#the series makes tong (the lead character) a lot more humanized

[waitmyturtles]

I'm gonna need to buy extra pairs of flip-flops to hurl at GMMTV after today. WTF.

[kiarazuri]

Cover Appreciation: The Scum-Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

This hilarious story of a man reborn as a villain in a fantasy novel series who ends up romancing the male protagonist is now in English, for the very first time. Half-demon Luo Binghe rose from humble beginnings and a tortured past to become unrivaled in strength and beauty. With his dominion over both the Human and Demon Realms and his hundreds-strong harem, he is truly the most powerful protagonist...in a trashy webnovel series! At least, that's what Shen Yuan believes as he finishes reading the final chapter in Proud Immortal Demon Way. But when a bout of rage leads to his sudden death, Shen Yuan is reborn into the world of the novel in the body of Shen Qingqiu--the beautiful but cruel teacher of a young Luo Binghe. While Shen Qingqiu may have the incredible power of a cultivator, he is destined to be horrifically punished for crimes against the protagonist. The new Shen Qingqiu now has only one course of action: get into Luo Binghe's good graces before the young man's rise to power or suffer the awful fate of a true scum villain!

(The Scum-Villain’s Self-Saving System book 1, Amazon)

Beautiful. So so SO beautiful. Both the art-style and the character designs. (My biggest criticism of the latter is that Luo Binghe’s not supposed to look like his dad all that much… but they look IDENTICAL in their pictures 😂 Similarly, I wish there was a picture that showed the differences between Shen and Mushroom!Shen cuz I’m curious exactly how different they look. I know that’s a ridiculous ask but still. I can wish 😂)

When it comes to the font choices I know that when these and the other MXTX novels were announced a lot of people didn’t like that there were so many different fonts on a single cover but I personally think it works well. I like the emphasis/italicization/immaturity(?) of “Scum Villain’s” font versus the really mechanical sans serif of the rest of the text. My only gripe with the titles is that the section of background they’re on is always very crowded (bamboo 2x, cherry blossoms) or a similar color (rocks/ground). It’s not so bad as to make them illegible but it can be a little hard to read. In terms of the title itself I like that they added the pinyin title but I think they should have also had the hanzi... but that’s just my opinion. I know that having all three would’ve been even more crowded than it is so I understand why they didn’t but... still.

In addition to people not liking the fonts... I also remember people were miffed that the first cover wasn’t romantic and I have to say: thank FUCK it’s NOT. LUO BINGHE’S 14 IN THE FIRST BOOK! Besides, regardless of his age, it also wouldn’t make sense story wise. In regards to what’s happening in-story, Luo Binghe and Shen Yuan’s progression from “not touching but still protecting” to “touching but one looks simultaneously like they wanna attack and kiss while the other is just swooning” to “protective handholding and shielding” to “SLEEPING IN LAP” is PERFECT. It’s so beautiful and heartwarming.

The colors follow a similar route. From light and airy with them dressed in matching colors that also match the background (like... there’s a surprising dearth of colors in the first cover. So much so that Sha Hualing’s red outfit really pops out on the back cover) to the shift in Luo Binghe’s clothing to demonic colors and the darkening of the background as the two color palettes mix (white x red = pink, black x green ≈ blue) and then to a neutral background with their color palettes that shows they’re no longer roiling and are instead in harmony. The last book (which is an anthology of short stories about the characters and is actually not part of the main story) is the darkest of the covers but its a very mellow darkness, a sort of warm candlelight that affects their own color palettes so they match even with the background being similar to book one. It’s a very well done color story.

Lets not forget about the back covers. Usually back covers are just meh but these explicitly connect as extensions of the front covers:

The back covers also show that there’s a very clear formula to how everything’s set up:

And I LOVE covers that follow a formula. The fact that all these translations were able to be released together in a row and weren’t dependent on how the book before it did means that the covers were able to be made in tandem which means that they match PERFECTLY. Nothing’s worse than a cover change halfway through a series. Even if a cover style sucks STICK WITH IT for the entire series I BEG YOU. Once everything’s out THEN you can change the covers for the next editions.

I really appreciate the inclusion of character pictures. It works very well with the contents since it often feels like Shen’s in a game rather than a book; he has all these stats for people and access to an interactive computer system so game-like character bios work to help the reader keep this info in-line the same way Shen does. I wish more books (particularly serieses... particularly complicated serieses) did stuff like this.

Before I finish this post I wanna take a moment to appreciate the title of this book in and of itself. I know a lot of people hate how long isekai titles are but I personally love them. I love how straight to the point they are and how you can tell most of what the story’s about just from the title alone, even without reading the description. Personally I think it’d be helpful if more genres started doing this, especially since there’s that gods awful trend of books just having absolutely no summary anywhere on them, and instead just having review quotes that tell you nothing about the actual story. If books insist on doing that, at least tell me what the books about in the title. Thankfully, SVSSS has a descriptive title AND a back summary to let potential readers know what they’re getting themselves into. I think the only way I personally would’ve improved these is by adding some trigger and content warnings (this is also related to the lack of summary and descriptive titles like... why are people against even the slightest, barest, most miniscule spoilers? I beg ya’ll) specifically for the end of the third book (for r*pe).

- Kiara 🌸

[rookie-critic]

Rookie-Critic's Film Review Weekend Wrap-Up - Week of 5/1-5/7/2023

Somewhere in Queens (2023, dir. Ray Romano) This was way better than it had any right to be. I'm not sure what I was expecting from a Ray Romano-directed picture, but for some reason it wasn't this. Just an unendingly sweet little slice-of-life film that analyzes the dynamics of a very messy, but loving family. Romano, who also stars in the film as the lead, plays Leonard, a man who's always late, generally says the wrong thing most of the time, and is just kind of awkward, but he loves his son Sticks (yes, that's a nickname), and he supports him with everything he's got, to a degree of fault, really. Romano isn't afraid to push his characters' faults into the spotlight, and he never tries to excuse them, but he also never loses sight of the fact their hearts are always in the right place. Laurie Metcalf also stuns as Leonard's wife Angela, a cancer survivor and a mother who's jealous of her son's secret girlfriend. The movie is basically a 1 hour and 46 minute, R-rated episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, but honestly I'm not complaining. The format difference allows Romano to explore his characters with a little more depth than a 22-24 minute TV episode would have allowed, and it breaths life into everyone on screen. I was super impressed with Somewhere in Queens, and I actually find myself looking forward to whatever Ray Romano decides to direct next, which is not a sentence I ever thought I'd hear myself say.

Score: 9/10

Currently only in theaters.

Police Story 3: Supercop (1992, dir. Stanley Tong) I have always been a fan of Jackie Chan, having grown up in his heyday in the States, but my fondness for the actor has never extended past his popular American films like the Rush Hour or Shanghai Noon/Knights series of films. I've always known about to slew of Hong Kong action comedies he starred in prior to breaking out over here, but I've just never made the time to watch them. So, I was more than happy to oblige when my older brother wanted to come over to my place and do a double-feature night with this and Drunken Master II (or Legend of the Drunken Master, depending on who you ask). This also doubles as one of Michelle Yeoh's earliest starring roles in a film, so I was doubly interested in watching this. Needless to say it is amazing. The story is decent enough, a police detective (Chan's Ka Kui Chan) is tasked with traveling to mainland China and pairing up with an Interpol agent (Yeoh's Chien Hua Yang) to take down a drug kingpin. Sounds pretty basic, and the nature of the story allows for a lot of Jackie Chan-style hijinks to ensue, but the real meat of what makes Supercop so incredible are the stunts. The things that Jackie Chan does in this movie make Tom Cruise look like a toddler playing in a sandbox. One stunt in particular was so unreal we thought there was no way he was doing it without a harness (turns out he absolutely was doing it without a harness). I won't spoil any of it for you (even though I'm the one who's late to the party here) because, if you haven't seen this, you must. It is one of the most incredible stunt spectacles I've ever seen put to film, and hands down the most impressed I've ever been with a Jackie Chan film, and that was already a pretty high bar.

Score: 9/10

Currently streaming on The Criterion Channel.

Drunken Master II (1994, dir. Lau Kar-leung) I've always heard that this is one of the, if not the, best Jackie Chan movies there is, and it's easy to see why that's the consensus. The hand-to-hand fighting choreography is, without question, the best I've ever seen. The final fight sequence (or series of fight sequences) alone, which takes up the last 20 minutes of the film's runtime, is an absolute wonder to behold. There were things I was seeing in this film that I didn't think was possible to do with the human body that put my jaw firmly on the ground. However, the film as a whole definitely has its weak moments and parts that drag, and a surprising amount of melodrama that I was probably being played for laughs, but it just wasn't landing with me. Which isn't to say that the film isn't funny, most of the physical comedy bits land, which isn't uncommon for a Jackie Chan vehicle, there were just a handful of moments that felt like they were trying too hard. Overall it's just a more uneven viewing experience than Supercop was, but its strengths more than make up for any of the film's detriments.

Score: 7/10

Currently available to rent/purchase on digital (iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, etc.) and on Blu-ray & DVD through Warner Bros.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023, dir. James Gunn) I won't belabor the point on this one too much as my full review was posted literally yesterday, but I was left deeply emotionally affected by this by the time the credits ran. I thought that almost everything about it just worked, barring an under-use of the Adam Warlock character, and the decision to make Rocket the focal point of this film's story was a stroke of genius on the part of writer/director James Gunn. Maybe I'm the lone wolf on how much I loved this because of my bias towards these characters, but I think Gunn knocked it straight out of the park and into the next galaxy with this. It's a wonderful film about finding the strength in your flaws and imperfections and the power of moving forward.

Score: 9/10

Only in theaters. You can read my full review of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 here.

Carmen (2023, dir. Benjamin Millepied) By all accounts, this is not my kind of movie in the slightest. I've heard of the opera, but other than that I couldn't tell you one thing about the story before a few hours ago (I got home from the theater about 4 hours prior to writing this). The story is pretty basic and it definitely takes a "style over substance" approach to its visual storytelling, both things I tend to not be a fan of, but against all odds I have to say I did enjoy my time with Carmen. For one, I love both Melissa Barrera and Paul Mescal and they both kill it in their respective roles, even if I thought their romance moved way too fast to be truly believable. The dance numbers, while sometimes hard to follow the symbolism of, were wonderful. I was impressed with both Barrera's dance ability and voice, and Mescal, for what little dancing he does in the film, is better than you would think he would be. Where I think the film fails is in its message. It does seem like it touches on a lot of things that could have been really interesting (the central romance is between a white "all-American" veteran who clearly, regardless of his own beliefs, comes from a background of racism towards Hispanic people, and an undocumented immigrant), but it never really goes beneath the surface of any of its themes. There are also a handful of loose ploit threads that just kind of irked me. In a movie filled to the brim with extended interpretive dance numbers, they could have devoted at least a few seconds to throwaway line explaining some things and providing a little more context to Carmen's situation. It just seemed like there was a large section of the story that we just didn't get to see and, frankly, it felt like the filmmakers forgot about it, as well. Taking all of that into account, though, I still was drawn into the world of Carmen. I can't fully explain why I think that is, but something about it just grabbed me. I'm not sure I could tell you the greater purpose of everything Carmen throws at you in its 2 hour stay onscreen, but I can tell you that I was mesmerized by most of it, and that's gotta count for something.

Score: 7/10

Currently only in theaters.

[sifeng]

Love and Redemption: Some Thoughts and a Comparison with Ashes of Love

So, I’ve been watching Love and Redemption (琉璃) and while there are some visible faults, I also quite like some plot points and characters. So here are some of my thoughts and also, if your an Ashes of Love fan I totally recommend you check this drama out! The themes are similar, the character setups are similar, the worlds are similar too. 

I’ve just finished the 35th episode, and I’ve gotten to a point where a flower creature of sorts has been forced to become Ling Long 2.0. I actually really like this idea because it shows that a lot of people become evil because of the people they are around, not because they are naturally evil, their personality is naturally cruel or anything else of the sort. Ling Long grew up around “orthodox” people that, while also imperfect, weren’t sadistic like Wu Tong. Because of that she became a person that liked to fight for peace and removal of evil from the world. However, when her exact same personality was placed in a different atmosphere without previous memories she became just as sadistic and cruel as the people around her. I think that actually fits super well with the overall theme of this drama, which is that good and bad aren’t black and white. Even a person who is “good” in the subjective sense of that term can just as easily be “evil” if placed in a different growth environment. Honestly I find it so interesting that Ling Long went from A Zhu to A Zi (Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils reference) in like one episode. 

A Comparison

When I first started liking cdramas, one of my first favorites was Ashes of Love (香蜜沉沉烬如霜), but I actually like this drama more. First of all, I think the pacing is better. The beginning of AoL was a little draggy now that I think about it, and Jin Mi only began to really show her feelings for Xu Feng around episode 30 (and it wasn’t even Jin Mi liking Xu Feng it was Saintess liking the King). In comparison, in Love and Redemption, we see from the very start that Xuanji likes Sifeng in a different manner then she likes, for example, Minyan, thus not only making it easier to ship them, but also being able to get to the tragic elements of the story faster. The CGI in Love and Redemption is simply amazing, beats 99% of cdramas honestly. I wish the cinematography was a little better because with this level of CGI, it truly deserves better camerawork. 

Also, I dislike when people call Xuanji stupid, because while in the beginning she is a little dumb, she really isn’t as bad as some other characters out there. She’s like what 20? And she’s never left home or her training place in her life. Why would anyone expect her not to make trouble? Or get in trouble? That’s like teaching how to memorize all the math formulas in the world, but not teaching you how to use them and then blaming you for not being able to apply them. I haven’t gotten to the really tragic part where Xuanji and Sifeng get separated, but so far I like her more than Jin Mi honestly. Xuanji might not be the smartest person, but I love how trustworthy she is of her friends and how high she holds her friendships. Unlike so many of the adults in this series, she actually uses logic to try to understand problems not just problematic and contradictory pieces evidence. Like when Minyan is accused of being betraying their sect, she doesn’t just go “oh there’s ‘evidence’? Then he must be guilty”, she actually thinks about his character and personality and how illogical it would be if he actually betrayed them. 

I also like Sifeng more than Xu Feng. When he was being accused of being a demon, he managed to bring up inarguable pieces of evidence that clearly proved he was not a demon, or at least not a problematic one instead of just going like “you should believe me because I’m so great!” (not that Xu Feng did that, but he did use ethos instead of logos, though, both apparently don’t work if you’re a male lead in a tragic xianxia). The tragedy of his character is done so well honestly. He died for Xuanji in 9 lifetimes. NINE. Please give him a happy ending. (Okay but I really dislike his second hairstyle with the two strings of hair hanging out and also Teng She’s hairstyle. Why can’t they just tuck that piece of hair in? It makes me feel so annoyed for some reason.)

No one likes Hao Chen, and I’m glad. He hates people manipulating Xuanji, but he manipulates her all the time. I do agree that if Xuanji is happy without her six senses, she shouldn’t be forced to search for them, but she isn’t happy and she wants to search for them. So why should anyone who actually likes her try to prevent that? But I actually think his character is written relatively well. As the ruler (or second in command?) of the heavenly realm, he has to put matters in front of romance, though that doesn’t mean he has to manipulate her. I understand why he does what he does and I don’t think his character is as illogical as Wu Tong, but yeah, I definitely don’t agree with what he does. In comparison, Run Yu is truly quite likable. He does try to keep Jin Mi to himself instead of letting her be happy, but overall his story is written really well and evokes our sympathy.

Oh and when it comes to friendships I also prefer the ones in Love and Redemption. First of all, it’s not just Xuanji and Sifeng who are cute together, I like that Sifeng is friends with Ling Long and Minyan as well, and they also become friends with Yanran (or Xiao Yinhua) and Ruoyu as well (though they could’ve avoided some tragedy if they hadn’t befriended him). I don’t know why, but I’m really excited to see what tragedy our OTP goes through later on, because I’ve seen the gifsets on Tumblr and boy am I excited for some tragedy!

But one thing that is better about AoL is definitely the acting. I think Cheng Yi and Yuan Bingyan did pretty good here, especially Cheng Yi, but Yang Zi, Deng Lun and Luo Yunxi (especially Yang Zi and Luo Yunxi) are more experienced and thus obviously better, especially when it comes to really emotional scenes. 

FInal Thoughts

One problem I have with Love and Redemption, at least so far, is that the evil demons have no motivations to be as evil as they are. I’m pretty sure I’ll get a reason, but so far I have to say that they aren’t really well done characters in that sense. Especially Wu Tong. Like this guy has no backstory whatsoever, but is extremely cruel and sadistic from the first second we meet him. Maybe he’s like really just insane or something, but his whole “sympathy story” for why he joined the demons makes zero sense. He wanted to murder someone because him cheating gets revealed and then gets mad that the father of the person he tried to kill wants to get revenge. His story also contains two (as of so far) unexplained plot holes: 1. why every single sect decided to chase after him and 2. why he managed to escape death despite a bunch of skilled martial artists running after him for like a really long time. 

Lastly, I like the fact that the orthodox people aren’t exactly “evil” but their goodness is what makes them annoying. They don’t mean harm when they tried to test if Sifeng was a demon or if Minyan is a betrayer, they truly are thinking for the overall good, but their constant paranoia and need to do “what is right” and not “what makes sense” is truly what makes them unbearable. They sometimes throw away all logic for love, or sacrifice their own daughter in order to “do what’s right” instead of actually thinking of a method to not only save the daughter and keep the world at peace. It’s because of their goodness that they are able to be manipulated into idiocracy by Li Ze Palace. 

Oh and one last thought. I don’t know if it’s on purpose, but the lack of people in the heavenly realm is really interesting. Like, maybe the producers didn’t have enough money, or shots of the heavenly realm with more than like ten people (not in war) don’t exist in the book either, but it creates the image that the realm is super empty. The human realm, despite all its faults and cruelties, feels so much more alive and full of life in comparison to the boring and cold looking heavenly realm. 

[twitchesandstitches]

A few details i wasn’t able to get into the library fic that introduced the Avatar characters to Crossthicc! This was worldbuilding stuff I thought was interesting, but didn’t have room to put into the fic properly.

AVATAR STUFF

Suki is one of the daughters of Kyoshi, who rules a system of islands, and has inherited something of her size, power, and commanding attitude. The Kyoshi Islands are intended to be an analogue to Japan in some respects, and in particular Kyoshi’s daughters lead their own respective dynasties in service to Kyoshi, who is ultimately a Raava-blessed empress uniting them all as a daughter of Heaven.

The girls are considerably older than in canon, and the boys are more or less their canon ages but in a way to give them a different dynamic with the girls. Katara is the eldest child in her generation, with Sokka as her younger brother. Her dynamic with Aang is even more ‘skilled student winds up marrying his gifted mentor’, with a bit more emphasis on Katara being a heroine. The biggest shift is for Zuko; as Azula’s younger brother, he was never in the running for being Fire Lord and was a surplus child. Mai was more or less his bodyguard and they wound up falling for another as a bright spot in each other’s lives.

Way more AU as the cultures of Avatar go. Sun Warriors are still extant, groups such as the Foggy Swamp Tribe are all over the place. The Fire Nation is presently in a huge civil war between Azula and forces that follow Zuko, and Azula is actually more active as a leader than Ozai is; as it stands, the Fire Nation is basically like Warring States-era Japan, but with people who can breathe fire and ride dragons.

On that note, the Fire Lords are more or less just the Fire Sages as they originally were in canon; the Fire Lord is the leader of the Fire Sages, who ride dragons here and commune with them, and have enormous power over the Fire Nation’s people with this influence. Azula has taken over as hereditary right and the most powerful of the family, but Zuko has also earned the right and this has caused the civil war in question, with an unprecedented amount of nobles, warlords and influencers split between the two rather than the usual free for all.

The Air Nomads are mainly based off the people of ancient Mongolia, with Genghis Khan’s example being a pretty obvious one. The Air Nomads who live in this area are explicitly intended to be modeled after them. Yangchen herself is an analogue to the Khan, down to building an empire and unifying her people, and having a strict ‘insult my people and die horribly’ vibe. As a whole the Air Nomads are a lot more diverse than what we see in canon; Air Nomads like the monks we see in canon are still around, but they’re a specific set of clans who live in the mountains near the Southern Water Tribe and have established a monastary there. They support their life style by working out deals to control the wind for the benefit of their Water Tribe neighbors.

Bending here is marked by two things: becoming a giant hyper-curvy lady (as is the main rule in this AU when you become powerful), and physical mutations. Not like the mods used by other, but non-functional attributes such as crystalline skin for Earthbenders, icy body temperature for Waterbenders, blazing skin for Firebenders, and so on. It varies for each individual, gets more intense as they power up and the specific kind of mutation changes when they are bending different things, but all benders are obvious and easily spotted.

Size is linked to bending. The more powerful you are, the bigger. The inverse is true; if you’re bigger, you have bending powers. Characters who canonically have no bending ability but are big here (Mai, Suki, Asami and so on) are benders here, but have very low grade powers or extremely specialized skills. Suki is probably an Earthbender who can do minor tricks with soul to be immovable, Mai and Asami are firebenders (Mai does internal tricks with heat, Asami can bend lightning but ONLY lightning), and so on.

I usually avoid specific sizes, but I did measurements for a tricky line, and worked some things out. Katara is roughly about twenty feet tall here, an average man only going up to her knees. Toph may be about 30 or so while the other girls are smaller than Katara on average, ranging from 12 to 15 feet. Korra is the biggest at at least forty feet. She is very big!

Raava does not serially incarnate here, but instead bonds to multiple human hosts as they are born; the Avatar is thus not a singular entity but a soul fusion of many different people to previous ones and the other living ones, linked and boosted by Raava. Thus, Korra and Aang can be around at the same time, and she can be significantly older than him too. The other Avatars relevant to Aang (Kuruk, Kyoshi, Roku and Yangchen) are, of course, all alive and doing things, being important heroes and leaders.

The owl entity that is mentioned briefly near the end of the story is intended to be Wan Shi Tong, and the Great Library is a combination of his library and the idea of the Akashic Records from Mage: The Awakening. He’s not as anti-mortal as he is in canon, or at least, not allowed to act upon it due to the other powers in the Library. He is a spirit of the idea of knowledge and lore, and acts as a neutral figure within the library’s command.

Bending stuff. Here, bending is not hereditary (though it is dependant on cultural identity); rather, people commune with specific spirits after manifesting an elemental power at a young age. Everyon can use an element appropriate to their culture, though perhaps very limited, and some can commune directly with the spirits, earning their favor and gaining their powers, being physically transformed in some respect and gaining enormous amounts of power. These are like Benders from canon, but they explicitly sought it out. Animals like badger-moles and sky bison are linked to these spirits, too. (There are different ways of earning favor; some women might become hyper pregnant with powerful spirits, for example, and at the end of the pregnancy, transform into their new state and gain their powers. The REAL elemental blessing was inside them all along…!)

The Air Nomads are alive and well!

Aang is ethnically related to the northern Air Nomads who are based on the followers of Genghis Khan; Yangchen’s clans, here. However he was raised among the monastary monks near the Southern Water Tribe, where he met Katara when young and studied under her to learn Waterbending. His heritage carries no stigma, and while he has no concern about his actual family (it being an Air Nomad thing to raise children communally), he wants to know more about his birth-people and ancestral culture.

You may have noticed a reference to ‘red tornado spirits’ in regards to Aang’s tattoos. Double meaning here; Aang’s tattoos were originally based, from what I hear, on the DC robot hero Red Tornado’s markings, and thus the spirits who originally taught the first Air Nomads were related to the spirits that give Red Tornado life force. (It was either that or make Red Tornado this settings version of Tenzin. Still might do that, actually.)

Speaking of Tenzin, Aang and Katara’s children are around for sure, but doing their own thing during the events of this story.

NON AVATAR STUFF

Hermione here is based on my take on her in the fics I’ve written here and there. The other group mentioned in relation to her is intended to be her canonical friendship group, including Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville, and possibly others. The Great Library may be Hogwarts, but the castle may exist elsewhere with the wizards and witches here being a specific group that wound up at the Library through a mishap.

Witches like Hermione grow bigger as they get more magically powerful, as generally goes in this AU.

Hermione is intended to be read as black/Afro-British (or a space future analogue) but I’m not sure I’m that great at conveying that in writing.

Hermione’s somewhere between Toph and Katara’s sizes. Smaller than 30 feet, bigger than 20 feet. She’s thicc, hyper busty, and big all over!

Hermione not speaking the language of the Avatar characters is based on a few plot points I’ve had in mind; linguistics in this AU is a serious matter with no ‘translator microbes’ or quick solutions to language barriers. Languages must be learned the hard way. She’s never had any reason to expect to communicate with the people, expecting a life as a solitary scholary with her library chums, so she’s woefully unprepared for this. She will correct this in the future.

Magnus the Red is shamelessly based on the interpretation of him from the youtube web series, If The Emperor HAd A Text To Speech Device. I also included aspects such as the Primarch’s being sensory overload to regula humans, and more mystical overtones than they normally get in 40k. I wrote this with the idea that the Imperium was a pre-cataclysm society in line with the Emperor’s original goals (and had none of the anti-alien issues, due to difference circumstances), and the Emperor has become a god of the idea of humanity as its own thing, with the Primarchs as different reflections of that: Magnus embodies humanity’s magical potential as well as the drive to learn and know.

Magnus doesn’t have an exact size. He is huge, yes, but his bizarre magical nature means that he is much larger than he would seem to be. He’s also a shapeshifter, so make of that what you will.

The figures with him are basically Space Marines: Thousand Sons and Blood Ravens, if it wasn’t obvious enough. Gabriel Angelos, one of the canon Blood Raven leaders from the Dawn of War games, is mentioned briefly.

Obliquely referred to a few times is Optimus Prime; in the main events of the AU his absence has been notable, so this is where he’s been all this time; searching for an answer to what has become of Primus, and unable to return to the Autobots. Grimlock is gonna be PISSED.

The Unseen University’s faculty from Discworld are present here as more comedic elements of the faculty running the library, and may be seen on some other time. They’re not human here, since I’m trying to avoi the idea that humans are super-important in-universe. Ridcully, for example, is most likely a krogan. The magic they employ is a cross between Potterverse spells and classic D&D magic. (I used to headcanon that potterverse magic was particular to humans, but i may be moving away from that.)

I originally intended there to be several characters drawn from religious/monk origins for use as library characters to later join the Endowed Fleet and converse with the characters in this one, but there were too many characters as is. Two of the most important would have been Zenyatta from Overwatch (here a full on magic user and Guru Pathik-analogue) and Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist (donated his brother’s teachings to the library, stayed there to study as a religious duty)

There was originally an in-universe lesson about how their world fits into the cosmology, but i couldn’t find a natural place to slot it in. In brief, they’re technically one of the mortal universes, but exist in a demi-realm deep within the realms of magic and swimming in spirits, so they’re not really connected to the mortal universes and unless you know what you’re doing, there’s no real way to get there. This universe is mainly empty but rich with magic, so it’s possible for people who find their way there to establish new worlds there.

[aion-rsa]

Warrior, Snake Eyes, and What’s Next for Andrew Koji

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His first major role in a feature film Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins was on the horizon, as well as the 2nd season of the Bruce Lee inspired Warrior where plays the lead. But then, Cinemax announced that they were no longer commissioning original shows to make way for the new streaming platform, HBO Max. The fate of Warrior remains unknown. And soon after that the pandemic hit, postponing Snake Eyes until 2021.

But then in September, Andrew got some great news. He was cast alongside Brad Pitt in a new David Leitch film called Bullet Train. Cinemax released Warrior Season 2 on schedule and new episodes will arrive through November when Bruce Lee would have been celebrating his 80th birthday. Koji spoke with Den of Geek about Warrior, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, and much more. 

Den of Geek: What was your favorite Bruce Lee movie? 

Andrew Koji: Enter The Dragon is an obvious one. To be honest, I’m going to go with Game of Death. I know he didn’t finish it, but there was something about it. They did a 40-something-minute cut of the original of what they did and think there’s something really interesting there. I think that could make a great film nowadays. If you haven’t got Bruce Lee, it’s just not going to work. I’m going to go for that one just to be a bit different.

Oh, very good. No one’s ever answered that one. Interesting.

Nice!

Can you tell us a little bit about your martial arts background?

Yeah. I started martial arts growing up from around 10 to 20. I did Taekwondo…and my dad used to study Kyokoshin Karate. In the garden, he used to hold these sofa pillow kind of things for pads, and I used to kick them and he used to teach me those things. Then I got injured with Taekwondo, tore my ass in half – my gluteus maximus, minimus and all that – and then had to stop and change.

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I went to Kung Fu because it had less kicks, because I found it hard to walk. And did some acrobatics on the side – not exactly what they call ‘tricking’ but kind of around that. Then I stopped around 20 and just dabbled with Jujistu and stuff, which I still want to go back to and study properly. But today’s circumstances don’t really cater towards rolling around with people.

For Warrior, I picked up Wing Chun, which I did a bit of that actually when I was younger, and then I studied lots of Taekwondo for Season 2.

When you were first approached to do Warrior were you tentative about being stereotyped as a Bruce Lee clone?

Oh, yeah. Totally. I moved away from martial arts almost because of that. I remember at the time, when I was about 18 or so, the only Asians that I saw on TV or film were all doing martial arts, you know?

So, I wanted to rebel against that and not do anything to do with it. I was like, ‘Screw that. Screw everything else I’ve been learning.’ I just want to become an actor. I just want to Daniel Day-Lewis the hell out of stuff, or maybe Joaquin Phoenix a bit more. I was definitely scared because of that aspect of that. I know I’ll probably get boxed in doing action things for a little bit, but I think I’ll be able to break out of it.

But also I think with Warrior, because that’s just an element of it, there’s so much story and the characters are so well done, I’m not too scared of it because of that, because they’ve done such a good job. If it was just a trashy, glossy, superficial martial arts show, then I’d be worried. But because it’s got a good story, interesting characters, it needs us to give good performances for it. I wasn’t too worried after that.

One of the things I really love about this show is the chemistry between Ah Sahm and Young Jun. Can you talk a little bit about how you and Jason Tobin bonded for that?

Yeah. Me and Jason, I think from the beginning, Season 1, we got on straight away because both of us have got strange stories, up until that point. I was ready to give up acting. Even though he’s playing Young Jun, he’s a bit older than me. He’s got a family with three kids so he was in a similar place, and he was just as grateful for the job, as I was, if not more so because he’s been in this game far longer than I have.

Better Luck Tomorrow, his first big film, was years ago. Jason, he’s a real artist. He’s got this independent film called Jasmine, which you’ve got to see, man. He made that himself. It’s phenomenal. Because he’s an interesting dude and he’s got an artist’s heart, we just got on really well. Hopefully, we’ll do a film together someday. 

Now, you’re adding Chen Tong for Hong into the cast. I really love the trio of you guys. 

He brought a lot lightness. After Bolo [Rich Ting] unfortunately died, and Young Jun’s going through stuff in Season 2, Jonathan [Tropper] was like, “We need a bit of lightness to this,” and Chen Tang, he bought that. He was great casting for that.

How’s your body holding up with all the stunts and fighting?

Now, it’s doing all right because I’m in lockdown. The six pack’s gone or the definition of Season 2 of it has gone. It definitely takes a toll as you’re getting older. I’m 32 now and I’m going to be 33 in November, and, to be honest, it’s probably in better condition than it was before I started in Warrior, because I was living a reckless life back then. I was drinking a lot. I was eating whatever I wanted and now it feels all right actually, in comparison.

What’s been your favorite fight scene so far?

We’ll, I’ve got to give a shout out to Mike Bisping because he took that kick like the absolute man, multiple times, to his face and there was no ego about it. He knew that he was part of helping Bruce Lee’s story come to life. I’ve got the utmost respect for someone like him who can put himself in the room and literally put his life on line. The character of Ah Sahm, he would tear into shreds. I’d let him do so because I’ve got respect for the guy. Doing that just on a man-to-man level, to be able to have the experience of kicking a British UFC champion in the face multiple times… I don’t think many people would be able to say they kicked a UFC champion in the face and lived. So, that was the highlight. He’s a great dude and a really interesting guy. 

Filming-wise, things started to really ramp up towards the end of season. The highlights we used for the Episode 10 fight, which was a very, very tough scene to shoot, but was absolutely magic. I almost collapsed at one point filming that, but then the next day came back, dig deep, and we managed to make the day and managed to get everything we need to do on schedule. I think we managed to capture some the magic that we felt and the energy. That was literally a life-experience highlight shoot, that fight scene. It was such a team effort. 

How does it feel being the lead actor in a series that’s predominately an Asian tale?

It’s an honor, in a way, to help bring this story to life. I think the best actors don’t think of themselves just as lead actors. Their vessel might be who they are, the lead, but the lead doesn’t work if the other performances aren’t there and if everyone else is falling apart.

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By Gene Ching

I’m just saying this, but I’m an actor and I’m very picky with my acting. I can’t help but watch a film or a performance and not pick it apart. Probably 90% of the time I’m like, “That was a bad moment. That was a weird one. That was whatever.” There’s obviously very few shows, personally, that I look at and go, “Wow, everyone’s really on point and this is really good.”

When I see Warrior Season 2 and I see these great actors; Kieran [Bew], Tom [Weston-Jones], Hoon [Lee], Joe [Taslim], et cetera, et cetera, I’m more honored that I’m amongst this cast. When I see their performances I’m like, “Whoa, these guys are good, because they’re nothing like this in real life.” It’s more that it’s an honor to be able to work alongside these people who are just so good at what they’re doing.

Warrior is so much of an immigrant tale, and here in America, of course, immigration’s become a big issue, and in the UK as well, how do you feel about the current politics of that and how that plays into Warrior being shown now?

There’s a lot of coincidental parallels to certain things; the climate of the world and certain people’s attitudes towards certain people. That wasn’t the intention of Jonathan or the writers at the time. I know that definitely immigration issues happen all the time, but I think it makes the show more eerily relevant, and it wasn’t even its intention. They were literally just trying to tell the story of what happened roughly at the time, make the best show that they could and use bits of history.

It’s eerie because in certain aspects it’s clear that we have not grown as humans and we have not learned certain things. Those are real things that happened back in the day in 1817 or around that time of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Real things. It’s eerie to the point of being a bit like, “Wow. We need to learn. We need to grow. We need to get better.” History’s going to repeat itself until we just get over certain things, I think.

Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins got delayed to 2021. How do you feel about that? You’re all in the can for that one, right?

Yeah. I think there’s more reasons too. I’m fine with that. I think we did the best that we could on that one. I’m hoping that I brought the most layered Storm Shadow and realistic kind of Storm Shadow to screen, even though there’s only one guy before me. I think it’s the current climate. I think the film industry’s suffering quite a bit, I’m hearing. If it’s best for the film, for the audience, for people… I don’t think many people want to go to the cinema right now. So don’t release the film. It wouldn’t be a good idea.

I got to ask you about Bullet Train. Brad Pitt and David Leitch, that’s awesome. Congratulations on that.

Oh. Thanks, man. That’s surreal, that one. I never thought I’d be working with Brad Pitt, ever in a million years. He was a distant legend, an icon. He’s someone who’s inspired me on my journey with films. There’s been countless films that have inspired me, and he’s produced them as well. This guy – he’s going to go down in history as this huge Hollywood figure.

Also, bear in mind, the fame and all that that he’s got, as a man, how he’s composed himself – I mean I don’t know him personally. I haven’t met him yet either. But he hasn’t let it get to his head, it doesn’t seem. It seems he’s a cool, chill dude and he’s not about himself. As a man, I think that’s quite admirable. It’s really admirable to be in that position of power and not become an absolute douche and abuse power, which most people do. I respect that dude, absolutely.

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To get to work with him and then David Leitch who I know he’s made those million films before. Atomic Blonde, I liked, and Deadpool 2, I thought, was shot really amazingly. I’ve got a feeling he’s going to become something. Whether it’s this film or not, he’s going to do a masterpiece. He’s on his way to doing that, I think. Besides the box office billion-dollar film thing, besides from the business aspect that he’s done well with, I know he’s going to do something, or he will, or he’s doing something really good. He seems really cool so far. Warrior has helped me to be in this position to do this job, so I’m just bringing every skill that it taught me, and I’m bringing it to these ones in the future.

Man, Brad Pitt. I’m freaking out a bit. But, yeah. Brad Pitt, come on. I saw the article the other day. I was like, “What’s my face doing next to Brad Pitt’s? Nah. Nah. What’s going on?”

So, are you going to be ready for Season 3 of Warrior, if it comes around?

Yeah. Well, obviously, with the current climate it’s a lot less certain. All we know is if the fans make enough noise and help us by making that noise, it is in so many of our intentions to wrap this show up as I think it should. Not only for the show, the story, for the fans, but for that legend Bruce Lee. I think it deserves a conclusive ending.

It might be a story of Deadwood. It might be a story where it gets picked up, because it’s not like there’s someone up there going, “No, no. I don’t want you to make that.” It’s so many circumstances that come together that have led to the potential of not being Season 3. I think we all want to do it. We all feel like it needs to be done and it’s going to be in a bunch of our objectives to do that and to conclude it properly and fully when the time’s right.

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Warrior Season 2 can be seen exclusively on CINEMAX.

The post Warrior, Snake Eyes, and What’s Next for Andrew Koji appeared first on Den of Geek.

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Bruce Lee Forever! Shannon Lee Reflects on Her Father’s Legacy

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Bruce Lee stands among the greatest icons on the planet. But such notoriety comes with a price and it’s one that Bruce pays more heavily than any other celebrity. He’s also the most ripped off. Brucesploitation is an entire genre of film dedicated to Bruce Lee impersonators. Bruce Lee clones proliferate fighting video games more than any other person, real or imagined. His image has been poached illegally for all sorts of random things like for Zhen Kungfu, a major Chinese fast food franchise with some 300 restaurants, all of which use his likeness without permission. No one else can claim this level of image piracy.

For years, Shannon Lee has fought hard to guard the family name and see that her dad receives the respect he is due. Now at the helm of the Bruce Lee Family Company, Shannon continues to champion her father’s work, dedicating herself to preserving his message of harmonious individuality and curtail those who would steal his image for their own gain. She has dedicated herself to bringing the real Bruce Lee to the world. 

As we approach Bruce Lee’s 80th birthday this November, the Little Dragon remains as hot as ever. The Bruce-Lee-inspired Cinemax series Warrior has kicked off its second season. On October 6th, Shannon releases a new book, Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee. And there’s more coming in November in celebration of her father’s auspicious birthday. Den of Geek caught up to Shannon Lee to talk about where the Bruce Lee estate is now. 

Den of Geek: Warrior is based on the treatment that your father did that was allegedly turned into David Carradine’s Kung Fu series?

Shannon Lee: Well, I guess that’s a matter of some debate.

Yeah. Which is why I’m asking you this.

Yeah. My father was definitely up for the lead in Kung Fu, and he was definitely not given that role because he was Chinese interestingly. And at the same time, he had also developed and pitched this show. Warner Bros.’ point of view is that they had been working on a show – their show – for a long time prior to involving my father. And if you speak to my mother, she will say that my father was working on this treatment for a number of years before he pitched it as well.

So the two shows are very similar in some ways and very different in some ways. What we do know is that my father was turned down to star in the show and we have no idea how much his ideas influenced the ultimate vision for Kung Fu. 

Very diplomatic answer. One thing that’s continually impressed me about your father was how incredibly prolific he was. Even today, and I remember when he passed, I still see new material from him. Did he have any other show ideas that you might have kicking around?

Most definitely.

Oh, that’s very intriguing.

Yes. So he did have a number of other treatments in various states of readiness and even one full script that I still have, and that I am working on developing, in different ways.

That’s incredibly exciting. How close do you feel that Warrior is to your father’s original vision of it?

I think it’s actually very close, in the sense that I think that the show captures the perspective that he was hoping to capture. Meaning, his treatment was written more as 1970s episodic television; it was more of an adventure of the week format, which shows were back then…I think he would be really pleased with how the show turned out today, because I think we have more of an opportunity to tell the story that he would have wanted to tell, than he would have had back then.

What can fans expect from Season 2? 

We have the warring Tongs. We have the political goings on and plotting. We have the Irish labor workers really coming into more conflict with the Chinese workers. We have the cops on all sides of this as well, really coming up against the Chinese. So it’s very complicated and the weaving of the story is really brilliant and the stakes are really high. And you’ll see what happens.

As an immigrant tale, how do you feel this is playing out given the current politics surrounding immigration right now?

It’s crazy how relevant our show is. I think that its issue’s not just of immigration, but also of racism, of the involvement of the police, of xenophobia, of ‘us versus them’ mentality. There’s a lot of themes in the show and, quite frankly, where the show culminates toward the end of the season is very reflective of where we find ourselves right now, which is interesting since we filmed it last year.

But I think that it’s because this is the natural outcome of these types of policies and attitudes toward our fellow humans. And also what happened historically, so history is rather repeating itself.

How does it feel to be working on this show with a predominantly Asian cast?

It’s phenomenal. I know that there are a number of shows that, especially in the half-hour genre, that have Asian casts, but in the one-hour television format, there really aren’t that many. Even shows like Into the Badlands who have Asian characters, they’re not necessarily predominantly Asian characters.

So I feel really proud of our show that we got to make the show we wanted, that we got to create these multi-layered, complicated three-dimensional characters for all our cast. And I think that it’s actually a huge win for representation.

You used to have a pretty wicked spinning back kick. Are you still practicing?

[laughs] Not as much as I used to. Every now and again, I get back to it. It’s been a little harder in quarantine, not because I’m not able to exercise on my own. Certainly I am, but I’m much more used to working with others in the space. So I would say I’m a little rusty right now.

I think we all are during the pandemic. I could totally see you doing a cameo in Warrior like a singer at Ah Toy’s place or something. Are you thinking about that?

We definitely talked about it for Season 2. Just by the time we were talking about it, the season was already written and there didn’t seem to be the perfect and right feeling opportunity to do something like that.

Right now, Season 3 is a little uncertain. There are not plans to move forward, just given that Cinemax has canceled their programming and their original programming… If there are, then I will definitely look to try and sneak on set for part of that.

Do you ever think about going back into acting?

I don’t think about it as a career. I think if there were opportunities, if the right opportunity came along, I think it would be a lot of fun. I would definitely have, from a creative standpoint, an interest in doing that for myself, but not as a career.

You have a book coming out the same week that Warrior drops. Tell us about Be Water, My Friend.

I wrote this book, over the last year or so, and it is called Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee. It is a book about my father’s water philosophy, what it means, and what it meant to him, what it means to me, and also how it can be accessed and utilized by the reader.

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And, for me, it was a really personal, internal journey to write this book, to really sit with my father’s words and to really try and express in as simple and in as simple and clear a way as I could, what this is and to provide it as a tool for the reader to utilize, or even just something to think about for themselves.

I find my father’s words to be extremely soothing and extremely healing and extremely thought provoking. And my hope is that people will pick up this book, regardless of whether they’re into martial arts or whether they’ve recently had, because it’s really for everyone. It just really speaks to this human journey that we are all on. And I hope that people will find something beneficial for them in it.

I really admire what you’ve been doing with the Bruce Lee Family Company. Your dad has been the most ripped-off icon of all. Nobody has an entire film genre like Bruceploitation that’s dedicated to him. What are some of the battles you’re fighting trying to control his image? 

Yeah. Look, it’s always a challenge. It’s really hard to know what the best course of action is. I’m certainly very protective of him and his legacy. And at the same time, I try not to be unreasonable or overly difficult, but I really do think he requires respect. And that’s really what I’m asking for most of the time.

If somebody can show up and have a honest conversation with me and be open minded and listen to me, then I will always give them the same in return. It is really hard. The laws are different in all different places and it’s really challenging because it’s on a global level and you got to pick your battles and you only have so many resources to put towards these different types of things.

But I really feel like when I’m asked to speak up about, and give my opinion on something, I definitely will and do. And when it seems like a fight worth fighting, then I have no problems with that. I’m willing to stand up for myself and my family. And it doesn’t mean I’ll always win, but for me, it’s not about winning. It’s about doing what I feel is appropriate and right.

The CW reboot of Kung Fu is getting some buzz again, which feels as if it is in the wake of Warrior now. That’s ironically recursive given the unusual relationship that Bruce Lee’s treatment had and what we spoke about, when we first started this conversation. They’re putting out that it’s going to be all female leads, and that Asian community is reclaiming this property, but who knows? What are your thoughts on that?

Listen, I’m not in competition with anyone. I’m trying to put forth the best projects that I could put forth. And I never want to be in a place of wishing someone to not do well or be well. Right?

I don’t know anything about that show other than its existence and exactly what you just said. I haven’t read any scripts. So it’s really hard for me to say what it is. I don’t even know. And look, it’s hard to get a show made. I think that whatever happens with the show, I know these things are always a labor of love and or just a labor. So either way, it’s hard enough. And I just really couldn’t comment because I really don’t know, but I certainly never wish anyone any ill will.

That’s fair. What does your mom think of Warrior?

Oh, she loves it. She really loves it. She really is like, “Oh, I think your dad would love this show. I think you really did your dad proud.” My mom was married to Bruce Lee, so she’s no shrinking violet when it comes to action. She just thinks the show is great and a lot of fun. She’s really impressed with Andrew Koji and with the whole cast, and she just thinks it really captured the right energy and the right spirit.

What’s next for the Bruce Lee Family Company? 

Oh, my gosh. So much. We’re really excited. In November, we’re going to be celebrating my dad’s 80th. How crazy is that? Eighty years of Bruce Lee in the world. And so we have a lot of celebrations planned, mostly virtual and online and through our store, and on social media and those types of things.

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We were hoping to be able to do some kind of bigger events, but of course, with the current state of the world, we’re changing it up a little bit, and our timelines have been a little delayed on some of the bigger things that we’re working on, but we will be having some interesting announcements and fun drops and things that’ll be available in November. And so I’m super excited to celebrate that. I’ve got a number of other film and TV projects in the works, which hopefully I’ll be able to announce soon.

We’ve got a bunch of exhibits that we’re working on with different museums around the world, revamping the exhibit in Hong Kong and in Seattle but also other places. We have our social initiatives we’re doing through the foundation. We’re about to launch and revamp that website to have some different social initiatives that we’ll be promoting as well as our camps for kids that we do. And the exhibits that we’re doing, and we’re working on a permanent exhibition space as well for my father. So there’s no shortage of things going on. And we’re all really excited to share what we can do with the world.

That’s great timing because it will still be in the rollout of Warrior Season 2. You’ve got the show, the book, and the celebration, so we’re looking at a Fall season of Bruce Lee.

Yeah. And we have a new season of the Bruce Lee podcast. That’ll be dropping in October also.

Has Warrior met up to your expectations in terms of what you envisioned when you first embarked on this?

Absolutely. I would say it met it, and it exceeded it. Obviously, in small details, sometimes there are things you’re, like, “Oh, I wish we could have done this differently or that differently.” But those things are nothing in comparison to the full force of the project, the scope, the storytelling, the cast that we have, the crew that we have, the writing that we have. I really couldn’t be happier.

Look, I think there are always places to go and things to be improved. Nothing is ever perfect, but I think that it’s as good a show as I could have hoped for. I’m so thrilled because I think it captures my father’s spirit and his energy without being like a copycat of him in any way. I think it tells his story. I think it’s entertaining. I think it’s got awesome action. I think it’s got amazing characters with storylines. I think it’s dramatic. I think it’s very binge worthy. It’s like one of those shows where you’re like, “Oh my God, what’s going to happen next.” You know?

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Warrior Season 2 can be seen exclusively on CINEMAX. Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee is available wherever fine books are sold. For more on Shannon’s work and the Bruce Lee Family Company, visit BruceLee.com.

The post Bruce Lee Forever! Shannon Lee Reflects on Her Father’s Legacy appeared first on Den of Geek.

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