“Art", "Bop" and "rock and roll" and whatever is all just a joke and a mistake, just a hunka foolishness so stop treating it with any seriousness or respect at all and just recognize the fact that it's nothing but a wham-o toy to bash around as you please in the nursery, it's nothing but a goddam Bonusburger so just gobble the stupid thing and burp and go for the next one tomorrow; and don't worry about the fact that it's a joke and a mistake and a bunch of foolishness as if that's gonna cause people to disregard it and do it in or let it dry up and die, because it is the strongest, most virulent, most invincible Superjoke in history, nothing could ever destroy it ever, and the reason for that is precisely that it is a joke, a mistake, foolishness. The first mistake of art is to assume that it's serious.”
- Lester Bangs, Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung.
Music, you now, true music - not just rock n roll - it chooses you. It live in your car, or alone listening to your headphones, you know, with the cast scenic bridges and angelic choirs in your brain. It's a place apart from the vast, benign lap of America. Did you know that "The Letter" by The Box Tops was a minute and 58 seconds long? Means nothing. Nil. But it takes them less than two minutes to accomplish what Jethro Tull takes hours not to accomplish! You see this? This is fatuous, pseudo blubber! You know, I mean, which is fine, but to foist it off as art. The Doors? Jim Morrison? He's a drunken buffoon posing as a poet. Aw, give me The Guess Who. C'mon, they got the courage to be drunken buffoons, which makes them poetic. Yes? No. Live "American Women"? Have you ever - the most brilliant piece of gobbledygook ever! Give me some "White Light/White Heat". Iggy Pop! Amen.
- Lester Bangs (character), Almost Famous (2000).
You know, because once you go to L.A., you're gonna have friends like crazy. But they're gonna be fake friends. They're gonna corrupt you. You got an honest face, and they're gonna tell you everything. You cannot make friends with the rock stars. If you're gonna be a true journalist - you know, rock journalist - first, you will never get paid much. But you will get free records from the record company. There's just...f***in' nothin' about you that is controversial, man. God, it's gonna get ugly, man. They're gonna' buy you drinks. You're gonna meet girls, they're gonna fly you places for free, offer you drugs. I know, it sounds great but these people are not your friends. These are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the genius of rock stars, and they will ruin rock and roll and strangle everything we love about it, you know? 'Cause they're trying to buy respectability for a form that is gloriously and righteously dumb. Now, you're smart enough to know that. And the day they ceases to be dumb is the day it ceases to be real, right? And then it just becomes an industry of...cool. I'm telling you, you're coming along at a very dangerous time for rock 'n' roll. I mean, the war is over. They won. And 99% of what passes for rock 'n' roll these days, silence is more compelling.
Hey. You have to make your reputation on being honest. And, uh, you know, unmerciful. If you get into a jam, call me. I stay up late.
- Lester Bangs (character), Almost Famous (2000).
A (mis) interpretation:
Name: Amanda Grove.
Alias: Peppermint / The Queen of Indie.
Age: 36 years old.
Affiliation: Freelance robot bounty hunter / Freelance music journalist / Independent media artist and entrepreneur.
Abilities: Samhildánach - martial art; peak physical condition; hunting intuition; enhanced tracking; intuitive aptitude; kinetic energy manipulation; vector manipulation.
Std. armaments: Scáthach - power gauntlet x 1.
2001. The Northern Frontier, New Andria. The final days of the Robot Islands War. Amanda "Peppermint" Grove, famed freelance music journalist, and owner and maker of the ultra limited Botkins brand of bags, has been coaxed out of her retirement by personal friend and close acquaintance, Baron Seth von Sydow, with his slightly, mentally off tangent little brother, Robbie Grove aka The Golden Dolphin. Now, as she stands amongst the choking, convulsing ruins of the former free trade zone, sea port and space harbour, she takes a break and have a glimpse of what her life journey has been up until then. 'Smell like a teen spirit,' says Robbie, the Golden Dolphin. Not sure what so golden about his kid brother Pep thought. 'That obvious, huh?' Haven't showered for days, Rob,' Pep says as she looks along the horizon from atop a derelict industrial complex. 'But it's gonna over soon.'
Named after a affluent, western suburb of the now destroyed Perth district of Western Aus Republic, Oceania, Pep is first and foremost a music journalist, known for her leading influence on rock music criticism. She adopts a radical and critical style of working, reminiscence of the late Lester Bangs. She would write continuously while chain-smoking away Chesterfields, occasionally fuel by speeds and cough drops, through all assignments type on a repro-30s vintage Underwood portable typewriter, often on a continuous roll of tele-type paper. Once she finishes, Peppermint would send it to the respective publishers through the Mojo. Infamous reviews published under a major music magazine, The Jumping Stoned, of Peppermint's unadulterated, merciless, straight arrow to the heart criticism, albeit a constructive one, include The Black Rainbow and The Funlicker 2215. Peppermint once try to seek a court injunction to stop any form of "fart-istic or otherwise" sound made by the replicant mercenaries and assassins masquerading as a boy band, the TKYO and later, The Yellow Hornets from within her hearing distance. Peppermint said of them, '...make-up, androgynous cartoon wanna-be. Like plastic choking up the drain. In their case, my brain. In Techni-color.' She reserves a rare praise for mostly independent works, such as the likes of the short-lived Missionary Position, which subsequently lead her to become acquainted with Zomb hunter and occult investigator, Thomas "Tommy" Mission of the Adventure Kartel. Tommy, to put it lightly, was swooned and gushed by her presence during an interview with the band. After being fired by the publisher, Peppermint starts her own zine, Indie Circuit, which topics, apart from her music reviews, include fanfiction, politics, art and design, ephemera, personal journals, social theory, riot grrrl and intersectional feminism, single topic obsession, or sexual content far enough outside of the mainstream to be prohibitive of inclusion in more traditional media, with contributions from friends and like-minded individuals from the same circle of society and culture. She releases it online and the zine becomes incredibly popular and widely distributed.
Pep is also a writer, radio host, film maker, photographer, poet, publisher, spoken word artist and activist. She release her books and art-zine through her independent publishing company, Print?. Peppermint has written, directed and produced several independent short films through her own independent company, Free Soda, which ushered in the Post Pre Modern New Old Wave Renaissance genre involving creative techniques and non-linear, guerrilla style method of filmmaking. She owns her own independent clothing line and accessories. Her handmade Botkins hand bag, is particularly popular amongst aristocratic fashionistas and indie crowds. Online cyber-trading on secondary markets sky-rocketed and bootlegs become widely available, much to Pep dismay as she intends for the entire sales proceed of the originals to go to her charity of choice.
Leading an alternative lifestyle, with fiercely independent socio-philosophical views, thoughts and anti-commercial approach earns Pep the nickname "The Queen of Indie" and often considered one of the leading "it" girl in the 90s. She starts moonlighting as an independent bounty hunter specialising in hunting down rogue robots throughout that decade. Got a Snoggler gone all sexed up and refused to back down even when the owner was lying on his bed all pulped up like a risotto? No worries. The Popbot your neighbour just leased has levelled and slaughtered the entire neighbourhood with its Big Poppa guns? No worries. A Nabler nabbed your wife? No worries. The cloned pet parakeet is missing? No worries. No wait, Peppermint leaves that to the BMPA (Bureau of Missing Pets Agency) to deal with it.
Pep is also a writer, radio host, film maker, photographer, poet, publisher, spoken word artist and activist. She release her books and art-zine through her independent publishing company, Print?. Peppermint has written, directed and produced several independent short films through her own independent company, Free Soda, which ushered in the Post Pre Modern New Old Wave Renaissance genre involving creative techniques and non-linear, guerrilla style method of filmmaking. She owns her own independent clothing line and accessories. Her handmade Botkins hand bag, is particularly popular amongst aristocratic fashionistas and indie crowds. Online cyber-trading on secondary markets sky-rocketed and bootlegs become widely available, much to Pep dismay as she intends for the entire sales proceed of the originals to go to her charity of choice.
Leading an alternative lifestyle, with fiercely independent socio-philosophical views, thoughts and anti-commercial approach earns Pep the nickname "The Queen of Indie" and often considered one of the leading "it" girl in the 90s. She starts moonlighting as an independent bounty hunter specialising in hunting down rogue robots throughout that decade. Got a Snoggler gone all sexed up and refused to back down even when the owner was lying on his bed all pulped up like a risotto? No worries. The Popbot your neighbour just leased has levelled and slaughtered the entire neighbourhood with its Big Poppa guns? No worries. A Nabler nabbed your wife? No worries. The cloned pet parakeet is missing? No worries. No wait, Peppermint leaves that to the BMPA (Bureau of Missing Pets Agency) to deal with it.
Pep retires and retreat back to her homeland of Aus Republic after ten years in the robot bounty hunting business due to physical and mental stress. She comes out retirement when news of the Robot Islands War reaches her through the Golden Dolphin and to help his little brother out from a case of escaping from a sanatorium. Weaning herself off the drugs and junks she put into her body, Peppermint trains with superhuman resolve within three months to regain her former physique. And off she goes on the Western Express to New Andria with Robbie, who is on the loose from the authorities but with the promise of a clean slate for him by Baron Seth von Sydow. 'What's with that dolphin head gear Rob?' Pep asks his brother, bemused. 'Take it off, people are staring,' Pep requests. 'No. F***kin. Way, Chubby. Maybe they recognise ya,' Robbie retorts. 'Pep, are you...off the gears? Completely? Clean?' asks Robbie. 'Yup. Took awhile. Seen too many statistics. Don't wanna be another numbers on the chart. Got into the same training regime. Back to basic and moving forth. I think the retirement actually took a toll on me. I miss it. Nothing as good as getting an au naturel high from kickin' some metal arses. And putting down some petulant, snobby, self-conscious hip rock star poseurs.' replies Pep. 'Why ya hate them so much? I think their songs not bad. And they look...cool,' says Robbie. 'That's the point. These poseurs, and I'm being polite at the choice of word, steal the meaning of cool and choke it out of the concept of cool. Their vintage gears, implanted beards, Buddy Howdy rim glasses, the quiffs and now, even inks on their anorexic bodies. Literally turned indie into an institution. That ain't cool, Rob. That's cheatin'. But enough of that. How 'bout you?' Rob looks and says, 'The Gospel of Golden Dolphin says "one must be clean of all form of intoxication like a clear, blue ocean." I'm not crazy. Do you believe me?' Pep looks up. 'Of course. You're my brother. If four Liverpudlian fobs could pulled it off, after gone high in India and produced one of the most significant, yet opulent, bloated and overrated album in history, so could you. And we found those gauntlets didn't we? Like they are waiting for us there all along. You ready?' asks Pep. 'Yeah,' said Rob, as the ship touches down on the tarmac. 'Then let's go pop some bot heads,' Pep says.
As a bounty hunter, Peppermint possesses extraordinary talent and instinct in/for hunting all things. She possesses uncanny ability to track anything under any conditions, sense the weaknesses of her prey and exploit them, and finally kill or capture her prey. She can track her targets down easily via various means, ranging from scents to footprints. Peppermint can follow tracks that are days or even weeks old, and may be able to reconstruct what has happened by sniffing around the area she is searching. Peppermint also has the capability to instantly learn and understand the complexity and exactness of organisms, objects, and even powers without the need of long-term or special education as part of her intuitive trait. She wears the right side of a pair of the power gauntlets Robbie and her found on the Perth Crater, with the etching, Scáthach. Once put on, the gauntlet, like all power weapons, glows and emits matter-disruptive energy which could break down any physical object on the molecular level.
Pep learns and masters a unique hand to hand combat martial art she found on a Standard Template Construct called Samhildánach. It enables Pep to create, shape and manipulate kinetic energy, the energy possessed by any moving object. The kinetic energy gained during the acceleration process changes once the speed also changes. Pep can transfer kinetic energy from one object to another, thus strengthening their attacks, or tearing holes in walls with a simple touch, turn an object's potential energy into kinetic energy, making it explosive, or cause target to be unable to move or unable to stop if in motion. Pep fused this ability into a form of kinetic physical combat, enabling her to channel kinetic energy through different parts of her bodies in order to enhance the strength of her physical attacks, giving her enhanced condition such as enhanced strength, speed, jump and vibration emission which generates destructive shock waves, including devastating air-burst. The robots at the receiving end of her power fist and kicks are often grounded to nothing more than scrap pieces of metals.
Pep could also manipulate vector by redirecting matter and energy either through direct or indirect contact. She can change the magnitude and direction of an object to manoeuvre it in the desired way, regardless of pre-existing vectors. This also applies to static or non-moving objects, technically speaking, the object still has momentum as it is moving through space. Since nearly everything in existence has vectors, manipulation of them can essentially grant the Pep an absolute defence that prevents her from harm, among many other possibilities which includes inertia negation, power reflection and deflection. However, Pep requires physical contact and limited to affecting only matter. Psykers and mages could forgoes vector movement can bypass defence. She is also limited to controlling certain amount of vectors at a time, and distraction may leave Pep open for counter-attack. Prolong battle may also tire her out.
Pep learns and masters a unique hand to hand combat martial art she found on a Standard Template Construct called Samhildánach. It enables Pep to create, shape and manipulate kinetic energy, the energy possessed by any moving object. The kinetic energy gained during the acceleration process changes once the speed also changes. Pep can transfer kinetic energy from one object to another, thus strengthening their attacks, or tearing holes in walls with a simple touch, turn an object's potential energy into kinetic energy, making it explosive, or cause target to be unable to move or unable to stop if in motion. Pep fused this ability into a form of kinetic physical combat, enabling her to channel kinetic energy through different parts of her bodies in order to enhance the strength of her physical attacks, giving her enhanced condition such as enhanced strength, speed, jump and vibration emission which generates destructive shock waves, including devastating air-burst. The robots at the receiving end of her power fist and kicks are often grounded to nothing more than scrap pieces of metals.
Pep could also manipulate vector by redirecting matter and energy either through direct or indirect contact. She can change the magnitude and direction of an object to manoeuvre it in the desired way, regardless of pre-existing vectors. This also applies to static or non-moving objects, technically speaking, the object still has momentum as it is moving through space. Since nearly everything in existence has vectors, manipulation of them can essentially grant the Pep an absolute defence that prevents her from harm, among many other possibilities which includes inertia negation, power reflection and deflection. However, Pep requires physical contact and limited to affecting only matter. Psykers and mages could forgoes vector movement can bypass defence. She is also limited to controlling certain amount of vectors at a time, and distraction may leave Pep open for counter-attack. Prolong battle may also tire her out.
....................................................................
Peppermint Grove is the sister of the previously released The Golden Dolphin from the Adventure Kartel lineup, named after and perhaps inspired by the real-world suburb of Peppermint Grove in Perth. The figure is sturdy this time 'round and loves the overall representation and design. Comes with blind-boxed boots color-way, I am hoping for the 'mint green' or 'red' but got the 'blue' ones instead. Its alright. To be honest, I have no idea how many color-way of boots for the draw. Comes with a bot head bag which has quite a short strap to pose it ideally as per prototype pics. At least for me. And the short skirt is well, short, as in it hitches all way up, exposing the undies. There's the robo-fist, which I couldn't remember the official name. Up close and personal, Peppermint is kinda...peculiar looking. I reckon that's because she lacks eyebrow. There're freckles. I notice ever since I got into 3A, every details, which never cross my mind or considered trivial before, now counts. Even though most are just really...trivial. Perhaps it is due to too many variants for me. Like chasing the colours of M&M. No brown please. Guess which band infamously put that into their concerts contract? Since Pep is a music journalist, indie queen, the late Lester Bangs crossed my mind, including the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman portrayal of him in Cameron Crowe's 2000 Almost Famous.
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