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quote:Darkrail & Veinstreak There is nothing about this that's isn't horrible. And you know what? This villain? Still doesn't sound as bad as Railrunner. Maybe it's because Miranda is actually honest and makes him a villain while our hero is supposed to be sympathetic. He's a dick, but at least we're not supposed to like him. It really says something that Imhotepcoaster is more likable than Railrunner! I mean yeah he kills his own minions when They Have Failed Him, but he explicitly gains power from this. Railrunner just has wanton slaughter for the sake of wanton slaughter. And they both have domestic abuse subtext so it's not like Railrunner can take the moral high-ground on that point. (Is it supposed to Veinstreak or Vainstreak? Like a streak of vanity?)
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# ? May 13, 2013 18:08 |
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 04:21 |
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Talking his way past the nurse wasn't terribly easy given the state of the patient, but Detective Black managed it thanks to a bit of fast talking and swearing up and down that nothing he did would harm the patient. Even so, Nurse Connor made a point of remaining in the room as the detective took a seat by the hospital bed. When Black pulled out the bag of powder, Connor crossed his arms and asked, "What've you got there?" "Oh, this? Completely harmless. It's mostly just ginseng and ashes." Connor's eyes narrowed, but he didn't move as the detective carefully removed a pinch and sprinkled it across the patient's mouth, neck, and chest. However, he did start when the unconscious man's remaining eye snapped open and he took in a deep gasp. "Aw, gently caress," he managed through his wired jaw. "What the--the pain is--how--" "Just a little Voodoo magic," Black answered with a smile, unconcerned as to whether or not he'd be taken seriously. The patient raised his hand, but Black gently held it down. "Now don't go thanking me yet. All you got was a temporary fix. I need to talk to you. I need to know what happened earlier tonight." The man on the bed blinked several times before he managed to focus on the detective sitting next to him. "You're a cop," he spat. Black nodded. "And you're a member of the Long Street Kings. Tyler Benedict, 'T-Bone' to your friends. Listen, I need to know everything that happened to you before you came to this hospital. Everything you saw, heard, and did, anything could be useful--" "I'm not talking to a loving pig." Detective Black took a deep breath. Gang members were hard to talk to at the best of times, but T-Bone needed to understand just what was at stake. "Let me explain something to you, T-Bone. Nobody is going to care what you and your friends were doing in that alleyway. Nobody is going to care what you were planning on doing or what you were armed with or even who you really are. "You and I aren't exactly on the same side most times. I understand that. But two days ago, four of my crew were killed by Railrunner. Yesterday, four of your crew died at its hands." "poo poo..." "Yeah. The only reason you're still alive right now is because two more of my crew came in and distracted it. One of them is in a coma right now, and the other might be losing both his legs. So we may not see eye to eye on things, but today you and I are brothers. Brothers in arms. Brothers in vengeance. And since you're in no condition to fight it yourself, I need you to help me by telling me everything that happened so that I can make sure that son of a bitch gets what's coming to him." Black surprised himself with how angry he got. Looking down, he saw his hands were gripped so hard on the bed rails that his knuckles were white. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed his hands and placed them in his lap. T-Bone watched the detective for a while longer, then closed his eye. When he opened it again, he began his story. "Seven more are confirmed dead and well over a hundred are now in the hospital after what some are calling the worst domestic terrorism incident since the World Trade Center attacks. Damage is still being assessed following the high-speed chase down Jefferson Street, but initial estimates place the damages in the tens of millions, perhaps even more. According to our latest reports, despite the efforts of the city police and the FBI, Rodney Philips, nicknamed 'the Railrunner,' has apparently slipped into a forest and evaded pursuit. However, sheriffs from neighboring counties are now organizing search parties and the governor has told the media that she is dispatching National Guard elements to assist what is quickly becoming the largest manhunt in U.S. history. Meanwhile, the city's mayor, Samuel Luego, has issued an ultimatum, demanding that the Railrunner be captured before--" Detective Black switched off the TV. He'd heard it all before, particularly the bit about the ultimatum thanks to phone calls from both the captain and the commissioner. He had to chuckle at calling it a "manhunt," though, considering the true nature of the suspect. Black returned his attention to the two plastic bags set on the table in front of him. Something about their contents was held in common, and that something was the key to ending Rodney's mad reign of destruction. It wasn't the fact that they were both knives, but rather that both had pierced Railrunner's skin. The kitchen knife had been confiscated from Clare's home after she was brought into protective custody and still bore some of Rodney's blood; the switchblade was found in the alley Railrunner attacked, and according to T-Bone it managed to slip right in through the roller coaster train's steel skin even after a number of bullets had failed to leave a mark. It couldn't be that they were both knives. Anything able to deflect bullets would be able to turn a blade, at least if that was the only issue. It didn't even matter that Railrunner had regenerated from both wounds; Black knew from personal experience that any regenerator could be overwhelmed, especially when wounded in critical areas. So what was it about these two knives that bullets couldn't match? There wasn't anything unique that leaped out. The detective read the evidence tags once again: bog standard switchblade, black handle, made in China, worn-out spring, carbon steel blade chipped and dulled from overuse and poor maintenance, only fingerprints match the owner, as-yet unidentified blood on both handle and blade. Standard kitchen chef's knife from a matched set, generic manufacturer, serrated stainless steel, "hecho en Mexico," barely used, found in the front hallway where Clare had dropped it after stabbing Rodney in the chest. After thinking for a minute, Black read the tags one more time. Wait. That can't be it. Couldn't it? Well, my silver bullets were special-made locally, after all, and if there's one thing America still knows how to make in bulk, it's ammunition. And after all, why do werewolves care about silver? Why is the only effective way to destroy a vampire to stake its heart, cut off its head, and fill its mouth with holy wafers? Magic works in mysterious ways. And there's only one good way to find out if I'm right. Detective Black pulled out his cell phone and dialed Special Agent Captain's number. "Hello? Black here. I've got an idea what we can use to stop Railrunner. First, get a hold of the biggest fishing net you can find, so long as you can make sure it was harvested, woven, and manufactured outside the USA. Next, get in contact with the National Guard and find out where their bullets come from. If they can, have 'em switch to any foreign make they've got; I'll have a talk with the local elements myself. If we can figure this out quick enough, we'll catch this bastard yet!" The detective hung up and grabbed his coat, running out of the room and forgetting completely to bring the knives back to the evidence locker.
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# ? May 13, 2013 20:14 |
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Interlude - Dangerous Watersquote:
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# ? May 14, 2013 05:22 |
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Bobbin Threadbare posted:Awesomeness Yes. I was going to write how gangster's blade would have something to do with Railrunner's capture, but you have written it better than I could hope to do. We need to collect your posts in a single PDF and upload it somewhere for posterity's sake once the Let's Read is done. Jeek fucked around with this message at 05:29 on May 14, 2013 |
# ? May 14, 2013 05:26 |
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Bobbin Threadbare posted:How to write a book that isn't poo poo I am now genuinely uncertain as to whether those knives are a plot point or not.
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# ? May 14, 2013 05:44 |
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Chapter 28 - Tempers Flare and Fizzlequote:
What’s the point of having this scene about Merrylegs getting a hunch and ignoring it, when Railrunner’s disappearance is discovered literally less than 10 paragraphs later? quote:
Why are all the amusement park ride characters in this book so stealthy? Neither roller-coasters nor carousel horses are known for being quiet and unnoticeable. quote:
What a shame. quote:
Railrunner is indeed an ignorant fool, but there’s been plenty of evidence since Thunderbark met him. Thunderbark bears much of the blame for leaving Railrunner to his own devices. quote:
If Thunderbark saw this coming, why did he not keep a closer eye on Railrunner? quote:
I checked every chapter starting from Chapter 23 where they first arrived at the Temple, and Thunderbark had never, not even once, told Railrunner not to leave the Temple. quote:
Why is Railrunner “staggering”? Does being in Amusement Park Between grant him boundless energy, enough to fuel “unlimited concussion beams”? quote:
Nope. Thunderbark never said that. quote:
A pity he didn’t. quote:
You can't just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry! quote:
As mentioned earlier, if Railrunner (currently human age 38, according to the character bio written by Miranda Leek) was “adopted”, it must have been at a fairly early age, certainly no earlier than 18. This means that Thunderbark had lost track of him for more than 20 years. quote:
This is what makes him feel remorse? Not the wanton slaughtering of hundreds of innocent people and of police officers defending other innocent people? quote:
No no, Thunderbark was not in the wrong. Why the hell are is Railrunner being exonerated? quote:
44th sigh of the book. quote:
Thunderbark told Railrunner about roller coasters’ ability to kill each other barely two chapters ago, in Chapter 26! Has Thunderbark already forgotten about this conversation? code:
quote:
Stop apologizing, drat it! Railrunner should be the one apologizing! quote:
“This is a mighty sword of legend.” “Cool.” quote:
Why is anyone still trusting Railrunner with anything of importance?
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# ? May 14, 2013 07:47 |
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Jeek posted:Yes. Once this is over, I'm tempted to go through this and make it into a kindle book so that I can read it on my kindle whenever I want. Though unfortunately I'm not sure how to make an epub or proper PDF. JosephWongKS posted:Chapter 28 - Tempers Flare and Fizzle If you notice, Miranda manages to spoil what happens in the chapter. Thunderbark gets angry but within the same chapter he manages to cool down and things reach status quo as if that chapter never happened. The only thing of consequences that happens is that the others are aware of that Railrunner finally got his Hanzo Steel Katana.
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# ? May 14, 2013 09:44 |
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Iced Cocoa posted:If you notice, Miranda manages to spoil what happens in the chapter. Thunderbark gets angry but within the same chapter he manages to cool down and things reach status quo as if that chapter never happened. The only thing of consequences that happens is that the others are aware of that Railrunner finally got his Hanzo Steel Katana. She's a fine member of the Dominic Deegan School of Writing.
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# ? May 14, 2013 09:53 |
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Railrunner isn't acting like a hothead. He's acting like shitheel with anger issues. Miranda doesn't really "get" what being a hotheaded protagonist means.JosephWongKS posted:She's a fine member of the Dominic Deegan School of Writing. What does this mean?
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# ? May 14, 2013 18:39 |
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Guess I was wrong. The sword doesn't have a dumb name of its own.SSNeoman posted:What does this mean?
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# ? May 14, 2013 19:25 |
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JosephWongKS posted:Chapter 28 - Tempers Flare and Fizzle "In which something happens and then immediately unhappens." Pretty apt description, I will admit.
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# ? May 14, 2013 20:03 |
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I wonder if the sword has "useful secrets" because Leek wants to keep the deus ex machina a surprise, or because she literally had no idea what the sword was going to do and was gonna save it for the next time she couldn't think of a way for Railrunner to get out of trouble.
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# ? May 14, 2013 20:13 |
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If there is anything that Miranda does consistently is that if anything is mentioned to have some hidden properties it will have it. I thought everyone would have gotten it by now. As far as I remember, there are at least four of those "hidden" talents that have been revealed but not used so far.
If you think I missed some, let me know. Iced Cocoa fucked around with this message at 00:41 on May 15, 2013 |
# ? May 14, 2013 20:55 |
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That amulet has hidden power(s), right? That's number 5. And it's stretching it, but the still-unrevealed roller coaster abilities Railrunner has. That's number 6. 6 loving deus ex machinas.
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# ? May 14, 2013 21:18 |
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Neither of those really count. The amulets power has already been revealed, the disintegration beam that was unleashed when Railrunner and co were having their last stand at the portal. And there has been nothing revealed in the book that Railrunner has more powers (har har), so it doesn't make it on the list. And I refuse to go over the past chapters to see if there is some deus ex that has already been revealed and used. Then that list would be much longer.
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# ? May 14, 2013 22:22 |
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quote:Right now the young coaster was like an explosive , bound to explode when the fuse reached the bomb. edit: say we'll find out what the sword does within the next 3 chapters.
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# ? May 14, 2013 22:56 |
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JosephWongKS posted:Again with the “concentrating” of breath. Where does Miranda Leek find these expressions? I wonder if she misinterprested this definition (or similar): quote:b. To bring into one main body I mean, usually I would just be poking fun but where Miranda Leek is concerned, I could see this really happening.
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# ? May 15, 2013 01:54 |
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Chapter 29 - Ferris Harborquote:
“A place from the most imaginative mind” has shops and harbours and businesses and merchants like any small town in the “real world”. quote:
Why do they even need a ship? In Chapter 19 Railrunner and Thunderbark were “swimming… like they did on the rails”. quote:
45th sigh of the book. quote:
46th sigh of the book. For someone who is supposedly an experienced veteran, Thunderbark sure is easily disheartened by monetary problems. quote:
I checked every chapter since Chapter 19 (where they entered Amusement Park Between for the first time) and there was not a single mention that Railrunner had picked up any gold at Trenzon or the Temple. quote:
Why is Railrunner so consistently damned humorless? quote:
Wearing a trench-coat and playing with your sword sounds to me like a bad way to be inconspicuous. Why hasn’t any of Ironwheel’s spies or agents detected Railrunner yet? quote:
Is the “swinging ship” a sentient amusement park ride or a machine that the other amusement park rides have built? This is as creepy as Goofy keeping Pluto as a pet. quote:
How is either of this humorous or ironic? quote:
Why is every single one of them so bad at lying and deception? Why haven’t they been arrested and executed by Ironwheel yet? Isn’t Ironwheel supposed to be some tyrannous dictator with eyes and ears everywhere? quote:
Tension raised…. quote:
47th sigh of the book. quote:
… and defused instantly.
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# ? May 15, 2013 05:01 |
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"A place from the most imaginative mind" features the same exasperated exhalation as the "real world."
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# ? May 15, 2013 05:50 |
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Why do they need to breathe
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# ? May 15, 2013 06:02 |
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How else could they sigh?
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# ? May 15, 2013 06:59 |
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As Miranda is doing a re-release of her novel, she is now changing out the illustrations in the novel. Chapter 9: Rampage of a Roller Coaster Right now I can't ask my friend who is well into horses just what is wrong with Merrylegs in this picture. I see more cow than horse in the head, and the near foreleg seems very fat. Perhaps it's some failed attempt at foreshortening. And it looks like Miranda has decided that Merrylegs does not have a brass pole extending from below her. What I dislike about Merrylegs is that Miranda didn't bother to research anything but roller coasters, and perhaps the history of amusement parks. What she totally missed is somehow using any carousel interesting facts, such as nearly all carousel rides have a "Lead Horse", which is the horse that is the one most highly decorated, sometimes with war armor, and if there is a carriage it's the horse behind the carriage. Because if Miranda actually knew about the fact that there is such thing as a "Lead Horse" in a Carousel, she wouldn't have been able to resist the fact to make Merrylegs such a horse. Edit: Clare's forearm is HOW long?! Chapter 18: Final Rush THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE LESS THAN A WEEK SINCE FULL MOON! gently caress this, the only way this works is that she changes the whole "full moon" thing. For some reason Railrunner is now more crocodile/alligator in the face than from what I've seen before. Doesn't really help him in any way. Also, if I hadn't told you which chapter this is from, would anyone be able to figure it out? I honestly thought it was from Chapter 8, where Rodney changes into Railrunner for the first time. This is just another issue that seems to be new for Miranda. She doesn't want to let anyone know where the characters are. In the book illustrations we've seen, we've had a clear image where they were. Freakshow in a pirate ship, Thunderbark at the carnival, Railrunner at the carnival, Rodney in his apartment. Now, everyone shares the empty void, which has sometimes a moon hanging there for no discernible reason. Why does Miranda have such a problem with her roller coasters using their entire bodies? Why show the useless bit of body at all if it is just going to be dangling there doing nothing? Iced Cocoa fucked around with this message at 18:52 on May 15, 2013 |
# ? May 15, 2013 18:15 |
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You basically got most of what's wrong with Merrylegs. 1. The Skull is less cone-shaped then a horse's skull, and the slope at the top of the nose is not steep enough. 2. The nostrils are too big, and her eyes are pointing forward instead of to the side. 3. The ears are pointing back instead of forward or to the side, but that might just be Leek trying to convey fast movement. 4. The shoulders are not big enough compared to the forearms, and the knees look painfully swollen. I don't know why she wouldn't use a photo reference for this, it's not like image reference for horses is hard to come by. I mean she did a semi-alright job on the human, aside from the placement of the features on the head and the spaghetti hair. e: 5. Another thing I just noticed is that the arms don't connect properly to the torso. Antlerhill fucked around with this message at 19:04 on May 15, 2013 |
# ? May 15, 2013 18:55 |
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Antlerhill posted:2. The nostrils are too big, and her eyes are pointing forward instead of to the side. The nostrils should also be more to the sides too. quote:3. The ears are pointing back instead of forward or to the side, but that might just be Leek trying to convey fast movement. To be fair, horses will put their ears back flat against their heads when distressed. It's still a goddamned terrible picture of a horse though.
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# ? May 15, 2013 21:28 |
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Iced Cocoa posted:Edit: Clare's forearm is HOW long?! It makes me think of this image:
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# ? May 15, 2013 22:04 |
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quote:Halfcoasters... roller coasters that come to Amusement Park Between as a mix of another animal or machine. The trait comes from being themed to be something that looks anything remotely near a roller coaster in the real world So given that I think we just met our first Halfcoaster character (Bandit), we're agreeing to let this clusterfuck of an "explanation" go, I guess. (Either the humans who built the coasters "themed" them "to be" animals and machines in the actual definition of the word "theme" in an amusement ride context sense, or, given the "concentrated breathing" thing, there's supposed to be another, less nonsensical word there besides "themed".) Anyway, the Smugcoaster icon is terrific, but I think it's missing something crucial to the spirit of this novel... There we go. Rahonavis fucked around with this message at 22:37 on May 15, 2013 |
# ? May 15, 2013 22:34 |
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Rahonavis posted:So given that I think we just met our first Halfcoaster character (Bandit), we're agreeing to let this clusterfuck of an "explanation" go, I guess. (Either the humans who built the coasters "themed" them "to be" animals and machines in the actual definition of the word "theme" in an amusement ride context sense, or, given the "concentrated breathing" thing, there's supposed to be another, less nonsensical word there besides "themed".) The best smiley. As for Halfcoasters, I'm very sure that she didn't come up with it until after writing down that part in Twisted! If Bandit is really a halfcoaster I think it will be made clear in the new edition. There are two halfcoaster characters in Vertigo as far as I can remember, there was this cheetah-based coaster, and a police cruiser based coaster. quote:Name: Jagg quote:Name: Shureshot Seriously, no spellcheck at all!
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# ? May 15, 2013 23:07 |
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The suburb Huntersburg had been aptly named at the time of its founding, back when it was an independent village and not part of a larger metropolitan area. The dense deciduous forests of the eastern United States had surrounded the community for miles on all sides, making it a minor hub for trappers, fur traders, and eventually sport hunters. As civilization encroached, however, the forests gradually gave way to acres of farmland and a growing city center that would change Huntersburg from a town of hunters and explorers into a town of commuters and grain distributors. A few protected forests remained behind to remind the community's politicians and history buffs of the old days, but they failed to hold a candle to the primeval woods that stretched from one horizon to the next. Still, they remained big enough to hide a twenty-foot-long race-car-red roller coaster train for a number of hours during a long moonlit night. While the county and state police were busy inadvertently mimicking their ancestors by hunting through the trees for unusual tracks, the other enforcement divisions were putting their break to good use. Municipal and federal SWAT teams took stock of their weapons and ammunition supplies, loading up on whatever non-American-made equipment they could find. After a bit of checking, Detective Black found that his standard-issue Glock pistol was manufactured in Austria, and so he assisted a quick raid through local gun stores to obtain a supply of European-imported 9mm hollow-point rounds, theorizing that armor-piercing bullets would not be needed if it was indeed the monster's critical weakness. Black himself took the extra step to miniaturize two full boxes' worth of magazines, his magician contact as sleepless as he was that night. Finally, less than an hour before dawn, the call came: a peculiar set of wheel marks had been found which appeared consistent with Railrunner's movement style and the search parties were collecting in a perimeter around the location, intending to wait for properly armed backup before forcing a confrontation. Detective Black ran out to the helipad where a black FBI helicopter sat, its pilot warming the engine as two agents finished attaching a strange pod underneath the skids at Special Agent Captain's direction. "So did you get what we need?" Black shouted over the accelerating helicopter blades. "Even better!" Captain responded. "Turns out elephant bulls go crazy every once in a while, so India makes these electrified nets to subdue them when they have to. The Columbus Zoo got one to test out, but decided it was 'too inhumane.' The Paranormal Activities Section acquired it a few years back to use on dragons and other large magical creatures; now seems like a great time to break it out again. You coming?" The two men smiled as they climbed into the copter and took off. Ten minutes later, the helicopter was above the target zone. Finding Railrunner's general location was a simple use of radar, its steel hide a bright blip in the dark forest, but its exact hiding spot was harder to pinpoint thanks to the heavy canopy. This also prevented the lawmen from dropping their net, and so instead they used their ride as both a spotter and a beacon, coordinating the SWAT teams in police SUV's to lure the creature out into the open farmland. "Red team here. We've made visual contact with the tango, but it's not taking the bait. Over." "He's probably worried about turning human again at sunup," Captain explained. "Take a shot at him. Let him know we've figured out how to hurt him, over." A subtle flash of light from below revealed the SWAT team's location, and a metallic screech penetrated even through the helicopter's rotor noise and past Black's ear protectors. A wave of birds also scattered into the air, forcing the pilot to lift the helicopter out of their way. "That made him mad!" the SWAT officer shouted over the radio. "Tango is out for blood, repeat, tango is on our tail and closing!" "You've got a meadow one klick to your west, aim for us, over!" Black responded, tapping the operator's shoulder and getting a nod in reply. Hovering over the empty field, Black watched with bated breath as further flashes came from the pitch-black forest below, dotting a line towards the safety of open ground. "poo poo! Hit a tree, going on foot, over and out!" the team leader cried, a sudden burst of lights marking where the SUV crashed a few hundred feet away from the forest's edge. Two endless minutes later, Captain pointed down. "There!" Checking with his night vision binoculars, Black saw three dark figures running full tilt into the chest-high grass and cringed as a fourth was thrown over their heads, digging a dark divot into the dry weeds where he landed. At last, Railrunner himself charged into view, his full attention focused on the three remaining SWAT team members. "NOW!" Captain shouted. The pilot swooped the helicopter down low over the roller coaster train, causing it to pause, puzzled by the sudden act of aggression. This gave the FBI agent all the time he needed to throw the switch and drop the net all across the front half of the creature below. At first, Railrunner laughed at the net, unimpressed, but as his claws failed to cut the steel cords and only got himself more tangled, his screams grew louder and angrier. Deciding that enough of the net was now covering the monster, Captain pressed a second switch that electrified the cords and watched with grim satisfaction as Railrunner's cries grew first more pained and then gradually quieter, until finally it ceased to move at all. As the light of dawn drew down the treetops, the police moved to secure the meadow and close around the fallen roller coaster train, not yet daring to come near it without a few dozen guns pointed at it first. However, as the morning rays touched Railrunner's red steel body, it collapsed in on itself, resolving into the nude figure of Rodney Philips. "Keep him wrapped in the net," Captain ordered, "we don't know what powers he keeps in his human form." "So do we have a place to put him yet?" Detective Black asked as three officers bore Rodney's still form into the waiting helicopter. "Oh, we've got something all set up for him," Captain replied with a cruel smirk. "Something nice and medieval."
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# ? May 16, 2013 00:14 |
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Chapter 30 - Water Hazardquote:
Why is it “surprising” that the weather improved? Is the weather in the region known for being tempestuous at that time of the year? And if so, why would Railrunner be familiar with weather patterns in Amusement Park Between in any event? quote:
He “eagerly” watched the fish while growingly increasingly “bored” at the same time. quote:
Why should the crew be bored? They should be doing their jobs. quote:
"A place from the most imaginative mind", where the games are card games or “some other game native to this world” which the author doesn’t bother to describe. quote:
That can’t be the case – we know for a fact that there are non-roller-coasters on the ship. Two of them were mentioned in the very next sentence. And where did Thunderbark find pebbles on a ship? quote:
He’s on a ship, not doing any work, and has had three days to rest. How “exhausted” can he be? quote:
48th sigh of the book. Also, why is that something to sigh about? A few hours left on a 3-day voyage means that they’re close to completing the trip. quote:
49th sigh of the book. quote:
I’m sure Merrylegs saw goodness in adults in Chapter 18 when she “lowered her horn” and it “pierced through the flesh of humans”. quote:
For her “indifference”? Do amusement parks in the United States expect their carousel horses to be “enthusiastic” or “passionate”? quote:
50th sigh of the book. quote:
Railrunner sure is “special”. quote:
So Nessie really is a sentient amusement park Viking ship? Why is she allowing herself to be exploited in this manner? quote:
He knows he destroyed it and caused it to become a “Fallen”, and still he has absolutely no regret or remorse for his actions whatsoever. Our “hero”, ladies and gentlemen. quote:
How is that different from any of Railrunner’s other fights in this book? He’s brutally murdered at least one person or animal in each of his encounters so far. quote:
First they “descend upwards”, now they “retreat forwards”. Everything else in Amusement Park Between may be mundane, but the rules of physics are certainly “imaginative”. quote:
A world with “technology that is far more advanced than any humans”, and they use cannonballs as their ship-mounted weapons. Not lasers, not railguns, not even missiles, but cannonballs. quote:
Not even guided or heat-seeking or MIRV cannonballs, but plain dumb iron cannonballs. quote:
Right above in this very chapter, “… Bandit roused up the crew, preparing to battle”. How does this not count as having already “decided to fight back”? quote:
Bandit’s a roller-coaster too. Why does he need to use weapons? Why doesn’t he just “bend” fire and lightning? quote:
“Quarrel with the enemy”. quote:
They began to fight “once more”, after a ten-second break from the last time they fought. quote:
How did Miranda come to think that “slaughter” is a heroic word? quote:
Since the type of prehistoric creature is conveniently left unspecified, I suppose that a plane could conceivably walk like a “prehistoric creature”. quote:
Note that all the amusement park ride characters are quick to give up (Thunderbark when faced with the price of a boat in the last chapter, and now Merrylegs after being wounded), while the human police officers and FBI agents are ceaselessly tenacious in their pursuit of Railrunner despite the grevious deaths and injuries inflicted upon them. quote:
Miranda Leek has a wonderful knack for evoking pity and sympathy for her villains and hatred and disgust for her heroes. quote:
That goes well beyond sexual "subtext" and into plain "text". quote:
In honour of Captain Vick, let us recollect how he died bravely in the line of duty: “Time to bring this coaster into downtime!” he laughed. He aimed the weapon at my head. He placed his hand on the trigger. Before he could fire, a lightning bolt made contact with him. The air started to smell like burning flesh. I turned around to see Thunderbark standing upon the clock tower. He dropped down, landing next to me. quote:
What the hell is a “I’ve got bodies in my freezer” glare? Where does Miranda Leek keep finding all these expressions? quote:
It’s pretty messed up that Railrunner taking pleasure in pain and suffering is being treated unironically in the book as a good thing. quote:
Why didn’t you Railrunner shoot his “concussion beams” at the start? Moonhoof went out of her way to point out that he could do it for an “unlimited” number of times, so he can’t even say that he wanted to “conserve his strength” or something. quote:
I hope it stays that way for the rest of the book. JosephWongKS fucked around with this message at 08:51 on Jun 20, 2013 |
# ? May 16, 2013 09:41 |
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But Captain Vick isn't dead. He at least appeared pretty unharmed in Chapter 27:quote:I ran, no man noticed me at first till one saw my face. From there the chase was on. Without thinking, I ran into the road. I stared into the eyes of Captain Vick. He smiled evilly. And for some reason I could have sworn that the ride Railrunner recognized was that ferris wheel from the final confrontation in chapter 18. I guess my imagination took me on a ride when picturing a And since I already linked the colored illustration of that chapter, have the only other drawing that exists of Freakshow: This drawing is newer than the previous Freakshow one. How can you get worse at drawing? quote:Name: Freakshow Iced Cocoa fucked around with this message at 10:09 on May 16, 2013 |
# ? May 16, 2013 10:01 |
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Iced Cocoa posted:
Miranda Leek is clearly also a fine follower of the Dominic Deegan School of Art.
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# ? May 16, 2013 10:07 |
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quote:I watched in horror as Freakshow smirked and started to descend up the mangled pole. Again? I wonder if when Miranda was going through her thesaurus for interesting words (quarrel for fight etc) she mistakenly read descend as being a synonym for climb.
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# ? May 16, 2013 14:06 |
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Geokinesis posted:Again? quote:Driven by hatred, jealousy, and dangerous hormonal mix of both wood and steel, Freakshow to kill any coaster or ride that was beautiful for she was an eyesore, an unacceptable mix. Miranda is an actual female person. How does she write this bullshit? Bobbin Threadbare posted:
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# ? May 16, 2013 15:09 |
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Rahonavis posted:Anyway, the Smugcoaster icon is terrific, but I think it's missing something crucial to the spirit of this novel... How could I forget? I have much to learn. Anyway, wrote some Detective Black fanfiction as if it was written by Miranda Leek. I call it "fanfanfiction". Not quite Miranda posted:Chapter 420: The Focussing Encounter Iced Cocoa posted:The best smiley. So we have Static and Thunderbark in a furry- and policeman costume respectively. Riveting.
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# ? May 16, 2013 15:53 |
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Are we sure it's a girl writing these stories? I mean look at this: Merrylegs, the ~gurl~ is the one who gets wounded and has to have Railrunner save her. Clare needs Railrunner to save her from the muggers/rapists. Railrunner wears a trenchcoat and manages to fight hand to hand without anyone seeing his face or body. He also gets an awesome sword so cool. And I feel really bad for Miranda if she know what a "I've got bodies in my freezer" look is. And I have never, never heard of any character refer to their blood as "poo poo". Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 19:36 on May 16, 2013 |
# ? May 16, 2013 18:42 |
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SSNeoman posted:Are we sure it's a girl writing these stories? Internalized misogyny is a real thing. If you're a horny teen who is constantly being bombarded with the "strong boys rescue hot girls" message and decide to "write" a "book" with "illustrations" you're likely going to end up with poo poo like this.
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# ? May 16, 2013 19:03 |
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my dad posted:Internalized misogyny is a real thing. I think it's because she chooses generic action story tropes over integrity, morals, ethics, etc.
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# ? May 16, 2013 19:25 |
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JosephWongKS posted:How did Miranda come to think that slaughter is a heroic word? She lives in a culture that glorifies violence, and like with other elements of her story, she straight copies tropes without ever thinking critically about them. She takes out a page from the modern FPS school of writing: bad guys are bad because I say so; there is no gray. It is easier for FPS to get away with this because of the medium, but for a book, it leads to stories like this.
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# ? May 16, 2013 21:11 |
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 04:21 |
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A new hypothesis: The true intrinsic flaw of all of Miranda's amusement park rides is crippling myopia. Railrunner, a 20-foot long red coaster - the only single coaster in existence with red on his hull - can have prolonged conversations and close-range combat with assailants while wearing little more than a coat and nobody notices he's red until his hood comes down? That's not an oversight in the heat of battle, that's clinical blindness. So maybe Miranda's intended hidden depth to Railrunner is that those initial outbursts of violence weren't expressly meant to be lethal - he simply missed on the warning swings and ended up murdering people. He's suffering from a nervous breakdown where his means of coping with the blood on his hands is to attempt to wash it away with more blood and believe that he truly, sincerely, is a killer at heart. Alternately, while attempting to cope with the Stockholm Syndrome of being in Miranda Leek's world for so long I come up with the following. Railrunner is a manifested psychotic episode of Rodney; Who stressed by unemployment, social isolation from friends, and a collapsing relationship with Clare made his way to the run-down old amusement park that his parents never took him to. This was a trauma that scarred him for life, he convinced himself that he actually hated amusement parks until his world collapsed and he made his way there - the amusement park on the edge of a growing city, and convinced himself that he was employed; that he made new friends; that Clare would love him again; that he was special and had a destiny. But deep down he was still ashamed because he couldn't buy fully into this new fantasy and so he began to lash out at the 'real world' in a childish attempt to stand apart from it. It escalated from a random barfight to literally killing some petty thugs and then a showdown with the police - when they finally captured him and locked him away, he completely disassociated with reality and believed himself to have gone to 'Amusement Park Between' where he was a messianic figure. Fragments of reality came through in the form of these 'Fallen' - manifestations of the nurses and doctors attempting to cure him of his madness - and culminating in his brief return to the 'real world' when Clare came to visit him at the hospital. Maybe Miranda's long play with these books is that they aren't just horrible fanfiction filled with plagiarism from countless other teen-lit & television sources from the past decade - but a knowing nod that Rodney's fantasy is influenced by these things. The books aren't written from an omniscient perspective of a storyteller, but instead as a narration of the clinical notes of one of the undoubtedly countless doctors attempting to understand the delusions of a man driven to madness by the recession.
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# ? May 17, 2013 02:38 |