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Friday 1 March 2013

Atop The Fourth Wall

Atop The Fourth Wall has been what I like to call the second of the original Channel Awesome Trinity. The first being Nostalgia Critic and the third being the Spoony Experiment.  In it's humble beginnings it was a text review site based only on reviewing comic books that have alot wrong with it, such as plot holes, controversies, bad art and all around bad ideas.  That is until a contest turned it into something more.  In 2008, reviewer Lewis Lovhaug submitted a video for a contest to come up with the best "Ask That Guy With The Glasses." Impersonator.  Lewis Lovhaug, the host of the reviews submitted a video of his own as "That Guy With The Hat."  As a result he killed two birds with one stone.  I'm surprised GlaDOS didn't find him after that........moving on.  He decided to do video reviews rather than text and also became a full fledged member of Channel Awesome, ThatGuyWithTheGlasses, and their subordinate Inked Reality.  At first it was a typical review show of CA quality: reviewing the respective medium and almost going insane from it.  However later on Lewis, or Linkara as he now calls himself has added his own storyline.  I don't know the exact origin of adding storylines came from, but my guess it was his apology for putting his fans through the same horrible ordeals of reading a bad comic.  It this show that partially inspired the character in my webcomic: S.T. Filmmaker, as the Wii Pistol S.T. uses was inspired by his trademark Magic Gun.  When I was first coming up with this blog I had a lot of wii stuff and one of the things  I had was cheap knock offs of the controller shells. One of which was a variation of the wii zapper in the shape of a cross between a flintlock gun and a sawed off shotgun. Any who I ramble on so here's the story.....

Along with reviewing comic books, Linkara moonlights as a superhero with access to magic and technology. Most famously his Magic Gun: A flintlock pistol that started out as his comic suicide prop whenever a comic becomes too much for him.  With the help of his friends and Robot Buddy Pollo, he defends the earth from threats such as Mad Scientist Doctor Insano, whom I mentioned in my TGWTG article. As he journeys through his life, we discover secrets behind his magic and the past of his friends. His formula goes like so:
* He reviews a comic.
* Makes jokes and references.
* Goes crazy.
* Doesn't Swear (Save for Hell, Damn, Ass, Crap and Bitch. All of which have double meanings.)
* Burns comic
* Shares his final thoughts on the end credits.
* Sometimes Storyline.
* Stinger Joke.

Now for the fun part, Could It Exist In Real Life?

First and foremost.  While I do try to keep my spoilers to a minimum most of my explanations are spoiler heavy. Normally I would let it pass on movies and shows, but I don't want to spoil anything for those just watching AT4W. So unless you haven't seen it I advise you to shut this blog off go watch AT4W.  You have been warned.

Ok let's start with the first concept of that of Pollo.  Like I have said in my Tron Legacy analysis, true AI is impossible.  However making a robot is a different story.  There have been various robots in the past that did various chores.  Most famously the assembly line Robot for car factories and the Robotic Arm in Space Shuttles.  However the most famous one now is Aiko the Android.  Le Trung created her back in 2007 in Canada starting with her head and kept at it until she had working arms.  She is also the first robot to feel pain as well as the sensation of touch.  And no you sick bastards she wasn't built for sex. Hell she even punches you if you try to cop a feel. Three Laws must have jumped out of the window. Why this example specifically?  His motivation for building her was because he was obsessed with Manga, more specifically Chobits a manga revolving around a boy and his female robotic companion.  Trung obsessed with Manga builds an android. Linkara obsessed with comics builds a robot.  If that is not the mother of all defictional holy S*** In the world. Still if Pollo is reading this Linkara won't hear the end of it about functioning arms. As for my remark about AI.  Trung is one of the few that got it right.

As for the concept of magic.  In the world of Atop the Fourth Wall, magic revolves around its wielder's state. If he/she uses magic for good, more power to them.  For evil it either cancels out or comes back to bite you in the ass.  This is by far the most realistic portrayal of magic I have ever seen since The Craft and I'll get to that why when I get to The Craft. However one specific spell on the show intrigued me.  "The Image Becomes Reality."  A spell he used to make his toys become the weapons they represented. For example fake power morphers become real morphers.  I originally thought it was something he made up on the spot. But doing some digging on some sites on fictional and realistic magics (pagan and wiccan mostly.) I couldn't find the proper key words in order to find a similar spell.  Then it hit me this of course was from The Craft, but I'll explain this one now.  Glamour a spell designed to make the user look, sound and feel like the person they are disguising themself as.  However as far as the Wiccan community is concerned, it's not a real spell.  However the concept behind it is quite similar to Linkara's spell. The only difference being his is cast on objects while Glamour is cast on people.  So even if it did work odds are it won't work on objects.  Though I am optimistic. Maybe Glamour isn't real but the concept behind it could be.

Last but not least there is the Magic Gun.  A spirit of a girl ruthlessly tortured to death in a ritual to create a weapon that a religious sect intended to use in their cause.  Could such objects exist in real life?  According to an urban legend there exists a Dybukk box. A wine cellar that contains a vengeful spirit.  However like that legend there are variations of spirits trapped in container like objects.  So far not one urban legend of a spirit trapped in a weapon.  So its in the grey, don't try it though just don't for various reasons.  One it's illegal. Two it's immoral. Three on the off chance it works it will get you. Four on the off chance it doesn't you'll spend your days in an insane asylum.

As usual debate, argue, and let me know what I missed. Stay Tuned for more.

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