#tor as gun is going to so amazing

[pharawee]

—SPARE ME YOUR MERCY · Coming Soon 2024

[respectthepetty]

Spare Me Your Mercy Thoughts

I have waited almost four years for this show since MDL made a placeholder for Euthanasia in early-2021, and now that it is here, I'm going to gush about all the ways I love it!

Just like a few of Dr. Sammon's other shows airing around the holidays (Manner of Death, Dead Friend Forever, and Petrichor), I'm thankful I got the first episode of Spare Me Your Mercy on Thanksgiving and the last will come on Christmas because this is the exact show I need for the holiday season since it began the entire series with Tew, the cop, having to perform euthanasia on an animal.

I grew up and still live in a rural area where cattle far outnumber the actual folks, so I fully understand euthanasia is a good death as the word implies, so I will not be struggling through the premise of this show, and I have faith the show won't either because when Tew fired the gun, the scene was peaceful.

And the show is making some pointed remarks about how things operate outside of bigger cities since Kan specifically mentioned he has about 2,500 patients. When the other officer asked the nurses if Kan had a long queue, they didn't even respond. Kan also clarified that his specialty is palliative care, so he has to monitor a wide range of long-term illnesses, so even though Tew might actually be from this place, he is now the outsider and out of his depth before he even started.

Sidenote: I cannot be mad at a nurse, even if one of them turns out bad because the way they all protect Kan from the police is the teamwork I love to see.

The red light to notify the office the doctor is seeing a patient coming on right after Kan responded to the nurse that it wasn't a murder case yet was perfection.

I already knew Kan was going to be my favorite character, but Tor is doing amazing showing the layers Kan has, as expected. Kan tells Tor he can cry and shows him kindness, but when pushed, Kan makes small digs about how people should spend the last moments of someone's life cherishing them when rudely questioned by Tew regarding the unexpected deaths knowing Tew did not get to see his mother before she died. He also made a subtle display of knowing where things were located in the house because he is in control.

The way he slid his LINE information into the conversation AFTER indirectly telling Tew he was being emotional due to his grief is why I'm excited to see another version of Manner of Death's Tan. Kan probably does like Tew but he stays focused and calculated.

He is terrifying without there being any concrete detail to pinpoint on why he is scary. Som, while describing people being possessed by evil murderous spirits, was terrified of Kan, and the transition from Som telling his story to Kan appearing at the exact moment Som was going to state what human form the evil spirits take was brilliant.

But what's even more terrifying is the treatment of the terminally ill. They are viewed as a burden, locked away, and isolated.

And Tew witnessed it. He got a glimpse of what Kan sees daily, so the show is already building up a case in defense of Kan's actions. If he is performing euthanasia, Tew could understand. He heard the goat's bell. He knew it was still alive, but he decided to end its suffering, cleanly and swiftly, which is what euthanasia is. He saw that man left behind by his family and even moved to go get him. And he was bothered when the man's daughter stated her reasoning for leaving him out there alone.

He also stopped Kan from continuing to question Som. Therefore, the true conflict has been set. Tew, whose job is to discover the truth, doesn't need it if it causes pain, but Kan's entire job is making pain manageable.

And I always want to trust a woman, but as suspicious as the director is being about everything, babygirl would be the perfect person to attempt euthanasia since the dead would end up on her table where she could claim the death was the result of the illness.

Because euthanasia is a good death.

And this ain't it.

He understands that.

But someone doesn't.

[felixcloud6288]

PMMM episode 8

Sayaka, that's not- You shouldn't- I mean, that's one way to use healing magic in combat.

Tanking and healing wounds is probably not very magic efficient. I'd offer Sayaka some suggestions, but I doubt she'd listen to me on account of her being in a highly self-destructive mindset and due to her being a fictional character who cannot hear me through the tv.

Seriously, why do they put so much detail in random object closeups. That lantern with water flowing down it looks amazing.

Mami did warn against making a selfless wish and now Sayaka is getting the reason why. She ultimately got nothing out of her deal with Kyubey. She can't even say that she's at least alive like Mami could.

Okay, Homura's power is definitely time related. That domain she and Kyouko are hanging out in is just a magic clocktower.

I genuinely don't feel sorry for Sayaka at all because she didn't take her shot with Kyousuke.

I'm going to guess Homura isn't so much concerned for Madoka's well-being as she is in making sure Madoka doesn't have any reason to ever become a Magical Girl. And it's definitely more than just not wanting a stronger rival. Homura is putting in far too much effort.

That whole scene in the train is as black-and-white as Sayaka's moral code. Being a Magical Girl is a job, not a moral duty.

I genuinely got shocked to see Kyubey grooming himself. His expression has never changed so I wasn't expecting him to have a tongue.

You can't get that kind of starry sky with the amount of light pollution there.

Okay. Yeah. Homura definitely has time magic.

She didn't even bother to use magic. She just gunned down Kyubey.

What just happened? Madoka just forgot who Homura was.

Kyubey acting like a cute little animal is him just mocking Homura's inability to kill him.

In-KYU-BEY-tor. Clever.

So Homura has time magic and is not from this timeline. So something bad happened to Madoka in another timeline. And I guess Homura's wish was to stop that from happening?

So witches ARE corrupted magical girls. Kyubey's words imply that is intentional though. Like they're supposed to do that.

Sayaka's soul gem turned into a grief seed when she transformed.

back

[theheightofdishonor]

Inspired by this post, I kinda wanted to make my own dream cast for a female Only Friends since it seemed so fun. However, it turns out that i'm indecisive (which you'd think I already know) so I mostly just ended up musing different options. I kept a lot of @pranink's casting because they were so dead perfect.

Like Pat and Fah for Ray and Sand, especially Fah for Sand is such an inspired choice because she can pull of that same edge of sincerity that Sand has. And Pat ofc is a master at playing terrible and yet sympathetic characters. (she's a miracle in P.S. I hate you)

Mew was a bit harder. I love Namtam but I kinda wanna see Piploy too. I couldn't find gifs that got across the energy I wanted but I swear, she'd pull off Mew's slightly condescending sweetness and need for moral superiority flawlessly.

For Top, Jane Ramida would be my first pick but I think Tu would be really interesting and in this type of role too. I really can't pick between the two.

I'm keeping pranink's casting of Jamie Juthapich and View for Boston and Nick because it's so ridiculously perfect. Like look at them?

Boeing was the hardest to cast tbh because there's so many options that would work and yet they'd all give totally different vibes.

If we keep Jane as Top, then i'd want Tu as Boeing. Imagine Tu getting between Piploy and Jane?? It'd be amazing. Also this means we'd get FahTu and that's a dream pairing if there ever was one.

But Ciize would kill it too?? And I also kinda wanna see Milk in this role? It's soo difficult. Pics below so you can see.

Final decision though is that if Tu is Top, then Milk is Boeing because F4 (You don't understand how convinced I was that Lita was going to fall in love with Gorya and my dismay when she took the far more boring route of liking Thyme. It doesn't make sense, idc if it's adhering to the storyline)

However, if Jane's Top then Ciize because I know in my heart they'd have excellent chemistry together. And they're both part of SIZZY and I'm slowly accumulating the entire band for this cast.

Gigie for Daddy Dan. I don't think her and View have acted together yet so it'd be a really fun pairing and I think Gigie's got that slightly suspicious vibe that made all of us think Daddy Dan was going to be terrible before he turned out to be hella sweet. (Honestly, Gigie could do Boston too and probably would've been my first pick for it if I didn't fall in love with the idea of Jane J as Boston.)

Cheum and April were also surprisingly hard to pick, especially Cheum. The mean girl that thinks she's a mom friend? Like there are sooo many options. New Thitipoom and Gun Atthaphan would be easy picks but I also like Mike Chinnarat too and Pod because Pod tends to play sweeter characters and i'd love to see him play a mean girl. Ofc, Gun Korawit would kill it too. April would be Guy Sivakorn (he's incidentally in the last gif here and also I believe in my heart that he'd have chemistry with any of these boys. Plus. he's already partnered with Pod (ps i hate you) and Guy S. (2gether) .

If I was casting April and Cheum as a pair though Gun Atthaphan and Tor Thanaphob together would also be great and it wouldn't matter which one plays which because they'd both pull off either.

For Yo and Plug, I kinda like Man Trisanu and Prim Chanikarn. We know Man can do Yo's commitment issues and Prim has that indignant righteousness of someone in their early 20s when dating an older person.

But- and this is literally just for wish fullfillment- you could keep the genders unswitched and go with Zani Nipaporn for Yo and either Pond or Nanon for Plug. Though honestly, as long as Zani's Yo, any of Gmmtv's younger cast could do Plug.

Prigkhing Sureeyares for Atom. I'm imagining her in that scene where Atom lies to Cheum about Boston and honestly, she'd be so perfect for it.

and finally, Jan Ployshompoo for Gap.

[rares-posts]

3 Days to go till MM so here's highlights from the interviews:

🌖P’Tor is so happy to act with Gun, sometimes even want to tease him, play with him. But P’Tor said Gun is very kind and everyone said he is so cute so can't tease (aww) (clip)

🌖P'Parn helps him out, N'Ploy takes pics and is cute, Tor likes to tease and ask things Gun doesn't know about the script. He asks him about it but Gun can't really answer (clip)

🌖Tor lost 10-12 kg to balance Gun’s stature. He said Gun's really small.(gtrans, Clip)

🌖Gun plays as Dome, a barista that lost his job, and was invited by Khatha(Tor) to work at the midnight museum

🌖Gun explains that there was a scene which was difficult for Gun to film because it's not like him in real life so he wasn't confident.

Tor: but when you were acting, you were so confident!

Gun: because it's in script! So have to be confident!! (partial source) (Clip)

🌖Gun: N'Ploy encouraged me, "P'Gun you can do it! Susu!"(rough trans of 0:53 of this clip🙏)

🌖Tor: Gun we can gather ten people to come to the party. Invite both people in front of the camera behind the camera. Invite people who are not involved at all hahahaha (gtrans, clip)

🌖When filming, someone said I don't want to do stressful scene, just want to act light one, so began roleplaying as rich people. Started by Gun and Namtan, they even googled Top 10 richest people in the world. (Clip)

When midnight museum airs on March 6, more photos taken by Ploy will be released 💕(clip)

🌖P’Saiparn mentioned Gun is a talented artist. When they acted together the dialogue were so long and different from how we talk in daily life. Gun can focus immediately to make everything smooth when filming. He is fun & cute outside the scene, but also focus & perfect in the scene. (clip)

🌖Tor: Gun is someone who I'm amazed at his acting, is the person who hasn't met in Thai for a long time. If not calling it talent... maybe I can't use other words, it's a talent that has been accumulated from experience since Gomin. (1) Gun didn't have to read the script that much. Just like read (once fast) and can be remembered. Yes, really talented. I liked it since workshop. (2)(....) I would be like Gun how can you do that? When he read the long dialogue, wait im almost, aww you done? i still in the halfway!(3) (Clip)

🌖Gun: please support midnight museum series. It's another series that I worked very hard on and i believe everyone did their very best. I'd like everyone to stay tuned because if you watched the trailer, it's only a few percent (of the plot) because the story is very confusing and mysterious. you can't find the way out. (Clip)

Cute clips:- gun 1, 2 | ploy fangirling over gun's cuteness: 1, 2

{♡Some translations are same as they were from the hyperlinked source tweet but some are slightly altered to be more understandable while preserving the meaning of the hyperlinked translation out of personal discretion, few are combinations of gtranslations and fantranslations. Any mistakes found are unintentional and regretted. Will be more than happy to correct in case of discrepancies.♡}

Part 2

[thekatea]

Midnight Museum

Watched: 04.04.2023

The tale of involuntary naps and ass whopping.So, I’m not gonna lie, Midnight Museum is a complete mess - from how the characters are written, through the countless plot holes and underdeveloped plotlines, up till the rushed ending. It’s entertaining though. I think it is… I honestly cannot be sure how much of my enjoyment came from all the chats, comments, posts and discussions with other mdl users. This is a perfect show to hype each other up about. (psst... I do love the show though. I sold my soul to it).

While the idea behind the plot is brilliant, the execution left a lot to desire. From the start it was an episodic type of a deal, which seemed to exist more as a promo for all the GMMTV actors and less as a means to tell a cohesive story. Not to mention the mix of supernatural, fantasy and even sci-fi theories - nothing to be explained or explored. It’s just a big bag of everything, that ends up being nothing.

I understand where they were going with the plot, but I honestly think they lacked a writer and director with experience in that genre. Midnight Museum is just not a smooth viewing experience. They did not highlight important details in the scenes, lines that were explaining connections between plotlines, hints that would make it easier for viewers to understand the whole picture. When you watch the episode, it’s hard to tell what you should focus on and what info might be useful later on.

You know what it feels like? Like watching just a middle season of a tv show - you don’t get a proper setup for the characters nor a well explained conclusion. It just felt like there should be more at the beginning and the end. All that said, the second half of the last episode was just phenomenal. Added 0.5 to my rating just because of these last 40 minutes. But it also made me truly see how much potential to be a masterpiece this drama had.

While I love Khatha and Dome for their interactions (local straight boys acting gay, if you know what I mean), and Khatha was quite a “mood” on many occasions, I don’t think I have ever seen weaker main characters than them. Dome was forced to take a few too many involuntary naps and Khatha got his ass whooped by almost every bad character. That said, this was a bromance on the level of Chinese censored gay romance and for that I am grateful.

Then we have all the supporting characters: Anthika served looks, Triphop and Bam got the “kind of competent, but not really” presentation with a 0.5% fling going on, June was there to make Khatha accept his feelings for Dome and Boon… barely existed. That’s more or less what the characters brought to the table. I think it’s kind of an achievement to have 10 episodes and not one character actually developed.

What saved all of these characters? Amazing acting. Tor and Gun did a great job and their on screen chemistry was to die for. It’s nice to see two competent actors together, because too often we watch one person carry the whole show on their backs.

Supporting cast did a great job too. Yes, I would appreciate Saiparn going one step further and exaggerating the character just a little bit more and Tay giving me a little bit more expression during some scenes, but overall, I don’t really have many complaints. I’m especially content with all the guest appearances and the quality of acting there.

The MVP award goes to Nanon though. This guy delivered probably his best performance up to date.

For the production value - it fluctuated. I was not exactly on board with the set designs. The museum felt painfully empty and not grand enough. I think the majority of the costume budget went to dress Tor, so the rest was underwhelming (especially June - the design for the dress was great, but the quality of it seemed cheap). Some special effects were nice, some were rather questionable. There is also the case of actors not being used to acting with nothing, which made the CGI elements stand out more and not feel like they were part of the picture.

Overall, entertaining mess. It had a lot of potential, but most of it was not used. They tried to pack too much into these 10 episodes so we ended up with a diluted story with little details and world building. I would highly recommend it as a group watch, because it benefits greatly from exchanging theories and hyping each other up as you watch. It’s a great memes and joke source.

That ending though. I don't think I could be more happy with all that crazy shit at the end. Exactly my type of a deal.

[gunsatthaphan]

no one asked for this but here are my thoughts on the announced shows from today (in order of announcement, BLs are marked with a 🏳️‍🌈, personal favorites are marked with a 🌟):

Enigma: The days where I’m genuinely intrigued by a plot about a mysterious school are over. I’m not a fan of neither Win or Prim so I’m gonna pass on this one.  .

A Boss and a Babe (🏳️‍🌈): I did not expect ForceBook to come back twice next year lmao but I’m not upset. This would be the first series I see with them since I didn’t see Enchante but I really like their chemistry. I’m not a fan of boss-employee romance plots but I will give this a shot. Also the rest of the cast is amazing. Thumbs up!  .

Find Yourself: I did not see the original so I can’t say much about it but the trailer did not intrigue me. next.  .

Double Savage: This looks like a tragic but very interesting story I think, also Ohm and Perth seem to be an S-tier casting choice for this. These characters in this setting fit them extremely well imo. It’s a bit too much violence for my taste but I will take a look nonetheless.  .

Hidden Agenda (🏳️‍🌈🌟): FIRST HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY!!!!!! This looks absolutely amazing. The cast is A+++ and I’m SO excited that JoongDunk are actually coming back. I was hoping they would. The story is right up my alley and it definitely fits them. Joongs character seems very similar to Kluen but I’m okay with that lol. These are the kind of roles that fit him the best. Also we’re finally getting AouBoom 🥺 And is PoddGuy gonna be a thing too? If so then sign me up even more lmao. So excited for this one!!!!!! 💜  .

23.5 Degrees (🏳️‍🌈🌟): I cannot put into words how happy I am about this. We’re not only finally getting MilkLove but we’re finally getting a GL. This couldn’t be better. This looks so precious and so endearing, also GeminiFourth as the sides definitely makes this the most adorable project out of all. I absolutely love this. This is huge. Thank you gmm 🥺  .

Because You are My First Love: DewPrim seems to be a good match but I’m not really feeling it. Next.  .

Cooking Crush (🏳️‍🌈🌟): WELL WELL WELL. What do we have here. Still can’t believe it lol. I love shows about cooking and this looks fun, but to be completely honest I’m not sure how I feel about OffGun bl no. 5 lol. I love them but isn’t it time to move on lol. Also why did they say they were done. Idk. Obviously I’m gonna watch it but I think I would’ve preferred seeing Gun with Tor. Just to shake things up a bit. But oh well. Not complaining anyway ✌🏻  .

Wednesday Club: This looks like a messy version of Club Friday lmao. Not sure. Could be interesting but could be a flop. I think I’ll pass. Next.  .

Last Twilight (🏳️‍🌈): Hmmm..... If I took my glasses off I would probably think this was Vice Versa season 2 lol - I’m hesitant when it comes to shows portraying disabilities so I’m a bit reluctant about this one. I love JimmySea and I really hope they get this right. But I’m not 100% convinced.  .

Loneliness Society:  This looks boring, unoriginal story and a meh cast. Next.  .

Only Friends (🏳️‍🌈🌟🌟🌟): FUCK. ME. UP. This looks amazing. I was hoping for a Jojo series in the style of friendzone and my prayers have been answered. And not only that but with my babes FirstKhao???? And ForceBook and NeoMark????? Christmas came early this year lmao. I absolutely love that FK are going into a completely different direction for their second project. This looks spicy and messy and chaotic - exactly my cup of tea lmao. BRING IT.  .

Faceless Love: The plot around the face blindness is a very interesting concept but I’m not a fan of the main couple. Not sure.  .

Dangerous Romance (🏳️‍🌈🌟): YES I LOVE THIS. I wasn’t feeling it the first time I saw it but after rewatching it a few times I’m really into it. Yes, it’s yet another school setting (sigh) but I’m very much digging the PerthChimon pairing. I didn’t think they would actually get their own show but I’m happy. The trailer is giving Bad Buddy and 2Gether vibes which I hope won’t dominate the actual series lol but I’m intrigued nonetheless. Yay!!!!! .

The Jungle: Sorry but this looks awful. The cast is good but the story seems so weird to me. Hated every second of that trailer. Next.  .

Midnight Museum: This looks,,,,, interesting? I’m a bit creeped out lmao I was expecting to get TorGun and I’m not sure if they will actually be a pair here but we shall see. It looks very abstract which is intriguing but also has me a bit hesitant because it’s giving slight The Blue Hour vibes. But we shall see. Gun and Tor are gonna slay either way.  .

Cherry Magic (🏳️‍🌈): I have no words for this lmao. Like what---. I did not expect TayNew to actually make a comeback and I sure did not expect them to adapt THE cherry magic lmao? I generally find adaptions interesting but I’m not sure if this will work. TayNew are highly experienced so I guess they will do these roles justice but idk. cherry magic is so fundamentally different from thai bls which is one of the reasons why it was so phenomenal so I’m curious how they’re gonna do this. But for now I’m not putting it on my favorites list.  .

Our Skyy 2 (🏳️‍🌈🌟): YES I’m excited for this one!!!! Never in a million years would I have thought that there would be another season to this show lmao but here we are. I’m taking this as a final goodbye to these pairings which is a bit sad but I think it’s a good way to end these eras. I’m excited to see what they have in store for each of them!!!  .

Beauty Newbie: Absolutely hate this one. I’m sick and tired of these shows trying to sell me the idea that beautiful girls are ugly and then some handsome dude comes along and tells them otherwise like what century is this??? Win fits in there though because his characters are almost exclusively conservative snobs. No thank you. .

The Interest: Couldn’t care less about this one lmao. Bye. 

conclusion: 2023 seems to be the year of comebacks lol which I’m not mad about since I love all these pairings, but I do wish we had gotten more new ones. Also I was expecting to see more new faces (besides Title and Great). A few surprises like the ones we got last year would’ve been nice. However I am happy with what we’re getting, especially the fact that MilkLove is finally happening. Incredible. I’m glad they toned it down a bit with the number of shows and also that the event was shorter. A lot of their big shots were either absent or merely booked which was surprising; I was expecting to see people like Bright more frequently but maybe that’s for the best. 

My personal highlights are Only Friends, 23.5 Degrees, Dangerous Romance and Hidden Agenda. 

Can’t wait for 2023! 💜 

xxx

[one-real-imonkey]

Terror 13 with... Can you guess? 😅

Oh I know you want JasTor but they’re ex’s in this because @shetheyshenanigans ‘s idea is stuck in my head mwahahahahaha. (This).

You know how JasTor is amazing for lovers to enemies...

I hope you’re ready to cry.

“No, please! No, no no no no no!”

———

Everything that could have gone wrong had. The Kordans hadn’t needed their help, they’d been working with Kyr’tsad, Tor having know Jaster would never ignore a rescue mission. Now Jaster was left with little more to do than gather what was left of his Forces, find his ad, ad get them all the hells out of there.

Jaster almost froze, his breath catching at the sight out across the field from the trench he was in.

Jan’ika, his precious ad, and a tank.

Jan’ika helping a verd to their feet, desperately trying to get them out of its way, and the turret was levelling at his ad, his ad, and he could see Tor at the gun and he was over the top of the trench and running, sprinting, even as his verde cried out behind him.

His ik’aad.

He had no weapon to take down tank, but there was a rocket launcher on the body of one of the fallen so close and all he had to do was get there first.

He had to save his ad.

He dove for the weapon, rolling to his knees, practised ease guiding him through loading it and aiming and...

The rocket sailed forwards, the force of it jolting his whole body, and the explosion rattled the battlefield.

The two explosions.

Jango!

Jaster sprinted forward to the limp body sprawled and bleeding across the floor.

No.

No he wasn’t losing his ad here.

“Jango!”

He threw himself to his knees at Jango’s side, pulling his son into his arms, the heat from the tank and the closer explosion washing over him as he pulled off his buy’ce.

Death Watch were on the run, this had been their last shot. He’d taken out the tank, but now he needed to get his ad to a medics.

“Bu...”

No, no no no if he pretended maybe there wouldn’t be blood slipping from his ad’ika’s lips, a wet rattle to his voice and his breathing and no he wasn’t losing his ad. He wasn’t.

“Buir... I... did we... win?”

“The tank is dealt with, they’re running, the medic will be here soon. They’ll be here soon, ik’aad.”

“Buir... I... love you... so much.”

“I love you too ad, you’re not leaving me yet.”

“Thank... you.”

“No debt ad, these have been the best years. Having you, to raise, to love, Jango, you’ve been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You need to hold on ik’aad, you need to stay with me.”

Jango’s breath was rattling worse, and where were the damned medics he needed them.

“I love you ik’aad, more than anything. It’s ok, ner kar’ta’ika. It’s all going to be ok.”

He couldn’t ignore the tears blurring his vision, but they didn’t obscure that his Jan’ika’s eyes weren’t looking at anything anymore, his chest wasn’t rattling nor rising or falling, and he dropped his forehead to his son’s, desperate pleas falling from his lips.

“No, please! No, no no no no no!”

He sobbed against his son, grasping him tightly in his arms and begging, pleading, breath coming in short sharp pants. He was never going to let go...

He couldn’t.

This was his ad.

His ik’aad.

Ner kar’ta’ika.

Around him, armoured bodies were forming up, a barrier between a mourning Buir and the rest of the galaxy.

And raising his head, he saw the other thing they were making a barrier for.

Stumbling from the wreck of the tank...

“Vizsla!”

The venom in his broken voice was tangible, several of his own people jolted or flinched, and Vizsla, Tor, stumbled back slightly in shock, “Face me!”

Tor swayed a little, buy’ce off and bleeding, but to the cowards credit, he didn’t run.

Jaster was struck by the memory of a time long past, before he and Tor were faced against each other, before they were even cyare... a night where they’d been two friends staring at the stars wondering it Mandalore could be saved and Jaster had admitted that he wanted ade more than just about anything. Spoken of how badly he wanted ade to raise and protect and call his own, no matter what else the future held, that he would be a Buir, and Tor had laughed and sworn no child of Jasters would ever come to harm. That he’s die before letting someone hurt one of Jasters ade.

It had been one of the things that had endeared the younger him so, that had caused him to fall so hard.

It had been a filthy lie, just like every other word ever spoken by that honourless bastard.

He wondered if Tor remembered that broken oath.

But only briefly, lowering Jango oh so gently to the floor, rising to his feet and stalking past his verde.

None of them tried to stop him.

None of them were so cruel or foolish to make that attempt.

Vizsla still didn’t run, and Jasters first blow slammed into him.

Tor seemed startled, he would realise later, so perhaps he really had forgotten that late night conversation that had once meant so much to Jaster, but that didn’t matter.

It was one injured monster against the fury of a Buir who’d had their ad stolen from them, and any hesitations summoned by memories of the past in their fights before were absent here. This wasn’t his ex-cyare he couldn’t quite banish from his mind, this was the monster who’d murdered his ik’aad.

The bastard couldn’t block every blow, his strength failing him and Jaster had always been able to take down enemies bigger and stronger than him.

Vizsla choked as Jaster slammed him into his back and drove the blade through his throat.

It wouldn’t bring his Jan’ika back, but this monster could never hurt another family again.

———

Ok, so, I think this makes it clear that people shouldn’t suggest angst prompts to me, because I made myself cry writing that, and it was fun mwahahahahaha.

So on the other hand, if you want to send me ideas like, what if Jango died instead of Jaster (and at some point I might to something with Geonosis and Boba instead of Jango) feel free, cos I looove that angst.

Thanks for the prompt and I hope you enjoyed it.

Inbox is always open. (-:

[esonetwork]

Who is Captain Future?

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/who-is-captain-future/

Who is Captain Future?

The Big Bang Theory

This month (for me, anyways) has been all about Captain Future. I have been living, breathing, eating and sleeping Edmond Hamilton’s pulp era science fiction hero.

But who is Captain Future? Popular in his hey day, the 1940’s, the final decade of the pulp magazines, today he is an obscure character, encountered by the younger generation either through an almost equally as obscure Japanese Anime series or through the medium of the sit-com The Big Bang Theory as a somewhat prominent poster on display in Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment.

None of which answers the question: Who is Captain Future?

For that answer I turn to the Hugo award winning science fiction writer Allen M. Steele.

Cover art by Earle K. Bergey

“Captain Future is a creation of Edmond Hamilton,” says Steele. “The legend is that in 1939 at the World Science Fiction Convention the publisher of Startling Stories, Mort Wesinger, went to the convention in New York city and was so impressed by the turnout and the enthusiasm of the fans that, on the spot, he announced that they were going to create a new magazine called Captain Future.”

The actual story is a little more complicated than that, Allen explains. “By the time the World Science Fiction convention rolled around Better Publications had already decided that they wanted to publish a ‘hero’ pulp to compete with Doc Savage and The Shadow and The Avenger and other characters who were very popular at that time.”

Weisinger had come up with a character he called Mister Future who was the world’s smartest man and had this huge head. He lived on top of a skyscraper and he had an alien being named Otho who lived in his ring. He took his idea to science fiction writer Edmond Hamilton.

“Hamilton said: No this isn’t going to do, so he borrowed a little bit of Doc Savage and a little bit of Batman and various other creations that were out there and he came up with something entirely new. That was Captain Future.” Steele explains.

Cover art by Tommy Pocket

“The first issue appeared in late 1939. It was a quarterly magazine and Hamilton wrote all but three adventures. It lasted until the mid-1940’s and, like so many other pulps, was killed off by the wartime paper crunch. Some more adventures were published in Startling Stories for a couple of issues after that. Then he went away for a while. The series was briefly revived in 1950 as a series of short novellas, again, in Startling Stories.”

The character went away again in 1951. “They said: It’s going to go on a short hiatus,” Steele explains. “And that hiatus ended up lasting until I revived the character a few years ago. Basically Captain Future is a spacegoing version of Doc Savage. Doc Savage was an early predecessor to James Bond and a lot of other characters. He’s a troubleshooter. He’s a hero. Hamilton’s version of the character had him being a super scientist.

“He’s an adventurer, and he has this weird cast of characters, the Futuremen. They go about the solar system righting wrongs, protecting the common man and fighting the good fight. This is something that attracted me a great deal when I read those adventures when I was a kid.”

Cover art by M. D. Jackson

So much so, that Steele took over the mantle from Edmond Hamilton and began writing new adventures featuring the pulp hero. “One of the first Captain Future novels I read was Outlaws of the Moon. My first Captain Future, Avengers of the Moon, was very much an homage to that particular title.”

Avengers of the Moon was published by Tor Books in 2017. For Steele it was a dream come true and one he wanted to continue. Unfortunately the editor who signed off on the project died. His replacement was not as interested in continuing with the series.

Fortunately Steve Davidson and his Experimenter Publishing Company, picked up the idea. Steve, the publisher behind the revival of Amazing Stories Magazine, has been releasing a series of novels under his Amazing Selects imprint, and Allen Steele’s Captain Future novels are among those releases.

Illustration by H. W. Wessolowski

The books are fully illustrated, much like the Captain Future novels from the original pulp run. This is where I come in.

The second Captain Future novel began with a longer story called Captain Future in Love. It was serialized over two issues and I was fortunate enough to be tasked with producing the cover art for the second issue.

The story was re-printed by Amazing Selects, followed by the next two instalments of an overarching story. The Guns of Pluto continued the story as does the sequel, 1500 Light Years from Home. Both books feature black and white illustrations.

Illustration by M. D. Jackson

This, for me, has been an incredible opportunity to pick up where pulp artists Earle K. Bergey who painted the covers, and Hans Waldemar Wessolowski, credited as H. W. Wessolowski (also sometimes simply as as “Wesso”) who drew the interior illustrations. As a life long fan of the pulp magazines, this is obviously a dream assignment.

I have completed the illustrations for 1500 Light Years from Home and the book is scheduled to be released sometime in the next month. I am hoping to be involved in the fourth and concluding instalment which will be released either later this year or early 2022.

But there was to be an unexpected bonus this month. I had got wind that a magazine, The Pulp Fan, was on the lookout for artists to provide portraits of pulp characters. I contacted the publisher, Jim Main and asked if there was anything that I could do. He suggested that I could paint a portrait of Captain Future.

This was the icing on an already delicious cake. The Allen Steele Captain Future books have been “updated”. The science has been brought into line with what we know now about the solar system. Steele didn’t want to have the setting be the “quaint” one that Edmond Hamilton had created. Just as his stories reflected the science as it was understood at the time, so does Allen Steele’s Captain Future. So that the illustrations will not look dated or out of place in the 21st century, I adapted a similar esthetic.

This, then, for Pulp Fan was a chance to present Captain Future as he was back in the 1940’s, anachronisms and all. I am working on it was we speak and, I have to tell you, I am having a heck of a lot of fun with it.

The Pulp Fan issue #3 will be available soon from Main Enterprises.

Allen Steele’s Captain Future: 1500 Light Years from Home will be available from Amazing Selects. You can find that and his other Captain Future Books here.

[oosteven-universe]

Hellchild in Blood Money #3

Hellchild in Blood Money #3 Zenescope Entertainment 2019 Written by Ralph Tedesco Illustrated by Butch Mapa Coloured by Dijjo Lettered by Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studios     PART 3 OF 4     Angelica Blackstone, A.K.A. “Hellchild”, is the half-vampire daughter of the Greek god, Hades, and currently a gun-for hire. She spends her days offering her unique strength and abilities to the highest bidder, but after her next gig, she may come to realize that this new job might be more than she signed up for.     So with this I am an issue behind, not sure why I just am and that happens sometimes as you all know, life gets in the way. Still I do very much like this story and Ralph has been doing an absolutely amazing job of bringing Angelica to life. The premise started off a little simple and then gradually evolved into something so much more. Tor wasn't the type of human Angelica was expecting to go up against and this new wrinkle in the job suddenly took on a new meaning as well as the size and scope of the story.     The way that this is structured is extremely well done. The story & plot development that has the character development weaving in, around and through it, with this strong pacing makes for an amazingly strong read. Harry being around in whatever current capacity that is, it's confusing to me and yet it is oddly fascinating because it doesn't feel right. The characterisation here is marvellous and I have to admit that it extends throughout everyone that we meet. The introduction of new characters along the way not only keeps fleshing out this world but those in Angelica's sphere so that some may come to be adversaries she will encounter time and time again. That prospect is kind of exciting as well so that whatever Ralph has planned is going to be something to look forward to.     The attempt at deception and distraction on Tor's part isn't quite working out but he isn't aware of that yet. So the biggest bad guy we see here is unexpected and yet it shouldn't be. I mean James West and Artemus Gordon had plenty of unexpected adversaries and they managed to be every bit as interesting and devious to cause them problems time and time again.     The interiors here are extremely nice to see. The linework is so nice and shows this clean, sharp lines that with their varying weights bring out a lot of great attention to detail. While we see more than a good amount of backgrounds being utilised I think there are still too many blank backgrounds, some are okay for that whole focus moment but let's not get too lazy. I am a huge fan of the way we see the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels that showcase this really talented eye for storytelling. I will say this there is one scene where someone is referred to as too short and yet we don't see that upon seeing them for the first time. So be careful and pay attention to what's going on and make sure it all matches up. The colouring is nicely done. For the most part the way we see light sources utilised to show off shading and shadows is done well. There are a few exceptions and having seen Dijjo's work before I'm surprised by that.     The fact that Angelica is a part of this shared world, with Robyn, Red and Van Helsing, and yet is keeping her distance so that this feels like a stand alone series is also incredibly nice to see. It fits in with her character and her disdain for the way her father brought her back, though Hades does need to come back since ya know he's a god. Though I do like her as a loner and having to relearn how to acclimate herself back into modern society more so as being a vampire. Ralph has me thinking off the page and trying to use my mind, knowledge and feelings when it comes to this world and these characters because as a writer that's precisely what you want to do. ​     Zenescope is rocking out with the untraditional traditional superhero style genre of books.

[pharawee]

Hello! I’m currently loving the pitbabe cast,nut in the “boys journey” on youtube and tiktoks seems more feminine (which i love!) and is very different from his character. But it made me think that fem characters aren’t really a thing in bl. I’ve watched SCOY but apart from that is there any bl works that have a fem main character that isnt a “joke” and has a love interest?

Thank you and have a great day!!

Hi anon! 💜

Negl I'm absolutely desperate for more fem (main) characters in BL but sadly, you're right, there aren't many main characters who fit the description. There aren't even many side characters who fit the description (and even fewer fem side characters who aren't primarily there for comedic relief).

Like, I loved Green in 2Together. I wish the story had treated him better and I still follow Gun Korawit on ig hoping he'll get more roles soon because he's so lovely (the same goes for Bruce Sirikorn who I just adore and who finally FINALLY got a lovely side role in Step by Step).

It always makes me really sad when I browse the comment section of MDL or the hellscape that is x (or even reddit) and people are just so dismissive and cruel when it comes to fem BL characters or even actors - calling them annoying or unattractive. They want their "ukes" not to be too manly (whatever that even means) but never in a confident or unapologetic or flirty way. And let's not even go into what they think of fem characters who don't fit the stereotypical "bottom" cliché...

That being said, there's probably a spectrum here for what makes a BL character fem. Some people might include characters like Yai in Big Dragon or Pete in Love By Chance (or Fluke Natouch in pretty much every single one of his BL roles - most of which I actually disagree with lmao) but let me give you a few examples of feminine main characters in (Thai - because that's most of what I watch) BL that I'm really vibing with:

PP Krit as Oh-aew in I Told Sunset About You & I Promised You the Moon. Because if you're not at least a little bit in love with Oh-aew then I don't even know. 🥰

Tootsies and the Fake and its series prequel Diary of Tootsies - this is more a queer comedy than BL but I absolutely adore it. Very funny, very cute and heartwarming too. 💜

James Supamongkon as Uea in Bed Friend - if you like your fem characters confident and sexy (with an incredibly upsetting backstory - be warned) then this series is for you.

Pak Naphat as Namnuea in Wedding Plan - Nuea is the softest, thirstiest, cutest boy. This Mame series is often overlooked because it isn't as dramatic as her usual stuff but I liked it a lot when I watched it.

Earth Katsamonnat as Seeiw in My Only 12% - because Seeiw in the latter half of the series is the most confident we've seen Earth since Until We Meet Again (but personally I'm still waiting for the day when I can see Earth play someone in overknees and a cute skirt 🥰)

Turbo Chanokchon as Anda in Love Stage!! (the Thai remake) - so what if I needed to lie down for a bit when Anda wore that wedding dress and wig etc. That's a completely normal reaction. (Turbo also had a small side role in Nitiman and he looked so elegant and confident there that he totally stole each scene he was in).

Fluke Natouch as Krit in Make a Wish - this one never had an international release but if you can track it down with fansubs then it's a cute little watch and Fluke looks amazing in it. This series also has Pon Thanapon (Jeff in Pit Babe) in a side role and that's always a plus.

Tor Atagorn as Nail in For Him is simply GORGEOUS! The series is still ongoing and recently lost some of its steam but Nail's styling remains meticulous!

[multiplayingorg]

Guild Wars 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic Rogue Temptations

| Repost: Originally posted by Steve "Slurms" Lichtsinn on March 11, 2011

I’ve never been a big fan of Rogues in any MMO. That’s not to say that I didn’t want to play as one. Quite the contrary; they are deadly, and often look amazing. They’re usually not quite as potent as the “glass cannon” Mage, but I prefer survivability above kill count. I tend to prefer that survivability so much that I’m lead to play tanks, or at least a hybrid that can self heal.

The real reason I avoid the class is because it’s inevitable that in any MMO, there will tend to be a large population of rogues. I personally prefer to play a class that is useful more than just playing a class that is fun. Sure, you need DPS, but you only need so much. Going into a PvP instance when more than half the team is comprised of knife-wielding caffeine induced stabbing machines is, to me, no fun.

But it seems as if every new MMO that comes out has a new sales pitch for their version of the rogue. “Come on out and try the 2011 Rogue! It’s five times more badass than you’re your old model, and it comes with an iPod dock, standard.” So while I’ve been planning to play some form of a tank in Guild Wars 2 and I have been adamant about my decision to play a Trooper in Star Wars: The Old Republic, it should come of no surprise that each of their versions of the rogue looks amazing, and I am once again filled with mixed emotions on what my day one decision will be.

Let’s go over the options, shall we?

Star Wars: The Old Republic – Smuggler

Back when I played Star Wars: Galaxies (albeit not for a very long time) I initially started my journey with a goal: become a Bounty Hunter, and rule the galactic paper towel market! Joking aside, I wanted to be Boba Fett. He was, without a doubt, one of my two favorite characters in the Star Wars universe. Most of my childhood desire to replicate him virtually came from my awe of his looks. I don’t know of anyone who can say he doesn’t look badass.

The other character I was always quite fond of was his antithesis; Han Solo. The two of them were like some sort of inverted spin on the classic law-man and law-breaker relationship from the Wild West…but with LASERS and SPACESHIPS! I eventually gave up on my quest to be the next Mand’alor and switched to becoming a Smuggler. This, eventually, showed me that while Galaxies was a great game in some regards, it wasn’t giving me the Star Wars experience I desired. The Old Republic will be another shot at giving me what I want in an MMO from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The only problem is that while I’ve learned over the years that it will probably be in my best interest to start out as a Trooper or a Jedi Knight, the Smuggler trailer does not help my decision. Albeit a bit on the cheesy side, it does show off a taste of the experience I was looking for in Galaxies.

(This video isn't available anymore)

UPDATE: It was pointed out to me by Pitrelli that the Smuggler really won’t be the rogue class of TOR. That title can be reserved for the Sith Assassin and Jedi Shadow. This was a complete oversight on my part but I’ll blame my dog. I glanced at her briefly while writing this and that lazy eye of hers threw me off.

Guild Wars 2 – Thief

First, I must point out that I fully agree with Syp on the class. Guns, does not a Thief make. I prefer the title “Mugger,” but no matter. What’s really important is that the class looks, and sounds like it could be, amazing. Not only will it be the light armored, high damage class we’ve all come to know, it will also put a new spin on what “stealing” means. Now, when I initially heard that it would be able to steal from its enemies, I thought it was an interesting throwback to older games like Everquest when you could actually loot coin from a mob while fighting. Instead we’re getting something so much cooler.

Upon seeing that you would be able to “steal” a temporary weapon based on the type of mob you are fighting, I was hooked. I was reminded of Gau from Final Fantasy VI (III in the States). He was a little beast-child that you could have in your party who would attach himself to an enemy and leave the party for an extended amount of time. Upon his return, he would learn one of those creatures’ abilities. This sounds similar, but temporary and way more dynamic. I love it, and again, I am cursing another MMO developer for making a class I know will be overplayed look and sound so amazing.

[howdoyousayghibli]

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind on a Cliff by the Sea in the Outlet by the Light Switch and the Goblet of Fire

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a pretty wild shift from Ponyo, let me tell you. It may not be a beginning-to-end delightful joyride like Ponyo was, but it feels much more important.

A quick note, going forward: Although Ponyo was picked essentially at random for my first review, from here on out my plan is to review every Studio Ghibli film in order of release. Technically, Nausicaä isn’t a true Ghibli film, being released before the formation of the studio, but most people consider it one anyway due to the people who worked on it and the general vibes.

A second, even quicker note: in Chrome, you can type ä by holding down the alt key while pressing 1 3 2 on the numpad. Now you can all write your own Nausicaä blog posts!

Alright then. A quick summary for those who haven’t seen it: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is set centuries after our civilization has collapsed. Humanity survives, but their primitive settlements are threatened by the toxic jungles that cover much of the globe, filled with poison spores and giant, hostile insects. Our protagonist, a young woman named Nausicaä, is caught between warring nations who just might be about to trigger a fresh apocalypse before the old one's even worn off. There’s a bunch that I can’t include here; Nausicaä has a lot going on. You should really just go watch it.

This movie is outstanding in several ways. The first and most obvious way is its

design.

This proto-Ghibli film doesn’t quite display the incredible animation of Ponyo or the studio’s other subsequent films, but the designs of the characters and creatures in this movie are striking and create some truly memorable shots, like when Nausicaä finds the Ohm exoskeleton.

Great Design Highlights:

 - Nausicaä: you KNOW that she’s getting her own section later, but suffice it to say that her design rocks. Her original outfit tells us a lot about her (practicality/experience with the jungle), but she’s also well enough designed that she remains recognizable through multiple outfit changes.

 - The Ohm: Is “OHM-G” too obvious??? I don’t care, these bugs are incredible. Miyazaki purposefully gave the movie an uphill battle in making the audience care for these utterly alien creatures, a battle which it wins handily. They exhibit a perfect balance of creepiness and a strange, surreal sense of wonder. They almost remind me of the Great Owl from the Rats of NIMH, in that they come off as strange and dangerous but also wise and knowledgeable.

 - The Great Warriors: If the Ohm have a sense of unease that’s tempered by wonder, the Great Warriors ditch the wonder and replace it with despair. Everything, from their first appearance in legend/flashback to their actual on-screen appearance, is calculated to instill a deep sense of dread, in me at least. A+++

Oh, and there’s this lady:

If you can believe it, she only gets cooler from here.

Ok, so the design is amazing. Know what else is? The

protagonist.

Nausicaä is one of my favorite movie protagonists in a long time, despite the completely unnecessary umlaut/diaeresis in her name. I like that when we meet her, she is already extremely competent. The film immediately establishes that she is experienced with travelling through the perilous toxic jungle, and comfortable enough there to take a quick nap on top of the Ohm exoskeleton. Every action we see her take, from loading and firing her gun, to flying her glider, to using her sword, to calming angry insects, speaks of mastery and practice. This could result in a boring protagonist who already knows everything; however, Nausicaä does undergo character development in this movie, it just doesn’t relate to her skills.

Despite the harsh world she’s grown up in, we get the sense that Nausicaä has enjoyed a fairly happy childhood. She loves exploring the world around her village, she is beloved of the townspeople, and oh yeah, she’s also a princess (and a scientist??? She’s the best.). She’s used to danger, but when her sheltered valley in caught in a war between to larger nations, she’s confronted with things much worse than danger: hatred, cruelty, and senseless violence. Nausicaä is used to the peaceful people of her village, and the dangerous but, to her, logical violence of nature; she is brutally awakened from this dream as an invading foreign power needlessly murders her ill, bedridden father in front of her.

She flies into a rage, defeating (I don’t recall it being clear if she kills anyone or not) multiple armed soldiers on her own and without much difficulty. This scene was critical for me, because by explicitly showing us that Nausicaä is capable of great anger and violence, is makes her later actions much more powerful. Nausicaä’s journey is about choosing compassion in the face of cruelty and kindness in the face of violence, which is absolutely something that more adventure movies could stand to build their character development on.

The movie may take a wandering path to get to its climax - the pacing is a little weird, there’s definitely a chunk in the middle where I wondered where it all was going and I think the movie could’ve worked with one less nation for us to learn about - but wow, that climax. If you didn’t already sympathize with the Ohm, GET READY. But yeah, it was basically the best possible resolution for a movie about the power of compassion and the bravery inherent in pacifism.

So

basically

while Nausicaä doesn’t have the same rewatchability that Ponyo has, it does have something to say, and it says it well. Everyone should watch this movie.

Next up: Castle in the Sky! How long will the streak of movies named “X on/in/of the X” continue??

Alternate review titles:

Nausicaä of the Children of the Mind

Nausicaä: The Movie That Made Me Care About Bugs

Another really good review of Nausicaä can be found here at Tor: https://www.tor.com/2017/03/29/nausicaa-of-the-valley-of-the-wind-a-new-kind-of-action-hero/

[mst3kproject]

Dimension 5

Dimension 5 was written by Arthur C. Pierce.  He also wrote The Human Duplicators, which is a sillier movie than this one but only by a very narrow margin.  Most of the cast are strangers to MST3K (although a surprising number of them appeared on Star Trek), but we do get to see Kam Tong and Robert Ito from Women of the Prehistoric Planet. That is also a sillier movie than this one, but again, only slightly.  Above and beyond that, there are just a million tiny things in Dimension 5 that scream MST3K, and I'm sure the Brains would have had a ball with it.

Our Hero, who the movie wants us to consider the coolest guy in the world, is Justin Power.  See?  With a name like that, how could he not be amazing?  He's a secret agent with a 'time converter', which is some kind of magic belt that looks like part of a circus acrobat's costume (there are plastic jewels on it) but actually allows the wearer to time travel and teleport.  Power's current mission is to take on a Chinese terrorist organization, the Dragon, who are planning to explode an atomic bomb in Los Angeles.  Along with the beautiful but perhaps not entirely trustworthy Kitty Tsu, he must track down the Dragon leader Big Buddha and foil his evil plot before Lex Luthor becomes the worth's wealthiest owner of seaside property.

The moment I knew this movie was destined for MST3K in some universe (even if it's sadly not ours) was when Power's boss at Espionage Inc arrives, walking with a cane.  “Hello, Justin!” he says.  “Hello, Cane!” Power replies.  It was a weird, confused couple of moments before I realized that 'Caine' was the guy's name, and for the rest of the movie I kept giggling like a lunatic as I imagined Joel and Bots calling out Power's greetings to random inanimate objects.  “Hello, Watch!”  “Hello, Teapot!” “Hello, Obvious Concealed Bomb!”

I'm not making fun of the movie by calling the organization ‘Espionage Inc’, by the way.  That's its actual name.

There are a hundred more moments that beg to be riffed.  Consider the utterly baffling bit with a balancing spoon and a scientist who claims he's searcing for the anti-graviton.  This feels like it should be setting up a plot point, but it's never mentioned again.  A captured baddie is interrogated with a mind-reading torture device that's really just a salon hair dryer.  Big Buddha's personal thug, Genghis, looks exactly like Tor Johnson.  There's a scene in which Power calls his boss in the middle of the night just to mess with him, and multiple moments when his voice sounds exactly like Adam West.  The Dragon apparently have a disintegrator ray and they never use it!  If I were in charge of an evil organization with a fucking disintegrator ray, I wouldn't even bother with the stupid atom bomb!

The movie wants so badly to be about how cool Justin Power is.  Its opening sequence plays like something you might see on a television screen within an episode of The Simpsons to suggest that a character is watching A Spy Movie.  There's a car chase, and then Power kisses a girl before punching her and confiscating the gun she was about to pull out of her purse.  He then leads some soldiers on a merry chase back and forth through a cave before being taken away by a very conspicuous helicopter.  It all seems slightly desperate, like the movie is waving in our faces and yelling, “look!  Our fearless Hero!  Isn't he great?  This is a spy movie!” Not to mention all the time spent implying that Power has bedded literally every woman he knows, from his female co-workers to the waitresses at his favourite restaurant.

The over-blown-ness of all this seems even more absurd when it's contrasted with Kitty Tsu's introduction.  We first see her when she foils an assassination, with such skill that nobody even notices her doing it, even though they can tell somebody intervened.  Unlike Power's introduction, Tsu's is also relevant to the plot – Power's opening serves only to be a James Bond wannabe and demonstrate the time converter.  All that work put into telling us how cool he is, only for her to be six times cooler without getting a hair out of place.

In fact, the entire first half of the movie consists mostly of Tsu being smarter, more capable, and more on top of things than Power, to the point where I began to think it had to be intentional.  Could it be, I wondered, that the film is deliberately making Power look like an idiot in order to parody macho spy movie cliches?  Tsu is so far out of his league, both as a spy and a human being, that I really enjoyed watching her take him down peg by peg. She even turns out to have a backstory that's interwoven with the villains', giving her a personal stake in this story that Power just does not have.  Surely, I thought, this all has to be on purpose. This is Kitty Tsu's movie, and Justin Power is her sidekick, not the other way around.  Right?

Nope. In the final showdown with Big Buddha, Tsu has a monologue moment and is captured, and Power has to save her.  Even with the motive given for her behaviour, I find it hard to believe she would be that stupid.  I find it even harder to believe that in a crunch she would throw a gun to Power instead of shooting the bad guy herself.  Then, in the closing scene, he continues the condescending 'lesson plan' he's been giving her the entire movie, and she responds by kissing him!  All that time spent building her up as way more awesome than him was actually, I think, meant to show that she's worthy of retiring and raising his children.  Fuck that. The end credits just left me pissed off that Tsu didn't ditch Power and go get her own movie franchise.

The end credits also contain the information that Ken Spalding played 'Negro Agent'.

Tsu is left in very much the same situation as Lisa Dornheimer from The Human Duplicators, in that she's an interesting character in an an interesting situation, well-placed to do something about it, and then... nothing.  The viewer gets the idea that Arthur C. Pierce was quite good at coming up with female characters and quite bad at giving them a real role in the plot, preferring to lavish attention on his 'dynamic' male leads while not realizing that they're what's sucking the life out of the story.  Human Duplicators would have been much better if Glenn Martin hadn't been the hero. Dimension 5 would have been better with Justin Power relegated to a supporting role.

The weirdest character moment in the movie, however, is at the very end.  Power and Tsu have been captured by the Dragon and are about to be shipped to Hong Kong for torture and interrogation.  The only thing that stops this is Big Buddha's masseuse.  At a critical moment she just steps up and stabs her boss, I think because he'd earlier ordered the death of her boyfriend – I can't say for sure because the relationship is not set up at all.  We never even met her until five minutes earlier.  She provides the necessary distraction for Power and Tsu to escape, and then while Big Buddha is distracted by the ensuing fight, attacks him again and kills him. Then, as the audience sits there wondering what the hell just happened, the whole incident is rendered moot as Power and Tsu go back in time so that Espionage Inc. can stop any of this from happening in the first place.  That was weird.

What else is going on in Dimension 5?  Well, this is rather obviously a Yellow Peril movie.  The plot to destroy Los Angeles is explicitly a communist one, carried out by agents who are posing as Americans.  Restauranteur Kim Fong is Power's friend, but is helpless to do anything but watch when Dragon orders a hit on him.  Nancy Ho claims she was born in California and has never even been to China, but she's a liar.  Even Kitty Tsu, for all she's one of The Good Guys, has her own motives that are more to do with her native homeland than her adopted one.  Despite the presence of token Agent Sato (significantly Japanese rather than Chinese), the theme seems to be that these people are not Americans, and cannot be trusted no matter what they say.

The Asian characters are furthermore a collection of stereotypes – cowards, schemers, dominant women, and sexless men.  I think the film-makers may have been afraid that Big Buddha, an intimidating guy whom we see shirtless and being oiled up by a beautiful woman, would seem too sexual, so they put him in a wheelchair to imply that he's impotent.  Sure, let's insult disabled people while we're here.  And yet... this was in a time when Christopher Lee was still starring in Fu Manchu movies, so I guess I at least have to give them credit for casting almost all the Asian characters with Asian actors.  The exception is Genghis, who (like Jang in Women of the Prehistoric Planet) is played by a Hawai'ian, Lee Kolima. I guess one could argue that the movie never explicitly says Genghis is supposed to be Chinese.

If you want a movie that makes for a good do-it-yourself MST3K episode, Dimension 5 is pretty much perfect.  The list of things you can make fun of here is almost endless, but like the best of MST3K features, there's also a coherent story you can follow.  Get some popcorn, some friends, and enough liquor to invent your own drinking game, and this one comes highly recommended.

[thessalian]

Thess vs Abandoned Games

Today is my first Star Wars RP without the actual game running in the background and the freedom is fucking amazing. I’ve committed us to at least following up until the death of Valkorion but after that, I can do whatever the fuck I want to this story. There were so many things that needed to be reset or removed to actually make it into Star Wars again, at least in my opinion. We did not need the Alliance. We did not need the Eternal Fleet - dear GODS did we not need the Eternal Fleet. No one should have that level of game-changer unless they’re an antagonist to defeat; if you have that level of firepower, nothing’s a challenge anymore and you can just keep throwing ships at a problem until it goes away. Nope.

The only issue I now have is that now I have to have to draw RPG maps for three games a fortnight. Ah well. It will be worth it.

The other thing I’m having issue with at the moment is Overwatch. Look, when Overwatch started, it was a fun little game. Arguably better than TF2 because ... well, more variety of characters with a wider array of abilities, better graphics, tighter-focus maps with actual meaning to the greater story, an actual story, funky new outfits that still didn’t interfere with character identification in the field, and a marketing campaign to make gods weep.

And then they started the current level meta-tweaking.

So Lucio’s heal is increased but his range has reduced to ten fucking feet? Really? Sombra’s only getting the barest tweaks (and no, turning down the volume on her announcement when she breaks stealth is not fucking enough so shut up), Ana’s damage output has been nerfed to fuck, Roadhog’s hook got nerfed somewhat, although his gun’s arguably more powerful now (but the POINT of a fucking Roadhog is to hook people out of a firing line! Upping his hook cooldown? Really?)... Then there’s the changes to Bastion, which for awhile made him basically unkillable. And don’t even get me fucking started on what they did to D.Va. And on top of this meta-shake that registers on the fucking Richter scale, they’re adding in a new character?

But the reasoning for all these changes is pretty simple: Competitive.

I see what they’re doing, I see why and I basically understand it. Once Overwatch got popular, Blizzard had to decide on a target audience. It couldn’t have both. If it kept things at the original level of play, Competitive players complained because it didn’t have the challenge level they wanted and made games hard to actually win if people knew what they were doing. But if it ramped up the difficulty and constantly shook the meta to make play a hair-trigger challenge, it would alienate the casual player base who just like it better than TF2 and really just want to play a fun game with friends.

Competitive gets more press, so...

Seriously, I’m aware that Blizzard wants to get Overwatch into the realm of E-Sports, really put it on the map as a competitive game. And it makes sense from a business perspective, after a certain point. Competitive does get more press, if just in YouTube streams and the like. Competitive anything makes news more than “I just had a good time with this game”. News gets the game out there in more widely-viewed media. Publicity sells games.

That doesn’t mean that my reasonable-but-not-god-tier ass is going anywhere near the game anytime soon. Look, I signed onto this back in the day to play something fun with friends, not beat my head against a wall fighting not only the enemy team but my own fucking mechanics.

I’ve been on TSW lately, for the most part ... but I’ve also poked GW2 again last night. One thing I did notice is that that guy Thackeray? The Seraph you meet early on? That’s Theron Shan’s voice actor right there. I swear, there’s no getting away from those people. (Then again, TOR voices include Hawke, Shepard, Varric, Fenris, Anders, Cullen - so both Anderses, basically - Dagna and Kristen fucking Geary, amongst others, so there’s not really going to be any getting away from the voices no matter what I do. Man, voice acting’s a small community...)

[aion-rsa]

Writing in the Negative Spaces: An Interview with Author S. L. Huang

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We talked to debut author S.L. Huang about her speculative fiction thriller Zero Sum Game.

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Interview Bridget LaMonica

Tor Books

Oct 3, 2018

Warning: This inteview contains spoilers for Zero Sum Game.

Zero Sum Game by S. L. Huang follows mercenary Cas Russell who has incredible math and combative skills. She can calculate how and where to punch someone for maximum efficacy, or she can do a sweet 360 slide into parallel parking with a stolen car. The possibilities are just about endless... Until, of course, she faces up against a terrifyingly effective psychic and a secret organization.

Read our full review of Zero Sum Game here.

Den of Geek had the chance to chat with real-life mathematician and badass S.L. Huang about crafting the world for Zero Sum Game.

Den of Geek: I was checking out your bio and I saw that you’re basically a badass in real life. I just think it’s really amazing that you’re a weapons expert, a professional stuntwoman and you have a math degree. I think it’s safe to assume these experiences inspired the whole story and the fact that your action hero character is just really, really good at math?

S.L. Huang: I definitely could not have written the book without all of these experiences in aggregate. I sort of had the seeds for this story since I was probably in middle school or high school. I always loved math and I’ve always been a writer, was always writing stories, and I just kept having this recurring thought... I’d be out there playing softball or something and I’d be like “Oh man, why can’t I calculate how I can swing the bat and how to hit the ball so I can get a home run? I can do all the equations but I can’t actually do it!” It always fascinated me, this idea of somebody who could do the calculations and then translate that to real life. What type of superpower that would be.

I was kicking around this idea and then I went to L.A. and did stunts and guns for like ten years. L.A.’s sort of this Wild West -- it’s really a crazy place to live and work. All of that together I think helped formed the texture of the other half of it and I was finally able to write the story.

Oh that’s fantastic. And I’m secretly happy that you didn’t write this in middle school because I��m sure some counselors would have been involved. I mean, you do have a fair amount of murder and mayhem, which I highly enjoy.

Good point! Some people have asked me if Cas is based on me or if I’m like Cas and I say “I certainly hope not. I hope I kill far fewer people than she has.”

Would you say your math-based anti-hero is a challenge for people who are not really into math to perhaps find some love for the subject?

I’m such a math geek and I love math so much. I totally get that math is not for everyone. That’s totally fine. I want this book to be accessible to non-math people, for non-math people to love it too. I’ve worked very hard to make sure that’s true. I think I would say for non-math people, I don’t necessarily hope they come out of it with a love for math, it’s fine if they don’t, but that they can vicariously enjoy that adoration for numbers that I have and the unbridled fun of mathematics.

One character I have to mention is Rio -- the Christian psychopath. I thought maybe it had to be intentional to have these two very diametrically opposed ways of life in this one person and it can’t just be because he can’t be mind controlled. Is there another reason you have this character in there?

I’ve always been fascinated by the character archetype that has some sort of difficulty with emotion. For example, in Star Trek we have Spock and Data, who are my absolutely favorite characters. I’ve written a lot of novels and stories where … I keep returning to this character archetype. I knew I needed somebody like that in these books. This is the first time I’ve done it in a non-sci-fi way. He’s actually a human person. He has a complete lack of empathy. He is what he is. He is fine with that. I really like where it ended up going.

It’s not meant to be like a bad commentary on religion at all. I grew up Catholic. I’m not anymore but that’s still very much a part of me. Many of the people close to me are very religious. Since that has been such a big part of my life, I wanted to explore aspects of that as well and explore how that can interact with these other elements. That was personal for me but in a way that I feel religion is personal to me, I respect religion and find value in it. [I was] sort of working that out through writing this character.

Literally everybody who’s interviewed me or read the book says, “He’s my favorite character.” (laughs) Which makes me a little concerned to be honest.

A recurring theme in your book is a balance between right and wrong, moral quandaries and what constitutes acceptable losses on both our protagonist's side and on Pithica’s side. What would you like readers to walk away with on this matter? I feel like you have something to say here and I don’t want to put words in your mouth.

I had one reader tell me -- and I love this, this is one of my favorite things -- one reader told me they disagreed with what the protagonist did at the climax and that they think she was wrong. I love that there are going to be readers who will come away with that. I hope they can understand why [the characters] made that choice but I love that they can disagree and see all sides of the situation.

There’s so much nuance in the world. There’s so many things that aren’t black and white and have these really messy, gnarly areas in between. I like to put my characters in those situations where they have to consider them. By proxy, then my readers have to look at that and be like “What would I do in this situation...what is the right choice here?”

It feels almost too easy to me when things are very black and white “Okay I’m gonna be the hero and make this choice and be completely shining and ethical and unreproachable.” I love watching those stories but it feels a little like a cheat to me. Some of it’s escapism. But our world isn’t like that. Personally I like digging into those messy areas and asking those questions. I think I would like readers to enjoy that nuance with me and dig into those uncomfortable places with me. Maybe that’s a journey we could take together.

It felt like that was a recurring theme. The protagonist is obviously our protagonist -- we want to root for her -- but she also does some shady stuff! And I’m like, “It’s just her job. Whatever -- she knocked this guy out again, it’s fine. Oh she killed someone, it’s fine.” You find yourself making excuses.

I would definitely call her an anti-heroine. She’s definitely criminal. She’s not a great person in so many respects but for me that’s what makes her so fun and one of the reasons I really love writing her.

It was very unsettling for the reader, reading everything coming from [the antagonist]. The logic she put forth, the reason they do what they do, it kinda made sense.

I hope it would! I just kinda wanted to live in that place between a little. Let’s ask these questions, we won’t necessarily know the answers but let’s ask those questions.

At the end, the antagonist has Cas completely under their influence and Cas has these flashback scenes. We see flashes of different characters and places, doctors, etc. It looks like a hint at Cas’s origin story -- why she has the mental capacity she has. Can we expect to get more of her backstory in a further novel?

Yes. Those are all pieces of an arc that exists already in my head and on my harddrive, so there’s pieces and hints of that.

What has influenced you in your writing?

I grew up nerd as I like to say, consuming all the geek media. My first stunt job was on Battlestar Galactica which was so trippy because I walked onto the set, and this was a job I’d been following every week all through college, and there’s Edward James Olmos.

Definitely I feel like...all of that, it influences me in a lot of ways. There’s also pushing back. Writing this violent anti-hero -- but making her a woman. It’s a little pushback against say, the Doctor Who archetype, a character who has been male up until this point.

Those negative places are places I definitely wanted to fill in. I always like subverting tropes, for instance the idea of playing with people’s minds. There’s a lot of sci-fi/fantasy that treats mind control really cavalierly. Harry Potter does this. They have a spell that’s considered a very minor spell that they use against Muggles all the time that wipes their memory. To me, that’s so horrible.

I think there were a lot of things that I sort of not necessarily saw in media growing up but that I didn’t see or I saw in ways that bothered me a little. I wanted to dig into those through my own writing -- through writing into those negative spaces -- what I really wanted to see and wanted to read.

Would you like to do any shameless self promotions?

As you know, Zero Sum Game releases October 2. I’m very excited and also very anxious. Tor is billing it as the “geek’s Jack Reacher.” It is an action sci-fi thriller about a heroine who can do math really really fast and uses it to kill a lot of people.

I’m also involved in a production for Serial Box that’s coming out in 2019. I’m really excited about this. It’s with fellow authors Yoon Ha Lee, Rivers Solomon and Becky Chambers. So that will be in 2019. I’m so excited about what we’re doing together.

You can follow author S. L. Huang and all her Twitter doings @sl_huang. Read S.L. Huang's Den of Geek guest post about the mathematicians who have inspired her.

Bridget LaMonica is a contributor at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @BridgetLaMonica.

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