Sunday, September 30, 2018

Geekly Weekly 4 (Spetember 30): Isabol Tseung Chapter 1 Release tonight!

Now playing: Spider-man PS4
Now Watching: Iron Fist Season 2 
Now Listening: My podcast on iTunes search 99% geek
Now Reading: My chapter for my Patreon (I could desperately use subscribers)

Finally finished Season 2 of Iron Fist. I loved it. It was a great season of the show, if not a great season of Marvel. For people who didn't enjoy season 1, I'm not like you, but you still might enjoy season 2. There's a lot less Danny Rand, and more Colleen and Misty Knight. It even gets to the point where Colleen replaces Danny Rand as the Iron Fist. It's amazing! Check it out. Great ending to the show, can't wait to see what happens next. We've definitely gone a different direction than the comics, and that's not exactly a bad thing.

It's a good thing I finished it too, cause after that, it's been a huge week for TV. Looking over all of this below, I'm kinda blown away it's only been a week. I feel like all I've done this week is watch TV. And bust my ass at my night job of course. It's like hell every single night, but welcome to living in poverty as a minimum wage cuck. I also picked up a shift next week cause I desperately need the money, so my weekend is gonna be cut short. :( And then back to the grind.

I meant to release this this morning before passing out, but I didn't end up doing any of my chores. I got home feeling like such a used and tenderized piece of meet, I collapsed into my bed a gellatin mess and passed right out. I have to work so hard at my job, they expect so much, keep adding more, customers keep getting more frequent, we get no help, the write us up for stupid dumb shit while the previous shift leaves the place a disaster for us (They're unsupervised high schoolers), and after 6 years I still barely get paid over minimum wage. I live in hell. I wish to god my writing would take off. I need a miracle to save me because i'm stuck. I'm stuck in a nightmare and I can't get out.

I'm going to edit the new chapter right now, it'll be up on my patreon within hours. Please, if you're at all interested, it's just a dollar to subscribe and you get access to my entire library of writing (Over 1000 pages). Books like seasons of tv shows, each chapter is an episode. They share universes, crossover regularly. All I need is an audience. 99geek.ca for links to everything. Even if you, like me, have no mjoney even for food, let alone entertainment, at least follow me on Twitter @Andrew Geczy In fact, send me a message. Talk to me, help me build an audience, and I'll be happy to send you my writing for free.

Don't want to pay a subscription? I also have finished "seasons" on Amazon, and i could use some reviews. They're even free with kindle unlimited. AT the very least, comment below so I know people are there and enjoying this weekly blog.

About the below rankings, I think I saw there was a new SNL, I haven't watched my DVR from last night, so all this long list doesn't include Saturday, but does include last weekend. Some shows had multiple episodes here.

Geekly Weekly TV Rankings:
  1. South Park *****
    South Park is one of my favourite shows of all time. Definitely my favourite animated show. South Park is the shit. There's a lot of controversy surrounding this weeks episode. Before you listen to any of the haters, the episode was great amazing. Boundary pushing. Very touchey subject and they didn't shy away from being offensive. Not in the slightest. It was about school shootings, and really drilled home how little America cares anymore. How it's becoming normal. The line was pushed so far, they ended the episode with a hashtag "#CancelSouthPark" so now when you see the hashtag you can't be sure if they're showing support or hating on it. It's ingenuous. The episode was amazing. Harsh, but no more than America deserved. I laughed the whole time threw, I thought that episode was really strong. People who hate on South Park really don't get it. It is the highest standard of humour. It goes right over the heads of a lot of people. But this is a show that is only stronger now than it was a decade ago.
  2. Shameless *****
    Another great episode of the show. Possibly the worst episode of the season, but there's never a bad episode. There was so much to enjoy, Lip's story with Xan, Debbie's story exploring her gay side. Carl trying to save dogs from euthanasia. Liam trying to fit in in public school. 
  3. American Horror Story ****
    Crazy episode. Proved my recent theory that it was all a simulation completely wrong. Also, I can't believe what they did to ever single main character so far. 3 of them are back, but not the three I was expecting. WHat about the two lovers? Did they have to die vomitting blood on each other's faces and foaming at the mouth as they stared into each others eyes and asphyxiated. Horrifying. I thought for sure it would be those two and Billie Lourd who made it. Side note, I love Billie Lourd so much. I'd support her in anything, she might be one of the best actresses in Hollywood.
  4. The Big Bang Theory **** 
    I love the Big Bang Theory. I don't want it to end, but this is the final season. I love that I have been hanging out with these people for 12 years. And it's not like I'm tuning in every week to amazing stories. I'm tuning in to a bunch of geeks just hang out, and I love it. I think some of the development and world building has been slow and limited, but I put that just on them taking their time and enjoying the moment. Which felt better when it was never going to end. I would love to see Penny and Lenard continue to grow closer together. I'd love to see some development around the board besides just Sheldon, but with the show ending this year, it doesn't even really matter anymore.
    Also, second episode came out, it's even better than the first. Really hilarious, loved the focus on Stu and his relationship. Loved the b plot with Lenard's gift and how that ended. Hilarious. Classic episode.
  5. The Goldbergs ****
    The Goldbergs is a great show. The cast is hilarious. From the mom, dad, sister, brother, they are all perfectly cast. The show also has fun nostalgia. I was gonna rate it a little lower, but it definitely didn't deserve to be lower than The Gifted, so I might have to lower the ratings of everything next week. Balance the scale. It's about the 80s, and if you appreciate the 80s as much as... well most people do, then you should check it out.
  6. Wrecked ***1/2
     
    I was gonna give this one three stars, but I didn't want it lower than The Last Ship, so I gave it an extra half star for continuing the story thread of Owen just being a terrible human being. It's amusing how he was the good looking sane one of the group, but the more we're learning about his past this season turns out he was like the worst kind of mess of a person. Living in a Van under a bridge to avoid paying taxes, fighting against other homeless people just for a spot to live.
  7. The Gifted ***1/2
    When I decided this week to start using half stars, I did not expect to need it three times in one week. I was going to give this a lower score. I don't know why, but I've always found The Gifted kinda boring. I love a lot of the actors. I love Lorna (Oh so much) I love the X-men. I love every comic book thing ever. ANd yet, I find this show a total bore. Every time people are talking, which is all the time, I find myself not giving less of a shit for what they are saying. It's just like "blah blah blah, yeah yeah yeah, whatever move on." maybe it's just the show's very old school network approach of really hammering home the point again and again and again. When my brains already done with a scene and moved on, they are still padding with a conversation about it for another 5 minutes. I dunno. I love slow shows. I can watch The Walking Dead forever. I never want it to end. But I don't know what's wrong with The Gifted. There just us. And then that Lorna-centric ending happened, and even though it was super lame, and I was rolling my eyes, I cried anyway. I can roll my eyes and cry at the same time. I'm very pathetic like that. So not quite a 4, but you made me feel, you deserve more than a three.
  8.  Whose Line Is it Anyway ***1/2 
    I love this show. I've been a fan since a child, watching it with my mom. I love Aisha Tyler as hosts, love her playful teasing relationship with Wayne. It's still as fun as ever.

  9. The Last Ship ***1/2 
    May have been the best episode this season. This one and the last had a focus on action, and characters I like. The new helicopter pilot they got is a bad ass. The story of uniting Cuba and Mexico was silly but not boring. Overall, the past two episodes have been some of the best this show gets. We really can't expect more from the show than this
  10. The Good Place ***
    I love this show, enough that it hurts me to put it this low, but the news episode wasn't great. There were parts I laughed at but it took a long time, rehashed a lot, and didn't land it's jokes. Some of the jokes were great though. Some not that much. I'm not too excited for the direction we're going in this season so far.
  11. You *
    I'm out on You. It's not that it's a bad tv show. But it triggers me. The way she was fucking douchebags on Tinder, while leading on the main character. Horrifying and true. THat was too much for me. Not every woman is like that, but a lot of the ones I've had in my life are, and it's a hard thing to deal with. I don't understand it. I don't understand why so many women out there want to befriend guys like me, but only want to get intimate with shitty awful people. And it's all I see everywhere around me. This show just sets me off and makes me feel shitty.
Geekly Weekly Talk Show Showdown:
  1. Vice
    Amazing story by Isobel Yeung about consent
    . She's literally my hero.
  2. Last Week Tonight
    Amazing conversation about Kavanaugh 
  3. Vice News Tonight
    Where every news organization has coverage on Kavanaugh practically 24/7, Vice News Tonight still managed to bring a unique perspective that went more in depth and brought us the "truth" from both sides. Their friday episode was proof why Vice is my news platform of choice and always will be. There's no other that shows instead of tells, that presents truth and honesty in its ugly reality.
  4. Stephen Colbert
  5. The Daily Show
  6. The Graham Norton Show
    Great guests: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, the new Doctor Who

  7. Real Time With Bill Maher
  8. James Corden

    Sunday, September 23, 2018

    Geekly Weekly 3 (September 23): Captain Marvel Trailer

    Now playing: Spiderman PS4
    Now Watching:  Iron Fist Season 2
    Now Listening: More Kinda Funny Podcasts
    Now Reading: My book, for the podcast


    Shortly after the Captain Marvel trailer came out, I saw this on twitter. https://twitter.com/harleivy/status/1042057651604127745

    It made me happy. I like feminism and women power. Strong independent women are awesome and beautiful. I love bending gender norms. I love smart beautiful strong women. They just don't love me. I was attacked on twitter the other day, accused of just being a feminist because I thought it would get me laid. Well if I did, I can assure everyone that it doesn't work. But that's absolutely not why I'm a feminist. If anything I'm a feminist despite the fact it means I'll never "get laid". I refuse to play the sort of mind games and bullshit demeaning crap it seems to take for women to want to date you, I'd rather be alone than that. I refuse to expect any woman to look after me, do my chores for me. Looking back on how I took advantage of my mother, it's so unfair to her. We were all that way with our mothers. Most of them likely deserve more credit than we give them. They give and give with no expectation of getting anything back.

    Unless you had shitty parents, but that's a topic for another day.

    My finances are about as bad as can be. Please, check out some of my writing. If you're interested in stories told over time, stories you can keep up with a chapter at a time like a tv show, dig into the story as it's being written, please consider subscribing to my patreon. patreon.com/99geek No one ever wants to pay for writing. I have over a thousand pages of content, most of which features strong female protagonists, and yet I have to work nights at a coffee shop full time to still not make ends meet. ANyway you can help would be amazing. Can't give money? SPread the word, help me build an audience. I'll give you some of my writing for free if you're willing to make my terrible self promotion a little easier.

    At the very least follow me on twitter @AndrewGeczy

    Other things I have going on. My Spiderman Playthorugh, my Audiobook podcast, I'm really working to provide more and more content, get myself out there as much as possible. ANyway, have a great week!

    Geekly Weekly TV Rankings:
    1. American Horror Story *****
      This show just keeps getting more and more fucked up, and that's what is freakign amazing about it. Every season, but the freakshow season, has been fucking amazing. It's not horror in the jump scare sense, for those who haven't watched. It's horror in the sense that ever scene is just a little twisted, just a little fucked up. And the plot always turns into a mindfuck. And there's lots of sex, perversion, over the top gore. It's just, it really is unique. If you've never watched, just cause it's on season 8 doesn't mean it's too unapproachable to be able to catch up.
    2. Shameless *****
      I love the relationship between Lip and Xan. It's so adorable, and sweet. I'll be honest, there's a part of me that would love to father a bad ass daughter like he is. Their relationship is sorta the dream for me. Maybe that's something wrong with me.
    3. Fear The Walking Dead ****
      Good episode. It was nice seeing Alisha again. She's such a bad ass, more strong and beautiful and bad ass in every episode. Amazing actor. Also the stuff in the hospital was great stuff. Ugh, that one evil woman though. Ugh.
    4. Wrecked ***
      Still funny, a lot of great lines, like Batniss Everdeen. But a focus on the least likable characters made this week's episode a bit of a snooze.
    5. The Last Ship ***
      Not a bad episode this week. Decent amounts of fun military action, mixed with not too much bullshit. It's this mixture that keeps the show worth coming back to. Barely.
    6. You ***
      There were parts of this episode that had me cringing, and parts I really enjoyed. I actually liked how it ended, but I almost feel like I could just stop watching now. Yup, he gets the girl, kills the douchebag ex, and gets away with it all. Everyone loves him. The end. Great 2 episode show. :p I wish it was that easy to get out of the friendzone, cause I've been there only too many times.
    Geekly Weekly Talk Show Showdown:
    1. Vice News Tonight
    2. Vice
    3. Stephen Colbert
    4. Daily Show
    5. James Corden

    Tuesday, September 18, 2018

    Free Excerpt! Isabol Tseung Voice News Chapter 1 "Nobody Does it Better Part 2"

    These are two scenes taken from different parts of the upcoming chapter, due out at the end of this month for my patreon subscribers. If you like what you see, you can always go and subscribe at 99geek.ca for simply a dollar a month to get access to over a thousand pages of my content, and a new chapter every month like episodes of tv shows. Keep in mind that this chapter hasn't been edited yet, I'll do that before release, so cut me some slack for any typos. Also, some of the typos int he dialogue are deliberate, I was trying to convey accents, to a range of effect. Let me know what you think below, or follow me on twitter @AndrewGeczy or subscribe on my patreon. Links to everything I do at 99geek.ca

    Characters, places, and events are works of fiction and not at all indicative or representative of any real life person places or things. A lot of inspiration was taken from Vice, a subsidiary of HBO. Much respect is held for the journalism that goes on at Vice, and I suggest everyone check them out. I do not represent them, nor do I think my book is a factual retelling of anything relating to real life. For the true story on everything, check out Vice.com or tune in daily to   Vice News airing on HBO. I personally never miss an episode.



    1x01 “Nobody does it Better Part 2”

    Released on September 2018 at www.patreon.com/99geek

    She could swear she recognized the song. The quiet instrumentals of the elevator warbled through a small speaker above her, playing some strange EDM version of an old pop song. Isabol was sure she’d heard the tune before, but she wasn’t exactly a music expert.

    Vindicated! That was it, she thought as it got to the chorus. By Dashboard Confessional. She hadn’t heard that song in years and years.

    The elevator was a rickety broken-ass junk box that was constantly getting stuck. Their office, 
    downtown Hamilton, had been renovated twice as they’d grown and grown over the eight months she’d been working there, but the elevator was still the same death trap that had been here when Shane bought the building.

    It jolted with a loud clack, and the dull metal doors opened to the third floor. The blonde haired blue eyed Elly Reeves stepped on to the elevator with her, the doors closing behind her as the lift lumbered loudly to a start again.

    “Hi,” Isabol said politely.

    Elly smiled at her from behind her massive glasses, taking a while before responding “Hey?” as if she was trying to decide which greeting to go with.

    Isabol looked away from Elly, at her own blurry reflection in the dull unpolished metal doors. She could only just make out her shoulder length black hair, brown eyes, and tanned Asian features. In the door she didn’t look any more Asian than Elly. More tanned though, Elly was about as pale as someone could get. They were both wearing jeans, though Isabol’s were darker. Elly also wore a bright button up blouse, while Isabol had a worn brown leather jacket over her black wide collared shirt. Fake leather of course.

    “Is that Dashboard Confessional?” Elly asked, as the elevator music warbled on. “God I haven’t heard this song in ages.”

    “I know!” Isabol agreed with her, and then there was silence again in the elevator.

    “So, vampire children,” Elly said, as the elevator rumbled to a stop and the doors opened with a ping to the sixth floor.’

    “Have a good day,” Isabol said with a polite smile to the woman, as they split up to go to their desks.

    “Oh,” Elly said, clearly disappointed they didn’t get to continue their conversation. “Okay.”

    The Vice office’s top floor was a loft, with large glass windows that shone into the open concept layout. Any walls on the top floor were made of glass, short glass dividers separating the cubicle desks of ornate cleanly carved wood. She passed all the cubicles to her desk, one of the larger ones right by Shane’s office. There were balloons hung from the rafters and taped to the wooden columns and cubicles. There seemed to be some kind of celebration going on, but Isabol had no idea what it was people were celebrating. She’d been out of the office for a week straight planning her interview.

    It seemed a number of reporters were crowding around one of the other correspondent’s desk.

    “Isabol!” said the man the desk belonged to, center of the crowd, and of everyone’s attention in the room. Just the way he liked it. “I’m back.”

    “Greg. Were you gone?” Isabol asked with disinterest. The crowd around him seemed to separate enough that he could make his way across the aisle to her desk. She stood above it, trying not to match his gaze. She didn’t feel like throwing up in her mouth.

    “For a month, yeh,” He looked to the reporters around him and laughed. “You’re gonna pretend loike yeh didn’t notice. That’s a laugh.” He crossed his arms. “Moi friends call me Beckett by tha way.”

    “So you keep saying,” Isabol said. At this point she was just doing it to annoy him. Everyone was watching her, obviously all celebrating his return. She tried to think of something to say so she didn’t come across as a complete anti-social bitch. “Did you have a fun vacation?”

    “I was in Africa buildin’ a school for ah bunch ah kids.”

    “That sounds fun,” Isabol said absentmindedly, searching her desk for something to distract her. It was mostly clear, except for a small pile of mail in the corner. She didn’t use her desk often.

    “It was important, is what it was,” Beckett continued as she ignored him.

    “Mmhmm.”

    “I was helpin’ people. Yeh know? Makin a real difference,” Beckett was tall and slender, disgustingly good looking with naturally blonde hair and outrageous muscles. Just a little bit of eye shadow. Every woman in the office had a crush on him, and he’d slept with most of them. He didn’t even need his job there, he lived off his rich parents, and the huge trust fund they gave him. He was often bragging about all the things he’d take time off to do. Adventures helping people and being the best person he could be. And sleeping with the hottest women.

    “There was this one native I slept with there that reminded me a lot ah yeh,” He told her, and she made a face.

    “I really don’t want to hear about your conquests, Greg.” She noticed Tom in the crowd of people around Beckett’s desk.

    “It’s Beckett,” he repeated. “Everyone calls me by my last name but you,” he said, continuing with his story. “Which is like what I was sayin. This girl was different. Like you. She was tough, bad ass, strong. Determined. Motivated. She made me realize a woman like you is worth a thousand other girls.”

    Isabol stopped what she was doing to try to process his words. “You’re telling me that shagging up with another woman made you realize I’m special?”

    “She also started teaching me Swahili,” he said, smartly changing the topic. “My ninth language if I can get it. I’ve bought a book to keep up with it.”

    “You speak nine language?” Isabol asked.

    “From all over the world,” he told her. “Wherever I’m needed, I like to be ready for anything. Everywhere I’ve volunteered at I’ve tried to pick up the local language.” He nodded to her. “You ever do any volunteer work like that?”

    “Nope,” Isabol said with a shake of her head, not completely true. “I guess you’re just a better person than me.” She backed away from Beckett and met Tom’s gaze. “Did you submit our piece with the narration I sent you last night?”

    “Uh,” Tom said behind his glasses, awkwardly fidgeting as all the eyes in the crowd turned on him. “Ye-yeah. I think he’s in there watching it right now.”

    He glanced at Shane’s office at the back of the loft behind her and Greg Beckett’s desks. The shades were closed, and the lights clearly off behind them, as they usually were when he was viewing work prints.

    “You should have led with that,” she told him, knowing full well why he didn’t as she shot Greg a dirty look. He couldn’t just interrupt Mr. alpha personality Beckett over there.

    “Yeh’ve been workin’ on a new story, aye?” Beckett asked Isabol.

    “I guess you’ll have to find out on Friday,” Isabol told him, the night their main show aired. They had a less popular nightly show, but their Friday edition was always meant for their most in-depth reporting.

    She turned her back on him and his pile of groupies. Let them celebrate and eat cake without her. She had bigger things on her mind.

    *     *     *

    It was fourteen hours before their plane touched down at Mosul International Airport. From conversations she’d had with the people around her on the plane, it seemed the airport had only recently been opened again for commercial traffic. There weren’t all that many people in the baggage pick up.

    There were, however, numerous armed soldiers standing guard around the perimeter. She counted more armed guards than regular airport crew.

    “I can’t believe you were in that bathroom for over forty minutes,” she complained as he grabbed her bag from the rack. To make the point that she didn’t need help, she lifted his bag off the same rack, forgetting that it had been filled with cases of water bottles and weighed as much now as her. She dropped it heavily onto its wheels.

    “Ay’ve got stamina,” Greg boasted. “Most women would find that a plus.” They traded suitcases, and aimed themselves for the exit. “Besides, they didn’t have any magazines.”

    Isabol frowned. “Please don’t tell me you spent the whole forty minutes staring at yourself in the mirror.”

    “I wasn’t just staring at myself,” he argued. “I was also giving myself words of encouragement.” He mimed himself masterbating again. “Everyone loves you. You have a beautiful penis.”

    Isabol closed her eyes. “Stop.”

    “I also practiced my Somali. Waxaad leedahay gus ah qurux badan.”

    “What does that mean?” she asked, changing her mind. “Wait, I don’t want to know.”

    They stepped through the automatic doors and the first thing Isabol noticed was the heat, scorching her like a blanket of fire.

    “Ah,” Beckett said beside her. “There’s something I don’t miss. In Africa it was like this but only more humid.” He slapped shades onto his face, and she scolded herself for forgetting to even bring sunglasses. She’d just thrown as many clean socks and underwear that she could find into a carry on, and that was it. Also on the way, they’d stopped by a bank where she converted all the money she had in her account into Iraqi currency. Five hundred thousand dinars.


    It actually sounded more impressive in dinars.

    The second thing she noticed was the people, pushing against the military blockade keeping the crowds back. They were men and women and children, screaming and crying, covered in sand and dirt, lips parched. They surged against the blockade, reaching their arms past the gate that men with guns were struggling to keep from bursting open. At least 30 or more. Isabol was surprised there weren’t even more than that, but supposed much of the city was likely evacuated during the fighting.

    Everyone all seemed to be talking at once, and Isabol couldn’t understand a word of it. One armed man approached them and said something to them, and it took a couple repeats for her to realize he was speaking in English.

    “Do you have taxi? Or ride out of here?” he asked, seemingly genuinely concerned. “I afraid walking to city would be quite impossible. We call you transportation if you require.”

    “We don’t have anything yet,” Isabol told him, her eyes darting across the landscape. It was flat, so flat she could see the city to the north of them. Sand was everywhere, as one would expect from a desert. Construction was underway to rebuild a bombed out building inside the airport grounds, a bulldozer clearing out rubble even as a crane was laying down new foundations. It seemed like construction was being rushed.

    “Did ISIS do that?” Isabl asked the English speaking guard.

    He laughed and shook his head. “That one was Americans,” he said, with a cold shrug.

    Isabol pointed out to the buildings she saw past the beggars at the gate. Three out of the four in her view were equally bombed out, and reconstruction hadn’t gotten to them yet. “What about those?”

    “The Americans,” he said again. “You have to be understanding, when we were fighting to retake this place there were snipers on those rooftops. Stolen military APC blocked road there.” He pointed to a crater in the street. “Man with, what you say R P G. That rooftop.” He pointed to the building inside the grounds currently under construction.

    “It is complicated,” he continued, “to say who is to blame.”

    Isabol nodded to the crowd of people begging for help. “Who do they blame?”

    “It changes,” he responded. “Depending on who you ask.”

    Isabol spared a glance at Beckett, and was surprised to find he had his SLR out and pointed at them, apparently recording their conversation. For his many faults, she was glad to see he could come through when it mattered.

    “I’m gunna get some B-roll over there, if ya don’t moind,” he told Isabol, turning to capture the construction going on to their right.

    The guard followed Beckett with a look of concern. “What is your reason for visit?” he asked her.

    “We’re journalists,” She told him. She offered him her hand. “Isabol Tseung Voice News.”

    He stiffened, and notably didn’t take her hand. “You should not be announcing this around here.” His eyes shifted to the other guards around them, all seemingly ignoring them. Assuming this soldier had them covered.

    Isabol yelled across to Beckett, “Hey maybe keep it in your pants.” He turned to her confused. And she darted her eyes to the left. He didn’t get it. She took a couple steps toward him so she wouldn’t have to speak so loud. “Till were further away from some of these men with guns?” she suggested.

    He nodded his understanding and hid his camera in his bag.

    “So is there some kind of attack going on?” She asked the guard, stepping closer to him and speaking in hushed tones.

    He laughed, not sharing her subtlety. “Was it not your president who called the news enemy of people?”

    “Yeah,” Isabol mumbled. “And we had words about that.” She pulled out her phone, finding a picture of Suzie she’d downloaded to her phone. “Have you seen this woman at all?”

    He looked at the picture, and then to her, and then back to the picture. He sighed, and then pulled his own phone out of his pocket, pulling up a picture, and pointing it at her. It was a very different shot, but there could be no denying it. It was a picture of her, looking tied up and bloodied, on a wanted poster.

    “Have you?”

    Isabol put her phone away. “That could be an added complication,” She took a swig from her water bottle. The heat was already getting to her. Or maybe it was the desert sun. What did suzie get up to, that would have her wanted by the government. A government that apparently had a prejudice against reporters, how much did Isabol want to bet Suzie was just doing her job?

    At the gate, a child was able to squeeze through the metal bars, and he scurried past the legs of the guards to reach Isabol and hug at her leg tightly.

    “Raja'. 'ant tabdu mithl almalak,” the boy said, incoherently. “Hal yumkinuk 'ana taetini alma'? 'Ana eatashan jiddaan.”

    “The little goi says e’s thirsty,” Greg translated, joining Isabol’s side, “and asks if ‘e can have some a ya wateh.”

    “Yeah,” Isabol said, handing her water bottle to the kid. The top of his head barely reached her waist, he couldn’t have been older than seven, with wild black hair and dirty torn clothes. His face was tanned to the point of sun burnt. If she had to guess, he hadn’t been home in a while.

    The kid hungrily unscrewed the lid and gulped down the water like it was his first drops in days. Isabol looked past him at all the other people pushing against the gate.

    “Hey Greg,” she said, “Bust open one of those cases of water, would you?” He unzipped his suitcase, and ripped open a case, passing her some bottles.

    “They’re cold!” she said in surprise, not expecting them to be cool to her touch.

    “It’s an insulated case,” he told her, “And I packed a ton of ice packs.”

    “Do you mind?” Isabol asked the guard, taking the water bottles to the people at the gate.

    His expression implied that he didn’t really want the hassle. Begrudgingly however, he approached the gate, and waved her to come with him.

    She handed the two bottles to people reaching, one to a woman, and another to a little girl. Beckett came up to join her at the fence, handing her more bottles.

    The guard waved at the people pressing against the gate. “Alwuquf wadih min albawwaba,” he said to the people, and many of them seemed to take a step back. The guards were looking at him funny, but he yelled to them, “Aftah albuabat. Sayakun bikhayrin!”

    “Aftah Albawwaba!” another guard yelled to a man in the tower. The man yelled out to the man across the way in the other tower.

    “Aftah Albawwaba!” he said as well. The gate began to creak open.

    “Quickly,” the guard she’d been talking to said to her as there was enough room for her to fit through. “It not be open long much time.”

    “Right,” Isabol said, taking the kid’s hand and walking with him through the gate. Greg pulled the suitcase after them, and as soon as he was through the gate, Isabol turned in time to see the guard she’d been talking to nod to the guard on the right tower.

    “'Ughliq albawwaba!” he yelled across to the guard in the left tower, and the gate quickly sealed closed behind them.

    “Hey!” Isabol yelled at him, feeling betrayed.

    The guard smiled at her, then, ignoring her, looked out at the crowd and yelled, “'Inhum jamieaan lika.” He laughed at the crowd and continued. “Khudh alma' walmala. 'aqtul wa'aklihim , nahn la nihtam.”

    “What did he just say?” Isabol asked Greg as the crowd closed in around them.

    Beckett shook his head. “You don’t want to know,” he promised Isabol. “Just trust me that they’re not going to open those gates for us again.”

    The child she’d given water to clutched her leg tensely as the crowd seemed hungry for their flesh.

    “Take out one of those cases of water,” she told Greg.

    He frowned. “I only could fit eight,” he warned her.

    “Just do it,” she hissed, and he did, handing it to her. She placed the open case on the ground. “This is all yours if you’d be willing to help us out and answer some questions.”

    “Yumkinuk alhusul ealaa hadhih almiah,” Greg said, translating what she was saying as fast as he could. “'iidha kunt sawf takun sadiquna”

    She pulled out her wallet and counted out some money. “Also,” she said loudly. “Two hundred thousand dinars.” She raised it in the air. A man stepped forward to grab it and she raised it high in the air. “For the person willing to give us a tour of the city.”

    “Lilqiam bijawla,” Greg translated.

    The man who had approached Isabol reached down and grabbed a bottle of water. He opened the top and took a sip.

    “'Iinah jayid,” he yelled to the crowd. The old man, he had a grisled beard and no shirt, his upper body a scrawny skeleton of a man. She could see the indents of his ribs.

    That man turned to Greg and embraced him suddenly. “Bandar min alma',” he said with excitement. “Sadiq.” The rest of the crowd moved in, ripping the case apart and passing around the bottles of water.

    “Yes,” Greg responded, awkwardly turning red. “'Iinaa sadiq.”

    “It’s okay,” he told Isabol. “They loike us now.”

    “Well done,” Isabol said with relief. She knelt down so that she was the same height as the child that still clung to her leg. “Is your mommy or daddy here amongst this crowd?”

    “'Ayn eayilatuk,” Greg Beckett translated.

    The kid shook his head. “Ymknny 'an akhadhak lahum.”

    “He says he can take us,” Greg told Isabol. “Is that – Is that something we want?”

    Isabol wasn’t sure either. But they couldn’t stand around outside the gate forever. “Yeah,” she said. “Let’s do it.”

    “'Iintalaq,” Greg said in Arabic, and the kid nodded, taking off down the road toward the city. Greg and her shared a look then followed behind him, dragging their luggage behind them. And behind their luggage, about half of the people from the crowd chose to follow after them, almost as if the three of them were leading a protest march, or roving band of explorers.

    They walked down the sand swept highway for over fifteen minutes before finally the child stopped, about half way between the airport and the city. Both were a distant horizon, though the wind whipping sands made it hard to see much in the distance. All she knew was there there were no buildings in the vicinity. Just a few bombed out cars around a crater. The boy led her from the crater to the side of the road, and pointed to some rags. Not just rags, bones and rotting flesh. Insects eating at their skin and eyeballs.

    Isabol screamed despite herself.

    “Hadha mamana,” the boy said.

    “That’s ‘is Mommy,” Greg translated solemnly.

    The boy pointed to another pile of rags and rotting flesh. “Hadha ‘abi.”

    “That’s my father,” Greg said, forgetting to even change the pronoun.

    Isabol breathed deeply so as not to scream again, the effort coming out like a gasp. She could feel her eyes tearing up, and her legs wobble under her weight. Dropping to her knees, she threw up into the sand.

    “Why didn’t anyone bury them?” she asked the boy, his face emotionless even as she fell apart before his eyes.

    “Hal turid minaa dafanuhum?” Greg Beckett asked the boy.

    An older man, with a graying beard and overalls, slapped Beckett on the back as he passed him, followed by a few of the other men who had been in the crowd of people following behind them. “Sanadifanahum,” the old man said to Greg. “Aimnahawna eshr daqayiqa.”

    “He said they will bury the boy’s family,” Greg told her. “In thanks for the water. Come on, let’s get yeh back on the road. Yeh don’t have ta watch this.”

    “Come on,” Isabol called to the little boy. “You shouldn’t have to see this either.” The boy took her hand and allowed her to lead him after Beckett to the road. They sat on the hood of a bombed out car as the men gave the boy’s family a proper burial.

    Beckett pulled out his camera and began filming the tender moment as Isabol watched the boy fidget and gaze concernedly at the men at work.

    “How long have they been dead?” she asked the boy.

    “Mundh mataa wa'ant bidun 'umuk wa'abuk?” Greg asked without taking his eyes off the camera viewscreen.

    “Tset 'ashhur,” the boy responded.

    “Nine months,” Greg told her.

    “Bloody hell,” she muttered under her breath. “Where have you been living since then? Do you have any family?”

    “'Ayn taeish alana?” Greg asked the boy.

    “Fi 'ayi makan aistatyea,” the boy told him, digging his shoe into the ground. “Almabani almahjurat. Fi bed al'ahyan 'anqad minhim.”

    “’e’s been living anywhere ‘e can,” Beckett told her. “Ruins a places n’ shit. He’s got no one else.”

    Isabol could feel herself tearing up. A reporter had to keep herself distant. “What about food. What about school. Toys. Play? Having a normal childhood?”

    Greg looked at her. “Yeh really want me ta ask him all that?”

    “No,” she muttered. “I don’t know.”

    “Look around,” Greg told her. “Normal’s gone out the door. We’ve entered hell. The rules have changed. It’s not about living your best life out here, luv. It’s about makin it day boi day.” He closed his camera, and slid off the car. “Why the hell did yeh think I didn’t wanna come out here,” he muttered, facing away from her.

    “I’m sorry,” Isabol muttered back. As much as she hated to say it, she was the novice here, and he was the expert. He’d been to areas like this. Probably worse even. He’d made it his fool’s errand seeking danger. But he certainly wasn’t chasing it anymore. Isabol wondered when this change had happened in him, and why she hadn’t seen it before.

    “What about aid,” Isabol asked no one in particular. “The united states. Canada. The UN.”

    “We see nothing like that,” a woman nursing her child to her breast said from the small crowd that had followed behind them. “No aid.”

    It seemed the men were done with the burial, and one of them, a middle aged man with a thick moustache and beige robes, approached her. “I have a truck,” he told her, speaking even better English than the woman. “I’ll give you that tour,” he paused. “For the two hundred thousand dinars.”

    “Of course,” she said, handing the money over to him as a sign of good faith.

    He took it and pocketed it in a fold amongst his robes. “It’s just up this way,” he told her. “Not far from here.”

    Isabol looked at Greg, and reluctantly he grabbed his suitcase, pulling on it to follow along behind her.

    Like what you read? Subscribe to patreon.com/99geek for only a dollar a month and show your support for this new way to tell stories. Links to everything at 99geek.ca

    Sunday, September 16, 2018

    99% Geekly Weekly 2 (September 16): DCAU

    Now playing: Pokemon Yellow (3DS)
    Now Watching:  DC Animated movies
    Now Listening: Kinda Funny Morning Show, Kinda Funny Gaming Daily
    Now Reading: Working on my novel Isabol Tseung Voice News

    I've been really enjoying the DC animated movies. It's somewhat of a complicated thing to dive into for the uninformed, but in a period where the DC Movie Universe is having some major issues, the animated movies are actually doing something right.

    It starts, really, with the Batman Animated TV show, and the Superman Animated TV show. They cross over, and finish off their runs. The Batman animated show even has some movies early on before the reboot with Tim Drake as Robin. Then there's the Justice League. Justice League Unlimited after that. Batman Beyond. Young Justice after that. It's not technically part of the same canon, but you can head canon it, and the same can be said for many of the movies that follow. SOme can be more easily head canoned to take place among the same canon than others. There's a lot of them, and you can find a list on wikipedia or google or whatever.

    What I've been watching lately is the new canon they started with Flashpoint. Basically Flashpoint takes place in the old canon, but it's implied (Very loosely mind) that at the end he splinters reality by resetting time, and creates a new timeline, which are the movies that follow. So far I've watched Justice League War, Son of Batman, Justice League Throne of Atlantis, and Batman vs Robin. They've each been really good and fun in their own way, and worth watching. The batman ones have been a fun exploration of him and his son Damien. The Justice League ones have been brutal and fun in their own way. Quality stuff. If you've never touched any of DC's stuff, you should start from the beginning. That's Batman the animated Series. Just find some list with all DC animated shows and movies in release order, and work your way through it. It's all quality stuff, the Batman, Superman, and Justice League stuff. If you have already touched on that stuff, then start with Justice League War or Flashpoint Paradox, and enjoy the new continuity in it's awesomeness. It's worth your time. It all is.

    Beyond that, I've started working on the chapter for the month. There'll be a free excerpt here,  in less than a week. Promise. I'd write more, but I'm watching some Iron Fist. Have a good week. We are the 99 percent.

    Geekly Weekly TV Rankings:
    1. Shameless *****
      Whenever I come across the question of what is my favourite TV show, there's so much great TV it's really hard to choose. Do I go with the cliche and Game of Thrones. Do I say Legion? Do I say one of the hundred comic book shows I love? SOmething more obscure? Often times I'll just default to Shameless, because the show is on its ninth season now and has never stopped being strong. It gives everything, I laught harder than any other show. I cry when it wants me to cry. The characters are a family, and there isn't one main character I don't love deeply. Besides Frank, but William H Macy plays him perfect.
    2. American Horror Story *****Traumatizing, disturbing, horrifying. I've missed AHS. If you've never watched, better to start with season 1 or 2. This one has gotten really bizzare, but I love every second.
    3. Fear the Walking Dead *****
      An amazing episode of Walking Dead this week. Really strong writing. Great cliffhanger finale. I really cared when they had the Polar Bear reveal. I don't subscribe to the belief that Walking Dead is a terrible show. I know people say Fear The Walking Dead is better, but I think they are both great shows. This episode might have been more action packed than some, but what the show has always excelled at is the quiet moments. The skill it has in getting you inside the heads of the characters, so that even when there isn't any dialogue you know what they are thinking and how they feel. It's not an easy thing to do, and the main show never lost it, and this show has it too. To really enjoy these "silly zombie horror" shows, you have to be able to appreciate the quiet subtle moments, because that's when they succeed best. And then it makes big moments like this week work only all the more dramatically.
    4. Killjoys ***Not their best episode. I still hold onto the assertion that the cast is amazing, and they are giving one hundred and twenty percent. I feel like this episode, the writing (And budget) really let the show down. But then Zeph starts acting her ass off without much to work with, and even as I'm cringing from the writing, I'm tearing up from her performance. I find the main girl (villain from Antman and the Wasp) also always gives 120%. The cast is just so good. That explosion near the end though, the big one, looked so god damned bad. I think the first explosion of Babylon 5 looked better. The first one, not the fancy remade one for the TV movie.
    5. The Last Ship ***
      I've never loved this show, but it's had moments that feel like a cheesy action film, but on a weekly TV budget. It's very pro America, and pro military, and seems to be getting dumber and dumber every season. Or maybe it was always dumb, and it's just bothering me more in season five. I dunno if I'm gonna stick with this. The trailer for the coming season looked alright. It's the final season. I might have one more season in me if they can make it good.
    6. You **
      A weird creepy show about how girls are always falling for the wrong guys, and punishing themselves and making the worst choices... and we explore all this through the eyes of a stalker / killer cause nothing will help nice guy geeks like us than to portray the good ones as stalking serial killers. I'm on the fence.
    7. Kidding *
      You won't see this next week. It lost me. I just don't like the characters or circumstances much at all. But there's a lot of truth there. Too much maybe.
    Geekly Weekly Talk Show Showdown:
    1. Vice
      Great stories about how crazy Evangelist Christians are for Trump, and the horrible massacres in the Congo. Unspeakable things are going on there. This world is a horrible place.
    2. Last Week Tonight
    3. Stephen Colbert
    4. James Corden
      Was in the Fifth spot until their episode with Allison Brie and Keegan Michael Key.
    5. Daily Show

    Sunday, September 9, 2018

    99% Geekly Weekly 1 (September 9): Spider-man Week

    Now playing: Spiderman (PS4)
    Now Watching: Spiderman 1-3, Amazing Spider-Man 1-2
    Now Listening: MCU in Review Podcast
    Now Reading: Mickey Mouse comics from 1930s... don't ask

    Welcome to my new weekly blog. I’m a huge TV fanatic, and with peak Tv totally a thing, I wanted a place where I could share personal rankings on everything I watch. I’ll also try to keep you up to date with my latest opinions, as well as news on my upcoming 99 geek projects. Don’t worry, I’ll still be giving free excerpts from my chapters released on patreon.com/99geek and I even think I’ll try creating audiobooks again. It didn’t work well last time, but when you don’t succeed, just try and try again.

    Even though TV has been gone all summer,  it hasn't been all gone. There's been some great TV still, like Killjoys and Wrecked. If you haven't been watching, you've been missing some good stuff that would be okay during peak TV, but is really hitting the spot in the recent drought.

    And that drought is about to end. You'll be able to track all the best shows to watch here.

    I re-watched all the non-MCU Spider-man movies, and as usual I couldn't stand Tobey Maguire's Spider-man. I really do believe the Amazing Spider-man movies, while not perfect, were better movies and really understood Spider-man better. Maybe give them another chance?

    Oh one more thing. Here's my Spiderman playthrough Part 1. https://youtu.be/6yuoX-NOx0A

    Geekly Weekly TV Rankings:
    1. Killjoys *****
      Great show on Sci-fi. Awesome kick ass cast, and great writing makes up for low budget and generic setting.
    2. Fear The Walking Dead *****
      I don't agree with people that insist The Walking Dead has gone to shit. Maybe it's not the best, but I enjoy every tense moment of the show, every quite ponderous linger on a characters face portraying all the crazy emotions these people go through. It can be slow, but that's been the point from the beginning right? There's nothing wrong with something slow that can make you feel.
    3. Wrecked ****
      A comedy sitcom version of Lost. It really should not be as good as it is, but it's really really funny. It has numerous quotables an episode, oh and Rhys Darby.
    4. Kidding **
      It's not good. But I kinda get what he's trying to do, and I'm waiting to see if it can touch me. There were moments it came close. If this is coming from Jim Carrey's heart, I'm willing to give him the time to try to understand how he's become such a  mess. Ugh, he was cringeworthy on Bill Maher, he has to stop those voices and faces and shit, but I think that's his only gimmick.
    Geekly Weekly Talk Show Showdown:
    1. Stephen Colbert
    2. Vice News
    3. Daily Show
    4. James Corden
    5. Real Time with Bill Maher