Cardio
Double tap
Beware of bathrooms
Wear seatbelts
Cast iron skillet
Travel light
Get a kickass partner
Bounty paper towels
Bowling Ball
(Don't) be a hero
Limber up
Avoid strip clubs
When in doubt, know your way out
The buddy system
Check the back seat
Enjoy the little things
Swiss army knife
- (Some of) the rules, Zombieland.
"i think it's dark and it looks like rain" you said
"and the wind is blowing like it's the end of the
world" you said "and it's so cold it's like the
cold if you were dead" and then you smiled for
a second.
"i think i'm old and i'm in pain" you said
"and it's all running out like it's the end of the
world" you said "and it's so cold it's like the
cold if you were dead" and then you smiled for
a second
sometimes you make me feel like i'm living at
the edge of the world like i'm living at the edge
of the world "it's just the way i smile" you said
~ Plainsong, The Cure.
His ashes will rise, black butterflies...
- promo write-up.
A (mis) Interpretation :
Name : Thomas "Tommy" Mission.
Alias : King Emo.
Age : 21 years old.
Affiliation: The Adventure Kartel - Leader.
Std. armaments : The Hand of Fate; various magic objects.
Abilities: Magic manipulation; Occultism; Synchronicity wave travelling / probability manipulation; Prestidigitation; Deception; Escape artistry; Average hand to hand combatant.
2001. New Andria, Apulia Sub-Sector, Europa. Thomas "Tommy" Mission is a self-styled, post modern, "I've got hip but I'm not a hipster" mage and the only son of the infamous, erstwhile William "Bleak" Mission. The Chthonian, as Bleak is sometimes known as, is himself a powerful mage in his own right whose current where about is unknown. Tommy is the current, albeit reluctant, leader of the Adventure Kartel, whose members comprise, from various times, of misfits, mercenaries, magicians and supernatural beings with exceptional, extraordinary skills and abilities. The collective is officially commissioned, contracted and sanctioned with extra-judicial powers by Baron Seth Von Sydow, the dhampir Governor-General and de-facto aristocratic ruler of New Andria to combat the walking dead known as the Zomb Horde lead by the Zomb MD and other forms of supernatural threats arising from the destroyed old city site, now known as the Necropolis or the Carrion City. The group adopts a revolving door policy and as such, members can join and leave as they wish. Prior to the establishment of the Adventure Kartel, Tommy runs his own record shop business, Vinyl Mission which specialises in obscure white labels, indies and alternative music in strictly vinyl format pressing only. But the business is losing money every month and by agreeing to lead Adventure Kartel, where the pay is good, ensures Vinyl Mission stays afloat. Once Tommy even formed his own band, Missionary Position, which was managed by him with limited releases under his own indie label, Fock The Mission. Missionary Position achieved a brief 15 seconds of fame after a single from their only album, "Do Boys Cry?", was given positive review by prominent music journalist, Peppermint Grove. The single did well in the indie chart and gathered a following but was relegated to obscurity after the punk band, Funlicker 2215's immensely popular "Pink, Wet, Smelly Pussy" blew it out of the collective consciousness of the indie crowds. Tommy was said to be so crossed that he tried to erase the Funlicker 2215's holographic cat lead singer, Doohan, from existence.
Tommy is an aloof, emotionally distant and antisocial introvert with a cynical view on life. He often has trouble forming relationships and friendships, preferring to keeping to himself and distant from others. All his relationships always ended up in not so amicable manner. This is due to a troubled and traumatic childhood experience at the Olive Creek orphanage as well as the absence of parental care. He is a fierce romantic at heart, can be extremely emotional with mercurial temperament and sensitivity, earning him the much hated nickname, King Emo. He is known to frequently prescribe to anti-depressants and painkillers. Regardless, Tommy would reluctantly stands up against shit-stirrers and assists those in need of help, struggling internally to be a compassionate humanist which often leads him to unconsciously forays into acts of heroism more often than he wants to. He has been dumped for a record 49 times, surpassing even George "Buttface" Porsche, the undisputed winner of ten consecutive New Andria's "Mr. Naturally Cute But Ugly" annual competition. His ex-gfs often cited "moody", "self-absorb" and "boring" as reasons for breakup. To further his dilemma, Tommy is currently infatuated with Elizabeth Von Sydow i.e. Lil Shadow, a 300 years old dhampir in the form of a 19 years old teenager, and the youngest daughter of Baron Seth. However, Lil Shadow treats Tommy just as a close friend and keeps their relationship strictly platonic and does not reciprocate his romantic approach towards her as by law of the Cognate Society, a dhampir could not form any relationship outside of their own kind. When Tommy eventually met up with Bleak and learnt his true identity, both of them never truly reconcile and amend their father and son relationship.
Tommy possesses extraordinary magical abilities, a hereditary skills of which the Missions family are renowned for. Tommy first forays into occult "heroism" occurred during the Ripper Nun attacks at Olive Creek which ended up disastrously when majority of his fellow orphans were killed in a desperate attempt to destroy the spirit by accidentally summoning Azazel, a powerful daemon prince of Dis. The dreadful incident is caused by Tommy after he bailed out at the very last minute. Thereafter, Tommy hides away his childhood innocence and vulnerability in a box of which he hides beneath the foundation of the shop. Tommy is still being regularly visited by the dead souls of his departed childhood friends, gloating and taunting him whenever he is having a bad time. The guilt and memory of the incident quietly torture him to this day.
Apart from running Vinyl Mission and hunting Zombs, Tommy also earns his living as a con artist and as a master of stage magic skills, occasionally performing at the Slaughtered Lambs. He would also uses the ability of illusion, mental manipulation or summoning to con wealthy aristocracy or bureaucrats with it, usually through the pretext of making them believe that their houses are haunted by malevolent spirits or a family member is possessed and only he would be able to exorcise it. Sometimes such con jobs would backfired, as the summoned daemon or spirit would initially gains upper hand over Tommy's ability to control them and cause havoc. Like the case of the flying pigs, talking hens and the infamous possessed doll.
Tommy would later becomes the owner of the Hand of Fate. He obtains it after a series of confrontation against Azazel once more, involving a battle of wits, cunningness and an elaborate con. The daemon prince had intended to use it to change the course of mankind's direction. The Hand is one of the most powerful magical artifacts ever possess by a mortal. It literally taking the form of a petrified human hand and would glow eerily when invoking its power. The Hand of Fate contains the essence of the Three Sisters of Moirae. Through the Zeus Moiragetes, Tommy could exercise a great degree of control over the Hand and invoke its power. Tommy calls the Hand the deus ex machina of his life for it has saved him from certain deaths on numerous occasions. The Hand could accord to Tommy the ability to presume cause, force, principle, or divine will that would predetermines events and subsequently, the effect, consequence, outcome, or inevitable events predetermined by this very cause. Simply put, the Hand of Fate could alter the destiny of anything in existence. Gods, goddesses and daemons greatly fear the Hand of Fate for none could alter what has been preordained by it. However, Tommy never invoke the Hand's power unless when he is really out of options, for he understands it would cause unforeseeable interference with the very fabric of Order itself. The Hand of Fate ensures that the balance between Order and Chaos are in place. Tommy very much keeps the possession of the Hand of Fate a secret, although several individuals, primarily Elaine Von Sydow i.e. Big Shadow, had learnt about it and managed to steal it from Tommy on one occasion. Regardless, the Hand of Fate chooses its master, and could not be forcibly obtained without the consent of the current possessor. Tommy later realises that owning the Hand of Fate comes with a price. Like a curse, it would lead its owner to suffer from anankastic personality disorder. Also known as the Curse of Ananke, the mighty mother of the Sisters of the Fates, Tommy is slowly succumbing to obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, becoming increasingly preoccupied with orderliness, perfectionism, mental and interpersonal control at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency. This is what led to the great quarrel between The Drown and Tommy himself when the former, a powerful independent ANKOU robot, argued that members of the AK Collective should all strictly wear hoodies and trainers when Tommy opposed it, leading to The Drown raising the questionable leadership of Tommy due to his OCPD condition and demanded that he relinquish the position. The voting which subsequently took place was in favour of Tommy (due to him invoking the Hand of Fate), resulting in The Drown and his brother, Fat Drown leaving the group after calling Tommy "an anally retentive f***tard". Tommy eventually begins to self help, leading to self insight about his condition.
The Wheel of Fortuna is another powerful magical ability which Tommy could invoke through the Hand of Fate. Known as synchronicity wave traveling, it enables Tommy to have an instinctual supernatural ability to be in the right place at exactly the right time. This has led Tommy to uncanny luck at games of chance, the ability to avoid harm and to meet the right kind of ally to help prevent or stop an apocalyptic event from happening. Regardless, Fortuna is a whimsical goddess, and Tommy could also suffer from bad luck should chance has it that way. Thus, Tommy is extremely cautious even when invoking this aspect of the Hand of Fate.
Tommy may possess powerful magical abilities and skills but he is not a good hand to hand combatant. Tommy would generally lose most fights against more physically inclined or expert hand to hand opponents. Thus he would generally avoids physical battles. Nevertheless, he has been known to win fights on occasion, either through magic spells or by fighting dirty and deception. He faces most of his challenges relying primarily on his cunning, his vast knowledge of the occult, manipulation of opponents and allies alike. Tommy is also known for his uncanny ability for escaping from any forms of traps or prisons in realspace or the warp. He is known to be quite stealthy, using illusions and sigils to sneak on his opponents or escaping from them.
In one particular incident, Tommy was caught by the Zomb Horde and infected with the Curse of Nurgleth. He succeed in reversing the curse but with the permanent side effect of both his hands mutated into the likes of a Zomb, gnarly and ghastly. Yet, it makes Tommy immune to all forms of virulent diseases and against the touch of the Zomb Hordes. But like all magic practitioner, each magic used would drain his stamina, thus the stronger the magic, the greater the strain on Tommy.
...................................................
This 1/6 figure is so different, yet I am quite excited about it as it was one of the few characters release by 3A based on the artworks of renowned Australian artist, Ashley Wood of which I think looks real...kewl (the others being the ultra sexy babes, Tomorrow Queens from the Popbot series, and so-called on off, off and on GF of Tommy called Little Shadow). I do not know anything about Tommy Mission or the series he is featured in called Adventure Kartel but I think it gotta do with some zombie hunting (called Boiler Zomb in the series, I think..), 3A toys tend to be quite rare and more often than not, only available via their online store called Bambaland. They tend to offer several color variants and designs (or colorway as they call it). They have an extremely devoted fan base, whom will lap up all offerings within first few minutes of the toys when it is released. This Tommy, one of the six or seven offered thus far, is a collab between 3A and an online toy retailer call BBiCN. Tommy is said to be an emo, so naturally comes clad in skinny jeans (with awesome stacking fades if I may add ;)) and hoodie, but curiously smell of turpentine when I first unbox him. Sam calls these toys "designer toys" ala Michael Lau / Eric So category of 1/6 vinyl/articulated, ultra rare, figures. I dunno about that but real glad to have obtained one and "see" what's all the hype about ;P
