I watched my favorite silent movie recently, Metropolis by Fritz Lang. I liked its dystopian vibe, the early special effects and the sense of innocence one gains from watching it. It highlights the gap that separates the rich from the poor. The rich live in luxury while the poor do all of the work to keep the city running. Even though silent films are largely outdated, I would recommend this film to anyone who is seeking an enjoyable story.
I have developed an interest in the concept of the death game, which has served as the main theme in stories such as Battle Royale, Hunger Games, and The Belko Experiment. In the death game, a group of people is forced into a situation where they have to fight and kill one another or face serious consequences. In each of these cases, only one person was allowed to survive the death game and would be declared the winner. I mentioned this in one of my earlier posts, I am planning to create a SUPERHUMAN DEATH GAME in my future superhuman series. In this superhuman death game, exactly one hundred superhumans would be gathered (fifty males and fifty females) and they would be placed in a hostile environment. Each of these superhumans would have their own unique set of powers, which would be the only weapons they would be allowed to use. They will each be given a day’s worth of provisions and those provisions run out they would need to find food and water from their surrounding environment. If there are not at least ten deaths in three days, ten random superhumans would be killed by the overseers of the death game. The last five surviving superhumans would be allowed to live and they will be tested on the quality of their powers, wits, and survival skills. What do you think?
I saw Solo: A Star Wars Story and I was pleasantly surprised to see the return of a fan favorite, Darth Maul. It was revealed that during the reign of the Galactic Empire, Darth Maul was the head of the crime syndicate known as Crimson Dawn. During the Clone Wars, Darth Maul recruited multiple crime syndicates to form the Shadow Collective until his army was dismantled by Darth Sidious. Apparently, Darth Maul managed to salvage some degree of his criminal empire, but not enough to challenge Vader or Sidious. Darth Maul looked just as he did in Rebels, which meant that this took place between Revenge of the Sith and Rebels. To make Darth Maul’s reappearance even more of a treat, Ray Park reprised the physical role of Maul while Sam Witwer who voiced Maul in both Clone Wars and Rebels returned as the voice. I was also surprised to find that one of my favorite actresses, Emilia Clarke, was under Darth Maul’s thumb. This goes to show that it is easy to be enslaved by the dark side of the Force yet hard to break free even for a Mother of Dragons. Emilia Clarke showed skill in a martial art known as Teras Kasi, which is a martial art specifically made to counter armed Jedi. She learned this fighting style from Dryden Vos, second-in-command of Crimson Dawn. I think I know where they learned that martial art. Darth Maul was an infamous practitioner of Teras Kasi and was known to combine it with his lightsaber skills to make himself twice as deadly.
I thought of an interesting feature for the superhumans in my dystopian series. I am thinking of making them maneaters, predatory beings who can only eat human flesh. This will be one of the factors that will put the superhumans at odds with the normal humans. Let me put it to you this way: imagine if the X-Men were man-eaters.
In my superhuman series, I will be introducing a concept I call psychic torture. When being tortured by telekinesis, the torturer can break bones like twigs, slice through flesh cleaner than any physical blade, and apply pressure to organs. With telepathy, the torturer can project nightmarish illusions or blast the subject’s mind with enough psionic energy to cause indescribable mental pain that could either kill, lobotomize, traumatize, or render the victim unconscious. Imagine a psychic torturer using all of these methods simultaneously on their target and they would do it all without any physical contact with their victim at all.
I had a potential new story idea for the future. I am thinking of someday write a science fiction version of Lewis and Clark. The only difference will be that instead of uncharted western America, these characters will be exploring the continent of an alien planet. I am even thinking of making it a comedy as well, which is something I do not do often with my writing. My loved ones say I have a funny sense of humor, but I think I can only access it on a subconscious level. Either way, I look forward to tinkering with this idea when I have time.
I have long imagined this scenario for my superhuman series. I imagined a powerful superhuman battling while he listens to music they like. How they would listen to this music would be unusual and unorthodox. This music would help them concentrate while fighting and they would fight while moving as though they were conducting an orchestra. Without the use of this music, this superhuman would not have the concentration to properly control their immense power. This will be similar to how I use music to help me concentrate while writing.
