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**The room dims, and Erin's surroundings dissolve into darkness. Her clothing shimmers, then melts into a very pale, green robe. Small flamelets of intense aqua light dance around her, and as she begins speaking, images of a bygone era that never was appear. They are somehow recognizable, yet totally alien at the same time; a blend of the familiar and the fantastic; as if the world and all itÕs history was seen through colored glasses.**
The school of Anything-Goes Arts and Crafts arose centuries ago as a result of a dispute among several junior members of the fighting school of Anything-Goes Martial Arts. A small faction among the disciples believed that it was a mistake to use their talents for conflict and disruption. Instead, they embraced the concepts of peace and aesthetics.
Unfortunately, this belief placed them in direct violation of two of the underlying principles of Anything-Goes Martial Arts: that people respect only strength; and that beauty, grace, or form can only follow action and purpose. As a result, those students of Anything-Goes were contemptuously regarded as pacifists, although some 'pacifists' were among the finest and most skilled. When war inevitably broke out and the school of Anything-Goes Martial Arts was called upon to defend the Emperor, roughly a dozen students felt that they could no longer call themselves members of Anything-Goes Martial Arts and formally announced their seperation from the school.
Those students, whose names have been lost to history, vowed to use their skills only in defense of themselves or others, and never to cause harm. They avoided nearly all challenges, something unheard of in the history of Anything-Goes. On the other hand, they maintained the principle that even a master can learn from the unlikliest of sources, and adopted designs, materials, and a variety of techniques into their repertoire.
Because of the loss of these students, the Anything-Goes school of Martial Arts was severly weakened, and, in a country in the midst of revolution, proved unable to maintain order. Eventually, the school was reborn under the guidance of Master Happosai, whose perversion and lust dwarfed even Ataru Moroboshi, another notable historical figure of that time period.
The splinter faction kept a low profile, and freely aided anyone in distress. This generosity somewhat shielded them from the revolutionaries, who regarded them as more of a curiosity than a threat. However, their dedication to non-violence became their undoing because every one of them eventually found themselves in a situation where their reactions and defense came a fatal second too late in lawless postwar Japan.
In the closing years of the second millenium, a young man, who is best known by the name "Koi", and several of his friends revived the traditions of the long-dead practice. Because the historical record from ancient Japan was extremely poor, they called the school "Anything-Goes Arts and Crafts", reflecting both thier philosophy and the origins of the craft. The new students found references to incredible techniques, and from scattered descriptions, attempted to duplicate those ancient results.
Later, the Anything-Goes school of Arts and Crafts expanded constantly, introducing many new members to it's unique ideas. Anything-Goes Arts and Crafts may be more familiar to contempoary readers as the forerunners to the Earth PAC, or Planetary Arts Commitee.
Appendix
Note: This is only a partial list, both because of space constraints and the loss of records over time.
HISTORICAL TECHNIQUES
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"Swift Puppet Illusion" - Using loose debris from thier surroundings, a crude dummy was created, then imbued with part of it's creator's ki; fooling others into thinking it was the original person. It is speculated that more permanent versions may have existed, of better craftmanship and quality.
"Dimensional Pocket" - Adapted directly from the existing techniques of Anything-Goes Martial Arts, this technique (used only by females) allowed a near-infinite storage medium on a personal basis.
"Shining Mystic Clear Duplication" - This technique allowed one to flawlessly duplicate nearly any inanimate object, and offering a chance to modify it in some way during this process. This was a great help in repairs and construction.
"Inner Creation Sight" - By extending their ki to another, a master was able to allow others to percieve the world as they did; as the way thing were made and changed in addition to what they seemed to be. This was primarily a teaching tool used within Anything-Goes, although judicious use helped outsiders appreciate nature and discouraged random destruction.
"Free Lightning Construction" - An adaption of an ancient Chinese technique, the Kach˛ Tenshin Amaguriken, this technique was used to quickly and precisely produce many objects, especially those involving repeated motions.
"Iron Breeze" - A method of making materials as hard as steel; almost always by a slight infusion of chi. A very common technique, it is one of the first learned. Although it cannot be confirmed, this technique probably did not originate from Anything-Goes Arts and Crafts, but was instead adopted.
LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY
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"Origami Storm" - Using either a pre-built stock of origami or quickly creating one, the student launches a barrage of origami. Mixed in are small, heavy chips and razor sharp blades; these may either be part of the creation or loose.
"Fire Hazard" - A counterattack to many of the paper-based modes of Anything-Goes. This was accomplished by use of flame-generating devices that must be scattered for coverage prior to the use of this technique.
"Modular Simulation" - An object can be broken to a polygonal model and then recreated using modular techniques.
"Selective Likeness" - By copying only the most critical features of an object, this technique simplifies the process of simulation and fabrication, while maintaining the essence of an object.
"Blazing Stream" - Utilizes the paper aspect of AGAC with a match. Paper is usually soaked in oil ahead of time, though using this technique with no prior preparation is possible. The artist strikes a match, held in the hand, in front of her. Then, she releases streams of oil-soaked paper, igniting them as they are thrown. This creates a line of flame; amateurs have been known to burn themselves using this technique. It was created when a member of the AGAC School improved upon the all too common flame defense against origami.
"Concealed Creation" - Stored disassembled peices of a craft previously made can be called forth much quicker than from scratch. However, this is usually associated with larger designs, and requires sturdy parts if used often. An example would be a paper sword, whose parts are hidden over a Crafter's body. The parts can be assembled almost instantaneously, frequently giving a large advantage of surprise. This technique is usually associated with the male practicioners of Anything-Goes.
"The Thousand Paper Cuts" - As everybody knows, paper cuts can hurt a lot. Combined with origami techniques of Anything-Goes Arts and Crafts, this can lead to some interesting results. It is theorized that it is a variation of the silk steel technique, used by several early opponents of the AGMA School. Following the ideals of AGAC, these techniques were absorbed into the school and refined to work with paper.
"Star" - Created with six parts of paper. With a minimum of folding, this takes only slightly longer than a square, and can be formed by masters in less than a second. Stars are a common ingredient for the "Origami Storm".
MODERN
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"Modular Alteration" - With the aid of powerful computers, the structure of an object can be determined. More importantly, modifications TO THAT OBJECT may be done by changing the underlying local reality with field projectors.
"Subspace Pocket" - Small offset dimensions can be created and shared among Anything-Goes practicioners. Access is through small, portable field projectors that may connect at virtually any point in the universe, allowing for very efficient travel. Similar to the "Dimensional Pocket" rumored to exist in ancient times.
"Complete Holographic Copy" - Although technology has long passed the stage where precise visual holographic duplication has been perfected, there remain many aspects of a model that remain unrepresented. This technique reinforces concious and subconcious impressions of such a model so that a superior reproduction is presented.
"Avatar Image" - Although human-like computer AI and interfaces have improved over the past centuries, they lack a sufficently convincing personality for their size and complexity. This technique creates a individually tuned program that exceeds the most advanced simulations by at least a complete power of magnitude. Results seem to vary greatly, depending on the person who creates such an Image; this ability seems to heavily depend on inborn talent and cannot be improved beyond a certain point for any given person.
Alpha Chen
Note: I have edited the above people's original wordings for a better fit with this page. The concepts themselves, however, have not changed.
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