#james stone

EPISODE 4 OF INDIGO WEEK!!

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I said this after it first happened but what I find most fascinating is I don't think they have ever properly explored their differences in a feud.

I think one of the first times Stu betrayed Uno was to be with The Authority in C*4, I don't know if I'm correct when I say that (no I don't see them having a few matches against each other at Chikara to be them breaking up, they still felt like brothers, it was just difficult for Uno to be overlooked after Stu won the Young Lions Cup but they were still close), they have been wrestling for a very long time so it's hard to keep a track of everything but that was more about Stu's change in attitude, becoming more selfish.

The next time I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, Uno betrayed Stu was when Uno was becoming Evil Uno and joined up with Twiggy in C*4 as well as wrestled Stu in promotions like Seaway Valley Wrestling. Again, change in attitude, Uno literally becoming more Evil.

Then when we came to ROH, it was Stu wanting more aggression from Dark Order and feeling disappointed with Dark Order. There was a gap between when he left and came back for a little while where Uno, Alex and Johnny became closer which I also see in that feud because I do think Stu felt a bit like he didn't belong anymore which led to him joining The Righteous. Okay, in a way this feud did explore their differences but this feud felt like Uno was becoming more like Stu than a proper dive into what makes them different. I've never thought Uno needs to change himself. I've always wanted AEW to acknowledge that he can be more but that's a different topic.

Photography by James Stone james-stone.com / Getty Images

Animals With Blue Tongues

Blue Tongued Lizard

CW: child abuse, dehumanisation

besties I don't think Eldi would have any legal rights as a cyborg in the time era she lives in [Sweden] because I'm imagining she's one of the first, and is literally created to be a murder machine and to bring 'patients' (victims) to James Stone, her Creator. She's not sentient for the longest time of her backstory, and even after she does regain her sentience, all she ever is to Stone is a tool.

And to Stone? Why would he get rights for his perfect obedient little creation? Why would he want a tool to have sentience? He doesn't. It's simply more of a hustle, to have his A23421 be anything more than the thing to spy and bring him his test subjects. The thing to kill the rest, to do the dirty works.

On papers, legally, A23421 existed as a human, as Stone's daughter. And maybe this is what she once was, but any resemblance to this is broken far beyond repair. It has been broken since Stone started treating Eldi as a weapon. (Yet, she is a cyborg. A cyborg, not a full robot or android.)

Because to Stone, all she has ever been is A23421; a barcode, a series number on a package. Something expandable, yet his greatest weapon.

To Eldi, it's such a long journey to get out from all that. One that, to her, starts with a new name and a new identity; Eldi Light. It's first created once she flees from Stone, from the whole country. People in hiding needs a fake identity to remain hidden, and so she does too. (And it's something to symbolise the journey out of Stone's shadow)

But Stone has her chipped, is already on his way to get his perfect tool back, he can't have her running around ruining his Projects. So Eldi has to remain in hiding, as if she's never existed again. It'd be easy enough, programmed to it as she is. It's harder to reprogram herself, and even harder to heal from this.

In the end (and wow this spiralled from her not having any legal rights), her arc would end with a fight between Eldi, who she is, and Stone, one where she shows Stone exactly what he made her before ultimately killing him. To kill one last time, for all the times she's done it completely out of her own control and sentience. Afterwards, she'd be lost for a bit. She's won, but who is she really underneath the murder machine Stone made her?

Typically, when I place Eldi in fandom etc, she'd already have met the characters of that media before then. She'd already have people who got her back, an actual support system and people who care about her. She'd have people to fall back on, and most likely at least one person with a therapist on speed dial. Depending on the universe, she'd try to get legal rights as a cyborg, otherwise she passes enough as a human.

Last year I whipped up a quick little cover for a two volume anthology comic from Plot Twist Publishing called Impressions.

The anthology features creators from the Las Vegas valley and tales connected by a captivating portrait.

“HAVE YOU EVER BEEN LURED BY BEAUTY? A painting hangs on a wall in a gallery. A beautiful woman with hair spun of gold... No matter her form, for those that look hard enough she is exactly what they need in that painful or joyous moment. Art can change people, and sometimes people can change the course of their lives. And if lucky, the world too.”