#anyway have fun falling down the mechs rabbit hole!!!

[sadmages]

Hi! So, I'm deep into TMA (no regrets!) and I'm curious about other projects Jonny is involved in. I've seen your posts on The Mechanism and am all - oh! what's this!?! So I want to ask! I know close to nothing about them x) I know it's a band but they made like story-oriented stuff?? What genre they are? You can simply lay it all on me, I'm really curious but don't know if would like it? Where to best listen? Where to start? Are there some useful/must-see websites or info? (sry it's so long x)

*cracks knuckles* Oh boy time to gush about the Mechs!!!!! I'm relatively new to the Mechs too so I don't know everything about them and what I do might not be 100% correct, but here's my knowledge! (Also sorry if this gets super fckn long ajdbsjs)

So! First off the Mechs are a bunch of immortal steampunk space pirates who roam space in search of stories they can tell and then perform them!

Their website describes them as 'Storytelling Musical Cabaret' which sort of describes it??? Basically they take well known tales (like fairy tales or Greek mythology) and then put a more sci-fi or space twist on it! For genre I think they take a lot of influence from folk music?? But I wouldn't describe it as purely folk there's a lot of different genres/no genres at all/many genres at once.

Every album tells a story (except the Tales to be Told albums they're more loose songs) and you need to listen to the tracks in order or you'll have no clue what's going on skdhsjdb

As for albums theres (in order of release):

One Upon a Time in Space (fairytales in space also there's lesbians)

Ulysses Dies at Dawn (Greek mythology in space but also it's like a noir mystery)

High Noon over Camelot (the Arthurian legend in space but also it's a western and also Arthur Guinevere and Lancelot are in a poly relationship)

The Bifrost Incident ( Norse mythology in space but also it's a closed room murder mystery on a train and once again there are lesbians :) )

You can start with any of these albums you'd like! You can listen in order of release or start with the one that seems most interesting to you

After that Id recommend the Tales to be Told albums (they have backstory songs of some of the Mechs and songs that fit in the universe of some of the albums but didn't fit in that grander story)

They also recently released a recording of Death to the Mechanisms which u should save for last and emotionally prepare yourself for

All the albums are on their bandcamp and all of em except Tales to be Told v1 and Dttm are on Spotify!

Their website has info on the individual members and also some fiction about the crew or the album universes which is fun to dive into after and there are some live recordings of their shows on YouTube where u get a good feel for the crew :3

Okay that was my infodump ajshsj I'd say just listen to the albums and see if it's your thing! If any of these things sparked your interest then I think it will be! They're very fun and a lot of their songs are just really catchy and good and they give me a lot of emotions

AGAIN SORRY THIS IS SO LONG but I hope it helped and pwease don't hesitate to ask more if u need to!!!

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/world/the-wandering-earth-and-chinas-sci-fi-heritage/

The Wandering Earth and China's sci-fi heritage

Image copyright Netflix

Image caption The Wandering Earth debuts on Netflix on 30 April

The Wandering Earth has been billed as a breakthrough for Chinese sci-fi.

The film tells the story of our planet, doomed by the expanding Sun, being moved across space to a safer place. The Chinese heroes have to save the mission – and humanity – when Earth gets caught in Jupiter’s gravitational pull.

Based on Hugo Award winner Liu Cixin’s short story of the same name, Wandering Earth has already grossed $600m (£464m) at the Chinese box office and was called China’s “giant leap into science fiction” by the Financial Times. It’s been bought by Netflix and will debut there on 30 April.

But while this may be the first time many in the West have heard of “kehuan” – Chinese science fiction – Chinese cinema has a long sci-fi history, which has given support to scientific endeavour, offered escapism from harsh times and inspired generations of film-goers.

So for Western audiences eager to plot the rise of the Chinese sci-fi movie, here are five films I think are worth renewed attention.

Dislocation

Huang Jianxin, 1986

For most in the Western world, their first encounter with Chinese cinema came from directors like Wu Tianming (The Old Well, The King of Masks) and Zhang Yimou (House of Flying Daggers, Raise the Red Lantern).

Image copyright NANHAI FILMS

Image caption Dislocation explores themes of work and artificial intelligence in a surreal dreamscape

They were largely preoccupied with themes like the loss of youth, tradition versus change, and creating the rural aesthetic most people associated with Chinese film.

But China in the 1980s was a scene of rapid modernisation, urbanisation and Westernisation, and films started responding to the impact of this massive change.

In Dislocation, a scientist creates an android version of himself to attend the endless meetings that rob him of his time, in a black comedy of mechanisation and bureaucracy.

Huang’s take on the debate on artificial intelligence is superbly delivered against a surreal Kafka-esque dreamscape, with stark lighting and suspenseful music, making this film a delight to watch.

Hopefully the new interest in kehuan will see it gain an official release in the West.

Warrior Revived

Li Guomin, 1995

A grown-up style of kehuan emerged in the 1990s, reflecting the themes of identity versus technological advancement which were also occupying Western sci-fi at the time.

Image copyright Shanghai Film Studios

Image caption The low budget appearance of Warrior Revived never gets in the way of its creative energy

In Warrior Revived, police officer Song Da Wei dies a gruesome death on duty and ends up in a decade-long coma. He’s brought back to life by a “miracle cure” from a biologist who has found a way to repair defective DNA.

The genetically enhanced Song finds himself uncomfortable with the cyberised world around him, and excluded by his old comrades. Meanwhile, the heavily maimed villain he gave his life to destroy is plotting to steal the gene formula and wreak his revenge.

Like a lot of great cyberpunk movies before the age of CGI, this early mainland kehuan impresses with its high kitsch, low-budget, imaginative approach.

The villain’s lair is filled with neon tubes, hand-crafted lab controls and walls covered with plastic bowls in the best traditions of the Tardis.

What it lacks in sleekness it more than makes up with innovative costume designs and soundtrack, diligent camera work and the sheer energy from the cast.

Wonder Boy

Song Chong, 1988

The 1980s brought a slew of Hollywood sci-fi films made for children, but which appealed equally to adults – like Explorers, Flight of The Navigator, and D.A.R.Y.L. – and filmmakers in China were taking a similar route.

Image copyright Children’s Film Studio

Image caption Wonder Boy remains popular and is still occasionally played out on national TV

Produced by the Children’s Film Studios and hailed as the nation’s first children’s fantasy film, Wonder Boy tells the story of a child born with the ability to generate electricity.

Bei Bei is bullied by neighbours and kept in isolation by parents who want to protect him, but is still a caring and mischievous little boy, who uses his powers to help others and have fun in equal measure.

When Bei Bei is taken away to be experimented on – by a non-governmental, possibly foreign group – a handful of the close friends he has made come to his rescue.

Well-loved for its humour and accessibility, Wonder Boy is remembered in China as a great classic, and still enjoyed by children today when it is repeated on both national television and streaming services.

Reset

Hong-Seung Yoon, 2017

Produced by Jackie Chan and winner of the 2017 Grand Remi for Best Feature and Best Actress, Reset is a time travel thriller, which addresses a Chinese preoccupation with personal roles in a culture that so totally promotes the good of society.

Xia Tian (Yang Mi) is a senior researcher of wormhole technology and a single mother. When her young son is kidnapped, she is forced to hand over her research, but when the villain murders her child anyway she is forced to test her own discoveries into time travel in order to save his life, and maybe undo her own betrayal of the programme.

Image copyright Beijing Yaoying Movie Distribution Co Ltd

Image caption Reset explores the identity struggle facing many modern Chinese women

The film is an exploration of the plight of a New Chinese Woman, who walks the line between the roles of highly skilled professional and loving mother. The psychological exploration is fantastic. With several versions of Xia being generated by her repeated time travel, the face-off between our heroine and these alternate selves, including a darker, damaged one, creates an amazing tension which is missing from so many Western takes on this classic trope.

A female-led space kehuan story that also deals with single parenthood couldn’t be more relevant in a society that is simultaneously beginning a golden space age, and struggling with attitudes to women’s emancipation.

Super Mechs

Cui Junjie, 2018

Wuxia, or kung fu fantasy, is so intrinsic to Chinese pop culture it was almost inevitable that its tropes would be incorporated into Chinese sci-fi.

Image copyright Seven Entertainment Pictures

Produced exclusively for IQiyi, China’s version of Netflix, Super Mechs is set in 2066 in a world where humanity has begun to experience genetic mutations which leave some people with X-Men style super powers.

Global criminal organisations are threatening the order of society and private entities are stepping up to uphold it by developing highly advanced mechanised power suits.

Hero Xiao Qi is an ordinary office clerk enlisted by the Dragon Clan, who reveal to him his latent mutant ice powers, before arming him with a robotic power suit and sending him on a mission. Little does Xiao Qi know that he will be greeted by another mech-suited warrior with fire-based powers who will fight him to a standstill.

The “warriors with opposite powers” trope is a staple of the wuxia genre, but the film falls deeper down the rabbit hole when this deadly opponent is revealed to be Xiao Qi’s long-lost brother.

Add in ancient warring clans, fast-paced action between the sleek computer-generated mechanical fighters and a cheeky sense of humour from our protagonist, and the high budget Huayi Brothers production appeals to fans of superhero, kung fu and toku/tecuo films alike.

The works of stalwart wuxia authors like Jin Yong are steadily being translated into English, so we will certainly see more from this sub-genre reach our screens.

Acknowledging the rich and varied Chinese science fiction tradition does not at all detract from the pride in the success of Wandering Earth.

With China’s growing middle class and increased youth spending power, Chinese filmmakers are increasingly catering for a booming domestic demand for entertainment, and no longer worry as much about making their films palatable for export.

But with more East-West co-productions in the pipeline, like the animated Next Gen which originated from a Chinese web comic, it is certainly a sensible decision for companies like Netflix to bring films from platforms like IQiyi, to an English speaking audience, and that is going to include kehuan.

Western audiences may not immediately “get” some of these films, or may feel that some elements do not flow to their expectations.

But Wandering Earth and the titles above are the product of China’s culture and worldview. And to some extent, it’s what makes them different that will pique interest, fascinate and entertain.

Xueting Christine Ni is a writer and speaker on Chinese culture, based in the UK. She can be found on Twitter at @xuetingni

[hgfstreamchats]

127 Hours

Hello! Hello, night human! Wow, that sure is a, uh, UI change, there Terrible, isn't it? Not to be all "it's different, now I hate it", but it's different and now I hate it MOB Hi It's complete trash. Gosh, I JUST started watching this show ((am I supposed to only be able to read half of every post? Seems to be a little... jerky, too. It does, doesn't it? I''m *hoping* it won't do it during the movie proper. ((I'm seeing all of every post, I think. )) Hmmm. Bad. What's this garbage down in the corners? Why is the chat intersecting the screen? I hate everything about this.

Ah, there we are. Hmmm... it isn't for me. Maybe it's a browser thing? Got it. Still jerky though. Yeah. Gosh, I WONDER if this has anything to do with rabbit's new, terrible, bloated design ew, the text entry thing is hiding half my last post Between this and tumblr's new look, can't one thing just stay consistently right? Apparently not! I wonder if I can change my background color... I can't I'm a simple mech. All I ask is for a roof, a cube of fuel, the occasional street race, and to watch a human lose his arm in passable quality. Can humans regrow limbs? Have you noticed the text ad thing in the upper right? Definitely not. This one can't. Well then it's going to get depressing Ugh, it mangles the chat archive, too. Damn it, and it was doing such a passable job before, too. There should be some kind of law about companies making their sites unusable They should at least have to give users a warning I'm not sure where to migrate from here. After this movie, of course. Right, I'm up for changing venues, but probably not right this second. Let this be our last rabbit showing. It'll be symbolic and appropriate. Yes. Unless everywhere else turns out to be worse. Which it absolutely will. Surely they can't all be as bad as this Twitch seemed alright last time I was over there, but apparently they get all... aggressive... about copyright. Charming. How many of these people die? Preferably soon. Preferably in 40 seconds. This seems super dangerous And why are there no safety precautions love 2 hit my head on a rock wall and fall unconscious into cave water What if she had landed on him? He proceeds to do weird things to the bodies. What if they couldn't swim? Gosh, look how perfectly dry they all are now, somehow what if one of them is a mass murderer who wants to use the others' skulls for a drinking cup/ ...It also seems kind of bad to take a route like that where you can't get back the same way, when you don't know the area. And if it is a dangerous area, why split up? This guy is asking to lose his life Since, you know, none of them can leap fifty feet straight up out of the water to get back up that chasm thing Whoooops unfortunate but not unexpected Apparently this inspired other people to go climbing there Of course, because when I want to go on an adventure, the first place I think of is where someone almost died and spent 127 hours trapped It's all fun and games until someone loses an arm! Sorry. (Not sorry.) then it's hilarious They should have left the remains of his arm. I would have gone to see it. This is why you go with at least one other person Or better yet, stay out of holes in the Earth. Yeah, that too This whole venture reeks of Smokescreen. You got that feeling too? Also why you might want to take a cell phone. And pain killers, in case you do have to cut your arm off Take a salt tablet. a what? "Sweet, this is gonna come in HANDY later, for the autotomy" Oh. Really I'm only joking to keep the nightmares at bay. No matter how dumb I am, I have never had to cut my own arm off because of my stupidity, so that's a bonus I guess ((ah shoot, I have to go "Look at it, family. Look." ((Goodnight!) Good night! ((thanks for the stream "maybe I'll just cut that in post" Hah! gaaah Have this play over the scene of him chopping his arm off. I am ABSOLUTELY going to mysteriously vanish for a few minutes when that starts. I don't blame you in the slightest. You think? oh man ... Well, that's something ...and that's something else. Isn't it just? ...Imagination, right His imagination's very cruel. Imagine finding this video I'd be the worst to find it. I have no grace or tact. And it wasn't selfish, going off on his own without telling anyone. Just intensely stupid. Yeah. Half an hour, huh So is, uh This is it, huh 😐 Or is it gaaaah Ugh. ...Wait, he recorded that? Did they KNOW he was recording that? Okay, I guess so. Please tell me we're not going to have a scene of him whacking off. He might have done this sooner, when he had more fluids and spare blood in him. ...Also that pun was unintentional. Excellent. "Also, I don't know how to play and never did." Oh, shut up. I guess after days of this, a lot of people would start hallucination about rocks being out to get them, destinywise. I mean, what's to say the rocks aren't? Why are there gunshots? Okay, brb! Well, that was unpleasant. This was probably how that bone infection happened. oh gosh, looks like I coincidentally missed That Scene! And, uh, the rest of the movie, I guess. Scene missing, scene missing, the end. Was there anything after.... that? Nothing terribly important. I assume he got rescued hello! That was the only worthwhile moment. Let me dig it up. It's amazing he can even walk Briskly, too. And hello there! hat was the only worthwhile moment. Let me dig it up. It's amazing he can even walk Briskly, too. And hello there! "And THAT'S why we always leave a note!" Worthy of video day at the newspark complex. Trying to get out of minding them, eh? At least their arms detach efficiently. Now, let's see. Note to end on, note to end on... Uh Of course it's from Australia Of course. For Australia is the mother of all monsters and the father of all night terrors There's a full episode, but No Fun Youtube took it down, of course. So we can't see a hyena cub suffocate inside its mother's psuedopenis. yeah, and it's not on any of the other upload sites I frequent. ugh, hyenas nature was ESPECIALLY awful to them Nature's a hate filled being. Especially organic nature. Hmm, anyone have any closing recommendations? well, after that... there's a guy who wasted hours of his life ranking Castlevania's monsters by sexiness and he had to discard all the 'obvious' choices like, y'know... most of the humanoids oh hey, y'found it right off I applaud his brave work. Oh man. /me settles in to judge his choices PFFFF Little does he know... ikr Oh, yeah, let's all take a moment to remember Sexy Gremlin ... Please, Mothman is just an owl seen by a drunk person That's worse than any demon. Really? 'cause that's the origin of the Greys, too! creepy owls seen by drunks Ehehehehe. Was Duke Mirage doing the tits-and-ass pose? Probably To be fair, I've read things that, uh... There he goes. Take to the sea. He's home. Ha, your recommended video list looks like mine. Tree only was fun. Maybe a little long, though We'll add it to the list of things to watch in the future. Hopefully on a better streaming platform. If one exists. *dramatic sting* good night! Good night! My pleasure! Thank *you* for coming! Oh, you know I try never to miss these. : ) Anyway, night! Good night!

[sadmages]

just wanted u to know that i just came upon ur sleeping beauty animatic in my dash and my gOD i have never whiplashed and experienced a serotonin boost that hard in AGES, especially at both an animatic AND its song like asdhsjdjsksjds thank u for pointing and pushing me in the direction of the mechanisms bc on g o d am i about to binge listen now anyway thanks again ur art is gold and i wanna marry it byeee ~

OH WOW THANK YOU!!!! I’m so so so so happy to hear that aaaaa :,>>>> Sleeping beauty is so fun and bouncy i wanted to make a fun and bouncy animatic for it

Have fun falling down the mechs rabbit hole!!!!!