#and with these hands i will create their world...........and give them funky little outfits.... | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ronaldanthony4 · 2 months ago

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I’ve created another digital artwork once again, and this time, it's fan art of a character many of you might recognise—Polly Pocket. It was a delightful process, and every brushstroke brought her vibrant personality to life. The Polly Pocket I drew is not just an ordinary girl; she's the bright, adventurous, and confident Polly that many have come to love through the cartoon series of the same name. As I worked on this piece, it reminded me of why Polly Pocket has always held a special place in the hearts of so many.

Polly Pocket is ten years old, yet she’s already the lead singer of her band, Polly and the Pockets, where she also plays the guitar. What a dream for someone so young! I found myself getting more and more inspired as I sketched out her features. You can sense her youthful energy just from the way she moves, and that’s what I tried to capture in my fan art. When I started with her face, I knew her large, dark baby-blue eyes had to take centre stage—they have that twinkle that speaks volumes about her adventurous spirit. The fair skin tone I gave her serves as a perfect contrast to the explosion of colours in her outfit, reflecting Polly’s love for fun and fashion.

Her hair—ah, the blonde locks! She often styles it in a long, flowing ponytail held together with a pink scrunchie, and I made sure to stay true to that detail. But it wasn’t just about getting the hairstyle right; I wanted to show how Polly’s hair mirrors her energetic nature. Every strand seems to bounce with her, like it’s always in motion, just like her. In the piece, Polly looks like she’s in mid-jump, arms wide open as if she’s inviting you to join her in her next grand adventure.

For her outfit, I didn’t want to hold back on the colours because Polly is all about brightness and vibrance. She’s wearing a short-sleeved green top that blends seamlessly into a vibrant orange dress. The dress flares out playfully, creating movement as if Polly is spinning around or twirling in joy. I made the skirt purple, a fun choice to contrast against the orange because Polly’s outfits always seem to have that balance of colours that makes her stand out from the crowd. Her pink belt adds an extra splash of character, tying the whole look together with a perfect pop of colour.

One of my favourite details is Polly’s footwear. She’s got on these funky purple boots, with bright green straps crisscrossing up the sides, giving her look that extra bit of spunk. It’s like the boots were made for jumping and running and having adventures. I can almost imagine Polly skating or skipping in them, not a care in the world, just enjoying life. I even added some colourful bracelets on her wrist—Polly’s never without her accessories! The little details like these are what make Polly, well, Polly.

But Polly Pocket isn’t just about fashion or looking cute. What I love most about her—and what I hope comes across in my artwork—is her heart. Polly is one of those rare characters who seems to genuinely care about everyone around her. Despite coming from a wealthy family, she’s humble and always ready to put others before herself. She’s constantly helping people, whether it’s her friends or someone she’s just met. Polly doesn’t see wealth as a measure of a person’s worth; she measures people by their kindness, their loyalty, and their sense of adventure.

When I was drawing Polly, I kept thinking about how she loves animals. I didn’t include any in this artwork, but her love for them is always present in her personality. Whether it’s rescuing a puppy or riding horses, Polly’s connection with animals reflects her gentle yet bold spirit. She’s not afraid to get her hands dirty if it means helping a furry friend. I think that’s something we all can admire.

Speaking of adventures, Polly is never one to sit still. She’s always moving, always ready for the next exciting thing. Whether it’s roller skating, water skiing, or snowboarding, Polly lives for those heart-racing moments. In my artwork, I wanted to capture that energy, that unstoppable drive she has. You can tell just by looking at her that she’s thinking, “What’s next?” It’s that sense of curiosity and excitement that makes her so fun to draw. Polly's adventurous spirit is contagious, inspiring those around her to embrace new experiences and live life to the fullest.

Polly’s life is also about balancing the excitement with her love for fashion and music. When she’s not off on some wild escapade, you’ll find her strumming her guitar or hanging out with her bandmates. Music is a big part of Polly’s life, and I think it’s what keeps her so in tune with her friends. She’s confident on stage, not because she wants the spotlight, but because she loves sharing the experience with others. In a way, Polly’s music is an extension of who she is—a way for her to connect, share, and express all the joy and love she has inside.

One of my favourite quotes from Polly is, “Who needs perfect when you’ve got friends?” It’s such a simple yet powerful reminder of what matters. Polly is cool, friendly, optimistic, and most of all, she’s real. She knows that perfection isn’t the goal—friendship, loyalty, and adventure are. That’s what I tried to bring out in my art. She’s not standing still, perfectly posed; she’s leaping, laughing, and reaching out, reminding all of us that life is meant to be lived with friends by your side.

What makes Polly even more special is her sense of resourcefulness and optimism. No matter what situation she finds herself in, Polly can figure it out. Whether it’s building something from scratch or coming up with a clever plan, she’s always one step ahead. That’s something I tried to convey in her expression—a look that says she’s already figured out the next move. She’s a problem-solver, and that makes her adventures even more exciting.

But Polly isn’t just all fun and games. She’s also deeply loyal, and I think that’s what makes her friendships so strong. She’ll stick by her friends no matter what, and she’s always there to lend a helping hand. It’s that loyalty that makes Polly such a beloved character—she’s someone you can count on, no matter the situation. In my artwork, I wanted that to shine through. Polly’s open arms, her bright smile—it’s all an invitation, a message that says, “I’m here for you.”

As I finished my digital fan art of Polly Pocket, I took a step back and looked at the piece as a whole. The colours, the movement, the expression—it all felt right. Polly was alive on the screen, her infectious energy practically jumping out of the image. She’s the kind of character who makes you believe that anything is possible and that life is one big adventure waiting to happen. And that’s why I love creating fan art of characters like her.

Polly Pocket is more than just a cute cartoon character to me. She represents a sense of freedom, joy, and the importance of friendship. Through my fan art, I wanted to capture not just her look but her spirit. And I hope that anyone who sees this piece feels that same sense of excitement and adventure that Polly brings to every episode, every song, and every moment she shares with her friends. Creating fan art allows me to express my admiration for her character and the values she embodies.

In the end, creating this fan art wasn’t just about drawing a character I liked; it was about celebrating everything Polly Pocket stands for. Her kindness, her loyalty, her adventurous heart—it all comes together to make her the icon she is. I’m proud of this piece, and I hope it brings a little bit of Polly’s magic into the lives of everyone who sees it. Through my art, I aim to capture the essence of Polly's spirit and inspire others to embrace those same qualities in their own lives. Polly Pocket is more than just a character - she represents the power of friendship, imagination, and positivity in a world that can sometimes feel overwhelming.

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flufffysocks · 4 years ago

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let's talk about andi mack's worldbuilding

sorry this took forever to make! i've been pretty busy with school stuff and i kind of lost my inspiration for a bit, but i ultimately really enjoyed writing it! i wish i could've included more pics (tumblr has a max of 10 per post), and it kinda turned from less of a mini analysis to more of an extremely long rant... but i hope it's still a fun read!

i've been rewatching the show over the past few weeks (thanks again to @disneymack for the link!), and i’ve been noticing a lot that i never did the first time around. this is really the first time i’ve watched the show from start to finish since it aired, and it honestly feels so different this time - probably a combination of the fact that i’m not as focused on plot and can appreciate the show as a whole, and also that the fandom is much, much smaller now, so there’s a lot less noise. so the way i’m consuming this show feels super different than it did the first time, but the show itself doesn’t - it’s just as warm and comforting to me as it was the first time around, if not more so.

i think a lot of that can be attributed to andi mack’s “worldbuilding”. i’m not quite sure that this is the right word in this context, to be honest, because i mostly see it used in reference to fantasy and sci-fi universes, but it just sort of feels right to me for andi mack, because you can really tell how much love and care went into constructing this universe. for clarity, worldbuilding is “the process of creating an imaginary world” in its simplest sense. there’s two main types: hard worldbuilding, which involves inventing entire universes, languages, people, cultures, places, foods, etc. from scratch (think “lord of the rings” or “dune”), and soft worldbuilding, in which the creators don’t explicitly state or explain much about the fictional universe, but rather let it’s nature reveal itself as the story progresses (think studio ghibli films). andi mack to me falls in the soft worldbuilding category. even though it takes place in a realistic fiction universe, there’s a lot of aspects to it that are inexplicably novel in really subtle ways.

so watching the show now, i’ve noticed that the worldbuilding comes primarily from two things - setting and props, and oftentimes the both of them in tandem (because a big part of setting in filmmaking does depend on the props placed in it!).

one of the most obvious examples is the spoon. it really is a sort of quintessential, tropic setting in that it's the main gang's "spot", which automatically gives it a warm and homey feel to it. and its set design only amplifies this:

the choice to make it a very traditional 50s-style diner creates a very nostalgic, retro feel to it, which is something that's really consistent throughout the show, as you'll see. from the round stools at the bar, to the booths, to the staff uniforms, this is very obvious. the thing that i found especially interesting about it though is the choice of color. the typical 50s diner is outfitted with metallic surfaces and red accented furnishings, but the spoon is very distinctly not this.

instead, it's dressed in vibrant teal and orange, giving it a very fresh and modern take on a classic look. so it still maintains that feeling of being funky and retro, but that doesn't retract from the fact that the show is set distinctly in modern times.

of course, this could just be a one-off quirky set piece, but this idea of modernizing and novelizing "retro" things is a really common motif throughout the show. take red rooster records. i mean, it's a record shop - need i say more? it's obviously a very prominent store in shadyside, at least for the main characters, but there's no apparent reason why it is (until season 2 when bowie starts working there, and jonah starts performing there). a lot of the time, though, it functions solely as a record shop. vinyl obviously isn't the most practical or convenient way of listening to music, but it's had its resurgence in pop culture even in the real world, mostly due to its aesthetic value, so it's safe to say that it serves the same purpose in the andi mack universe.

the fringe seems to be nostalgic of a different era, specifically the Y2K/early 2000s period (because it's meant to be bex's territory and symbolic of who she used to be, and its later transformation into cloud 10 is representative of her character arc, but that's beside the point). to be honest, exactly what this store was supposed to be always confused me. it was kind of a combination party store/clothing store/makeup store/beauty parlor? i think that's sort of the point of it though, it's supposed to feel very grunge-y and chaotic (within the confines of a relatively mellow-toned show, of course), and it's supposed to act as a sort of treasure chest of little curios that both make the place interesting and allow the characters to interact with it.

and, of course, there's andi shack. this is really the cherry on top of all of andi mack's sets, just because it's so distinctly andi. it serves such amazing narrative purpose for her (ex. the storyline where cece and ham were going to move - i really loved this because it highlights its place in the andi mack universe so well, and i'm a sucker for the paper cranes shot + i'm still salty that sadie's cranes didn't make it into the finale) and it's the perfect reflection of andi's character development because of how dynamic it is (the crafts and art supplies can get moved around or switched out, and there's always new creations visible).

going back to the nostalgia motif though, the "shack" aspect of it always struck me as very treehouse-like. personally, whenever i think of treehouses, there's this very golden sheen of childhood about it, if that makes sense. i've always seen treehouses in media as a sort of shelter for characters' youthful innocence and idealistic memories. for example, the episode "up a tree" from good luck charlie, the episode "treehouse" from modern family, and "to all the boys 2" all use a treehouse setting as a device to explore the character's desire to hold onto their perfect image of their childhood (side note: this exact theme is actually explored in andi mack in the episode "perfect day 2.0"!). andi shack is no exception to this, but it harnesses this childhood idealism in the same way that it captures the nostalgia of the 50s in the spoon, or the early 2000s in the fringe. it's not some image of a distant past being reflected through that setting; it's very present, and very alive, because it reflects andi as she is in the given moment.

some honorable mentions of more one-off settings include the ferris wheel (from "the snorpion"), the alley art gallery (from "a walker to remember"), SAVA, the color factory (from "it's a dilemna"), and my personal favorite, the cake shop (from "that syncing feeling").

[every time i watch this episode i want to eat those cakes so bad]

these settings have less of a distinctly nostalgic feel (especially the color factory, which is a very late 2010s, instagram era setting), but they all definitely have an aura of perfection about them. andi mack is all about bright, colorful visuals, and these settings really play to that, making the andi mack universe seem really fun and inviting, and frankly very instagrammable (literally so, when it comes to the color factory!).

props, on the other hand, are probably a much less obvious tool of worldbuilding. they definitely take up less space in the frame and are generally not as noticeable (i'm sure i'll have missed a bunch that will be great examples, but i'm kind of coming up with all of this off the top of my head), but they really tie everything together.

for example, bex's box, bex's polaroid, and the old tv at the mack apartment (the tv is usually only visible in the periphery of some shots, so you might not catch it at first glance) all complement that very retro aesthetic established through the settings (especially the polaroid and the tv, because there's really no good reason that the characters would otherwise be using these).

besides this, andi's artistic nature provides the perfect excuse for plenty of colorful, crafty props to amplify the visuals and the tone. obviously, as i discussed before, andi shack is the best example of this because it's filled with interesting props. but you also see bits of andi's (and other people's) crafts popping up throughout the show (ex. the tape on the fridge in the mack apartment, andi's and libby's headbands in "the new girls", walker's shoes, andi's phone case, and of course, the bracelet). not only does doing this really solidify this talent as an essential tenet of andi's character, but it also just makes the entirety of shadyside feel like an extension of andi shack. the whole town is a canvas for her crafts (or art, depending on how you want to look at it. i say it's both), and it immensely adds to shadyside's idealism. because who wouldn't want to live in a world made of andi mack's creations?

and, while it's not exactly a prop, the characters' wardrobe is undoubtedly a major influence on the show's worldbuilding. true to it's nature as a disney channel show, all of the characters are always dressed in exceptionally curated outfits of whatever the current trends are, making the show that much more visually appealing. i won't elaborate too much on this, because i could honestly write a whole other analysis on andi mack's fashion (my favorites are andi's and bex's outfits! and kudos to the costume designer(s) for creating such wonderful and in-character wardrobes!). but, i think it's a really really important aspect of how the show's universe is perceived, so it had to be touched upon.

[^ some of my favorite outfits from the show! i am so obsessed with andi's jacket in the finale, and i aspire to be at bex's level of being a leather jacket bisexual]

and lastly, phones. this is a bit of an interesting case (pun intended), because the way they're used fluctuates a bit throughout the show, but i definitely noticed that at least in the first season terri minsky tried to avoid using them altogether. these efforts at distancing from modern tech really grounds the show in it's idealist, nostalgia-heavy roots, so even when the characters start using their phones more later in the show, they don't alter the viewer's impression of the andi mack universe very much.

so, what does all of this have to do with worldbuilding? in andi mack's case, because it's set in a realistic universe and not a fantasy one, a lot of what sets it apart from the real world comes down to tone. because, as much as this world is based on our own, it really does feel separate from it, like an alternate reality that's just slightly more perfect than ours, which makes all the difference. it's the idealism in color and composition in andi mack's settings that makes it so unmistakably andi mack. even the weather is always sunny and perfect (which is incredibly ironic because the town is called shadyside - yes, i am very proud of that observation).

the andi mack universe resides somewhere in this perfect medium that makes it feel like a small town in the middle of nowhere (almost like hill valley in 1955 from "back to the future"), but at the same time like an enclave within a big city (because of its proximity to so many modern, unique, and honestly very classy looking establishments). it is, essentially, an unattainable dream land that tricks you into believing it is attainable because it's just real enough.

all this to say, andi mack does an amazing job of creating of polished, perfect world for its characters. this is pretty common among disney channel and nickelodeon shows, but because most other shows tend to be filmed in a studio with three-wall sets, andi mack is really set apart from them in that it automatically feels more real and tangible. it has its quintessential recurring locations, but it has far more of them (most disney/nick shows usually only have 3-4 recurring settings), and it has a lot more one-off locations. it's also a lot more considerate when it comes to its props, so rather than the show just looking garish and aggressively trendy, it has a distinctive style that's actually appropriate to the characters and the story. overall this creates the effect of expanding the universe, making shadyside feel like it really is a part of a wider world, rather than an artificial bubble. it's idealism is, first and foremost, grounded in reality, and that provides a basis for its brilliant, creative, and relatable storytelling.

tl;dr: andi mack's sets and props give it a very retro and nostalgic tone which makes its whole universe seem super perfect and i want to live there so bad!!

#andi mack #buffy driscoll #cyrus goodman #jonah beck #tj kippen #tyrus #ambi #bex mack #analysis #film analysis #disney channel

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sunritual · 4 years ago

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Let’s try this again

They should make a law where if the police don’t read you your Miranda rights you get out of jail free, like if you don’t get your receipt at fast food restaurants you get a mail free

The shaggy law - There should be a law that if you continuously and shamelessly deny doing something, no matter how indisputably obvious it is that you did it, you should get off free for pure savegery.

Confederates as “rebels for tradition” is laughable

Ram rainbow spiral horns profile.

People think grammar rules are etched into the universe — they’re not. When people say AAve is incorrect and ignorant, they say that their conception of how one should speak is inherently correct despite no evidence/truth. Grammar is agreed upon not mandated

Hippie sauce infusion pizza joint

Plain nude balconette with little purple and pink flowers at wiring

How could anyone predict anything happening but how could any be surpised either

Hierarchies - nahhhh

Humans aren’t inherently higher than any other creature or thing, but as humans i don’t think it’s wrong to prioritize other humans. There no better or worse but there is optimal for certain environments and lifestyles.

What differentiates a piece of art from a slightly different replica - when is it an entirely different piece altogether? Moving a figure slightly? Adding a splash of paint ? Changing a color to the point where no one could tell? Is the persons perception the deciding factor or what’s actually on the canvas. If abstract art is about the perception, and the waning behind it - does it change with these things?

An exhibit where people are invited to paint over and destroy or change the art

The differences between us and other. Are feeble - not illusory but

Periwinkle sky blue black and white each of a half circle . Faded out

Uni should be about exploring ideas — new and old famillar and foreign - honeing writing reading reasoning debating listening etc skills.

Umm, Karen were your parents married when you were born?

Ummmm no, umm i mean , uh ,yes —what??

Then why are you policing what other people do?

Dark blue light blue orange lemon circles layer on top of each other, several difffent sizes

Job apps tip!! For every job you apply to , Change your last name on your resume to the last name of the hiring manager and they will think you are related to them and hire you with nepotism. ( then, or coarse, legally when you get the job)

Unpopular opinion: i don’t really mind diarrhea

I for one think it’s incredibly brave of the brats girls to reclaim such a derogatory term

Starting every Describtion of every British show with “its kind of like skins but..”

Beanie baskin took that treat she snatched it - she ain’t even askin

The squad bod - a group of ghost friends share one body in which they have to live their lives -

My playlists are a matter of fact, not opinion. They reveal truths about the human experience

A cats gorilla imeritive of aesthetics.

I don’t chose them, they are not for joy but for truth. They are not intelligible but feel able

📝 narrative - longing

👼 chaotic

🌾 childlike wonder

Things that seem homo and phobic ATST

- Woodstock

- Brown eyed girl

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on ya when you think everything BG a gone wrong and everything bows up in your face

If women can’t do drag because they have an advantage then what is drag? Is it having good looking tits and a waist ? Looking like woman? or is it about having charisma uniqueness nerve and talent?

Examining Tik toks through different philosophical lenses

What makes it so they put parenthesis around lyrics in a song? What intonations and such make it parenthesis worthy

What’s an article of clothing from your childhood that you viscerally remember for seemingly no reason

I feel like the problem with the property brothers is they had too good of a childhood

Do you ever wonder if personality traits would be diffferntnin different cultures? Would a quiet person be even quieter if they were brought up in North Korea? Or the same amount of talkativity? Do we have the traits no matter what, or are we inclined to be more of one way than the others around us. Are personality traits created by comparison to those around?

Maybe the anxiety comes from knowing your not “supposed” to be as quiet as you are. You don’t really want to talk, that’s okay , but it’s expected that you do. So you are anxiety that your not living up

I find happiness every single day

This feeling has made me so appreciative of my mental state usually. How many people feel like this on the regular? How many people have this as their default? I am so lucky. My default is happy. I have my issues, but i need to appreciate the gift i was given. I was given elation. Childlike wonder. Curiosity. Adventurousness. Self completion and fullness. The rest will come.

If you see a celebrity you want to talk to in public but don’t want to bother them, make sure they don’t see that you saw them and start a fake conversation telling a friend that they should buy a product they are a sponsor for, and that they should use their coupon code. When they approach you to thank you for being such a loyal fan, obviously pretend to be shocked that they just so happened to be there

Christianity excuses selfish politics and beliefs

Things i never would’ve noticed if they weren’t pointed out to me:

-Left and right handed ness

Rating sports teams by uniform colors

Balloon animals but make it clothing!

Logics doesn’t care about your feelings, but it certainly cares about your biasees.

He who findeth keepith, whilst he who loosith weepith.

Religious thought often starts at the conclusion they want and attempts to make arguments justifying it.

Jewish debate starts with an agreement that we are going to follow the book, but argues about what the book truly says. Not good enough when you are still just following the book

Why did Jesus need to die for our sins

Dream - swimming in a lake and bump into something you think is a human tying to save to but is it! Oct 29 9:03

Candle company logo etc

I’m sorry for your loss

It’s not oka

If people can accept that stupid bad jokes can be

Is there a reason for each thing existing? Sufficient reason

Understanding if an area is a matter of perspective or fact? Is it Emperical ?

If you assume you have free will you limit your critical thinking ability and therefor stour actual free will - you need to navigate technology such as algorithms that show you why at you want to see or you completely loose free will - you cannot chose when you don’t even know a choice. there is Somthing controlling you

Revelation is within it doesn’t involve others - can happen in a moment

Revolution- requires work and years and years of convincing others m

What counts as a second chance? What counts as a first chance? What does giving someone the benefit of the doubt entail ? Letting them out of jail , or letting them have a 2nd term as president.

**Picture of coke or Pepsi book**

Trump supporters be like: THIS is the BALLOt sleepy crooked joe SEND to MY neighbor. So much FOR democracy

One flew over the coup coups nest

Ashge-nazi = Jewish trump supporter

The heathers of the USA are Cali, New York and Texas. Florida, too

Shape shifting would solve all of this. I could go to Washington DC, pretend to be trump, concede then leave. It would be hilarious, however if me and trump looked identical and had to so the most idiotic crazy shit to prove to America that we indeed are the true DJ.

Coup busting outfit - light cute short sleeve camo shirts , army green super utalitarian cargo pants , double sash belts in leather with grommets studs or spikes (to be decided by team (with democracy) or left up to the individual) leather (vegan available) lace up knee high boots (maybe with spikes if not too 2012) and the pies de resistance two army green denim shoulder high gloves that fold down as far as needed for the comfort of the fighter. Will be adorned with patches decided by the wearer. Edges will be frayed to honor to the coup busting aesthetic and spirit of the endeavor. We can decide on a signature lip color, but spf is required for all fighters. Of coarse we will have those football stripes below the eyes, don’t be stupid.

How far away can something be from a face and still have humans think it’s a face

Senator Portman - i hope you are well, and want to thank you for the hard work you have put in to this election. However, it has become abundantly clear that joe Biden and Kamala Harris have secured more than enough electoral and popular votes to warrant recognition as president and vice elect. Upon reading the transcripts of he hopeless court cases, there is absolutely no evidence of vote measurable fraud. is time you stand up for democracy and face reality by congratulating he pair on their success. Americans and scared and they need a powerful republican voice to demounce the unsubstantiated conspircy theories that attempt to thwart democracy in this beautiful county. Please do the right thing , and stand with sanity, freedom and democracy. History books and citizens will thank you. May god bless you, your staff and loved ones

Could mermaids exist through evolution in the future

Me learning about real us history - all the nations destroyed by the USA—- I’m the baaad Guy

The rest of the world - duh dodododosodo

Print that looks like a page of writing that has been sourced in water so it’s bleeding and darker in speckles

Zamps= examples

Clothes with green screen cut outs

Robots don’t need to be sentient to destroy us.

Navy mock neck long sleeves big orange and little white stripe on tube cage sides

A veritcal line stretch waistband

Cross cross and straps back

Square high neck

Scarlet polka dots around can light blue text and beach image as front

Blue stroke red inside square, blue triangle rainbow with eye and funky font

Y either know a particular topic or not , but it’s hard to pin down intelligence on one category

Cream background , ice cream pink script name kinda bev hills hotel script looking ish

Move your mouth in a differ way

Supersonic vibrating butt cleaner

Half magenta half red violet a blue teacup in the center with white floral frills thick serif font

Pink background am orange flower in a vase white present ribbon n red as a table

An app that familiarizes people with science - through experimental learning ― hands on experiences that make it seem less top down and authoritarian , and more like a set of steps that we take, things that anyone can do to get closer with nature and the world

A social media philosophy app - teaches what others said and gives people a chance to express their views , postulate, argue, etc gadfly? How would be avoid a shit show, how can we make social media more humanitarian. how can we care about people while also expressing deeply held ideas , how can we encourage users to examine their deeply held ideas without alienating them. How can we discourage hatred and abuse and groupthink with design? How do we slow people down and encourage them to recognize the human behind the screen. Street epistemology? Socratic dialogue?

Socrates - asking questions. Breaking it down to bits. Deeply understanding their argument. Asking about different possibilities and circumstances. Take vast assumptions and show scenarios that make go against them.

Build fact checking into apps

Narrative self vs experiential

Walks you through steps of the sciefitifc method and encourages you to explain how you feel each step actually helped you- then walks you through a scientist doing the same for their reasarch

Republicans only want to be free in the specific ways that benefit corporations

Are Christians more willing to support the death pen early because they already believe in the cruel and overstepping punishment of hell?

Where did the idea come from that you need to remain impartial when trying to persuade

The idea that there is someone in a similar but different dwelling, hearing similar but different sounds and feeling similar but different feelings is wild

We synthesize sets of traits, and particular actions in a super biased culturally constructed way

With the way we see things as humans- we categorize things into groups that aren’t really reaaal ― paratheletic groups

I just want the people and jobs that benefit society

Connection to nietzsches Dionysian art and eckheart tolle/Taoism

No matter your personality, there is probably a part of the world that you would fit in with naturally.

An ordinary girl is selected as one of the representatives of earth in the first meeting of various alien species after one advanced planet discovered and United 10. Confused as to why she was chosen, she goes on her journey meeting

Wha ba Bada da da da da dada he’s a wha ba ba dadada as a matter of fact it’s not my fault if you came up here thinking that you would win

Wanting to break boundaries and rules for the sake those who are hurt by the rules

You are imagining the best case scenario of the life you want to have and experience Ming the reality of the life you so have.

Yes her drips cosmetics line to students i. Class

Chez it people can goldfish people

Your personality flows where a system needs it to go to maintain balance

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forunfeltimaginations · 4 years ago

Text

Let’s try this again

They should make a law where if the police don’t read you your Miranda rights you get out of jail free, like if you don’t get your receipt at fast food restaurants you get a mail free

Confederates as “rebels for tradition” is laughable

Ram rainbow spiral horns profile.

Hippie sauce infusion pizza joint

Plain nude balconette with little purple and pink flowers at wiring

How could anyone predict anything happening but how could any be surpised either

Hierarchies - nahhhh

An exhibit where people are invited to paint over and destroy or change the art

The differences between us and other. Are feeble - not illusory but

Periwinkle sky blue black and white each of a half circle . Faded out

Uni should be about exploring ideas — new and old famillar and foreign - honeing writing reading reasoning debating listening etc skills.

Umm, Karen were your parents married when you were born?

Ummmm no, umm i mean , uh ,yes —what??

Then why are you policing what other people do?

Dark blue light blue orange lemon circles layer on top of each other, several difffent sizes

Unpopular opinion: i don’t really mind diarrhea

I for one think it’s incredibly brave of the brats girls to reclaim such a derogatory term

Starting every Describtion of every British show with “its kind of like skins but..”

Beanie baskin took that treat she snatched it - she ain’t even askin

The squad bod - a group of ghost friends share one body in which they have to live their lives -

My playlists are a matter of fact, not opinion. They reveal truths about the human experience

A cats gorilla imeritive of aesthetics.

I don’t chose them, they are not for joy but for truth. They are not intelligible but feel able

📝 narrative - longing

👼 chaotic

🌾 childlike wonder

Things that seem homo and phobic ATST

- Woodstock

- Brown eyed girl

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on ya when you think everything BG a gone wrong and everything bows up in your face

If women can’t do drag because they have an advantage then what is drag? Is it having good looking tits and a waist ? Looking like woman? or is it about having charisma uniqueness nerve and talent?

Examining Tik toks through different philosophical lenses

What makes it so they put parenthesis around lyrics in a song? What intonations and such make it parenthesis worthy

What’s an article of clothing from your childhood that you viscerally remember for seemingly no reason

I feel like the problem with the property brothers is they had too good of a childhood

I find happiness every single day

Christianity excuses selfish politics and beliefs

Things i never would’ve noticed if they weren’t pointed out to me:

-Left and right handed ness

Rating sports teams by uniform colors

Balloon animals but make it clothing!

Logics doesn’t care about your feelings, but it certainly cares about your biasees.

He who findeth keepith, whilst he who loosith weepith.

Religious thought often starts at the conclusion they want and attempts to make arguments justifying it.

Jewish debate starts with an agreement that we are going to follow the book, but argues about what the book truly says. Not good enough when you are still just following the book

Why did Jesus need to die for our sins

Dream - swimming in a lake and bump into something you think is a human tying to save to but is it! Oct 29 9:03

Candle company logo etc

I’m sorry for your loss

It’s not oka

If people can accept that stupid bad jokes can be

Is there a reason for each thing existing? Sufficient reason

Understanding if an area is a matter of perspective or fact? Is it Emperical ?

Revelation is within it doesn’t involve others - can happen in a moment

Revolution- requires work and years and years of convincing others m

What counts as a second chance? What counts as a first chance? What does giving someone the benefit of the doubt entail ? Letting them out of jail , or letting them have a 2nd term as president.

**Picture of coke or Pepsi book**

Trump supporters be like: THIS is the BALLOt sleepy crooked joe SEND to MY neighbor. So much FOR democracy

One flew over the coup coups nest

Ashge-nazi = Jewish trump supporter

The heathers of the USA are Cali, New York and Texas. Florida, too

How far away can something be from a face and still have humans think it’s a face

Could mermaids exist through evolution in the future

Me learning about real us history - all the nations destroyed by the USA—- I’m the baaad Guy

The rest of the world - duh dodododosodo

Print that looks like a page of writing that has been sourced in water so it’s bleeding and darker in speckles

Zamps= examples

Clothes with green screen cut outs

Robots don’t need to be sentient to destroy us.

Navy mock neck long sleeves big orange and little white stripe on tube cage sides

A veritcal line stretch waistband

Cross cross and straps back

Square high neck

Scarlet polka dots around can light blue text and beach image as front

Blue stroke red inside square, blue triangle rainbow with eye and funky font

Y either know a particular topic or not , but it’s hard to pin down intelligence on one category

Cream background , ice cream pink script name kinda bev hills hotel script looking ish

Move your mouth in a differ way

Supersonic vibrating butt cleaner

Half magenta half red violet a blue teacup in the center with white floral frills thick serif font

Pink background am orange flower in a vase white present ribbon n red as a table

Narrative self vs experiential

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hyannah · 5 years ago

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Anon Archives vol. 4 (right?)

full res: x I miss him too. He was the first of the cast I ever designed and without him, there would simply be no TBoA. Rest assured there will be no shortage of him in the comic :) I understand that the concept of Wolfe with facial hair will be like marmite for most of you, but it’s probably something that you should prepare for regardless! Wolfe no longer has use of his hands due to extensive nerve damage and he has to get imaginative with ways to keep his grip on things - but some tools, like razors - are simply impossible for him to use anymore due to his tremors. Before the gang comes together he will be looking quite worse for wear.

full res: x She calls him “Marty” :) Her mother called him that so it makes him happy. He’s not her father but he loves her as one would. He was the one who delivered her as a baby, though during the process there were complications. She broke her leg on the way out and though Martin was able to treat her, it caused her to walk with a slight limp growing up. Teaching her to dance wasn't just Martin's idea of physiotherapy but his way of showing her how dearly he cared for her. Music and dance are our good doctor's love languages, you see. He will have Twinkletoes refer to him as “Sir” when he reprimands her, but due to some of Martin’s own issues growing up, he hates disciplining children. If he absolutely must, it’s firm but merciful, and under no circumstances would he ever raise his hand to them.

full res: x Michael Graves is one of three of Ashwick’s Senior Wardens, the other being Hunter Gerhardt and an as of now unannounced third. Wardens are the town’s law enforcers who work directly under the church’s orders. Neither entirely police nor militia, they’re a bit of both. Wardens patrol the streets at night and make sure no one is out after Curfew. Wardens are simultaneously feared and revered amongst the deeply religious townsfolk who view them as God-sent, but no one strikes pure terror into their hearts quite like Graves. While Hunter is known for being terrifying but sometimes merciful, Graves holds no such reputation. If gunshots are heard in the night or blood stains the cobblestones in the morning, townfolk know to keep their mouths shut and heads down.

Thank you so much! I still have some demons to battle but I want to get better, and your support means the world.

Thank you! I kinda wanna die when I look at that piece. Damian deserved better than my art in that funky phase and I will capture his true beauty one day.

LOL Bloodborne has been a huuuuge visual influence on me over the last few years. Expect to see some similarities I'm sure.

Thank you ;.; I used Paint Tool Sai religiously but I've unfortunately fallen out of love with it in the last year in favour of Clip Studio Paint. I would highly recommend CSP and since it comes with a one-month free trial you'd be missing out not to give it a go. I occasionally use Photoshop for some final touches but not enough to say it's worth paying that silly subscription fee for. Lately, I've been using Procreate on my iPad. It was one hell of an investment (😔��) but it was worth it - the iPad feels great to draw on.

Thank you! Yes, definitely expect that. There are a few timeskips in canon and I have outfit changes planned.

Wolfe can sometimes be seen circling a bed or chair a few times before sitting/lying down not unlike a dog would. Rose cannot - and I truly mean this - fathom numbers. To say she is bad at math would be a terrible understatement. Martin needs a few shots of whiskey a day to keep him going but he never seems inebriated so it’s impossible to tell (unless you’re Hunter). Hunter is so tall that churches are the only buildings he doesn’t have to duck to get in to and he Riker Sits everywhere. Gloria is a little superstitious, and Graves is a cigarette smoker. Twinkletoes likes pigeons.

I would certainly recommend it! If drawing inspires you, give it a shot! Though whether or not I recommend going to school for it is a more complicated question. The good thing about pursuing a career in art is that at the end of the day your work ethic and portfolio are your best friends. Having degrees and connections will help in the industry for sure (and why I DO recommend art courses for people who have the money and want to experience student life), but if you're a poor kid that can't shell out the dough for art school or if you studied a different field, or if college didn't/isn't working out for you, it's not the end of the road. You can build your career on your own terms if you're driven enough.

Hm, let's see. I think Wolfe and Gloria would appreciate some sweet treats! Hunter rarely eats anything that isn't meat, and Rose has lived on the road most of her life so campfire food is what she's used to. She's the kind of person you'd see eat something horrifying like uncooked beans straight from the tin. Gloria appreciates her guilty pleasures and Wolfe recalls her sharing taffy with him as a little boy. But those memories are hazy now, and he's long since forgotten the taste.

Oh jeez, that would mean the world to me! As for the dialogue, it’s probably a bit of both honestly haha.

Hunter: 43, Wolfe: 23, Gloria: 41, Martin: 45, Rose: 19, Graves: 38. Some of you may recall Hunter being younger but I had to make a few timeline adjustments. Otherwise, everyone has remained the same.

Oh, well, it just might be! Wolfe is used to carrying the frail and sickly through the Charnels, but human touch in that regard is alien to him.

You're right about one thing, Ashwick is certainly in the title! I'm pretty close to revealing it so hopefully you won't be stumped for too long. I can reveal however, if I haven't already (and I think I may have, I haven't read the previous Anon Archives in years), that TBoA was going to be called Memento Mori.

He raises an amused brow at your sentiment but if you're under 35 you're all toddlers and babies to him. Plus he can't go 5 minutes without thinking about his wife so it's safe to say he’s settled down.

Haha, yeah! All of the above. Though it goes both ways. Hunter’s antics drive the poor man up the wall for sure but Hunter will be the first to tell you that doc is a force of nature too when he’s got to be. They’ve known each other for decades. They’ve taken bullets and bruises and stabs wounds for one another. Martin makes sure Hunter doesn’t get himself killed (at least he did before Malignancy took that off the table) and Hunter makes sure Martin doesn’t work himself to death. Gloria just wonders why they both have to be so damn dramatic.

1. Rose's candles simulate artificial sunlight and can temporarily vanquish Spectres from the area at night until the wick runs out. These are especially useful to the common folk who may be suffering from seeing their dead loved ones night after night. Her special coloured candles are different, though. They block a Malignant from being able to possess their Host's body and thus allow the Host to keep control of themselves when night falls. You'll learn more about the ins-and-outs of this mechanic in the comic.

2. I can't share that! You'll just have to wait and find out. Though it is a wonder how someone as formidable and self-disciplined as Hunter could fall prey to a Malignant's manipulation … I suppose even men like Father Gerhardt have been vulnerable at one point in their lives, huh?

It’s private, sorry :( It was a kind gesture from a fan who wanted to show their appreciation but it quickly got a little out of hand and very inappropriate. I’m good friends now with the few who did join so it’s not so bad and we have a good laugh, but it’s given me a small taste of “Fandom” on a grander scale and it was enough for me to realise it makes me pretty uncomfortable to be in the middle of it. I love being able to communicate with you all but I don’t love being in awkward situations so much. I might try again in the future, we’ll see.

Malignancy is unpredictable and what happens to one Host won't necessarily happen to the other!

ohohohoh who knowsssssss ;D

Nope, she’s Hunter’s danger noodle gal.

Yes, I love them!!!! I recall checking them out after you sent this message quite some time ago. I had heard a few of their songs before but I've been listening to them regularly ever since. I appreciate the recommendation since music is a really big thing for me.

Oh thank you very much! They're my own characters yes :) I first created them when I was 16 for a college project. One day I would like to share that with you all because it's come a long way. The comic is in development. Thank you all for your questions, I think that’s most of them. If you don’t see your ask in here it’s because it was asked already, I got a similar question and took a screenshot of that instead, it was too inappropriate, I can’t reveal the information yet, or I simply didn’t see it. As always if you’re looking for more prompt responses please message me off anon so I can reply privately since I respond to most anons in bulk!

#anon archives #tboa #tboa (webcomic)#my art #digital art #Illustration #wolfe grey #martin mcgregor #michael graves #twinkletoes #asks #anonymous

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sapphos-darlings · 4 years ago

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Sorry it's a somewhat weird question but do breasts have any health function? Do they do anything besides producing milk and being annoying?

Mod Sade here. Honestly, beyond being an important secondary sex characteristic (a.k.a belonging to the normal development of a female human), I couldn’t find anything. But I’m desperate to find something, because I’ve had significant dysphoria specifically related to my breasts and still occasionally struggle to accept them - we’re not even talking about embracing them yet.

So let me start with some boob positivity here. This is all mostly subjective, because like you said, objectively it looks like breasts exist to produce milk and be annoying. I’m hoping someone else might know something objective to share in, but in the meantime, how about just some thoughts about breasts instead?

For a lot of women, the presence of their breasts is a comforting thing. There’s multitudes of posts on this website alone describing self-comforting behaviours related to breasts like cupping them, holding them, warming your hands on or underneath them, playing with them for fun, that are definitely positive in nature. And they are somewhat like built-in stress balls; soft and easy to manipulate, bouncy, and decently heavy (coming in various sizes and shapes). They’re squeezable to a degree, and can definitely be jiggled. I think that’s a bonus. So, let’s attribute “stress relief” and “self-soothing” to breasts, since this seems to be a common thing amongst women (and generally people who have breasts, I guess, though I’ve never really heard cis men talk about their relationship to their breasts that may exist).

Secondly, while they may be an absolute pain in the ass to outfit sometimes (we all know how difficult it is to find a bra that works), they are another part of your body that creates your unique shape and silhouette. You can decorate them, you can make them larger or smaller with your outfit choices, you can get funky with them, you can use them to give dimension to your bodypaint. So if you like dressing up, try to approach breasts from this angle: not as something that’s particularly difficult to rein in, but something that can be manipulated and brought out in a manner that’s unique to you and your body.

Thirdly - and finally, objectively - they are important to the milk producing thing, yes, but they also show our cycle, and they’re an indicator of health. You can tell a lot about your hormones based on how your breasts feel: if they’re larger or smaller now, if they’re sore or sensitive. In general, breasts give a lot of information about your health - particularly your reproductive cycle but also your overall hormonal balance and the state of your body in general, as long as you know what you’re looking for and are attuned to these little changes as they happen. For pregnant women, these changes and indicators are even more clear and important.

Fourthly, you guessed it, other people really like breasts. They look pretty, they feel nice, and they’re a part of someone you love. Breasts are lovable, they’re comfortable to touch, they’re fun to play with. Culturally, we appreciate the look of breasts and show affection through touch directed at the breasts.

Finally, for a girl just hitting puberty, the first signs of breasts may be both an embarrasment and a source of worry, but also a source of pride and excitement - a sign of growing up, of becoming one of the crowd with other women. You’re no longer just a child, but in this wonderful world shared amongst your kind, and even though with it comes a great burden, this time of development can be wonderful, too.

It’s not all bad. Sincerely, a person who has a tough time living with his (or hers, if you’d like).

Looking for: input from breast-loving women.

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24hour-blues · 4 years ago

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all the ones you haven't answered yet? i'm sorry you're sad💙

thank you, that's very sweet. i hope you're doing alright 💛

1. when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk? - more milk. i always end up putting too much.

2. do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day? - yes

3. what random objects do you use to bookmark your books? - library receipts, post-its, junk mail, pencils

5. are you self-conscious of your smile? - i think it’s one of the few things i’m not self-conscious about, actually. i like my smile.

8. what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings? - writing, often poetry but sometimes prose. i like creating playlists, too, and singing.

9. do you like singing/humming to yourself? - yeah, i sing to myself all the time. whatever song i have stuck in my head at the moment.

10. do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach? - side, but very occasionally my stomach.

12. what’s your favorite planet? - jupiter

14. if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like? - lots of pillows and blankets of all types. succulents and cacti on the windowsills. wooden utensils and dark cabinets in the kitchen. a breakfast bar with stools that don’t match. rugs with funky patterns. a big, soft couch in a bright color that you can sink into. a small balcony with fold-out chairs. rows of mugs and barely any plates. the bathroom crowded with makeup and skin products, writing on the mirror in blue marker. beds never made. a guitar in the corner of the sitting room.

15. go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is! - there are more trees on earth than stars in the milky way

16. what’s your favorite pasta dish? - angel hair pasta with puttanesca sauce

18. tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up. - i can’t think of anything...

19. do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it? - everything. sometimes it’s big things, sometimes small. my fears and what i’m in love with. regrets. shame. hope.

20. what’s your favorite eye color? - grey

21. talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces. - idk if it’s really my favorite, but my current backpack took me all through college and it’s good for storing stuff or using as an overnight bag. it’s from timberland and is a nice earthy brown with a flap over the top. lots of pockets.

22. are you a morning person? - i can be

23. what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations? - make breakfast and tea. read or watch a movie that makes me rethink everything

25. what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into? - a school, i think?

26. what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit? - i haven’t had them forever, but i wear my doc martens with everything. i used to wear plain white keds with everything.

27. what’s your favorite bubblegum flavor? - winter green

28. sunrise or sunset? - sunrise

30. think of it: have you ever been truly scared? - yes

31. what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks. - i like soft, fluffy socks and ones with fun patterns. i love hiking socks. i don’t wear them to sleep tho.

32. tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends. - i went to a waffle house at 5am with a friend and some friends of hers i’d just met on her birthday. we were all really drunk, the food took forever, and it tasted awful, but we were happy and laughing.

33. what’s your fave pastry? - probably a cinnamon roll

35. do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often? - i like a good calligraphy pen and new notebooks. i don’t use them often; i feel like i don’t have anything important enough to write.

37. do you like keeping your room messy or clean? - it’s usually clean unless i’m not feeling well. sometimes i get disorganized.

38. tell us about your pet peeves! - overlapping conversations. people interrupting others. loud mouth noises, like chewing or licking. people criticizing my driving. nitpicky comments on my clothes or how i look. being talked about.

39. what color do you wear the most? - black, probably.

41. what’s the last book you remember really, really loving? - how it feels to float by helena fox

42. do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it! - nope

43. who was the last person you gazed at the stars with? - i’m not sure

44. when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything? - i can’t remember

45. do you trust your instincts a lot? - not really

46. tell us the worst pun you can think of. - i can’t remember it but something about pigeons and being coo-l

47. what food do you think should be banned from the universe? - bacon. i just wanna make people angry.

48. what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today? - my dad told me a story once, about when i was a kid. he said that he and i were walking together near the lake in the neighborhood across from mine. i was holding his hand, and i said to him that this was the happiest time in my life because i wouldn't be the same when i grew out of being a child. i think i have the same fear now--that i'll never be that happy again.

49 do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought?

- i like records but i only have one. it's an album by ccr. i really like them

50. what’s an odd thing you collect?

- beer bottle caps

52. what are your favorite memes of the year so far?

- maybe those "girl..." text posts that just say stupid shit

53. have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them?

- watched them all but pulp fiction. i don't really remember heathers at all

55. what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point?

- lets not talk about that

57. go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics?

- not in the mood sorry

58. who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why? - bri is wine mom. quincy and i are vodka aunt.

60. do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?

- yes but i rarely remember favorites. i read so much and feel it then forget all the words

61. what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received?

- someone gave me a rock once. i get too nervous to give stupid gifts

62. do you drink juice in the morning? which kind?

- orange or cranberry

63. are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be?

- i'm more fussy about music than books, but i do like my books organized. i like them worn in and well-read tho, not in perfect shape.

64. what color is the sky where you are right now?

- a fuzzy, light blue-grey. it's snowing

65. is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with?

- a few

66. what would your ideal flower crown look like?

- lots of green leaves in all different shapes and sizes. tiny white and blue flowers.

67. how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel?

- isolated and insignificant. safe

68. what’s winter like where you live?

- cold, grey, snowy.

69. what are your favorite board games?

- idk if i really too many board games. maybe cranium. i like puzzles more

71. what’s your favorite kind of tea?

- honey vanilla chamomile

72. are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it?

- yea and even then i forget.

73. what are some of your worst habits?

- i give up too easily

74. describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.

- excitable. emotional. so very smart. creative as all hell. self-conscious where they shouldn't be. never runs out of words in the best way. loves to share.

75. tell us about your pets!

- my dog shiver is turning into a little old man, but he still acts like a puppy. he likes attention and whines to communicate. he'll greet you at the door and put his front paws on your thighs to say hi. follows you all around the house. loves to cuddle.

- my pigeon spirit is young and vocal. she coos for attention. when i go to sleep, she grunts every time i move to ask where i am and if i'm okay. i take showers with her and sit on the tile; she puffs up right into my side and sticks her wings out for me to splash water on her. she likes to be close to me to get neck scritches and push her head into my neck and preen every bit of me she can.

76. is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t?

- a lot probably

77. pink or yellow lemonade?

- limeade

78. are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub?

- i dunno they're cute

80. what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why?

- it's white wallpaper with pink roses along the top and ribbons of pink and green striped vertically. my mom chose it before i was born.

81. describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of.

- they sort of remind me of dark water where everything is reflected back in it--not just the sky but the trees and people walking--and they make you want to look closer because you know there's something in there, it's not just a reflection, like flat glass. but it's hidden until you dio your hand in the pictures broken.

82. are/were you good in school?

- pretty good

83. what’s some of your favorite album art?

- i don't look at albums

85. do you read comics? what are your faves?

- not really, but watchmen is one of my favorites.

86. do you like concept albums? which ones?

- dunno

88. are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy?

- um. idrk. i like whatever monet was doing.

91. where do you plan on traveling this year?

- maybe michigan

92. are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch?

- i like cheese

93. what’s the hairstyle you wear the most?

- i just kind of. let it do whatever.

94. who was the last person you know to have a birthday?

- my uncle

95. what are your plans for this weekend?

- honestly have no clue

96. do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot?

- put them off until windows tells me it's restarting the computer in five minutes

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house?

- mb

98. when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?

- in college with jacob, although i wouldn't really call it joking. we just walked through a state park. it was beautiful.

100. if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?

- idk. i feel like i'd make the same mistakes if i went back, but the future scares me.

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sillyfudgemonkeys · 5 years ago

Text

Persona Q2 Problems: Lore-Summoning Discrepancy

Ok, so this is something that’s been bothering me for a VERY long time, it was something that caught my attention back when they were just advertising the game (if anyone is wondering, it was how the cognition worked in this game…and that questioned snowballed to say the least into what this was), but I wanted to wait till the game came out to talk about it (took really long cause I wasn’t sure how to approach it, I mean this thing came up as about 7ish pages in GoogleDocs so like....yeah 8U lotta writing).

Before I begin, yes I know there are different ways to summon persona. Yes they can coexist in the same series, that isn’t the issue. The issue is how P5 and onward’s lore has been handled. I also wanted to do a complete replay of Arena, Ultimax (esp this one cause it’s a bit funky with the DH and red fog), and PQ1 buuuuuuuuuuuuuut due to events (aka me working despite Corona happening), I didn’t get around to it yet. So consider this a “version 1″ post, with the possibility of there being a “revised version” later. I also won’t really touch on P1/2 much (I’ll bring them up a few times), not because they aren’t important, but because this mostly pertains to PQ2 and the games associated with it.... as well as my sparse knowledge on P1/2 (so I’m sorry in advance if I mess something up while talking about those two games ;w;). We also aren’t talking about P3D, P5D, Royal or Scramble (maybe I’ll include Royal/Scramble in the possible revised/add on/sequel post to this but not now….cause spoilers….and PQ2 came before those so I’d rather focus on what built up to it rather than what comes after).

Also yeah some of this will contain a theory (the theory parts is me trying to reconcile canon and it’s at the end of the post, the rest is me pointing at a hole in the canon/lore tho.... so no this isn’t a glorified theory post, I’ll point out when I’mma enter my minor theory). Anyway, under the cut cause length! 8U:

So first we’re gonna start off with a question. At one point my bf asked me “What dictates why the characters summon the way they do in their games?” To which I replied, after thinking about it for a decent minute, “Setting......maybe with some god interference but it’s usually cause they created that setting, so really it’s just the setting.” If we look at all the games, they all summon things a bit differently (P1/2 being the closest in similarity, with P4 being the closest to them among the newer titles), but what also is different in each game is the setting.

P1 does a Jojo summon cause of a Parallel world, P2 does Jojo poses thanks to the rumors, P3 uses evokers (but otherwise they can just make it appear if they concentrate hard enough, or if you are a VR attendant then you use cards) thanks to the Dark Hour (DH), P4 uses cards (but like P3, can sometimes just summon without manifesting a card similar to P3’s evoker-less summons and P1/2 summons) thanks to the TV World (TVW), and P5 uses their masks thanks to the Metaverse.

So next (2) question(s).....What would happen if you take one team and put them in another teams’ world? How would they summon their persona’s then? Well.....it depends on the setting, but spoiler for the rest of the post....they would either use cards/no cards (ala P4 style, from here on I’mma just say “card style” but keep in mind cards may or may not be utilized), or have a PT outfit/mask summon (aka P5 style). OR, if they are struggling and have an evoker on hand, then they’d use an evoker (but not if it’s in the Metaverse). So to use an evoker, they’d have to struggle with summoning in a P3ish type area (which keep in mind is similar to a P4 type area), and if they aren’t struggling then the default would be P4 type summoning (I mean they could still use the evoker if you want, but the card style is the default tbh). Oh yeah there’s a lot to unpack there. You see, P3/4 can exist together without issues, P5.....can’t.....with either of them…..At least not without certain rules being established in a setting, and then ALL THREE having to follow those rules. (Tbh it feels like the P5 era/PQ2 specifically, they seem to prioritize iconography over logic. Aka “Well P3 used evokers because they are P3!” rather than looking at the implications of the world they are utilizing and instead prioritizing something the audience will recognize rather than following the rules they have built.)

Ok so I know I just threw a ton of facts at you, so let’s backtrack and explain how I know these are facts by going through the games (cause I know you can’t just take my word for it)!

Now, how do P3/4 work well together? It’s simple.....the DH and TVW are similar (TVW is a more...”potent” DH and makes it easier to summon things), well similar in feel as Arena states:

Ok so they are similar in feel, and tbh the means of being able to summon a Persona is similar too! P3 kids don’t NEED evokers, it’s proven that characters can summon a Persona without a need of an evoker in both the DH and Real World (ex: Labby in Arena when escaping the lab, Mitsuru in The Answer flashback, Fuuka in Arena iirc, Takaya all the time in P3, Chidori when her Persona tried to kill her, and possibly Tatsuya/other P2 characters prior to the rumors going rampant during the P2 game), HOWEVER it’s very hard to do so. It usually requires intense concentration, or a rush of emotion or a life/death situation (which all examples fall under one or both). The evoker is designed to help facilitate this life/death feeling (*cough* tho it takes the shape of a gun cause Mitsuru thought it’d catch Akihiko’s attention*cough* I mean Koro doesn’t need it being a gun so the shape could be whatever they just chose a gun so they could seduce Akihiko 8U). But regardless, the evoker is a man made tool that helps one summon a Persona (aka creates an artificial focal point), but it’s not a natural focal point made by the user (ie, card, clutching your head/no card/possibly P1&P2 style, or P5′s mask), so really anyone can use an evoker. (one more side tangent since we’re on focal points, as for how P4 can have two different ways of summoning, ie card/no card, it could just be that the TVW allows different forms of a natural focal point to form, either via thinking of summoning the Persona, or having your mind form a physical card in front of you, so the setting of the TVW gives a choice to the user)

Now remember when I said that the TVW is a DH that’s easier to summon Personas? Or that if a user isn’t struggling then the default is the card/P4 style summoning and not the evoker? Well Arena showcases how easy it is to summon in the TVW:

So there we go, it’s easier to summon in the TVW than the DH. Can’t argue with that! The reason is probably because DH is a layer on top of the Real World, so it’s closer to reality, while the TVW is closer to the Collective Unconscious/aka CU (aka the TVW is an alternate world, rather than a camera filter like the DH is), so that could explain why it’s easier.

So what have we established so far?:

DH and TVW are very similar, but TVW is probably more is closer to the CU than the DH (while the DH is closer to reality), which makes it easier to summon in the TVW.

Evokers can be used by anyone because they are a man-made tool, but they aren’t natural ways of summoning like show cased in P1/2/4/5.

P3 cast can summon Personas like P4 cast, and theoretically vice versa is probably possible if they ever gave the P4 cast evokers.

Now from Arena, we will go to PQ1, then Ultimax, then briefly on P4D before we get to P5. (I’m doing PQ1 before Ultimax because I’m doing the it in the order of the JPN release not the US release, and no I’m not counting the arcade Ultimax release 8U)

So let’s look at PQ1. Now from my memory....I don’t recall them really talking about the P3 cast specifically not being able to summon their personas without their evoker in the PQ1 world. Like they talk about their differences in summoning, but I don’t think the P3 kids tried to summon without their evokers. And the reason I bring this up, because we could probably say this is a discrepancy too, is because the P4 kids still use their card style, which means the PQ1 world is similar to the TV world, where it’s easier to summon via using the cards. And since the P3 kids can use the card style, in a setting that allows card styles…..that means they could summon the same way the P4 kids can in PQ1! But the P3 kids don’t have the same thought process as they did in Arena, where “oh we summoned our personas without our evokers! Only just thinking about it!” And like....that’s a red flag....BUT, as I said before, evokers and cards can exist at the same time. In Arena/ Ultimax the human P3 users (minus maaaybe Junpei) use their evokers when doing a finisher. So we could just chalk it up to them being used to it out of habit. It also helps that Arena was released not long before PQ1, so we know they can both exist at the same time thanks to prior knowledge. So like yeah there’s a tiny issue here, but nothing glaring or a very big deal, it’s just them avoiding addressing something rather than creating a contradiction. Maybe in a remake they’ll add a line saying “huh that’s weird, still gonna use my evoker cause we’re used to it.” XU And it’d be all good.

Now Ultimax is a little.....more concerning. Technically there’s a dark hour....but you can summon without your evoker (and also they call the Fake!Dark Hour F!DH taking place in the “real world”):

Now I can’t remember the rest of Ultimax to that specific of a detail, so I dunno if they 100% explain why/how the F!DH it’s easier to summon than the DH, but they really seemed to hint at the red fog in these early scenes (where I rewatched to get the screen grabs), with it having some influence and possibly being the culprit behind the anomaly (I’d say the same thing for the TVW, but Teddie says Shadows have been there since forever, and Izanami only found the TVW not created it, she did bring the fog, so it’s possible the fog isn’t what dictates summoning in the TVW just TVW as a place, but in Ultimax the combination of the red fog and the F!DH makes the setting more palpable like the TVW rather than the original DH. So yeah F!DH needs special fog to work, but TVW doesn’t really need for summoning to exist it seems). There’s also the fact...Kagutsuchi is also there and his power might also have something to do with this cause, remember at the beginning I said sometimes there’s a god messing with the place to make that setting viable for summoning Personas? Yeah that’s probably what’s going on. Red Fog+Special DH+Kagu’s influence=TVW levels of card/natural summoning. Not the cleanest, but hey they at least tried giving us a reason! I’m at least happy for that! ;w;

So after briefing on the small issues (or just plot questions with PQ1/Ultimax), now for P4D. P4D it’s possible to summon your persona like in the TVW, but you can’t fight. So you instead dance to defeat your enemies.... So the area is similar to the TVW, BUT it has special rules (implemented by the god, so yeah a little god influence on the setting, but still the setting nonetheless is what dictates the summoning). Yeah that’s it, but it just strengthens the setting dictates stuff.

So again, to reiterate what we know:

If a place is like the TVW, then card summoning is the default.

DH and TVW are similar, but DH is a….”less palpable” TVW (probably cause it’s farther from the CU), so while card summoning is possible, it’s better to use the tool/evoker to help you.

The F!DH, PQ1 world, and Midnight Stage are all similar to the TVW so card summon is the default.

Evokers can be used in card summon settings, but they aren’t needed.

Anyone can use an evoker

So....let’s get to P5. P5 has the Metaverse, which has A LOT of distortion and cognition. I mean it’s possible that P1-4 have some cognition, but the Metavers is just…..there’s an abundance! Anyway, we know that P5 has outfits because it protects the user against the world (kinda like the TVW glasses, but unlike those, they aren’t a tool anyone can just.....use. Teddie makes the TVW glasses, PT outfits come with the summons). But they only get their cool outfit once they obtain their personas (either via fully or partially awakening their Persona, the persona has to at least be awakened). Thus the Persona is connected to the outfit, and the outfit is connected to the environment/setting. I should note that unlike the above screenshots, which are explicitly stated in the lore, this is implicitly stated instead. Something that isn’t outright said, but it’s backed up via consistency and repeating it (also this is the first consistent thing I found in P5! Yay! ;w;)

Anyway, it makes sense right? And without the need for an evoker (which...causes issues thanks to that world’s rules on guns), it seems that the natural way for summoning in a Metaverse-like setting, is a mask summon.

Ok. Now what’s the issue with PQ2?! 4-5ish pages in and still no answer I know. Well the answer is all three can’t exist at the same time. P5 can’t compliment either P3/4. Either P5/4 has to adapt to P3’s way of summoning, P5/3 have to adapt to P4′s way of summoning (aka everyone needs an evoker or everyone card summons), or P3/4 have to adapt to P5 (aka everyone gets an outfit and mask summons). And here’s why:

We know P3/4 characters in a TVW like place can summon their personas like P4 kids. So it doesn’t matter what game you are from, if you are in the TVW you summon like the P4 kids. P5, if one has a persona in a Metaverse they should have an outfit, because P5 vanilla establishes that (again it’s implicit but nonetheless it’s established). So P3/4 kids should get an outfit if they were in the Metaverse because it’s the only logical thing that makes sense (aka this isn’t confirmed by Atlus, but by following the logic of their lore, the explicit content, and the implicit content, it leads to this conclusion).

The issue is…. PQ2 tries to apply DH’s, TVW’s, and the Metaverse’ rules all at the same time.....that doesn’t work. While DH and TVW complement each other, TVW becomes the default if the two are combined. “But Silly you said that P3 cast can use Evokers in the TVW” Yes! But you see PQ2 doesn’t understand that....Because..... Minato couldn’t summon his Persona when he lost his evoker and had to rely on Aigis the entire time:

From what I can find, he’s never shown summoning his persona (even in a life/death situation, which is also odd in and of itself and a whole other issue) during this time. I don’t think it’s ever mentioned it’s because he’s tired, just because he lost his evoker. Except this shouldn’t be the case, because P4/5 can summon just fine WITHOUT an evoker, so an evokerless summon should be possible. And that’s the issue with PQ2 that PQ1 avoided, PQ1 didn’t call attention to this, while PQ2 made this a plot point and...well...made a really big plot hole (and a side plot hole with the whole life/death thing).

Then there’s the DH and the Metaverse. Now Atlus was trying to fix the gun and evoker issue that well…..was created because of….(what is what got this post rolling) “Cognition.” Cause the Metaverse is like “If the gun looks real then it’s perceived as real! Even if it’s a fake gun.” And well….evokers are real guns who have been hollowed out (in english releases they changed it to fakes tho, but they are actually real guns). And well evokers and the Metaverse don’t mix well, and we’d have a lot of headless SEES. So Atlus tried to be like “Oh it just doesn’t work here!” But…….that reasoning doesn’t work, because the PT still have their outfits, and Mona is still in mascot form, which exists because of….you guessed it…”cognition”. And because of all that it leads to these questions:

Does this mean there’s a specific quantity of Cognition that needs to be met for there to be outfits but for fake guns not to work?

So how can there be enough cognition to dictate that they can have outfits but NOT guns?

How can Mona still be in his cognitive cat form at the lobby, but the rest of the team reverts back to their normal clothes despite both being connected to? He’s only ever in that form when the other teams are in their PT form (only time he isn’t is in PQ2’s lobby, and the early PVs of P5 which never appeared in the game)

Why doesn’t the P3/4 cast have PT outfits, despite the fact having a persona in a cognitive world indicates a PT outfit (at least implicitly via P5 vanilla)?

Basically how is it that the P5 Kids are the only ones that seem to be affected by the Cinema’s World Cognition but no other groups are? Answer, there is no answer, it just doesn’t make any sense! And that’s just P3 and P5!

Now we have Metaverse vs the TV World. While they are both natural means of summoning, they can’t coexist at the same time. They are like night and day, they can’t exist at the same time in the same place. If there is that much cognition in the Cinema world, then everyone should get an outfit! Otherwise they’d just use cards! You have to choose one!

“But Silly! What if it’s how they obtained their personas? Like maybe the way P5 got theirs is why they are special?” And…...that’s the thing dear reader….that’s not the case. Because let me introduce my Smoking Futaba Cannon! You know what Futaba has in common with the P4 group? THE SAME KIND OF AWAKENING! Her awakening is different from EVERY OTHER P5 CHARACTER! Her awakening is the same as the P4 kids! She accepts her shadow, and gets her persona! But do you know two things are different between Futaba and the P4 kids? 1) The setting, and 2) She gets an outfit! :0 Oh dear, she gets an outfit….and…..the only thing different from the P4 kids is the setting? Wow it’s almost as if….the setting dictates how you summon a persona! :D So because Futaba, who’s awakening is a P4 awakening, gets an outfit. Then ALL P4 kids, who have a P4 awakening, now get an outfit when they are in the Metaverse! But wait! Remember how P3 was able to easily change to the P4 style of summoning? Well since P3 is similar to P4 in this sense, and P4 is similar to Futaba, who has a PT outfit…..then P3 would get an outfit as well! You get an outfit! You get an outfit! EVERY PERSONA USER GETS AN OUTFIT! 8D

So what do we know now?

DH and TVW are similar, but if combined then the TVW rules overrule the DH rules

The DH seems to be closer to reality, while TVW and Metaverse seem to be closer to the UC which is why it’s easier to summon in the latter two.

The F!DH, PQ1 world, and Midnight Stage are all similar to the TVW so card summon is the default.

TVW and Metaverse can’t coexist at the same time (one has to overrule the other)

Evokers most likely can’t work in the Metaverse the same way they can in DH or TVW.

Evokers can be used in card summon settings (aka TVW) tho, but they aren’t needed.

Anyone can use an evoker (or have Teddie glasses 8U)

Only Persona users (either fully awakened or partially) can obtain a Metaverse/PT outfit.

Awakening doesn’t define how you summon Persona, the setting does (see Futaba vs P5 and compared to P4).

Because of Futaba, P4 kids should get outfits in the Metaverse.

And because of Arena and how the P3 kids have the same summoning in the P4 setting, it goes to say they’d also get outfits in the Metaverse too.

If reverse engineer this, then that’d mean P5 kids would get cards in a TVW-type setting (or would have to use evokers in a DH type setting).

I spent way too much time on this

It all comes together! Nice and neat! Arena establishes that you get a card summon when you are in a setting like the TVW, and P5 establishes that Persona users get PT outfits in the Metaverse (with Futaba showcasing it doesn’t matter how the awakening goes down you still get an outfit, which applies to P3/4). So, if the setting is like the Metaverse, they get outfits. If the setting ISN’T like the Metaverse, BUT INSTEAD, like the TV world, they do card summons. There the lore is nice and neat and clear cut!

…..EXCEPT! PQ2 …...just….makes no sense. ;w; It messes with all that is good and neat. ;w; And why? I don’t know! I can only think that, again, they chose the iconic looks of each game over the lore’s logic. Even if they were to say Enil made it so that the three types of settings could exist at the same time, it’s just…..too messy and wishy washy, and still doesn’t logically make sense (because of everything explained above). You can’t just mix water and oil! It’s just easier to choose a Metaverse or TVW type setting.

Now how do we fix PQ2? This is something Atlus can fix in a re-release on like the Switch, and it shouldn’t be too bad depending on how they approach it. But before I get to that I’m going to explain a theory, this theory makes it easier to break down the different settings, and thus gives Atlus a nice binary choice.

My theory is that there’s a cognition spectrum in these settings. Real life has the lowest to non existing cognition, the P1/2/3/4/4U1/4U2/4D/Q1 are all on the “low cognition” side (there’s some but there’s not a lot) while the Metaverse is “high cognition” (aka there’s a lot). Like here’s a rough (aka not 100% accurate, it’s just a general idea) depiction of what I mean:

Again it’s just a general idea on where they fall in terms of high and low cognition. P5 is obvie a new entry with us now exploring high cognition, which can lead to maybe a couple cool things. Maybe different places on the high cognition spectrum give us different ways of summoning too (give me a sec for a side tangent to explore that concept). Here’s an example, we have one high cognition plane called the “Metaverse” and another one called “Uverworld.” In the Metaverse you get a PT outfit, and summon with a mask. In the Uverworld, instead you take on your Persona’s appearance, either Digimon Frontier style or Digital Devil Saga style. We could say the Uverworld has even more cognition/distortion than the Metaverse and that’s why it’s different. And if any persona user from P1-5 were to summon their persona in the Uverworld, they’d summon it the same way as the Uverworld Persona users. And the Uverworld Persona users would summon the same way as say P4/5 depending on if they were in the TV World or Metaverse. This is how we can keep the lore consistent.

Now how does this high and low cognition apply to PQ2, and how could it have fixed it (and still could if Atlus makes these changes in a remake/re-release)? Well basically….they’d have to choose between a TV World type setting or the Metaverse, and have all three teams adjust accordingly! And they can either do what I call low asset route or a high asset route (which coordinate with low and high cognition respectively).

A low asset route, would’ve worked better for the original release on the 3DS (but I don’t recommend this for Switch re-release tho). It’d be that the PQ2 world operates like the TV World, everyone uses cards. That’d mean no one would get PT outfits (so less assets to make for the devs, and yes this includes P5 kids). Morgana, however, would have to remain in cat form (which shouldn’t be a problem, if we can give a dog a knife we can give a cat a knife 8U you can even have his character stats reflect something similar to Koromaru for the meta too!). P3 could still use their evokers if they want too! P5 the kids would probably crush the cards doing a similar pose they’d make if they had a mask, but tbh PQ doesn’t really show the characters in battle so we wouldn’t really need to worry that much.

Or we could go with a high asset route (which I recommend for a re-release), in which there’s high cognition, aka the Cinema world is more like the Metaverse. Everyone would get an outfit, and cause it’s the metaverse you can introduce a gun mechanic into PQ2! It’d require more assets, making outfits for all the characters (tho keep in mind Mona should transform back into a cat and out of his outfit in the lobby like everyone else!) Which we’d probably really only see in cutscenes rather than battle. While this could complicate some scenes (such as Hamuko dressing up as a police officer-wait that scene already doesn’t make sense considering P5’s lore-no no stay on topic DX), the rewrites wouldn’t be as as if you took the low asset route (which would work if thought of from the beginning but….yeah). It’d just be a few convo lines, and like a scene or two. One big thing they could add is adding the gun mechanic (they can even add a fun convo with the P3 kids saying it’s hard getting used to the new summoning method). Fans would love to see outfits for P3/4 kids, lore would make sense, you could have funny conversations, new combat system. Def a thing people would love to see added into a re-release! Plus it gives it more of a P5 flair, and considering this has P5 as the main focal point it fits! You can even say that the 3DS ver is still canon, but it was an incorrect recollection of a character’s dream, which could explain the inconsistencies I have mentioned before.

Oh and Minato/SEES can still carry their evokers in both scenarios, but Minato just gets tired from all the fighting and can’t summon his Persona anymore cause he ran out of mana. There that fixes that scene.

So there you go, PQ2 fixed (well summoning lore wise), Persona lore intact, and even a little guideline thrown in to help keep the lore intact! I know I didn’t go into how to rewrite every scene to adjust these changes….I could but not today.

Anyway I dunno how else to end it but…...I hope PQ1/2 can be ported to the Switch (or another console as well?) soon! I just really want a dub of PQ2 ;w; orz

#persona 5 #persona 4 #persona 3 #persona q2 #persona 2 #persona 1 #tagging p1/2 cause you guys are mentioned and while I don't go in depth on it as much #i'm open to hear more knowledgeable p1/2 fans' thoughts on this #persona lore #persona analysis #persona problems #persona q2 problems

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jolienjoyswriting · 4 years ago

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Electrical Disturbance, Ch. III

Chapter 3 of "Electrical Disturbance," a Rockman (Dr. Chou Numbers universe) fan fiction story. Random trivia: The first page of this chapter was originally the last page of Chapter 2. Then, I went and revised things. 'tis for the better, n'yes.

I have to confess something. This story wasn't originally meant to go in this direction. Actually, it was going to be a nice, calm, boring story about Joseph and Kaitlin chillin' out at his house which would, eventually, lead to them getting cozy. However, I got a sudden spark of inspiration while writing Chapter 1, which led to the events of Chapter 2. Then, while writing this chapter… well… another unexpected thing happened and I rolled with it. Actually, I think most of this story ended up being spontaneous, knee-jerk choices, ha hah~

Word count: 4,335 – Character count: 24,994 Originally written: July 18th, 2020

After her less-than-successful battle, Kaitlin finds herself wondering just who she really is…

Thomas Right, Roll, Elecman, “Rockman,” and related characters and concepts created by various people and © Capcom Co, Ltd. "Dr. Chou Numbers" concept and related characters and concepts created by and © Jussy Kaitlin/Thundergirl created by and © KaitlinEXE

[ ↶ Prev. Story | ← Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter → | Next Story ↷ ]

“I shouldn’t’ve held back… What kind’a hero holds back in a crisis…?” “One that deeply cares about their friends, Thundergirl.”

After fulfilling Elecman’s request, Kaitlin called Roll and had her teleport the two of them back to Right Labs – though, outside the main building, since they were both a bit waterlogged. Once they were dried-and-drained, Kaitlin brought Elecman into the main lab where Dr. Thomas Right – the world’s leading roboticist and all-around nice guy – was waiting.

“I should’a went full-force!” she scolded herself after hearing the doctor’s comments. “I should’a just called down the thunder ‘n–” “It’s good that you didn’t. Elecman is in a rather fragile state…” “What–?!” The girl hopped off a workbench where she was sitting and practically ran over to the doctor. There, he showed her the damage…

“Wha– what happened?” Her hands came over her mouth. “I didn’t do that… did I?!” “No.” Dr. Right shook his head. “I believe Elecman put up a fight before Albert was able to reprogram him. It looks as though Albert neglected to repair him after that scrap…” “I-is he gonna be alright?!” “Calm yourself, Thundergirl…” The man smiled as he stroked his beard. “His body can be repaired and, according to initial scans, his original programming and memories are intact.” “O-oh… Oh, good…” After hearing that, Kaitlin finally let herself settle down. As she slowly walked back to the other table, she heard the good doctor continue.

“Once he’s stable,” he said, “I’ll take a look at you – with your permission, of course.” “I feel fine! Surprisingly…” The girl-hero rubbed the back of her head, thinking it over. “Actually, yeah. He prob’ly burnt out a circuit. Or, knocked something loose…” The girl quietly clutched her side, remembering when he kicked the crap out of her. “Man… Elecman sure got mean when he was mad at me! Ow…” “Albert’s viral code removes an android’s inhibitions, opening them to new possibilities,” Dr. Right explained. “Part of Elecman’s core personality is egotism and indulgence. You said that you had made him mad, yes?” The girl nervously laughed. “A little…” “I imagine that by angering him, you damaged his ego. In his virus-warped mind, the only way to save face was by… well…” “Kickin’ and shockin’ me almost t’ death?” Kaitlin asked with a grin. “Under normal circumstances, he is much more reserved,” Right continued as he started the repair process. “You must have significantly embarrassed him.” “I prob’ly just annoyed him,” she confessed. “I got a little cocky…” “Mm.” The girl tilted her head. It seemed like Dr. Right didn’t have anything to say to that. “Hey, I’m gonna head out, okay?” When he failed to offer a reply to that… she shrugged and simply left without a word. He’ll call me back when he’s done fixin’ Elecman… Prob’ly.

The heroic robot girl walked into the living room of the Right Labs compound, that afternoon, her hands behind her head and eyes pointed at the ceiling. She was a little lost-in-thought, trying to figure out where the fight with Elecman went wrong.

Okay, so. I got teleported in at the base’a the dam. Prob’ly should’a called that in. Had’a fight off all the small fries on th’ way up, so I was worn out when I got there… Then, I decided not t’ use my full strength when I fought Elecman ‘cause… ‘cause, he’s cool. She very-faintly blushed, the corner of her mouth twitching. Maaan… the only one who got embarrassed in that fight was me…! “Kaitlin? Kaitlin!” “Huh?” Kaitlin turned her head, then blinked. “Oh. Hey, Roll.” Standing behind her was the blond-haired girl she was mimicking earlier that day. Of course, she was wearing her new favorite outfit – the hoodie-dress with funky shoe-boots – rather than her plain, red dress… which only reinforced Kaitlin’s opinion that she’d made a mistake on what to wear for her surprise visit to her boyfriend. “Sheesh… Today’s just not my day…”

“Aww, I’m sorry to hear that, Kaitlin…” The brunette smiled as Roll softly hugged her from behind. “Eh, live-and-learn,” she said, giving Roll’s arm a little squeeze. “If I ever get into a fight with Elecman, again, I’ll kick his a– butt and not the other way ‘round!” “He kicked your butt?” Roll stepped back, blinking. “But… I thought you won…?” “It was… kind of a draw? Actually…” Kaitlin turned around. Next, she brought a hand up, pushing a button on her visor. It withdrew from sight. Finally turned to face Roll, directly. “It was more like ‘victory but forfeit.’” The other girl grinned, putting her hands on her hips. “You made him give up, huh?” “No-no-no…” Kaitlin waved her hands. “Elecman gave up all on his own.” “I’m not sure I understand…” Roll smiled. “Tell me about it? I’ll make us some tea!” “Can I get a cocoa, instead?” “Sure!”

The two shared a smile, then Kaitlin followed Roll into the kitchen. There, she told her blond friend all the details of how she fought Elecman to a standstill… which is to say, how she humiliated herself by show-boating and holding back, then dumped them both in the Hoover Dam reservoir where neither of them could hurt anyone, much less each other.

“Wow…” By the end of the story, Roll was frowning right alongside Kaitlin. The girl-hero was simply disappointed in herself. The housekeeper, however… “You did what you thought was right and there’s nothing wrong with that!” She just couldn’t help but support her friend’s decisions.

“Elecman almost blew up the dam and took us both out for good, Roll!” Kaitlin exclaimed with a scowl. “All because I didn’t take the fight seriously!” “It’s okay!” Roll brightly smiled as she said, “You were trying to save Elecman, not destroy him! I’m sure if you were an evil Wily ‘bot and he had to fight you, he’d do the same!” Kaitlin… nervously laughed at the idea. Oh, if you only knew, Roll… “No, Roll,” the brunette said. “I didn’t take the fight seriously because I’m a dumb kid who thought she could bat her eyelashes and sass-talk her enemy into giving up…” “You say that like it’s a bad thing…” Roll chuckled. “And… when I couldn’t persuade him to stop being bad, I still didn’t wanna hurt him!” “You say that like it’s a bad thing!” “But, oh. But, oh. Little did I realize that Elecman wanted to hurt me!” “He was under Wily’s control, though!” “Exactly!”

Kaitlin banged her fist against the table, startling Roll. When the cheerful girl looked up, the woeful one looked away in shame. “Sorry…” she whispered. “I know ya don’t like rowdy behavior in the house.” “It’s okay, Kaitlin…” Roll rose, then she put her hands over Kaitlin’s and offered a compassionate smile. “I know how you feel!” “Heh. I kind’a doubt it, but I appreciate the vote’a confidence.” Kaitlin took a sip of her cocoa… before she caught sight of something that made her stare. Roll’s green eyes were locked onto hers… and they were full of sadness.

“Did… you do somethin’ with your eyes?” Kaitlin asked, casually looking away. “Didn’t they used t’ be blue?” “I had a toggle installed…” Roll sniffled after her reply. Then, after rubbing her face, she cleared her throat. “Kaitlin… Every time Rock goes out there to fight bad-guys, he has to go through the exact same things you did, today.” “I’m sure he does…” “Kaitlin!” The girl-hero nearly snorted her cocoa in surprise. When she looked back over at Roll, the girl was glaring at her with weepy eyes.

“Rock never-ever wants to hurt anyone! Every Robot Master he fights could be a friend! Some of them even are friends…! He tries and he tries, begging… pleading them not to fight… not to do bad things… but every single time he fights one… it always ends the same way…” Roll brought her hands up, locking her fingers together over her chest in silent prayer. “Every time Wily tries to conquer the world, Rock comes home a mess! He doesn’t know what to do with himself… He wants to be angry, or he wants to curl up in a ball, or he wants to cry, but he can’t!” “Is it ‘cause he wasn’t built with that ability?” Kaitlin half-heartedly joked. The other girl flinched as Roll brought her hands down onto the table, making it rattle. “It’s because Rock is a hero, and heroes don’t cry, Kaitlin!

“Heroes like Rock can’t show any kind of weakness – especially not in front of the bad-guys… Rock has to keep moving forward when he really wants to run away! Rock has to keep a stiff-upper-lip when he really wants to cry! Rock has to… has to blast robots when all he really wants to do is make them happy! Rock believes there’s goodness… kindness… in everyone – even that jerk, Doctor Wily! I’m not so sure, myself… but I believe in Rock! So… so, if Rock believes that humans and robots can be friends and live in peace… so do I! And… and if you don’t understand that, then… well… I feel sorry for you!!” Kaitlin blinked a couple of times and Roll suddenly stormed out of the kitchen. She didn’t know if her friend was disappointed or simply disgusted with her… but either way, she was feeling even lower than before. I knew Rock had it hard… she thought as she sipped her cocoa, but I had no idea he had it that hard… She paused, considering something… I wonder if a hug from two girls would make his day better? Actually… She chuckled, then. I could use a hug, myself… Kaitlin finished her cocoa all alone, then. In her mind… it was probably better that way. I can never be a hero like Rockman…

Sometime after her conversation with Roll, Dr. Right called the hero back into the lab. “I have good news,” he said as she walked in and walked over. “Did Wily decide to pack it up and head home?” Kaitlin asked as a joke. “No, but I like your optimism.” She blushed a little as the doctor patted her head. It felt kind of patronizing, but she knew that was just how he was. “Actually, the good news has to do with Elecman!” She perked. “What about Elecman?” “Yes, Doctor. What about Elecman?” Kaitlin blinked at the new voice, then turned to meet it. All-at-once, her face lit up. Standing right there, good-as-new, was… “E-Elecman!!”

Before she could stop herself, she practically leaped at the robot, giving him a big hug around the shoulders. Elecman awkwardly returned the hug… at least somewhat. Then… “Um… thank you. Can you, um, let go, now? Please?” When she realized what she was doing… she practically leaped right back off. “I-I’m so sorry!” she apologized, covering her mouth and blushing. Then, after a moment more… she turned morose and repeated, “I’m so sorry…” “I’m not entirely sure what all has transpired while I was under the effects of Wily’s heinous reprogramming,” Elecman said with a confused look, “but… perhaps I should be the one apologizing to you?” “What?” Kaitlin blinked, again, as Elecman knelt and took her gloved hand into his. “I regret making such a lovely young lady worry about my well-being. And… I am filled with the deepest sorrow, knowing that I was forced to engage her in mortal combat, and it greatly bothers me to think that I could have turned your sunny smile into a frightful frown…”

As Elecman stood back up, Kaitlin covered her mouth with her free hand, her face… a rather noticeable shade of crimson. She was pretty thankful Elecman didn’t try and kiss her hand, otherwise… she might’ve popped like an overheated thermometer! It was more-than-enough that he was on bent knee, saying such sweet things and apologizing! When he smiled, afterward… she was pretty sure she felt her heart skip a beat. Say something… say something cool, stupid!! she internally shouted at herself. But, when she moved her hand and opened her mouth… “Fwah… guh… bwah…?” Nothing coherent came out. “Indeed.” It got a quiet chuckle out of Elecman… Dammit…! Which made her completely hide her face with both hands. She felt so embarrassed…

“Doctor Right.” The masked robot turned his attention to the doctor. “Thank you for repairing me. I will try and use less flashy tactics when engaging the forces of the nefarious Doctor Wily, next time.” “I’m just relieved the damage wasn’t more extensive!” The doctor smiled. “Between your fight with Albert’s forces and your skirmish with Thundergirl–” The girl nervously squeaked upon hearing her name. “– I think you have more-than-earned a rest.” “Is Wily’s operation still ongoing?” “Yes, but–” “Then, I have further work to do.” Dr. Right frowned… only to nod. “Roll will send you where you’re needed…” he said with a mix of understanding and regret. “Please, do be careful…” “I’ll buy an Energy Can from Rightot before I go, Doctor.” That brought some small relief to the elderly man’s face. “Oh! Before I depart, I should like to make one small request, if I may?” “What is it?” Elecman smiled, looking over his shoulder. Kaitlin, who was peeking out from between her fingers at him, immediately hid her face, again. “I want you to give my biggest fan the utmost of care,” he said, casually strolling away. “When all this is over… I want to see her bright, smiling face light up the night sky, once more.” Kaitlin made a weird, croaky kind of noise… Her heart was racing, her head was steaming, and in a way, she actually kind of felt… embarrassed, too. Elecman was laying it on super-thick. Was he always like that…? She kind of liked the attention, but wow… was it a lot. “I’ll give her as much attention as she requires,” Dr. Right chuckled. “I promise.” “Excellent. And, upon my glorious return… I shall give her the attention she deserves!” He looked back at the Kaitlin one last time and smiled, smiling as she squeaked, again. “Adieu! Adieu. ‘til next we meet, my lovely heroine! Fare thee well!” As much as Kaitlin liked hearing her favorite Robot Master shower her with praise… she was kind of thankful he’d left when he did. She was pretty sure one more compliment would’ve pushed her over the edge and made her faint. That wouldn’t have been very heroic…

“This should be a fairly standard process,” the doctor said after she’d had time to calm herself. “Lie down on the examination table, please, and I’ll run some scans on your chassis.” “O–” she squeaked, still feeling a little overcome. “O-okay…!” The white-haired man waited for Kaitlin to lay back and get into position. Once she was ready, he plugged her into his computer and began the tests…

“Mm-hmm… mm-hmm… Your core temperature is a little high – though… Elecman tends to have that effect on robots he likes.” She blushed and looked away, really wishing the doctor hadn’t acknowledged that… “Internal systems look… oh. Oh, dear.” “Wh– what?” “It seems that… Elecman has caused you some serious harm…” She knew what he meant, but felt a little flustered, again. “Most of your primary systems are offline and almost all of your backup systems are active and running at maximum capacity. Thundergirl, if I might ask… just what happened?” “You don’t wanna know,” she dismissively told him, not wanting to repeat her story. “This is quite important.” He turned toward her with a smile. “As your doctor, it’s sometimes necessary to know this sort of information to properly diagnose–” “Ugh, fine! If you need it…”

“Oh, dear… I see…” By the time Kaitlin was done regaling the doctor with how Elecman kicked her butt… and back, sides, head… and practically fried her like overcooked bacon… he was shaking his head and making a lot of tongue-clicking noises. “Tell me, Thundergirl… do you feel any abnormalities?” “Well, no…” she answered. “I feel a little slower than usual, but otherwise…?” “Given that you’re running on backup systems… secondary and tertiary, in some cases…” he quietly added, “that’s to be expected. What about your memory functions?” “I guess my brain’s in workin’ order? But… how would I know it’s not? I am an amnesiac, after all,” she told him with a chuckle. “That is… a fair point. Yeesss… yes, now that I think of it, you declined a backup of your vital data the last time you were here. I have nothing to compare your current memory to…” “Honestly, all I care about is gettin’ patched-up so I can try my luck with some other Robot Master… who isn’t Elecman…” the girl muttered in addendum. “The repairs to your primary systems could take quite some time…” “Wha’?” She sat up, looking at the doctor. “How long’s ‘quite some time?’” He stroked his beard, thinking about it. “No less than five days, I would say… And, that’s only if I don’t find anything else.” “Hrrnnn…” The girl flopped back and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to be out-of-commission for five minutes, much less five days! But, the doctor seemed really worried about her, so… “Alright,” she sighed. “Put me under and pop me open. I guess.” “Are you certain?” “Yup,” she said with a nod. “Do it to it, Doc!” “Okay…” He took a deep breath. “I shall revive you once it’s all over…” –––––

“– dergirl? Thundergirl? Are you activated?” “What…? Yeah, yeah, I’m awake… “Good, good… I–” “One thing. Who’s talkin’ at me? Also… where am I?” “Oh. Oh, dear… I was afraid of this…”

Kaitlin groaned, rubbing her eyes before blinking them. She sat up, then, and looked around. As far as she could tell… she wasn’t anywhere she’d usually be. Which was to say… it didn’t look like any of the rooms inside Wily Castle. The voice that spoke also didn’t sound like Dr. Wily or any of his robots… Actually, it kind of sounded like… “Doctor Right! Is Kaitlin okay?”

The girl blinked, again, before she found her focus. Standing off to one side of the room was a man of below-average height and above-average facial hair. He kind of looked like Santa Claus… except smaller and rounder. He also wore a lot more white than Santa does, she noted. “Doctor… Right…?” she called. “Welcome back, Kaitlin!” She looked to the doctor’s side and noticed a smaller form smiling up at her. The figure was, presumably, female, if the long, blond hair and girly, red hoodie-dress was any indication. She was probably a younger girl, too, considering the lack of curves. As she looked closer, though, she slowly recalled… “Hey… aren’t you Roll?” “Well, yeah! Did you forget?” When the blond girl giggled, the other android narrowed her eyes. “And, you’re… Dr. Right?” she said, focusing on the first figure. “Dr. Thomas Right…?” “That’s right…” he said with a nod. “I am Thomas Right.” “You’re Roll… and you’re Right…” Roll tilted her head. Dr. Right had looked away… “If you’re Roll and you’re Right… then… I’m outta here!!”

Before either party could react, Kaitlin jumped up and made a bolt for the door! Just as she thought she was home-free, though… “Goodness! Where are you off to in such a hurry?” She was stopped by a taller figure in a black body-suit and angular, yellow mask. “Oh, sh– you’re… you’re…!” The girl paused, blinking. “Er… which one are you, again?” “Who am I?” The figure scoffed. “I, the thunderous Elecman, found the time to come to visit my number one fan, Thundergirl, after her repairs… only for her to toss me aside like a burnt-out fuse! Hmph! How very ungrateful…!” “Elecman,” the doctor called, “Thundergirl is going through some–” “Why do you keep calling me– oh, never mind… Outta the way, big-boots!” “Hey!!” Elecman narrowed his eyes as Kaitlin barged by him. “You ungrateful, rude…” “Stop her!” “‘Stop her?’” The man-in-black blinked, then he spun around. “Um… stop?” Of course… Kaitlin was already long-gone from the area, by then.

“Okay… okay…”

The brown-haired girl ran through unfamiliar hallways, scared-and-confused, desperately trying to find a door that led outside. As she scouted, she also thought out loud.

“I’m lost… I dunno where I am… I’m not sure where I’m not… and… and…” She slowed, stopped, then backpedaled after passing a big mirror. “I’m wearin’ somethin’ way weird. What the heck is this stuff?”

The girl looking back at her didn’t look like one she recognized. Rather than the expected denim dress and lavender T-shirt, she was wearing what looked like big, clunky, yellow boots and black yoga pants – not unlike that funny-talking guy’s – a purple chest-piece with a red collar and shoulder “wings,” matching sleeves that ended in gold cuffs, thick, red-metal bracelets and fingerless gloves, a pair of white ear-pieces, and a purple beret. The chest-piece and beret both had a little lightning bolt on them, she also noticed.

“Is this… battle armor? What… why am I wearin’ battle armor? Where’s my dress…?” She put a finger to one earpiece, flinched, yanked it off, then touched her bare ear. “Dress, dress, dress… Huh, I don’t remember this outfit… what is– waaah!!” A light engulfed the girl and, just like that, her outfit was replaced by something a bit more casual.

“Th-this isn’t my dress, either… but it does look pretty snazzy!” She posed, fanning one arm and the opposite leg out as she admired herself. Rather than her expected dress, she wore a long-sleeved, pink T-shirt under a purple mini-hoodie with gold trim, a pair of black shorts, and white socks with two blue stripes near the top, and comfy, yellow sneakers with white energy ports on the sides. “I guess Papa Wily upgraded me in my sleep…” She giggled a little. “He let me keep my sneaks, too! Anyway, let’s see… Dress, dress, dress– ah! Here it is!”

Once again, she was bathed in light. When it faded, though… “Waaaaah…?!” She was horrified by what she saw!

“Wh… why do I have this outfit?!” she asked her reflection as if expecting an answer. The new outfit on her body was an exact duplicate of that housekeeping robot’s usual, red dress, complete with matching metal Mary-Janes. “W-well… at least I don’t have that dorky bow in my hair… b-but, wah!” She shook her head. “This is terrible! Red is not my color!” One more spin through her internal Quick-Change Module’s menu and she was back in the hoodie and shorts. “This’ll have t’ do ‘til I can get back home to Wily Castle… Oh, gosh, Dad’s gonna be so mad at me… I–” “I found her!!” “What?! Oh, no!!”

Kaitlin looked to her left. While she’d spent all that time changing, Roll had found her. She was quick to resume fleeing… though at a significantly higher speed than before, somehow! “Wow…!” She beamed as her feet carried her faster than she expected. “I guess Papa Wily did give me an upgrade! I feel light-as-a-feather! Speedy-as-a-hawk! Quick-as-a-lick! Or… something like that. Try ‘n catch me now, Right ‘bot!” She turned her head, putting her thumb to her nose and razzing the blond-haired girl as she gave chase. When Kaitlin turned back, she went wide-eyed… “Wuh-oh!” The guy in the black suit was in her way.

“Come to me, my dear ingrate!” he said with a harsh grin. “Let us return you to the doctor!” “You want me?” She smirked. “Gotta catch me, first!” Without really knowing why, she hit the deck, dropping onto her back. Strangely enough… ports on her feet flipped open at that exact moment, shooting out a burst of air and, unexpectedly, she found herself sliding right through that weirdo’s long legs! “Holy…!” she cried as she pushed herself back into a standing – or, running – position. “Coolio!! Was it my birthday, or somethin’? Papa really tricked me out!”

The girl beamed as she continued running through what she eventually figured out was the Right House. Which was to say… she realized that she was in the home of her dad’s hated rival in science! “I should cause mischief, while I’m here…” she thought on her feet, “but I dunno where the front door is, yet. Maybe, I’ll knock over a lamp or crook-ify a painting on the way out… That’ll teach ‘em not to kidnap me!”

The chase continued for a solid five minutes, Kaitlin quickly darting, dodging, bobbling, and weaving around any-and-all obstacles and people in her way. However, when she heard Dr. Right tell Elecman specifically not to hurt her… she knew she had the full run of the place.

“Not the nesting dolls!” Roll cried as Kaitlin grabbed them from a shelf and started throwing them in random directions. “That was a gift from Kalinka!” “Watch the vase!” Elecman wailed as he ran to catch it after Kaitlin bumped it off its stand. “That was a gift from a more appreciative fan than you!” “Please, put those bills down!” Unfortunately, Dr. Right was helpless to stop Kaitlin from tossing a bunch of mail around the room, scattering both envelope and contents all over. “Kaitlin, stop!” Roll screamed as Kaitlin threw down a lamp and knocked over some unlit candles. “This isn’t very heroic, you know…!” “I am a hero!” was Kaitlin’s reply. “I’m fighting your tyranny the only way I know how!” “What are you talking about?! Ack, get out of the– nooo, all the coats…!!” “You Right-‘bots kidnaped me!” Kaitlin shouted as she hurled coats and jackets out of a nearby closet. “You stole me from my dad and my family! My dad hates you, and so do I!!” “Your dad…?” the blond girl asked as she started picking the garments up. Kaitlin stopped in he tracks and turned to face everyone. Then, she said the worst-possible-thing she could have… “I’m Dr. Wily’s housekeeper – Special Wily Number error: Kaitlin!!”

#gift #fan fiction #Mega Man #Dr. Chou Numbers #Electrical Disturbance #commercial characters #Thomas Light #Elecman #Roll Light #fan characters #kaitlinexe #Thundergirl #Kaitlin Wily #drama #suspense

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sonipanda · 6 years ago

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Now let’s be creating some little statements with a new brand! This company got in touch and wanted me to test out their products. At first, I thought they were a little different to what I was used to (mainly because they’re a thicker denier with different designs) but I really had to give them a go.

I have to say their whole brand is pretty quirky – and it’s something that is right up my street as long as I can style them right!

Oh and this is also Blog 1 of 2 – I have another one coming up for you all tomorrow 🙂

About 77Denari

77DENARI is an Italian line of tights & socks of Italian manufacture produced in limited edition.

The line has an experimental and at the same time ancient character: the tights, of an elastic nature, are in fact printed according to the original artisan method and with water colors, a technique in use for “still” supports of natural origin.

Every single graphic element has changed to a frame, thus becoming an absolutely prized piece, a unique piece, and the ethical-aesthetic choice of using water colors alone makes the product complex and innovative; therefore the study of colors, designs and print media are the result of a combination of ingenuity and magic, feasibility and disruption of the rules.

77denari was born in 2012 and is composed of 8 tights / stories per collection; starting from 2018, 77news grows and launches the Socks collection, and the “STRIPPANTI” Other Line.

The entire creative and printing process is carried out by the two founders of 77denari, Simona Berardi and Carla Armillei, and is inspired by the crude vision of geometric elements typical of the instinct of Nature.

77denari also boasts the collaboration of various artists working in the field of graphic design and illustration, photography, music, video and styling. Each of them supports the project becoming an integral part of the creative process; their participation opens the circle of possibilities towards still unexplored and seductive alchemies, and they contribute to creating, for the 77DENARI project, an imprint that is renewed over time.

The idea on which the project is based is the desire to give “beauty” an extra value, in which harmony and proportions of the parts go beyond the absolute, of time and memory, and focus on the “Physical soul” of intrigued consciences. In this case in fact the work is worn and moves: it walks, runs, dances and lives stories, reinterpreting the proposed contents with its own voice, and in the meantime creating a new identity.

Tights – talisman therefore, capable of breaking the classical scheme of gender and form and of ruffling with wonder.

A special thanks goes to the “DUEC Calzificio” and to our consultant Renato Altimani.

– taken from their website

The Spec

Colour: Cream

Style: #55

Size: One Size

Denier: 60

Materials: 85% polyamide, 15% elastane

Price: N/A

Website: 77Denari – A/W 18-19 #55

My Outfit

Instead of creating something loud, I thought I would incorporate the tights into my outfit. I wore my cream bodysuit paired with my teal skirt and added my mustard boots to finish off the look. You could easily pair any other colour footwear with them to create a colour block, but I wanted to fuse it altogether to create a piece 🙂

My Deets

Bodysuit: Pull & Bear

Skirt: H&M

Tights: 77Denari

Boots: New Look

The Review

From The Website: 77denari, for autumn-winter 18/19, explores the vast world of feelings, and the multiple points of view they can generate. Thanks to the senses, the body in fact receives information from the interior and exterior environment. They are accessing the world itself within us. Each of them has the ability to form a perceptual opinion before the action of intelligence.

We have been taught that there are five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, and that is anatomically, but also admits that we have a thermal sensitivity, and we know how to recognize the sense of well being, pain, or discomfort of the organism as a whole.

For this reason 77denarians have explored various currents, which have identified from 9 to 21. We have embraced 12 of them; precisely 7 more than the 5, through which we think we can fully experience our perception, and then transform us into what surrounds us, to try to increase that degree of cooperation, according to which individuals build together a reality and a shared truth.

– 100% made in Italy: the basic pantyhoses and socks are made by Italian manufacturer DUEC Calzificio located in Goffredo Castiglione;

– 100% handmade screen printing: no use of printer;

– composition: 85% polyamide and 15% elastane;

– one size fits all: the basic product is extremely elastic for sizes S-M-L;

– drawings only with water colors;

– limited edition: max 100 pieces for model;

– high resistance and durability of the design: hand washing at 30 degrees is recommended.

The Packaging: now I have to say how impressed I was with their packaging. They were sent in a super padded envelope, in 2 small boxes.

Very simple, but they are certainly different and I love it. Even though there isn’t much detail to them in terms of model, sizing, blurb about the hosiery etc, they still aren’t bad at all.

Getting Them On: now as the pattern is symmetrical on each leg, I took my time doing the scrunch and roll up the legs making sure I pair it as evenly as I can so I don’t have to do it again later.

These were fine rolling up the legs, and going over anklets. I had no issues at all – if anything they were super soft and so easily to glide right up.

On The Legs:

well all I can say is how funky are these?!?!?!

The quality of these are really good I have to say. They are such a gorgeous fit on the legs; even if they are a one size pair! They have so much stretch to them and really do hug the legs well. I expected them to be slightly loose, but in actual fact that is not the case!

They look like they are a block cream colour, but if you stretch them (like how they stretch on my thighs) they do go slightly lighter. You still do get really good leg coverage overall, but it’s something to note if you want a true opaque block colour.

The design is super awesome; I have done something similar a while ago with a Jonathan Aston pair (called Dynamic) which was black sheer with a black design and they really rocked. I love how they have worked the black and goldy-yellow colour at the side of the legs, which gives you the opportunity to actually pair up colours easily with it. As I mentioned, I kept with my mustard boots, but I could have easily done purple or blue (with a different skirt too) and it would just enhance the colour and design even more.

The only downside I had was that the print was a little off on the left leg; it’s like it got stuck and slightly peeled off a little. It’s nothing major but if I’m going into the nitty gritty details, that is something I picked up on when I got them out the packaging.

The fit of these are great; as I said for a one size pair, these are fab. I do feel it could fit up to a large size but you would be looking at a sheerer cream colour than a block opaque.

The feel of them are super soft and so nice on the legs. They’re smooth (both inside and out), they’re soft to touch and they really do caress the legs.

The Toes & Ankle: are also great. I expected some chunky seams around the toes creating little bumps around the ends but nothing of the sort. They fit and shape to the toes really nicely so you get a smooth looking finish. This also carries around the foot and up the ankles too.

You will find these will wrinkle slightly around the ankle due to the higher denier, but nothing too major.

I do think these are reinforced – and I will say that as the denier is quite thick so it would be pretty hard to create holes in these!

The Waistband: is so soft and so comfortable I don’t wanna take these off! I love the way they sat on the waist and actually just moved with me. They don’t fall down or move out of place once you set them, and they certainly don’t lose elasticity quickly either no matter how many times you pull them down and back up again.

It’s a proper comfort band, and I really like it!

My Thoughts?

I gotta say I really loved being in these. They were such an experience. I know most higher denier can be a hit or miss, but these are a pair which I would class as a luxe pair. I say this purely because of the way they are made, how they feel on the legs and the quality is just lovely. Trust me when I say when you roll these on, you instantly tell what they’re gonna be like for the next 10+ hours!

I am so looking forward to my 2nd pair I get to try out!

77Denari A/W 18-19 Cream Printed Tights Now let's be creating some little statements with a new brand! This company got in touch and wanted me to test out their products.

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talietikasero · 6 years ago

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So I’ve been working on a fic for a couple of months, and I thought I’d put it here because this site killed off external links. Formatting might be a little funky

Set during the events of Tekken 7, combining parts from Anna and Steve’s character stories. Picking up from Steve’s T7 ending and mixing in the updated story of Anna’s wedding being crashed by Nina. The idea is a what-if with the possibility that the two of them are still at the cathedral. I haven’t been able to fully write chapter 1, but it’s still a work in progress. Here’s part of what I’ve got that I’m willing to share here. Italic text in parentheses are internal dialogue.

__________

[“Come out! You can’t hide from us forever! We’ll find you!”]

“This was a mistake. I can’t keep this up.”

“Whoever this kid is, he can’t take them all on by himself.” With a firm grip on the railing, she readied herself and leapt over, landing next to a pillar that was near the cover the man had found. “Hey, are you alright? You’re not looking too good.”

“What in the hell. Who are you?”

“(Play it cool. Make a good first impression.) Can’t you tell? I’m your guardian angel. (You just lied through your teeth.)”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you can’t be serious… I can’t really see that. You may be wearing the same colors, but I don’t think I can fully trust someone I literally just met when other people are trying to kill me. Especially someone dressed in something like that. It looks nice though.”

“(He didn’t buy it.) Okay, okay. You got me. But I was about to ask you the same thing.” Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that a small stream of blood was trickling down. ”Are you, uh how do I put this. Are you sure you can keep fighting with that bullet in your left arm?”

“Shit! I didn’t even notice that.” He ran over to the pool and began to wash the blood off.

“Use the basin to wash it off. I think I have a small cloth you can use… to… clean it… or not. (Okay?) On second thought, maybe what you’re doing isn’t such a good idea.”

“They’ll get an unpleasant surprise for next time. What’ll happen? Satan is accidentally summoned?” He rinsed off what was left, leaving a trace amount in the water. “There, I think I stopped the bleeding. Where’s that thing you offered?”

“Here.” She took one of her pocket blades out and cut off an unconscious soldier’s uniform sleeve, noticing that there was a medical icon printed on it. “You managed to even take down their combat medic? You’re insane.” She tossed the cut cloth down and reached inside one of the uniform’s pouches to find an antibacterial gel packet, gloves, and a roll of gauze. “Hold out your arm. This isn’t the best idea, but it should help. Fair warning, this is probably going to sting. The best thing you can do is clean and dress your wound.”

“(Not letting my guard down just yet…) Thanks.”

“Do you have another shirt or a jacket?”

“Yeah, it’s on the staircase. Why?”

“Use your tank as a wrap.”

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“It’s a trick I’ve used before. Just trust me.”

“(Do I really have a choice here since you’re really the only one I can somewhat trust?) Okay?” He walked to the stairs to retrieve his shirt and started to roll up the left sleeve. “Never really had to do this before, but it’s better than having you cut this off too.”

“Hey, I only do that to enemies and people I don’t like.”

“I could use some privacy. Please turn around.”

“Alright.” She faced the other way as he changed clothes. “Lucky you, there aren’t any more of those guys right now. How long have you been here anyway?”

“I lost track. An hour? Three? Time’s lost to me… Done. Could you tie this?”

“(I think I’ve seen this kid around before.) Loose or snug?”

“Somewhere in-between so it doesn’t fall off or constrict.”

“Like this?”

“Perfect.”

[“Hey! He’s over there! And looks like he has backup! Take her out too!”]

“Oh, come on!”

“There’s no time for introductions, we’ll pick this up after the fight’s over.”

“Got it, that is if you don’t leave first!”

___________

“Nice work out there, kid. Now, what were you saying about ‘if I don’t leave first’?”

“The last woman in a dress I met here tried to kill me and ran off. By the looks of it, she crashed some wedding earlier.”

“Nina… That sister of mine is a bitch, I’ll give you that. She posed as me and assassinated who would’ve been my husband. Don’t know how or why everyone present didn’t know that it wasn’t me that walked down that aisle.”

“That explains the mess of bodies, blood, and broken glass back in the main hall. Wait, did you say she’s your ‘sister’?”

“Older by two years. Now that I think about it…” She studied the face before her, noting the striking similarities. “No, you can’t be. There’s no way you are-… (This is bizarre. Is he... her son?!)”

“(Oh my god?) Are we-?”

“Relatives?”

“Unbelievable. I’ve had a nephew this whole time?! I didn’t think anything of it, but were you part of-”

“If you’re going to end that question the way I think you are, the answer is yes. Unfortunately for me, I was. We can’t stay here. They’re going to send more after us.”

“Follow me. I know how to lose them. Start running!”

__________

[Chapter 2]

“There’s so many options. No wonder why this place is popular. That cherry tart looks good, but so does that strawberry one… ag Dia, I can’t decide.” Anna redirected her attention from the food display to see Steve more focused on the drinks than treats. “You look tired. Do you want something?”

“Anything would do. I’m not picky, so I’m fine with whatever you decide to get.” [New message received four minutes ago. “Hey, you’re still in Italy, right? My flight just landed.”] “I’m going to find a seat.”

“Two cappuccinos, espressos, cherry cream sodas, and cherry and strawberry tarts please.”

“Sure thing. Those’ll be right out.”

“Now, where did he go off to?” She took a quick look around, finding him seated on an armchair near the back, and made her way over. “We should be fine now that we blend in.” She checked her phone, with a text from Bruce waiting for her. [“Anna, where are you? I went to the cathedral and you weren’t there. Is everything alright? Please answer me.”] “Oh, good. He’s still in the country. ‘Bruce, don’t worry yourself. I’m still here, but in civilian clothes. Come to the café by our hotel.’”

Steve’s attention was fixed to his phone, reading and clearing the notifications. “‘Yeah. Wait, what are you doing here?’” [“Sightseeing. What else? You told me you were staying for a week or so.”] “’Oh, right. Uh, I’m at a café right between the airport and my hotel. Come meet me here.’” [“Got it. Give me a few minutes. I need to stop by the rentals.”] He looked up to see Anna seated across from him. “I appreciate the gesture, but you didn’t have to buy me a new outfit.”

“I gotta ask why the staff were pretty nice to you; it’s just like they met a celebrity. You don’t have to pay me back because it’s the least I could do after that stunt you pulled. You needed one since what you were wearing reeked of sweat and gunfire. It’s not often that I see someone take on the Force by themselves, let alone I help them. How’s your arm feeling?”

“To a level, I’m, uh, ‘famous’. It’s not as bad now but using my tank top as a temporary bandage wasn’t the worst solution. I’m pretty sure I’ve had worse injuries than this. Just that the main difference is I’m not in a café with a newly met family member and in a hospital. Though there was this one person I fought that gave me trouble…”

“It’s black. A little bit of blood is the least of your worries. A wash or two should do it. Would that work for your other shirt? Maybe, or maybe not. Although if it were on the chain print, it’d make a good rust effect.”

“I’ll try to keep that in mind, but please don’t try to ruin my clothes for the sake of ‘art’.”

“Your orders miss.”

“Grazie mille.” As the waitress left, Anna opened a sugar packet to mix in. As she was stirring, she cracked a smile. “Just in case you end up losing it, I know a guy that can build you a robotic one.” The comment was enough to make Steve wince. “What? I can’t have a good laugh? I’m kidding about that.” She sipped some of her coffee. “It’ll take some time, but wounds heal.” Another sip, and she placed the cup back on the saucer. “Would you like to try semi-formal introductions? Or would you like to tell me what you were doing there? An Italian cathedral isn’t where I’d think to run into someone like you.”

“Introductions? I think I can do that, but do you think this is a good idea with all these people near us? Not to be that person, but there might be a spy. I don’t think we’ve got them off our tails just yet.”

“You’ve got a point…” She glanced around and noticed all the other patrons minding their own business. “This shouldn’t get anyone’s attention but think of it as an exercise. I’ll start.” She cleared her throat and held her hand out. The two shook hands as she began. “My name is Anna Williams. I’m 41, an experienced assassin trained in the styles of Koppojutsu and Aikido, and I’m the secretary / bodyguard of Kazuya Mishima.”

“That was a lot to take in… My name’s Steve Fox. I’m 21, the current world middleweight boxing champion, and a former human experiment created by the Mishima Zaibatsu intended to be a super soldier for the Force. How many times have you heard that line?”

A couple seated nearby overheard and looked to see who it was. “Is that who I think it is? That couldn’t be… You should look because that voice sounds familiar.”

“Oh my god, it is! He hasn’t been seen anywhere for a while, but what’re the chances we see him here? Who’s that lady with him? A bodyguard? She’s pretty fashionable.”

“Can’t tell... We could ask him for a photo or to sign something for us.”

Anna caught the conversation and made eye contact. “I think you’ve got fans here.”

“I can hear.” Steve turned around to speak to them. “Do you two have a notebook that I can autograph? I’m really not one for photos.” One reached into their backpack to take out a pen and journal and handed it to him. “And here you are.”

“Thanks! We’re sorry to bother, but it’s nice to see you’re still around!” The couple gathered their belongings and left.

“I stand corrected and take back my last statement.” She watched as the couple exited and rejoined what she believed to be their tour group. “That was weird. How often does that happen?”

“When I first got my title? Too many times that I couldn’t even step outside of my flat without being hounded. But now? Rarely.” He picked up a fork and took a piece of the strawberry tart. “Wow, that is really good. I try not to eat sweets or anything junky that often, but I’ll just work it off like nothing next time my partner and I train.”

“Once in a while isn’t that bad, but good for you about staying on top of what you consume. Besides, you’ve had a rough day and you’re technically on vacation. Anyway, so that’s what the mark is for. Incredible, your story’s something right out of a comic book. Here’s another question: how did you get out? It must’ve been someone inside.”

“Did you ever meet a Dr. Kliesen? She was the closest person I had to a guardian angel. The other ‘doctors’ kept calling me some code, but she gave me my name. I wonder if she’s still alive.”

“I can’t recall; however, I do know a Dr. Bosconovitch. Old man created the Jack series and that pink haired robot that what’s his name with the anime hairdo travels with. Aria? Anastasia? Alisa? Something starting with ‘A’. Cute as a button, but you’d think chainsaws on her arms are overkill.” Hearing the words “chainsaws” and “arms” in the same sentence caused another nearby patron to perk their ears up.

“What’s this about a girl with arm saws?”

“They’re probably talking about some cartoon character.”

“Son of a bitch.” Anna muttered under her breath. “You wouldn’t think they’d have brushed it off as that though.”

“I did try to tell you be careful of what you say.”

“At least I don’t have to try and teach you how to think like me; you do need to be aware of your surroundings, of which I clearly wasn’t but I caught it immediately.”

“Pretty sure I do already; there was a time where I was trying to stay under the radar. Back to your other question: I was there looking for an answer. I got much more than I expected, but-”

“You can tell me. I’m here to listen.”

“But-…”

“It’s okay with me if you’d rather not say anything. I won’t get mad if you stay silent, but I’ve learned from experience that it’s better not to bottle it up.”

“I fought the Force to let her get away.”

“…”

“The silence is deafening. You are mad, aren’t you?”

“Not at all.”

“I’ve been told I’m too nice at times, even to the point of letting something like that happen. Even if we’ve got a relation that I went in knowing she’d reject.”

“(Quick, say something reassuring to help him feel better.) You can’t really tell exactly what she’s thinking. The only relation you two have is a non-consenting one, if you can even call it that. You didn’t ask to be ‘born’, but she didn’t ask to be put into cryo-sleep either for close to twenty years.”

“Explains why we look roughly the same age. Were you put into sleep as well?”

“(Oh good, it worked?) I volunteered. She was forced. I was woken up first. Decided to fuck her memories up too for the fun of it.”

“You two really hate each other, huh?”

“She is responsible for our father’s death. All these years later and we’re still fighting on whose fault it really was. We learned how to fight from them; your grandfather taught us Koppo, and your grandmother was the best person to learn Aikido from, being a world champion and all. Mom and I had a close relationship…”

“…Is she still alive?”

“Neither of us know. I think I have something that’ll interest you, while we’re still here.” Reaching into her tote, she took out her work laptop and set it on the table. “The Zaibatsu has files on everyone who’ve participated in the tournaments.” She powered it on and entered her login info. “You, me, our friends, and even the dead.”

“T-the dead?”

“Oh yeah. For example, those men in jaguar masks. The names remain the same, but they’re not the ones from years past.” There was a Zaibatsu logo icon with the label [participants]. “Skimmed theirs and the armored one is the younger brother of the original; the other was an orphan the first took care of.” Anna typed the surnames “Fox” and “Kliesen” into the search bar; the latter returned one result for a “Leo”.

“Oh. I never would’ve guessed.”

“Here.” She rotated the screen towards him. “This one’s yours and I think I found the one for your guardian angel’s child. Says someone recently got to it.”

He tuned out the surrounding noise to focus. “Mostly everything’s correct. Nothing’s actually changed since the last time I checked this.” He scrolled for a few seconds until something caught his eye. “Oh, that’s new. They know that I destroyed that one lab.” [Last accessed 15:34:55, one month ago.} “(What the-…)”

Anna raised one brow and tilted her head to the right. “That was you?”

“It was a while ago, but yeah.” He swapped over to the file labeled “L. Kliesen” and skipped to the “family” section. [Family: Mr. Kliesen (father, status unknown), Dr. Emma Kliesen (mother, deceased.)] Reading that one word listed next to presumably the last photo taken of her made his heart sink further down. Trying to prevent his voice from cracking, he muttered to himself. “’Deceased.’ That’s…”

[“Don’t worry. You’re going to be okay. Please remember that. I’m sorry, but I have to go.”]

“Are you alright?” She asked in a concerned tone.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to take any additional damage today, but here I am. She’s gone. The one person who treated me like a human is gone.” His face was blank, but she could sense the mixed repressed emotions.

“My apologies, but am I interrupting something?”

“Bruce? What are you doing here?”

“Huh, I didn’t think to meet you with Anna of all people, in Italy of all places. Small world isn’t it?”

“To put it bluntly, she’s my aunt.”

“So, you’re Ni-”

“Yes.” Anna lightly elbowed his side. “Please, don’t finish that sentence.”

A young man wearing a dark blue shirt, brown jacket with the sleeves rolled up with shoes of the same color, khaki pants, and aviator sunglasses entered the café. “Yo! There you are.”

“Oh? A friend of yours?”

“Close friend.” Hwoarang repositioned his sunglasses to the top of his head. Turning over to Anna, something clicked about her. “You look familiar. Have we met before?”

“Don’t believe we have, but I’ve seen you around.” She recalled that his hair was more of a red-orange and that he wore goggles. “Wasn’t your hair a different color? You’re one of Kazama’s ‘friends’, aren’t you?”

“It was, but someone can only consistently dye their hair for so long. Also, yeah, if you wanna say that.”

“Going natural, huh? If I’m being honest, that streak you’ve got suits you.”

“You’re too kind.”

“You’ll have to excuse him.” Steve remarked as he drank his espresso. “He’s a real try-hard when it comes to first impressions.”

“I’m working on it.”

“I’m sure you are.”

Anna couldn’t keep herself from giggling. “You two sound like an old married couple.”

“At this point, we might as well be.”

“Look at that, there’s already a ring. When’s your special date?” Bruce couldn’t keep a straight face. “I’m sure we’d be available by then. Isn’t that right, Anna?”

“Oh absolutely.”

“God no. Don’t give him any ideas.”

__________

[Chapter 3]

“We’re on the next floor. If you two need anything, just come to room 1211.”

“Thanks. Are you two doing anything tomorrow? We were thinking of going on a tour or just wander the city.”

“We’ll let you know.”

“Alright then. Have a good night.” Lightly shutting the door, he fought off tiredness to walk enough distance to safely drop face first onto the mattress. The softness muffled his voice. “It’s only 8pm and I am exhausted.”

The room was quiet, with the only sound coming from a running shower. Five minutes passed, and the water stopped.

“That was much needed. I feel completely refreshed.” Hwoarang stepped into the room with a towel wrapped around his waist. He noticed Steve fast asleep with his head between two pillows. “Huh. Today must’ve been rough for you, eh?” He picked up the clothes laid out and went back into the bathroom. Examining himself in the mirror, the area around his right eye was still visibly damaged despite treatment. “Fuck. That’s not going away any time soon.” He put on some loungewear, exited again, and sat on one of the room’s chairs with his legs resting on the left arm. “That’s new, a few more notifications than I usually get. Package delivery update, something from Xiaoyu, and… oh.” The last notification was a message from the hospital Baek was admitted to. “Please be okay…”

Fifteen more minutes had passed, and Steve woke up. He rubbed his eyes and sat upright. “How long have I been out?”

“About ten minutes? Twenty, maybe? Just so we’re on the same page here, that woman from earlier is your aunt?”

“Yeah, how we met is by a strange coincidence…” He stood up and stretched for a few seconds. “She told me today was supposed to be her wedding, how it went downhill because of who I tracked down to the same cathedral posed as her and turned it into a war zone.” He walked towards the closet and took out one of the coat hangers. “What’s weirder is that we booked rooms at the same hotel.”

“It might be more than just that. There must’ve been a reason as to how and why you two met today after all this time. When I first entered, she was one of the people I saw also participating but we never fought; she was always set to go against some lady in a purple suit. Then you showed up and she was absent?”

“Huh, I never noticed that last bit you just said. Then again, can’t really say I was fully paying attention because there were a lot of people trying to kill me at the time. My focus was just staying alive.” He took off the new jacket Anna had bought for him and hung it up. “You’re starting to sound like some street-side fortune teller. I mean, you may be right, but I can’t just jump to a ‘this is all laid out in the stars’ conclusion.”

“Just throwing something else in there to try and make it interesting. And before you ask, no I don’t have a deck of tarot cards in my luggage. How’d you get this room anyway? Did your adoptive parents put in a good word for you?”

“Nah. I’ve been to my fair share of luxury hotels, mostly from travelling to fights. The front desk recognized who I was and gave me a discount.” A cold compress was taken out of a mini first aid kit the hotel provided upon request. “You’re not looking too well. This should help.”

“For someone who’s a degree of famous, you still amaze me at how you don’t let it get to your head.”

“It’s just a title, something I can keep a hold of for a while. Hold still!”

“Ow! Steve, what the hell!”

“Stop making sudden movements while I’m trying to treat your eye injury.”

“Okay, okay. How does it look?”

“Not as bad now. It may take more time than you’d expect, but just be patient.”

“Or it could just become part of me, like how your scar’s your most ‘defining’ feature.”

“That’s… oddly sweet of you?”

“I almost forgot. I got you something.” He reached into the duffle bag placed on the table and took out a small teddy bear dressed in a pilot uniform that was holding a heart. “Saw it at the airport and thought you might like it.”

“You didn’t have to but thank you.”

“Happy late Valentine’s Day.”

Meanwhile in their own room, Anna kicked off her flats and sat down on her bed. She broke open a small wooden box, pulled out a bottle, and poured herself a glass of what would’ve been her wedding gift wine. Gently swirling the alcohol, she glanced over at Bruce, who was busy checking his laptop for everything from unread emails to how the G Corp military were doing in his absence. “Can’t let this go to waste. Would you like any?”

“Not much of a wine person, but I’ll just have the amount you poured.” Another glass was taken out, and the two made a small toast. Bruce sipped from his, whereas Anna downed hers.

Taking a second to settle, she cleared her throat. “Bruce, how do you know him?”

“Who? Your nephew?”

“Who else would I be talking about? Yes, him.”

“I forget you can drink more than humanly possible and still function. To answer your question, the fifth tournament. He was your usual cocky kid that thinks they could take anyone down. Had to beat some sense into him, now we’re acquaintances.”

“Damn, I do have a lot to catch up with. Any word from Kazuya yet? How’s he faring without us and against his own fucked up family?”

“He actually did it.”

“No. You’re kidding.”

“I’m not when I say that he finally got rid of his old man. I wasn’t there, but I heard from the soldiers who were around the perimeter.”

“And now Kazuya Mishima has solidified his image as the hero in this ongoing war.”

“There’s still that bastard son of his. As far as I’m aware, he’s lost his bodyguards.”

“Both of them? I knew Nina’s gone because she has no loyalty for an employer, even if they are a big name. What about the other? Did he leave because of the lie he was promised? I feel a little bad for that girl…”

“No idea.” Bruce opened the files with the names “E. Gordo” and “C. Monteiro” attached. “Says here her grandfather was his master, he was dying, and there’s a note with ‘Zaibatsu scientists unable to provide critical medical care; patient is now deceased’. The man was a Capoeira legend.”

“Why did you decide to accompany me anyway? I understand that he was one of your soldiers and that Kaz was busy.”

“Aside from him asking me to have your back, I don’t think those girls would’ve been up for the job.”

“Who were they again? There’s that nature lover and now the cat pop star.”

“Julia Chang and some kid that goes by the name Lucky Chloe. As dreadful as she is, the cat’s made a fool of Gordo.”

“Vid or it didn’t happen.”

“Pour yourself another glass then.” Bruce searched through the helipad’s surveillance footage and found the “match” between Chloe and Eddy. “Watch this.”

[“Step it up a gear, old man! You’re gonna be my backup dancer, so don’t mess this up!”

“O-old man…?”

“You got a problem? You lost and you’re still gonna gimme attitude? Again! ‘It’s me, Lucky Chloe!’ Hey, you think I’m doin’ this ‘cause I wanna? This job isn’t as easy as it looks! You’re workin’ with a professional now! Get with the program, hair-for-brains! Again! ‘It’s me, Lucky Chloe!’ No, no, no! Your hand goes like this, and your hips like this! Oh, and when we do this for real, you’re wearin’ a girly costume.”]

“Haha! Well, she is good for something now.”

“Then there’s that Chang girl. I know she’s valuable to us, but that’s steadily decreasing.”

“His half-brother and the fembot ‘rescued’ her.”

“Funny how she’s adopted but looks almost identical to Michelle.”

“You really do get bored and read up on everyone, huh? How do you think Michelle’s holding up?”

“Don’t know but most likely still hates the Mishimas. Says here she’s been on and off the radar since the attacks all those years ago but has taken up a side gig with Julia. They’re a mother/daughter wrestling team.”

“Figured and that’s good for both. Someone’s got to take down those big guys, and what better team to do so than those two. The big bald one tried to hit on me a while back.” She looked at the photos and compared how little Michelle’s aged. “Wow, time’s been really nice to her. What’s her secret?”

“Probably sold her soul to Ogre to retain her youth. The pendant she was attacked for was able to control him. Like a witch, but in a good way.”

“Oh, you’ve got jokes now.”

“I’ve had them, you just haven’t been around me long enough to hear any.”

____________________

[Notes per chapter:

C1: I can’t write a fight scene to save my life OTL. If you look at the stage layout, there’s a small pool of water on the ground floor / right under the starting balcony.

C2: “ag Dia” is Irish for “by God”. Since the exact location of Duomo di Sirio isn’t specified, a friend and I came up with the idea that it’s set in or at least near Rome and/or Vatican City. The outfit for Hwoarang I described is his new “casual” outfit from T7. Upon close detail inspection, there is actually a ring he wears on his right hand. I improvised Dr. K’s words and Leo’s file.

C3: I picked Chloe’s version of the fight and actually copied the dialogue from it. The “wedding wine in a wooden box” comes from an idea I saw my cousin and her husband do at their wedding: place a bottle inside with letters of what they loved about each other, with the condition “only open in case of a fight” so they can be reminded of why they’re together in the first place while enjoying some wine. Hopefully this note clears it up. The validity of this is questionable, but I put Anna’s birthdate (December 11) as her hotel room number.]

#my half assed writing skills #wip #fanfic #tekken #tekken 7 #starring:#anna williams #steve fox #and featuring later on:#bruce irvin #hwoarang

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secret-diary-of-an-fa · 4 years ago

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Crash Bandicoot 4: Better Than You’d Expect (a Review)

Right, you horrible lot. I promised you a review of Crash Bandicoot 4 and, as I appear to be the last stable person and/or thing in the chaos of modern Britain, I suppose I had better deliver. I would say something about Xmas, but what with this being International Year of the COVID Virus, there sort of wasn’t one. With that in mind: Crash 4- what, why and is it any good?

As a kid, I used to really like the Crash Bandicoot games on the old PS1: the levels were beautiful and imaginative (although, to this day, the ‘Road To Nowhere’ level and its sequel in Crash 1 can fuck right off), the characters were funny and compelling and the move-set was entertainingly bonkers. Naturally, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (and yes, that is the real title) pushed my Nostalgia Button even faster and harder than I’d push Boris Johnson down and endless flight of stairs, given half a chance. It helps that it’s superbly well-made by a developer that clearly cares deeply about the games and not just the selling power of their brand name.

The game is a direct sequel to the original three Crash games and sweeps the intervening efforts from lesser developers under the great rug of history. For the most part, this is probably wise considering that their quality usually hovered somewhere between ‘sewage’ and ‘being trapped at a Beyonce concert without a cyanide pill’ (yes, Internet, I still hate Beyonce. Just because I haven’t mentioned it in awhile, doesn’t mean I’ve warmed to the catawalling bint or her irritating ubiquity on otherwise-acceptable supermarket mix tapes. That would require a frontal lobotomy and the removal of my ears, but I digress). I do think it’s a bit unfair on Crash: Twinsanity, which at least had an interesting core gameplay concept and some funny dialogue, even if it wasn’t very well-realised on the mechanical level. But ho-hum: I can nit-pick later during the loose ‘what I didn’t like’ section- these early paragraphs are meant to be mainly praise.

The actual plot concerns an escape attempt by Neo Cortex and N. Tropy, who were apparently trapped at the beginning of time after the events of Crash 3. News to me: I guess you had to collect all the hidden extras to see that ending and, while the 90s were a much slower decade, I still didn’t have time for that shit, even back then. Anyway, they break back into the timeline, in the process shattering reality itself and forcing Crash to make his way across the multiverse and different worlds at different points in history in order to stop them. There’s not a lot of complexity there, but as a justification for having the levels all be radically aesthetically different and providing a jumping-in premise for fan favourite characters, it’s a plot that does its job. Despite it’s simplicity, it’s also offered up with a surprising number of twists, fun cut-scene asides and surprising little narrative flourishes. The re-introduction of Tawna (Crash’s girlfriend from the first game who was tastefully removed after the original developers fired Kevin The Furry from their team) is kind of sweet and handled pretty neatly. And I mean that in the sense of ‘aww, that’s sweet’ not ‘Ah, sweet, bro’, just to be clear. She’s obviously not the same character from the original games, but the developers have taken care to give her enough quirks and entertaining lines that she’s not just the standard ‘Badass Action Girl’ trope made flesh. The levels that where you get to play as Cortex and get into the head of a cartoon evil genius are fun, too, even if they don’t tell us anything about the character we couldn’t have figured out for ourselves.

As with the original games, the worlds and levels have a really idiosyncratic and stylish look. Just looking at the scenery is a blast. My personal favourites are a level clearly based on New Orleans in the middle of Mardi Gras, the planet Bermagula and basically all of the levels set in a Crash-ised version of Feudal Japan.

As nice as the levels are to look at, they’re mostly pleasant to play through, too, with a staggering variety of different gameplay elements coming together to create intricate challenges. That said, I should stress that the phrase ‘mostly pleasant’ comes with a massive, throbbing caveat, which brings us neatly to the designated gripes and nitpicks section of this review.

You see, while the levels are mostly well-designed, there are individual platforming challenges that just lump too much together for any normal person to keep track of and then demand that you solve them at speed and they break the delicate, wafer-thin boundary between ‘fair challenge’ and ‘taking the piss’. Actually, the incidents of this phenomena towards the start of the game take the piss. By the later levels, they’ve graduated to demanding other bodily fluids, too, such as tears and blood. I feel like the developers were a bit too in love with the original games’ reputation for punishing difficulty and got into a bad habit of opting for design choices that emulated it over design choices that were fun.

I also feel that, considering the game takes place across a time-shattered multiverse, the levels might have been a bit more varied. Don’t get me wrong, there are some gorgeous and brilliantly creative worlds on offer in Crash 4, and every level is a visual blast. However, with the single, solitary exception of Bermagula, every alternate universe you visit is ultimately a reflection of something familiar from our own world or culture. N. Sanity Beach is… well, it’s just a tropical beach with generically tribal ruins a bit further inland. The Hazardous Wastes are just an off-brand post-disaster planet Earth that owes more than a little to the Mad Max franchise and where you’ve definitely seen every individual component before (even if they’ve never been assembled in such a Crash-y way until now). Then there’s the made-entirely-of-pirate-tropes world, the Japan-but-not-really world, the Inevitable Fucking Ice World (which keeps getting included in games despite the fact that uncontrollable sliding is even less fun in precision platformers than it is in real life) and the Generically Futuristic City world, because the old Crash games had them so this one has to as well. None of these worlds are bad- like I said, I enjoyed all of them, and the others that didn’t quite merit an honourable mention besides. It’s just that I feel like greater flights of fancy could have been taken: we could have seen some truly alien geography and architecture; viewed whole of evolutionary timelines, all through the lens of Crash’s brilliantly slick, cartoony art-style. The only truly ‘out there’ world we visit is Bermagula, which takes up precisely one fucking level, then that’s your lot: it’s back to Crash-y versions of Earth locales.

I’m also not a big fan of the ‘gems’ system. Yes, it’s great that developers chose to use the gems that were such a big part of previous games to unlock funky little cosmetic bonus costumes for the playable characters. On the other hand, the outfits you unlock should be tied to the number of gems you have overall, not your ability to collect certain numbers from specific levels. That way, your wardrobe would be a measure of your general skill at the game, not of which levels’ platforming challenges you were most willing to put up with for multiple play-throughs.

I’m tempted to compare all this to the superlative one-two punch that was Rayman: Origins and Rayman: Legends- two of the best platforming games ever made. With the exception of a couple of fuck-off unreasonable boss fights, the platforming challenges in those games were perfectly, legitimately fair. Insanely tough sometimes, but fair. Their level and world design also nailed the ‘weird-as-fuck flight of fancy’ vibe as well. Even the Inevitable Fucking Ice World in those games had the decency to throw in some giant cocktail umbrellas and slices of lemon to make you feel like you were ice-skating your way through the world’s biggest Martini while a fucking dragon in a chef’s hat tried to bit a mountain in the background. They also tied cosmetic unlocks to overall performance.

None of this is to say that Crash 4 isn’t good, it’s just that it doesn’t quite measure up to the gold standard set by the Rayman: Origins and its sequel. If it helps, think of it like comparing The Talos Principle to Portal. Yes, the former is good, but it’s never going to outshine the latter’s star. I recommend Crash 4, but if the last platformer you played was the undeniable high water mark of either of the Raymans, just remember to adjust your filters going in.

Before I go, does anyone else find it funny that these games have such colourful, kiddy-friendly aesthetics and characters yet demand a level of competence and coordination that’s usually only achieved by more seasoned, grown-up gamers? I mean, there are challenges in Crash 4- admittedly optional ones- that might one day be completed only if a being comes into existence that has the reflexes of a supercomputer crossed with a surprised feline and is made entirely out of thumbs.

And on that horrifying mental image, I must say goodnight. Tune in next time for my usual end-of-year roundup.

#Secret Diary of a Fat Admirer #Crash 4 #Crash Bandicoot 4 #Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time #game review #review

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alexanderwrites · 7 years ago

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Hack Job: Why Were Hacker Movies Ever A Thing?

Lately i’ve been thinking about that weird and almost completely failed subgenre of movie that attempted to light up the LCD screens of our hearts, but instead faded like a broken computer screen: the hacker film. Now, I could ask what good the sub-genre has ever done for us, but the answer to that is clear and just a few inches above this block of text. The genre birthed this iconic Matthew Lillard role from the movie Hackers, in which he plays a (wait for it!) hacker named...erm...Cereal Killer. Because....he likes Cereal? Sure, lets go with that! He’s a character described by June Diane Raphael on an episode of the podcast How Did This Get Made? as “Disgusting”, and she is not completely wrong. He is disgusting, bizarre and the strangest character Lillard has played, and i’m including Shaggy in the live action Scooby Doo films. He’s a character that must be experienced, and once experienced, never forgotten. I mean - you’ve seen what he fucking looks like.

But my point remains: outside of Cereal Killer (I am bolding his name because he is an Important Man), the genre has offered up very little to the world. I admittedly know nothing at all about hacking, and I don’t care at all about Hacking, like, i’d presume, 90% of people currently residing here on earth. But I cannot imagine that people who love Hacking (or Hacker Fuckers, if you will) queuing up to see Hackers, a film that thinks this is what the internet looks like:

Now, i’m no city-slickin’ mouse-clickin’ hacker, but I don’t think that’s what the internet looks like. I could be wrong, and character actor Fisher Stevens (I was about to write “beloved” character actor, but then I remembered Short Circuit) could be skating through a flashing pillar of internet right now. It’s a cool thought! Hackers came along in 1995, when future optimism was higher than it had been in years, as everyone believed the tech-bubble would never burst (spoiler alert: it did!) and that the new millennium would bring a world of positive changes and possibilities. The poor, innocent souls of 1995 could never have possibly imagined the true horrors waiting for them on the other side of the millennium...

But before Fred Durst became a thing in a hat that you had to look at, technology was booming, affordable and exciting. You got transparent Macs that allowed you to see through into the mechanical nonsense inside it. The new fangled e-mail gave us (I don’t know why i’m saying “us”. I was 3 years old in 1995. Babies don’t get emails) all the opportunity to open your email and then close it again as many times as you liked! So this is what producers saw when they started making movies like Hackers. They put their strongest marketing minds together and came up with “People got computers now. Make comPUTER FILM!”. Those wild bastards actually went and did it! And weirdly, Hackers was kinda ahead of its time. It might’ve been wildly inaccurate in almost every possible way, but it paved the way for a wave of (well, like 3) films. The Matrix wouldn’t be released for another 4 years, and Swordfish a further 2. If it did incite a trend, it was the only trend started by Director Iain Softley, his later film K-Pax tragically failing to kick start a new genre of films in which Kevin Spacey eats bananas with their skins still on.

Good stuff! Hackers does feel like a film that is unsure of whether it’s trying to replicate fads or start them off. I mean, characters rollerblade everywhere for no apparent reason in the film. That might be something Hackers do? I’ve never seen Mr Robot, so I cannot categorically say that Rami Malek doesn’t rollerblade his way around town like a Starlight Express extra who really hates computers. But I doubt it. So with the rollerblading, and the way....ugh...Cereal Killer dresses, it seems like the film is offering you up its own funky ideas that you could follow on from if you want to get murdered on the streets. Did its aesthetic style have influence? Was the game Jet Set Radio from 2000 and its rollerblading theme influenced at all by Hackers? Did Eminem see Johnny Lee Miller’s bleached blonde hair in the film (quick deeply important side note: his character is named Dade. DADE.) and think “huh. that would really compliment my insufferable personality!”? We’ll never know. The film is a weird exercise in style and trends, and the soundtrack, crammed with The Prodidgy and Underworld, is proof that at least the soundtrack department had its finger on the pulse. And, it could be argued that the film’s costume department at least came up with some creative cyber-punk clothing, and were bold enough to make Penn Jillette look like this:

The thing is, I liked the weirdness of it all, I like this misfires in capturing modern life, and inaccuracy doesn’t bother me really if a film is fun enough. I’m not a stickler for realism. I didn’t sit down to Face/Off and complain that it’s totally unbelievable that John Travolta is a human person. That’s not the issue. The issue, really is that with all the giant screen Playstations, pounding trance tracks and references to Coca Cola (weird, I thought Mountain Dew would be the Hacker’s choice), the film is in troubled water because of the fact that Hacking is unbelievably, deeply fucking boring. It is not interesting in seeing someone go clickety clack on a keyboard and make occasional faces to indicate that “oh no! the mainframe is busting my chops!” or “Huzzah! I clicked the mouse really fast just now!”.

Thankfully, the film has some fairly decent editing which intersperses the clickety-clacking with some long exposure, sped up shots of New York City just in case you forgot it was the 90′s. The fact that they need to cut away to exciting, zooming shots that have nothing to do with anything highlights the fact that the Director and Editor knew exactly what i’m talking about: HACKING IS FUCKING BORING (if you’re a hacker reading this, please don’t hack me). And they’ve built an entire film around it! A whole nonsensical plot which involves (as far as i can remember) big ships and evil corporations that want to sink the big ships is built on Hacking. Thank god this film is so wildly ridiculous, which keeps it from being entirely boring. It’s smart in that it knows to not make the film actually about hacking, but then you kind of ask yourself the question: why is this film about Hacking at all? Why is it called Hackers? Maybe a better name would’ve been ‘Bladin’ Teenz’, as an ode to their endless rollerblading. It’s a fun film, but a dumb film and proof that films entirely about hacking cannot really work.

The Matrix was a wise film. Exploiting that hip, late-90s techno excitement that everyone was buzzing over, it featured a hacker at its centre who really doesn’t do much hacking at all. In fact, Morpheus might as well have said “You Hack? Dude fucking grow up. Come on, i’ll make you a treat”. Sure, you’ve got the iconic green gibberish that turns up on the computers and would inspire a million shitty screensavers, but again the hacking is intercut with other action going on in the film. You have characters typing away and yelling shit like “I’m nearly in!” or “i’m not nearly in!” or “I am unsure of whether I am, in fact, in, nearly in, or not nearly in!”. But that is manageable and minimal, and in the end there’s so much more to remember about The Matrix that I don’t think anyone, when asked what it’s about, would say “Oh it’s about Keanu Reeves hacking on his dell”. It understood this caveat, and created its own style which would influence every single music video ever produced over the next 5 years.

These are screenshots from the video for Don’t Wanna Let You Go by 5ive, a very bad UK Boy-band that had 4 singers and 1 rapper, all of whom it’s safe to assume have passed away.

The Matrix had the style, and the smarts to sidestep bland hacking scenes. You know what film doesn’t understand that hacking is boring? Fucking Swordfish.

Fucking Swordfish. A film so aesthetically ugly and repulsive in every way that it does the unthinkable and makes you hate Hugh Jackman. But it commits the biggest sin of all by giving John Travolta a teeny tiny beard - a decision which we still feel the fallout from today, whenever a new red carpet photo arrises of John’s new chin abomination.

Looking like a cup of concentrated Michael Bay piss, the film leans heavily into stylishness - or lack thereof. Hugh Jackman is basically...sigh...DADE in the movie, and Travolta is regularly outfitted with funny sunglasses. It borrows a lot from Hackers, but while that had a naive, 1995 goofy charm, Swordfish is an aggressively stupid and oblivious movie, that gives us a LOT of Hacking. Like...so much Hacking. The Most Hacking. Oh, The Fucking Hacking. Its a reminder of just how boring Hackers or The Matrix could’ve been if they’d fallen into the wrong hands, and a big, horribly colour-corrected reminder that films about hacking really aren’t the best. Instead of cutaways of cityscapes, Swordfish tries to build the tension during one hacking scene in the grossest way possible: by having Hugh Jackman’s character receive forced fellatio while he works, and while John Travolta smiles. It doesn’t make a boring scene exciting, it makes a boring scene fucking disgusting (the movie’s grossness doesn’t stop there. Halle Berry was heavily pushed into taking her top off in the movie, and promised extra money if she did it.). The Hackers method of randomised cutaways feels a million miles away during these scenes, and you will be willing to pay any earthly sum to make the scene unfolding in front of you stop. Maybe that’s how hackers should make their money from here on in: stop hacking, and just start blackmailing people by forcing them to watch Swordfish. Fucking Swordfish.

The movie was also a bit of a death knell for a subgenre that never really took off. People realised “Oh, this is dull and crap to watch!” when it came to hacking, and technology moved on rapidly that there was a lot more to do with it than watch some guy slapping the keys of his iMac. I find it a really interesting subgenre to look back at, because i’m a huge fan of outdated technologies, fashion styles, turn of the millennium culture, and really quite poor films (besides The Matrix which holds up nicely). Hollywood has tried to make a manner of subjects interesting. Stock markets. Fishing. White people who buy zoos. Some work, some don’t, and it’s all about the way the subject is handled. Because of their reliance on technology, these hacking films feel so dated that maybe Hollywood doesn’t want to risk dipping its toes back into the cyberwaters again. I kind of hope they don’t, because I would literally rather never see a film again than have to even know that a film about Anonymous is being made. I don’t want an ‘edgy’ modern movie that’s made for Banksy to watch while he plunges his hands down his pants and goes to town. I want silly old Cereal Killer and towers of nonsense computer language dammit! I want rollerblading, coke-drinking cyberpunks! Oh well. Whatever happens to the genre, at the very least, we’ll always have Dade and The Gang....

#hackers #johnny lee miller #matthew lillard #the matrix #swordfish #technology #film trends #film

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thrilla-in-mcgilla · 6 years ago

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THE FINAL POST

To everyone who thought that this blog was dead, you were mistaken. Yes, I have risen from the emotional shambles that was moving out of residence, and as I [start to] write this post I will be sleeping in my bed in BDot for the first time of the summer. Essentially, with this post, I’m hoping to hit some of the highlights of the year, but mostly it’s just going to turn into one long [and I mean looooong] sappy post dedicated to all of the friends that I’ve made along the way. So buckle your seatbelt ladies and gents and let me walk you through my first year of university.

One of the things that always gave us something to look forward to was going to Arvind’s concerts. If you remember, Arvind is my friend who is in the music program at McGill, and he plays the flute [most of the time at least]. The first concert of his that we went to was on November 2nd, but we went to many more throughout the year. In second semester, Arvind wasn’t placed in one of the major ensembles, which was very upsetting, but also meant that we got to see him perform in the university chorus, yes that means singing. All of us marked it down in our calendars, and I thankfully captured the song with hand motions on video [Come Sweeeeeeeet Death]. Despite being constantly challenged by his teachers, Arvind definitely pushed through first year and is no doubt on his way to becoming the best flutist at McGill.

Towards the end of our first semester, we started having frequent game nights, where uno was by far the most popular pick. Through our game nights, many new catchphrases were created, such as: “oh is that not good for you?”, “cAn’t gO?”, “don’t trust Michael, don’t trust Michael [to the tune of frere jacques]”, “eeYEAHHH”, and many more that I’m probably forgetting. This was especially helpful to help us all deal with the stress of final exams, and “uno in 503?” was a question that would often appear in our group chat [503 was Anna and Sayaka’s room number]. I know, I know, really? You guys stayed in to play uno instead of going out to some party? Most of the time, yes. I can’t believe it either.

Soon after first semester was over, the Owl’s Nest realized that our residence’s dining hall was just not going to cut it for the rest of the year, and we started eating at other dining halls much more frequently. Speaking of food, group outings became a defining feature of my friend group, and we would often plan dinners or brunches at our favourite restaurants weeks in advance [so that we could save our money haha]. Universel was definitely our favourite breakfast place, and I’m pretty sure all of us took our parents and friends there whenever they were in town. Fisshu, although we only went twice, was a delicious sushi restaurant, oh my goodness I can taste the maki from here, yum. Moving on to the more classic university experience, late night trips to Tims, or orders from Chef on Call [their veggie burger gets an A+ from Michael, Sena and I], were probably a little too frequent than we’d like to admit. Yes, that’s right everyone I am still not eating meat, and I’m quite proud of that fact so please try not to eat chicken wings in front of me or I might cry (I won’t eat them though, Michael stop judging me).

As I mentioned in my last post ions ago, I was a part of Hall Council this year. After the Halloween event, we had many more successes. We hosted two coffee houses [like mini talent shows], a winter formal, another beer pong tournament, a residence wide month long elimination game called Gotcha, a free food event, and a “Flashback to Frosh” event. I’ll insert videos of my friends and I performing at coffee house, I have some talented pals let me tell you! While hall council meetings were almost always a little bit chaotic, and we had our fair share of drama, I wouldn’t give up my experience on it for the world. We had so much fun running events for our peers, and I got to spend so much more time with my friends doing things that we love [i.e. being in charge haha]. Our council advisors said that we were one of the most cohesive councils that they’ve ever worked with, and I think that our ability to work well together really showed. Even though we were a group of almost 30 people, which was challenging at some times, we really made things happen. Between running our own events, and going to the events hosted by other councils, we all had a really good time within the residence community and I’m really thankful for that.

(Sena helping me set up the photo booth for the winter formal)

(A VERY low quality photo of Sena, Anna, Myself and Emma [wolves], at IRC’s Blackout, Whiteout event)

(Kaya and I tabling for ERC’s sustainable eating initiative)

(Anna and I at the Flashback to Frosh event)

(Emma [wolves], myself and Anna at IRC’s Wine and Cheese night)

(My delicious beverage and I at our final council outing)

(The entirety of Hall Council at the Halloween event)

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(Coffee House performances)

Moving on to RezWarz, which I mentioned in one of my very first posts, there were several events throughout the year that contributed to the accumulation of RezWarz points. The first notable one is the IronChef competition. A team from each of the residences [or most of them], competed against each other in a cooking competition, where they had to cook both a protein and a vegetarian plate within a time limit, making sure to incorporate a few of the mystery ingredients. My friend Anna [who you should recognize from previous posts] competed alongside my friends Himanshu and Flemming, and they WON! It was very exciting for everyone involved, other than them who were actually competing because they didn’t even want to win! The winners of the first round would represent McGill in the next level, which was taking place at the University of Massachusetts. While they were very reluctant at first because of the time commitment that competing would mean, they decided to go, and they even got third place! Winning the IronChef competition was pretty remarkable for a few reasons. For one thing, C4 does not have any kitchens for students to use, so Anna, Flemming and Himanshu had to practice for RezWarz in another residence’s kitchen, and only for a few hours. Additionally, winning the IronChef competition meant a TON of RezWarz points, putting Carrefour Sherbrooke in FIRST PLACE. But this was not the last competition, so we had to fight really hard to try to stay on top.

(Anna, Himanshu, and Flemming holding their prizes!)

Our final RezWarz challenge was to create a lipdub, which, if you’re unfamiliar, is basically a crazy upbeat video where a bunch of people dressed in funky outfits lipsync to the camera in one take. C4 had managed to hold its lead in RezWarz up till this point, but it was really important that we made a really awesome video in order to secure the win. I had always wanted to make a lipdub video, so I kind of made this project my baby, with the help of wolves [that’s what we call my friend Emma if you haven’t caught on by now]. After making the track that we would be lipsyncing to, creating a shotlist of where each song would take place, and assigning the people who would “sing” each part, it was time to film. Filming, while very tiring, and not quite as crisp as I would’ve liked it to be, was a success. I then poured the rest of that night into editing and after probably around 15 hours total working on the lipdub, it was complete. The winners of RezWarz were to be announced in a couple of days at council dis-orientation, as well as the highest scorers for the lipdub. As it turned out, we won the lipdub, and as a result, WON REZWARZ! I’m sure it doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, but it really was for us. This was so ridiculously exciting for myself, all of my friends, hall council, and C4 as a whole. I hope I haven’t talked it up too much, but attached below is the C4 Lipdub. I know that this will be something that my friends and I can look back on for years to come, so I’m really happy that it turned out so well.

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Next up on my list of bullet points, birthdays! The Owl’s Nest knows how to celebrate a birthday. After Emma and Michael’s birthdays which I already mentioned, we celebrated 4 more birthdays throughout the year [Sorry Arvind and Sena who have their birthdays over the summer]! We celebrated Anna’s birthday on November 15. Anna booked us an airbnb for the night, so that we could cook ourselves a meal, and bake some desert to boot! Overall the night was a lot of fun, between screaming the lyrics to every ABBA song, to Michael blaming the tomatoes for the mediocre pasta, to eating a delicious brownie with ice cream, to playing board games, to trying to make eggs in a pot in the morning, we had a blast. Next up on the 30th was Jonathan’s birthday. For his birthday I collaborated with his girlfriend to hold a surprise party for him in my room while she was in town. We went out and bought all the decorations: streamers, a banner, balloons, noisemakers, glow sticks, the whole nine yards. I spent a couple of hours setting everything up in my room, and I gotta say it looked pretty good considering it was just me [for the most part, that’s right Michael, you barely helped]. I swear he almost peed his pants so it was all worth it!

The next birthday was actually none other than yours truly! As you might have seen on facebook, for my birthday I decided I would like to go skating in old Montreal. But first, we stopped at A&W so I could grab the beautiful beyond meat burger with sweet potato fries hehe. After a treacherous walk in the cold we finally made it to the rink, which was stunning. I had to reteach myself how to skate for the first while, but once I got it, all was good. The walk back was much less pleasant, all of the owls had to defrost when we got home, but it was worth it [right guys?]. Writing this has reminded me that I’m the old lady of the group, and now I feel weird, but that’s alright, admire the photos.

Finally, the last birthday that we celebrated of the year was Sayaka’s! For her birthday we all went out to a Japanese restaurant [she’s the tiny Japanese one if that wasn’t obvious], and then we came back to rez and had a little party. By little party, I mean we got a little too drunk in my room, but that’s fine. We already have plans to visit Sena and Arvind for their birthdays so they won’t feel left out, don’t worry!

Before I move on to the really sappy stuff, here are some various photos of various fun things from throughout the year that didn’t really fit with the topics above.

(Myself, Michael, Sena, Anna, Arvind and Sayaka after the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, heading out to the Irish bar)

(Wolves, Michael and I went to the Montreal Youth Climate March that was observed by hundreds of thousands of students around the world)

(Wolves, Anna, Sena Lili and I at our first [and only] frat party)

(Sena, Michael, Arvind and I before heading to upper rez for a party with Michael’s friend from home)

(A photo taken on the walk home from karaoke. It was around -25 degrees and also the middle of a snowstorm [and also the night that Arvind and I ended up taking Michael to the hospital for a stomach bug])

(You can’t really tell, but a few of my friends from rez went across the street to protest the protestors who blew airhorns everyday at 10am and 3pm for months)

(From when Sena, Michael, Arvind and I met up in Toronto over the Christmas break)

(A picture of Arvind, Sayaka, Jonathan, Anna, Michael and I with the head chef of our dining hall at the holiday banquet)

(Self explanatory)

(Sena and I counting worms for our biology project)

(An awful photo but an incredible night. We had just had “camp council” which is basically just code for hall council getting drunk with the floor fellows. We were going to go out to a club or something, but instead we ended up having a massive snowball fight on McGill’s lower field, which was definitely 1000x more fun)

(From the night I climbed Mont Royal to take some photos)

(Michael and I at what turned into our favourite bar, McKibbins)

(Taken on one of our last nights together in Rez)

(It’s always snuggle time)

(My roommate Delal and I, right before I moved out of residence)

Okay here comes the really sappy emotional stuff, so feel free to skip ahead if you’re not up for it. I want to write little open letters to the people who made my first year away from home so incredible. So here it goes.

To Sayaka:

Our little Japanese! It’s so hard to believe that at one point you were just the crazy roommate of twin #1 that was moving into 503. You are definitely nothing like what those twins said you would be. What we gained instead was a caring, sweet, GIGGLY new friend that we could adopt into the owl’s nest. Whether it was scream-laughing too loud in the dining hall [I can still feel Ahmed’s intense gaze], or singing a little tune, or looking at anyone with those big eyes, you��ve always had such a positive attitude, and I think we could all learn from that. I will always remember standing in line for warehouse and you asking if you could touch my hair hahaha. A few things to clarify: no you are not 6 feet tall, I live east of you not “up”, the easter bunny has nothing to do with jesus, and so on. However, if you ever need anything, I will always be around to support you, how could anyone abandon the little one and make her japaNESE MAD. I have lots of love for you, and you don’t have to ask to pet my straight hair anymore, I give you eternal permission!

At the end of all these little open letters I’m going to say the song that reminds me of each of the owls, and since musical theatre is something we could always bond over, the song that makes me think of you is Poor Unfortunate Souls. While I was barely in The Little Mermaid AT MY HIGH SCHOOL, I’m so mad I missed you performing as Ursula. Although, I totally cannot imagine little ole you performing as the big nasty sea witch. I guess that’s just some Disney magic for ya.

To Jonathan:

Obviously, our friendship started with quite a few boulders to overcome. It definitely was not easy all of the time, but I’m really glad that we both stuck to the nest, because it just wouldn’t have been the same otherwise. We all know you as drunky jack, or white bread, and I truly hope those nicknames stick around, they’re just too funny lmao. You were one of the first people that I ever felt comfortable around in residence, ever since that night that you, Arvind, James and I walked around in search of an SAQ before we landed in Tims. From the way that we stayed up just talking for hours that night, there was absolutely no way that we wouldn’t remain friends. Don’t lose your spirit. Sometimes throughout the year it was clear you were a little down, but whenever the white boy dance moves were busted out, everyone had the chance to smile for at least a second. Try not to be a stranger.

A song reminds me of you [and obviously first year in general], is Body. There was something about drunky jack in the first week of school that just screams body, so I think it’s a perfect fit [the video of you at beach day, yikes].

To wOlves:

I remember thinking that I would never even get the chance to meet you. What crazy struggles getting that study permit (or whatever it was hehe). I also vividly remember meeting you for the first time and thinking “damn it this girl knows more memes than me”. You literally started flossing in the middle of the room and I just - wow. And you already know how impressed I was that day that you gave that man directions, not in french, no, in SPANISH. We definitely got a lot closer throughout second semester because of our favourite men [who helped us find the aREa of the potatOID]. I see a lot of myself in you, from our taste in bOys, to our taste in music, to our taste in sporcle quizzes, we’ve got a lot to talk about. You’re always there to laugh at my sarcastic side comments, and let me tell you I will always be there to laugh at yours. Some days I swear our minds are linked together. You overcame a lot this year, and I’m proud of you for that. As soon as we get back to Montreal, you, Sena and I must have a cuddly movie night, okay?? I absolutely loved screaming harmonies with you every chance we got, we gotta jam more now that Shelby is fixed and ready to play more Billie. I swear we’ll give you a better birthday party this year, but come on, we tried. One day, ONE DAY, you will perfect the mOve, and I will be there to capture the moment in all of its essence. We have many more inside jokes to create [haha eh :P] so I don’t know what you were planning buuuut you’re not going anywhere. You’re also the only one in the nest who’s movie taste I trust [come on Sena, you want to watch an action movie again??]. We need to do a day where we watch each others favourite movies, even if it’s a lot of them! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our movie dates over text message and we better keep doing that all summer, it makes me feel less lonely! I love you like you’re my child and I will keep screaming at you not to eat timbits during shabbat [shabbafe bampus hehe]. I swear one day we will run into linear algebra boy and simultaneously confess our love for him, but until then we can only dream. Don’t forget your worth. I love you so much my little wolf.

Sis, you already know what your song is. No Flex by our favourite boys TMG. I feel like this doesn’t need any more explanation. [my body count up in the double digits (11), I got a TEXT, that’s all, no further comments thank you].

To Avinash Arvind Krishendeholl [the Indestructible Lotus]:

Wa-ow, what a year it’s been eH? First of all, thank you for being everyone’s emotional support dog, you’re probably one of the most dedicated friends that I’ve ever had. I probably would have cried myself to sleep many times this year if it weren’t for you. I don’t know what it is about you, but I think that everyone can just automatically sense that you’re trustworthy even when they first meet you. I felt instantly heard by you, and that’s a very special quality to have, and I mean it. I know we kid all the time, but I actually want to take the time to be completely honest with you in this little message because I feel like I don’t tell you enough how much I appreciate you. Arvind, you’ve really felt like my partner through the year and I know that a lot of the nest feels the same way. You’re the safety patroller 1 to my safety patroller 2, and I feel like it works for us. That first crisis really bonded us, I think it became evident to both of us that we are both the type of people who won’t just go to sleep if we feel that any one is in danger that we can help. We’re problem solvers my dude. I know everyone says they don’t know what they would do without you, and that’s just become something that people say casually, but seriously. You were a grounding force for all of us, someone that we could go to for actually anything. Whether it be conflict within the group, conflict with someone else, just a bad day, a big paper due, or even wanting a good laugh and a bite to eAT, you were there. You were there if I just wanted to sit in a room with someone else, or if I wanted a shoulder to cry on, and I hope you feel that I can be the same for you when you need it. Beyond all of this sappy crap, you’re seriously a force to be reckoned with. I know this year was tough for you in music [seriously why would they put a flutist in a choir, Schulich wyd??], you have the ability, and the perseverance to do absolutely anything that you want. I actually can’t wait to see what the future holds for you because whatever it is you end up doing, you’re GOING to dominate, no doubt in my mind. Your section would be incomplete without a mention of all of your catchphrases so here we go: what are we gonna eat NOW, wait why’d the mood change, L-O-L, sAAAd, I have received communications from Mr. McIntosh, you want some cUHrry, im JOKING im joking, gUUUYS, senAAAAAAH, waaow, in FAAAACT, the power of seven theorem states, that’s a fallacy, what’re you gonna do gIRL, OPE, wait why’d you look down, I’m on a diet, let’s get the gOO, knowing me knowing you ahah, chef?, I’m in mUsic, now wHaaat are you doing, bwaaaaaah, ooooozgayyy, weeeeeelll??, heeeeet [hoot hoot], schWWIIING, the sweet meats, motion, notice, stOP gUYS, eeeeeYeaaah, Kaaaaaasssidyyyy Michael saaaaaiddd, heLLO, just a petit quelque chose, I am holding a notice in my left paw, proceed in B flat minor. Nest don’t punish me for forgetting a bunch, he’s a very quotable boy.

Your song was already mentioned in this post, and I believe it is very fitting Knowing Me, Knowing You [ahaaaah]. Anything ABBA will remind me of you and Michael instantly, for obvious reasons, but I chose this song because it became one of your catchphrases and I think it suits the two of us the best [you know me all too well].

To Shishtar:

I get to tell you all of the things I love about you everyday next year in our cute little apartment hehe. But of course I will give you your space here as well. I am proud to be the first fluent speaker of Sennish [other than the creator herself]. I know Arvind and Michael give you a hard time, but they just don’t get you like I do. I hope you don’t mind that I totally latched to you during frosh, but I think it worked out well for both of us, what do you think? If you go back and read some of my first posts, it was all Sena all the time. I can’t wait to live with you in just a few months. It going to be like having slumber parties every night, and oh my the DECORATING! I had so much fun every single time we went out together [that might be trouble hehe] you’ll always be my best dance partner. I know that no matter what I’m feeling I can go to you and trust that you’ll feed that emotion back to me. If I want to laugh, you’re in, if I want to cry, you pull up the audition videos, it’s really a good set up we’ve got going. I want you to know I will always always always be here for you. If a shishtar is in need, a shishtar is here for her, those are the rules. I just know we have so much in store for us and our friendship and I can’t wait to do it all. I feel like you’re the friend that I can adventure with, you’ll never turn down a good time [unless you’ve already drank too much and can’t make it out lmaoooo]. I’m so happy that we raised our worm babies together, even if that experiment was VERY questionable! I wonder how they’re doing now actually, probably thriving. Let’s not carry soil back from across the city again though, that was not too much fun. I will now go into some roommate vows. As your roommate I pledge to always repeat myself when you say wait..WHAT?, and only get annoyed at it sometimes. I promise to cook you breakfast when I get the chance, and more importantly, teach you to cook some things other than “thin meat” and “cubed chicken” because that has to be a crime. I promise not to force you to every bafe tuesday [only some], and to help you study when you need it. There’s more, but I’m sure we’ll cross those bridges when we come to them. I can’t wait to take the next step in our friendship, even if our landlords are trash. We’ll manage. [AND I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE THE JONAS BROTHERS WHAT THE HECK]

The song that I chose for you may be surprising, because it is not a Sena song. I picked Electric Avenue, because of that one Cafe Campus tuesday that we went to. One of the first songs that came on that night that got us bopping was electric avenue [which I captured on video]. I just know that I’ll never be able to hear that song without thinking of you and that night, even if it ended with us running full speed in the wrong direction!

To Michael:

We all know how much I love you, but I guess I’ll try to scratch the surface with words. Not that your ego needs to be stroked any more than it already is, you are definitely one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. You somehow just know so many things and you are able to talk intelligently about virtually anything. I don’t know why, but you seem like a completely different person now than from when I first met you. I still remember us wandering around together at RezFest, going back up for more samosas [eyeeeah], but to be completely honest I didn’t think that we would really become friends. That day I kind of felt like I was a placeholder until you found the people who you actually wanted to be friends with, which sounds sad as I write it, but I was happy to be that. Much to my surprise, you stayed with me the whole day, and we hung out with almost everyone who would soon become the nest [first the dean’s list though hehe]. I’m absolutely honoured to be your friend, and honoured that we’ve shared so much with each other starting with beach day. You’re passionate. That’s something that I really admire. Even if nobody wants to hear it sometimes, there’s not a chance you’re shutting up about wave particle duality, and that’s something I respect [even if sometimes it drives me crazy] about you. You don’t give up easy either. Not getting into McGill didn’t stop you from coming here [yes I had to bring it up hahahaha], and that mentality drives you, which I have mad respect for. The fact that you can’t sing doesn’t stop you from spewing nonsense about the circle of fifths [hehehe right @Arvind?]. In all seriousness, you are more than aware that you mean so much to me, and I appreciate that you standby for my moments of existential crisis. You don’t give up on me even when I act insane and I am very thankful for that, because lots of friends would take a step back, but you persist. Your sarcasm and sass makes me laugh like no other. I know you’ll never stop making fun of me for knowing so much about astrology, but that’s so libra of you. Try not to be as much of a doormat living with Arvind as you were living with Grant [yes, you were a doormat, even at the end], although I’m sure Arvind won’t try to see how high he can pile his clothes, so you’re already ahead of the game. Oh I almost forgot! Thank you for helping me in my pescatarian adventures. Having someone else so close to me live the same lifestyle really helped me out, especially every time Arvind ordered chicken wings. Along the same lines, thanks for always backing me up on my environmental speeches to not only the nest, but in council too. Just like I said with everyone else, I can’t wait to make even more memories with you, and I hope that you’re in my life for a long long time, because I don’t know what I would do without you!

No surprises here, the song that reminds me of you is The Chain, although this might as well be any Fleetwood Mac song. This is unrelated but just so you know, my gramma just said “there’s chippy” as a chipmunk ran around the backyard and I thought that that was an odd coincidence. But yes, listen to the wind blow [insert incredible bass line].

To Anna:

My dear sweet Anna. I’m not crying you’re crying!! You have kept my life interesting from literally the moment I met you. Please go back and read one of my first posts from the first night when you went on about your boy troubles, what a night. From that moment on you’ve filled my life with so many interesting and emotional moments. I think that everyone remembers the night that you said that this friendship probably won’t even last a month, and look at us now baby. We all have gone through so much this year as a group, and I know that a lot of that had a huge impact on you. You may be small, but by god are you tough girl. The amount of bullshit that you have gone through this year is remarkable, but you’ve never given up on any of us. You and I have gone through our fair share of trouble, but never once did I question that we would resolve whatever it was and be stronger than ever. We both confront problems the same way, so that means that whatever the problem is, it will be solved in record breaking time. You’re the one person who I always go to with the hot gossip and I feel like we could actually talk for hours about nothing. But for real back to the toughness thing, you endure so much. You’re very independent by nature, but it always surprises me that you are able to stay alone so far away from everyone. You have done so much for me this year and I doubt you even know it. I feel like you always understand whatever it is that I’m going through better than anyone else. I won’t forget the time in my room that we literally just read each other our poetry and cried on each others shoulders. You can sniff out when I’m upset and you’re so good at comforting me and making me feel loved. Okay I was joking before, but I seriously am crying now. It was so hard for me to leave your room particularly because I feel like I was safest to be myself in there. We spent so much time in 503 that it was my home away from home. You also always gas me up?? Like thank you girl because you know that sometimes I need that validation! I always trust you for that fashion advice because you shop so much that you must know what looks good by now [hehehe]. For real though, you’re so incredibly beautiful inside and out and I’m so proud to call you my friend. You’re simultaneously like my daughter, sister, sometimes my mom and always my best friend and that’s quite remarkable I’d say. Stop doubting how smart you are! You are doing great just where you are, you’re meant to do this, don’t let anyone tell you different. You’re strong. I literally can not wait to share every single little thing with you the moment it happens, so if you don’t mind, I would love to do just that for a long long time.

My song for you is one from our girl dodie, it’s Human. Every time I hear this song it brings me back to the two of us sitting in your room just feeling the feels. The lyrics are true. Paint me in trust, I’ll be your best friend. Love you so much my tiny little friend.

Okay that concludes the sappy letters to my best friends. I’m sure you’re tired of reading at this point, and I’m tired of writing, so to finish off this blog post I thought I would let a video fill in the blanks. For those of you who don’t know, I have been taking a one second video every day since October of 2017. This has turned into an amazing way for me to look back on the memories made throughout the years. So here is my collection of one seconds for my year in Montreal, starting with move in day!

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Thank you for keeping up with me this year, even though I totally slacked on writing these posts. Long story short, I’m absolutely in love with Montreal, and with McGill. So thank you for caring and staying tuned for the Thrilla in McGilla, catch ya next year!

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trevorbailey61 · 8 years ago

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Black Sabbath

Genting Arena, Birmingham

Thursday 2nd February 2017

And in the end...... They left home to take on the world, they have fought and conquered and their language has been absorbed and translated by a host of inferior imitators. For the warriors one last victory procession before the end, a finality that as they reach where it all started now seems very real. Of course the final tour doesn't always mean the final tour. The thought that there is just this one remaining opportunity means final tours are often highly lucrative leading to them going on for years. The Who have been on a never ending one for about three years, including another two visits to Birmingham since I wrote some drivel about the end of an era. When the end does come, it can be sudden and unexpected, we decided against paying the vastly inflated ticket price asked for Prince's “Hit and Run” tour fully expecting there would be another chance to see him. At nearly 80, it was always likely that we would regret not taking a last chance to see Leonard Cohen but then, about a year later we were to see Burt Bacharach still tinkling the ivories at 86. The grand statement, therefore, allows some sense of control in the face of the unpredictability of fate, one day you will be right. The feeling is, however, that for Sabbath, this really is the end. They are already one member down, Bill Ward embroiled in some contractual dispute with the others that also acts as a cover for his failing health. Tony Iommi looks lean and fit but has had his battles with cancer whilst Geezer Butler, who of the four appears the most unscathed, no longer posses the girth to carry off the leggings his younger self was known to wear. Then there is Ozzy, the charismatic front man who whilst in what appeared to be a permanent state of confusion, practically invented reality TV. It is tempting to see that his battles with drink, drugs and his dysfunctional family have left him a shell bit here, in front of a fiercely partisan crowd in his home town, he is in his element. His figure may be hunched and dressed entirely in black he may have forsaken the flamboyance of his glory days but his sheer presence is as magnetic as ever. Black hair, dark black eyes, white skin showing the lines brought about by age and those binges and the demonic stare that fills the giant screen combine to show that on this final tour, he has a look that complements the bleak intensity of the music. The proficiency and technique of those around him create the brooding atmosphere but it is on Osbourne's shoulders that the show rests and despite his demons he delivers.

In their thousands they came, an army in black swarming through the concourses and empty halls of the NEC. Their influence is such that this was so much more than a wake for those mourning the passing of an old friend, eager young faces mixed with craggy old ones and, for a band who always seemed very blokey, there were a surprising number of XX chromosomes present. The diversity only extended so far, however, and, as it always has done, Sabbath’s particular brand of hard rock appeals to a mostly white audience. T-shirts are proudly worn displaying the tours on which many had seen them before, the oldest of these, tightly stretched over the middle age spread of its wearer, was faded to grey and listed a series of dates in the early 70s. Like the band themselves, time has not been kind to many of their followers and some moved tentatively, stick in their hand to give them support and confidence but infirmity was never going to keep them away. Waiting just outside the station, a family walk past, different generations drawn to the dark lords but each expressing how they have personalised their connection with the music. Grandparents, dressed in denim and leather, grandad with a goatee and shaven head, grandma with bleached white hair and overdone make up, were 70s heavy metal veterans from when Sabbath first burst onto the scene, possibly a little surprised that both they and the band have survived this long. White faces, long black hair and huge boots, mum and dad were 80s goths, Sabbath temporarily absent in their youth meaning these darker paths were opened through some of those they had influenced. The confidence, and a figure that has yet to show the ravages of time, mean that the children can take the look of their parents to its striking and extravagant conclusion, tight ripped jeans and t-shirts, spiked hair and the same huge boots. A love shared by the family but each with their own version.

A toiling bell announces the princes of darkness, the solemn signature of the “Black Sabbath” song, Iommi’s tritones forming the devil’s interval to create the unsettling setting for the doom laden lyrics. Osbourne’s straight and impassioned delivery gives them the substance they would otherwise lack and the prog rock twists and jazzy rhythms immediately show the subtleties and variations that made them so much more than just a heavy metal band. “Let’s go crazy”, shouts Osbourne igniting a ferocious Iommi riff to release the built up tension into a frenzy. It was the song that started it all and the tone and structure of much guitar based music that followed, the cartoon new metal sound of acts like Iron Maiden, the dense goth of The Cult or the slacker grunge of Nirvana, can all be found in the legacy that Sabbath left, particularly over the course of four stunning albums released in the early 70s.

Bringing it all back home, the set is dominated by these four albums, a celebration of their power and influence. Some choices are obvious, “War Pigs” shows that whilst their lyrics often lacked subtlety, the breadth of the themes they tackled was much broader than they were often given credit for. A reflection on peace that comes straight from Woodstock, they were almost hippies, it’s anti war message is all the more forceful through being stated so plainly and at such volume. Wailing sirens, Iommi’s power chords and Butler’s fluid bass lines create the tone for the apocalyptic lyrics; “Evil minds that plot destruction; Sorcerers of death's construction”, some things don’t change. “NIB” is introduced by a surprisingly funky Butler bass line and leads to an instrumental section where Iommi gives the teasing signature of songs that had failed to make the set, This concludes with one of those rituals of the early 70s - the drum solo. There was certainly no doubting the technique but with over a dozen false endings it is a relief when the rest of the band reappear. When they do it is with the thumping beat and the instantly recognisable motif of “Iron Man”, fittingly about a man returning from the future to warn of an impending apocalypse, perhaps now this is the future.

“NIB” casts Osbourne as the devil, something that feeds speculation on the bands interest in the occult, particularly in their early days. Sabbaths devils, however, are more Hammer Horror than Aleister Crowley, not to be taken too seriously and a bit camp. The humour was mostly lost on their more obsessed followers and, as is the case with “NIB”, the satanic themes were often used to illustrate more worldly concerns. “NIB” shows how easy it is to give into temptation, something explored more directly in “Snowblind”. In introducing the song Osbourne briefly reflects on his own addictions, saying it is something he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy, and the lyrics are some of their most incisive. These were written by Butler and show terror, pain and a frightening descent into dependency; “Winds of ice that soon will spread; Down to freeze my very soul”; a path the person singing them was already taking. “After Forever” shows that, despite their reputation as purveyors of the black arts, their background and religious views were Catholic and rather than a celebration of the occult, is an attack on atheism, “Is your mind so small that you have to fall; In with the pack wherever they run”. Through “Fairies Wear Boots”, “Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes”, “Into the Void”, the pace and density of the sound never lets up and each is built around Iommi’s glorious signature guitar. His playing is possibly at its most fluid on “Dirty Woman”, but appearing on “Technical Ecstasy” it is the one time they step away from the first four albums and lacks the urgency of their best work. “This is the last one” Osbourne tells us before “Children of the Grave”, unless of course we earn another one but with the ferocity of the playing that was never in doubt and as balloons fall from the roof engulfing the stage the party is almost complete. All that was needed was, of course, “Paranoid”, a short burst of self doubt that displays both individually and collectively the strengths of this formidable band. Purple confetti, each piece having “Black Sabbath” printed on it, flutters down across the hall, a group hug, a wave and they were gone, one more performance and that is it - the end of their dark era.

In 1968 an oddly worded ad appeared in a music shop in Birmingham, “Ozzy Zig Needs Gig”, Intrigued and having just seen their jazzy blues rock band Mythology fold, Toni Iommi and Bill Ward replied and thus found themselves alongside two other survivors from a failed band, a psychedelic outfit called Rare Breed. Having tried different names without success, they found themselves rehearsing above a cinema that specialised in the horror and sci-fi b movies that were to give them so much inspiration. After one such evening, Butler had a dream, "I was asleep and I felt something in the room, like this weird presence, I woke up in a dream world, and there was this black thing at the bottom of the bed, staring at me. It was just this apparition. It just lasted a second. But it just freaked me out.” Osbourne captured Butler’s description of his dream in the ominous lyrics, Iommi added the guitar motif and the title was lifted from a Boris Karloff movie. The band had a song and an identity. On a chilly night, the song that the dream inspired will be performed by its creators for the last time, or will it. No sooner had the last piece of confetti softly landed, than Iommi announces that the band may work together again, perhaps another never ending final tour is just beginning.

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