#Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China

[that-one-i-think]

My Tu'la and Liochant Messy Summary post!

@anonmothgod chatted with me a bit and gave me the idea to do a little summary post! This will be long and messy

KEY ELEMENTS BEFORE WE GET STARTED

Temple of Menphia - Menphia is the major divine of Tu'la so she is the center of worship. Unlike the Irene churches, they do not have priest, nuns, or really a clergy, instead they train lawyers, judges, and more importantly warriors. The goal of the church is to be the embodiment of righteous fury while protecting people from mistreatment.

Another part of it is also killing shadow knights, with members of the church being given magical tattoos that prevent them from turning into shadow knights/making it incredibly difficult to do so. They are given tattoos of the sun on the palm of their hands and one covering their back, for the sun cannot get to the nether. Essentially, they aren't nuns but religious warriors.

The two kingdoms of Tu'la - I refer to them as North and South for ease

North Tu'la: The Toraichi Dynasty - Belonging to the northern jungle and plains area of Tu'la, with the royal family all being tiger meif'wa (allegedly). The Toraichi family was originally known to be kind before the head family all died due to a plague that ravaged the kingdom 30 years ago. The leader of the branch family who was deemed the "Last Royal Tiger" took the throne because he was the only viable candidate due to being a tiger, allegedly. He quickly became power hungry and sought to not only take over all of Tu'la but Ru'aun as well. (It's giving england.) The capital of this place is Havas and the region is based on China and Japan.

South Tu'la: The Desert of Sa'Haresha - This area is almost completely desert and savannah, the dryer half to the norths hot and humid climate. Due to the location, this area had a high sense of community and while they did have a royal family, one composed of lion meif'was , they were more symbolic since a lot of desert villages kept to themselves. This area has the highest amount of Menphia temples The considered capital was Solspear, and region is based on India. The Tu'la continent meaning to represent Asia to Ru'auns Europe.

POPULATION/Big Cat Meif'was - Big cat meif'was are to meif'wa what werewolves are to the weredogs of mystreet. Just bigger breeds than the domesticated ones who can turn into a big animal. ~55% of the population of Tu'la is meif'wa, 32% humans, 12% werewolves, 1% others/werewolf-meif'wa hybrids. The majority of the human population in Tu'la are part meif'wa in some capacity and 15% of the population are big cat meif'was. (cheetahs, leopards, lynx, and lions being the most common). Non-ears and tail half meif'wa and called Sphinxes after the hairless cat, and werewolf and meif'wa mixes are essentially were-hyenas cause hyenas look like dogs but are closer in the cat family than canine.

NOW ONTO MORE LORE! This will kind of be a mess so bare with me. (Broken up into parts for ease)

LIOCHANT EARLY LIFE

Liochant was born to a young couple composing of a human mom and a cheetah meif'wa father. He didn't inherit his fathers meif'wa features but his eyes can slit and he is a lot more agile than most humans. For the first 3 years of his life his parents did try to raise him but since they only had him at 17, they have found that they weren't suited to be parents at the time and gave him up to his mothers temple in Bronze Peak. From there he was raised by the temple and show to have great promise as a warrior.

(Around this time, Aph and the gang are now in the irene dimension)

At the age of 7, Liochant earned his first tattoos, being the sun on his palms and back, by successfully winning a spar with a teacher. (Not a prodigy, teacher was meant to pose a challenge but able to be defeated). From there Liochant managed to continue his training and pass it with flying colors, having gained a large affinity for the khopesh and spear. He was not all tough warrior child though, because he had a large affinity of trying to pet snakes, getting bit, and then having to be healed. He was a kid with spear skills who liked to pet things he shouldn't and he had a normal childhood until he was 10.

THE MASSACRE OF SOUTH TU'LA

During Liochant's time at the temple, a year and a half after aphmau and her gang were trapped in the Irene Dimension, Garte descided to contact the Northern King of Tu'la and they struck a deal. Garte would provide some troops to help the Tiger King invade the south and the king would provide Garte troops to invade Ru'aun. They planned for 2 and a half years, with one of the most instrumental parts being the nephew of the Tiger King, Kai (Yes like Mystreet!) who had been placed with the South Tu'la royal family as an advisor and a peace offering since he was 15. Kai fed information in the belief that it was going to be a peaceful takeover, believing that the poison he was giving the royal family would make them sick enough to give up, he was not expecting to be responsible for a massacre at the age of 20. (Kai lore here if you want to check that out! Do it after reading this)

The invasion and massacre started with the death of the royal family, using the shock to have both northern tu'la soldiers and O'khasis knights invade and slaughter people. Their main focus being the Temples of Menphia given how they contained the strongest warriors. Whoever they didn't slaughter they captured for the purpose of recruiting more soldiers, leaving any children left in the temples to either live on the streets or burn along with their temples.

THE NEXT TWO YEARS

Liochant's temple was one of the first to be attacked since Bronze Peak was one of the closest villages to the capital, so at the ripe age of 10, not only was Liochant now a fully blown orphan but homeless. He had to live on the streets and stole to survive, his training in agility being the only thing keeping him alive as he evaded soldiers. He did managed to keep up with his training, as unconventional as it was, because it was the only thing he had left of home.

While Liochant was on the streets, the Tiger King was dealing with the problem of the fact that none of the captured warriors were turning to his side, so he found another use. Solspear was home to many training pits so he turned what was once a form of worship into his personal entertainment. He made gladiator pits and forced the remaining warriors to fight for his, and all of the nobles of North Tu'la, entertainment. Creating betting rings and turning it to a hunger games esc thing.

Since all of the warriors were no longer on his side and now dying in the pits the King had to come up with a new solution for power. So he descided to take it from Ru'aun. He gathered up all of the remaining O'khasis guards in Tu'la and slaughtered them all. WIth the fact that O'khasis was practically defenseless, he slowly started the process of taking them over. Succeeding after two years, and taking Garte to his new palace in Solspear to rub in his face his success.

LIOCHANTS START OF BEING A GLADIATOR

After taking over O'khasis, the Tiger King was running out of entertainment for the gladiator pits so he descided to turn to a new source of fighters. Criminals. Anyone in South Tu'la who was caught of a crime was now sentenced to being in the gladiator pit, regardless of age or severity of the crime. Crimes as simple as stealing, or "agression" if you are a werewolf were sent to the pit. That is how Liochant, who was caught stealing some fruit at the age of 12, was sentenced to the pit.

His first "benefactor" or owner was a former high ranking soldier of the North Tu'la army. An old man who was essentially given Liochant as a form of payment, a train it so it can become an investment, situation. A do with it what you will. The man was not upper class and was only being treated as such because of his military position, so he made sure to train Liochant so he could rise above. The benefactor wasn't kind nor was he incredibly unkind to Liochant he punished Liochant when he lost but made sure Liochant could always practice his religion. A basic right that someone of Liochant's position wasn't able to have.

Liochant fought and won many fights, mostly against feral animals or others his age or slightly older. He lost a few but never lost his life which was something he was grateful for. The fight that put Liochant on the map though happened when he was 14, where he had to face off a one armed man who had never lost a fight before. It was supposed to be a massacre but the man refused to kill a child and instead requested Liochant to mercy kill him, a request Liochant couldn't deny because of his religion. This win garnered another benefactor to buy him.

HIS MIDDLE CAREER

Liochant was then bought by a former O'khasis noble who had helped in the invasion of O'khasis for money. He married an "exotic" white cat lady from North Tu'la, a gift to him from the king. This man was particularly cruel to Liochant, whenever Liochant lost he made sure that his punishments would hurt but never injure him enough to make it so he couldn't fight. It is also where Liochant recieved the most food insecurity has his meals were often withheld. The only benefit that came from that man was Liochant learning some of the Ru'aun language.

The mans wife, Lady Kanika, was as nice as she could be to Liochant. She was a former priestess of Menphia, though from her northern temples and was a taleneted seamstress and tattooer. She allowed Liochant to practice his religion and gave him the tattoos of protection given to most Menphia warriors after their first kill. The biggest thing she helped Liochant with was his marketing, for she knew that he wasn't just a warrior but had to be entertainment. Made sure that the crowds ate up the "Young teen underdog who fights for his Divine" angle and dressed him up

When Liochant was 17 he had the biggest fight, for the first time the gladiator pit managed to get a fully turned shadow knight. Red eyes and all. The shadow knight has blazed through other warriors until Liochant was sent it. It was another thing of Liochant supposed to be massacred but the entertainment value was higher for it was a Menphia warrior against their sworn enemy, a Shadow Knight. The thing it, Liochant won because he was specifically trained to defeat them. After a long battle, one lasting much longer than the crowd expected, he had lost his weapon but like a snake, he lunged and wrapped himself around his opponent and choked them out before slitting the throat.

After that fight Liochant was bought by a new benefactor who forced him to get two new tattoos, snakes running up his arms before their heads meat on his chest, his symbol of Menphia and protecting tattoo between them. He gained the name Pit Viper and his new benefactor ran wild but it wasn't all fun and games, for while Liochant was being shown off the man was cruel. A noble whose trade was in medicinal herbs and poisons who wasn't at the pits to make money but for the pure enjoyment of bloodshed had his hand on Liochant.

THE END OF HIS GLADIATOR CAREER

(At this point, the gang is now out of the Irene dimension)

When Liochant was 20 he was finally put in a fight he refused to participate it. A small child, no older than 14 who had just been turned into a shadow knight was against him. While Liochant knew that he didn't have to kill them in order to win, the child was shaking so much that the idea of knocking them out was vile. Thus he let himself lose, and that is when his owner descided to give him the worst possible punishment.

After Liochant's back was torn to shreds, the large sun now covered in crisscrossed wounds, he had scorpion venom poured onto his back, the venom causing him not only extreme pain but not allowing his back to even close for six months, and during this time he was still forced to fight. When his benefactor got bored with him, he was then pawned off to his last benefactor, the Scorpion of Tu'la, Kai the Traitor.

After Tu'las invasion of O'khasis, guilt started eating Kai alive so he made it his mission to help free gladiators. So he started gaining the reputation of his gladiators and servants "disappearing", so when people were sick of their gladiators, they would send them to him so they would die. Liochant was no different so after a year and a half of Kai playing the role of cruel owner and Liochant earning him more money in the pit, he managed to send Liochant off to Ru'aun with a khopesh, some money, and a shit ton of clothes because Kai had no idea how a poor person survives. FASHION! (For expanded, check out Kai lore)

(During this time, Lilith is found and Garroth is freed)

LIOCHANT IN RU'AUN

So after coming to Ru'aun at 22 and a half Liochant had to find work but his only skills were "fight good" and he had no formal education nor did he understand the language so he turned to the guard academy. Since it was rather normal for 20-24 year olds to be entered into the guard academy if they already had fighting experience, nobody batted an eye at him unless he talked. Something he never did much since becoming a gladiator.

From their, Liochant managed to learn the language and make his way through the academy rather quickly. Having 10 years of battle experience proved him incredibly beneficial but not too beneficial as Liochant had found a love of losing. Since his life wasn't on the line he found losing not be a big deal. He also started cooking because while he cooked often with one of the Temple Maidens when he was young, his history of food scarcity made him obsess over it.

Soon Liochant became part of the dragon ward and was assigned to watch over Alina and Lilith, as he was the most patient. By this time Liochant gained a better grasp on the language and kept his history hidden enough. The biggest benefit of now guarding children is learning to reading with them, for he still can't read much of the language. Seriously, the now 26 year old man has a sad history but the patience of the saint, which is why in my fic he and Garroth are getting shipped because I need Garroth to have his ass handed to him. And boy does he.

SIDE BAR: Liochant's full name is Lais Ravanah Havilah, meaning Lion's Chant of the Sands. He was asked to provide his name when entering the guard academy and he thought he needed to translate it. The guard who was listening to him barely understood him due to his accent and quiet voice so he thought his name was Liochant Sands. Lions Chant of the Sands, he has been too anxious to correct people and thus his name has been Liochant for the past four years.

[female-malice]

All countries sell snake oil, not just China. What is up with your weird new fixation on them lol. Not sure what racism is going to help but go off I guess

I'm not even talking about snake oil. Like I said, I don't really care about pseudoscience as long as all you're doing is scamming humans. People all over the world sell magic water and magic bracelets. I don't care. That's not the topic I'm discussing here.

I'm specifically looking at global wildlife trafficking. Should I lie and pretend China doesn't run a global wildlife trafficking network?

One of the main wildlife trafficking problems in the US is venus fly traps. And I did mention venus fly traps in one of my posts. It's one of the few illegal wildlife trades that China isn't involved in. If your wildlife trafficking knowledge was limited to South East US, you might not understand how China is involved.

If you have an America-centric viewpoint, I guess you just wouldn't know. You wouldn't know about the catastrophic destruction Chinese wildlife trafficking has on Latin America, Africa, and Asia. China uses wildlife trafficking as a tool of colonization.

If you want to find out what this actually looks like, watch the Poacher's Pipeline.

Also Sea of Shadows.

Also The Tiger Mafia

Pangolin

Ivory

[radioactive-butterfly]

There was Spike, on another day of duty, doing the very same things he used to do, every single day. Routine. Repetition. Manlabor. Hard, stiffened joints supported Spike's workforce on yet another "cattle task". He was sick of that, but he had no other choice. He had to make a living, and that shitty job was the only thing he had at the moment to do. A boring-ass, repetitive, stupid job; but an honest job, nonetheless. Spike was so filled up with anger and frustration that he couldn't muster to look at the passer-bys. He had a pretty normal life: normal grades, normal high school, normal college, normal career choice. Yet there he was, a victim of circumstantial unemployment rates and civil unrest due to the new automation wave from the joint effort inbetween the now Unified Eastern Bloc, led by Russia, China, Japan and Malaysia. Thailand was also starring in the automatons algorithms. It was a disaster for the West, that felt shortly after Britannia's downfall.

Yet, Spike cared none about this shit. All he cared was that the United States remained Unified, and still reigned free (or as free as liberty can be) in the Americas. Spike couldn't complain much about his life, especially compared to those low-life latinxs, who lived mostly in those dirty and gruesome favelas, menacing communities that could mean the end of your life in the blink of an eye, would you dare to not behave properly in the strict rules that they themselves create for them. Such an outlaw place was, of course, nowhere near where Spike lived and worked: downtown valley, East Coast, on the West Side of the Greenwich meridian, near LA. A richie’s place.

Spike’d had a somewhat of discriminatory preconceived notions of the latinxs folks, associating them with crime, robbery and smugness. This sickening repetitive job had this kind of advantage: Spike could let his mind fly high, because the shit wage that was paid was more than enough to keep a relatively decent lifestyle.

Pretending not to notice, but still taking a glance at the new passerby, Spike took notice of a distinct dark-skinned person walking near where Spike was cleaning his spot.

"You're not from here, white boy" said the dark-skinned person. Spike kept his cool, in spite of a single teardrop of sweat befalling on the back of his head. It wasn't routine for Spike to have a gun pointed at his head; regardless, Spike was used to having his life on the line.

"Bold of you to think I'm white" retorted Spike, on a surge of audacity.

After stopping to take a deep breath and blinking heavily,

the dark-skinned person replied:

"You're a jackass, but you at least got a vein of comedy in you, so I'll concede to you the honor to know the name of the one who'll kill you: Elektra."

"I don't intend to die right now, m'lady" retorted Spike in a surge of adrenaline.

By letting go of his stable gravity center, letting loose of the hang of his legs, Spike quickly dropped into the floor while at the same time striking his elbow against Elektra's elbow. The impact of such a blunt made them shoot the gun in an unconscious reaction. Spike, though, a war-veteran, was well accustomed to gunshots and kept his adrenaline-rush cool whilst at the same time keeping the adequate and precise amount of tension and bloodflow in his members, so he could be ready for any action in that moment of life-risk-gambling.

With a quick Tiger Palm strike on Elektra's gun, he struck it away from their grasp. He felt an unusual tenderness when their hands swiftly, briefly, though intensely, touched.

Using his mop to swipe even further Elektra's gun, he prepared for a fight to the death against that uncanny, unusual, yet somewhat of a hot dark-skinned person. The reason behind their death threat to him was unknown, yet he had no time to think about trivial motives now. He had a fight for his life to fight, and Elektra was an opponent of respect: it wasn't anyone who managed to make Spike drop an ice-cold sweat of nervousness.

In a sound-blasting fast kick, Elektra managed to go to knockout Spike. Had he not spent a gruesome, yet valuable short-intense-season-training with the Brigadiers, he would have fainted to that blow. Moreover, his agile reflexes granted him the privilege to see Elektra's strong leg just above his head, quickly stroking his also spiky hair and blowing his hat off. Spike had no other choice but to let his soldier side kick in and to get ready for a serious battle.

However... Spike's air missed from his lungs in a rapid gasp when he saw that Elektra wore a chest armor, instead of just a normal shirt. Why the fuck do they had such a piece of armor in the place of a normal cloth?

He couldn't help but to keep his eyes on them, whilst also noticing that they had a collar. What was the meaning of such a piece of garment, carefully placed on their neck?

By carefully managing his breath and his composture, Spike could notice that Elektra groaned while throwing their strikes. The groans that Elektra let out were uncanny, and somewhat feminine. This caught Spike's attention.

Elektra's aura was also beyond warmness — it had an intrinsic hotness that, probably coming from their sweat, inebriated Spike in the heat of the battle.

The battle raged on, and they were intense in their lashing out of their fierceness. None of them intended to go back home that day, probably sick and tired of blindly following others’ orders, or simply not giving a fuck about anything else but the heat, the melting heat of the moment of such a dynamic exchange between two persons with nothing else to lose anymore.

Spike struck the first hit, and to his yet another surprise, Elektra couldn't help but to let go an unexpected feminine groan when struck on their back. This raised Spike's suspiciousness bar, and this also made his breathing get more intense as the two of them danced the dance of Death itself: their life on the line, in an unusual barter of sensations and blows: anything for the sensation of feeling alive, maybe for Spike.

Elektra threw another one of their deadly kicks, much to Spike's surprise, and yet again his military training permitted him to survive that deadly blow: he dodged with a catseye's reflex instinct.

He gained the upper hand, cornering Elektra against the wall.

Elektra resisted fiercely, defending themselves with a martial posture. Spike projected his hips forward to gain space and dominate Elektra, who was cornered up with their back against the wall. Their heavy breathing’s scent could almost reach Spike, had he not projected his head backwards for safety against their deadly punches.

Spike had Elektra cornered. He could end the battle in an instant. But, once again, their necklace stood out from his perspective, and he quickly understood that Elektra was a woman. She also immediately realized Spike's perceptiveness, and her eye showed the almost imperceptive glance of lust, tinted with the melting heat of the exchange between the two warriors. Spike realized what was supposed to be Elektra's top secret, and she perceived Spike's realization. The stakes of the battle between the two raised above the normality of a life and death battle.

Spike let loose of his ferocity for a brief instant, with a self-dominating smile. He displayed an over-confident attitude, which maybe was intended, to make Elektra more comfortable and less hateful towards him.

Using one of his infamous tricks, he let from his sleeve a button and played with it with his fingers, whilst keeping his stare at Elektra's feline eyes. The intent behind this attitude from Spike was clear: he showed that he would rather massage her nipples instead of beat her.

Elektra didn't take such audacious move lightly; she took it to the heart. Yet, nonetheless, a part of her displayed willingness to engage in a more intimate contact with Spike. Such part was shown for but an instant in her facial expression.

Spike was taken with infatuation from her menacing look. Was it just infatuation, though? Was it the height of the flame of a burning yet ephemeral passion? He let down his guard for a nanosecond, a piece of time that was abruptly taken by Elektra, who lashed forward towards Spike.

Elektra jolted towards Spike, as he enjoyed more and more the exchange between him and her.

Whilst Elektra was displaying a primarily frustrated stance towards Spike, he was thrilled and excited with this sensual and misterious person that came out of the blue to kill him. Spike was used to putting his head on the line, though this time was totally different: he developed emotions AND feelings towards the person he was fighting against. This had never happened before, since Spike was like a lone wolf, untethered by the nefarious grasp of love... until now.

One more kick from her muscular legs and Spike could not not think about the remote, yet not impossible, possibility of getting between those legs in a different activity than a fight.

Now it was Elektra who threw a Tiger Palm against Spike, who dodged miraculously to his right, saving his skull from being crushed mercilessly against her wrath.

Their eyes crossed and Spike felt the air on his lungs and belly freeze against Elektra's heat. Spike was usually regarded as being hot and athletic, but what the heck was wrong with that girl? She kept striking him furiously and he kept enjoying it more and more. Spike was treading the thin line between life and death and he cared none about that, only about getting more of that feeling of being alive; that joyful experience shouldn't ever end on a draw. Who would penetrate the counterpart's defense first?

Spike wouldn't say it out loud, but perhaps he wished to be penetrated by her, only by her, and only that first time. Maybe this allowance from him boasted her self-confidence to the point that, this time, she was the one to corner Spike with a martial uppercut that caught him by surpise.

On a transient moment, Spike noticed against the sunlight the casting of shadow on Elektra's collar, and then suddenly everything became clear to him. They were both equal. They were the same: warriors destined to engage against each other until one of them died: either a small death or the grand death.

Spike jolted his mop forward, aiming for Elektra's mouth.

She dodges and he lungs his body forward, trying to conceal his hardness from the battle.

Nonetheless, Elektra perceives Spike's erection, and she herself becomes filled with a craving for more.

Spike himself, in spite of being erect towards Elektra's body, keeps his upper head cool, without, though, not displaying a pleasure in his expression towards Elektra. They both knew about each other's intimacy to a deep level, and they both were enjoying this exchange to the fullest.

Without a second moment to think about it and to give in to her desire, Elektra quickly reorders her blood flow from her hip area to the knees on a deadly strike against Spike, who uses the mop's counterweight to help him avoid the lethal blow on his crotch.

She lunges forward and penetrates Spike's ぜたいぼおぎょ, almost rendering him useless if not for his mop, who stuck firmly against her forearm.

She grabs his mop, and he suddenly realises she was also hard from this exchange. She wanted him to come near her, perhaps not to strike her down, but to kiss her softly. By the force she grabbed Spike's mop, he realized she wasn't overkill on this exchange, and she was helding back to not erase his beautiful yet shameful existence from the face of the Earth. Yet, she couldn't not get excited about this fight, and so couldn't Spike not be astonished by her presence of Spirit.

On an instant of lust, she grabs with both hands Spike's wood and pulls him towards her. Spike gasps at this unprecedented move, and butterflies swarm his stomach. What the fuck was happening to this veteran's training?!

She Scorpion Kicks him, and he notice that her well-developed glutes hold her butt firmly even when stretched. Spike couldn't not desire this woman with everything he had.

Her fierce and callused palm destroy Spike's mop, and he noticed how well-developed and fierce she can be. Elektra is rampant against Spike, and he's enjoying it somehow.

He uses the counterweighted part of the mop against his muscular body to swiftly go for her cheek, but Elektra prevents this foolish attack by dodging it majestically.

Spike's whole body stiffens at this point. He displays no sign of mercy, tensioning all his muscles and all his tonus Crane Stance power, concentrating his life against Elektra's might.

Elektra turns away her look, probably intimidated by Spike's fierceness.

Spike uses this opportunity to carefully almost strike Elektra, abd she lets out a high pitched gasp that also makes her blush in embarassment.

Spike couldn't resist any longer. Had he continued the fight against Elektra, he would probably give in to his animalistic desires and would lose his nectar against that woman. Spike used the gambit of the beginning of their fight in his favor now, running from her and her deadly presence.

Elektra does what he wanted, after all. She goes after him. Spike wanted to be held, not in a fight, but against her arms, tenderly. This probably wasn't the wisest move of his part, but at least he got to take a look at her armor... and her loaded gun.

"Stop or I'll sh-shoot!!!"

Though Spike didn't stop. He was too far beyond that now. At this point, all he knew was to run away from that powerful woman. He jumped what could as well be a bottomless cliff, way too far away from the deadly claws of Elektra.

And she herself didn't give a damn anymore about her duty. Fuck that. She went after him, to at least get his number, or better: to get between his legs.

[aion-rsa]

Best Martial Arts Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now

https://ift.tt/3iGgPxj

Search ‘Martial Arts Movies’ on Amazon Prime and you’ll get over a thousand results ranging from the classics to the campy, to the critically acclaimed. It’s an overwhelming library for the uninitiated and the mother lode for stalwart fans of the genre. There are so many gems buried in Amazon Prime that digging out the favorites is dirty challenging work but extremely rewarding.

When it comes to martial arts, Amazon Prime has a killer Kung Fu collection. The ‘80s were the ‘Golden Era’ of Kung Fu films when Hong Kong film studios cranked out films faster than any grindhouse ever. Many Hong Kong filmmakers put out up to half a dozen films a year, and most have hundreds of credits on IMDb. This glut of Kung Fu films spread to every Chinatown ghetto theater on the planet. And like with horror, American networks broadcasted late night Kung Fu Theater shows because there was so much cheap content available.

Consequently, Amazon Prime’s Kung Fu film selection leans heavily that way, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t include some non-Chinese favorites too. Martial Arts movies cross over to all other genres and nations. There are comedies, romances, horror, fantasy, sci-fi, and art house films. From countless cheesy low-budget exploitations, many so funky that they’re totally awesome, to the brilliant ground-breaking works that are staggeringly sensational, here’s some classic jewels and hidden treasures currently included with Amazon Prime membership.

Fist of Fury (1972)

Despite his fame, Bruce Lee only lived to see three of his martial arts movies premiere because Enter the Dragon and Game of Death were released posthumously. His impersonators are innumerable, so many that Bruceploitation is its own genre.

But Fist of Fury is the real Bruce in all his nunchuck spinning glory. It’s loosely based on the history of the Chin Woo Athletic Association, which remains one of the largest international martial arts organizations to this day. When Bruce shattered the ‘No Dogs and Chinese Allowed’ sign with a soaring flying kick, it became a battle cry for the racially oppressed worldwide, firmly cementing Bruce as the world’s first Asian global superstar.

Come Drink with Me (1966)

Long before Charlize Theron went Atomic Blonde, Cheng Pei Pei blazed a path as Golden Swallow, the mysterious invincible swordswoman, and all female action heroines are in her wake. Fiercely independent and savagely lethal, Cheng delivers several sophisticated long-take fight scenes, the hallmark of real Kung Fu skill, with the poise and precision built upon her foundation in ballet. Cheng is remembered in Hollywood as Jade Fox from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and played the matchmaker in Disney’s live-action Mulan. Note that Amazon Prime also has the sequel, Golden Swallow, but it’s not nearly as good.

Once Upon a Time in China (1991)

This tour de force from director Tsui Hark and Jet Li launched a six-film franchise and a TV series. Jet plays Wong Fei-hung, a real-life folk hero and Kung Fu master who has been depicted in well over a hundred films and TV shows. Set during the late 19th century, the film examines themes of Western colonization and Chinese cults, and while blatantly nationalistic, it captures Jet in his martial prime and contains some of his finest fights.

Read more

Movies

Wira Review: Meet the Next Martial Arts Movie Star

By Gene Ching

Games

The Forgotten Bruce Lee Video Game From the ’80s

By Craig Lines

Amazon Prime also has Once Upon a Time in China II, which is an excellent sequel, however the third installment (not on Amazon Prime) falls apart, allegedly due to disputes between Jet and Hark.

Ashes of Time Redux (2008)

This was internationally acclaimed director Wong Kar-wai’s first stab at the martial arts genre. It’s sumptuously artsy and laboriously dystopic, not one to see for the action but the art. Based on a classic wuxia (wuxia is Chinese for martial arts genre books and film) titled The Eagle Shooting Heroes, Wong simultaneously filmed a parody titled after the book with the same cast. Wong did the Redux after the original print was lost, salvaging what was left, reediting and re-scoring it. 

(Prime US only)

The Assassin (2015)

Director Hou Hsiao-hsien won Best Director at Cannes for this magnificent epic, which was also submitted as Taiwan’s Foreign Language entry at the Academy Awards. Starring the ever-glamorous Shu Qi, who made an early Hollywood crossover attempt with The Transporter, The Assassin is based on another wuxia tale that’s parallel to The Manchurian Candidate but instead of Korean brainwashing, it’s 9th century Chinese sorcery.

Read more

Movies

Best Horror Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now

By Alec Bojalad and 2 others

Movies

Ninjas All The Way Down: The Mysterious World of Godfrey Ho

By Craig Lines

The exquisite filmmaking makes this spectacular–panoramic landscapes, lavish costumes, intricately detailed sets, all gorgeous. Every shot is a stunning composition of light and shadow, and the camera lingers on each frame with ponderous and quiet respect, the kind that film students will gush over for years.

(Prime Video in the US, rent only in the UK)

Fearless Hyena (1979)

When people cite Rush Hour to reference Jackie Chan, it just goes to show they don’t know Jackie at all. Long before Jackie crossed over to Hollywood, he made dozens of films that truly captured his astounding Kung Fu skills, unrestricted by U.S. insurance liability. His late ‘70s period was particularly ripe because he was in peak physical shape and first creating his unique acrobatic comedies. Remember that chopstick dumpling training scene between Po and Shifu in Kung Fu Panda? In Fearless Hyena, Jackie and his shifu (James Tien) do it in live-action, no wires, no CGI, and the choreography is absolutely mind-blowing.

Wheels on Meals (1984)

Jackie Chan earned his Kung Fu prowess from being trained from childhood in traditional Chinese Opera. Many of his classmates also became stars in martial arts film. This is one of two collaborations between him and his two martial brothers, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao (the other is Dragons Forever).

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Movies

Jackie Chan’s Project A Movies Are Spectacular

By Craig Lines

Movies

Jackie Chan’s Hard Road to Hollywood

By Craig Lines

A modern comedy shot in Barcelona, the chemistry between Jackie, Sammo and Yuen is magical as they bring the fastest three-person sparring scenes ever captured. On top of that, Jackie faces off against real-life kickboxing champion Benny ‘The Jet’ Urquidez in what is considered by many as the greatest fight scene ever filmed. 

(US only)

Knockabout (1979)

Knockabout is Yuen Biao’s first lead role after dozens of supporting roles. His acrobatic skills are unparalleled, stronger than Jackie’s because his body frame is built like a gymnast. Sammo Hung’s girth has typecast him as villains and buffoons. Nevertheless, he’s a leading director and choreographer and serves as both in this film, on top of playing a comic beggar who trains Yuen in jump rope monkey Kung Fu (that’s right–jump rop –you have to see it to understand).

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Movies

10 of the Weirdest Kung Fu Movies Ever

By Craig Lines

TV

Cobra Kai and the Legacy of The Karate Kid

By Gene Ching

It’s a slow build past some goofy comic hijinks, because Yuen’s skills improve over the course of the film. In a fight against Hoi Sang Lee, Yuen pummels so many goose-egg bruises into his noggin that he looks like the coronavirus. But once the training begins through to the final fight, Yuen and Sammo show why they are legends in the industry. 

(US only)

Dirty Ho (1979)

When this film came out, the title wasn’t as funny as it is now. But it still works in a way because this is one of the best Kung Fu slapstick comedies. Starring some of top talent from Shaw Brother studios, including Gordon Liu, Wang Yue, and Lo Lieh, it’s full of the stylish long-take choreography and blazing stunts using real fire long before CGI.

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Movies

King Boxer: The Enduring Legacy of a Martial Arts Classic

By Craig Lines

Movies

The Man From Hong Kong: A Genuinely Dangerous Action Movie

By Craig Lines

It’s a classic tale of hidden master, a punk student, and notorious villains, including hilarious absurdities like sex change tea, and wheelchair and crutch fighting. The discreet Kung Fu challenge while sampling rare wines out of crazy cups is ludicrous fun; the sort that only master fight choreographer Lau Kar-leung can deliver.

The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1984)

Here is another classic from Gordon Liu and Lau Kar-leung, but serious and somber. Alexander Fu Sheng, a prominent leading man, died in a tragic car crash during production, making this his final film. His character suffers PTSD after losing his family in a horrific opening ambush, but his storyline dangles unfinished.

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Movies

A Beginner’s Guide to Chinese Black Magic Movies

By Craig Lines

Culture

Ip Man: The Man, The Myth, The Movies

By Craig Lines

The film was rewritten to focus Gordon and Lau, as well as the always brilliant Kara Hui. The cast goes all out to honor their fallen comrade’s legacy, showcasing some of the finest weapon choreography ever shot. Based on the legend of the Yang family generals, the untimely death tugs hard on the heartstrings for anyone in the know. 

Return to the 36th Chamber (1980)

Just one more Gordon Liu and Lau Kar-leung project, this is the sequel to The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, which is also amazing and available on Amazon Prime. However, Return to the 36th Chamber has such an odd concept for a sequel that warrants special attention.

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Movies

The 36th Chamber Trilogy‏ – Essential Kung Fu Movie Viewing

By Craig Lines

Liu plays a swindler impersonating the Shaolin monk San Te, the character he played in the first film. When his clan is oppressed by the Manchus gang, Liu sneaks into Shaolin, only to be deceptively trained by the real San Te, then returns for vengeance. His clan are cloth dyers, which makes for colorful pools for villains to plunge.

Liu’s uproarious rooftop Kung Fu and his battle with Wang Lung-Wei’s bench-fighter gang are outstanding. Kara Hui has the best retort after Gordon tries to play off his lack of Kung Fu, claiming it’s only for “universal peace,” and not revenge. She claps back “Huh! That’s a stupid Kung Fu.”

The Lady is the Boss (1983)

Kara Hui (aka Kara Wai) is one of the greatest Kung Fu divas of all, yet she’s only known by true devotees of the genre. If you’ve never heard of her, here is one of her finest comedy vehicles. Set in modern-day Hong Kong, Hui plays an American master returning to save her father’s Kung Fu school after his passing. Lau Kar-leung is the eldest student in charge (also the choreographer) and he resists her attempts to modernize.

Long take fights are staged in a topless club, a disco, and finally, a gymnastic gym replete with rings, parallel bars, and a beam, perfect for the choreographic shenanigans only Lau can bring. Gordon Liu appears with hair, which feels wrong because he built his reputation on playing bald monks. 

Crippled Avengers (1978)

From director Chang Cheh, the “Godfather of Kung Fu Films,” Crippled Avengers stars four members of the Venoms crew, from Chang’s classic The Five Venoms (also available on Amazon Prime).

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Movies

The Five Deadly Venoms: An Essential Martial Arts Movie

By Craig Lines

It was repackaged as The Return of the Five Venoms (and also Mortal Combat), however it is its own standalone masterpiece and has nothing to do with the original beyond the cast.

Lu Feng (Centipede from the Venoms crew) gets his arms chopped off and replaced by iron arms (a plot device that RZA echoed The Man with the Iron Fists). Lu and his father, played by the rough and tumble Chan Kuan Tai, cripple the heroes, who must then walk the road of vengeance while handicapped. The portrayal of the disabilities is dated (arm tied behind the back for the amputee, eyes closed for the blinded) but the choreography is ingenious. 

Five Elements Ninjas (1982)

Another echo of The Five Venoms from the sanguineous Chang Cheh, Five Elements Ninjas showcases the director’s unique eye for fantasy. It’s an orgy of weird fantasy weapons and ultraviolence, bloody fight scene after bloody fight scene, a cult film of truly epic proportions. As the title says, the ninjas are based on the five elements.

The gold ninjas don gold lame suits and switchblade shield hats. The wood ninjas look like rejected apple trees in The Wizard of Oz. If you turn this film into a drinking game where you take a shot whenever blood is spilled, you won’t make it past the first half hour. 

The Web of Death (1976)

What is the ultimate Kung Fu WMD? It’s a tarantula that roars like an elephant and shoots acidic webs, sparks, and death rays, and it decimates the wuxia world. The Web of Death has everything a cult film requires: crazy weapons, cross dressing, romance, complex set-pieces, halls of traps, including acid pits, spiked poles and dragon-headed sparkler cannons, silly superheroes and villains in costumes that would make MCU heroes blush. Filled with jaw dropping WTF moments, it’s a real treat for anyone into cheesy over-the-top Kung Fu cinema.

The Bride with White Hair (1993)

Based on a wuxia novel, The Bride with White Hair is a surreal plunge into the Kung Fu subgenre of Fant-Asia which blossomed in the ‘90s. It’s a doomed romance between rival cult members set in a world of swords and sorcery that stars Brigette Lin in the spurned titular role and the dreamy heartthrob Leslie Cheung.

What makes this stand out was the visionary direction of Ronny Yu. His pre-CGI special effects hold up surprisingly well. Lin’s characterization of the bride was so compelling that it spawned an homage in The Forbidden Kingdom and a remake in The White Haired Witch. The Bride with White Hair II is also available on Amazon Prime which reunites Lin and Cheung, but without Yu’s direction it’s not nearly as special. 

(US only)

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010)

Fant-Asia has been revitalized with the advent of CGI. Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame marked a triumphant return to form for director Tsui Hark. Armed with quixotic special effects, Hark casts Andy Lau as the legendary detective Di Renjie, who is like a Tang Dynasty Sherlock Holmes. Wuxia films are akin to comic book movies, filled with glaringly overdone heroes and villains, super saturated color schemes, and a lot of flying about.

It’s high fantasy wirework in front of CG backgrounds with physics-defying fight choreography by Sammo Hung (Kung Fu physics are not subject to the laws of gravity). Most of all, it takes unexpected turns like the old Fant-Asia story arcs have always done. 

(US only)

Tai Chi Zero (2012)

Director Stephen Fung took Fant-Asia another step into an emergent subgenre of Shanghai Steampunk (Legend of Korra is another example). It’s an action comedy about the legendary forefather of Tai Chi, Yang Luchan, in what was meant to be the launch of a trilogy. However, it was filmed back-to-back with the second installment, Tai Chi Hero (not free on Amazon Prime), which was released only a month later and that proximity depleted their box office returns.

Nevertheless, Tai Chi Zero was an Official Selection at several notable international film festivals because it was so stylish and funny. Both films end on cliffhangers in anticipation of the next chapter, but Tai Chi Hero loses the momentum of its predecessor, except for the final cliffhanging tease. There’s been no further development on the final chapter Tai Chi Summit since Tai Chi Hero flopped. 

(US only)

JCVD (2012)

Jean-Claude Van Damme opens this French film with a remarkable long take fight, showing he still had it on the brink of turning 50, but it’s not really a martial arts film. He plays a self-deprecating caricature of himself, although not as comedic as his lampooning self-portrayal in the Amazon Original Series Jean-Claude Van Johnson.

There’s some top-notch cinematography including more complex long takes, remarkable displays of technical skill, and directorial timing. But it’s all about Van Damme’s confession scene when he breaks the fourth wall and discusses his filmmaking process in that weird recursive, artsy French film way. It’s a long-take monologue, and Van Damme nails it emotionally with a heartfelt confession that’s not so much amazing acting as it is brutally honest. He lays it out, bares his soul, and surprisingly, it’s a sympathetic soul. It’s a truly captivating scene, a dramatic triumph that no one ever saw coming, completely redefining Van Damme as an actor. 

(US only)

The Man from Nowhere (2010)

This was Korea’s highest grossing film that year. It’s a gritty and brutally bloody tale of a pawnshop owner, played by Won Bin, who unwittingly receives a camera bag filled with stolen heroin, attracting the attention of the drug ring gangsters.

However, he’s a retired special agent with fierce combat skills, tossed into a ghetto tale with exotic dancers, organ harvesting, an innocent child who needs protection, and gang wars. Won Bin won many dramatic accolades with the five films he made, including Taegukgi and Mother. This was his final one to date and he sells the ultraviolence with remarkable panache. 

(Prime Video in the US, rent only in UK)

Kundo: Age of the Rampant (2014)

This is another outstanding Korean martial arts film, set in the Joseon period. It echoes Robin Hood, complete with a fighting monk like Friar Tuck, a Maid Marian type, only she’s a keen archer, and a Little John character wielding a shot-put ball on a rope for brutal ultra violence. Ha Jung-woo stars as the lead, a butcher who wields butcher knives, which just adds to the bloodiness. The fight choreography is fun and sanguineous, and the characters were well fleshed out, even the villain. Like a lot of Korean cinema, it takes some surprising turns in the details, little scenes that feel fresh in their presentation. And the panoramic shots are visually epic. 

(US only)

Redeemer (2015)

Marko Zaror brings an exotic Chilean actioner full of fight choreography that’s merciless, witty, and precise. Zaror is cut and yoked like a beast. He can catch great flying kicks air, roll well for nods to MMA, and handle complex continuous fights. Redeemer includes several long take scenes with the camera aggressively circling around battle, showcasing a masterful command of action and cinematography.

Set in Chile’s cool seascapes and weather worn graffiti-covered ghettos, Redeemer has a strong Catholic theme, lots of crucifixes and pondering about divine justice, which totally works as atmosphere for this fascinating fight flick. 

The Octagon (1980)

Before Chuck Norris became an invincible meme, he churned out a handful of Hollywood martial arts feature films. His third effort, The Octagon, co-starring Lee Van Cleef, is one of his best. It’s a ninja tale, pitting Chuck against noted masters like Richard Norton, Tadashi Yamashita, and his brother Aaron Norris, fighting his way into a ninja terrorist camp where the central ring is “the Octagon.” It was this film that inspired Jason Cusson to design the trademarked Octagon used in the Ultimate Fighting Championships. 

Ninja III: The Domination (1984)

In the ‘80s, there was a proliferation of cheesy Ninja films and Sho Kosugi dominated the trend. This is one of those movies that is so horrible, it’s awesome. And it’s Sho’s masterpiece. Lucinda Dickey was a Solid Gold Dancer, who starred in the breakdancing films Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, which bookended Ninja III. While she wasn’t a martial artist in real life, she has the moves, adding to the huge stable of martial actors who started as dancers (even Bruce Lee was a cha cha champion).

It’s incredibly dated with references to video games, aerobics, and the most gawdawful soundtrack ever. The choreography is horrible; Sho overacts whenever it comes to selling a punch; it’s all about Lucinda who tries–really tries–to act her way through a ridiculously dumb story about being possessed by a ninja. But the final sword fight has a ninja zombie and it’s the funniest example of what we had to endure during the ‘80s ninja craze. 

(US only)

Shaolin Dolemite (1999)

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

There was Oscar buzz about Eddie Murphy’s depiction of Rudy Ray Moore in the biopic Dolemite Is My Name, but if you haven’t seen a Dolemite film, you really don’t know. Moore played Dolemite half a dozen times, but ironically in this film, he plays Monk Ru-Dee instead, and this is the only one with any real martial arts in it.

Moore took the cuttings from a 1986 Taiwanese film titled Ninja: The Final Duel, and spliced himself in to create his own story, and it’s just so cray. Beyond Moore, there are bizarre characters like the drunken Sam the Spliff, the topless Ninja Ho, and the coonskin cap wearing Davy Crockett. The story barely makes a lick of sense, but who cares? It’s mother-effin Dolemite.

The post Best Martial Arts Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[lovemohamadus]

Japanese Cat Names – 180 Awesome Ideas Inspired By Japan

What are the foremost popular Japanese cat names right now? we will assist you to find the right one to fit your pet!

These names come from the foremost recently released list of the foremost popular Japanese cat names supported owner surveys conducted by Isis Pet:

Koko – cocoa Hana – flower Kuro – black Momo – peach Chibi – tiny Mike – tortoiseshell Hime – princess Fuku – lucky Reo – Leo Rin – bell Mei or Mii – reliable sprout Tora – tiger Tama – ball Shiro – white Sora – sky Kai – ocean Chiro – bare (great for a hairless cat!) Mikan – mandarin orange Kotetsu – small iron Sakura – cherry blossom Maron – chestnut Azuki – sweet red beans Miruku – milk Maru – circle Moka – mocha Kinako – yellow flour Kurumi – walnut Chobi – small Haru – spring Minto – mint

Japanese Cat Names Are you checking out the simplest Japanese cat names for your new feline family member? you've got to come to the proper place!

Japanese cat names

In this article, you'll find carefully curated lists of a number of the simplest Japanese pet names for cats and kittens.

One of the foremost fun parts of selecting your kitty’s new name is learning more about the history of cats in Japan, which is both ancient and interesting!

Without further ado, let’s get to the great stuff – the lists of Japanese cat names!

About Japanese Cat Breeds The Japanese Bobtail cat is widely considered to be an ancient purebred cat breed that hails from Japan.

While modern genome analysis suggests the breed can also be influenced by felines from China or Korea, the Japanese claim the breed as their own.

The nearby Kuril Islands even have their cat breed, the Kurilian Bobtail cat.

The Kurilian Bobtail looks strikingly almost like the Japanese Bobtail cat – sufficiently so that researchers suspect a shared ancestor.

About Japanese Cat Names If you're not conversant in the Japanese language, it can feel a touch confusing to navigate initially.

This is because there are three different alphabets wont to write in Japanese: katakana, hiragana, and kanji.

Which alphabet is employed, and whether it's syllabic or symbolic, can affect the Japanese cat names meaning.

If you've got seen equivalent Japanese names meaning cat given different meanings, this is often likely the rationale why.

Short Names are Best Regardless of which alphabet you employ, you'll notice most Japanese cat names are short.

This will add your favor during training since a team of Japanese researchers recently revealed proof that cats can learn and recognize their names.

Picking a brief, percussive name that sounds unlike common commands or other loved one names (including other pets) will help your new kitty learn his or her name quickly.

How well does one know your cat? Discover the key world of cats.

The Happy Cat Handbook - a singular guide to understanding and enjoying your cat! the happy cat handbook Famous Japanese Cat Names If there's any doubt left in your mind that the entire country of Japan loves cats, inspect Maru.

Maru is that the official Guinness record holder for the “most-watched animal on YouTube.”

Also referred to as Mugumogu, Maru may be a Scottish Fold cat whose YouTube videos are watched quite 325 million times!

Other famous Japanese felines hail from anime series, feline J-pop idol spinoffs, popular product mascots (like the Min Min Daha catgirls) and more.

Maru – feline YouTube sensation Shironeko, aka “basket cat” – another feline YouTube sensation Meowth – Pokemon Luna – Sailor Moon anime feline Artemis – Sailor Moon anime feline Diana – Sailor Moon anime feline Mugumogu – Maru’s YouTube name Doraemon – popular Japanese robotic cat Kirara – Inuyasha Japanese anime Fusasa – Fiona (HarMEOWny leader) Raina (HarMEOWny member) Solana (HarMEOWny member) Topatopa (HarMEOWny member) Aria (HarMEOWny member) Yuria – Isabella (NKB48 member) Rena or Renacchi – Ariana (NKB48 member) Mako or Kojimako – Elena (NKB48 member) Rina or Rican – Rebecca (NKB48 member) Haruka or Paruru – Petunia (NKB48 member) Jurina – Julia (NKB48 member) Kirika – Twitter cat Gupitaro – Instagram cat Map U Chin – Twitter cat Rai – Instagram cat Ito-san – Instagram cat Hakusama – Twitter cat Jun – Twitter cat Naomiuno – Instagram cat Soramoon – Twitter cat Maruruna – Instagram cat Japanese Female Cat Names Japanese girl cat names are easier to identify if you recognize a number of the normal endings utilized in Japanese culture.

For example, names ending in ko, mi, ka, e, na, no and ri are more likely to be female names.

Emi – beautiful blessing Mimi – from Japanese manga “ChocoMimi” Ran – orchid Fuji – sort of flower Tenshi – angel Ren – love Cho – butterfly Minako – beautiful child Miki – beautiful princess Ayaka – colorful flower Ara – Japanese manga name Ina – Japanese manga name Fumiko – abundant beauty Ayame – iris flower Kimi – noble Browse through 250 more female cat names here.

Japanese Male Cat Names Japanese boy cat names are often relatively easy to identify by how they end.

For example, if you see a reputation that ends with kazu, dai, shi, ji, ro, ichi, o, kichi, hiko, nobu, or ta, this name is probably going a masculine name.

Kotarou or Kotaro – dreamer, smart Akira – bright boy Suzuki – bell tree Taro – big son Akio – hero Kameko – long life Akihiko – bright prince Michio – journeyman Rikuto – right down to earth Sho – to fly (great for a climbing or jumping cat) Tadao – loyal Yoshiro – righteous son Tamotsu – protector Kouta – peace Hitoshi – motivated Check out 250 more male cat names here.

Japanese fisher Names In many parts of the planet, a fisher is taken into account to be bad luck, but not so in Japan.

Not only are black cats considered good luck, but this effect is amplified for single women in search of suitors!

Choco – chocolate Sumi – black calligraphy ink Jiji – fisher companion to the witch Kiki in Japanese anime “Kiki’s delivery service” Kuroi – black Burakku – black Kuroba mu – black or blacken Kokukoku – black Kuron – black or dark-skinned Hei zhi – black mark Kuro neko – fisher Shirokuro – black and white Burakkupeppa – black pepper Yami – black Kage – shadow Kurai – dark

Did you recognize that thousands of research papers are published on cat behavior and health? No time to read them all? Don’t worry - we’ve done it for you! And picked out the simplest bits! The Happy Cat Handbook - a singular guide to understanding and enjoying your cat! the happy cat handbook Cute Japanese Cat Names Kawaisa, or Kawaii, is that the word describing the fashionable “culture of cuteness” that's so popular in Japan today.

Perhaps the foremost universally well-known icon of this culture of cuteness is Hello Kitty (Haro Kiti in Japanese), a hybrid human/Japanese Bobtail cat with wide eyes and a bow over one ear.

These cute Japanese kitten names and cat names could be perfect for the lovable kitty in your life.

For an additional dose of cuteness, add the honorific “Chan” to the front of the name you select.

Let’s Take a glance Ringo – apple Ichigo – strawberry Mikan – orange Yuzu – citrus Mochi – sticky rice Anko – red bean paste Ocha – Japanese tea Kawaii – cute Yoshiko – good child Hanako – hippie Mew – Pokemon Hoshi – star Kyoko – happy Haiku – short Japanese poem Hotaru – firefly Find even more cute cat names during this article.

Funny Japanese Cat Names Does your cat have you ever in stitches?

One of these funny Japanese cat names might just suit your feline’s laugh-worthy antics!

Pochi – spot Puss (in Boots) Pero – Japanese character supported Puss in Boots story Nyan Cat – famous Japanese meme Nyan Nyan – cat’s meow Waru Nyan – bad cat Kyapi Nyan – perky cat Genki Nyan – energetic cat Dame Nyan – not a good cat Bonito – fish flakes Skitty – Pokemon Shinx – Pokemon Purrloin – Pokemon Bento – Japanese box lunch Nintendo – leave luck to heaven Enjoy more funny cat names during this article.

Cool Japanese Cat Names If there's any cooler character than a cat, we've yet to get it!

These cool Japanese cat names are inspired by Japanese culture and history.

Mi-kay – tri-color cat Maneki-Neko – Japanese Bobtail cat statues in many Japanese restaurants Koneko – Japanese word for a kitten (“child cat”) Neko – Japanese word for cat Sensei – teacher Yamakawa Sutematsu (“Stematz”) – first Japanese woman to graduate from college Kounna – lucky Osamu – studious Kaneda – rich, wealthy Kimono – the traditional name for a cat with a black marking on its back Ryou – cool Hotoke – Buddha-nature, merciful Bishamon – Japanese god of war and happiness Haya-Ji – whirlwind Kami – a deity of the wildlife Find lots more cool cat names here.

Tough Japanese Cat Names These tough Japanese cat names evoke a number of the qualities of a brave, strong, loyal feline.

Ryu – dragon Katsuo – hero or victory Nekomata – supernatural forked cat from Yokai folklore Nekomata – similar sort of supernatural cat from Yokai folklore Kinnikou – muscle (strong) Tomoe – a Japanese warrior woman Takeko – Japanese warrior woman Musashi – Japanese samurai Kojiro – Japanese samurai Kenta – big, strong Kashi – oak Noriko – thunder Reiko – courageous Honcho – leader Isamu – courage Judo – fighter Daiki – great glory Makoto – true Mitsuo – shining man Sumo – wrestler Taiki – large Katashi – firm Ryuunosuke – noble, herald Shinobu – endurance Takumi – skillful Yuudai – a great hero Hiraku – support Daisuke – big help Daiki – great tree Haruki – bright just like the sun

[feelfreeaz]

Mother Earth: Her Whales by Gary Snyder

An owl winks in the shadows

A lizard lifts on tiptoe, breathing hard

Young male sparrow stretches up his neck,

                  big head, watching—The grasses are working in the sun. Turn it green.

Turn it sweet. That we may eat.

Grow our meat.Brazil says “sovereign use of Natural Resources”

Thirty thousand kinds of unknown plants.

The living actual people of the jungle

       sold and tortured—

And a robot in a suit who peddles a delusion called “Brazil”

       can speak for

them

       The whales turn and glisten, plunge

               and sound and rise again,

       Hanging over subtly darkening deeps

       Flowing like breathing planets

             in the sparkling whorls of

                    living light—And Japan quibbles for words on

       what kinds of whales they can kill?

A once-great Buddhist nation

       dribbles methyl mercury

       like gonorrhea

                     in the sea.Pere David’s Deer, the Elaphure,

Lived in the tule marshes of the Yellow River

Two thousand years ago—and lost its home to rice—

The forests of Lo-yang were logged and all the silt &

Sand flowed down, and gone, by 1200 AD—

Wild Geese hatched out in Siberia

       head south over basins of the Yang, the Huang,

       what we call “China”

On flyways they have used a million years.

Ah China, where are the tigers, the wild boars,

                  the monkeys,

                     like the snows of yesteryear

Gone in a mist, a flash, and the dry hard ground

Is parking space for fifty thousand trucks.

IS man most precious of all things?

—then let us love him, and his brothers, all those

Fading living beings—North America, Turtle Island, taken by invaders

       who wage war around the world.

May ants, may abalone, otters, wolves and elk

Rise! and pull away their giving

       from the robot nations.

Solidarity

The People.

Standing Tree People!

Flying Bird People!

Swimming Sea People!

Four-legged, two-legged people!How can the head-heavy power-hungry politic scientist

Government     two-world     Capitalist-Imperialist

Third-world     Communist      paper-shuffling male

            non-farmer     jet-set     bureaucrats

Speak for the green of the leaf? Speak for the soil?(Ah Margaret Mead . . . do you sometimes dream of Samoa?)The robots argue how to parcel out our Mother Earth

To last a little longer

                   like vultures flapping

Belching, gurgling,

                   near a dying doe.

“In yonder field a slain knight lies—

We’ll fly to him and eat his eyes

                   with a down

        derry derry derry down down.”             An Owl winks in the shadow

            A lizard lifts on tiptoe

                        breathing hard

            The whales turn and glisten

                        plunge and

            Sound, and rise again

            Flowing like breathing planets             In the sparkling whorls             Of living light.                      

Stockholm: Summer Solstice 40072

[thecomicsnexus]

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ADVENTURES #31-37 APRIL - OCTOBER 1992 BY STEVE MURPHY, ERIC TALBOT, CHRIS ALLAN, BRIAN THOMAS, BARRY GROSSMAN, JON D’AGOSTINO AND ROD OLLERENSHAW

SYNOPSIS (FROM COMIC VINE)

After the struggle against the demon Noi Tai Dar, our heroes seek activities to soothe their souls. Leonardo and Master Splinter train on a hillside. The Sensei explains to Leonardo that a true swordsman must empty his mind of all thought when doing battle - there must only be flow, the swordsman must become one with his blade. Splinter has little trouble disarming and defeating his student, and Leonardo tries to take in the lesson before the two break for lunch. The pair join the other Turtles, Fu Sheng, Chu Hsi, April, Ninjara and the girl Chien Khan kidnapped in the previous issue for some sushi. Raph isn't happy about the menu, and Ninjara needles him by saying "I thought you weren't afraid of anything!"

Leo notes that Japan is where all of their lives began - it is the home of Master Splinter as well as the Foot Clan. The Sensei agrees, and asks his students to explore their homeland, so that they can better understand their teachings and origins. The Turtles eagerly agree and ask where to begin, and Splinter tells them to first separate from one another. Mike joins the girl and the two head off to fly a kite. Ninjara takes Raphael to visit some stone monuments. Donatello decides to check on how the containment process is going at the nuclear power plant - but he chooses to go alone. Splinter asks Leo to continue his lessons. Fu Sheng is left alone, as April and Chu are wrapped in conversation. Ninjara and Raphael arrive at the shrine. The Turtle wonders why there are so many crows around, and the fox explains that they are probably drawn to the dark power contained in the Torii. Raph asks if these monuments are really a gateway to a dimension filled with demons, and Ninjara assures him that it is true - the Torii are a gateway to the Yomi, or Underworld or "Land of Gloom." Raph feels compelled by the Torii and Ninjara warns him to be careful, as they contain mesmerizing power over those who are open to it. The Turtle begins to stutter and Ninjara orders him to "Let it go!" in the nick of time. Shaken, Raph leans on the fox for support and thanks her for her help. Ninjara notes that Raph has an affinity to the Torii, and she tells him that she likes that. Suddenly, the foxy ninja smells something on the wind... cologne? We see four human figures hidden in shadows, spying on the mutants.

Donatello is watching helicopters pouring cement on the nuclear power plant. The men are burying the radioactive plant in concrete, the same way that Chernobyl was sealed. Don finds the solution somewhat pedestrian, but is impressed by the engineering involved. His thoughts are interrupted as two crows fly by - and then a strange white energy ball forms in front of the mutant. Donatello wonders if it's an after effect of the demon's sorcery, or of the radiation.

Leo and Splinter continue to train, but once again Leonardo is unarmed. Splinter reminds him, "Be one with your sword, Leonardo." The Turtle thanks his mentor and the teacher thanks his student as the sun begins to set. Mikey and his friend exchange haikus as they fly a large kite decorated with a yellow dragon.

Feng Shu trains Chu Hsi to control the spirit of the Warrior Dragon while April practices with her katana. After a time, Chu manages to shrink the gigantic form of the Warrior Dragon down to his normal height. April is impressed. Ninjara and Raph attack the people spying on them - it's the gang of youths from the sewer fight! Raph states that they mistakenly thought the Turtles were allied with Chien Khan's ninjas, and one of the men incredulously declares, "Mistakenly?! Yet you keep company with the greatest thief in Japan?!" Donatello watches the energy ball as it transforms into the Yin Yang symbol and speaks to him, explaining that it is all things feminine as well as all things masculine - for it is the Tao. Don is bewildered at first, but then smiles and introduces himself. The Yin Yang asks Donatello to follow it, and it leads him up a mountain. Once he reaches the top, Donatello can see that the men have finished filling in the damaged nuclear power plant, and the concrete forms the Yin Yang symbol. "There is ebb, there is flow," the symbol explains, "There is give, there is take. Every saving has its cost. Tao is all." And with that, the Yin Yang symbol disappears.

Raph and Ninjara put the finishing moves on their opponents. Raph wonders aloud why the men attacked them, and the last one standing notes, "It was you who attacked us! We came seeking.

April and Chu share a kiss by the moonlight. April breaks away and says that they need to slow down, and Chu agrees. He takes O'Neil by the hand and the pair head off to join Fu Sheng for dinner.

Leonardo and Master Splinter continue their training. The pair lunge at one another, and both their blades shatter upon impact.

The gang of youths that Raph and Ninjara had battled in the previous issue inform our hot headed heroes that they've come to seek help for a friend. On cue, the mighty Sumo wrestler named Tattoo arrives and tells the Turtles that his pet chihuahua, Inky, has been taken hostage. The mob has threatened to kill the massive man's best friend if he doesn't take a fall in his next match - Tattoo states that he can't lose the match as it will ruin his career. The TMNT vow to help him get his pooch back without having to throw the match.

While Tattoo is engaged in his Sumo match, the TMNT, Ninjara and the Warrior Dragon infiltrate the mob headquarters and rescue the fiesty pup. Tattoo wins his match and the Turtles return Inky to his beloved master. The wrestler awards Leonardo a katana as thanks for saving his dog.

Master Splinter has a nightmare about being caged and when he awakes, he determines that it's time for the Turtles to leave Japan. Splinter, Mike, Don, Leo, Raph and Ninjara bid farewell to April (who is flying home) and their other friends and set off for China.

After a very long trip, our heroes finally arrive in Tibet. They rent some yaks to climb the mountains on the last leg of their journey, and discover a four armed tiger named Katmandu in battle with Whirling Dervish assassins on the high trail. The TMNT help Katmandu and discover that he is headed to the same place that they seek - the Crystal Palace, which is home to Master Splinter's spiritual guide, Charlie Llama. Katmandu explains that he wishes to become a guardian of Charlie Llama to improve his karma.

As the group arrives at the palace, they discover that it's been attacked! Before anyone can get their bearings, a skeletal dervish escapes the scene, laughing as it goes.

Katmandu notes that this is very bad karma.

Master Splinter, Ninjara and the TMNT have traveled the globe to visit the Sensei's old teacher, Charlie Llama, in the Crystal Palace in Tibet. On their way they met a four armed tiger man named Katmandu who was on his way to the Palace to guard the Llama. Unfortunately, upon their arrival, our heroes find the palace in shambles - and a four armed skeleton escapes their grasp.

As Katmandu and Leo ponder where the skeleton may have gone, a young pregnant woman named Jang La explains that she has come to the palace in order that Charlie Llama (the fourteenth reincarnation of the Buddha) can serve as her midwife during the birth of her child. She also points out a distant palace among the mountains that the Dervish skeleton has escaped to.

Katmandu explains that this building is the home of the evil sorceror Mang-Thrasha. Typically, the wizard does not involve himself in the lives of men - so the tiger warrior is surprised that he has kidnapped Charlie Llama. As the protaganists decide what course of action to take against Mang-Thrasha, Jang La suddenly goes into labor. The TMNT take her back inside the Crystal Palace and make her as comfortable as possible. Soon, a group of monkey monks called the Tantric Monkeys arrive. Leo, Mike, Raph, Ninjara and Katmandu leave for Mang-Thrasha's palace as Master Splinter, Don and the Tantric Monkeys help Jang La during her birthing.

The group of heroes arrive at the foot of the mountain holding the evil sorceror's palace and soon run into a strange mist. Raph and Ninjara are separated from the others due to the fog. Mike, Leo and Katmandu are attacked by two dervishes. Meanwhile, Raph and Ninjara spot the palace and begin to climb towards it - when the mutant turtle loses his grip and causes an avalanche that carries both ninjas down the mountain.

Leo, Mike and Katmandu discover the four armed skeleton Dervish in the mist and Katmandu makes short work of the bone brain. The trio heads into Mang-Thrasha's unlocked palace and find the wizard accompanied by a large Chinese militia. The sorceror states that he plans to ally himself with the Chinese and hand Charlie Llama over to them. The Chinese government will then force Charlie Llama to tell his millions of followers that he is not the Buddha and that his spiritual claims were all lies, thus ending the any threat that the Chinese might lose control of Tibet.

Suddenly, Raph and Ninjara come crashing through the wall and a battle ensues. While the Turtles and fox fight the militia, Katmandu rushes to Charlie Llama's side - but as he stands guard over his master, the Buddha dies comfortably on his bed, due to natural causes.

At that moment, Jang La has her baby, much to the delight of the Tantric Monkeys.

With the death of Charlie Llama, Mang-Thrasha's plans are ruined.

That evening, Charlie Llama is burned upon a funeral pyre. Ninjara laments for Splinter that he has traveled all this way to speak with his mentor, only to lose him upon arrival. Splinter smiles and states that while the Master he knew is gone, he will return later, when the new incarnation of the Buddha (Jang La's child) has grown up.

Continuing their journey, the Turtles, Ninjara and Master Splinter find themselves in the deserts of Iran, where they sneak aboard an oil freighter heading for Oman. Our heroes then cross the sands of Saudi Arabia, heading for Al Hadidah, which is nearby Mecca, where the legendary Black Stone is kept. Ninjara reveals that the Stone is highly prized by thieves, and it is said to be fifth most difficult item in the world to steal. When the group arrives in Al Hadidah, a large crater in the Earth's surface, they decide to camp for the evening. While they rest, Master Splinter tells them the history of the area and that of the Black Stone and its importance to the religion of Islam. Splinter also states that since they are so close, they must at least take a look at Mecca.

The next day the mutants ride out on camels, and Ninjara tells the tale of a second stone. According to legend, two stones fell - the Black Stone, as well as a White Stone. Reportedly a nomad disappeared with the White Stone before anyone else arrived on the scene. Supposedly wealthy men have been selling the stone for the past 3,000 years and have been trying to steal its Black twin - as legend has it that the man who holds both Stones will live forever.

The turtles pass by another caravan of six camel riders. Pleasant greetings are exchanged and the groups continue on their separate ways - although one of the other riders seemed to recognize Splinter...

Later, the TMNT find an abandoned city, long ago forgotten when the trade routes changed. The team takes shelter, as a huge sandstorm looms on the horizon. Unbeknownst to them, a falcon has taken news of their arrival to an unsual eagle-headed mutant, who resides nearby.

Back at the abandoned city, the Turtles are attacked by a group of men. As they fight, the eagle-headed mutant flies into the fray and smashes into Michaelangelo. We discover that this new threat goes by the name Al 'Falqa, and he's under the impression that our heroes have stolen the Black Stone of Mecca. The Turtles and Splinter manage to convince their flying foe that they have not taken the artifact. Al 'Falqa explains that he was sure they had taken the Stone, as it was reported that six riders had escaped with it. Suddenly, the sandstorm is upon them. Everyone tries to take cover, but Master Splinter is overcome by the force and passes out due to lack of oxygen.

From a distance, the Shredder watches the scene via his binoculars and laughs.

Once the sandstorm has passed, Shredder arrives on the scene and lifts the unconscious body of Splinter, cursing his existence. Ninjara, Al 'Falqa and the TMNT arrive and a battle breaks out, but our heroes are soon trapped inside a force field created by a new villain, the cat mutant cyborg from the future named Verminator-X!

Verminator-X kicks the force field bubble and sends our team rolling through the sand. The villains then climb onboard their camels and take Master Splinter with them as they ride off into the desert.

Several hours later, the force field finally collpases and frees our heroes. Al 'Falqa sends his falcon ally, Talyn, to find their foes. The bird soon finds Shredder and his new henchman. Verminator-X spots Talyn and fires, but his shot only wounds the bird rather than killing it.

Talyn tells Al 'Falqa that Shredder is camped at a nearby oasis, and the eagle mutant leads the Turtles through a foggara (an underground aqueduct) to the spot.

Verminator-X and Shredder are waiting for a time-slip portal to open, which will give them the means to escape with their prize - the stolen Black Stone of Mecca.

The Turtles discover Foot Robot guards and attack, while Ninjara and Al 'Falqa battle Shredder and Verminator-X. The TMNT mop up the Foot bots with little trouble, but they soon find Master Splinter held hostage by Verminator-X and their arch enemy. Leonardo reminds Shredder that he owes the Turtles for freeing him from Krang. Shredder reluctantly turns the Sensei over to the TMNT, just as the time slip opens and the villains escape with the Black Stone.

Except they didn't escape with the Stone! Ninjara had used her thieving skills to replace the Black Stone with a fake while Al 'Falqa kept the criminals busy. The mighty eagle mutant is overcome with gratitude and kneels in praise with the real Black Stone of Mecca.

Our heroes continue to cross the desert when their old acquaintance Cudley the Cowlick arrives and informs them that Mr. Stump, head of the Intergalactic Wrestling Federation, wants them to appear on his show again. The Turtles are so tired of walking the desert that they agree to have Cudley take them across the galaxy to Stump's asteroid to see what he has to offer. Master Splinter isn't happy that they've cut their tour of the world short.

Upon their arrival, Stump tells the TMNT that he wants them to take part in his wrestling tournament. If they agree, Cudley will take them anywhere and anytime in the universe as payment. Donatello angrily notes that all they'll be getting for their appearance is a ride home, a fact that Stump acknowledges. Master Splinter points out that the Turtles had agreed to come here, so if they want a ride home.

The TMNT head to the locker room to don their wrestling costumes, where they meet Cryin' Houn', Ace Duck and Trap. Trap informs the mutant dudes that Stump has decided that this time, since it's a tournament, they'll have to wrestle each other! The winner of the tournament will then have to take on El Mysterio for the title.

As Ace Duck begins the tournament against a werewolf named Bloodbath, Master Splinter and Ninjara discuss her relationship with Raphael. The Sensei admits that while he intitially didn't trust her due to her partnership with Chien Khan, he has come to trust her completely - but it is difficult for him to accept her relationship with Raph, as it means that his sons are growing up. Ninjara hugs Splinter as they view the beauty of outer space through a gigantic window.

At this point, the main event begins - the TMNT in a free-for-all against one another. After a long bout, Donatello finally manages to pin Raphael and win the match. El Mysterio (Cryin' Houn' in a costume) arrives in the ring, but Don is too quick for the lumbering four-armed wrestler and quickly pins him as well. Donatello is declared the winner and receives a kiss from the ring girl.

Soon, Cudley is flying through space, carrying our heroes home.

REVIEW

Because of the whole situation with the Shredder travelling to the future, I would have imagined that the Turtles would have asked Cudley to take them there. But as far as I know, no one knows what year they were coming from.

These are very controversial issues that IDW considered too risky to reprint. And they were originally published by Archie!

They are controversial though. Not only there is a visual depiction of Mohammed, but he is also blue eyed (like the 90% of the characters in this comic). Then we have the Chinese caricature whose name I already forgot. I feel like these stories take the characters to places it does not dare to go again. And the story with Shredder doesn’t really make much sense for the character. It’s strange that the intergalactic battle becomes the highest point of these issues.

There is also an appearance of Inky, Eric Talbot’s favourite easter egg (that I just saw at the beginning of “City at War”).

The art manages to find iconic sequences. I think that, in general, this book’s art is very pleasing to the eye.

I give these issues a score of 5.

[poisonedichor]

Nights of London- Chapter i

 The sickly yellow sunlight filtered through the dusty curtains of the equally dustier warehouse until they appeared to be crushed by the stony face of Damien. "Couldn't even wait until after I had my morning coffee could it?" the boy who cowered in the corner as stiff as a suit of armor highly doubted that the boss ever drank anything other than hard vodka yet he still shivered despite the heavy heat that flooded the room.

  "Sir, the problem needs to be addressed before we have any more Проблемы." The boy, no older than 12 was a fool when speaking in English. He stumbled over the words like a fawn trying to run away from a wolf before it's learned to walk. He felt lost in the vowels of the English words yet the man sitting behind the desk made it mandatory to make his company more modernized."

  The boy along with his superior there were two other figures in the room. Kassandra was the first leaning against the doorway with her face stitched in annoyance and Angelina, Damien's right hand. "It's  seven-fucking-o'five in the bloody morning and by the time this boy stumbles through another sentence twelve more hours will have passed." Kassy was temperamental she lived in London's clubs and thrived during the dark hours when only the cities sinners lurked. "We have stood here and the only thing that this boy has announced in the past 10 minutes is that he has an announcement." The child was red with embarrassment his head hung he wondered if he should have even made a fuss about the eventful night he had witnessed.

  "Kassy, don't you dare leave, every man under this company will be treated with respect." The anger and frustration of thousands of nights spent working under the older man's wing had made her irritable lately. Angelina stood behind the desk with the stance of a street fighter and the ferocity of a tiger. Damien, however, seemed oblivious to the tension that set itself over the room in a silk sheet of heat, exhaustion, and anger. His composure was one most men would possess having tea with a queen not, in a room of thugs.

  "Well get on with it boy."

  "The sisters, I seen them snooping around with Ricci men. Dancing and twirling all around the west side of the city boss." although it took him a few minutes to translate and re-translate his mispronunciations were forgotten as the temperature in the room spiked as the man rose from his chair.

  "Our druggies?" he asked as if it wasn't explicitly clear through the young boy's description. It was met with a nod. "Go find them, and Kassy..." his chair squeaked as he sat back in it's leather "go with him so he doesn't get lost."

  His gang was too young, too delicate to be toeing the line drawn between the Russians and the Italians like that, toeing the line between the east and west sides. If Mr. Ricci, as old as he is were to find out the guns will be cocked and bullets fired in mere hours of hearing the news. Damien could not afford another war. Not this soon. "Angelina, why don't you go out and get some drinks for the guests that'll be arriving soon."

                                                       X

  The heat of July's midday sun had long past cooled off when the footsteps of the girls could be heard in the hallway. "What's the prob, boss?" The goat eyed girl should in the doorway. A nasty vermin and her sisters- who stood behind her- where not much more than that.

  "Yeah what's the matter D?" this voice slithered from the throat that connected to the hand which stroked through his hair. Cold. Boney. And even worse, unexpected. She had slithered behind him like ghosts in the wind. Their abilities to dispose of themselves in the shadows were unmatched and in a room such as the man's warehouse office the shadows where to abundant for them to be able to lurk around. What choice did the man have though- to show his fear of them? No way in hell. "You're too damn clammy in this god awful weather Pisces. Why don't you step aside while we talk business- vodka?" He interrupts himself swishing the clear liquid in the bottle.

  "Like you said Damien," The final sister, Virgo, "business first." the intellect of the shadow dwellers. By far less crazy but when it came to strength and fear tactics she rivaled her sisters just as equally.

"Business you say?" the stoic man mused. "Tell me then dear sisters. What business do you have on the fucking west side!" His thick accent became exposed along with his anger. The three women in the room where a magnet of any emotion but they leeched onto his anger like vampires on a virgin neck. "The fragility between the Ricci family and ours is simply put-" the sound of glass echoed throughout the room when his hand tossed the vodka bottle across the room sweeping past heads. "Simply put it's as fragile as the china in a room full of Russians."

"Come on babe, where's your sense of adventure. Risk used to be such a high to you."

"That was before. This is now Ricci and his gang of savages ruled long before us and if we are not careful they will rule long after us. Dancing with the enemy... that's something that should stay in your little delusions and should have never happened."

"What a softie you are D." Aries, the leader fell out of her trance of shock the fastest and as per her character never failed to push the buttons of the Russian. "You care about us."

"The employees under my comap-"

"Sir, Damien, may I? Virgo said sitting on top of the mahogany desk playing with fountain pens. "You may do whatever you want with your employees however. We never signed a contract therefore we don't work under your roof. We don't work for you. We don't work under you." The eyes of the woman flicked the the large cabinet behind the boss's desk. "Why don't you pour us a drink while we explain the circumstances."

"And who are you to tell me who I do and do not own?" His irritation poured out of his voice like the whiskey he poured into the shots.

As if like a noose Aries's hands snaked around his neck and across his chest trapping his rigidly in his chair. "I," she whispered dangerously close "I am the owner of my own little company. Why don't we discuss collaborations, sir."

"Why don't you amuse me then ladies." Although he maintained a steady voice, the women's rebellion was affecting him more than he thought it would.

"We can still keep our relations to your company however, we'd like to expand west."

"No, unacceptable."

"I'm sorry, but.." Her hand fiddled with his tie but her eyes never broke contact or revealed the exact emotion that she was feeling. "But I don't believe you are pulling the strings in this arrangement."

"And if I cut off access across the border for you and your cronies?"

"We'll then have no choice but to cut you off entirely. Those Italians might be crazy bastards but their rich, crazy bastards and I'll be damned if I let my new company lose this opportunity."

"You'll lose the three best drug dealers in all of London, Damien." added Pisces who came out of her shadowy corner. The air was tenser than it was this morning. Almost suffocating. It made him wonder if the three women were amused by the anger that rolled off of him like waves during a storm.

"How about we give you some time to think about it love." He was robbed though- not only of his fountain pen that virgo had snuck into her pocket but also of a response when chapped lips clashed with his in a disrespectful and dry kiss. "Bye Sweetheart." were the last words he heard before the sinners left with his pen, his tie, and his dignity. The sound of a slamming door was all it took for his rage to swing his arms across his desk sending papers flying, glass shattering, and his pride out the dusty, broken window.

[aratalatam]

Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China ya disponible en Xbox One

New Post has been published on http://arata.lat/?p=32346

Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China ya disponible en Xbox One

El juego indie Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China llega a Xbox Store

Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China llega a Xbox One a nivel mundial a partir del 15 de enero del 2018 gracias al programa ID@Xbox el cual lleva Juegos Indie a la consola.

Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China es un juego de acción de combate aéreo, basado en los eventos históricos de los Escuadrones Secretos que ayudaron a defender China frente a Japón en en la segunda guerra mundial.

Mira el tráiler de lanzamiento aquí:

Vive la emoción de batallas aéreas rara vez representadas y ponte en la piel de pilotos de cazas, navegantes de transportes y tripulaciones y artilleros de bombarderos muy atrevidos del Grupo de Voluntarios estadounidenses (AVG), la Fuerza Aérea británica (RAF) y las Fuerzas Aéreas del Ejército de los Estados Unidos (USAAF) para repeler el ataque de las máquinas de guerra japonesas. Combate en duelos aéreos con ases enemigos muy hábiles usando la táctica de disparar y huir, lleva a cabo ataques aéreos intensos tras las líneas enemigas y participa en la defensa de las rutas críticas de abastecimiento de China desde Rangún hasta la carretera de Birmania e incluso atravesando la peligrosa Joroba del Himalaya.

Desarrollado y Publicado por “Ace Maddox“  Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China debutó para PC en la plataforma de Steam en mayo del 2017 y ahora está disponible en la Xbox Store, contando con 11 lenguajes: español, inglés, francés, polaco, alemán, portugués, chino (Simplificado y Tradicional), ruso, italiano, turco y japonés.

“Pensamos que se juega bastante bien en la pantalla grande, y a decir verdad, la Interfaz de Usuario fue diseñada en un principio para encajar en las consolas de la siguiente generación y en televisión, pero eso fue hace varios años. ¡Estamos más que felices de ver el juego en Xbox One!” Declaró la desarrolladora en Steam al anunciar la llegada de su juego a la consola de Microsoft.

Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China Cuenta con una clasificación M (Maduro 17+) y se encuentra a un precio de 18.99 Dólares (USD) o 239.00 Pesos mexicanos (MXN)

[playmoregames-de]

Die Entwickler von Ace Maddox gaben bekannt, dass der Titel "Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China" am 12. Januar 2018 für die Xbox One erscheinen wird. Das Spiel erschien bereits für den PC. Das Luftkampf-Actionspiel basiert auf den Ereignissen rund um ein geheimes Freiwilligengeschwader der USA. So dürft ihr China im Zweiten Weltkrieg vor den feindlichen japanischen Armee schützen.

[oneangrygamer]

Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China Release Date For Xbox One Is January 12th, 2018

Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China Release Date For Xbox One Is January 12th, 2018 | #FlightSim #Xbox

ACE Maddox announced that pre-orders have opened up for the Xbox One release of Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China. The story-oriented arcade sim is themed around the aerial campaigns that took place over the Asian front by an elite group of American fighter pilots. (more…)

[generaltaggart]

This is my review/thoughts for Flying Tigers: Shadows over China.  

Arcade WW2 flight sim from Ace Maddox.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/365810/Flying_Tigers_Shadows_Over_China/

Steam summary:

FTSOC, short for FLYING TIGERS: SHADOWS OVER CHINA, is an air-combat action game based on the true events of America’s secret volunteer squadrons that defended China against Japan in the China-Burma-India theatre of World War 2.

[promocoes-steam-blog]

Promoção na Steam do jogo Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China

O jogo Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China está com 20% de #desconto, saindo por apenas R$22,39! http://store.steampowered.com/app/365810/

[chekcough]

hi i just decided to post this here as a one shot because i liked how it turned out a lot, even though it’s from a fic i’m writing! all you need to know is that scully finds out mulder is dead and this takes place three months after his death, when she’s about to move away. so i guess this constitutes a first time one shot! @today-in-fic

from: seraphim

rating: t+

Early March, her bedroom empty save the mattress, she lay on her back, her fingers between her legs, trying to pretend they were his...

...Sirens wailed outside, growing fainter, zigzagging, she felt the blue and red lights flicker over her face for an instant. Mulder went to the window and tugged the café au lait curtains closed. Amber light dripped inside from the streetlamp like honey. She'd already taken her coat off in the living room, thrown it over one end of his couch. The mist of rain they'd walked through to come inside still clung to her hair, microscopic dewy droplets. The frantic energy between them on his couch moments earlier was gone. She was surprised he'd even decided to take her into the bedroom, considering she'd already managed to undo his tie and unbutton his shirt halfway. It could have worked in the living room, they could've done it on the couch. The mood shifted significantly when she stepped into his room, the awkwardness of having sex with a new partner, the way he'd moved away from her to go fix the curtain. She had her fingers perched on the buttons of her own blouse, pale blue but greenish in the light. If she'd known it would happen tonight she might have worn something different, but it had been a regular work day. A Friday with a 'do you want to come over after work' attached.

Mulder was unbuttoning his own shirt as he walked back from the window, revealing a white t-shirt underneath. Why did this feel so strange? He'd had his tongue in her mouth two minutes ago on that couch and now her wrists didn't feel connected to her arms as she pulled the rest of her shirt out of the waistband of her skirt and started on the buttons. He chuckled and came back to her, stilling her hands.

"Please, let me do it," he said, and she nodded, slowly letting her hands fall away, and watched as his fingers nimbly worked the buttons. One cheek glowed, the rest of his face in shadow, but she saw the concentration in his brow. "These are always so small."

"I'm glad you're familiar with women's clothing," she joked quietly as he pushed it from her shoulders, let it fall to the floor, and traced her bared, lightly freckled shoulders with his fingertips. He smirked and pressed a quick kiss to her cheekbone. She reached her left hand behind her to unzip her skirt at the same time that she leaned up to capture his mouth. He kissed her but pulled back, and she felt his index finger brushing along the edge of her bra. She reached forward to undo his belt and fly in a few deft strokes.

He looked up from her breasts, surprised. "Nice move."

She cocked an eyebrow. "I'm familiar with men's clothing."

They shucked off the rest of their clothes, which became two rippled pools on his floor, and she took her bra off without thinking, depriving him of the slow reveal he'd probably wanted, but fear was licking up her spine. She led him to the bed like it was hers and lay back in the mushroom soft sheets. Would this be her side now? What if she'd taken his? God, why was she nervous?

He sat by her hips and she saw herself, willowy and China-white, reflected in his eyes. His fingers on her collar bones, gooseflesh on her chest as warm palms found her breasts. She watched the way his eyes changed, admiring flesh so long guessed at. He pressed a kiss on her heart and sat back. She ran her hand up his arm, over the muscle there.

"What is it?"

He met her eyes and shook his head in disbelief. "You're so beautiful. I can't believe I spent all those years trying to pretend you weren't." He looked at his hands on her body, on her ribcage, her breast. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"You're trembling," he remarked, concerned.

She sat up on her elbows and put her hand to his cheek, drawing his face down to hers. That kiss. Sewn on her body, stitched into her skin as she pulled him down, their bare chests pressed together that first time, the way he'd rolled them without making her dizzy, keeping a hand on her back when she lay on him, the other in her hair. The way they kissed now was a contrast to how they'd been earlier, a cousin to the first kiss, on her mother's wraparound porch in the rainy night a few weeks ago. He smiled when they parted, but she leaned down to kiss his throat, by his ear, careful to not leave any marks, almost afraid to look in his eyes in the lion quiet. The hand on her back traveled, mapping the wings of her shoulder blades, tracing the staircase of her spine, the swell of her hip.

He turned them again, and she watched his dark head move down, his lips on her breast, on the pebbled nipple, and she had to close her eyes and look away, dovesong muffled into her own hand. He groaned in response, and it vibrated through his lips, wherever they were now. As the weight of him settled on her more fully she opened her thighs to cradle his body, one hand copying his earlier motions on his back. She felt smooth expanses of skin, trapezius muscles and sinew shifting under her palm as he moved. He was hard and heavy between her legs.

Her eyes flew open, and she felt herself tense slightly, although he didn't seem to notice, still busy with her breasts and neck. Things were about to change profoundly between them. Five years of friendship, the most important friendship of her life. He might turn out to be a great partner, but whatever you do, don't fall in love with him...words from a colleague at Quantico after hearing about her new assignment. Friendship. Love. How different were they, really? And why did people insist on making love more profound than friendship? She pushed her pelvis against his to encourage him. It occurred to her that they hadn't spoken for several minutes.

They'd known each other for so long, knew each other so well, she hadn't even felt self conscious about her body when he'd seen her naked, like she had with others, he seemed to know instinctively where she wanted to be touched, how she wanted to be kissed. He pushed himself up on his arms and looked down at her. She pulled a hand up and took his long finger in her mouth, swirled her tongue around it, and watched his eyes widen at the sensation. He bit his lip, and she let him go.

"Scully, do we need anything?" he asked, a bit of desperation in his voice. She wondered if he had unexpired condoms here, although there wasn't any reason why he shouldn't. She shook her head, and her eyes stung. "Scully?" his wet finger on her chin, tipping her face up to look at him, concern in his voice.

She felt like a virgin with him, it was the oddest thing. What is virginity? Is it innocence? Ignorance? Fear? Unripeness? The sound of her name, a name she'd never heard in bed before...that's what it was. She wasn't the same woman, anymore. She wasn't Dana when she was with him, she was Scully, a woman with a gun. Was this the man she would spend the rest of her life making love to? Having perfected our disguises, we spend our lives searching for someone we don't fool. She felt full, filled to bursting. She smiled up at him.

"I love you." It was like a gilded secret in the aureate light.

The expression on his face took her breath away. She pulled him down onto her, guiding him, and leaned back as he slid inside. His voice, warm by her ear, "I love you, too."

She smiled, turned to press a kiss to his head, and squeezed his body with her thighs. Unripeness? She was his pear, dragging down the branch with all of her ripeness.

Afterward, they lay together like drowned lovers flung onto a beach. She pulled up the sheet to wrap around them as sweat made her skin shiver. So much for those gleanings from novels, from paintings, as if love were a matter of posing for picturesque dishabille. No, love was like a wild Schiele sketch. You went into it as a tiger encountering another tiger. You went into it like a person jumping off a bridge. She dozed for a moment, inhaling him. Would he fall asleep immediately? She hummed a little in contentment.

"The world is full of magic things," she said sleepily, "patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper."

Mulder opened one eye and looked at her.

"Scully, did you just quote Yeats in bed?"

She chuckled softly and pulled the sheet back up so that it covered her shoulders, eyes still closed, pressed a kiss to his chest.

On the mattress she let out a frustrated sob and tore her fingers away from between her thighs, removed her own hand from her cold breast, she couldn't do it, she couldn't pretend to be him. The room smelled like Windex and dust, the movers were coming tomorrow. The curtains were packed and moonlight fell in like a metal belt buckle across her, she hadn't been able to sleep. She desperately needed the release, but it wouldn't come.

Their first I love yous.

I love you.

I love you, too, its echo.

There was something so funereal in that word, she'd never noticed it before. Echo. The death of a sound that had nowhere to go but come back.

[true-halloween-tales]

2018: #7-MONSTERS ON THE LOOSE 8: MONSTERS NEVER ON THE LOOSE

Monsters on the Loose has previously examined unexplained sightings of cryptids, possible animals that have escaped classification. Sometimes there are real sightings of unknown beasties. The rational explanation for those sightings, such as often with chupacabra sightings, is that known animals were spotted who may appear different due to mutation or disease, often having mange. However, many sightings are clearly – if not blatantly – faked. Recovered remains of cryptids have historically been often a creative combination of dead animal parts. That was the fossil game in the early 1900’s. Piece together bones incorrectly and create a monster, then charge admission to see it! As a Boy Scout, it was common for there to be Snipe Hunts (see 2016: #13-SUMMER CAMP). New Boy Scouts, especially first time campers, would be led out to search for those dangerous snipes, completely non-existent creatures. This time the cryptids that shall be focused upon are those that we know never existed, monsters that have never been on the loose. What is simply amazing is that people really believed they existed.

There sure are a lot of fakes, including for dragons (see 2018: #3-DRAGONS). In 1696, Cornelius Meyer claimed to have found the skeleton of a dragon responsible for flooding Rome. An analysis of a sketch of this skeleton indicates that the skull belonged to a dog, the mandible from a second dog, the ribs from a fat fish, the vertebrae from a beaver, and the limbs from a bear. The wings, tail, beak, and horn were handmade. No kitchen sink was apparently included. But there were remnants of “dragon skin,” a tarp-like material used to hide the false connections of the various animal parts. In 1845, Dr. Albert Koch went on tour across the U.S with his huge, one-hundred and fourteen foot long dragon skeleton... and it was really a curious conglomeration of five whale skeletons. Not surprisingly, to this day there are still claims of people finding dragon skeletons – mostly in China. These dragon remains turn out to be fossils or fakes. But there are many non-dragon fossil fakes too…

The Fiji mermaid was first put on display in 1842 by P.T. Barnum in his museum in New York. Shortly later, a merman was found in Banff, Alberta, and was displayed at the Indian Trading Post. There are still locations, such as museums, across the world today with supposed dead merman and mermaids on display. Their bodies are invariably carved out of wood and may be combined with fishy and monkey bodily bits. The Booth Museum in Brighton, England has one such display. Another famous fossil fake was 1912’s Piltdown Man. Charles Dawson claimed the Piltdown Man he found was the Missing Link. The fossil turned out to be an ape’s jawbone that Dawson bleached and weathered before “discovering” it. In 1868 New York, George Hull charged people to see the Cardiff Giant he claimed he found (see image below and see 2016: #5-GIANTS). It was ten feet tall, and Hull had it carved out of gypsum before “discovering” it. The checklist of counterfeit cryptids just keeps on going! But there were some honest mistakes made...

Lack of knowledge is a valid reason why some monsters were incorrectly identified. The 1100’s Latin Book of Beasts is bursting with booboos! Creatures that really existed were rather misunderstood. Ibis – birds – were believed to consume corpses when they were not busily occupied cleaning out their bowels with their beaks. Jaculus were flying snakes who somehow turned into javelins and tossed themselves as weapons at those below them. Syrens were white winged snakes from Arabia that flew faster than horses; their venom killed so fast that their victims never felt their bite. The Seps was a snake that had acid poison which completely dissolved your body and bones. The Salamandar was immune to fire and was highly poisonous. The Cocoddryllus from the River Nile are basically crocodiles except they are thirty feet long and have skin as strong as stone.

Several nonexistent beasts were thought to exist. Griffins were widely believed to exist, quadruped eagle beasts. The Bonnacon from Asia reportedly had the head of a bull and the body of a horse. The Monoceros had a four foot horn, a horrible howl, a horse-like body, but the feet of an elephant and the tail of a stag… and later became known as the unicorn. The Leucrotta is from India and is the fastest animal, the size of a donkey, with stag legs, lion body, and a horse head. The Cerastes were snakes with horns of rams. And the list goes on and on. Therefore, the top three need to be identified, of monsters that were never on the loose.

Sirens were thought to be dangerous creatures that lured sailors to their deaths. They were believed to be a combination of birds and women, with feathers, scaly bird legs and feet. They may or may not have wings. They often play instruments such as harps or lyres. They used their enchanting voices and music to shipwreck passing vessels on the rocks. Then they tear apart the sailors and devour their bloody flesh. Greek mythology traced their lineage to either the primordial sea god, Phorcys, or the river god Achelous (see 2013: #2-MEDUSAS). Roman poets located the sirens on the small Sirenum Scopuli island chain. Sirens sang their songs on Odysseus who tied himself to the mast of his ship to resist their power in The Odyssey. Sirens are related to mermaids of the sea and harpies of the air. In fact, sirenia is a classification of aquatic, mammals that live in rivers and various waters. Over the centuries the image of the siren became less beastly and more beauty. Even Leonardo da Vinci believed in sirens and wrote, "The siren sings so sweetly that she lulls the mariners to sleep; then she climbs upon the ships and kills the sleeping mariners."

The phoenix dates back to Ancient Greece or Egypt. They were reported to have a five-hundred year lifespan. They symbolize renewal and the possibility of an afterlife. When the phoenix’s five-hundred year alarm clock goes off, it self-immolates and is regenerated, born again. Phoenix’s therefore have an association with fire and the sun. They are often depicted with clouds or seven rays of light beaming from them. Those rays of light are consistent with imagery for Helios, Greek mythology’s titan of the sun. However, the phoenix may have originated in Egypt from the long-legged bennu bird. Bennu was also believed to be a deity who had connections to the sun and rebirth. But there are versions of the phoenix all over the world in many countries, under so many names like the phoenix is an international spy (see 2017: #4-SPIES). In India the phoenix is known as garuda or gandaberunda, in Russia as the firebird, in Iran as simorgh, in Georgia as paskunji, in Saudi Arabia as anka, in Turkey as zümrüdü anka, in Japan as hō-ō, in China as fenghuang and zhu que, and in Tibet as me byi karmo. It is not surprising that in some ways the symbolism of the phoenix was absorbed into Christianity (see 2011: #6-HALLOWEEN AND RELIGION). The myth of the phoenix really has influenced many cultures and civilizations.

The manticore was reported to have the body of a lion, the tail and stinger of a scorpion, and a nasty head of a man with blazing red eyes and multiple rows of teeth. Manticores are similar to sphinxes but they are monstrous man-eaters known to eat people – bones and all. They were thought to originate from mantygers. Mantygers had the body of a tiger, the head of an old man – also rather nasty, with tusks like a boar and long spiral horns. Some exceedingly wise experts, who were most definitely nasty themselves, thought that the mantyger’s horns were similar to ox horns – and they had monkey feet. Other experts, the nastiest, realized that the mantyger was totally unrelated to the manticore. Manticores were thought to live in Iran and were called mardykhor or merthykhuwar. There are variations of manticores’ tail. It either appears as a large scorpion sting or as having shootable poisonous spines similar to porcupine quills. In Dante’s Inferno, Geryon is depicted as a manticore. Nowadays manticores are a popular monster in fantasy games.

Fantasy films are pretty much your best option for seeing anything close to sirines, the phoenix, or manticores: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, both Clash of the Titans films, Wrath of the Titans, etc. 1963’s Jason and the Argonauts featured harpies taunting a blind Patrick Troughton, Doctor Who #2 (see 2018: #2-GUIDE TO DOCTOR WHO). The Dark Shadows tv series included a human phoenix villainess in its first season, before Barnabus the vampire made his appearance (see 2016: #7-GUIDE TO DARK SHADOWS). There is even a 2005 film named, Manticore, about an eternal manticore waking up for big fun.

These creatures have never been on this Earth. They are fakes and mistakes. But who knows, maybe they will appear in the far future. Millions of years in the future, what strange creatures could walk across the surface of this planet? Maybe they are not monsters on the loose now, but they may be monsters on the loose one day (on Friday see 2018: #8-THE DYING EARTH)…

[ocean-tumbled-pebbles]

Crouching tiger, hidden boss

Day 5: JBT/SX

Prompt: Legend

TWs: bad references to coding

He had been excited to work at the major tech company Samsara. Excited to get a position under the legendary god of tech, Zhou Zekai. Excited to voice his ideas and get feedback and have high level technical conversations with the god.

His dream was shattered when he realized that the legendary tech god was just that- a legend. In reality, Zhou Zekai, though extremely good-looking, seemed to be just a normal software engineer. Scrolling through his codes, there were no especially innovative sections, it was only through their functionality that they came to be so useful. And he couldn’t converse with the god, nor ask for feedback without getting one word answers.

He had sighed for the eighth time in a row when Jiang Botao, Zhou Zekai’s partner came up to him. Jiang Botao had co-founded the tech company Samsara with Zhou Zekai and was renowned as one of the best dealmakers in all of China. Although he wasn’t as handsome as his partner, Sun Xiang thought that he had a more amiable and cuddly appearance, like that of a teddy bear. To be honest, he was much more of Sun Xiang’s type than the traditional beauty of Zhou Zekai.

“Not what you imagined, huh?” He said casually, following his gaze to the reticent engineer.

“...” Sun Xiang said nothing. After all, this was the best friend and partner of said god.

“It’s okay, most people feel that way when they first start here.” He laid a gentle hand on Sun Xiang’s shoulder. “What they don’t realize though, is that Zhou Zekai is less an innovative coder, and more a visionary. He has so many ideas flying around in that head of his, but he has a hard time getting them out.” Jiang Botao spun around playfully and poked Sun Xiang in the cheek. “And that’s where I come in. Come on, let’s get the two of you talking.”

Talking with Zhou Zekai was... an experience. The three of them sat together around a round table, laptops out. Sun Xiang was hesitant at first to ask anything of the god, but eventually he was so impatient that he began firing out all the questions he had bottled up on why the code was this way instead of this way which was equally fast and arguably better, and whether it was possible for a larger processing chip to scale up without a reduction in quality, and what were the best practices regarding this functionality.

Zhou Zekai silently listened to the barrage of questions, made a vague hand gesture at the code, made a noise of affirmation, and typed out an emoji in their chat group.

Sun Xiang sat there incredulously as Jiang Botao leaned in to examine the emoji.

“Okay, so this is what Zekai said...”

“... And that’s why we do things this way. Did you get all that?”

Sun Xiang was mind-blown. “How...? Did you get all that from just that?!” He pointed to the \(‘o’)/ emoji on his screen.

Jiang Botao’s laugh came like a refreshing breeze given the highly technical explanation given earlier. “I’ve been a Zhou Zekai translator since we were children.” He grinned. “And it helps that I’m familiar with all of these topics as well.”

Just being familiar with the topic was an understatement. Jiang Botao must be another tech genius. No one could just spout off a highly technical explanation that made sense to two expert software engineers from practically zero context. Sun Xiang didn’t know what to think: either he knew all of this by heart, or he could read minds.

Zhou Zekai gave a little smile and then pointed at his screen.

“What? No, I keep telling you I’m not the most powerful person here. That’s you, remember?”

Sun Xiang blanched. Come to think of it, it was probably true. No one would be able to tell if Jiang Botao was mistranslating Zhou Zekai’s words. If Zhou Zekai was the legendary boss character, then Jiang Botao would be the hidden boss, controlling the entire situation from the shadows, unsuspected because of his unassuming character.

Jiang Botao suddenly leaned in closer to Sun Xiang, such that they were almost touching. “Anyway, he was saying you have an error in your code over here.” He pointed it out on the screen, not noticing how Sun Xiang became red in the cheeks.

Zhou Zekai sent another emoji: (`v`)d

“Good luck in your pursuit? Pursuit of what?”

(>.>)

“Why is it a secret? What’s there to be a secret of?”

\(owo)/

“Ganbatte? Again, why?”

Sun Xiang sighed for the ninth time today trying to dispel the heat in his cheeks. It was looking like his time at Samsara was going to be a lot more hectic in the days to come.