to. Don’t kill people! It’s not hard, I’ve gone almost 33 years of life without doing it. Roy showing up at the very end to save Jason was pretty cool, though, and next time we’ll look at the annual that came out after that sets up the part of the story I’m really trying to get to.

The stuff with Solitary being his father and Ma Gunn being his Grandma Gunn seems really convoluted and unnecessary, though. And honestly, in the year since this issue was published (we are still so behind), I’d completely forgotten that little revelation~

#comics #reviews #Red Hood and the Outlaws #Taiblog

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kierongillen · 7 years ago

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Writer Notes: The Wicked + The Divine 33

Spoilers, obv.

I suspect this one may ramble. Or it may not. The odd thing is always when things which have been internally discussed forever end up not needing to be discussed in public. For Journey Into Mystery and Young Avengers, I always had the idea of the essay I'd end them with... but when I got there, I shrugged and did a couple of paragraphs which covered the basics.

(There was a grace note in both, in terms of highlighting a motif – Write Your Own Happy Ending and Be A Superhero. Save The World – but that's really minor detail compared to what I presumed I'd be writing.)

Well... I know it's going to be quite long, as I'm going to include the miniature essay on plot twists I lobbed up to respond to a question, just so I can include some WicDiv specific stuff.

So, WicDiv 33. The “Everything you knew is wrong” issue.

Jamie's Cover

Jamie coloured this himself.

There was a lot of discussion over this, in terms of how to resolve the equation that we'd set up. Where to go after the maximalist nature of Dio's 32? I won't mention the other options, as at least some of them may end up being used down the line. One suggestion I quite liked was doing the equivalent of the ABC Look Of Love album...

...which is this scene of posed romance on the cover, and when you flip the album, you see all the lighting and crew. In some ways, that's what this issue does.

But black makes sense on many levels as well. I suspect the idea of the specific bleakness will confound the expectations a little, but the statement of it is very there. We did say this was our Black Parade too.

Worth noting – first cover without a quote on the back. If we were sure the readers wouldn't have looked at the back cover before reading the book, we may have put Lucifer's “Am I the only one who didn't see that coming?” on there. But we couldn't be sure of that, so we didn't.

Russell's Cover

What Russell and Matt are doing over on Thor is state of the art superheroics. I've loved seeing what Russell's done across his time with Jason, and the idea of him doing a cover was just exciting. It's meant to be the full range of the medium, after all. I was surprised Russell went quite as maximalist as he did, but also pleased. I love this kind of operatic movie poster cover, and it screams Imperial Phase, including all the cast of the main arc. Dio's the hardest one to spot – that would be the black eyes over it.

IFC At this stage in the arc, working out what on earth to put in the synopsis is tricky. You have to throw your hands up to some degree.

The tweaks to the bios are the other thing – clearly we've got to set up the information required to comprehend the issue for those who may have forgotten it, without just saying what the thing is. For the very close readers, even the fact it's changed will be a tell. It was another reason we didn't do a preview for this issue, and even if we did, we wouldn't have released that page. Velocity in reading is key here.

With Woden we restate “She had some mysterious hold over him” rather than specifically talking about the Blakes. With Minerva we remind people that she was tortured on Ananke's machine, and then distract with a :( emoticon.

Page 1

I believe the script for this page and the next is in the trade as “Making Of” material, which is fun. Chrissy tends to choose pages in terms of what's interesting, especially if we have something else to show. In this case, it's my drawing for the design of Woden's Secret Base.

My basic description for this was the Bat Cave, which is a man cave, if you squint. Having an enormous penny in it could have been a giggle. We had to have a few passes to get the lighting right on this – debating the colours on the bars of the cage was also tricky.

In terms of pulling out a detail, the suit of armour missing a head on the right would be a useful one. Balancing the “making sure it's visible” while not leaning too much into “LOOK AT THE HEADLESS SUIT” is Jamie's storytelling problem here.

The main dialogue problem was balancing the level of Cass' response here with her noise at the end of the last issue. Swearing to some degree is fine, but it has to be a specific kind of fffuuuucccckkk last issue. It couldn't be a swear that promised too much.

Page 2

And it's Pink Woden! But he's blue. Lighting, everyone.

Well... There was some debate on the colouring of Pink Woden, in various modes, and various reasons, not least the slight differences in colouring in his previous appearances.

(Issue 14 and issue 21-22, respectively.)

Have I said Pink Woden is my favourite fan name? We use it all the time internally, not least because Mimir is oddly hard to remember. Also, if we get used to saying “Mimir” we may end up saying accidentally in public.

Page 3

I had someone reach out to me wondering whether Cassandra choosing to gender someone by their voice and physical appearance was off. It's something I was thinking of at the time when writing it, and it's not exactly a line I'm happy with. But on balance, I felt it more likely that Cass would say that than Persephone would say anything.

Cass is imperfect in her language in lots of ways. I decided she's more likely to apologise about it down the line and kick herself, which I may end up working in, depending.

(You could also ask “why have anything there?” and that's only answerable in terms of the flow of information and ideas and conversation across the whole scene. Difficult Difficult Lemon Difficult.)

Lovely expression by Persephone in the background of the first panel – in fact, her conflicted expressions throughout. I especially love the reflection of the arriving Woden in the reflection of Mimir's mask in panel 6.

Page 4-5

The challenge here was always choosing where to put the page turns in this issue. What are the big beats. In my original draft the LITTLE WODEN BOY interstitial was actually on page 6, which would change the rhythm in lots of ways – not least in putting the Falling God sequence on a page turn. In the end, we gravitated to this. I'm much happier with it.

(Little Woden Boy works as a creepier punchline at the end as well.)

Anyway, hello! It's David Blake.

I... I maybe should save writing for the reveals all together. In fact, fuck it. Let's drop the ask essay here and we can then talk about the stuff I don't include in it. I'm asked whether you change something when someone guesses something, or how that feels?

****

Oh, god, no. Never change anything if someone’s guessed something. Nothing good lies in that direction.

Why?

Okay, let’s talk – with no specifics – Game of Thrones. If you go into the depths of fandom, Game of Thrones is – to some degree, in some areas – a solved problem. There’s a good selection of fan theories (some of which have come to fruition) which have so much meat on them it was clear they had to happen, or the book would break its structure and become unsatisfying.

These twists are available to anyone who wishes to google for them.

The vast majority of people don’t. So… why change the direction of the story? What’s the point of fucking over the enjoyment of the vast majority of people (i.e. making your story make less sense, as you’re abandoning the already existing thread) for playing gotcha on a tiny fraction of your audience?

(As a quick aside – compare and contrast theorising in a fanbase with actual events in the text that’s being adapted. Clearly, anyone who is watching GoT could have googled the synopsis of the book. Equally, anyone who’s read the books knows the big beats. Does the adaptation change the big beats? If surprise to everyone in your audience is all that mattered, you would. We don’t.)

It’s also worth noting that, while obviously some complain on the nature of the adaptation, most fans of a book generally complain that they wish it was more like the book. In other words, things that surprised them (i.e. differed from their knowledge of the text) were less satisfying. They wanted to see the big dramatic beats, even if they’re stripped of their surprise.

Surprise only matters the first time you read something. For me, any worthwhile piece of literature exists to be reread, and will open up more upon rereading. In other words, knowing the twist should add to the rereading of the book. If it doesn’t, and renders the story less than it was, it’s probably a bad twist – which is one reason why I don’t tend to call them “Plot twists” to myself. I call them reveals. The plot doesn’t contort. It’s merely revealing something in the nature of the world the reader was unaware of.

(As an aside, this means that someone who has guessed successful the direction of the plot is actually effectively skipping to their second read of the book earlier.)

There’s the other side of this as well – not just whether a plot beat has been guessed, but the almost inevitability of a plot beat being guessed. GoT fans have had twenty years to puzzle this out. In that period, a mass communication device emerged which allowed fans to talk to one another and share ideas. This machine would have torn apart any plot.

No one individual needs to guess anything. People can make one step in a chain, and then that step is exposed to thousands of minds. If even one of them can make the intuitive leap to the next step, then it continues. No one person needs to be clever enough to see the whole thing. The internet hivemind is Miss Marple, seeing through the most contorted of machinations.

(In passing, this is one reason why Alternate Reality Games are hard to do, because the mass hive mind will figure almost anything out, almost instantly. Equally in passing, the failure to understand this is another reason why Ready Player One is bad, but that’s irrelevant.)

In other words, the reason why twists are guessable is the same reason they are satisfying. A twist that isn’t foreshadowed sufficiently to give the possibility of being guessed by someone is not a satisfying twist, as it – by definition – came out of nowhere.

To make this specific to my own work. In the case of the biggest and most intricate of my current books, WicDiv, we sell about 18k in monthlies and sell 18k in trades (in the first month of release). That’s our hardcore devoted readership. How many people of them actually read the essays in the WicDiv tags? I’d say 500 at the absolute maximum, and likely a lot less. So for a maximum of 1.3% of our readership, we’d derail a still effective twist for everyone else? No, that would be a bad call.

Especially – and this is key – the people who have chosen to engage with a fandom are aware that they may figure something out. They are trying to figure something out. Why take that pleasure away from them?

In a real way, I think, in long-form narrative, pure plot twists which no one in the world guesses are dead in the Internet age, at least when dealing with any even vaguely popular work of art. You can do them in short-form narratives (like a single novel, a single movie and perhaps a streaming TV show they drop in one go) but for anything where you give a fanbase the chance to think, it’s just not going to happen. A creator should be glad their work is popular enough to have enough fans to figure it out.

Yes, I may have overthought this.

But that’s only half the question.

How do I actually feel when someone guesses something that’s going to happen? Well, this is long enough already. Let’s put the personal stuff beneath a cut…

I’d say you sigh “Oh, poop”and shrug.

And then you get over your ass, because you know all the above is true. Writers are often megalomaniacs who think they can control everyone’s response to their work. We don’t. We can’t control everything. We can barely control anything. We really have to let go. I’ve said WicDiv is a device to help me improve as a person, yes? It would include in this area. I have to learn to let it go, and internalise all of the above. If I can make most of my readership have the vague emotional response I’m looking for, I’m winning.

I’ve mostly succeeded at this. I’m certainly better than I was two years ago.

(I’ll probably write more about spoilers and twists and stuff down the line. I’d note that setting up twists that *are* easily guessable by the hardcore is part of the methodology. Having a nice big twist foreshadowed heavily is a good way to hide another twist behind it. “Hey – pay attention to this less subtle sleight of hand while I perform the actual sleight of hand over here.” In which case, there’s less of an Oh Poop response and more of a cackling evil mastermind response.)

The sigh can occasionally be accompanied with a “Hmm. I wouldn’t have posted that” or – more likely – “I wouldn’t have posted that THERE.”

To stress, what follows isn’t about my work per se, but culture generally, and is very much personal. This is stuff which good friends disagree with me on.

As a fan, I never tweet my own fan theories. I only tweet joke ones. Even my crack theories I don’t tweet, as they’re normally so bizarre that if they actually DO happen, I wouldn’t want to take the thrill away from people. Even in person in conversation I make sure we’re going into a deep fan hole before sharing them, aware that they may be true.

In a real way, the more likely I think something is true, the less likely I’ll say it. As this is my job, I tend to see basic structural ways stories are heading way in advance of most people. I’m a composer. I know how music works. You have a vague sense of what way they’ll go.

(One day I’ll write down my crack theory for the end of the previous Game of Thrones season. Maybe after next season, as it’s not impossible that they may end up doing it, though it’s increasingly unlikely.)

If I had a really good theory I’ve gathered evidence for? You can guarantee I’d put it beneath a cut. That’s the stuff which bemuses me. It’s a cousin of posting major spoilers about any piece of culture the day it comes out. The worst is one regular twitter trope – I’m always bemused when people do a “Calling it! XYZ will happen” tweet. Which strikes me a little like standing up in the cinema 20 minutes into a film and shouting out that you’ve guessed the ending. This ties back to the stuff I wrote above about twists being less effective in the modern age, except in a place where you can control the context and conversation. People may message in movies, but they rarely message everyone in the room.

(In passing, as it’s vaguely on topic – you may remember the research from a few years ago saying people who know a twist enjoy the story more than people who don’t know a twist. Even if this is true – and a single study should always get an eyebrow raise – it strikes me as a confusion over what “enjoy” means. All pleasure isn’t equivalent, and you can only have surprise on your first time through a work of art. That’s novelty. You can have that and then gain the “not surprise” experience second time through. If you spoil a work, it means the “novelty” experience is something you will never have. You may enjoy something more if you know the twist but you can always rewatch it to get that pleasure. If you’re spoiled, the individual specific pleasure of that first watch has been stolen.)

But that’s a conversation of social mores. Really, it doesn’t change anything in terms of how we act… and sometimes, I even grin when someone gets a twist in advance. The machine is working as intended. It’s actually kind of worrying if no one is thinking something is up in an area you’ve set up to be iffy. And… the alternative is worse – hell, there’s buried twists and details in Young Avengers that no one’s managed to figure out yet.

Twist ending: oh, no, I was a ghost all along.

****

I'm pretty sure the asker was asking about the Woden/Blake/Jon twist, and I'm primarily talking in terms of balancing the various needs of the group.

The problem with this twist was less making sure that people didn't get it, but making sure that everyone understood its import. If, hypothetically, I didn't want (barely) anyone to get it, we wouldn't have mentioned Jon after we introduced him in issue 6. Problem being, everyone needs to know Jon is a person who is Blake's kid when they hit this beat. My solution was to just reintroduce Jon hard, and resolve it, knowing that most people would just accept that. Then everyone knows who Jon is, so the father/son switch makes sense.

(In other words, far better some people suspect Woden is Blake rather than everyone going “Jon who?” Especially because the real horror of the Woden/Blake reveal is in its details.)

There's the other aspect to it as well – it's the sacrificial decoy aspect that I mentioned above. Even if guessed, it's a big enough twist to distract people. I reveal this at the start of the issue, so people will probably suspect that's enough big reveals for the issue. Yet no.

(See also: issue 11's dual deaths)

In reality, I was much more worried about the relatively small leap from realising Woden Is Blake And Jon Is Pink Woden to Mimir Is A Head.

But more on that later, I suspect.

Anyway! Storytelling!

There is something incredibly instantly disturbing about Blake without the helmet on, right?

Persephone's line was tweaked a bunch. I cut it as far as I could while still existing. It's a tiny moment of Rising Action, immediately squashed.

The switch to green as the cage goes to full power, plus Matt Wilson's wonderful pixel effects.

Love the Tron-eque light-bike trails seguing into flashback...

Page 6-7

The first date is just before Ragnarock 2013, where we first saw Jon on the stage in Laura's Flashback in issue 6.

This is a “Performance” by Jon, so is presented as such, in the same manner of Persephone's performance in issue 20. Jamie's integrated circuitry design is great, and allows us to go to a limited palette. 8 panel, 8-bit glory.

And Jon Blake.

You write and discover the characters. Jon has barely been in the book – he has a couple of lines of dialogue in issue 14, and that's it. I always knew why Ananke rejects him as unsuitable, but specifically how that would be articulated was something I thought I'd discover on the page. Writing a new character this far into the book is the sort of thing which keeps it interesting.

I was worried it would be hard, or shallow, as surely all the relevant little bits of me are already taken with the rest of the cast? Within a couple of sentences of typing, I knew I had completely forgotten one Gillen archetype.

I realised Jon was a heroic take on Lloyd/Mr Logos.

I laughed. Of course. Perfect.

The 11 days later says so much about how intricate the timeline is around here. It's the day before Baal and Sakhmet made their public debut.

The “She's a fucking weirdo/language” panel is a joy.

Yeah, Ananke really does like hanging around in people's gardens.

I specifically called for Ananke to be in an outfit from a previous God-creation sequence...

Page 8-9

...so Jamie could reuse the masks and only draw Jon transforming, and pull an extra page out of the budget.

The most embarrassing bit here is that I wrote this from my memory of Mimir's legends in the early drafts, and only remembered to actually check my notes at lettering. In fact, I'd got a couple of minor details of Mimir wrong.

(Or rather, didn't grasp the complexities of Mimir – it's very hard to get a take on Mimir, because the main myths we have of him are contradictory.)

Page 10-11

Man, I want to go to Mimir's club night.

In my original draft I wrote it as Jon cutting off Ananke's “Mimir” so that the god name wasn't revealed until the last page of this whole section. As in, it would stop people putting the book down, googling “Mimir”, realising “Heads” and then possibly seeing where we were going at the end of the issue.

I decided against it, in that's only going to be a tiny fraction of readers. If people want to break the flow of their reading to look up facts, I can't control that. Even then, I also knew it would be far from certain that just because they realised Mimir is a head, that they'd then realise others could be a head before the end of the comic.

And NOT including Mimir breaks the flow for everyone else, and is a bit cheap. Better than that.

That knife gets around.

Page 12

First panel: I never get bored of modern blur photoshop to show this kind of effect.

PoV shots are something I adore in comics. The six-panel grid gives it lots of space as well.

Honestly, that last panel with Mimir's own reflection is the creepiest thing in the world, and I love it.

Page 13

Yeah, I'm much happier with the interstitial here. Horrible.

(To state the obvious: Pinocchio reference.)

Page 14-15

I just imagine the tension in this room. Ugh.

I originally had a bunch more written for Woden here, but cut it. It was much better in the silent. He may say some of it down the line, but cutting it right to the basics – the particularly creepy basics – seemed key.

We went with a normal gun. Normal guns were at the start of the story, and have sort of disappeared. Once more we return.

Lots to unpick in all this dialogue, so won't give anything else. I'll say the whole exchange about the machine was as finely picked over to imply the meaning as much as anything else in the book – that's the thing about comics. The flowery fancy stuff? That's great and fun. But the real job is the compressing of precise exact detail, especially in a book which is nothing but precise detail.

I was chatting to Jamie about issue 34 earlier, and Jamie said how much he likes drawing Mimir's helmet. Looking at page 15 makes me see it – the second and fourth panels are just excellent in completely different ways.

Page 16-17-18

Jamie chose the steady angle, I believe, with a background drop, and Matt working the colours to show the emotions.

First panel is where the last of the fun drips out of Cassandra's expletives, and we're just left with something that's really just offensive and ugly. If there's any point where the issue reaches the black cover, it'd be this sequence.

I'm glad they've got here though.

Clearly, this is a Jamie masterclass. Pick it apart, learn. delight. Like – penultimate panel on page 16. The pause, the glance aside. Perfect. Look across page 17. There's a mixture of emotion and sheer dullness and boredom and fear, and how it all pushes and pulls again.

(“And I got it” is something else)

I believe I've said WicDiv contains a recapitulation of basically everything I've ever done as a creator. Mainly the Jamie and me stuff, but basically everything. I realised Laura's arc on Imperial Phase is me reprising what I did in Generation Hope – probably one of my least remembered things, which strikes me as fair – it only landed properly as we inched towards the end of the year. The plot was basically “Is Hope Good Or Bad?” when the answer was “Her Dad died a few days before the issue started. She's fucked up.” Only in mainstream death-happy superhero comics would that work as a twist. This was a bit like that – we distance the reader from Persephone and just show the actions and see what you make of it.

“Try to be kind. You have no idea what people are going through.”

That was the stuff I'd had planned from the start, but it only got more specific as I got nearer it and WicDiv became what it was. I've talked about having mixed feelings about WicDiv's success. Laura's arc is it writ large. I hate that the definitive work of my career is this. If my Dad was not dead I would not have written this book. There is a guilt and anger that is hard to articulate directly there, and is the material I was mining for this.

On a boring technical level, we did a lot of work with Cass explicitly saying facts to ensure that no one in the readership thinks Laura is confessing to killing her family. In an issue as twisty as this, I suspect some people would have.

(The second panel on page 17 is another one – tall enough to have a bunch of half ideas.)

And Laura, after making a breakthrough, immediately crumbles to another mistake.

The “Laura” line is a nod to the song, and one of the lines in the original WicDiv document sheet.

Page 19

I was going to tweak Cass' line – in some myths he's a giant – but that she's musing gives her a little freedom to dance around what we know.

You know, I suspect one reason why Mimir was never brought up as an option connected to Woden is that he's one of the very few Norse myths who've never appeared in a Marvel superhero comic. Or at least I don't think he has.

Normally we'd put something as big as the head remove on a page turn, but it's a physically small beat, so not something you will automatically recognise out the corner of your eye when you're reading.

I love Cass' thinking face in the penultimate panel. Thinkythinkythinky.

Two major beats happening on this page, of course – it appears Mimir is a head (or a robot head, perhaps?) and Mimir thinks the machine does nothing.

And then we hard-cut to what we do, but it's worth dwelling on this a little. When thinking of plot structure, I talk about a few ways to disguise twists. Earlier, I mentioned a Big Twist can make people suspect the twists are over. This is something I tend to think of as a revealed move. As in, you create a machine of logic with a missing part. You add the missing part as late as possible, and then immediately move to what has been concealed before the audience is able to process the new information.

Hence two beats and a hard-cut...

Page 20-21-22-23

Anyway – this clearly had to be a page turn. To state the obvious.

Steady angle shot here, to have the awfulness of it there. I suspect if I’d had space I'd have had the last panel on page 19 be a third of a page, so the two removed heads could mirror one another.

As a minor detail, Minerva's running feet in the second panel of 20 are really good.

Minerva's gesture on page 21.2 is a joy. I know that feeling, Mini.

I really wanted Inanna to be talking from off panel on page 21, but that definitely would give the game away. The problem with distinctive fonts...

And 22 is the reveal on the heads. Probably best not to say much more about this, as I suspect any of the design elements will intersect with what happens in issue 34, so I'll talk a bit about it then.

Tara and Inanna's expressions really are wonderful.

Luci's line came surprisingly late. The “Talking Heads” interstitial came early. The only reason I wasn't going to use it here was in case I wanted to use it later. I decided I didn't.

Okay... twists.

In reality, for me, it's a case of once you've decided that this is the plot, the only way to do it is dovetail towards an issue like this. Any of these individual beats provide too much connective tissue to the other ones, meaning all must be revealed or none.

(You could argue about Minerva, I suspect. Maybe.)

It's been strange writing a book like this – when so much is there early on. Seeing who got what and who didn't, and how people reinforced people has been interesting. That the core WicDiv tumblr community has never really suspected Minerva was off is in some way a surprise – though I've had people talk about that directly and personally. Blake/Jon and Minerva-is-Off-In-Some-Way were the two twists I would guard, but their primary importance was in how they led to the Heads.

When Ray Fawkes told me “There's a reason you're doing all the decapitations, right?” circa issue 2, I suspected that I'd overplayed the hand by having a literal talking head in issue 3... but it turned out fine.

“Played the hand” is interesting phrasing, and telling. Writing something as intricate as this is like doing a slow-motion card trick, in public, constantly. It is a form of constant stress. I have been paranoid of fucking it up in stupid ways, and it's impacted every single conversation I've ever had about WicDiv. Like just writing one name when I mean another or something. There was a hilarious panic when I added ‘Killer Queen’ to the playlist, just thinking of it as a quite funny Ananke song... and then realised there was only one character in the cast with a connection to the band Queen, and that was Minerva. Should I take it off the playlist? No, someone may notice that, and it's against my rules anyway. I quickly added a few other things to camouflage it.

As if anyone is watching that closely, y'know?

That's an extreme example, but an entirely characteristic one. I have lost sleep over it. Even a year ago, I wished I could just get to 33 and not worry about it. When 33 dropped, it was simultaneously excellent (the response was basically what we expected) and an anticlimax (The amount of emotional and intellectual effort you put into doing this is not worth it. It could never be worth it.) I've been telling friends that I'll never write a story that operates like this again. Partially that is because I wouldn't want to repeat myself, and partially because – as I said above – I think twists are less effective in long-form serialised work in 2017, but mainly as I don't think I want to do this to myself again. I'll find some other way to torture myself.

(Spangly New Thing certainly abandons the Scorpion's-Tale narrative model in favour of an intricate character clock of woe.)

Actually, talking playlists... I have prepared something. There's a secondary WicDiv playlist which I've been using since July for songs which speak to the end of year three and the remainder of year four. I didn't want to add these songs to the main playlist in case a particularly determined WicDiv fan worked out issue 33 from them. This says a lot about the high levels of anxiety I've been running on for the last few years on this topic. It would be terrible to blow it in such a dumb way. Now, those reading in issues know secrets the trade readers don't. So it's going to be an interesting few months.

Here's the playlist. Keep it mum. I'll add it to the main list when the trade's out. Don't shoot me for the first track.

You may have seen us trying to prod people to reread WicDiv before 33. This was partially in response to a friend who read 33 before it came out who said – I paraphrase – “I wish I could tell people to reread the series now, because after they read 33, those issues are gone, forever.” She's right – it's a pure ‘everything changes’ issue, and you can't reread the comic earlier, because everything has transmuted beneath your fingers.

Which is by our design, but is still a grim thing to think about. We've destroyed all those issues on the shelves, and replaced them with a new story. On the bright side, we've given you 35 free comics. I suspect this returns to Jamie’s and my twitchiness over comic prices, and trying to make ours better value, every way we can. In this case, we want to make rereading valuable and exciting.

SIGH! This has been a journey, friends. I'm glad I no longer have to think about any of the above. There's huge stuff coming in the final year, but it's got entirely its own character and momentum. The cards we're playing with have fundamentally changed. There's so much stuff to come, but it builds from this.

Oh – I'm sort of regretting mentioning the thing about the third theme in the backmatter, as it's clearly the sort of thing that's going to drive a certain strata of reader to distraction – especially as if there's any number of other themes in the book. The one I was thinking intersects a little with pre-existing major themes, and speaks to the particular spin on them. We'll get to it eventually. Don't worry.

Anyway, to sum it all up, clearly with four talking heads, WicDiv is four times as good as Sandman. That is a FACT.

Christmas Special shortly, the trade collection in January, the 1923 Special in February and we're back with issue 34 in March, with the new arc.

Thanks for reading.

#WicDiv #The `wicked and the divine #Writer Notes

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quiddity-jones · 7 years ago

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Simbollocks makes it to the present!

simbollocks replied to your photoset “Codex Files, Issue #38, part 2 Ah well. There we go. Ice-cold showers...”

This is till the most glorious NSFW I have ever read lol.. the text effects are just golden lol

*Ahem* well....Archimedes has a very vivid imagination. Especially for topics that fascinate him.

simbollocks replied to your photoset “Codex Files, Issue #37, part 3 Well, the fact she didn’t just belt him...”

I like how they seemed to be sitting closer from the get go of this scene... it's like they are gravitating to each other....

Oh, really? I never noticed. Nope. Not. At. All.

simbollocks replied to your photoset “Codex Files, Issue #34, part 3 Poor Archimedes. For some reason he can...”

He's so precious!! And perfectly awkward!

He is endearingly awkward at times. Comes from too many feelings being too tightly gripped at times.

simbollocks replied to your photoset “Codex Files, Issue #34, part 1 I guess the only way is up from here....”

LMAOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Bloody knuckle-dragging, jumped up, little tosspot!!!!!!!!! How can she be with anyone other than him! Jason is sweet, but I like more complex minds like Archi's that struggle with this type of stuff... and are highly intelligent and witty...

Oh, Jason’s quite complex; just in a different fashion from Archimedes. Jason is smart and cunning; Archimedes is intellectual and precise. Both men can be quite ruthless...

simbollocks replied to your photoset “Codex Files, Issue #33, part 3 And now we get a glimpse at part of...”

Wow... heartbreaking. Poor Poppy.. It's amazing she is actually is as NORMAL as she is..

Poppy has a lot of her own issues. She’s living for revenge and as such has given up her own life. She’s ‘made two graves’ and is living for a single moment where she takes out her target. She’s a bit like Batman and Punisher, but more petite and with tits.

She’s socially pleasant but really tries not to let people get too close to her. Of course, it’s patently obvious this game plan of her is bound to go sideways at some point...

simbollocks replied to your photoset “Codex Files, Issue #32, part 4 Oh dear. Looks like Poppy has her...”

Yes! RUN! Go to the snarky nerd!

You should have seen the reblog @maladi777 did where she photo-shopped Cthulhu’s head on Jason as he chased her down the stairs. XD

simbollocks replied to your photoset “Codex Files, Issue #31, part 1 **Warning. This Comic will be using...”

You better not let anything happen to Andee.. I would really cry! God, I love her so much lol I think she's my favorite female character like ever!

Andee’s okay for the most part this chapter. She’s mostly anxious about Honey, but she’s running the the background a bit more this chapter.

simbollocks replied to your photoset “Codex Files, Issue #30, part 2 **Warning. This Comic will be using...”

I do not approve of this union!!!!

I hate to break it to you, but there is actually a #Team Jason and they’re pretty happy....

simbollocks replied to your photoset “Codex Files, Issue #30, part 1 **Warning. This Comic will be using...”

A nerd with a dark past... Archi just got exponentially hotter to me...

It’s hilarious how much of a similar reaction there was to the news that Archimedes was once a dark adept...Even though I’ve foreshadowed it in several places. I guess his tendency to wear tweed and button-ups threw people off the scent.

simbollocks replied to your photoset “Codex Files, Issue #29, A Case of Reflection **Warning. This Comic...”

I just want to hug Andee.. and I don't hug people.. unless they came from my body..

Ah, yes. That was one of Andee’s more poignant moments. I think most people missed that behind freaking out about Honey glowing in that last panel.

Andee’s remarkably simple on one hand but complex on another. I keep thinking she’ll get lost behind all the mating games going off; but I forget her personality is pretty interesting and she speaks her mind in such a pure way.

#simbollocks #replies #Codex Files #ALL caught up now #Guess I'd better get on with the next issue...

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apsbicepstraining · 7 years ago

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FA Cup: talking details from the fifth-round pairs

Willy Caballero is too much of increased risk for Manchester City to play in Capital One Cup final Watford may lastly be persuaded to domain full-strength side in last eight and Nabil Bentalebs Tottenham season may now be all but over

1) Citys Caballero is too big a risk for bowl final

With all the focus on Manuel Pellegrinis team selection, the post-match reaction to the heaviest defeat in Manchester Citys Abu Dhabi era largely overlooked the facts of the case that some of the least impressive achievements came from their elderly participates. Martin Demichelis was once a centre-half of high reputation but those periods have legislated now and there is also strong evidence that Pablo Zabaleta, the outstanding right-back in the Premier League a few years ago, is in decline. More than anyone, though, Willy Caballero ever devotes Citys opponents the sense that Pellegrinis team might be susceptible. A City game never looks like it is going to be a stress-free moment when Caballero is choose ahead of Joe Hart and it is essential slightly embarrassing for the clubs partisans that Pellegrini says he will persist with the former Malaga goalkeeper in the Capital One Cup final against Liverpool on Sunday. Caballero saved Oscars penalty but it is beginning to feel like a stunt of the imagination that the Argentinian was signed to give Hart genuine competition. The final is Citys most realistic possibility of silverware and it would be a needless hazard on the part of Pellegrini to start with him at Wembley. Or, to throw it another way, it is fair to say Liverpools boosters will be desperately hoping Pellegrini keeps to his message. Daniel Taylor

FA Cup quarter-final describe: Chelsea face difficult journey to Everton Fabregas bewilders Manchester City in fluent Chelsea rendition Match report: Chelsea 5-1 Manchester City

2) Bentaleb: undroppable in FA Cup, unpickable in league

Nabil Bentaleb has fad an intriguing situation in Tottenhams squad. The Algerian started 25 tournament tournaments last-place season and was involved in the firstly four members of this campaign, but since then he has formed one fleeting replace form in that challenger plus one replace appearance in the Europa League. In Tottenhams 33 accords in those two rivals and the Capital One Cup compounded a total of 2,970 recreation times, plus stoppage epoch Bentaleb has played 216, or 7.3%, all but 50 of them in August. In the FA Cup, though, he is considered undroppable. This was the third subsequent Cup game which he has started and finished. Of the 360 minutes Spurs have played in the rival( plus stoppages ), he has been on the field for 292, or 81.1%. To be fair, an ankle ligament hurt symbolized Bentaleb was unavailable for collection for a couple of months, but since his return to fitness he has been in the Premier League matchday squad on six reasons, kicking his ends in the stands on five, and actually used for only two minutes, against Palace last month. Quite what realizes his recreation uniquely suitable for the FA Cup remains unknown but Sundays ensue leaves him in a bit of a pickle, as an FA Cup specialist without an FA Cup to play in. Perhaps his conduct in midfield, which was surefooted without being outstanding and allowed Eric Dier to drop into the back four while Toby Alderweireld was rested, might support Mauricio Pochettino to give him a chance during Tottenhams assault on the Premier League title. Neglecting that, theres ever next year. Simon Burnton

Match report: Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Crystal Palace

3) Preserving Payet at West Ham may be difficult

Dimitri Payet recently signed a brand-new contract at West Ham United, importance around PS125, 000 a week, that runs until 2021. Given the Frenchmans dazzling exhibitions, which continued with two goals in Sundays 5-1 hide of Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup, this is particularly astute business from the Boleyn Ground executive. After the fifth-round relationship at Ewood Park Slaven Bilic, the manager, alleged Payet is in the same class as Luka Modric, who he coached when in charge of Croatia. Payet will be 29 next month. This summer is his now-or-never instant to make a move to an nobility Champions League-level club. If he is still at West Ham by 1 September that will be even better business from the association hierarchy. And it will also be considered a sizeable astound. Jamie Jackson

Match report: Blackburn 1-5 West Ham

Blackburns Jason Steele dives in vain as Dimitri Payet tallies West Hams second aim. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/ Getty Images

4) Replays are part of a dispute football needs to have

When the great replay debate came into focus at the end of Arsenals goalless draw with Hull, Steve Bruce made a point that messed with all the old stereotypes about a smaller organization going heavyweight rivals back to their plaza. He was entertaining the notion of get instantly to a penalty shootout after the first pair, and whether it might contribute some feeling to the FA Cup if activities such as Saturdays when Hulls effective rearguard war negated Arsenal, exited straight-from-the-shoulder to the roulette of spot-kicks. Then he said the most interesting thing of all: It would grant us a better likelihood. For a director of Bruces experience, and FA Cup background, to come to that resolution surely adds to the discussions of determining whether, and how, to reshape the rivalry. He calculated his crew would have a better chance of drumming Arsenal in fines and penalties shootout after a unyielding away concert than back at the KC Stadium over another 90( or perhaps 120) hours. Bruces overall controversy is footballs planning has changed sufficiently that squidging in replays doesnt genuinely fit with the modern tournament. It is a dialogue about the FA Cup that does need to be had properly. Amy Lawrence

Suarez adds vertigo to push Barcelona towards brand-new heights Match report: Arsenal 0-0 Hull City

5) When will Watford play a full-strength surface?

So far in the Cup this season Watford have rested a number of actors and Quique Sanchez Flores stimulated six a modification to his side for the 1-0 succes over Leeds. It was position done as much as is Flores was pertained , not a classic play but one that Watford never looked like losing. Odion Ighalo started on the bench, with Troy Deeney playing behind Nordin Amrabat in attack, but with Watford in the quarter-finals and with their Premier League refuge ensure, surely Flores will pick a stronger slope in the past eight. They are now one play from Wembley and have a realistic likelihood of challenging for the Cup. What I like is the flavor I have in the crew, they are calm and positive, replied Flores after the win, when asked to comment on his squad rotation. He may be tempted to modify such an approach in the next round. James Riach

Match report: Watford 1-0 Leeds United

Odion Ighalo started the equal on Watfords bench. Photograph: BPI/ Rex/ Shutterstock

6) Hector a real ability, whether or not Chelsea realise it

Outstanding during a Reading win over West Brom that was overshadowed by the throwing of a coin at Chris Brunt after the game, Michael Hector could be forgiven for being peeved his outstanding contribution to the Championship sides success was overlooked because of some numpty with 50 p too much in his pocket and some serious matter. Signed by Chelsea last September and immediately loaned back to Reading, the languid centre-half has been rewired as a center midfielder since his big break. As one of 33 actors on loan from the Premier League association, whether he will ever feature in the champs first team remains to be determined. I spoke to Michael about playing that persona and said to him if you can develop another fibre to your bow and play in that hampering midfield persona, he can play in the position for Chelsea, said here Reading manager, Brian McDermott, of Hectors superb concert in the centre of the field. I spoke to Chelsea about Michael playing in that persona and they were happy for him to do that. He can play centre-half, he can play hampering midfielder and I thought he was fabulous today. Hes been on loan everywhere a lot of places. He hadnt been playing in the team, but we changed the organizations of the system and hes been superb in discipline. Hector has been on loan at Bracknell Town, Didcot Town, Havant& Waterlooville, Oxford City, Horsham, Dundalk, Barnet, Shrewsbury Town, Aldershot Town, Cheltenham Town, Aberdeen, Reading. Thats 12 sororities. He is 23. Barry Glendenning

Brunt encounters West Brom devotees after being hit by silver at Reading Match report: Reading 3-1 West Brom

7) Iturbe may have shaped Bournemouths effort worthwhile

Eddie Howe will not lose too much sleep about Bournemouths exit from the FA Cup. Seven changes from the Premier League relegation battlers last-place pick added enough and, even if they played well enough to have got something out of video games on another daylight, his post-match observation that they had not lost any points represented the statement in replica. Yet Howe also interpreted he wanted to keep participates match-sharp for their next dozen games and it especially pleased him to visualize Juan Iturbe put in the most productive rendition of his four to appointment. There is little doubting the Roma loanees caliber but his adaptation was never likely to be instant; slew of encouragement could be taken then from his tracking-back to deprive first Bryan Oviedo and then Ross Barkley early on, and some incisive raids from the right flank were a characteristic of the home line-ups first-half accomplishment. I thought he did really well in the first half, Howe articulated. He was a big player for us with his ability to drive with the projectile and counterattack. He carried security threats and it was his best accomplishment for us. He tired a little bit in the second half but overall Im very happy with him. Hes improving all the time; I only realise positive things in the prospects for Juan. Iturbe may not add greatly to Saturdays 71 instants when Bournemouth see Watford this weekend but on this evidence he will soon be are available to make an impact in the tournament. Nick Ames

Match report: Bournemouth 0-2 Everton Premier League: fans decisions on the PS8bn battle for survival

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apsbicepstraining · 7 years ago

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FA Cup: talking details from the fifth-round pairs

1) Citys Caballero is too big a risk for bowl final

FA Cup quarter-final describe: Chelsea face difficult journey to Everton Fabregas bewilders Manchester City in fluent Chelsea rendition Match report: Chelsea 5-1 Manchester City

2) Bentaleb: undroppable in FA Cup, unpickable in league

Match report: Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Crystal Palace

3) Preserving Payet at West Ham may be difficult

Match report: Blackburn 1-5 West Ham

Blackburns Jason Steele dives in vain as Dimitri Payet tallies West Hams second aim. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/ Getty Images

4) Replays are part of a dispute football needs to have

Suarez adds vertigo to push Barcelona towards brand-new heights Match report: Arsenal 0-0 Hull City

5) When will Watford play a full-strength surface?

Match report: Watford 1-0 Leeds United

Odion Ighalo started the equal on Watfords bench. Photograph: BPI/ Rex/ Shutterstock

6) Hector a real ability, whether or not Chelsea realise it

Brunt encounters West Brom devotees after being hit by silver at Reading Match report: Reading 3-1 West Brom

7) Iturbe may have shaped Bournemouths effort worthwhile

Match report: Bournemouth 0-2 Everton Premier League: fans decisions on the PS8bn battle for survival

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apsbicepstraining · 7 years ago

Text

FA Cup: talking details from the fifth-round pairs

1) Citys Caballero is too big a risk for bowl final

FA Cup quarter-final describe: Chelsea face difficult journey to Everton Fabregas bewilders Manchester City in fluent Chelsea rendition Match report: Chelsea 5-1 Manchester City

2) Bentaleb: undroppable in FA Cup, unpickable in league

Match report: Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Crystal Palace

3) Preserving Payet at West Ham may be difficult

Match report: Blackburn 1-5 West Ham

Blackburns Jason Steele dives in vain as Dimitri Payet tallies West Hams second aim. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/ Getty Images

4) Replays are part of a dispute football needs to have

Suarez adds vertigo to push Barcelona towards brand-new heights Match report: Arsenal 0-0 Hull City

5) When will Watford play a full-strength surface?

Match report: Watford 1-0 Leeds United

Odion Ighalo started the equal on Watfords bench. Photograph: BPI/ Rex/ Shutterstock

6) Hector a real ability, whether or not Chelsea realise it

Brunt encounters West Brom devotees after being hit by silver at Reading Match report: Reading 3-1 West Brom

7) Iturbe may have shaped Bournemouths effort worthwhile

Match report: Bournemouth 0-2 Everton Premier League: fans decisions on the PS8bn battle for survival

The post FA Cup: talking details from the fifth-round pairs appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

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