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"I am the King and Queen's Blue Raven. I have MAGIC powers."

Video game craft projects made with MISC supplies...
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LPSM
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"I am the King and Queen's Blue Raven. I have MAGIC powers."

Post by LPSM »

This one will be instantly recognisable to any Brit of a certain age. It's the Blue Raven from the iconic educational computer game, Granny's Garden, for the Acorn BBC Microcomputer line of machines that were so common in British schools in the 1980s and 1990s. Anyone who knows the game will surely now have the folk tune, The King of the Fairies, playing in their head, 8-bit microcomputer-style.

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I was feeling nostalgic about the game, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year (and, brilliantly enough, is still available in retro and modern forms), and really wanted to make my favourite character from it - the Blue Raven, who was assigned to guide you through the adventure.

The Blue Raven is differently-coloured in some of the home versions of the game (in some, he is a darker shade of blue, in others he's not only a darker blue but he also has yellow legs and feet, and in others still he's instead the "Grey Raven"), but I never knew of their existence at the time, and the original is a distinct shade of sky blue, so that's naturally what I went with.

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He's a little more detailed than the original on-screen sprite due to his wings and toes/talons being visible, and depicts how I perceive his looks. He's mostly made from sky blue fleece, with a matching sky blue felt for his beak, legs, and feet, to give him a little bit more texture and visual variety.

I've looked around, and have not found any other soft toy tributes to Granny's Garden online, so it's possible that he's the first of his kind.

Just for fun, here he is, pasted into the screenshot of his introductory scene;

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Happy Anniversary, Granny's Garden!

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blackmageheart
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Re: "I am the King and Queen's Blue Raven. I have MAGIC powe

Post by blackmageheart »

OH MY FREAKING GAWD

Granny's Garden! I wasted so much time on those Acorns when I was a youngn. Good times!

I love your plushie and I agree it's probably unique! :D
LPSM wrote:Anyone who knows the game will surely now have the folk tune, The King of the Fairies, playing in their head, 8-bit microcomputer-style.
Yep. :help:
RMDC wrote:...I've been stitching at an estimated rate of almost a full BMH per day...

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LPSM
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Re: "I am the King and Queen's Blue Raven. I have MAGIC powe

Post by LPSM »

Hehe, thankyou. :grin:
blackmageheart wrote:
LPSM wrote:Anyone who knows the game will surely now have the folk tune, The King of the Fairies, playing in their head, 8-bit microcomputer-style.
Yep. :help:
Here, have some remixes, and a traditional performance of the tune, too! :clap:

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starrley
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Re: "I am the King and Queen's Blue Raven. I have MAGIC powe

Post by starrley »

I have no idea what Granny's Garden is, but I just want to say that you're really good at turning 2D stuff into 3D objects. :)
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LPSM
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Re: "I am the King and Queen's Blue Raven. I have MAGIC powe

Post by LPSM »

starrley wrote:I have no idea what Granny's Garden is, but I just want to say that you're really good at turning 2D stuff into 3D objects. :)
Wow, thankyou very much! :D That's made my day!

As for what Granny's Garden is, it was the first computer program available here that demonstrated that computers have a place in education, thirty years back. It's been in use in British schools in one form or another ever since.

The best analogy I can provide is that Granny's Garden and the BBC Micro occupy roughly the same cultural space over here, as Oregon Trail and the Apple IIe do in the US, only without the dying of dysentery. :lol: That is to say, absolutely everyone who went to school encountered them and everyone remembers them fondly.

EDIT: You can see videos of a guy playing through the game here (part one), and here (part two), if you're curious about seeing it in action. :good:

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no_need
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Re: "I am the King and Queen's Blue Raven. I have MAGIC powe

Post by no_need »

You are a plushie machine! I love how easy you make it look to design and make these. Last time I tried to make up a pattern for a plushie the result was... hmm, how to put this... :green

I seriously envy your talent!
Current projects: 'Heroes' sketch, experiments with surface embroidery.

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