#Haplos cast

[cosmik-homo]

Thinking of ways of having Orla survive the vortex in ways that makes Into The Labyrinth more interesting and doesn't distract from anything it has going on and.

My batrery is really low but my brain is whirlinngggg

I *like* that Alfred has some avoidance mental health regressions in the vortex and has to Dragged out. Idk how to not change thst but.

I think Orla is still more struggling politically with Discovering the labyrinth is this bad and Patryn Are People and the like, I think she's more emotionally upset, for instance, at that kind of tension while Alfred is more adept with it, and maybe also a little awkward and complicated with his level of struggle in the labyrinth physically- into the labyrinth has some great disabled Alfred moments imo, and. Having another Sartan around to a) see him b) be able to do it Normal, highlighting how exactly some of his shit isn't Being A Dainty Sartan / Privilege Inexperience but. Something Wrong With Him. Would be fascinating.

And relationships!!! Into the labyrinth is so about Haplo and Marit- and how despite everything between them going so distant and their opposed ideas at the start they find each other again and love each other for who they are and.

Having Alfred and Orla- so similar in so many ways, p much on the same page to some various degrees, last time we see them, and their relationship is somewhere between squeaking and crumbling, depending how you play it.... the pairs could be fascinating foils.

(Idk exactly how to resolve this aspect well- or, well, I do to my own Shipping preferences but even there I can see a myriad of ways to do it.)

Regardless I think Alfred would still tell Haplo his name First. The cultural context of it is so heavy.... And doesn't that add an insane tension?

Same with Alfred and Vasu's revelation. Alfred reacting to the knowledge of patryn and sartan mingling socially with awe and recognition and connection while Orla first and mainly finding relief she did not damn these people she's so guilty and afraid of becoming to demise.... (maybe Vasu would question that judgement- being put in the labyrinth is still pretty fucking bad)- but also that means, yknow, the weight of that unity having been possible to achieve within her generation???? Insane. Delicious. Also I do think she'd freak a little at the Racial aspect.

I keep feeling bad for trying to cast Orla as more conservative to Alfred but she. Is that's part of the whole thing.

The bit where Haplo decides to translate Alfred and Hugh both as Mensch to the patryn to not out him as Sartan could be another FASCINATING thing to see Orla grapple with. It's familiar and normal to Alfred, but something she actively Pities him for...

And again, Marit and her can foil for each other in interesting ways, to balance Haplo and Alfred who've both grown much more comofrtable and confident in their ideas and their connection.

And IDK I think it would require v much complicating things all the time but. I think she can stay with Kari and the battle at the final gate so Seventh Gate can stay as is and it would be a cool and fascinating example of cooperation and then gives an opportunity to play various political concepts ive always wanted to play with but would be too ooc or miserable for alfred- like telling Ramu that since allegedly the purpose of the labyrinth was a reforming challenge and she made it out, done her sentence, she can be back in society, right. Otherwise are you admitting it's not really what we meant. In our hearts.

And Ramu will always have some ears his way when talking against Alfred- the Outsider, The Faggot, the Traitor- but as much as "if you think you can talk to your mother like that you've been noticing how I've been subtly degrading her for years" dot the onion dot com applies here I still think this being, for a new occasion in Sartan political life, a PUBLICLY OBSERVABLE forum, any way he'll talk to his mother is gonna have much more weight.

I understand why it would have made the already large and complex novel too large and complex but!!!! ORLA IN INTO THE LABYRINTH! MUCH TO THINK ABOUT!

[deathgatesideblog]

I’m SURE I’ve talked about this before but I don’t think I’ve ever picked out the quote, so here we go, right after Haplo closes the doors to the elemental worlds and Alfred rejoins the scene and tells him not to fight Sang-Drax:

The serpent’s huge tail slashed around, struck the Sartan a blow across his back that doubled him over the white table. Sang-drax reared up. The serpent’s head hung poised over Alfred. The red eyes focused on Haplo. “The next blow will break his spine. And the one after that will crush his body. Fight, Haplo, or the Sartan dies.” Alfred managed to lift his head. His nose was broken, his lip split. Blood smeared his face. “Don’t listen, Haplo! If you fight, you are doomed!” The serpent waited, smug, knowing it had won. Burning with anger and the strong need to kill this loathsome being, Haplo cast a bitter, frustrated glance at Alfred. “Do you except me to stand here and die?” “Trust me, Haplo!” Alfred pleaded. “It’s all I’ve ever asked of you! Trust me!” “Trust a Sartan!” Sang-drax laughed horribly. “Trust your mortal enemy! Trust those who sent you to the Labyrinth, who are responsible for the deaths of how many thousands of your people?”

Mostly I just think it’s funny how quickly Sang-drax goes from threatening Alfred to get Haplo to behave to trying to turn Haplo against Alfred. 

And also “Trust me, Haplo! It’s all I’ve ever asked of you!” hurts my soul. Because.... yeah.

[saturniidays]

follow-up question: what is a wasp

Great question! They are the insects of the suborder apocrita, which is everything in the order hymenoptera that isn’t a sawfly. Wasps are distinguished from sawflies mainly by the presence of a petiole, the narrow “waist” they have that separates the thorax and abdomen. Bees and ants also fall in the suborder apocrita, meaning they are also wasps. Wasps have a sex determination system called haplo-diploidy. In this system, fertilized eggs become females with two chromosomes, while unfertilized eggs become males with only one chromosome. This makes all males wasps fatherless genetic clones of their mother. Female wasps often have an ovipositer (egg laying structure) that is heavily modified, either for boring through wood, other animals, or they became stingers. Many wasps species fall under a sociality that we call “eusociality” or truly social. This is because they are separated into reproductive vs non reproductive castes, have a division of labor, and have overlapping generations. Such wasps include honey bees, all ants, and many species in the family vespidae, though the vast majority of all wasps are solitary and/or parasitic. 

[noypitv-blog]

Haplos September 6 2017

Haplos September 6 2017

Haplos September 6 2017. Haplos (lit. Caresses) is a 2017 Philippine romantic fantasy drama series to be broadcast by GMA Network starring Sanya Lopez and Rocco Nacino. PART 1 http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/k6hlTToWvXxzXeovW4D?autoplay=0&logo=0&info=0&hideInfos=1&start=0&foreground=ffffff&highlight=ffffff&background=545454 PART 2…

[dgc-trash]

I'm not asking you to kill! The realization struck Alfred. Incapacitate. Of course. That’s what she’d said. Incapacitate.

What had he been thinking? A shudder, starting inside the marrow of his bones, shook Alfred’s body. All he’d been able to think of was killing.

And he’d actually considered it!

It’s this world, he decided, horrified at himself. This world of death where nothing is permitted to die. That and the battle in the Labyrinth. And his anxiety, his soul-wrenching anxiety over Haplo. Alfred was so close to finding his friend, and these—his enemies—were blocking his way. Fear, anger ...

"Make all the excuses you want," Alfred accused himself. "But the truth of the matter is this—for one single instant, I was looking forward to it! When Marit told me to cast a spell, I saw the bodies of those Patryns lying at my feet and I was glad they were dead!"

(The Seventh Gate, chapter 12)

Remember when Alfred was ready to straight-up start killing random strangers because they were blocking his path to finding Haplo?

[laylainalaska]

Death Gate cont’d: Serpent Mage

Death Gate book 4, or, Oh Shit We’re All Gonna Drown On This Water Planet.

Another of my faves in the series. ❤

The supporting cast of this book are my favorite out of all the books. They’re just all so likable. I love the kids’ loyalty to each other, and the kids adopting Haplo (❤!), and the adults offering to mediate between the Sartan and the Patryns (we resolved our differences and you can too! :D!). I think if this had been the first book in the series, it might have been slightly cloying, but after three worlds where everyone was at each other’s throats, this world where everyone figured out how to get along and are trying to be their best selves was just so restful and nice, and was such a nice step in the series’ overall theme of figuring out how to love each other and cooperate with each other.

I really love both the concurrently running plots in this book. Alfred, after his profound disillusionment on Abarrach, finally finding a non-corrupt version of his people, only to find out that even the non-evil Sartan are kind of a bunch of stuck-up bastards, while Haplo is trying so hard to be evil and backsliding into being a decent person in spite of himself. I’m such a sucker for the general theme of feeling like a misfit within your own people and finding common ground with the enemy (see also: Good Omens).

I love how Haplo’s attempt to rescue the mensch kids is basically a do-over of the decision in the Labyrinth that cost him Marit, except this time, he makes the right choice. (Also love how he’s still trying to rationalize love and self-sacrifice as blind instinct. No one can do denial like Haplo can do denial.) And Haplo’s quiet little “thank you” to Alfred for healing him this time! I also love his outburst at Alfred: “You didn’t send my people to the Labyrinth. You didn’t cause the Sundering” -- not all Sartan are the same, not all of them are equally responsible for his people’s misery. I had remembered that scene happening later in the series. Also, LOLLLL FOREVER at Haplo’s irritation with Alfred and Orla’s will-they/won’t-they dance. Haplo’s grouchy internal running commentary is a source of endless amusement to me.

I love these characters so much. ❤

[positivelyamazonian]

10 Favorite Game/Anime/Movie Characters

Tagged by: @a-super-evil-cat-who-murders (thanks!!! It was fun!)

The Rules: Name your top 10 favorite characters from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 different people.

Well I’ve already done a tag for FEMALE CHARACTERS so I’ll leave this in case you wanna check it. For not repeating myself, I’ll do this time just male characters.

I’ll tag: @luluvonv @luthienamell @adayka @hydraballista @anyathebloodshell @anentireamazon @jar-cup @kim-v-croft  @autumn-star93 @lady-trent

Of course don’t feel obliged to do this. And yes my characters come in not a particular order!

1. Haplo the Patryn - The Death Gate Cycle (book series)

Posting an amazing fanart by Melusaaste because there’s not an official art that shows him so close-up, and honestly, this is the most accurate depiction of him I’ve ever seen. 

Haplo is the anti-hero and main character of The Death Gate Cycle series written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Personal childhood hero (despite being an antihero himself), husbando and whatnot, until today he’s one of my fav characters ever, because through him I learnt the most perfect character development, from a cruel, merciless and amoral villain, to... well, not a hero if you think so, but to redeemed human being. 

“A 'why' is a dangerous thing... It challenges old, comfortable ways, forces people to think about that they do instead of just mindlessly doing it.” - Haplo in Dragon Wing, the first volume of the series.

2. Johan Liebheart - Monster

You don’t know what’s a villain until you meet this bastard. I am not an otaku or very enthusiastic of anime series, but Monster by Naoki Urasawa are probably the best manga/anime series ever written. And his villain, Johan Liberheart, one of the most twisted fucks ever written by an author.

Tortured, mentally ill, twisted, cruel, amoral, there’s no way to explain Johan. He experiences no character development and he has not a single redeeming quality, yet you just can’t let him go. An unforgettable character, not recommended for the weak and vulnerable.

There's nothing special about being born. Not a thing. Most of the universe is just death, nothing more. In this universe of ours, the birth of a new life on some corner of our planet is nothing but a tiny, insignificant flash. Death is a normal thing. So why live?

3. Geralt of Rivia - The Witcher (book/videogame series)

I’m so sorry I met this amazing character through The Witcher videogame series, because he existed already in the book series of the same name written by  Andrzej Sapkowski, and I really feel like posting this video because it perfectly sums up the spirit of the character.

Geralt is a witcher, a mutant specialist in killing demons and monsters for coin. He’s shaped like an anti-hero and despised by his society because of his nature and his mercenary job, but despite having everything for being just a rogue scoundrel, he manages to become a very rich character. Full of redeeming qualities despite his grey morals, Geralt struggles in a cruel Middle-Ages world to keep something human for himself, when everyone surrounding him tries to turn him in the heartless freak he was trained to be.

“People," Geralt turned his head, "like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, starve an old woman, when they kill a trapped fox with an axe or riddle the last existing unicorn with arrows, they like to think that the Bane entering cottages at daybreak is more monstrous than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live.” ― Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish

4. Raistlin Majere - The Dragonlace (book series)

Again, I’ve to go back to a character created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (man, this people CAN write characters I tell you), this time for the Dragonlance series. These books are less original and brilliant than The Death Gate Cycle, but more popular and beloved because they are easier to read. And Raistlin Majere is probably the best character written for these series, being saved among them because of being, probably, the less cliché and the more complex of them all.

And again, anti-hero at times, redeemed hero at other times, tortured, twisted, cynic and cruel, but also able to show kindness and a human heart at times. Raistlin was born weak and sick and sacrificed everything (including his own health) for one sake: magic. And power. His only life desire is what will lead him to his own destruction.

"Of course this means a lot to me, Caramon. It means everything! I have worked and studied almost my entire life for this chance. What would you have me do - cast it aside because it is dangerous? Life is dangerous, Caramon. Just stepping out that door is dangerous! You cannot hide me from danger. Death floats in the air, creeps through the window, comes in with the hand-shake of a stranger. If we stop living because we fear death we have already died."

5. Tyrion Lannister (A Song of Ice and Ice/Game of Thrones series)

This little amazing piece of awesomeness needs no presentation. I am again sorry I met through the Game Of Thrones TV series and not A Song Of Ice And Fire books, but it was totally worth it because it’s one of the most well-written characters I’ve had the pleasure to meet, and I must say Peter Dinklage was born to play him.

What can I say? Tyrion is one of those characters who are worth living. A dwarf, deformed, ugly, with no physical or war skills, relying only in his extreme intelligence and wisdom and his political talent to survive, he’s one of the most strong inspirations one can find. Definitely go check him.

6. Kurtis Trent (Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness videogame)

I included Lara Croft in my female characters list, it would be absolutely unfair to forget Kurtis as he’s the other character that got my heart in TR series. Not gonna rant long about him here, because you already know my opinion. He was amazing. He deserved better. Ex-legionnaire, demon hunter and Lux Veritatis warrior, I’ve devoted all my fanfics to develop him as there was no chance for Core Design to do it so.

Fitting more in the role of a hero, I think he was also the perfect partner for Lara. His background is very well written and he had a lot of potential. The fact I will never see it doesn’t change anything. He deserves his place here.

"And I thought this would be one of my easy days." - Kurtis, The Sanitarium.

7. L Lawliet - Death Note (manga/anime series)

Again, I reinforce the statement that I’m not a fan of manga/anime series, but definitely Death Note is, together with Monster, one of those you should watch. And yes for everyone who loves Death Note, I’m a L fan. You always choose between L or Kira sides, and despite I’ve to recognize that Kira is a very complex, well written character, it’s L who gets my heart.

Supertalented, amoral, brilliant, extremely unpredictable and surprising, L is the first one of the agents that will try to catch Kira, the murderer who uses a Death Note to implant his particular justice world. L deserves your attention more than Kira, I presume. Or at least, it’s what I think.

“There are... many types of monsters in this world: Monsters who will not show themselves and who cause trouble; monsters who abduct children; monsters who devour dreams; monsters who suck blood, and... monsters who always tell lies. Lying monsters are a real nuisance. They are much more cunning than other monsters. They pose as humans even though they have no understanding of the human heart. They eat even though they've never experienced hunger. They study even though they have no interest in academics. They seek friendship even though they do not know how to love. If I were to encounter such a monster, I would likely be eaten by it. Because in truth, I am that monster.”

8. V - V for Vendetta (graphic novel/movie)

I know, easy to love him, right? Again I’m sad that I met this character through the movie and not the original graphic novel, though you can’t say a thing against Hugo Weaving’s magnificent delivery. I wish I could get my hands on the graphic novel, so I can know him better.

Anarchist, terrorist, idealist, V is the incarnation of the protest against dictatorship and opression in a dystopian England that has supressed all the rights and human freedom. If you don’tknow him, I strongly recommend at least the movie, for the inspiration this character delivers goes beyond that the mask that has trascended the movie itself to become a symbol of citizen fight.

9. Roger - American Dad (TV series)

Well technically he’s not a he, he’s rather an it, but whatever. Also he’s it’s a different trend in this post since I love him particularly because he’s funny and incarnates all the non-political correct you can expect from someone.

He also gives me, kinda, TR vibes. Roger is an alien who landed in Earth during Cold War and was rescued and sheltered at his home by Stan, a CIA agent who’s the main character of the series. Honestly I think Roger is the best of American Dad - a TV show which basically and mercilessly mocks every American value - because despite being an alien is absolutely, indecently human. I prefer him and this show much more than the overrated Family Guy.

10.  Dwight Schrute - The Office (TV series)

Last but not the least, the efficient, clever and adorable bastard hillbilly from The Office. I loved him from the very first moment he appeared. Yeah I know many people hate him or prefer the goofy boss of the handsome Jim but Dwight is really my spirit animal and speaks to me in so many levels. No more comment needed. He’s the best of the show to me.

Well this took forever, right? Sorry for the length of this post but now I’m free I wanted to give it some thought. I see again that I’ve a soft spot for grey morals, redeeming qualities, bad boys and complex characters. This is how it goes! ;)

[practicesmilinginthemirror]

♕

♕ ━ which fictional characters are your favorites? 

Okay, I believe this sort of list can say a lot about a person, so I’m gonna list a good many of them… hence the cut below.

Caveat:  This list is long, but still not exhaustive–I’m CERTAIN I’m forgetting important entries.  I tried to think of the characters that most affect me, that make me FEEL things, or that make my brain light up in some way.  Or, they’re just satisfying somehow.  The list below spans many years.

***Dick Grayson is my ALL-TIME fave***

Other DC Faves:

Barsad

John Blake (I GUESS >__>)

Alfred Pennyworth, TBH

Oswald Cobblepot & Fish Mooney (Gotham-verse only)

Marvel Faves:

Bucky & Sam & Steve & T’Challa (MCU)

Black Widow & Peggy Carter (MCU)

Clint Barton

Frank Castle & Karen Page

Jessica Jones & Luke Cage (Netflix)

Loki (MCU)

Wolverine / Gambit / Jubilee (xmen cartoons)

Deadpool

Groot (MCU)

Fisk/Westley/Vanessa & Ranskahoes

Animated Faves:

Hiei, YYH

Kurama, YYH

Vash the Stampede, Trigun

Wolfwood, Trigun

Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha

Cliffjumper, Transformers Gen1

Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow, GI Joe (old stuff)

Haku, Spirited Away

Desperaux Tilling, The Tale of Desperaux

Maya the Bee

Skeeter, Doug

EVERY YELLOW MINION EVER BUT MOST OF ALL STUART

Random Movie Faves:

Casey Jones, 90s live-action TMNT movies

Arkin O’Brien, Collector series

Max Rockatansky, Mad Max series

Furiosa & Nux, Mad Max: Fury Road

Rusty Ryan, Ocean’s 11

Han Solo, Star Wars

Gary King, The World’s End

Arthur & Eames, Inception

Bondurant brothers, Lawless

Leto II, Children of Dune (SciFi TV movie)

Book Faves:

Crowley & Aziraphale, Good Omens

Roiben, Tithe

Gavriel, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Haplo & Hugh the Hand, Death Gate Cycle series

Nicci, Sword of Truth series

Legolas, Lord of the Rings trilogy

Mara Jade, Star Wars Expanded Universe

Dallas Winston, The Outsiders

Random TV Faves:

90% OF THE SENSE 8 CAST, but Wolfgang most

Jim Hopper, Stranger Things

Shawn & Gus, Psych

Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel the Series

Will Graham, Hannibal

Moriarty, Sherlock BBC

Stiles & Isaac & Danny & Peter, Teen Wolf

AC Slater, Saved by the Bell

Shawn & Eric & Topanga, Boy Meets World

Will Banks, Fresh Prince of Bel Air

Joey & Phoebe, Friends

Dylan McKay, 90210

Ted/Brad/Danny/Melody, Hey Dude

Philip & Marcy, Travelers

BEATY MCFIST-HANDS, Glitch (he’s got a name but eh)

Charlie Thompson, Glitch

Eliot / Hardison / Parker, Leverage

Duncan MacLeod & Methos, Highlander series

Mary Richards, The Mary Tyler Moore Show

[fureruhaplos-2020]

CASTS / CREDIT

【出演者プロフィール】

イアン・セガッラ　Christian SEGARRA 俳優・演出家。フィリピン教育演劇協会(Philippine Educational Theatre Association 通称PETA) でチーフアーティストとして活動している。2011 年には俳優として Philstage Gawad Buhay で最優秀賞を受賞。2015 年には沖縄県那覇市で行われた国際演劇祭に参加するなど日本とフィリピンで幅広い活動を行っている。

ジョセフ・マドリアガ　Joseph Madriaga 俳優・振付。高校卒業後、PETAの全国高校演劇リーグ(PETA-MTTL)をへて、PETAでシニアアーティスト・ティチャーとして活動している。

山口惠子（BRDG）　Keiko Yamaguchi 大阪に生まれる。ローズブルフォード大学（英国）で演劇を学び、京都を拠点にマレビトの会、松本雄吉、したため、九条劇の作品などに出演。2011年に演劇グループBRDGを川那辺香乃と立ち上げる。さまざまな土地につながりのある方々へのインタビューを元に創作した『ヒキダシ_ホテル』、『Whole』、『通信ノート』などの演劇作品を発表。移動する現代人の人間模様に興味を持っている。2017年国際交流基金アジアセンター アジア・フェローシップでフィリピンに滞在。

出村弘美　Hiromi Demura 俳優、他。 京都造形芸術大学 映像・舞台芸術学科卒。京都を中心に活動。BRDGにはユニット旗揚げ時より出演や演出助手として、ほぼ全ての作品創作に携わる。 また「中川裕貴、バンド」での音楽や音楽のまわりについての活動や、「聞くこと」のWSを経て作られた濱口竜介監督 映画「ハッピーアワー」をはじめ、映像作品への出演など。 この声が、わたしの声であり、誰かの声であること。 誰でもなく、誰かであること。この場所と別の場所、この時間と別の時間を行き来すること、もしくは重なるところに居ること。

浜辺ふう（九条劇） Fu Hamabe 京都・東九条生まれ。朝鮮半島の文化と日本の文化が交わった地域で育ち、6歳のときに自分が日本人だと知らされ衝撃を受ける。以来、植民地支配の歴史を自身の問題として生きてきた。また、幼い頃から参加していた地域のまつり「東九条マダン」でマダン劇に出演したことをきっかけに演劇に興味を持つ。立命館大学・アメリカン大学国際関係学部卒業。高麗大学国際大学院修了。 2018年、生活の延長線上として演劇活動をしていくためにソロユニット〈九条劇〉を設立。東九条地域やそこに暮らす複合的なアイデンティティを持つ人々の生活を題材に演劇作品を制作発表している。

にしもとひろこ（たゆたう・Colloid）　Hiroko Nishimoto 散らばる光と戯れるように、独特な声色でうたを紡ぐ。 アコースティックデュオ「たゆたう」、女性5人ボーカルバンド「Colloid」、自然とのセッション「森のはなし」で活動する他、主に声のみで即興の物語を奏でるソロパフォーマンスやボーカル・コーラスサポートも行う。 2014年 劇団sunday『友達』、2016年 423アートプロジェクト『とちのこゑ』、 2017年 瀬戸内サーカスファクトリー主催『サカイデマングローブ』、2018年 『大阪府障がい者舞台芸術オープンカレッジ2018「うみのうたごえ」』、BRDG vol.5『Whole』などで楽曲提供・劇中音楽を担当。http://nishimotohiroko.net

【クレジット】

作|『ふれる～ハプロス』プロジェクト

共同演出| 山口惠子（BRDG）、イアン・セガッラ(PETA)

出演| イアン・セガッラ、ジョセフ・マドリアガ (PETA)、山口惠子、出村弘美、浜辺ふう（九条劇）、にしもとひろこ

音楽| にしもとひろこ（たゆたう、Colloid）

美術| 小池芽英子　照明| 魚森理恵　音響| 甲田徹　舞台監督｜北方こだち　衣装| 南野詩恵

プロジェクトコーディネータ| 川那辺香乃（BRDG）　公演制作| 渡邉裕史（ソノノチ）　チラシデザイン| 岸本昌也

企画・主催：BRDG 東京公演共催：早稲田小劇場どらま館

協力：PETA (フィリピン教育演劇協会)、DAWN (Development Action for Women Network)、京都市地域・多文化交流ネットワークサロン、早稲田大学坪内博士記念演劇博物館

助成：国際交流基金アジアセンター アジア・文化創造協働助成、 芸術文化振興基金助成事業 京都芸術センター制作支援事業 問い合わせ：BRDG [bridge.ing11@gmail.com] 050-5318-7717(制作)

【Credit】

Created by| “Fureru~Haplos” project Co-director| Keiko Yamaguchi（BRDG), Ian Segarra (PETA) Performer| Ian Segarra, Joseph Madriaga (PETA), Hiromi Demura, Fu Hamabe (Kujogeki), Hiroko Nishimoto, Keiko Yamaguchi Music| Hiroko Nishimoto（Tayutau, Colloid） Scenic Design| Meeko Koike Lighting Design| Rie Uomori Sound Design| Toru Koda Stage Manager｜Kodachi Kitakata Costume| Shie Minamino Project Coordinator| Kano Kawanabe（BRDG） Administrator| Hiroshi Watanabe（Sononochi）

Produced & Organised by：BRDG Co-organiser (Tokyo)：Drama-Kan Theatre Kyoto Art Center Artist in Studio Programme Cooperator：Philippine Educational Theatre Association (PETA), Development Action for Women Network (DAWN), Kyoto City Networking Salon for Community Welfare and Multicultural Exchange, Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum Grant : The Japan Foundation Asia Center Grant Program for Promotion of Cultural Collaboration, The Japan Arts Fund

Contact ：BRDG [bridge.ing11@gmail.com] 050-5318-7717(Admin)

[tediousreviews]

The Seventh Gate

Nearly three months after I started, it’s finally time to say goodbye to the Death Gate Cycle. I’m a bit torn to be honest. I wouldn’t describe any of these books or the series as a whole as amazing, but on the other hand, I can’t at this point think of a single other series I’ve read that’s this long, this cohesive, and that maintains this level of quality throughout. And I guess maybe that’s amazing in its own way.

The final entry is a story of love, redemption, and the nature of divinity. It brings together vast forces of unimaginable power in an apocalyptic confrontation, casts down proud and powerful leaders, stymies the machinations of devious foes, and ultimately is resolved by a dog biting a dude in the junk.

As for this review, well… I’m going to do my level best not to write about any of that.

Last book ended with Haplo abducted from the battlefield by his lord, Xar, and Alfred apparently fallen in battle against a swarm of evil dragons. So we’ve got Marit, Haplo’s former and obviously future love interest, and Hugh, the human assassin who was forcibly granted immortality in exchange for a complete inability to kill things, running a rescue plot.

Alfred’s fairly easy to find, as is Haplo. Unfortunately, Haplo is mostly dead. And playing ghost while tethered to his pet dog, which we finally learn explicitly is the physical manifestation of his soul. With evil serpents, good dragons, a starving army of Sartan necromancers, a besieged city of recently defrosted OG Sartan sorcerers, a pair of Patryn cities left leaderless by a champion with delusions of divinity, and a sentient death-maze world raising untold hordes of monsters to cast down the last light of civilization and usher in an eternity of despair, we are very definitely within the final book of a series.

And as with many fantasy series, the true resolution to the epic confrontation between good and evil happens far away from the battlefield.

I enjoyed it. I liked it my first read, and I liked it again on the reread. The series is a large enough time investment that it’ll probably be at least another decade before I reread it, but I don’t regret any of the time I’ve spend within its pages.

In my previous reviews, I’ve talked a fair bit about the Sartan. The Sartan are Alfred’s people, the proud sorcerers who consider themselves benevolent demigods meant to guide the lesser people of the world with their wisdom and might. They’re terrible.

It’s finally time to talk about the Patryn, Haplo’s people.

By now we’ve learned quite a bit more about the history of the Sartan and the Patryn. The Sartan emerged from humanity in the aftermath of a nuclear war at some point in our future. They had vast magical abilities and worked closely with each other towards common goals. The Patryn emerged from the Sartan themselves, dissenters whose interests were much more personal. Where the Sartan cared about society and the world as a whole, the Patryn cared about themselves, their families, and their friends and left the world at large to its own devices.

The Sartan were convinced that the Patryn were working against them in a grand conspiracy to overthrow them and to conquer the world for themselves. That’s why the Sartan ultimately destroyed our world and built the interconnected worlds of the Death Gate Cycle in its place, at the cost of countless lives. In the epilogue to this final volume, it’s obvious that Alfred accepts the basic assumptions behind the Sartan decision. Which is a bit sad really, because the rest of the history he gives us shows exactly why the Sartan fear of the Patryn was never anything but baseless paranoia.

When the Sartan finally went to war against the Patryn, they won easily, quickly, and with almost no meaningful losses. Why? Because the Patryn were never a unified force. When a Patryn positioned themselves as the adviser to a mortal ruler, it wasn’t part of a grand conspiracy, it was pure personal ambition.

It took the Sartan to teach the Patryn to think of themselves as a people or as a nation. It took the Sartan to teach the Patryn how to judge others for their race or their nationality.

And still, through all of it, in the midst of being targeted for a genocide, the Patryn held out their hands in friendship to the many Sartan who were cast into hell alongside them as punishment for dissent. After a thousand years trapped in a death maze, fighting for every moment of peace, every scrap of food, and every sip of water, the Patryn have held onto their basic decency and compassion so strongly that the only reason there are even jail cells in the Patryn city we see is to keep the dangerously insane from hurting themselves or others while they receive treatment.

These are the people who were presented to us as villains at the start of the series.

These are the people who think of themselves as villains. But that seems to be as much of a coping mechanism as anything else.

We only really get to see inside the head of three Patryn over the course of the series. There’s Haplo, of course, who starts the series as a cynical and manipulative racist but is rapidly ‘corrupted’ by his bad habit of getting to know and like other people on a personal level and comes to extend that compassion and empathy well beyond the people who have directly touched his life. Then there’s Xar, the leader of the Patryn, whose main flaw is that he sees his own people as his children and thinks he knows what’s best for him. The entire reason Xar becomes a villain is that he’s blinded to his own flaws by his desperate need to be good enough for his adoptive children. And finally, we get Marit, the nail in the coffin of the idea that Haplo’s unique among his people. With Haplo, Hugh, and Alfred beside her, Marit goes through very nearly the same path of character growth Haplo did, but she does it in two novels rather than five.

The Patryn aren’t evil, they’re that grumpy neighbor who scowls all the time, but will drop whatever they’re doing to help you at the first sign you’re in trouble and never even have it cross their mind that you might feel obligated to repay them somehow.

I’ll wrap up by calling out a part of the epilogue as nice little form of fanservice. Normally that term describes gratuitously erotic content, but occasionally like to use it to describe a work of fiction giving its audience what they actually want. In this case, it’s a few paragraphs where Alfred records that Haplo and Marit have made several trips into the Labyrinth to find their daughter Rue and have come back with ‘numerous’ daughters and ‘several’ sons who all call Alfred their grandfather. And, we’re told, Haplo’s even gotten a new dog to replace the one he lost when he re-integrated his soul.

Maybe I’m just a big softie, but there’s a part of me that just has to smile when I’ve been following a group of basically decent characters through a long and difficult ordeal and at the end I get to hear that they really did live happily ever after.

Of course, while the implication is that many of Haplo and Marit’s new daughters are named Rue and Haplo at least goes around saying that any one of them could be his child by birth, a part of me can’t help but picture a little Patryn girl named Rue who by some bit of magic or other means has lived her whole life knowing faces of the parents she never met but secretly hopes will one day come to rescue her. And that part of me has to cringe just a bit at what her face might look like when she finally meets her parents as a teenager or an adult only to learn that they’re busy raising an entire village of Rues that aren’t her.

[cosmik-homo]

The thing with deathgate tv is. i love haplo deeply and he is a complex and unique and wonderful character but almmost any man in hollywood could do a haplo deathgate. not anyone could do it GOOD or INTERESTING or AMAZING but pick a random hollywooder, especially one thats dabbled in scifi/fantasy before, you can make him do you A Haplo. YOURE GONNA HAVE TO CAST AN ALFRED OFF OF BRODWAY OR SOMETHING. literally a triple threat role for balding men who can act their life out, or the whole story falkls apart (cuz fire sea Working kind of hinges on alfred being very convincingly, irresistibly pthetic in an endearing, non annoying or boring way, and the THRESHOLD you need to pass to make the avarage modern tv streamer pass to like a weird effeminate mess. stede bonnet is improving things slightly and i would make eps 1-3 required watching for hte dude i do kidnap off brodway, but. its not the same.)

[deathgatesideblog]

In Into the Labyrinth chapter 45, page 416, Vasu says this about the hybrids: “…through intermarriage, we have come to be able to use the [Patryn] magic–although not as well as a full-blooded Patryn. But what we lack, we compensate for by using Sartan magic.”

Are you guys seeing what I’m seeing?

So some Patryns have this Thing where they are, for reasons that absolutely nobody understands, just physically incapable of casting certain spells. It’s a well-known phenomenon in the Labyrinth, and the most prevalent theory is that the Sartan messed up an ancient attempt to lessen Patryns’ magic.

Fast-forward to Abrites in the Nexus and the revelation that a lot of Patryns actually have Sartan blood… that these Patryns could use Sartan in addition to Patryn magic. Suddenly there’s another explanation for the random spell failure. Eventually someone tests out the hypothesis by learning the Sartan equivalent of the spell that they can’t cast and giving it a shot. 

It works. Cue a massive identity crisis not just for this poor stunned sap but for EVERYBODY (and there are a LOT of them) who has this same problem (and has heard about the experiment/tried the experiment themselves and, you know, believes it).

-------------

Oh oh oh, I LOVE this Idea, and actually I’ve thought about something kinda maybe similar before: The Trio adopting some Patryn children that just have a rougher time with magic than most, and end up figuring out that they actually understand Sartan magic better, and stuff like that.

And another idea! You know how Patryn and Sartan magic can do different stuff? Like how Alfred can float? But we also know that Haplo (and therefore other Patryns) can use Sartan magic, even if he doesn’t like it because he’s not practiced with it. So what if that’s literally just, you need both styles, and they all CAN do everything each other can do but they just don’t learn how, you know? So it’s not just that the Abrites have learned to compensate for their “weaker” Patryn magic with Sartan magic, but literally they’ve just. Learned how to use both ‘styles’ effectively.

[meldelen]

Dragonlance Legends - A (not so brief) Review

"- No pretendía lastimarme - justificó a Raistlin en respuesta a la expresión severa de su gemelo. - Es lógico que el dolor le convierta en una criatura díscola. No podemos reprochárselo. ¿Qué es nuestro sufrimiento si lo comparamos con el suyo? Tú, mejor que nadie, deberías entenderlo. Sus esotéricas visiones lo capturan hasta tal extremo, que no es consciente del daño que causa a los otros. (...) - Es más que consciente de lo que hace - replicó el guerrero para sus adentros.- Y estoy comenzando a vislumbrar que siempre lo fue."

Let's see if I can review this trilogy without getting emotional.

Remember when I said that Dragonlance Chronicles hadn’t lost one iota of the original charm I found so many years ago, when reading them for the first time? The same can be said of Dragonlance Legends, which are, without a doubt, a trilogy not only superior, but probably the best in the Dragonlance universe. The same person who recommended Chronicles told me that Legends bested the original trilogy at all points. Skeptical at the beginning of the reading, I had no doubt when I finished that this was true. For many reasons, which we’ll see now. Before we begin, a warning: those who complained and whined about Game of Thrones’ painful ending - meaning the TV show, of course - should experience reading Legends to find out what real pain is, always concerning the ending.

Where’s the key to Legends’ success? Firstly, they follow a structure on its own, original on the  part of the authors, now free of the corset model of Dungeons & Dragons; that is, more novels than role-playing games. Secondly, they’re focused on the best character in Dragonlance universe; the mage Raistlin Majere, Margaret Weis’ masterpiece - with Haplo’s permission, but that’s another story. Thirdly, the trilogy, rather than exploring great axioms or cliches of fantasy, focuses on developing something as simple as human feelings - love, hatred, blood ties, perversion and redemption. And finally, the authors don’t give up on any resource, however extravagant it may seem, to develop these topics. Time travelling? Of course. Raistlin’s horny and not in the arcane sense? Why not? A saintly priestess gets seduced by the villain? Well of course! World's end? Gladiators in the arena? The death of the gods? A kender visiting the underworld? Caramon finally using his brain? The sky's the limit!

But let's not digress. The plot at first glance might seem very hackneyed: after the Lance War, which was closed with Chronicles, Raistlin, now the world's most powerful mage, doesn’t settle for that and wants more: to become a god. To achieve this he needs to defeat the other gods, starting with Takhisis, the Dark Queen. If he wants to access the Abyss where she dwells, he needs the cooperation of a cleric in the service of Paladine, the god of Good. Although such a possibility seems very remote in the mentality of those who designed this requirement, Raistlin will find a way to do it: seducing, in all aspects in which a person can be seduced, the proud priestess Crysania, to open the way to his final destination.

This plot, which may seem very simple, opens a trilogy that keeps you in suspense throughout the three volumes (Time of the Twins, War of the Twins and Test of the Twins). It cannot be read without having previously read the Chronicles because understanding the characters and their motivations is basic, and we already met these in the previous trilogy, except for Crysania, who’s new.

Time of the Twins. Cover art by Matt Stawicki.

Raistlin being absolutely fascinating is not new, and it’s in this story where he reaches a total degradation on the moral plane - from sociopath to psychopath, to summarize it quickly and badly - you start to wonder, like Caramon, if he really has been always evil; or if the sufferings, abuse and mistreatment to which he’s been subjected since childhood made him wicked, the loneliness, the rejection and the misunderstanding of others, the sick jealousy on his healthy and attractive twin; or if he’s simply a desperate person who had nothing left but magic and any sinister objective it could provide to keep his ego afloat. Undoubted villain of this story, the reader relates to him nevertheless. We empathize with him because we know where he comes from and what he has gone through, and following him in the accumulation of horrors and cruelties he intentionally commits produces almost physical pain; because it’s impossible not to feel compassion for him, even though there is practically no action of his that we can defend or justify; in the way he manipulates and brutalizes the people around him - particularly the woman who loves him and the brother who still believes in him - to achieve his goals. 

The important thing about this story, however, is that the authors do not fall into villain apologizing, or elevate him to the rank of antihero, or even draw a false equivalency between him and other characters who, being also imperfect, choose a very different path. This painful journey has an agonizing end when, at the last moment of his life, Raistlin becomes aware of what he has done - or rather, what he is about to do - and uses his last energies to undo, or prevent consolidation of his evil plan. And so the villain, through his spectacular sacrifice, redeems himself in a second, leaving us all as if slapped in the face for hours.

War of the Twins. Cover art by Matt Stawicki.

I don’t need to convince anyone about the masterful writing of Raistlin’s character, but what about the others? Because Caramon's development is also spectacular. In the Chronicles we met him as the handsome twin of the mage, a powerful, brainless warrior, but successful in life, in friendships and in love; truly, the opposite of Raistlin. Very cliche and uninteresting. In the Legends we attend his transformation, going through a brutal arc whose key is the slow, but sure, assumption of the awareness that his twin is a perverted and perverse person, condemnable, and that nothing can be done to change him - as long as he doesn’t change himself. It is also the rupture, extremely painful, of all the ties that unite him to his brother, blood ties that, he now realizes, have always had to do with physical dependence and emotional abuse rather than with the brotherly love that should have existed between them. And by breaking those ties he will finally find a reason to live for himself.

Finally, I will speak in favor of Crysania, that third character so dismissed for being considered, in most reviews and fan debates I have read, as a mere extension or instrument of Raistlin, a lady in distress, an used, brutalized and discarded tool. I consider these visions to be misogynistic, and surely not even applied had she been a male. I recently had to reply to a reader who called Crysania an absurd character, without agency, purpose or interest, added only to give "sexual tension" to the story. Not so at all. 

Time of the Twins. Cover art by Matt Stawicki

Crysania is a priestess, and she has a very clear agency: to redeem Raistlin, to save him from the damnation to which he willingly casts himself. At the beginning, her motivations are merely selfish: in her pride, the priestess wants to prove to the world, to her co-believers and to her god, that her faith can do everything, even saving the soul of a doomed man. So she agrees to cooperate with him to reach this goal: destroy the evil goddess and bring the mage to the light. Eventually she ends up falling in love with him - if she wasn't already - but I don't think it's correct to dismiss the character simply because in addition to religious pride, love also prompts her. 

Not all female characters have to be brave warriors or magical creatures. Crysania is the symbol of a proud Church that for the sake of good believes it can achieve anything, blind in her privileged entitlement; and then, already in love, she believes that love will do what mere faith or apparent goodness have not achieved. 

The authors grant her a masterful catharsis when confronted with her own hypocrisy. Used, tortured and abandoned by the man she loves and whom she believed she was going to save, Crysania reaches the end of the story being aware of her own pride and emptiness. Far from punishing and liquidating her because of her mistakes, neither turning her example into a cautionary tale - "it's your fault for falling in love with the bad guy" - the authors will grant her a second chance, and like Caramon, also inner peace.

Test of the Twins. Cover art by Matt Stawicki

I'm not saying anything about Tasslehoff, who really is the key to events taking not one, but several unexpected turns - like a butterfly that flutters in the middle of chaos theory - because he defends himself, he doesn’t need me at all. And after this devastating ending, all that remains is to wipe away the tears and move on. Because there is more, luckily - or unfortunately, if you are one of those who think that the authors should have left it here. 

For my part, I still don’t have my fair share of sociopathic and ambiguous mages. I'm going back to the origins of evil, to read The Soulforge, for the sake of boring you with another endless review. Thank you for your attention.

[noypitv-blog]

Haplos September 5 2017

Haplos September 5 2017

Haplos September 5 2017 Haplos (lit. Caresses) is a 2017 Philippine romantic fantasy drama series to be broadcast by GMA Network starring Sanya Lopez and Rocco Nacino. PART 1 http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/k5PrMXcON5rMkmov3nz?autoplay=0&logo=0&info=0&hideInfos=1&start=0&foreground=ffffff&highlight=ffffff&background=545454 PART 2…

[dgc-trash]

I liked the idea that @deathgatesideblog​ came up with in this post about Alfred transmuting the food in the Alfred-goes-to-Pryan AU so much that I had to write about it.

Sartan and Patryn magic can replicate already existing food supplies. This can be done quite easily, merely by advancing the possibility that one sack of grain is twenty sacks of grain. Certain powerful magic-users are able to alter the possibilities to produce food out of objects not normally edible, such as changing stone into bread. Or they might change one food substance into another—turn a fish into a beefsteak. Alfred could undoubtedly perform such magic, but it would require a tremendous expenditure of will and energy.

(From a footnote in The Seventh Gate, chapter 17)

Haplo frowned over the calculations, searching for where he had made a mistake. He must have made one, somewhere, he thought, but after a thorough scan of the previous lines, he found they had been done perfectly. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment. He had been working on calculating the distance to the "star", but he had not yet been successful and it was frustrating him. I am missing something. Something big.

This was the fault of that Zifnab. Haplo noticed that Zifnab had been avoiding him of late, always working to extricate himself from any conversation Haplo might try to start with him. He's hiding something from me, he thought, something about the star, but before he could consider once again what that might be, he felt a sudden strong sensation pass through the ship.

His eyes opened and he leapt to his feet. Alert, he listened carefully, heard nothing out of the ordinary. Now that considered it, the sensation had not passed through the ship at all. It was in the fabric of existence itself, and when he slid his sleeve up to check, he was not surprised to see the runes on his skin glowing softly.

Someone was performing rune magic on his ship. And it was nothing small. Haplo was aware that Alfred had occasionally been performing magic during his self-imposed duties caring for the mensch. He had attempted to be subtle about it, not wanting them to swarm him, demanding miracles, but he always ensured they just happened to have as much of any of the available supplies as they wanted, and problems that could be solved easily with rune magic just happened to get solved.

A waste of magic, Haplo had thought, but he left Alfred to it. It kept the mensch from bothering him much, and if Alfred had something else to focus on, he couldn't spend too much time plotting against him. For all their faults, the mensch were certainly good at keeping Sartan occupied.

Whatever Alfred was doing this time was not that kind of spell. Haplo shifted his attention, listening through the dog's ears. He heard the Sartan's voice singing softly, heard the dog bark once, unsure. He saw through the dog's eyes that Alfred was in the storage area near the bottom of the ship where the food was kept.

He considered teleporting there, not wanting to waste even a moment running there, but irritably dismissed the idea. His magic could potentially interact badly with Alfred's, and though he trusted in the runes he had carefully drawn throughout the hull of the ship, he didn't particularly want to test their strength against an out-of-control spell of Alfred's.

As he dashed to where he knew Alfred was, the strange sensation grew stronger, and Haplo began to grow worried. He could still hear the words Alfred sang, but he did not recognize this spell and did not know what Alfred was attempting to do. Was he trying to kill Haplo and take over the ship for himself? That seemed unlikely, but Haplo did not trust him. Though he hated to admit it, Alfred was a powerful mage. He had seen some of that power when Alfred had saved him (no, assisted him!) with the tytan, and Haplo knew that Alfred could eventually figure out how to drive the ship himself, even if he had to install his own steering stone to do it. But if he wanted to kill Haplo, why do it from all the way down here? And why do it after helping him?

He heard Alfred's singing cease right before he entered the room, and when he arrived he stopped in the doorway and looked around carefully, the words to a defensive spell prepared, expecting...something, something threatening. A weapon, perhaps. But he didn't see anything. The room looked the same as the last time Haplo had been there. He saw the dog curled up in the corner with his nose on his paws, a nervous look on his face.

The dog knew his job was to watch Alfred and stop him from doing anything Haplo wouldn't like, but he had not been sure whether this counted and wasn't sure how to stop him anyhow. Relieved of the burden of making that decision now that Haplo was here to deal with the situation, the dog relaxed and gave a cheerful greeting bark.

Upon hearing the bark, Alfred jumped, having forgotten the dog's presence, having forgotten everything except the magic. He looked in front of him where a barrel stood, and on top of that barrel was a single perfect orange.

"It worked..." he said quietly, thrilled. He had never tried this before, and he had not been certain he could do it.

"What worked?" Haplo demanded, staring at the Sartan, who looked tired and unusually happy. He saw Alfred flush and turn to him.

“Oh, Haplo, I...” he began, not looking Haplo in the eye, “I was just...I wanted to see if I could expand our available food resources.”

Haplo’s eyes narrowed, he frowned at the Sartan. He had the feeling that Alfred was once again telling him the truth, but not the whole truth. He was trying to weasel out of it in his bumbling Sartan way. But what was the whole truth? Haplo looked around again. He must be missing something. Alfred had done something in this room, he was certain of it. But all he saw was barrels of water, sausage, flour, and other various non-perishable foods he had stored away prior to the voyage.

Then he realized the obvious. The orange. He had not packed any fruit, since it spoiled too quickly. He understood immediately that Alfred must be responsible for the presence of the fruit. But could he really have done the magic necessary to make it? Perhaps he had only snuck it on board, somehow. But that didn’t explain the strong sensation of magic he had felt.

He walked closer to the barrel and Alfred, who was looking nervous now and didn’t want to meet his gaze.

“Where did this come from?” he asked, gesturing to the orange.

Alfred looked over at it, and then back to the Patryn, who was staring at him, clearly expecting an answer and unwilling to leave without one.

“I...” he began again, and used one hand to lean on the barrel, feeling immensely weary all of a sudden, “I thought it would be nice to have something fresh to eat. Everyone has been getting tired of eating the same stuff all the time. N-Not that there’s anything wrong with what you packed!” he said quickly, glancing at Haplo, who had a disquieted expression. “ But...the mensch...a-anyway, I knew it would be a while yet before we reach the star, so I didn’t see any reason I needed to conserve my magic for now...” He closed his eyes, too exhausted to keep them open. “So I changed one of the sausages into this orange.”

Haplo’s mind raced. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and yet no other explanation he could come up with made sense. Even if Alfred wanted to lie to him, Haplo didn’t think he’d be able to do it this convincingly. No, the Sartan was telling the truth. He might not have believed it if he had not felt the power of the spell himself, but he had.

He felt a sudden shudder pass through his body. He would have expected a spell of this magnitude from his lord, but he did not believe any other person he had ever met was capable of it. He did not think he could have cast it himself, though it pained him to admit it.

Perhaps I should kill him right now, he thought suddenly, eliminate the threat he poses once and for all. He’s too weak to fight back now. He saw the dog lift his head from his paws and look at him, as though he knew what Haplo had been thinking. I may never get a better chance.

Haplo considered, then decided against it. He was a fool to weaken himself like this, he thought, noticing that Alfred could barely stand. But the fact that he was still on his feet at all after expending that much magic...

“Go sit down,” he ordered, startling the Sartan, who nearly fell over. Haplo grabbed him roughly by the arm and shoved him over to the wall, where he half-fell and half-clumsily sat against it, almost tripping over his own feet.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” he said derisively. “Wasting your strength like this just to make an orange.”

He picked up the orange and threw it in the air, catching it. The only reason he wasn’t killing Alfred now was because Haplo didn’t know what he would find when they reached the star, and Alfred could in some way still be useful to him. That’s what he told himself, anyway. He looked at the orange in his hand and, feeling he ought not to let Alfred’s foolish waste of magic be completely in vain, replicated it, creating a second orange that he held in his other hand. He tossed this one at Alfred, who failed to catch it, so it hit him in the chest and fell down into his lap.

He stared at the Sartan, wanting to say something more, wanting to ask him about how he had performed the magic. He was intensely curious to find out how Alfred had learned to do this, whether this was something he could expect from other Sartan he might meet. He could gather useful intelligence about what he might expect from future Sartan he might meet and have a conversation about a topic he had not been able to speak about with anyone since leaving the Nexus at the same time.

Then, castigating himself for being almost as much of a fool as Alfred, he turned and walked out, leaving the exhausted Sartan there. Talking about magic with Alfred...ridiculous! He might gain useful information from Alfred, the Sartan not being very adept at keeping secrets, but in doing so he would have to reveal information about himself, his own abilities and knowledge, and that was something he had no intention of doing.

As he walked back to where he had been working on his calculations, he idly unpeeled the orange and took a bite. It tasted perfect, exactly as one would expect an orange to taste. He could not help but be impressed.

~

Alfred watched Haplo leave, more tired than he could remember ever being before, barely able to keep his eyes open, but still feeling like he ought to explain himself better, say something. But it was too late, and he didn’t have the strength to stand back up, much less follow Haplo.

He leaned over and laid down, his head on his arm. I’ll just take a short nap, he thought, and as he drifted off, he felt the dog’s warm body lay down next to him, his head resting on Alfred’s side.

[kuyarexdelsdiaries]

Love of My Life: The Country's Number 1 Family Drama

(THIS POST WAS SENT BY CARL VELUZ ON MARCH 27, 2020, DURING THE IMPOSITION OF THE ENHANCED COMMUNITY QUARANTINE IN THE COUNTRY)

Family drama is back on primetime with Love Of My Life.

The series stars on-and-off screen partners Carla Abellana (from My Husband's Lover, I Heart Davao, Pamilya Roces) and Tom Rodriguez (from My Husband's Lover, I Heart Davao, The Cure, Dragon Lady), along with Rhian Ramos (from Lupin, Ilumina, Bantatay, Indio (with Senator Bong Revilla), Genesis, My Destiny, The Rich Man's Daughter, Sinungaling Mong Puso, My Love from the Star, The One That Got Away), Mikael Daez (from Someone to Watch Over Me, Legally Blind, The Stepdaughters, Alex & Amie) & Coney Reyes (the mother of Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, from Student Canteen, Eat Bulaga, Coney Reyes on Camera, Ang Munting Paraiso, Sa Puso Ko, Iingatan Ka, Ang Dalawang Mrs. Real, Nathaniel, My Dear Heart, Victor Magtanggol). The most recent series of Carla and Tom prior was I Heart Davao in 2017.

Love Of My Life revolves around the Gonzales family. Isabella (Coney), the matriarch, is a rich widow with high standards who will do what’s best for her family. Nikolai (Mikael), her youngest son, becomes a rebellious man after causing a traumatic family accident which led to the death of his father. Stefano (Tom), her favorite son, is an architect who is the father of the child of Kelly (Rhian), his vengeful ex-girlfriend. Stefano’s life changes for the better when he crosses paths with Adelle (Carla), a widow with a child who manages her own handicraft business. Despite Isabella’s objection towards their relationship, Stefano and Adelle do everything to build a normal family. Their perfect life starts falling apart not only when Kelly and Nikolai starts living with them, but also when Stefano gets diagnosed with a terminal illness. It remains to be seen if Adelle, Kelly, Nikolai, and Isabella adapt to their unusual set-up, living inside one house for Stefano.

Joining the cast of Love Of My Life are Vaness del Moral (from Muli, Dyesebel, Adik Sa'Yo, Faithfully, Makapiling Kang Muli, Indio (with Senator Bong Revilla), Kahit Nasaan Ka Man, Rhodora X, The Half Sisters, Because of You, Encantadia 2016, Impostora 2007 & 2017, Onanay, Hiram na Anak), Samantha Lopez, Maey Bautista (from Because of You, Little Nanay, Naku, Boss Ko!, A1 Ko Sa 'Yo, Sinungaling Mong Puso, Destined to be Yours, I Heart Davao, Haplos, My Guitar Princess, Hiram na Anak), Carl Guevarra (from Kung Fu Kids, Lipgloss, JejeMom, Bantatay, Hindi Ka Na Mag-iisa, Bukod Kang Pinagpala, Hahamakin ang Lahat), Geleen Eugenio, Levi Ignacio (from Love You Two (with Michelle Dee)), Anna Marin (from Esperanza, Yagit, A Love to Last), Dino Pastrano (from FPJ's Ang Probinsyano), Raphael Landicho (from Bihag) and Ethan Hariot. The series is directed by Don Michael Perez who previously directed Mulawin in 2004, Dyesebel & Gagambino in 2008, Totoy Bato & Darna in 2009, Bantatay in 2010, Daldalita in 2011, My Daddy Dearest & Aso ni San Roque in 2012, Bukod Kang Pinagpala & Maghihintay Pa Rin in 2013, Innamorata & Strawberry Lane (with Bacoor Mayor Lani Mercado Revilla) in 2014, Destiny Rose in 2015, Once Again & Hahamakin ang Lahat in 2016, Mulawin vs Ravena (with Dominic Zapanta) & Kambal, Karibal in 2017.

With the Show in Place, It serves as:

1.) a reunion of former Indio Casts of Rhian Ramos & Vaness del Moral who worked together with Senator Bong Revilla 2.) a reunion of former My Destiny Casts of Carla Abellana, Tom Rodriguez & Rhian Ramos which is their second time to work together 3.) a reunion of former Someone to Watch Over Me casts of Mikael Daez & Tom Rodriguez 4.) a celebration of Coney Reyes' 45th Year on Television since she started on GMA wth Student Canteen in 1975 5.) Mikael Daez's return to Telebabad in four years since Someone to Watch Over Me after starring in two Afternoon Prime Series Legally Blind with Janine Gutierrez in 2017, The Stepdaughters with his wife Megan Young in 2018 6.) Don Michael Perez's Comeback on Directing Telebabad in three years since Kambal, Karibal 7.) the fourth project for Tom Rodriguez & Carla Abellana

From the beginning, The show garnered high ratings compared to ABS-CBN's A Soldier's Heart then I Am U making the Number 1 Family Drama on Primetime.

In the wake of President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of Community Quarantine against COVID-19 (Corona Virus), This Show alongside Bilangin ang Bituin sa Langit, Prima Donnas, Magkaagaw, Descendants of the Sun PH and Anak Ni Waray vs Anak ni Biday temporarily stopped taping as well as productions.

(UPDATE: The series is now airing recap episodes as of Dec. 28, and will air fresh episodes by January once all recap episodes are finished, and the said series have undergone lock-in tapings to ensure safety among all those involved in the series and to prevent COVID19.)

(NOTE: The contributor of this post is Carl Veluz, a good friend of the EIC/Publisher of KRD.)